Being too late to go back to the institution, I stayed in my old room at my mother's house. Even awake late at night, through my window I see the starry sky, in which my thoughts turn into a dense mist of unknowns and worries. I have not yet processed Esteban's strange attitude regarding the fight this morning, much less the attitude of my brother, who even being ill has the strength to claim me. What were they implying to tell me? As I analyze his words, my cell phone rings, seeing who the sender is without much encouragement, I answer.
—Yes, ok, uhum ... Don't worry, ruler, I'll go to that place to fix things— * hang up * "I'll have to analyze these doubts later.
I dress to go out, easily moving clothes such as sports and a hooded jacket, I take what I need and when I leave the house I get into a car that is already waiting for me.
The car begins its course to the designated destination, there are no longer people on the street and the night sky is very peaceful, but this all collapses when the car suddenly brakes causing me to almost hit the front seat for not wearing the seat belt. security. Upon entering me, I look at the driver and he says to stay inside the car. The leaders usually have a group specially selected by the government to protect them called followers, therefore, one of those men starts having a conversation with the driver, I don't pay attention to the end and after all I don't get along with any of them Since they only follow orders from the ruler, I am only painted under his orders, the next act gunshots echo in the air.
Wasting no time I pull up my hood to hide my face and quickly get out of the car.
The shots are deafening, machine guns that empty their casings on the still hot pavement, we all run to take refuge from them, little by little the shots cease but not for the better because a rocket launcher was pointed in our direction, we run as fast as we can but hits in a car, this goes flying through the skies and lands in front of one of my men preventing it from moving.
—Help! Someone get me out of here!—
His screams reach my ears, I go to meet him, a second wave of shots begins when he notices my presence, so I have no choice but to use my power to protect ourselves from the enemy. This power is like a large shield that can be extended several meters and bounces off enemy attacks.
—Are you okay? — I ask without much encouragement but on guard with the surroundings.
—Yes, thank you very much, representative. Using his powers for this I feel very sorry, the ruler will surely draw our attention.
—You shouldn't worry about that— I say while keeping my power active, it's not powerful, but it's efficient enough to keep the enemy away.
—It's beautiful you know?— A voice of a man appears from the enemy side. —That force field that can repel attacks is truly beautiful, although it is somewhat inconvenient for my plans.
The man makes a scythe appear and I do the same. The scythe is a symbol of territorial leadership, that is, whoever possesses it is a representative of his government, it is the proof of power. Each scythe has a stamp and color that represents each territory. For Antirda it is blue with an ice stamp, Ocania is yellow with a sun stamp, Irop is green with a drop stamp, Afriz is brown with a stone stamp, Esia is pink with a flower stamp and Amira is white with seal of a bird for the south and a lion for the north. The seals are the union of the representative with his territory and limit the powers of this like a strap.
His scythe is two thin handles that are connected by rings and chains, his blade is smaller than a common blinding machine and the same color as mine, so this person is the leader of Amira Norte, my main nemesis. In Amira the fight to see who will defeat the other first takes a long time, which is why Amira is divided in two and is a weak opponent compared to the other territories.
—Just who I wanted to see— I smile and prepare to attack. —It's time to unify this territory.
—I agree with it, but you are wrong if you think it will be under your rule, you are weaker than me, you only know how to defend yourself, therefore this territory will belong to me completely.
—I don't think so, I will follow the example of a friend and I will show you and your followers that I will achieve total control of this situation, thereby obtaining the greatest scope of government.
Marinep decides to make a counterattack against the mysterious man, but before she can reach him some chains of her hold her by her arms and legs, for which she is immobilized. One of the man's followers approaches her, Marinep's men try to go to her aid but new shots do not let them approach and if they return fire she may get hurt although they are more worried about themselves, the next moment the follower takes her away the hood revealing his identity.
—You're right girl, if you put it that way, I think what they told you is the best, it's good that you've followed it, but it's useless to follow it if you can't exemplify it.
Marinep's face is distorted by helplessness, her identity had just been revealed like that and she didn't know the basics this time. What is the real identity of her opponent?
—I thought you would give a better counter, even though I knew you were weak, I didn't think you were so weak, look at yourself, you don't even speak— his laugh is sinister. —You are a pretty silly case, well for something Amira del Sur is a "pacifist", poor deluded, I'll tell you one thing, for today I won't hurt you, but she's always on the alert because at any moment I'll go after you.
The mysterious man leaves behind a heavy and cold silence.
The next day I did not have the courage to go to class, I had to put in order the events that occurred in just one night. Just thinking that my identity was discovered by an enemy leader makes my head ache, if I sleep I have nightmares that propagate in my mind like bitter tasting events. Trying to wake up I can hear myself wondering inside what would I have done to prevent it? Should I attend self-defense classes more and not trust my powers so much? A great shake takes me out of the horrible dream, wrapped in cold sweat I try to focus my eyes on the two people in front, my brother and Joselin.
— Marinep, are you okay? — Menrip asks with much concern in her eyes.
— Menrip… Joselin What are you doing here?
— What's wrong with you Marinep? Mom told me that you didn't even try to go to class today and the institute is breaking the phone trying to contact you.
—I'm sorry Menrip. Can we talk about something important alone?— Tears begin to roll down my cheeks, Menrip gives a sign with his face to Joselin so that she leaves the room. —He discovered me.
—… — Menrip looks away from her.
—The worst thing is that I couldn't do anything and to put the cherry on the cake he humiliated me by sparing my life, there was no intention of obtaining my powers either.
Menrip says nothing, moves his lips as if to try to open them but all the words get stuck in his throat. Not being able to express himself verbally, he approaches Marinep and hugs her, bringing her head to her chest to reassure her. It took a moment for Marinep's sobbing to diminish in intensity and he got the strength to speak.
—Don't worry about that, okay, little sister? — He caresses her hair with great care, like fragile porcelain that at the slightest touch can break. —It is more than clear that at some point everything would be exposed, it was not very fair of me to demand so much for something that is especially yours, although, it is a pity that you were the first, the important thing is that you are well so no you feel bad, if you seem to fall before weakness you just have to call your older brother and he will save you without hesitation.
—My brother is weak and he has no power. How will you really save me?— I look at her face and I can see how he transforms from loving to worried in an instant, giving me to understand that I hit the mark. He just laughs with some pity and then nods his head and tells me that something would occur to him at the right time. Being in the arms of my brother gives me a certain calm, already after my body had finally relaxed, I straighten up by the new thoughts that come to me and speak in front of him.
—Things will be worse in high school if rumors of my identity have already spread.
—That would be a big problem, anyway we'll all go to class tomorrow. There is no use sitting around without seeing what the real magnitude of the problem is.
—But what if they attack me as soon as I enter, involving innocent people?
—Mari…
— What happens if they take one of my classmates hostage to bend me?
—Mar…
—They will attack in a neutral zone aggressively and ...
— Marinep! Calm down, don't panic.
— How do you want me not to panic? I'm weak and if you go to high school you can get hurt because of me.
— Didn't you hear anything I told you?
—Yes even then…
— It's enough! — His scream scares me and makes Mom and Joselin appear behind the door.
—Menrip, Marinep, what's wrong? What's the fuss about? — Her eyes show that she is extremely worried, she directs her attention to Joselin but she makes a gesture with her shoulders responding that she has no idea what is happening, so she focuses her eyes now with a light of reprimand in them towards Menrip and me . —I don't know what's going on here but young man don't make me remind you that you just got out of the hospital and I don't want you to go back there. As for you young lady, I hope you have good reasons for not attending classes because if I find out that you just wanted to spend a little time relaxing, the reprimand that I am going to give you will be enough to make you want to stay in the institution for a lifetime.
We both listened with horror to my mother's words of warning to the point of forgetting to breathe, Joselin seeing the tension in the small space known as my room decides to intervene.
—It's true, I'm also worried, surely it's just a small sibling fight, it will be resolved, return to your duties, don't worry.
—Marinep, everything will be fine— Menrip kisses her head. —The best thing is that we rest so that tomorrow we can go with everything to the institute, okay? I will take care of arranging your absence today in front of the council and the director.
—Yes brother, thank you— everyone leaves my room, but in me there are still those feelings of helplessness, humiliation and weakness that have not faded since last night.