As the eldest of the Orphans, Alia is tasked with hosting the yearly anniversary of their family's founding. It's a task that she wouldn't wish upon her worst enemy when just getting them all in one room is hell enough but she makes the effort each year regardless of the stress it puts on her shoulders.
If she could, she'd continue doing this for a million lifetimes over but she doubts that even then the pain and suffering her parents caused would be repaid.
She brushes through her red hair and throws on an outfit in under ten minutes, consistently avoiding looking at her reflection in any of the mirrors still left hanging around. She'd gotten rid of as many as she could but the ones left are bolted to the walls.
She spent so many years of her life being observed and probed that the thought of having eyes on her makes her skin crawl.
She puts her favourite hooped earring in and heads out the door, patiently waiting for the day that the memories of the experiments her parents masterminded don't hurt as much. So far she's going on ten years but they still sting like a fresh slap.
She only recently returned from a long summer of travelling from Capital to Capital a few days ago but already she dreams about going again, scribbling down a few places she'd like to go on her next break in her journal. However, for now, she considers keeping her travels a lot closer to home so that she can still keep up with her school work and keep an eye on the others.
Alia walks into the common room of their private dorm, doing a double take upon finding the others already waiting for her.
"Oh, you're already awake." she says, her eyes landing on the coffee table where a circle of the plastic blue mugs she bought for them last anniversary are huddled together. "Did you guys already eat?"
Joshia shakes his head, gulping down his tea, wiping away the spillage from his chin with the back of his hand, unknowingly smearing mud across his face. "No, I haven't, I was too busy in the gardens."
'I swear he swims in the stuff.' she thinks to herself, frowning at his muddy clothes and pinching the bridge of her nose when his earthy smell infiltrates her nostrils.
"Please, feed me!"
Alia peers down at the black girl sitting on the floor near the coffee table with vials filled with bubbly, vibrant, chemicals inside, shuddering once she dips her finger inside one and starts licking the same finger. "Isla I'll make you some real food, you know I've told you about doing that!"
"She's immune to poison, so what does it matter?" Sage yawns, squeezing her baby blue eyes shut. "I haven't eaten yet, but I was going to grab something at the library."
"What was that? You need to speak a bit louder, I can't hear you."
"Never mind." Sage grunts, lazily rolling her eyes as she scrapes her chalk white hair back into a ponytail, ignoring the free-falling strands in her face.
"And what about you?" Alia asks, turning to Arden who momentarily takes his eyes away from the piece of paper he is drawing on but he does not verbally reply. "You know your 'I'm going to stare at you until you feel uncomfortable' trick doesn't work on me."
Alia shrugs him off, knowing that is just how Arden is,taking her revenge when walking past him by ruffling his hair and escaping into the kitchen before he can retaliate.
Afterwards she slots four slices of bread into the toaster before opening up the fridge. "Anyone seen Elijah?"
"He's in his old room." Isla replies, strolling into the kitchen to help Alia by taking the butter out of her hand before fetching the plastic cutlery.
"Is he not coming out?" Alia inquires, immediately rephrasing upon hearing her own words. "I-I mean, out of his room?"
Joshia makes the ok sign with her fingers, but it does not stop a rash of heat running through her.
In the corner of her eye his broad frame approaches the kitchen, leaning near one of the counter chairs which is also conveniently made of the same squishy plastic, even down to the screws.
He tries to put his hands down, but Alia smacks them away. "Wash your hands."
"But-"
"-you have mud on your face." she retorts before he can get another word out, demonstrating by pointing on her own face where the mud is on his.
"My bad." he mutters, lumbering over to the sink with his six-four build making her feel like a dwarf.
"He's having nightmares again." Arden responds, his delayed response immediately stopping their conversation.
'Nightmares' is the term they use to call Elijah's bad days. The days where he cannot get out of bed, the days when he will not eat anything, will not talk to anyone, not even Arden, for days, weeks, months even.
It's what Alia and Joshia had told the other three when things first started to get bad with Elijah. In his first year at the Academy it was a full mental break which resulted in him being held back a year. They had been using it for so many years now, that it had just sort of.... stuck.
Supposedly time heals all wounds but that approach doesn't seem to be working for Elijah much these days, or for any of them really.
"How bad is it?" she asks.
"It'll happen soon."
"Arden-"
"-soon."
The moment of silence is interrupted by the sound of toast popping up. "Grab those for me." Alia asks, directing her request towards Joshia.
"Sure." her replies, the pair sharing a knowing look with one another.
Sage closes her heavy book with a quiet thud. "Isla's eating her experiments again." she murmurs, rubbing the dark bags underneath her eyes.
"What was that?" Alia inquires, looking up from the counter, sighing to herself once she figures it out for herself.. "Isla, stop eating the poison!"
"It's alright, I got it." Joshia utters, placing a hand on Alia's shoulder before dashing over to Isla.
Sage, with bare feet, walks over carpet and into the kitchen area, making tiny slapping sounds on the tiled kitchen floor.
"Sage, you know that stuff makes her act like she's eight again. Next time tell me or something."
Sage simply rolls her eyes, tired of trying, tired of failing at being understood.
Once she walks off, Alia stumbles back until her butt hits the counter, finding it harder to breathe when the guilt of their afflictions hits her like a truck.
It was her parent's fault, they were in charge, they brought together that crazy bunch of scientists and now that they're gone it has become her responsibility to mend what they broke.
But being back here reminds her of how helpless a prospect that is. A task so impossible that even the gods have no answers.
It doesn't matter how many times she reminds herself that she was a victim too, the guilt clings to her like an outer coat of varnish.
Arden switches on the tv but the sudden loud gunshots make Joshia jump, accidentally bumping into a plant pot that bounces on impact instead of shattering. He shakes violently, growing even larger than he already is, his shirt popping off his torso in less than three seconds.
"Arden, turn that off!"
Alia's eyes shift, glowing the yellow of an Initial of Air, but when Joshia lashes out she takes the power of the hit and transforms it into kinetic energy that she stores in her body.
The force of his attack only displaces her by a fraction with little damage being done to her body. When Joshia goes to hit her again, she grabs his arms, his strength becoming hers.
"Isla-" Alia begins, not getting the chance to finish her command.
Even in her current state, Isla is quick on her feet, sliding underneath Joshia, spinning around and leaping on his back.
She pulls his head back by yanking on a fistful of his brunette hair before covering his face with her free hand, releasing the sleeping toxins she ingested into him through her fingertips. Within ten seconds he collapses to the ground, giving the others a moment to catch their breath.
Eventually they stand over his sleeping body and listen to him snore like a tractor. "Should we move him?" Sage asks, having returned with Elijah after hearing the loud commotion from the other rooms.
"He'll be out for a while but he should be fine." Isla replies.
"I see the toxins are out of your system." Alia remarks.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Isla chimes, skipping to the kitchen and pulling something out of the oven. "I made cupcakes, anyone want one."
They all make up an excuse as to why they do not want to eat her cupcakes, never too sure if there is poison in them or not.
Luckily for them the suppression bracelets on their wrists make a beeping sound which they haven't heard in a long while.
Elijah shakes his wrist with a frown. "What do you think this is about now?"
"It could only be about that woman running around with a mask." Alia replies, sighing once she realises their plans for the day are going to have to be put on halt. "Alright, everyone get ready, we'll be out in five."
Sage gently rocks Joshia with her foot, not totally convinced until she sees his body flop about without any resistance aside from his weight in muscle. "What about the bear?"
Elijah folds his arms, already turning for the door. "He should sit this one out."
Sage and Isla follow suit but Arden lingers behind to share his thoughts with Alia who deflates as soon as he leaves. "This was truly terrible. I had fun."
Alia sighs when the door shuts in her face after he leaves, looking around the room but having to fight the urge to clean up.
"Ten years." she whispers, pulling out her hooped earring one after another, wondering why she expected any different.