Nia peered outside the cave the group was staying in for the night. After seeing no signs of threat, she stepped out, taking a moment to herself.
She wasn't alone for long, though, and didn't seem surprised when she saw who joined her out of the corner of her eyes.
"So, you haven't told them, Leon Song?" She asked.
"...No. I can't talk about it either," Leon sighed, looking up at the stars, "I might have an idea of what's going on but I'm not an exception."
Nia looked at him, "So, explain to me why I know exactly who you are even though I'm supposed to have never met you before."
Leon was quiet for a moment, "...If I tried, I'm sure I'd be on the ground screaming. I just…How much do you know?"
"...I figured out what all of this really is a couple of months ago. It was actually Owen and Fenix, I saw them in Sector 2 once, and I…" Nia looked down, "I'd seen them around before. You know, before all of this."
"...Fuck," Leon said softly, "All alone?"
Nia nodded slowly, "It hurt a lot. I thought I was going to die, honestly. But I didn't, and now I'm here, and so are you. Let me ask you this. All of this is happening because you want to fix things, right? What the White Lotus did to us, what…"
"It's okay, you can say that it was us, too."
Nia shook her head, "No, it wasn't. It wasn't you two. I remember. You were both kids. You're still only two years older than me. And somehow, I know all of this, even though I probably shouldn't."
Leon let out a small, sad smile, "Is it bad that I'm kind of glad? I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's just…I couldn't go through it alone. Not again."
"Alone?" Nia made a confused noise, "But I thought Risále—"
"She was supposed to have known as well. I don't know what went wrong but…" Leon looked down, "A part of me doesn't want her to know. I mean…I still suffer every fucking night remembering what we…What they made us do. If she doesn't know any of it…Maybe it's a blessing. I'm sorry, though. You were a victim but you still had to suffer, even now…"
Nia shook her head, "It fucking sucked, don't get me wrong, but at least there's two of us now. And don't act like you weren't a victim as well. You were obviously doing it against your will otherwise you wouldn't be going through all of this. And you're going through this alone as well, aren't you? Even more so than me, right? Because you've done this—"
Leon immediately covered her mouth, "Don't say it," He cut in harshly, "The chest contractions," He let out a sigh as she nodded, "So, you know basically everything that's really going on. I…Wasn't expecting that. Do you know how to…"
"End this? No, I don't. I'm sorry. I thought that you'd be the one to know that. You or Risále, I guess."
"...I can think of a few other people," Leon murmured, "...My older sister might know. But none of us know where she is. We haven't heard from her in years."
Nia hummed, "Guess she's our best shot, then. Well, at least for now, you've got me in your corner. I won't tell Risále anything as long as you don't want me to but…" She frowned, "I wouldn't be surprised if they all start remembering soon. It didn't take me much to remember and if what I'm starting to suspect is right, then…"
"All it takes is the right trigger," Leon finished, letting out a sharp breath, "Fuck. We have to be careful. The wrong trigger at the wrong time…And with what happens when you realize the truth…"
"It could get us killed, yeah," Nia replied.
They were both quiet for a moment, "We should head back inside," Leon murmured, "They'll start getting suspicious if we're out here for too long. They already know something is up with me. I'm surprised they still trust me."
Nia smiled, "They obviously love you. And honestly, it's probably an inherent thing. Deep down, they just know to trust you. The same way I just…Feel like I can trust you. It's probably because we know you. All of us know you. We've known you, even when we thought we didn't."
"...That makes it all the worse," Leon whispered, "Because if you all know me and you still believe in me, then what am I supposed to do if I let you all down?"
They two of them returned to see the rest of the lot snacking on packed foods. Xander seemed to notice the two of them, but seeing their expressions, he didn't ask. He simply handed a bag of dried fruits to Nia, who sat down next to him. She smiled in thanks and took the bag, and as she started eating, she realized how hungry she was. Xander seemed to notice too, and he winced, "We'll be there soon, we'll get a proper amount of food for you," He said quietly.
Nia shrugged, "It's okay, I'm used to it. Rations were never fair in the army anyway, this is better than what I got before," She said back. This seemed to make Xander even more determined.
"What are we doing when we get to Sector 2?" Leon asked.
"Well, we'll be in and out for supplies, unless we hear something else about the White Lotus plans. Our current main objective is to stay alive and find a new base, though, not to try and take down the goddamn government," Kaedan explained.
"Besides, we can't stay in Sector 2 for too long for Minnie's safety," Lumina added.
"And yours, Lumi," Mina added, "We can't just pretend that they've completely forgotten about you as well. You know they haven't."
At this, Xander looked at him, "Wait, do you think they'd still recognize you both? I mean, neither of you has stepped further than the outskirts of the sector in years, would they really…" Xander asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me. I mean, they're still looking for you and me, aren't they?" Kaedan sighed, massaging his temple, "Yeah, It wouldn't surprise me at all if they still were keeping a high lookout for both of you."
"...That makes sense. I just would have thought that you know, especially since your brother is still alive, they would have been trying to crown him instead of looking for you. Especially since they weren't so keen on you keeping the throne anyways," Xander added and wrapped his arm around Kaedan sympathetically as the man shivered.
"Don't even bring up that little creep, I hate that I'm even related to him," Mina whined, "Especially with the way he used to be about Kaedan…" She trailed off, "Though I don't think that's the only type of creep we have to think about," Mina's gaze shifted to Lumina.
The woman let out a shaky breath, "...Veronica. I don't know where she is right now. I don't even know if she's alive, but if she is and she finds out I'm back…" Lumina said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.
Xander growled, "If she even dares to come near you, I'll tear her limb from limb with my bare hands."
A light of recognition flickered in Risále's eyes, "That woman…" Her voice was low and simmering with anger.
Lumina shook her head, "You guys, don't underestimate how powerful she is. She wasn't just some random woman, she…Ge," She looked at Xander, "I know you have influence, but you still have to create fake identities every time you take on a case and disappear immediately after winning because the White Lotus will kill you if you give them the chance. She doesn't have that kind of condition. She…Had close ties with the royal family before, I wouldn't be surprised if she's gotten even more powerful."
Mina sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Okay, so, it's my fucking family again. Wonderful. I hate this so fucking much."
Finally, Fenix was the one who spoke up, "Sorry, what the fuck? What do you mean by your family, Mina? I thought we were talking about the royal family—" He cut himself off, eyes widening, "You don't mean…"
"Surprise!" Mina said with a sardonic smile, "So, does the name Ahalya Rowlock sound familiar at all?"
"You have got to be kidding me," Owen stared at her.
"Nope, not at all! None of you asked me for my full name. If you had, I probably would have just told you. Well," Mina paused, "To be fair, my name has changed like fifteen different times. Legally, though, I think it's Ahalya Minakshi Rowlock. Hence why I used the nickname Mina. Mina, Minakshi, yeah?"
Leon looked at her, bewildered, "Your name was changed? Fifteen different times?"
"Eh, that's just standard protocol for Rowlocks. In a nutshell, my family believes I'm a traitor to the monarchy and probably wants me dead," Nia, Leon, Owen, Risále, and Fenix stared at her, but something about Leon's reaction seemed artificial. Mina looked at Lumina for her permission before continuing, "...They also somehow simultaneously made the larger public believe that Lumina kidnapped me years ago, which is rich because they were probably glad to get me out of there so my brother could take my place. Really, though, arresting Lumi was just an excuse to keep her trapped in Sector 2."
Lumina took a shaky breath, "...Even if it meant keeping me locked in a jail cell, Veronica was willing to do whatever it took to make sure I'd never leave her."
"Fuck," Leon murmured, "Jesus Christ, Lumina. And that woman is still in there? Alive?"
Xander growled, "Not for long if I can help it."
"Ge, stop it," Lumina said sternly, "No one is going after her, not unless she attacks us first. I don't want to risk anyone else. Besides, there's no guarantee that she'll even know we're there. In and out, remember? I just," She looked down, "I don't want to think about her more than absolutely necessary."
Mina reached over and took Lumina's hand in hers, nodding. Then, she looked back to the others, "Then our main goal should be to get supplies, figure out where to go next and stay off of the royal family and that woman's radar."
"Okay, but like…Going back to Mina being a Rowlock," Owen asked as the younger ones of the group still seemed to be processing this new information, "Mina...Have you ever had assassination attempts against you?"
Mina shrugged, "Seventeen times before I was thirteen," She said, nonchalantly.
They all stared at her, excluding Lumina, Kaedan, and Xander, "No, okay, I could tell you were traumatized but not that traumatized, what the fuck, Mina? How do you casually talk about seventeen attempts on your life? On top of that, you were younger than thirteen," Fenix muttered.
"Hold on, what the fuck do you mean by you 'could tell I was traumatized'? Hey, buddy, can you elaborate on that—"
Lumina cleared her throat, "Not the time, Minnie. Either way, we need to get a move on. We don't want to stay in Sector 2 for too long, so it'd be better if we got there earlier rather than later. We'll rest for tonight before heading towards the Sector walls tomorrow."
Nia suddenly turned to Xander, "This probably isn't a nice memory for you but from what I know, you used to be part a major part of the White Lotus Assassins, correct?" Xander stiffened, but nodded, "Yeah. This isn't going to be fun for you either," She sighed.
"What?"
"The White Lotus's presence only got stronger in all of the Sectors. Way stronger. I only know the extent of it from being in the army. There is a larger rebellion brewing, though. I remember hearing some of the army folks complaining about it. All those small groups that have been popping up and causing habit? The rumors say that all of them are part of a bigger rebel organization. The head of the organization is known as the Maiden of Fire, though I think some of the army members mentioned her real name was Mira and she was originally from Sector 3. She's been a target on the army's list for a while."
Fenix stiffened, "What did you say her name was?" He asked quietly. Owen grasped his hand tightly, also going pale.
"...Mira. Why?" Nia asked carefully.
"Nia, is her full name Mirabella Callahan?" At this point, everyone else had caught on to what was happening when the last name was mentioned. Leon gasped quietly.
Nia nodded.
Fenix sat down, head in his hands.
"Oh my God. My sister is alive."
"Bella," Leon said quietly, and Fenix's head shot towards him in surprise. Leon cursed mentally. From what Fenix knew, Leon should have had absolutely no idea who Bella was. He hadn't met her, not officially. He couldn't get away with lying about this one.
Fenix stood up, turning to face him, "Leon. Do you know my sister? Do you know what happened to her?" He asked urgently. Leon stepped back, collecting his words so that they would be coherent.
"I—I don't actually know her. As in. Fuck," He sighed, running his hands through his hair, "The deja vu thing you all felt. And I know all of you have felt it—Aside from Risále, though I think if your memories start to return, the same thing will happen to you. Back to the thing about Bella, I…I know her, even though I haven't met her. When you said her name, I—I don't know. I don't know how to tell you but I'm…I know her, even though I shouldn't, not…Not now."
"What does that even mean?"
"If I could just tell you all about it, don't you think I would? If this wasn't all so fucked up, I would have told you all exactly what's going on, but I can't," Leon said sharply before his eyes widened and he covered his mouth.
Owen stepped in between them, reaching out, "Hey. It's alright, calm down. I know you want to know, Fenix, and so do I. But you know what he's talking about, Fenix. You were there when I had the chest contractions. Even ignoring that, I'll be honest, I know what Leon means about knowing her even though he hadn't met her. I felt it with Risále," The woman looked taken aback and pointed to herself, "Yes, you. Who else is named Risále here? Besides…There's something else I should have mentioned, other than that deja vu."
He stepped back, and Fenix's eye widened in realization, "Are you sure—"
"I have to," Owen sighed, "We can't avoid that we've all been seeing and going through some really messed up stuff so far. I meant to tell you all this but my eye...I don't exactly remember losing it. Or, I do, but it felt like an out-of-body experience. Like it was happening to someone else. And I should mention, I'd probably remember it since I'm a cyborg. They did replace my eye with the silver one after they took it," He said, pulling up his shirt to expose a tattoo, 034.
"You…" Leon was a bit shocked, to say the least. From what he remembered, this had never happened before. He couldn't think of anything hinting towards Owen being a cyborg so how did it...And on top of that, Owen remembered a lot more than he expected.
"You're not the only one having those weird kinds of memories," Lumina sighed, and Leon felt his heart sink and rise at the same time. The way this was moving meant that this really was his chance to fix everything. The problem was that this also meant he only had one chance to do it right, "Kaedan and Mina had something like that happen to them a while back. Completely forgot something happened only to remember it happening but almost like an out-of-body experience."
Someone unexpectedly jumped in, "Owen, did you ever mention what your last name was?" Kaedan asked quietly.
Owen frowned, "Well, no. I don't even know what my last name is. Honestly, with what they did to me, I don't really remember my life before the White Lotus. I mean, I was really young."
Kaedan didn't seem to be finished with his questions, "Where exactly was the facility you were being held at when they experimented on you?"
"Sector 3 wasn't the only Sector to try and turn normal people into cyborgs. Sector 1 was working with them as well and they…Well, I don't remember how I got there, I just remember they transported me to the Sector 3 laboratory not too long after I was given to Sector 1," Owen said.
"Given to Sector 1?" Kaedan asked.
Owen frowned, "I…" He was quiet for a moment, "I didn't even…Yeah, I think I was given. I just…I remember a woman giving me away. She said she…Already had the one she needed. She said to…" He paused, "She said they could take the other two."
Fenix looked at him, "You didn't tell me any of this."
It was Leon who responded, "...Because he didn't know any of it until now, did you, Owen?"
Before Owen could respond, though, someone else spoke up, "You're him. Oh my god, you're Carlos Hernandez. You've been here all along," Kaedan said, his eyes wide.
Xander turned to him, his gaze just as surprised, "...What? Kaedan, you can't be serious. You're saying that he's—"
"What are you talking about?" Fenix asked what almost everyone else was thinking.
Kaedan seemed to still be in shock, "It's him, I know it's him. She said that the White Lotus could take the other two because she already had an heir. She told them to make sure no one found out about the deal. The story would be that the two kids were kidnapped by the White Lotus, and nothing could be done to get them back, that's all."
"That's…" Owen blinked, "How did you know all that? There was only a White Lotus scientist, that woman, and…" Realization started to creep into his eyes, "...The girl. There was a girl holding me."
Kaedan smiled weakly, "I didn't start transitioning until I was sixteen, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize me. You were barely five or six years old…She tried to tell me you wouldn't know who I was, that you were too young to remember. I still wanted to find you anyway. I searched for years until I managed to track down your subject number. But by the time I could actually get to any files that could help...They said you were dead. The files said you were dead."
Fenix's eyes widened, "Oh my God," He whispered, "If…If Bella survived what happened in Sector 3, then…" He turned to Owen, "It makes sense. If she survived after she escaped, she would have changed our status to deceased so that it would take the attention off of us. That was the original plan."
"...That would explain why all the files we got after the trial said you were dead," Kaedan murmured, "But to think…She tried so hard to make sure I wouldn't find you, only for us to meet again and become close by chance, without even knowing…I thought you were born and raised in Sector 3 so I never considered…"
Owen took a deep breath, swallowing, "What are you saying, Kaedan?" He said, his voice so quiet it was almost soundless.
Kaedan hesitated before he spoke, "...I think you know what I'm saying," He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a medallion. Looking closer at it, there seemed to be something engraved on it, almost like a family crest, "Do you recognize this?"
"...I…I used to play with it. When I was a child, I—What the hell, was this…Was this before I was taken by the White Lotus?" Owen replied faintly, his eyes on the medallion, "What—What is that?"
Mina was the one to speak up, "The royal crest of the Hernandez family. Kaedan's family."
"The Queen of Sector 1 was a vindictive little bitch, I'll tell you that much. She had kids and regretted it, so she tried to get rid of them. All she needed was an heir, and so the rest were just extra baggage. The only one who was spared from her murder attempts was her oldest son," Kaedan didn't notice Xander look away and Lumina looked at her cousin, worried, "In her mind, her second child and youngest son were just…Expendable. And there was always a very quick way to get rid of them. After all, a certain organization was very willing to take subjects for experiments."
Everyone was quiet, processing the information, "No way. No fucking way," Owen stared at him.
"She made a deal with them. Get rid of the two younger ones, and don't say a word about the transaction. However, I was already too old for them. Too rebellious. Typical teenager things, I guess. They did try but…" He leaned down to pull the leg of his jeans up a bit, exposing his ankle. There was a tattoo, one that looked just like Owen's, except it read 026, "They gave up pretty quickly. I guess I'd be considered a failed subject as well. When I tried to escape, well, they didn't even really try to stop me," He chuckled derisively, "The look on my mother's face when I showed up at the castle is something I'll never forget."
Xander put a hand on his shoulder, "Back to the point, love," He said gently.
"Right. So, I escaped and my older brother practically forced my mother to keep me around. But the younger one, my little brother…The White Lotus kept him. I looked for him, all of those years, and I kept trying to figure out what happened. I didn't even know it was a deal between my mother and the White Lotus until I was…God, at least twenty. Back then, all I knew was that those scientists—I thought they were doctors at the time—Were supposed to help us."
"You—Your younger brother, you're saying that…"
Kaedan nodded, the movement barely noticeable as he let out a breath, "Yeah. That was you."
Owen seemed to be processing it very slowly, opening and closing his mouth multiple times before he finally said, "So, I'm…"
"Yeah, you're my little brother. You're Carlos Hernandez, youngest prince of Sector 1."
There was a moment of silence, until— "Does anyone have secret siblings they want to call out?" Risále asked, "Because it seems like we're just having more and more news about siblings. First, Fenix's sister is actually alive, and now Kaedan and Owen are siblings, who's next?"
"We have an older brother?" Owen asked quietly to Kaedan. The older man shook his head.
"We…We had an older brother. And God, he was an amazing older brother as well. He tried to help find you but…He had a much tighter leash on him than I did since he was supposed to become the next king. He…Passed away. About five years ago," Kaedan said softly. Owen seemed to not know how to respond to that. He stared at the older man for a moment, hesitating, but not for long. He ran straight at Kaedan, knocking him over, "Woah! Owen, calm down, I'm not going anywhere," Kaedan laughed and patted the younger boy's back.
"I seriously love the family reunion. Really do. But uh ...We gotta go. Now," Mina said and pointed to the glowing red lights in the distance.
They all looked at each other, pausing for only a minute before immediately stomping out the fire and grabbing their stuff, "So much for waiting the night out and setting off tomorrow!" Leon yelled.
The response was a bullet barely missed his head.