[Legacy of a Martyr #2] Liberation from the Masquerades (A Key Keepers novel)

Episode 55

It was so warm. My brothers were beside me. I could feel it.

My eyes fluttered open. They'd gotten crusty and yucky while I was sleeping.

Ali and Eni were at my sides like I'd felt by their warmth. Both of the handsome princes were asleep. They looked peaceful laying there. I wasn't sure if I'd gotten to see them like this since they were little boys.

Still, I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I knew exactly why Eni was in our room. We had battled a Lock with Recah and her brother. I passed out afterward, because I used too much energy taking him out.

I didn't want to put my beloved little brothers through this again, but what choice did I have? We had to defeat that Lock. It was the only way we could move forward.

Ali opened his eyes and sat up. He perked up when he saw me. "Kaze!"

I gave him a little smile. "Love you, Ali..."

Kayleigh! I sounded so hoarse... I guess that was to be expected under the circumstances, though...

"I love you, too, Onee-chan." Ali rubbed Phoenix's back. "I need you to wake up, bud."

Phoenix perked up. "Ain?"

I put my hand on his.

"T!" Phoe buried his face in my chest. "I missed you..."

Ali smiled at our little brother before he went into our bathroom. He came back out with a damp washcloth.

It felt so much better when he got the gunk off my eyes.

"I'll be right back." Ali ruffled Phoe's hair. "I'm gonna make us some breakfast."

Ali came back with bowls of soup. He had his at his desk while Phoenix and I ate ours in bed. It was good. I had a feeling that he added seasoning to it.

***

Aunt Sarah came in later when my brothers were off talking to the rest of our friends.

"It's good to see that you're awake, Tia." She sat on the edge of my bed. "Do your brothers seem to be doing alright? I haven't had a chance to check on them."

I nodded. "Not sure how Ali's been sleeping, but you and I would be worried about that even if things seemed to be fine."

Aunt Sarah laughed. "Yes, we would."

He probably had only gotten a few hours of sleep when he woke up earlier. Still, he had learned ways to hide it from me. From the sounds of it, Aunt Sarah hadn't been able to catch him before he crashed the last time, either.

"We don't have to do this right now, but we need to sit down with your brothers and my husband."

I raised an eyebrow. What happened while I was asleep?

"Lany is probably onto us." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I came and said a few things while you were asleep."

"Oh... So, he knows the truth about you and Mother then?"

She shook her head. "He senses that something is up, but I don't think he understands what that is."

"We have to tell them then..." I looked down at my blankets. "I was hoping we could wait until this was over. Ali has enough on his mind with trying to find that girl..."

"Me, too..."

Aunt Sarah crossed her ankles. "To tell the truth, Tia, I'm more worried about telling my husband."

I tilted my head. "You're more worried about telling Uncle?"

Aunt Sarah laughed again. "I love Ats-kun. I wouldn't have married him if I didn't." She looked at one of the pictures Ali had on his desk. "He's a very logical person, though. He doesn't know where my childhood home really is. He probably won't believe me if I tell him about it."

"Oh, yeah... It's hard to talk about Mother without talking about home..."

"You call Lany Ali right?"

I nodded.

"If he had known the truth about our family when he was younger, he probably wouldn't have let you call him Ali."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"There's a person called Prince Ali in this old movie he grew up with."

Oh... yeah... He probably would've insisted I call him Ain if he knew that...

"Do the people in this world know about other worlds?"

Aunt Sarah shook her head. "Earthlings know about other planets, but they don't know about other worlds. Ats-kun would probably think that you and I were trying to tell an April Fool's joke five months too early."

"April Fool's joke?"

"Americans have this holiday where people do things like play pranks on each other." She shrugged. "I don't get why they have a holiday like that, either."

"People in this world can be so weird..."

Aunt Sarah laughed behind her hand. "Yes, they can. I don't get some things even though I've lived in this country since I was twelve."

"What do you call Uncle in public. Kinda doubt you use Ats-kun."

"Tsu. It was a family nickname."

I kind of wondered what Phoenix would come to call our uncle. I didn't think uncle was really a major word in his vocabulary. If I came to call him uncle, it would be because I wasn't close to him. There were times I was tempted to call Leon Lee or Leo because I had grown so close to him.

"It'll be interesting when we get to this conversation for sure," I said.

"We can wait a few days, though. You just woke up, Tia. It'd probably be better to have this exciting conversation later."

When Aunt Sarah said exciting, I was pretty sure she really meant to say terrifying. I wasn't looking forward to this important discussion, either.

"I know. I haven't tried to get out of bed yet." My cheeks got hot. "I'd like to enjoy a nice shower before we have that discussion." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Should we sit them all down at once or should we sit the boys down before we tell Uncle?"

"Let's worry about that another day. I'm not sure."

I nodded. It would probably be better for us to sit on this decision.

***

Yay! T woke up! Thoughts on her chat with Sarah? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!