Book 1: Tiger's Eye
Book 2: Concealment
Book 3: Ignited
Book 4: Fidelity
Chapter 7
"Remember me?" she asked.
"No," I replied. I would not lie to my sister. A few months ago I had no idea the Tigma race existed, let alone remember anything about my life there.
"Me either. Crazy right?"
"Definitely."
We stood there staring at each other with Pilote and Vince staring back at us. More of the chosen ones showed up, but none of us moved. Everyone stood there watching Jasmine and I as we stared at each other. I couldn't tell who was more scared. Jasmine smiled and I smiled back before we hugged each other tightly. I don't know how long we stood there looking at each other, but some of the chosen ones lived halfway across the world. It took them a long time to get there. It's the first time we've all stood in the same room together since we were born.
Jasmine and I let go of each other and we approached the star as she took off her necklace. The other eight already put theirs in while Jasmine and I were staring at each other. Jasmine was last and I had a feeling Caprika and Odyss knew that and something big was about to happen. After all, it's the first time the chosen ones have united. She slowly put it in and the entire room lit up. The paintings on the walls all came to life and told our story around us before our eyes. None of us had to move. The pictures moved around for us. This was more than Tigmas. This was magic. Jasmine and I were raised above the ground and forced into the middle of the room as the chosen ones circled us. Gravity wasn't controlling us anymore. Nothing was. Jasmine and I stood back to back and the chosen ones hovered above the ground in a circle. We grabbed each other's hands and the others repeated. Slowly, we lowered back to the ground and the room dimmed and the pictures returned to the wall. That was more than I expected to happen. Jasmine and I landed on a large chest. I couldn't tell when it had appeared there. When we opened it we saw brand new necklaces.
The new necklaces looked like circular gold coins on a gold chain. It was a duplicate of the painting except the middle was a full heart instead of a broken one because Jasmine and I were united. We grabbed one and put it on, looked at each other, and finally started talking. We finally had a chance to get to know each other. Pilote came over and wrapped his arms around me. We all sat on the ground and started talking.
"First question," Selma said, "Are you two soulmates?"
Pilote and I both chuckled a little. "Yes," I told her, "We are."
"Phew," she said.
"Why?" Pilote asked.
"Didn't you guys read the soul mate part of the book?" Carlot asked.
"Not really," I said, "I just started reading it. I haven't even finished it yet."
"The book says that one of the chosen ones will have a soul mate in the group," Selma said. "Only two chosen ones will find their soul mates first because it's each other. The rest of us have to wait until we've figured out the war and found where everyone's hiding."
I looked at Pilote, "Did you know that?"
He nodded, "I was pretty happy when I found out it was us."
I giggled, "I'm sure you were."
We each told our story, starting with Jasmine and I. Since I found the place, I went first and told them everything I knew. When I finished I sat quietly and listened to Jasmine. I couldn't read her mind like I could Pilote so I still knew nothing about her. I leaned against Pilote and listened closely.
"I lived in California. Like Rolla's parents, mine were also spies. I snuck into my parents' bedroom when I was 16 and found my stuff. You know, the big book and stone hearts we were given. I took it to my room and read through it. I didn't fall asleep until two or three in the morning and my parents tried to kill me in my sleep, but it didn't work. I woke up covered in blood. I was so freaked out, but they were more than I was. Their eyes were so big when I walked down to eat breakfast. They went upstairs to talk because they didn't think I could hear. I never told my parents about any of my abilities. I hid it from them because I was afraid they thought I was a freak, but they knew I was a Tigma anyway. I overheard what they were saying and that night, I packed my stuff and left. I've been living on my own since. I suspect somehow they figured out who the leaders were and they wanted to kill us before finding the others," she explained. "They probably thought they could win the fight without a war actually happening. Fortunately for me, my parents didn't know that human weapons cannot kill a Tigma."
"Wait," I said, "How old are you?"
"18," she replied.
"Oh cool. An older sister," I said.
"Aw!" she said, "I have a younger sister!"
"Yes I just turned 16," I said laughing.
"Yes! Happy Birthday!" she said hugging me, "I want to hear about Pilote."
I looked up at Pilote who still had his arms around me and waited for him to respond. "I found her months ago, but we've been together since the day we killed that Silthra," he said.
"What was it like?" Layal asked, "To kill a Silthra".
"Rolla did it actually. I passed her the dust and she did the rest," he said.
"We've all got a past," John said trying to move the conversation along, "What yours?"
That's when Pilote told his story. I already knew it since we were soul mates, but it was different hearing him say it out loud. "I grew up here in New York. I grew up in and out of foster families. Since no one adopted me, I had all the information with me," he said. "I grew up reading it to myself."
"Wait, why did no one adopt you?" Teegan asked.
"My abilities. It freaked people out and they couldn't handle it. I used my abilities without realizing it. I started living on my own. The foster families and police tried looking for me for a while but with all my abilities they never found me. I outsmarted them and moved to the opposite side of town. Eventually they stopped looking. I was on the computer when I found Rolla's blog. That's when I started watching her," he said.
"Aw!" Layal said, "That's so cute!"
"Enough about me," Pilote said, "Who's next?"
"I'll go," Layal said, "I'm from Mexico. A nice family in Mexico City adopted me. I got along with everyone there. When my abilities came my parents decided it was best not to tell anyone else so it became a family secret. When Rolla made the painting light up, my necklace flashed in the middle of history class and I knew it was time. I ran out of class and straight here as fast as I could. I didn't even say goodbye to anybody."
"You can," I told her, "You can borrow my computer or my phone and contact them."
"Thanks Rolla," she smiled.
"I'll tell my story now," Seth said, "I grew up in Michigan. My town was so small that I'm not sure they wanted to know what the Tigmas are, but they all knew about my abilities."
"How'd they handle it?" Carlot asked him.
"Most of them thought it was cool," he chuckled, "But I wasn't exactly the popular guy. I stuck to school most of the time with the rest of my friends. I wasn't allowed to join the sports teams because I had an unfair advantage so I didn't bother telling them that my abilities were also the reason I got my school work done so fast. I graduated at 14 and finished college at 17."
"How old are you now?" I asked.
"I'll be 18 in a few months. When you lit that painting up I was in the lab. I got a job as a scientist. When I left my town I didn't tell anyone about my abilities. I didn't want to be treated differently like I was in high school. The looks on the scientists' faces made it seem like they wanted to study me so I ran out of there. I would have liked to see their faces when they saw how fast I ran."
Everyone laughed and Selma began telling her story. "I have a boring story compared to you guys," she told us, "I lived in England with a family that was obsessed with taking family vacations and doing everything as a family. When all my abilities came and I didn't know how to control them, all the family vacations became private and soon I was stuck in the house living off my computer."
"That's not boring," I told her, "I was stuck in the house too... technically."
"What'd you do?" she asked.
"Just like I said before, I snuck out," I laughed. "I stayed in a lot but eventually I couldn't do that anymore. I started sneaking out and going to the city. It was the only time I was grateful for my abilities. Having a Tigma's knowledge worked out because I used my intelligence to create a fake ID so I could sneak into clubs. I managed to create three fake IDs and three separate back stories in case anyone asked me too many questions. I did so well that I never fooled any of them, ever."
"I did the same thing," she chuckled, "I would sneak to London and do everything I never got to do when I was out with my family. I suddenly loved having my abilities because I could sneak into places that I would normally be under aged for."
"I think we've all done that," Carlot said.
"Okay," Selma said, "Then your turn."
"The best part about my story is that somehow I ended up in Africa," everyone started laughing but she kept a straight face and continued telling her story, "I looked so different and I was so scared of my abilities that I didn't bother using them... ever. At first, no one would adopt me or be a foster parent to me. When I was 10 they found a foster family that was interested, but they lived in Spain. I lived in Spain until I was 13 and they decided they weren't the right parents for me so I moved from Spain to the United States. I lived in random houses and orphanages until I was 14 and another family decided to adopt me, but by that time I was so sick of moving around and getting to know people that I didn't talk to anyone. I carried my stone heart and my Tigma book everywhere I went and read it nonstop. I think I have that thing memorized."
"How'd you leave them?" Jasmine asked, "When Rolla called us here?"
"I didn't mean to."
Pilote chuckled, "You know what she means."
Carlot smiled, "That was the first time I spoke to them. My necklace lit up while we ate lunch and they asked what it was about. I was so excited that it was happening that I forgot I wasn't speaking to them. A big grin spread across my face and I told them it was time for me to leave. I still remember the look on their faces. I thanked them for being the only family I've had that cared about me and left. They're probably still sitting at the table wondering what happened."
"Okay Vince, your turn."
"I lived in Florida with an old couple. They never had any kids and someone needed to be there to help take care of them so they adopted me when they were in their early 60s. They were so happy to have a son I don't think it mattered that I was a little different. My mom died when I was 15 and she was 76 years old. From then on I lived with my dad. He was a professional baseball player in his day so he cared a lot about health and never got rid of his gym which I started using every day. I read him my Tigma book every day before we both went to bed to make him happy. He loved hearing the stories. It made him feel closer to me. So when it was time to leave, he was ready for it too."
"That's beautiful," Jasmine smiled.
"It is," I agreed, "You'll have to call him later and tell him what happened."
"Do you mind if I call him now? He's going to sleep soon."
"Go ahead," I told him.
"That leaves me and John," Teegan said, "Do you want to go?"
John shook his head, "Ladies first."
"Okay," she smiled, "I grew up in Texas. I'm like Pilote actually. I never had a permanent home so I've lived on my own for most of my life but there were times when someone was always willing to help if I needed it. It made the transition easier when my abilities came because I didn't have to worry about hiding things from people or who I should tell and who I shouldn't. I like it that way."
"You guys aren't going to like mine much," John said once Teegan had finished, "I had a good family I guess, but once they adopted me they were stuck with me and they regretted it. I hung out with the wrong crowd and when my abilities came they used it against the law. I ran from the cops every night when they pressured me to do something for them and it got me expelled from school. I turned 16 a few months ago and tattooed up my arm and got grounded for a month for forging my mom's signature. I was relieved when I got to leave."
"Wow."
"Now that we all know each other, we should do something!" Jasmine said.
"Like what?" Layal asked.
"Let's go out for a pizza," I suggested, "I'm starving."
"You really think it's a good idea to go out there?" Pilote asked me.
"We can't hide forever and we just met. Pizza is exactly what we need. We don't really have anywhere else to go."
"I'll show you guys my apartment," Pilote suggested, "We can stay there for the night. It's the only place we've got. Rolla and I thought about staying here, but that was before we found all of you so my apartment has more space for us."
"Now that mine's not available," I added.
Pilote put his arm around me, "Your apartment is my apartment."
"Thank you," I smiled, "Now let's go!"
We all stood up and stretched our legs. Pilote and I showed them to one of the pizza places in town and we had the waitresses put together a couple tables so we could sit together. We ordered four pizzas and sat around talking while we waited for the food to get there.
"I have a question," Selma said, "if the room of rulers was meant for us then shouldn't there be a place for us to stay there? I don't know it doesn't make sense to me to that we have to find a place to stay."
"She has a point," John replied. "Did the book say anything about that?"
"It didn't," Carlot said, "It didn't say anything about all the pictures floating or new necklaces either though. I think we're supposed to figure it out ourselves."
"Maybe we should check out the room of rulers more," I suggested.
"I agree," Pilote said, "We can go there after we eat."
We finished eating and went back to the room of rulers instead of going to Pilote's apartment. Pilote, Carlote, Selma, Jasmine, and I got tired of looking after an hour so we sat around and talked while the rest of them looked.
"Can't you help us?" John asked, walking around us.
I shook my head, "I'm tired."
"Fine," Jasmine groaned, "I'll look more."
Pilote put his arms around me, "It's been a crazy day."
"Definitely," I agreed, "I didn't get to blog today."
He chuckled, "Is that all you can think about?"
"Hey, blogging used to be my life before all this chaos."
"That's true," he smiled.
"Guys!" Jasmine yelled, "This isn't normal!"
We were scattered around the room of rulers at the time and we rushed to Jasmine. Right next to the star painting there was a doorway that wasn't there before. "That wasn't there before," Seth said.
"What'd you do?" I asked her.
"I couldn't read the paintings so I tried to take the torch out of the wall but it wouldn't move. I tried twisting it out then the wall started to move and this doorway appeared."
It was a house. All made of stone like the rest of the meeting room. It had nine bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a library, a gym, and a bathroom for each bedroom. Carrying all of our stuff down there we started to unpack. While the walls were stone, it was furnished with comfortable furniture. We didn't have to buy anything new; it had everything we already needed. I have no idea how the Tigmas managed it, but I guess that is part of the magic.
Over the next couple weeks we tried to get used to living together. We added security onto the door by fingerprint recognition. Only one of us could enter. We shopped and hung out during the day and went out to train at night. We became a close family. There was one problem: we were no longer a part of the human world. We were stuck in our own world and had no communication with the outside world. Shopping became the only time we felt part of the human world and we found something wrong with that. We knew we made a wrong decision along the way.
"This isn't what they wanted," Teegan said. "We're perfectly trained, stronger than we've ever been, but we don't know the world. What wrong choice did we make after meeting?"
"They could be planning something against us now and we wouldn't know it," Layal said. "If the war happened today we would fail."
They were right, but I had no idea how to fix it. We have to be a part of it I heard Pilote think. I thought about what he meant when Jasmine spoke up.
"Let's go out there. I don't see the big deal here," she said.
"Wait," I interrupted, "We are all 18 or under right? Or we at least look 18 or under?" I saw everyone nod so I continued, "According to the human world, we're supposed to be in school".
You got it Pilote thought to me.
"Why couldn't you say it?" I asked turning to him. He hugged me and smiled. Everyone looked from Pilote to me wondering what was going on. Damn it, I forgot he did not say that out loud.
"You guys can read minds?" Jasmine asked, "That's awesome!"
"Yes," I said, "but seriously, think about it. We'll make friends, get to know the world. What better way to be part of the human world?"
Pilote and I looked around, ending at Jasmine. It took her awhile, but she finally realized it. "And make allies!" she shouted.