Jessie's room was impeccably clean.
The white walls had a faint gloss to it; as if it had just been painted. Even an untrained eye could see how much care she had given. At that time, I couldn't help but shook my head in disbelief.
"It's too shiny," I mumbled.
"Yeah," Hope nodded.
There was a red couch in that room and both of us sat there. Jessie opened the window before she sat on her own bed.
"Um, I know it's too late for me to ask this, but why me?" I asked her.
Jessie giggled. "Why not? The moment I saw you two together, I knew you are close with my son."
"Hehe. Not really. I just love Hope because he's Hope, you see." I twirled a strand of my dark hair as I spoke.
Hope's mouth twitched. He drew his eyebrows together and stared at me. "I think of Ava as my own daughter."
"Huh? Not this again!" I pouted.
He treated me like a kid. I got used to it, but a year had passed and he still treated me the same way. Though, I couldn't really blame him. After all, my love for him was something I couldn't actually comprehend. I thought of him as someone that changed me, and I just wanted to be with him wherever he went.
Perhaps the bond that we had formed years ago brought about the change.
"Um, Jessie," I said. "If I love Hope, what does it means?"
She smiled. "Ah, I see. You are not sure about it yourself. I can only say that you have grown attached to him, and you don't like it when he's not there by your side."
"Yeah! That's the best way to describe it, I think." My eyes glanced at Hope. "I want him to be there with me, and I want to support him however I can."
Jessie nodded. "I am sure when you spend more time with my son, you will come to understand your feelings."
"I need to get older quick," I concluded.
Jessie turned to Hope and took a deep breath. "Before I answer any of your questions, let me clear something up. Um, I'm sure you two have noticed my family portraits outside."
Hope and I nodded.
"Just to be clear, Evgeny is not your father. If you have been thinking about it ever since this evening, then I apologize for not telling you sooner." Jessie said.
"No, no. I am quite certain no one actually thinks Evgeny as my father or anything," said Hope. "Though, I know how you came to that question. Despite my hazy memories, my father is dead."
Jessie forced a smile and then looked down at the floor. Sadness was painted all over her face. "I only have you, Hope. You are the only family member I have left."
Hope bit his lip. "Mom . . . I'm sorry."
Quickly, Jessie pulled his gaze towards him with gleaming eyes. "Say it again."
"I'm sorry."
"No. Before that."
"Oh." Hope chuckled. "Mom."
"Ahhh!" shrieked Jessie. Her hands reached out for Hope and pulled him to her embrace. "I have been longing to hear you say that. Am I dreaming?"
Hope pulled himself away and stood up. "No. Of course not, Mom."
"Ohhh. Come here. I'm not finished yet."
Jessie hugged him again and they both sat down on her bed.
"Er . . . This is kinda new to me, actually," said Hope. His cheeks flushed, somewhat embarrassed to be seen like that. But, I was the only one there to witness the whole thing. At first, he tried to pull away before he just let Jessie did her thing afterward.
"Um, Mom, about your Aegis's specialty," asked Hope. He distanced himself a bit from Jessie, but she refused to let go of his hand. And so, he ended up sitting there on her bed.
"Ah, right. My specialty." Jessie looked at me. "Basically, I can substitute any individual's perception of reality with a fake one. I must meet a condition first beforehand. The people I want to be affected with this specialty must be encased in my Aegis crystals."
I clapped my hands once. "So, back then at the lobby, you had the entire mansion covered in your Aegis crystals? I didn't notice it."
"My crystals can be mistaken for glass. Evgeny's also shares this similar trait," mentioned Jessie.
"Oh."
I remembered the glass display surrounding the city like a dome. Perhaps the outermost layers were made up of their Aegis crystals. If so, the disguise was brilliant.
Jessie looked at Hope with sad eyes. "Hope, I'm sure you want to know what happened after the car crash a long time ago. It was back in Mansel Island if I'm not mistaken."
"Yeah." Hope glanced at me for a moment. "This might sound weird, but I'm sure you were not there during the car crash, Mom."
"I was working in Kazakhstan back then. I was a victim of overworking at work, and before I knew it, my body was there lying on the streets. After I felt unconscious, it turned out that I was taken into a lab, and experimented there by the scientists. That was how I got this Aegis."
"How dare they!"
Hope clenched his fists, and I knew he was sort of imagining what exactly happened to his mother. Hope's face made me shudder.
Jessie comforted him and he calmed down after that. He breathed a sigh. "If I have known you are in the main group, I . . ."
"Hope." Jessie hugged him and cried by his side. Her wail was enough to tell me that she really wanted to let it all out from the moment he appeared back in her life. Slowly, Hope returned her hug. He let her mother took solace in the fact that he was there for her.
"I-I was trying so hard to not cry back then," said Jessie as she continued to spill out her bottled emotions. "When I first saw you, I was afraid, Hope. Afraid of having to get you involved in all this mess."
"Mom."
He kissed Jessie in the forehead. "I'm here of my own volition. You helped me, remember? The Aegis you delivered to me was the spark I needed."
Jessie wiped her tears and looked at Hope in the eyes. "My son. I stole a few Aegis containers when I escaped from the lab. The scientists mentioned something about inherited compatibility. You have my blood, and therefore, I chose the ones who had a high compatibility rate for myself and took it."
Hope nodded. He comforted his mother and talked with her for a couple of hours. I sat there on the couch the whole time.
Of course, I felt a bit annoyed by the simple fact that Hope was not giving me his attention when I was just there. Though, I calmed myself down; pushing the slumbering hatred back to the deepest part of my heart.
I watched them laughed, shed tears for each other, and engaged in a conversation that I couldn't get myself into. Honestly, I was happy for Hope.
He got his mother back by his side, and his smile eased me far more than I had expected. Still, that smile was not for me, but for Jessie.
'Ava, what are you thinking?' I thought.
I shook my head and continued to watch both mother and son.
"Hope," called Jessie, "it's quite late right now."
He blinked. "I didn't realize how much time had passed. Haha."
"Is there anything you want before you sleep?" asked Jessie. "I've been meaning to say those words for a long time."
"Um." Hope pointed at me. "If it's not too much, I want a winter jacket for Ava. The size doesn't have to match."
"Huh?" I stood up. "Hope, stop treating me like a kid."
"But you said before that you are cold." He looked back at Jessie. "Maybe a spare blanket would suffice. It can be quite cold and I don't want her to get sick when sleeping here."
I crossed my arms. "Ugh."
Jessie laughed at the both of us. "You two are indeed close . . . Hope, I will send a few spare blankets for Ava in her own room."
"Thank you, Mom."
"Ohhh. Come here my little gucchi goo."
Jessie hugged him again and I couldn't help but laugh at them. Hope's struggle to get away from her made it harder for me to contain my laughter. It was comical. Hope was indeed surrounded by a lot of people that took advantage of him one way or another.
Both of us waved our goodbyes to Jessie after that and we went back to our own separate rooms. I threw myself on the bed when a guy handed me plenty of blankets. I used all of it to cover my whole body when I lied down on my bed.
"Thanks, Hope," I muttered.
Thinking back on Jessie, I was reminded of a mother that was never present in my life. Alicia didn't count. I closed my eyes and wished that whoever my biological mother was, I just hoped she was safe.
'I wonder if I have a little brother,' I thought.
I slept, with all the possibilities of what my real family actually was, lingering in my mind.
,__.__,
,__.__,
The next morning, a rebel from The People's Light knocked on my door. It was Freya. Her long, purple hair and scar on her nose were the first things I noticed when I opened the door.
"Ava," she said. "There's a feast right now. A celebration for The People's Light and Lutalo newly formed relationship."
"Alright. I'll be there," I said.