The Hidden Terra

Robin Hood and the Hughes Family

The main halls of the Vitus were bustling with people around trying to frantically set up and brighten the stage at the Main Division. Each and every personnel had their own task.

Small children dressed neatly in blue uniforms coated with crests of doves were being guided into formation. The older woman in front of the children could already feel one of her eyes twitching non-stop from the frustration of putting these- these little brats together. Heavily exhaling she looked towards a young teenager with messy brown hair quietly entering the hall. Her glare deepened as she turned to look at his sneaky form.

"Kalden! Get over here!"

The boy looked over his shoulder as his eyes widened. Fuck I'm screwed. Slowly turning towards his mother, he hurriedly went up to her with a forced smile. Hesitating, he greeted her, "Hey, mom. I can totally explai-" Before he could say anything else he was lightly hit up his head. "Don't you 'hey' me. You can 'hey' your friends and everyone else but not me."

"Ok, ok. Jesus," he whispered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Uh, I said thesis."

Some kid from behind his mother mouthed, "Sissy."

"Thesis?"

"Uh yeah, I lost track of time filing my new thesis on some illness. I had to quickly file it on the Medi System for Dr. Lebedev." Kalden was trying to subtly glare at the annoying kid.

"Alexander? Was Adri with her dad?"

"Um, no. I-I haven't seen cuz since the day started." Please buy it. Can't really tell mom that her son was trying to unsuccessfully woo a girl. There was no thesis. Only a cold stubborn girl that wouldn't give him the time of day.

"Jess! We need you over here!", a familiar voice was heard from across the hall.

"Just a minute, Forlen!", Jessie called turning back to look at her son.

Hesitating, Kalden asked, "Do you need me to take over?". Say no, say no, please say no. This is just to get on mom's good side.

Jessie looked at her son only figuring out seconds later that he was only being polite. She still wondered how this idle son of hers even got the position of a third ranked doctor. Nevermind, that explains why he's still a third ranked doctor.

Jessie waved her hand saying, "Forget it. I'll have someone else take over. You go find your cousin. The ceremony is going to start soon." This is a big day for her. Never thought she would have taken the military path like her mother. Jessie quietly thought before walking over to her husband.

Kalden's relief fell short as he saw his mother walking over to his father. Adri. How am I suppose find her?

As he looked up to the ceiling while rubbing his eyes, he felt something crumble onto him. Squinting his eyes, he noticed a shadow in the ventilation system.

Again? Goddammit Adrina Lebedeva!

Leaving the main hall, Kalden made sure no one was following him as he made his way to the one place he knew his cousin would reveal herself.

Muted sounds passed through Adrina's ears as she crawled through the vent. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the duffel bag that was attached to her body.

Nearly lost all those damn crackers. Hopefully no one noticed anything.

Adrina continued moving until she saw a familiar x carved into the metal wall there a vent exit in front of her. Crawling closer to it and peeking through, she saw a pale green-eyed woman pulling her strawberry blonde hair into a ponytail.

A smile appeared on Adrina's face as she saw two identical boys at the age of 14 laying on the one only bed in the room. Scanning the room one more time, making sure that there was no one else in the room she tapped a rhythm on the vent exit.

"Tap-tap. Tap, tap-tap. Tap."

The twins immediately jumped from the bed with big excited smiles hearing the familiar tune.

"Carrie!"

"Sis!"

"Adri's here!". Both twin boys called to their sister

Carrie led the twins to the vent.

"Adri, you ready?"

A small yeah was heard from inside the vent.

With a nod towards the twins, they removed the vent door carefully.

Adrina crawled out with her duffel bag following after her. Taking the duffel bag she took out the contents, showing it to the small family of siblings.

"Extra rations. Food. Water. The medicine you needed. Oh! I found this in the old inventory. Here's a card game for you boys."

The Hughes family felt very touched. For the twins, It has been a long time since anyone took care of them like this. The only people they knew of were their late parents and Carrie.

"Thanks Adri!" The twins exclaimed.

"Ah no problem! Ry-bear. Ethie. The card game here. Think of it as a reward for excelling at those new skills I taught. Remember, if you can't beat one with strength, use the attacker's momentum against them." Adrina explained staring into the twins' identical grey-blue eyes. The only slight difference between them was that Ryan had messy chestnut colored hair while Ethan had neat auburn hair.

"Thanks Adri."

"Adri, do you think we can learn how to use guns and other cool stuff?" Ryan sheepishly asked. Ethan nearly facepalmed while Carrie hissed Ryan's full name. Ryan merely said sorry before remembering the cold hard truth and collecting himself.

Adrina stood there blankly not sure of what to say. It would be a huge risk to take them out of hiding without anyone noticing. Almost everyone knew everyone. Adrina thought about what would become of the twin's future. Legally they didn't exist. They'd be forever here, in this small unit until one of them can't handle it anymore. I wish things were different. I wish I could help more. But, how? Honestly, she herself wasn't sure how long it would be before they were found out. But she had to keep a positive attitude. A shield, a smile, no matter how difficult things were. If not for herself then for the Hughes family. Her family.

Adrina had a habit of travelling through the vents. Not that she wanted to stalk people nor be a peeping tom. She used the vents to spy on important meetings of The Board. That's how she found out one of the board's biggest secrets.

The best thing that came out from this was this small family. She was shocked at first. The law stated that there would only be one child per family. Trying to see more, she tried moving the vent door but only ended up falling through the ceiling. The family was terrified upon being discovered. The twins were a sobbing mess. Carrie blocked the exit begging for Adrina to not tell anyone and that she would do anything. Adrina tried running away first before remembering how her grams talked about her grand uncle. Although Kalden and her were second cousins. She considered him a brother. Sympathizing with the family, she stayed and heard them out. From that fateful meeting, they became closer. Adrina having access to most facilities due to her family's various important professions, she was able to help Carrie keep the twins fed, clothed and content.

Having more than one child was a crime. Theft was a crime. Being an accomplice of a crime was a crime. Carrie knew exactly what was going through the raven's head. She was grateful that she had her brothers and Adrina. Carrie was not only worried for her family's safety but for Adrina's too. Adrina became apart of their family. Carrie sighed before turning to Adrina and taking her hands.

"Adrina, if this is too much. You can always stop." Carrie whispered to Adrina while the twins were busy setting up the cards quietly trying not to think too much.

Adrina put a comforting warm hand on Carrie's shoulder. "Hey, we're in this together. Always and forever. Plus, we might be even family one day. Kalden's been talking about you non-stop." Adrina wiggled her dark eyebrows at Carrie.

Carrie groaned, "Please don't start." Adrina laughed at Carrie's discomfort. Both of them trying to lighten up the dark mood and get rid of the "what if" thoughts.