Fateful Hindrance

1. Here Lies Emmy Alexander's Hopes And Dreams

Juliet nodded.  “Yes, it is.  But like I said, it’s just a matter of when.”

“Awesome.  I don’t really understand why we have to do it this way, even if…”

“You know, Emmy, we gave you the choice to come with us or go home.  If this is making you feel…”

“But I’m not doing this for me.  I’m doing it for you and everyone else.  This isn’t about me right now, no matter how it’s making me feel.”

“And it’s a very wise choice that you’re making.  I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who thinks so, am I correct?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Pursing my lips, I looked away from her and back out the window at the starry sky.  “No, you’re not.”

Because she wasn’t the only one who agreed with this plan.

 ...

“What do you mean?” I asked, staring up at him with wide eyes.  “You…you know what she wants me to do?”

Ed smiled slightly, nodding his head as he sat down in his desk chair, looking over at the bronze boxes on the table, which he and Paul had moved against the wall.  “Yes, I know Juliet wants you.  The email I mentioned before…it was from her, explaining everything.  No one knows this but the two of us now, but I’ve been in communication for the past few years, ever since the accident with Kathleen and Braewyn.”

“You mean…you’ve been giving her information,” I stated, trying to wrap my mind around it.  “You’re the insider Ryan told me about.  You’re the reason they’re always one step ahead of us?  How could you?”

“How could I not when the Order is out there?  The Brotherhood and The Knights have seemingly always been at war.  But really we haven’t.  There are just certain things that have happened in the past that turned some members of one against the other.  It’s mainly on our side.  Juliet and the Knights have always been there to help, her father before her, and so on.   I am not the only insider, though.  There is someone else who’s been helping…but that’s a story for later.”

“But John…”

“John is blinded by the past, what happened with his mother and Brae.  He knows about the Order and what they’re capable of, but he doesn’t want to see the fact that Brae was one of them.”

“You mean…you mean he knows about them?  I thought…”

“You thought that I was the only one?”  He smiled, shaking his head.  “Everyone knows about them, we just don’t…talk about them as much.  Mostly because to us, they’re in the past.  But as for the Knights helping to protect us, that’s what they don’t know.  They’re not out to destroy us.”

“So what do you think of Juliet’s plan for me if I were to agree?  What do you think I should do?”

I was a little hesitant about asking him the question, not knowing what his answer would be.  I wanted him to tell me not to do it, that it would be a waste of time when I could be helping them.  But the way he was looking at me…

“I think you should do it.”

Closing my eyes, I swallowed the lump that had automatically formed in my throat.  “But why?  Why can’t I just stay here with all of you?”

“Because as much as we need you, as much as John needs you…they need you a little bit more.  And it’s not like you’ll be gone forever.  I talked with Juliet after getting her email.  They’ve got a plan for you.  You’re going to go through training before you go out.  But there’s something else that has to happen before you can do just that, something that’s…”