9 Lives

Chapter 13, Cousin Knows Best

When I woke up and walked out of the room, I went down the right side of the corridor and found a marble, double staircase decorated with statues of serpents with red eyes that led to an area larger than my home, filled with black marble statues of gods and goddesses and serpents across the wall. What was the deal with all of these red-eyed statues of snakes? There was a piano in the center of the room, and simple black mid-century modern couches, but no TV.

Luke used to play the piano.

It was so gloomy here. It needed redecorating and some lights other than candles, because it was really dark.

I went out the black doors that led me outside. It was the only beautiful thing about this hellhole.

It was a whole beach, with smooth sand and sparkling, clear blue water, and you'll never guess who I saw standing right in front of me, facing the water.

It was Aron!

"ARON!" I ran towards him and he turned towards me and we embraced each other, sobbing.

"I know what happened," he whispered.

Aron and Luke had been friends their whole lives. His death must have hurt Aron even more than it hurt me.

"I'm sorry!" I cried.

"It wasn't your fault. So Roland killed Roy?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm betting that you know about the nine lives as well."

"Yeah. But I didn't know that he erased your memories until Jacob told me right before you came here. I was so dumbfounded. What a stupid thing to do. He just left you confused and heartbroken. I didn't even know that you had your memories intact until Jacob told me. Luke never bothered to tell me anything. It was a good weapon to have in our arsenal, especially for you."

"How can I fight back? Dougleman will kill me and the world will end. I can't even fight back."

"I was talking to Jacob and Rafael. Rafael is the head of the sword training academy. He trained Luke, Derek, and myself. I suggested that you learn sword fighting under Jacob, who's equal to, maybe even better than Rafael. I would have had Rafael train you, but he's the head of our troops, so he's too busy to do so. We just need your consent for Jacob to train you," Aron explained

"I'll do anything to fight Dougleman. I want my revenge. You have my consent."

"Good. Don't think that Jacob will go easy on you, though."

"I know he won't."

Aron smiled at me with determination. "We'll kill Dougleman before he kills us. It won't be easy, though. He's a computational genius. He built some kind of microchip, like the one he used to control Luke, to control the people who follow him. The people who follow him want someone enough back to life, and he promised them that he would bring whoever they please back to life. He thinks he's a god. Let's say you cut one of his soldier's arms off. Because of the chip, they'd regrow the arm, but a robotic version of it. The only way we can kill his men is by slicing their necks right at the microchip, crushing the microchip, and then slicing their necks, or entirely slinging their heads off. Once you get rid of the microchip, they're mortal. The thing is, Dougleman doesn't have a microchip on his neck. He has one hidden, and nobody knows where it is. Until we find and crush that microchip, he's immortal. Do you understand me?"

"I fully understand."

"Great. Rafael told me to tell you that your assigned partner is Jacob, so you're at an advantage because he's also your trainer. We're all assigned partners. You always have each other's backs. My partner is Derek. When we go on missions, you go with your partner. When you want to go somewhere, anywhere, you go with your partner in case you're attacked or in danger."

Wow, look at my luck. "So I'm stuck with the crazy, demonic-looking boy as a partner?"

"He's demonic-looking because he is a demon."

I just exploded at this point. I couldn't take any more. "SO MY CAT IS A UNICORN, I HAVE NINE LIVES, A PSYCHOPATH WITH A ROBOT ARMY IS TRYING TO KILL ME, AND MY PARTNER IS A DEMON? CAN THIS GET ANY MORE UNREALISTIC? THERE'S GOING TO BE A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE REAL SOON TOO. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE'S A DEMON? HE'S A PERSON AND I SAW HIM WITH MY OWN TWO EYES SO DON'T YOU LIE TO ME ARON."

"Shut up. He can shapeshift. That's his human form."

"Makes sense," I said sarcastically.

"He'll be a great partner and an even better trainer. All this aside, I'm so relieved to finally see you. I'm glad you're not hurt physically, at least."

I smiled sourly and faced the water. He said "physically," because he knew I was burning with rage, hate, and heartbreak. He was probably feeling the same way.

I'm glad to have my favorite cousin by my side.

"So how many people know about the nine lives?" I asked.

"Not too many, but there are about 150 of us. We have 50 on our side, Dougleman probably has nearly the same amount, and the rest are scattered across the globe. It's complicated. The people who know are elite in the martial arts, geniuses of some sort, or have some kind of magical powers."

"What do you and I have, and what did Luke have?"

"You, Jacob, Selaphiel, Rafael, and I are the only five to possess magical powers. Rafael can shapeshift into and communicate with snakes, which explains all the statues of snakes you've seen in his, as he puts it, "territory." Jacob's powers explain themselves, and Seleaphiel is his sister, an angelic version of him. She can shapeshift and all that, but she's an angel. You and I? We can summon lightning."

"What do you mean?"

"These aren't true forms. It's something close to Zeus's powers, you know, how he's depicted holding a thunderbolt? We can use that to kill Dougleman's men after we destroy the microchip. The reason why I didn't mention it before is that Dougloeman doesn't know that we have this power. If he does, he'll build something to repent it or absorb it and make it his power. That's why we're saving it to crush his microchip and kill him. He'll know if we use it to kill his men. This power is a blessing that we only have in this life. We didn't have it in any other life. It's new, and I just learned how to use it, but I can control it just fine. I'm the only one who can teach you how to use it. As for Luke, he was very skilled in martial arts, and he was a genius. He was born knowing every language there is on Earth, which was a great weapon to have in our arsenal. Dougleman uses a combination of different languages to communicate with his men so that we can't understand him. Oh, and I forgot, your code name is Ash. You have a lot of learning ahead of you."

"Oh, I know I do. But I'll always have you by my side, won't I? You've never lied to me or hid anything from me." I grinned at Aron. It was true. I'll always have him.

"True that."

I guess I'd better get my brain cells working.