Truth
Wynnona
I place the phone down on the table and fall back on the soft bed. I could easily fall asleep right now, but startle awake when the automatic door slides open. Keya walks in, clothed in her pajamas and one of her boyfriend's sweaters, with something in her hand. I sit up as she comes to sit beside me.
"I found this in the room Brett chose." She tells me softly. She shows me a small, blue bunny rabbit. It's a stuffed toy no bigger than a child's chest. I take it from her as she rests her head on my shoulder. "Also, you're more comfortable then Brett." She mutters tiredly. I laugh slightly as Star yips, hopping into her lap.
"Go to sleep princess. You'll be safe here." I tell her softly, kissing her forehead. I have always had this motherly instinct over Keya. She's my best friend, a sister from a different mister, and I love her. Not romantically. No, she's Brett's girl. She's just a sister I feel this motherly instinct to protect. It's one reason she always comes to me when she has nightmares and can't sleep. She knows I'll protect her as will Brett. But it's true, I am more comfortable to sleep on and I don't snore. I hear her soft snoring after a couple seconds, causing a soft smile to stretch over my lips.
I look back at the stuffed bunny. It has been stitched together perfectly; the blue fabric soft. It reminds me of Giovanni's amazingly blue eyes. The eyes of the rabbit are unnerving. One is purple and the other is green, just like my eyes. The end of the rabbit's floppy ears are a red and black ombre.
Gently, I fall back onto the pillows behind me. Wrapping my arms around Keya, I settle into the bed. I'm awake nine out of ten times during the night, something Keya takes advantage of. That and my unnaturally warm body. On the off chance I'm not, I will wake up rather easily if poked hard enough. Keya cuddles into my side, sleeping soundly. Her long black hair is tangled around laying in a halo around her head. I fall asleep swiftly after my head hits the pillow.
The room around me has changed. Instead of the soft yellow walls, there are rigid grey ones. A boy around 18 that looks like Giovanni is standing before Inezze, the woman from my dreams.
"Stupid boy." She growls rather harshly, hand coming down to slap the boy. The sound of her skin against his face rings in my ears. The boy keeps his head turned to the side; fists clenched at his sides.
"I don't care if you don't accept us." Giovanni states, stubbornness and strength radiating from him.
"You are not to see that filthy boy again. That filth is turning you into a thing like him." She growls.
"What is he turning me into? A gay?" Giovanni growls. "I have always been gay. And you never had an issue with him when we were children. What if your precious lost daughter was gay?" He has started to shout now.
Inezze slaps him again. Harder this time. The force of this impact almost causes him to fall. But he stays standing, having staggered back only a handful of steps.
"You will listen to me as your commander." She states in a tone that leaves no room for arguments. Tears fill his eyes as he nods before turning and running off. I follow him as he enters what looks like an infirmary. A younger version of Jake turns as the door opens, his smile falling when he sees Giovanni's red cheeks.
"She hit you again, didn't she?" He asks without needing an answer. Jake sets his clipboard down and rushes to his teary-eyed boyfriend. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." Jake tells him softly as the scene fades to black.
When my eyes open, I am greeted with the warm yellow walls of the room I fell asleep in. Keya is still curled up beside me, fast asleep. I hear someone shouting her name and look up in time to see Brett walk into my room. He looks tired and scared.
"Quiet down Smith or you'll wake her up." I whisper at him. He sighs and walks to the other side of the bed, playing with his girlfriends' hair.
"I should have known she'd be here." He mutters to himself. Gently he sits down beside her sleeping from. Keya rolls over, wrapping her arms around one of his thighs and snuggling into him. He smiles down at her sleeping form. Now untangled from Keya, I sit up and massage my temples, willing the now growing headache to go away. After a couple moments of silence, mulling over the dream in my head, I decide to speak.
"Brett," I use his first name, getting his attention swiftly, "I think I'm seeing Giovanni's memories."
"Why would you be?" He asks, not questioning how weird I am anymore. "You only just recently met the guy."
"I don't know." I tell him honestly. Brett looks worried and is about to say something but is cut off by Star's yipping. We both stand, him having more trouble than me, and follow Star's yipping. When we get there my eyes instantly land on the glowing stone on the book. I come closer to see it's the green stone. The stone itself is a light green with darker and lighter flecks of green floating in it.
"If these are tests, what does this mean?" Brett asks as he looks at me.
"I've got no idea." I mutter with a sigh. My phone starts to go off in my pocket. I answer the phone and put it on speaker. Again, I still don't try to understand how my phone is working, just going along with it.
"Wynnona?" I hear Giovanni's voice ask.
"Hey. What's up?" I answer, looking at Brett.
"If I send you a set of coordinates will you be able to follow them?" He asks again.
"We should be able to, why?" I ask, growing sceptical.
"I think it would be good for the Allies to meet their greatest hope at liberation." He explains. "I also think there are some things we need to talk about." I nod along with him as something dings on the control panel.
"Sounds okay to me. We'll meet you there." I tell him and hang up.
"So, you're in contact with Giovanni?" I can hear the teasing manner in Brett's voice.
"Don't start. One, he's gay. Two, he's engaged to that Jake guy." I sit down in one of the seats and start maneuvering the ship to follow the coordinates Giovanni sent over. "Three, no one wants to be with me romantically." Brett sighs as he sits beside me, lifting Star out of the seat as he does.
"You know, dad used to say the same thing before he started dating papa." Brett tells me. His blue eyes have a far away look to them. My heart stings as I let out a sigh remembering the amazing men who raised me, us.
"I've always taken after him, haven't I?" I ask Brett with a soft smile. He laughs softly and smiles as well.
"You have. Just as stubborn and just as loving." There is a moment of silence between the two of us. Tears sting my eyes.
"I miss them." I whisper, the tears escaping. Brett stands up and hugs me, tears falling down his cheeks as well.
"I do too Wyatt, I do too." We stand there, holding each other as we cry softly until I feel slim arms wrap around my waist.
"Morning you two." Keya says, kissing my cheek and pecking Brett's lips. She has somehow managed to sandwich herself between Brett and me.
"There is a kitchen through the first door to the left. There is some food in my bag." I tell her, knowing she will be hungry. Her eye light up and she smiles. Brett kisses my forehead and takes Keya's hand as they head for the kitchen. I sit and stare at the galaxy moving around me as we travel. I feel at peace as I watch, Star jumping up into my lap. Keya comes and sits in the seat beside me, bowl in hand. She has changed into one of Brett's hoodies and jeans.
"Here." Brett hands me a bowl. It's full of milk and some cereal. "You need to eat too." I take the bowl, looking up at him. He's in a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt. The three of us sit in silence for a little while, just watching the galaxy go by.
In the peace I let my thoughts run wild. Why was I seeing Giovanni's old memories? Were we connected in some way? And that girl from my dream, who is she? Should we trust her?
"It's peaceful out here." Keya is the first to break the silence pulling me from my thoughts.
"I didn't think running away from Earth could be this much fun." Brett comments, pushing my shoulder playfully. I keep my eyes locked outside and barely move. I think I see something in the distance.
"Guys." I tell the two. "Go find anything not tied down and buckle up." They don't question as they run off, doing as told. I stare at the controls of the ship hoping something will come to me. Or the ship will talk to me like that one cartoon I watched once. Something about flying metal cats that form into one big dude. This isn't the important part right now.
I definitely saw something, and that something looked like another ship. There was this strange symbol on it with writing I couldn't understand. The ship fires some form of laser at me, and without thinking I grab the controls and get us out of the way. For a medium sized ship, she's fast.
Keya and Brett take seats beside and behind me, buckling in. I can see the green stone on the book flickering brightly from the corner of my eye. I narrow my gaze at the ship attacking us.
"Hold on." I shout at the two, turning the ship around and flying away. The other ship chased us. Good. I pull up sharply on the controls making my ship flip backwards. Now aimed perpendicular to the other ship, I fire three shots into it. The ship explodes as I adjust our course, now back on track.
"What was that?" Brett asks, frantically undoing his belt and rushing to Keya. She must have hit her head.
"I'm fine babe." She whispers to Brett. All on its own, the ship enters 'light speed.' The galaxy is flying by so fast my eyes can't register how fast everything is whizzing by.
"Estimated arrival to rift is 1 hour and a half." A robotic voice says from the ship. All three of us jump when we hear it. Me out of my seat and Keya into Brett's arms.
"The hell?" I ask.
"Don't be frightened child, my name is Dayna and I am the ship's ai." The ship tells us.
"This is freaky." Brett whispers at the same time Keya bursts forward and squeals, "This is awesome."
Keya sits down in the seat by the control panel and starts to talk with Dayna. She is talking a mile a minute and Dayna keeps up with every word. I am amazed but smile softly. Keya loves to talk. She's as extroverted as they come and I am the exact opposite, while Brett is the happy middle. He's quiet most of the time, letting Keya talk all she wants. It's cute, but I'll never tell them that. Brett and I both slowly back away from Keya without being noticed.
I grab the book before I leave the room, the green stones glow has dimmed a little. It is now a soft glow of the sun just before it disappears under the horizon. I have some questions for this thing.
I head back to my room, closing the door and going through my bag to find a pen or pencil. After finding a pen I sit down on the bed, book open in my lap. I place the pen against one of the perfectly white pages and write out a question I'm going to ask.
Who are you?
The ink slowly disappears, evaporating or something into nothing. I ran my fingers over the place I had written on. My fingers feel no indent in the page where I pressed the pen against. I flipped the page and found no writing on the other side. Confused, I stare at the book. Didn't this same thing happen in a movie? Something about Tom Riddle and the book being evil. I don't remember all of it.
"What in the world?" I mutter to myself. Perfect cursive writing starts to appear on the page just under where I write my question. Definitely like the movie I watched.
A caring person
The one meant to save them all
Has nothing left
Envious of those who aren't trapped
Not from around here
A friend
The writing reads. I study it for a couple minutes, trying to figure out what it means. I read over every word four or five times. Brett's words hit me as I'm reading it for the sixth time. Maybe it can only speak in puzzles and riddles.
I take my pen and place it to the right of the sentences. The first letter of every line spells out the name Athena.
So, I'm talking to Athena?
I write again and watch the ink disappear. It's still a little freaky.
I cannot tell you if that is correct or not.
Of course, because why would you be able to tell me things I need to know. Where would the fun in that be? Can you hear my sarcasm? I glare slightly at the book before writing out another question.
Where are you from?
Honestly, I mostly want to know more about this book before I ask the tough questions.
Is it a matter of where, or when?
Her perfect writing appears. I read over the words and sit and think about it for a second. Why would I ask when you're from? I question to myself. Unless you're not from this year. But that's not possible. Then again, I'm talking with a book and I'm in space where aliens exist, and we are meant to defeat said group of aliens. What is impossible out here.
Before I get the chance to ask any more questions her writing before disappears and changes to something else.
If the void is staring at you, make it uncomfortable.
What does that mean? There is a sharp jolt and I fall out of the bed, cutting my cheek on the bed side table as I go down. I touch my right cheek as I stand, seeing that the cut was, in fact, at the same place as the previous one from my fight. I grab a couple tissues and place them over the bleeding wound, heading out to join the other two idiots.
"What's going on?" Brett asks as he helps Keya to her feet. I push a couple buttons, but nothing happens.
"Dayna, what's going on?" I ask the AI. I mean, it's there for a reason, right?
"The ship seems to have stopped. We are trapped in some kind of field preventing us from moving forward." She explains. My mind runs over the words the book gave me.
"Does anyone else feel like they're being stared at?" Keya asks, nuzzling into Brett's chest.
"I think the void is staring at us." Is all I say without thinking