Brave New World: Legends

Chapter 21

Seattle, 2044

Behrad was surprised when Adrianna answered her phone instantly when he tried calling her, since normally, he either got her voicemail, a message saying her voicemail was full or her assistant, who told him that her voicemail was full.

"While, you actually picked up. I thought I'd have to wait a month." Behrad to his sister.

"I set this line aside specifically so that I'd be able to pick up if you called me back." Adrianna said, surprising Behrad.

"What are you talking about?" Behrad asked.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for nearly a month. It's important and before you say anything, no, I didn't forget how to open a door. I'm not as stupid as you and our criminal sister think I am." Adrianna said.

"And Zari is not the criminal you think she is. But we can argue about that later, why have you been trying to get a hold of me?" Behrad asked.

"It's my totem and yes, I still know where it is, I never take it off." Adrianna said, surprising Behrad, since he didn't think that she treated her totem with the same reverence Zari treated her's.

"What's going on?" Behrad asked.

"I can't control it anymore. I admit I'm a bit rusty, since it's hard to use a sacred mystical family artifact when the press is all over you, but now I can't control it." Adrianna said and Behrad had a feeling he knew what was wrong.

"It's like it's become stronger, harder to control?" Behrad asked.

"Yeah, you know what's going on?" Adrianna asked.

"I have an idea, but it's something I'd need to talk to you in person about. Where are you?" Behrad asked his sister.

"In Seattle, visiting mama and baba, since I was hoping that one of them might know something, since I never call Zari and you weren't picking up your phone." Adrianna said.

"Got it. I'll be over there soon." Behrad said.

"Wow, that was very fast." Adrianna said when she opened the door to find Behrad waiting less than five minutes later and he was once again taken aback by the how similar she looked to Zari, the only differences were that while Zari's hair was jet black, Adrianna's was a light brown and Adrianna's voice was a few octaves higher than Zari's. Other than that, they were identical. Their parents had often said how grateful they were that their daughters had different hair colors, otherwise they'd never be able to tell them apart.

"I was already on my way here when I called you." Behrad said, since he couldn't say that he used a time courier.

"Well, say hi to mama and baba and then let's go get to the bottom of whatever is going on." Adrianna said and Behrad nodded in agreement.

After greeting his parents, Behrad and Adrianna went up to his old room.

"Okay, so how do you suggest we fix my totem?" Adrianna asked.

"We go inside it." Behrad said.

"Wait what?" Adrianna asked.

"Okay, I know you're not as into the spiritual side of being a totem user as you should be, but Zari is and she told me about a mystical plant from Zambezi which can be used to enter the totem's spirit world. It's complicated, but the point is, if you want to get to the bottom of what's making your totem go crazy, you're gonna have to go on your first drug trip." Behrad said.

"I'm sorry what?" Adrianna asked.

"The Lyoga root is a psychedelic hallucinogen, which is just fancy talk for drugs. But trust me, it works." Behrad said.

"Zari took you inside her totem didn't she?" Adrianna asked.

"She did and I'm curious to see what it looks like inside yours." Behrad said.

"You really think this will work?" Adrianna asked.

"It's the only way to know for sure what's going on." Behrad said.

"Okay, where do we get this Lyoga root?" Adrianna asked.

"I actually brought some with me. It's hard to get, unless you know where to look." Behrad said, since he'd stopped by the Waverider and had Gideon fabricate it for him.

"Your new job really comes with some perks." Adrianna said.

"Yeah you have no idea. It will take a few minutes to make the tea from the root, since just straight up eating it is fatal." Behrad said.

"Thanks for the warning." Adrianna said.

"We may not get along, but you're still my sister and I don't want to lose you. It's bad enough I have to worry about losing Zari every day because she's living on the run." Behrad said.

"I really wish I could talk to her right now, since no offense to you Behrad, but I do miss my big sister." Adrianna said, since even though they were twins, Zari had been born first.

"Did it ever occur to you that Zari might have been set up?" Behrad asked.

"Actually, it did, but without proof, what good it does. I may not get along with her, but I do know her well enough to know that she wouldn't be clumsy enough to leave proof if she was committing crimes. Besides, she didn't need to since I could've more than covered her living expenses." Adrianna said.

"Let's not focus on that. I'll be back in a few minutes." Behrad said as he got up and left the room to make the tea as Adrianna looked down at the water totem and held it in her hand.

"I really wish you were here Z. I remember when we were little, we used to joke that the totems connected us. And maybe they did, but now, every time I try to reach out to you, I get nothing. Wherever you are, I hope you're okay." Adrianna said, since she honestly did regret the way things had gone between her and her sister and she wished she had a chance to talk to her, but since Zari was unlikely to ever accept her calls again, she had to make do with Behrad.

"Okay, the tea is ready." Behrad said as he reentered the room.

"Did mama and baba give you any trouble?" Adrianna asked.

"Nope. Mainly because I told them it was a brother-sister thing and they decided they did not want to get involved." Behrad said as he handed her a cup of tea.

"Okay, so how does this work?" Adrianna asked.

"We drink the tea and then we meditate and let the totem take us inside to the world between worlds." Behrad said and Adrianna nodded as they both drank the tea and then she let Behrad lead her through the meditation as she closed her eyes and could feel her totem glowing and then, when she opened her eyes, she did not see Behrad's old room.

"Where are we?" Adrianna asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say we're inside the water totem. It's a similar setup to the inside of the air totem, only it's all blue instead of red." Behrad said.

"Of course. After all, what other color would you associate with water?" a new voice asked and they turned and Behrad was surprised at who he saw walk up to them.

"You." Behrad said.

"Hello Behrad, it's been awhile. We have a lot to talk about." Kuasa said.