Chapter 32 - Freedom Unites with Different Races
Today is my first day living in the palace. Sure I’ve been in here quite a few times and they gave me a tour, but now it’s my actual house. I get to live here. Rolla gave me her old room and my mom took Rolla’s sister Jasmine’s old room. I’m pretty sure our new rooms are the size of our old house. I finished unpacking my boxes when Rolla ran into the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
She was breathing hard holding in her stomach, “The Tigmas have all gathered in the quad. I think they’ve made their decision. The governor is speaking for all of them.”
“Let’s go,” I told her.
We walked out of the palace meeting the gaze of every Tigma in Murera. Carter walked up to me and held my hand while Rolla and Pilote stepped on the stage. Carter and I walked around where Brittany and Mike were. Rolla and Pilote stood next to the governor who was at the microphone.
The governor started his speech he clearly prepared, “We are gathered here today to explain our views of this situation. Everybody took the time to read the books the King and Queen provided us with and we had a town meeting to discuss the majority views of this. After seeing the lovely statue and reading the book we are aware that many of our families fought in the war 200 years ago. It has been brave of so many of you to sign up to help the cause already. King and Queen, I now address only the two of you. You have protected us to the best of your ability although many of us don’t agree on the method, but none the less you are our King and Queen. We would like to see what else is out there but we cannot do that until we have gained our freedom. Therefore, we stand with you.”
The governor bowed to Rolla and Pilote. They took the microphone next. I could see how happy Rolla is that they’ve decided to stand with us. Rolla took the microphone in her hands smiling, “I am so happy you stand with us. I promise you that we will get our freedom back and every single of you will be able to explore every world that exists if you choose to. To celebrate this colossal decision I have an announcement about those of you who have signed up to join the fight like your ancestors: the chief of the army is none other than Lily Allen Carter.”
What?! I looked over at Carter as he smiled at me. Did you know about this?
Lily you are the black tiger; you are the key to this war. It only makes sense that you’re the chief of the army.
“Lily,” Rolla said, “Would you like to address the people?”
I slowly made my way on stage as Rolla handed me the microphone, “Thank you. I can assure you that you are as surprised as I am. I know I have what it takes to be the chief of this army. I am more determined than anybody else to fight anybody who gets in the way of our freedom. I will be meeting and talking to everybody who signed up soon so I can figure out a plan.”
I stepped back and handed the microphone back to Rolla, but she passed it to Pilote.
“Thank you everybody,” he said. “I know how confusing and terrifying this must be for everybody, but we were once just like you. For the first sixteen years of our life we had no idea Murera existed. Rolla spent those years thinking there was nobody else out there like her. We know what it’s like to be lost and not know what is out there in the world. We have fought our enemies once and won when we had absolutely no allies behind us. You see, Rolla and I had a plan if we could not convince you. There is another race called the Silthra. Two hundred years ago we made an alliance with them during the war. They have been our allies since this day, and we have formed a bond unlike any of the other races. We asked them to arrive here today.”
As I turned my head I saw a few people walking down the stairs of the balcony. They were wearing expensive clothes and one of the guys wore a crown on his head. This has to be the Silthra but they look just like humans. Pilote handed the microphone over to him.
“I am the King of the Silthra. My entire family has been in league with the Tigmas since Rolla’s sister Jasmine married my ancestor. Our royal families are forever bound by family therefore we are helping with this fight. The Silthra army is temporarily moving into Murera in order to work closely with Lily Carter and the rest of the army. You may seem like the minority in the world but I can assure you that every race that exists is supporting you. We have our secret weapon this time and we will win, for good this time.”
“What’s the secret weapon?” One of the Tigmas asked.
The king smiled at me, did Rolla tell him about me? How many people has she told? Does everybody know I’m this black tiger person? Without saying anything he handed the microphone over to me. I looked at Rolla for help before I could hear her voice.
Do not say the word black tiger. Only say you are the secret weapon. Do not give details.
I nodded at Rolla before beginning, “I am the secret weapon. I know I don’t seem like a big threat but I can assure you I am the weapon we need.”
I gave the microphone back to Rolla and she address Murera one more time, “Thank you so much from all of us for making the decision to stand with us. Once again we will be happy to talk with anybody who has questions for us, including members of the Silthra.”
Rolla and Pilote dismissed us and Carter came with me to the palace to talk with the Silthra. Rolla lead us to a meeting room so I could speak with the Silthra alone. Carter, of course, came with me though.
“So you are the secret weapon I’ve been hearing all about,” he said.
I nodded, “Lily Carter. It’s nice to meet you.”
He shook my hand, “I’m Brady Diamond, King of the Silthra and these two men that came with me are my brothers.”
“Where are the rest of the Silthra?” Carter asked.
“Who is this?” Brady asked.
I replied, “Oh sorry, this is my soul mate Carter Lanson. He’s right though where are the rest of the Silthra?”
“They should be arriving as we speak,” he answered, “and it is nice to meet you too Carter. What is your plan of action Lily?”
“I want to finish training first. I’m not even close to being fully trained and neither is any of the Tigmas. They JUST agreed to fight so I think we all need to be trained together. They need to learn to be who they are.”
“What about the rumors about the humans?” he asked.
“Topanga and Sam are looking into it. Until I hear instructions from Rolla we don’t have to worry about the humans. If we really are as united as Rolla’s been telling me about then we have to prove it to the other Tigmas.”
He nodded, “I agree. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
“Go through and look at the sign-up sheets. Talk to each person who signed up individually and make sure they are up for the challenge and for training. We will split the list in two: you take half and Carter and I take the other half. Put a check when you’ve finished and tell them to meet at the training center tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, “Rolla and Pilote already agreed to train Carter and I so we should add a few people; give them a tour of the center and explain how it’ll work.”
“I can do that. Anything else?”
I shook my head, “You should all get settled first. Pick up the sign-ups sheets on this side of town for me and Carter and I will take the sheets on the other side of town.”
“I will do that, Lily.”
“Thank you,” I smiled.
“May I go?”
“Of course,” I nodded, “Have a great day.”
“You too.”
I quickly took Carter’s hand and we ran to the other side of town. Selita and Clementine decided to help us gather the sign-up sheets.
“Today is a weird day,” I said.
Carter replied, “I agree.”
“Pilote told you about the Silthra right?”
He nodded, “He told me the important parts.”
“I can’t believe the alliance with the Silthra lasted two hundred years and the alliance with the humans fell apart. Rolla’s sister married a Silthra alliancing us with the Silthra, but Rolla’s friend Nikki married a human forcing them to alliance with us too. What happened to change things?”
He shrugged, “Maybe our races feel things differently. Our emotions, abilities, and love is heightened.”
“That’s true. Maybe our alliance with the Silthra became stronger because of those heightened emotions and abilities while the alliance with the humans never reached that height. It would make sense. Eventually everybody forgot whereas our races could never forget.”
“I think it’s our job to remind them.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
We took the sign-ups sheets and started making our rounds to everybody on the list. To my surprise I found Mike’s name on the list.
“Carter… he can’t. Mike can’t sign up. Doesn’t he know? Has nobody told him yet?”
Carter shrugged, “Apparently not.”
“I need to see him now.”
We went out of our way to go to Mike’s house to talk to him. He let us in and we sat in the living room with him and his dad.
“Mike, there’s something you need to understand about you and your family. Maybe we should have told you sooner but since nobody has told you yet I have to. It’s not a good idea for you to sign-up to help in this war. You can’t do it.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Mike… you’re not…”
“Tigma,” Carter finished, “You’re not a Tigma Mike, you’re a human.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mike it’s true. Apparently when our worlds separated two hundred years ago a few humans got stuck down here while some Tigmas got stuck up there. Your family is part human. You do not have the same abilities that the rest of the Tigmas or Silthras have. Your ancestors are human so when they married to the Tigmas many of the descendants ended up completely human while others displayed some Tigma powers. If you enter this war you have to know that you do not have the same abilities that we have. You will struggle just to be trained. If you want to help it cannot be in a physical way.”
“You’re telling me that we’re human?” his dad asked.
“Part human,” I clarified, “Obviously only a few humans were stuck down here so they mated with Tigmas. Their children ended up either Tigma or human or half-Tigma half-human. As the generations passed the Tigma powers in your family dwindled.”
“I noticed it the first time I touched you,” Carter said. “That day we met in the store and you were jealous that I was with Lily. You didn’t have the same strength I had and I immediately knew you had to be human.”
“You’ve known that long?” Mike asked us.
Carter and I both nodded.
“There has to be something I can do to help.”
“Like I said it can’t be in the army or anything physical like that, but we can always use help in another way. I’ll write you down for something else, I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks Lily.”
I nodded.
“Lily, I never got the chance to formally apologize for putting both of you in jail.”
I smiled, “You don’t have to apologize any more than you already have sheriff. I would have done the same thing in your position. When too many memory spells are done on people’s brains not all of them can handle it. Your brain started taking its toll which is why you were so confused.”
“You two have been keeping this secret for a long time,” he said.
We both nodded.
“I am honored to know you. If you need any help sign me up for something too.”
“We will,” I smiled, “and thank you. We should get going to the other houses.”
After going to most of the houses we met with Brady and traded lists so Carter and I could finish up on our side of town. Another surprise popped up when I saw Brittany on the list. We went to her house next and sat down with her parents.
“Do you really want to do this?” I asked Brittany.
She nodded, “Where else would I be? I have been with you every step of the way. I’ve been in this fight since we snuck into the library to figure out your dream. I want to be part of the army fighting against the humans. I want to see that other world and I want to take part in getting it back.”
“Okay,” I smiled, “Then we’ll put you on the list.”
I turned to her mom next, “I’m sorry about the impression I’ve made on Brittany. I know that you’ve thought I’ve straightened up and started settling down and that forced you to believe Brittany was still the rebel, but now that you’ve read the book you realize it was nothing like that. Carter and I had to create that impression on people because we couldn’t risk our secret getting out. I didn’t mean to betray Brittany in any way and I know you’re probably confused trying to figure out what to do next.”
She shook her head, “On the contrary, it all makes sense now.”
“It does?” I asked.
She nodded, “It did seem like you were settling down and Brittany was still wild, but after we received that shocking news and I read the book everything made sense. You are the royalty and you found out first because you are part of the family, but they were not ready for the world to know yet. They taught you about the history and the world first because they need your help. You left Brittany out because you didn’t want her dragged into your problems.”
“That’s pretty good,” I smiled.
“I added everything up after reading the book. I don’t blame you for anything of this Lily, I am thankful for you. The families are panicking now because our traditions were never traditions at all they were barriers put up so we never found out the truth. Some Tigmas are so stuck in their ways that they’re having a hard time admitting who they really are. I’m afraid not everybody is ready to be a Tigma just yet. Some might even die before activating their powers at all.”
I nodded, “We figured something like that might happen that’s why the war isn’t going to start right away. We are talking to people, training an army, researching and planning for the war, and doing everything strategically. I told Rolla I wouldn’t do this unless I knew everything. We need to be smart but fierce about this. Brittany, can you meet us tomorrow morning? Everybody who’s interested in starting their training is meeting at the training center. That’s the two buildings connected to the palace. There will be a sign put up.”
She nodded, “I’ll be there.”
“Good,” I smiled, “You were actually our last stop I think. Right?”
Carter nodded, “We got to everybody.”
“Sweet, can we go home?”
“Yeah,” he put his arm around me, “I’m tired too. Palace or Chosen Ones or my house?”
“How about the chosen ones? I have a feeling the palace is going to be chaos tonight and I like how private the chosen ones’ house is.”
“Yeah we can go there. Rolla and Pilote gave us permission to stay there anytime we wanted anyway.”
“Great,” I smiled. “Bye Brittany.”
“Bye Lil.”
Carter took me up to the chosen ones’ house where we picked a room to sleep in. I changed into my pajamas in my room before running back up to the chosen ones’ house to sleep. I crawled in next to Carter and set my head on his chest making sure to hug him to me. He wrapped his arms around me in return and kissed my head.
“Forget the crazy day we had today, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“Goodnight, I love you.”
“I love you too,” I smiled.