Between brother and sister

“NO!” Skye´s voice silenced the talking. “She won´t come! Under no circumstances will I allow this!” his eyes blazed up with power as he searched for a challenger in the group who gathered to discuss the quest that was going to look for and free John. Most eyes were quickly being cast down when they met the force of his. His gaze stopped to rest on me. I could feel my eyes starting to shine brighter too as my emotions and the energy that flowed through me combined. The tension in the room increased rapidly as we competed in our silent fight to overpower the other. To my right I could see Phyna flinch, sit down and shield her mind, the combined energy of Skye and me proving to be too much for her to handle. She was one of the most sensitive people I knew to react to changes in her surroundings but I could feel the others reacting the same way. My concentration shifted back to the boy in front of me and my anger intensified as I saw him crunching his eyebrows into a tight line which he only did when he was preparing for a fight which he didn´t intend to lose.

“You will stay in the academy, Allie. The mission is too dangerous!”

“You can´t keep me here forever Atticus!” I spat out furiously.

“Try me!” he answered, his eyes glowing in every different shade of blue.

“I am not a little child anymore! Don´t you dare act like I was!”

“You won´t come. You haven´t been trained long enough and I won´t have you traipsing off and risking all of our lives just so you could prove that you ‘were ready’!”

“That has nothing to do with the quest! And you know it! You of all people should understand just how important this is for me, Skye.” Frustration crept into my angry voice.

“I do understand you Allie. But you are lacking proper training, in everything. I can´t risk that. I can´t risk losing you. Again.” I could feel the strain in him as he tried to make me back down. “It´s for your own good. I just want to protect you!”

“But that´s exactly it! You are always trying to protect me, Skye! Everyone is always trying to protect me. But I don´t want that anymore. I don´t need protection. I can look after myself! We´re not eight anymore, Atticus. We are stronger now. Both of us are. Let me come. I know I´m ready for this. You know I´m ready for this.” I underlined my words with energy of persuasion. It seemed that it had affect on the people in the room and I could see them considering my plea but I knew that I couldn´t expect them to help me. This was a matter between Skye and me. And of course Skye wasn´t affected by my talk.

“No. I know you hate this but I don´t have a choice. I gave him my word that I would protect you. He wouldn´t want you to risk yourself like that.” His jaw was set and the blue fire in his eyes burned brightly.

“Why won´t you see the truth?” I asked him annoyed. “Why can´t you look at me and see who I am and not who you think I am?! I have every right to go on this quest. I can do with my life whatever I want and you can´t stop me. There are so many dangers out there for normal people and for us even more. You won´t always be there to protect me. You sure weren´t there the past few years! None of you were! So don´t come acting like my biggest protectors!” furiously I looked around the room. No one could hold my gaze for more than a few seconds, but the guilt was clear in their sad eyes and lowered heads. Except Skye of course. Pain and guilt clouded his eyes but he still starred at me with the same determination as I did at him.

“You will not accompany us on this quest, Alexis. Never.”

“You stubborn idiot!” my voice reached a shouting level but I didn´t care. “You behave like this would only concern you! But it doesn´t! He is my brother too! And I miss him and want him back too! But you don´t care do you? You don´t even care who I am and what I feel! You say you do but you don´t! If you would, you would consider for even one second that he has two siblings who lost him, that we were both captured, that he wanted to protect the two of us. Do you really think I want this just to prove how great and powerful I am? For fun? I have so much to lose on this quest!“ frustrated I noticed that tears were swelling up and my voice trembled with suppressed emotions. For a second I thought that it had affected him and he would actually answer me instead of always dodging me, but then he closed himself from me and I could no longer feel his mind. He straightened himself and he spoke with formal authority.

“Alexis Mae Phoenix. As the named leader of this mission I have the final say in this matter. And though I understand your concern I have to say that you neither have the qualifications for a quest of this degree nor do you possess other valuable skills or information that would make you important enough for this quest to overlook your lack of training and experience. Your participation would only be a hindrance for the success of the quest. Therefore your plea to come along on this quest is rejected and won´t be picked up again. I forbid you to attend any meetings concerning this quest and further involvement of any kind. Defying my orders will be punished accordingly.” The whole time he sounded calm and collected as if we were having a casual conversation and he didn´t just destroyed the only hopes I had to help my brother.

Tears of frustration, hurt and anger welled up inside of me as I felt the power of his words settle on me. I quickly scanned the room but nobody looked at me. Even Nate, Mace and Cy didn´t meet my eyes, but I could see their tensed muscles relax in relief. 'Traitors', I thought angrily. My gaze swept back to Skye who still stared at me with his jaw set and his eyes blazing. My vision blurred from the tears I refused to shed. I hated him for excluding me from the quest in the most formal and binding way. By refusing my plea as the quest leader he made me helpless to watch those I loved most get hurt or worse. Speaking words of power like that didn´t only make me furious because it would be impossible to defy him or because he humiliated me in front of many teachers, students and friends, no I could live with that, if it had been a normal quest. What really drove me mad was that he rejected my plea as my twin. As my brother by blood. As the only person who knew almost all my deepest whishes, feelings, fears and thoughts. As the only other person who knew how important John was to me and to us. Taking away my only chance to save my older brother from the those who held him prisoner. I got madder each second. The mess of my emotions turned into cold, furious anger. Naming himself quest leader put him in a higher up position than myself which made it impossible to respond the way I´d like to ,but fortunately he still was my brother and I could respond to him, seeing him as my brother only, however I deemed fit. Without giving it a second thought I walked up to Skye and slapped him hard. So hard, that his head flew to the side. The loud slapping noise left the room in a deathly silence. Now everybody looked at me, mostly stunned and shocked and some with sly amusement, Cy and Mace obviously.

He looked at me, keeping his mind and emotions hidden from me. Unfortunately I couldn´t say the same for me. My mess of emotions and thoughts made it impossible for me to collect myself and shield my mind properly. So I directed all my rage, hurt and betrayal at him, giving him a mental slap too. With satisfaction I saw him flinch as he met the full force of my feelings. While looking at him I noticed – much to my annoyance – that I couldn´t look him in the eyes anymore, but had to look up. Unintentionally I let my annoyance slip through to the emotions directed at him and I could see the corners of his mouth lift up a bit in a smirk which destroyed my confident appearance. Not stopping to think I responded the way most girls in my position would have. I stomped on his foot, swirled around, making sure my hair hit him right in the face as he crunched down with surprised pain and marched out of the room. The last thing I heard was Cy´s sarcastic remark “Nicely handled, bro.” before I started running.