The Seven Revels

The Secret Life of Psi Sykora

He had cleaned the blood off of his face, along with the dirt, revealing a pale face peppered with freckles. His emerald green eyes darted around the room before he made his way over to the bed. He walked with a slight limp, and his face twisted with pain whenever he put his left foot down. Bruises were appearing along his arms, and one on his jaw. He lowered himself onto the bed next to her and flashed her a smile. He had washed his hair, and it fell around his eyes clean and platinum blonde.

"Are you feeling any better?" Indigo asked him.

"Yes... No. Not really. I mean, it doesn't hurt like it did, it's more of a deep ache now."

"Why are you out of bed?"

"Because I wanted to know what was going on, and then Milo seemed so upset and I told him I'd help him look for you."

"You should have stayed in bed."

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm a rebel."

"Yeah, for real now."

"So I heard. So, does it make me a rebel if I didn't technically do anything wrong?"

"I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. But we are in a lot of trouble."

"So playing the part of prisoner isn't going to fly?"

"Probably not," Indigo said, noticing a smile flitting across Psi's face.

"Cool. I mean, it sucks that we're in so much trouble and probably going to die, but still... It's kind of cool."

"I don't quite understand what about this situation is cool."

"Come on, it's like an action movie. Did you ever watch movies?"

"When I went to Milo's house, yeah. My nana couldn't afford a Screen to watch them."

"Did you and Milo ever watch action movies? Adventure movies?"

"I don't know what an adventure movie is."

Psi grinned and pushed his hair back. "It's hard to explain. An adventure movie is a movie that follows a hero, or group of heroes, into an unknown landscape. They... go through a series of tests or obstacles or something along those lines. They discover new things and learn about the new place. That's kind of how this feels. We're trekking into unknown territory without a plan."

"And you find that exciting?" Indigo asked, shooting him a questioning look.

"Yes! Why do you think books and movies about this kind of stuff sell so well?"

Indigo just continued to stare at him, completely bewildered.

Psi brushed his hand across his forehead, carefully avoiding the cuts there, and gave a small chuckle. "Okay, you know what? Forget about that for right now. Maybe I'm just really weird."

"Well, I want to understand why you find this fun, I just don't understand..."

"I was a big book person when I was little. I'd read any book I could get my hands on, whether I hated it or not. The books I loved the most were books about people defying their government. I always thought it would be amazing to be confident and powerful enough to defy those who have oppressed me my whole life."

"So you feel like this is an opportunity to be like a character in a book," Indigo said.

"Yes! I mean, I know that this is just a romanticized idea and that those characters are never very happy with their lot, but... to finally take control of my own life... that's what's exciting for me."