"Peony time to wake up!" Peony's father, nudged her shoulder.
"Five more minutes." She groaned.
"Fine I guess I'll go get your mother then...She can wake you up." Peony didn't care, it's not like her mom would jump on her or anything. Just as she started drifting back to sleep she heard two voices.
"One...Two...Three!" They said together.
Freezing water was splashed in her face, she jolted out of her bed, jumping up and down to get to get warm again. She noticed her parents laughing at her.
"Mom! Dad! That's not funny!" She yelled, still jumping.
Her mother chuckled, "I wish I had this much fun when I was your age."
"Mom I think you need a hug," Peony smiled mischievously. The water clung to her shirt.
She started backing away, "Oh, I think I'm good, honey, it could fry my wiring...But I'm sure your dad wants one, it was his idea to dump water on you," She suggested.
Peony considered, "I think your right, Mom."
"I'll hold him back."
"What? Cinder, it was your idea!" Dad protested. But Mom held her husband's arms behind his back. Peony wrapped her arms around her father's lean figure. He went rigid, as the water soaked through his shirt. "Stars that's cold, Peony!"
She let go and kissed her father on the cheek, "Love you, Dad."
"Yeah, yeah. I love you too."
But the words were drowned out as Peony began slipping back to consciousness. Her aunt Iko was shaking her shoulders. "Peony time to wake up. You don't want to be late for school."
She whined, "But I don't want to go!"
"I know, I know. But you have to get an education, so get up." Iko rolled her over and pulled on her arms, dragging her out of bed and onto the floor.
"Stars, I get it! I'm awake!" Iko sighed and left the room, leaving Peony alone to get dressed.
Peony rolled up off of the tan carpet. Out of her small closet she grabbed lightly colored jean shorts, a black v-necked shirt, and a lime green hoodie. Peony looked in her mirror. For some strange reason she had a deep hatred for it; almost as if it would tell the galaxy her secrets--not that she had many to begin with.
She examined her reflection. Peony was fifteen years old, her birthday coming up in a few weeks. She pulled up her long, mousey, black hair in a messy ponytail. Her skin was lightly tanned and her brown eyes were lined with thick, black lashes. She pulled her hoodie over her shirt, leaving the hood up, to hide herself.
She fished a pair of socks out of her dresser and pulled them on, then headed into the small living room of their apartment. Sunlight streamed through the open windows into their white walls.
"Here you go." Iko handed Peony a plate with waffles on it. Peony sat down at the dark wooded dining room table and started eating. She loved the sweet taste of syrup and the fluffy texture of the waffles in her mouth.
"Peony time to go!"
She quickly swallowed the last bite and grabbed her backpack. She rushed out the door behind Iko. They entered the elevator at the end of the hallway, pushing the button for the basement.
The dream from last night entered Peony's mind.
"Iko, who were my parents?"
She watched as Iko's eyes looked to the floor sadly. "I told you, Cinder and Kai died of the plague when you were only a baby. They trusted me to take after you."
"I know you've said all this before. But all you mention are their names and what happened. I need to know more. What did they look like? What were their personalities? Where did they work? Did they love me at all?" Peony was overwhelmed with the emotions that flooded through her.
Desperation.
Hopelessness.
Wanting.
Needing.
The elevator doors opened and they walked out into the dimly light garage.
Iko argued, "Of course they loved you! They loved you as much as any parents could love a child. Why are you suddenly so curious about them?"
Peony sighed, "Because I've been having dreams about them lately. And I just--" They stepped into the hover an sat down, "I need to know." She begged.
Iko took Peony's hand and held them. "If you really need to know then fine. But you're going to have to wait until after school. Can you wait until then?"
"I guess."
Iko let go of her hands and started the hover, "Now let's beat this Milwaukee traffic." The small woman said enthusiastically.
Peony smiled but she knew what was going to happen.
You won't tell me anything.
° ° ° ° °
Peony smiled, school was almost over. The only class she had left was history. She walked up the stone steps to the third floor then turned right. She walked a few more steps and entered her classroom just as the bell rang.
"Alright class, everyone in their seats." Mr. Annotel raised his voice over the noise of the students' chatter. The class quieted down and the teacher began. "Now when you were in eighth grade you learned the basics of the Lunar War. Like how Lunars, Earthens, cyborgs, and even androids were discriminated against, but now live in harmony. But this semester we will dig deeper into the actual war and what caused it."
Groans errupted from a majority of the students...but not from Peony. She was anxious to learn more about the war, almost as if it was a part of her own history.
"Oh come on! It's interesting." Mr. Annotel argued.
Students shouted out in disagreement.
"Okay class, quiet down." He got serious and everyone listened. "So...the Lunar War. Raise your hand If you know how it began." Peony's hand shot straight up, a few people following her lead. "Maya."
Peony's enemy answered in her falsely sweet voice, "It began when Queen Levana ordered the first attack on Earth in 126 T.E."
"Wrong." He told her quickly. "It began when The first Lunar ships arrived on Earth in 114 T.E., twelve years before that happened. Does anyone know what the Lunars brought here?" Peony's arm was the only one to shoot up. "Yes." He said pointing to Peony.
"Letumosis. Commonly known as the plague." She answered proudly.
"Very good! You're the first to answer that correctly all day. And on the first try too, well done." Peony loved the praise she always received in the class.
"Time to watch a video."
The class was excited for that. Mr. Annotel shut the blinds and turned off the lights. He turned on the netscreen in the front of the room and the video started.
Peony was fascinated. The Lunar heir, Princess Selene, was a cyborg mechanic that had no idea she was a princess--let alone Lunar--who escaped prison in New Beijing, and then when the war was over, married Emperor Kaito!
The teacher stopped the video. "Alright class we'll continue watching this tomorrow. The bell rang and everyone rushed out the door except her. She was curious, she wanted to learn more about it.
Peony walked up to his desk, "Mr. Annotel, I was wondering if you have any articles I could read about the war?" She asked.
The balding man smiled up at her, "You love your history, don't you Miss Jackson?"
She thought for a moment, "I like learning from the past, about its' mistakes and what it left behind for us."
"Well said. If you go on the school site, under my page, look for the unit labeled 'Lunar War', there should be some information surpassing what we will learn about in class, there."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Anytime, Miss Jackson."
She grabbed her red backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She had everything she needed to do her homework, so she walked right down to where Iko always picked her up.
While she was waiting, she took out her portscreen. She had a comm from Iko. That was strange, Iko rarely commed her. She opened it.
07APR146 T.E.
PEONY I HAVE SOME BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO, SO I WON'T BE ABLE TO PICK YOU UP AFTER SCHOOL. JUST TAKE THE SUBWAY, I SHOULD BE BACK BY THE TIME YOU GET HOME.
AUNT IKO
Something must be seriously wrong.
She had only taken the subway a few times. And those were emergencies, like when she fell off the playground at the park and sprained her wrist. But even then Iko was with her. This would be her first time on the subway...alone.
Peony tucked the port in the side pocket of her backpack and started walking among the busy sidewalks of Milwaukee. It wasn't long until she reached the stairs for the subway.
She walked down and held out her wrist for the chip scanner. The scanner beeped, signaling for her to go through.