"Huh?" The Falcon Omega whirled to Rayne, all fear of him dispelled. "Do we know why?"
"No," Alegra replied. She clenched her fingers into fists before letting out a breath to relax.
Rayne stayed silent; eyes glued to the screen.
"Did something happen to them?" Sahara murmured.
"All of them at once?" Rayne mocked. "Unless we went to the afterlife by ourselves, that's impossible." He straightened. "They cut ties. It's as simple as that."
"We don't know that." Alegra was quick to jump in.
"They've. Cut. Ties," Rayne repeated, emphasizing each word as he stared her down. "The shipments on their way here were on the radar. We watched them withdraw and they refuse to answer. The only way that happens is if they were re-called."
"That doesn't make sense. What's their reason?" Sahara voiced.
"I'll ask my father," Alegra looked at Sahara but seemed to be addressing Rayne.
The latter stood, unblinking. "We're locked out of all communication with them. Not even the Royal City will answer."
"We don't know that!"
"We've been trying all day!" Rayne fumed.
Alegra turned to face him, chin proudly jutted out as she displayed the royal stubborn streak within. "He'll talk to me. He wouldn't cut off everything without a reason."
A sigh escaped Rayne as he broke the gaze first. "Whatever the situation, they left us. We have no choice but to wait. In the meantime, we should plan for the worst case...if this turns into a long-term thing."
"It doesn't make sense!" Alegra burst out, face red as she glared. "They wouldn't just leave all of the sudden!"
"But they did!" Rayne argued right back.
Alegra closed her mouth.
"They did," Rayne repeated. He waved an arm around the room. "I already looked at every angle the moment communication went down." his tone softened. "It's not us. They're the ones who did it. Only they can choose to pick it up again."
"Can't Terrell hack into their system to figure it out?" Sahara offered a possible solution.
"You can't hack into something you have no connection to," Rayne replied.
Alegra shook her head. "It doesn't make sense," she murmured.
Rayne opened his mouth only to pause. He closed it again, sealing his lips.
Alegra missed the action, Sahara had not. She narrowed her eyes.
He's hiding something. Terrell's words seemed to hold more weight all of a sudden.
"Our engines are fixed," Rayne spoke calmer. "We've restocked. We have crops planted, a small workforce, and production is starting again. Things aren't as dire as they seem. As long as we can find a way to make it all sustainable, we'll be fine." As he rubbed his tired eyes Sahara found that his assuring words actually calmed her. "Until they explain their reasoning, we can't afford to waste time on them." Rayne lowered his hands.
Alegra bit her bottom lip, eyes showing her turmoil. She didn't argue further.
Sahara was lost in her own thoughts as she tried to figure out if the situation was necessarily bad or not. Regona survived on its own before, this is nothing new, right? Besides, like Rayne said, we're not in bad shape to keep moving forward.
However, it still left a glaring question of why? Why would they suddenly cut us off when they've finally reconciled? Sahara wrinkled her forehead in thought. Then again, we are talking about cities that sent a virus into an entire city as an experiment. Would them abandoning us really be that surprising? Maybe we're more of a burden than anything else and that's why?
"You," Rayne's voice dragged her from her thoughts.
She turned to find Rayne's cold gazed fixed on her.
"Don't go spreading the news. We don't know enough at this point and we don't want panic to set in."
Sahara nodded.
"She won't spread the news," Alegra defended her. "I'll tell the crew once we figure more out," she added in a more gentle tone as she turned to address Sahara.
The fifth omega nodded. She also got the hint that it was time to go. "We'll be taking Naomi along then." She turned and walked for the door. Before leaving, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
Alegra shot her a weak smile while Rayne turned his attention back to the screen.
Sahara retraced her steps. She was deep in thought and only pulled out when she came across the others. They were sitting on a floating couch in another room, suspiciously patient.
Naomi swung her legs back and forth, humming to herself. Reagan was staring into space, his expression showing his boredom, and Arden was tapping his fingers on an armrest. Upon seeing Sahara, the latter stood.
"Everything ok?" he asked softly. "It sounded loud, so we stayed away."
Naomi's legs stopped swinging. "Were you fighting?" she asked sincerely, eyes filled with question.
Sahara shot her a smile. "No. There's just a lot of stress."
The little girl got to her feet and padded over. She hugged Sahara's legs. "Don't stress," she said sweetly.
Chuckling, Sahara fondly patted her head. "I think Alegra needs your hugs even more right now."
Naomi obediently turned to head in search of the other girl.
Sahara managed to snag her by her shirt and pull her back. "Except for right now." She turned to the twins. "Let's head home."
They got to their feet at the same time, mirroring each other perfectly. Though it was easy to tell that they had questions, neither asked.
When the group left the building, their spirits seemed to lift again.
Naomi zipped all over the place on her board while the twins playfully tried to knock the other off their board. Their skills as blockers came into play as they steadily grew more aggressive.
Sahara could only shake her head and smile to herself. Once upon a time, she would have been terrified that they would get injured. Now she knew the only way was to let them experience the consequences themselves.
Not long after, the twins hit a little too hard and both went spinning. Their gravity-pull kept them on, but they were unable to steadily themselves and so spun in uncontrollable circles. Naomi, who believed it was a game, joined them by spinning her own board but remaining in full control.
"Pft," Sahara couldn't help but laugh at the group.
"Hey!" Reagan protested as he finally straightened his board out.
Arden raised his eyebrows at Sahara's reaction. "Where's the motherly concern?" he teased.
"Gah..." Naomi, who'd stopped spinning, tried to orientate herself only to totter back and forth in dizziness.
Reagan reached out and steadied her.
Arden, who had been teasing lightheartedly one moment, suddenly had his expression darken. All friendliness around him disappeared in a moment. His brother, sensing the change, looked up before mirroring his action. They weren't the happy go lucky twins anymore, they were young men radiating danger.
Sahara turned to see what had caught their attention.
A large group of boarders came toward them.
A quick glance at their boards and the patterns caught her attention. Purple and black. Those colors belonged to Aaron.
A girl and a guy broke free from the rest and drew closer. At the same time, the twin's flanked Sahara, their eyes equally cold and watching every move of the approaching crew. Naomi resorted to plopping cross-legged on her board and watching.
"Come with us," the girl who approached spoke first, ignoring the twins altogether as she focused on Sahara.
The Falcon omega raised her eyebrows. First, Aaron had pulled her aside to warn her, and now he'd sent his crew.
"What's the request for?" she asked.
"It's not a request," the girl spoke calmly.
Both twins moved ever so slightly, ready to act at a given notice.
"We were told to come and get you," the girl continued while the guy beside her calmly returned Arden's cold stare. The rest of the group watched from behind.
Naomi's eyes widened. "It's kidnappers!" she exclaimed. She wagged a finger and leaned forward. "Daddy is going to kill you," she cooed.
Her ramblings were ignored.
The girl nodded and the group behind her moved forward.
Arden and Reagan looked ready to fight.
"Don't," Sahara's soft command made them stand down at once.
They were flanked left and right, the intention clear – whether they wanted to go or not, they were about to head out. Yet, Sahara felt no fear.
"Hi daddy," a voice made all heads turn.
Naomi sat on her hoverboard in the same position, beaming at a hologram which had popped out of her bracelet. "We're getting kidnapped!" Her eyes shone and her enthusiasm made Sahara think of a child who had just learned they were headed to Disney.
"What?" The eyes set in a handsome face of the hologram narrowed.
Arden visibly relaxed while a grin spread across Reagan's face.
"Twerp, where are..." Terrell's familiar voice was cut off when a hand landed on the bracelet and turned it off.
"Hey!" Naomi protested. A pout was on her face as she looked up. It turned into a grin.
Sahara saw the platinum hair and felt a flitter of surprise.
"Yo!" Glen turned and smiled at the group. "Long time no see!"
"Not long enough," the girl from before muttered. The other crew members around her shifted somewhat uncomfortably.
The boy's blue eyes twinkled as he took in the scene. Behind him, several teens with ice blue boards calmly watched their omega.
"Looks like Aaron is throwing a party. Can I come?" Glen asked innocently. He shot Sahara a wink
"You're not invited," one of Aaron's crew quickly spoke up. The others nodded in agreement, giving Sahara the feeling that they were quite familiar with Glen and didn't want him around. Amusement flittered through her at the obvious discomfort and she couldn't help but wonder at the story behind it.
"I'm inviting myself!" the second omega replied confidently.
This time, his own guys nodded, grinning defiantly at the other crew.
"Paige isn't there," the girl, who was leading Aaron's group, deadpanned.
Glen waved the excuse off. "Can't I visit my brother-in-law from time to time?"
Cringes washed through the crews in waves and many faces looked quite pained at those words. Even Glen's crew members looked somewhat uncomfortable at the thought.
"Also," Glen's eyes brightened as he seemed to find another excuse. "As an honored Falcon member, I'm included in any invite given to their omega."
"Ex," Reagan corrected.
"Wait, was he even officially ever part of the crew?" Arden asked.
Reagan considered this.
"Of course, I was!" Glen spluttered. "You don't remember taking me off the cold street during my darkest times?" He dramatically placed a palm on his heart. "The pain...the hurt. And then you gave me hope!"
Sahara watched the omega be a drama king. It somehow scared her just how well he fit in with her own crew. He'd always been easier going than the others. Then again, he was an omega, and Sahara herself had witnessed how quickly he could switch his act to reveal a cold side one should think twice about messing with.
"All those beautiful memories..." Glen turned to Naomi. "You remember, right?"
Naomi scratched her head. "Ah!" she pointed a finger at him.
Glen nodded in encouragement.
"You almost burned our house down!" She nodded to herself.
"Ah...that might be a glitch in your memory," Glen quickly said.
Naomi's eyes narrowed. "Nope. It was definitely you."
Glen's crew members only shook their heads, not seeming surprised.
"I didn't burn anything down. I was cooking!" Glen turned and tried to defend himself to his crew in order to gather back some of his dignity as their leader.
His guys gave him pitying gazes.
Realizing he wouldn't get their judgment to go away, Glen quickly changed the topic. "Anyway," he cleared his throat and straightened. "Aaron will be happy to have me."
"Nope," the girl muttered under her breath.
"I'm dating his sister!"
"Were," he was corrected by one of his own crew.
"Ah..." Glen's shoulders dropped.
Sahara blinked in disbelief. "You were dumped again?"
Glan clutched his heart. "Relationships are so hard." He let out a sigh. "Now I'm depressed." He glared at Aaron's crew. "Take responsibility!"
He was given blank stares.
"I need something to cheer me up, so let me come to take my mind off things!" He was too shameless to let it go.
Sahara watched the events unfold, amused at how the situation had turned out like this. It was in moments such as these that she couldn't help but wonder if everyone in the city suffered from split personalities. One moment, they were terrifying and at each other's throats, the next they were a group of dorks.
"I won't be a pain," Glen promised.
Not one faced showed any belief.
"And I'll leave them behind," he added while pointing at his crew.
The boys simply exchanged looks and shrugged, seeming anything but concerned.
Aaron's crew hesitated, seeming to consider that.
"Hey, hey," Reagan spoke addressed the crew with blue boards. "Letting your omega go in by himself..."
"Better than having him race when heartbroken and splitting up the crew...again," a guy replied lazily. "We're running out of crew names to use."
Those around him agreed.
"Hey!" Glen scowled. "Show some respect!"
"It's a pain having to think of new ways to reform under the Creed," the guy continued, ignoring his omega completely.
"My condolences," Reagan told them.
"Bah." Glen boarded over and shoved Reagan to the side, taking the place next to Sahara. "Today, I'll be a Falcon." He gave Sahara a charming smile. "What's up omega?"
His move reminded Sahara a lot of a certain someone else.
"You can't join the crew without submitting an application!" Reagan protested as he attempted to shove Glen away.
The omega stood his ground. He turned and waved his crew members away. They obeyed, boarding away at a leisurely pace and not sending even a glance back.
"Once a member, always a member," Glen told Reagan curtly.
"But you were never a member!" Reagan tried shove Glen once more.
Arden watched his twin, not offering to help. Sahara scooted her board to the side, putting some distance between her and the bickering two.
"Children," Naomi scorned from where she still sat on her board. She clucked her tongue in disapproval.
Aaron's crew looked on helplessly. All they had wanted to do was to come and take the fifth omega back to meet their own. When they'd been sent, they thought it would be an easy task. But this...this was something they had not expected. In all honesty, they were at a loss.
Sahara felt some pity for them. "Shall we?" she asked.
Glen and Reagan stopped their fight. Glen raised his eyebrows.
Aaron's crew recovered and the girl cleared her throat. She nodded to the others who turned.
Sahara followed with Arden calmly beside her.
"You sure we should go along so easily?" he asked.
"Aaron's not going to do anything," Sahara replied.
"He's not the one I'm worried about." Arden looked behind, eyes searching for something or someone.
"Come on," Sahara grinned. "Aren't you a little curious as to why he suddenly wants us to come?"
Arden furrowed his brow. "Don't forget, they may have been in the same classroom, and they may have been our allies before. But in the end, they're still omegas. They only look out for themselves."
"Noted," Sahara replied.
"Tow meeeeee!" Naomi commanded some distance behind. She was pointing at Glen.
The omega shot her board a look of disdain. "Young girl, I am an omega. I should not have to do such a trifle task." He sniffed proudly.
"I thought you said you're a Falcon," Reagan scorned before dashing after Sahara.
With a sigh, Glan resigned himself to the fate of serving the demanding girl.
And so, the group headed into the territory of the first omega.