Chapter 10

  I remained bedridden for two days before I regained my strength. Elijah surprisingly was very considerate and empathetic with me the whole time. He made sure I had water to drink and even helped me use the restroom once. He told me that when I passed out my body started glowing and I shocked anyone who tried to touch me. He ended up having to float me upstairs and into the bed after we got back home using his gravity abilities.

  He sat on his bed leaning against the headboard reading through a Justice Comic book. Justice Comics are about if Unveiled were actually seen as heros as opposed to the villains we are generally depicted as. as it was meant to entertain people seemed to like it pretty well, although they never seem to appreciate what we are really like as normal people.

  “Why have you been so nice to me?" I asked, interrupting his reading as I sat up. He let out a loud sigh and slammed the comic book down in his lap.

  "Why do you ask annoying questions?” He groaned and then raised his book back up as if he were trying to hide behind it.

  “What!" I was shocked. “That's not a stupid question!"

  “Yes it is." he muttered

  “No it's not!" I say back to which he starts to repeat himself before he just groans again.

  “I used to be the same way…” He mutters, moving the comic book closer to his face, now hidden behind it completely. “Plus you remind me of my little brother.”

  "You have a little brother too?” I ask tentatively.

  “You have a little brother?” He asks back Lowering the book from his face again, his expression full of suspicion.

  "Yeah, his name is Kora, What's your little brother's name?" I ask. I then got up from the bed entirely and started idly walking around the room in a circle.

  "Adam… but now he's scared of me just like my mom and dad were.”

  “Why are they scared of you?” I ask, leaning over onto my hands in a pushup stance. Not for any particular reason, but as a kid I would always make random movements when I was talking.

  “Dude what are you doing?" Elijah asked, annoyed as I lowered myself and then pushed myself up completing my fifth pushup.

  “I'm so bored!" I complain, the two of us completely losing track of any depth of conversation we held moments ago.

  “Well, I'll be bored somewhere else. I'm tryna read!" Elijah complains back lifting me off of the ground through his control of gravity. I grasp at the floor as I feel myself starting to float and groan as I flail about in the air. With nothing to push off of I can't even orient myself as I start as my body becomes perfectly weightless.

  "Put me down Elijah!” I demand as I start channeling my own electricity as a threat to strike if he didn't listen. Wordlessly he drops me back to the ground, and being unprepared I land awkwardly on my arm.

  “Hey! That hurt!" I complain and out of spite I surge a jolt of election, just enough to sting. I let the electricity Arc from my fingertips into Elijah's arm, a small blue flicker of light illuminating the room followed by a faint crackle and Elijah Screaming.

  I realize at that moment I may have hit him a bit harder than I intended, and I see him drop the book and stretch his hand out towards me. "I'm… I'm sorry!” I try to say as if it's a magical word that would extinguish his ire, but it was to no avail. The next instant I felt my back crash into the wall of our room. The plaster and wood behind me groaned as he applied more and more force. It truly felt like I was being crushed like a bug.

  Not wanting to die, I channeled more electricity into my hands and was able to arc another jolt into Elijah just enough so that I could take a breath. He lets out a choked groan, and I see his body convulse. I wince knowing how painful it has to have been before I get up and run out of the room.

  "Get back here Kaiden!” He screamed at me with a strained voice from the room.

  “No! You're crazy!" I yell back runing down the stairs the moment I look Up I stop. I'm only halfway down the steps and yet, I can tell I've gone too far. Erica was standing by the open front door, and had turned around freezing me in my tracks with a death glare. I cringe finally hearing Elijah's pursuing steps booming behind me before he reaches the stairs and is met with Erica's frosty glare too.

  She turns back around to face a strange girl who was about our age. She had light olive skin, much lighter than mine. Her hair was dark with small defined curls, and her eyes a verdant green. Although her eyes were tinged with red, and her face stained with tears.

  "I'm sorry Lydia,That's Kaiden, and Elijah. They can be a handful but they are very boys." Erica says gently as lowers herself to eye level with the small girl she called Lydia. Despite her no longer focusing on us, there's something that tells me not to move an inch. The girl's face was impassive as she seemingly ignored Ms. Erica completely.

  “She doesn't speak a lick of English." I heard Ian's voice from beyond the door. I just couldn't see him from where I was standing.

  Ms. Erica Cut Ian a glare, much like the ones she gave us whenever we did something wrong. She softened her face before looking down to Lydia and said something in a strange language I didn't know.

  Lydia's eyes lit up and she regarded Ms. Erica with a level of admiration; the moment didn't last long as she started crying shortly after. Ms. Erica Gestured for me and Elijah to go outside, and we didn't argue.

  By dinner time the new girl had calmed down some, and Jae-yoon was already doting on her like she was her new best friend.

  We didn't question it when Ms. Erica told us to treat Lydia like family. We were used to it, and I felt as though it were my responsibility to make her feel as comfortable as Jae-yoon and Elijah made me feel when I first got to Greenhouse.

  She even started teaching us Arabic, which was what Lydia spoke. We didn't go to a traditional school, but we used the study as our classroom all the same.

  Two years later, Jae-yoon, Elijah, and I had already grown fluent in Arabic, and Lydia, Fluent in English. Erica attributed our fast rate of development to our being Unveiled. By this time I was only eight years old, and already studying at a Junior highschool level.

  “Look at this!" Jae-yoon ran across the back yard of Greenhouse and did a round off into a handspring and finished her move with a graceful backflip. "You try that one Lydia.”

  “Okay" Lydia replied quickly. She stood still for a moment before breaking into a run, She rounded off, into a handspring into a backflip. Lydia struck the same graceful pose at the end as Jae-yoon and then let out a tired breath as if the move exhausted her. "How was that?”

  The girls had been practicing for hours, Jae-yoon had the tendency of trying harder and harder moves with hopes that Lydia wouldn't be able to keep up, and yet she would always match exactly what Jae-yoon did, making her frustrated Altcoin would never admit to that.

  Elijah and I Instead focused on more important things. Se sat on the back porch playing Super Star Bash, a game we played together on our Qpads. Old hand held gaming system that allowed up to six people to link up and play the same game together through a lan connection.

  "I think her flip looked cooler!” Elijah yelled out, not even looking up from his Qpad. Thinking he was distracted I tried to make a move with my character to gain the advantage, and it only resulted in my losing the game.

  "Ah Bro! you're a cheater!” I complained, jamming my elbow into his side like the sore loser I was.

  Elijah just chuckled as we started up another match. " I'm just too good! What can I say.”

  " Shut up and play your dorky game!” Jae-yoon yelled back at Elijah realizing he was completely focused on something else.

  “You're mad like you know he is righter." Lydia says back snickering proudly, Excited at her own significant progress.

  I look up when I hear this and see Jae-yoon's face turn red. I can see her go through a series of emotions before she breaks into tears and runs past us back into the house, the door slamming behind her. Elijah and I stare at the door for a moment before we both look back to see Lydia standing in the field staring at the door, and then down to us sitting on the porch.

  She drops her head and walks over to us, clear trying not to cry herself which I can't understand. I couldn't even figure out why Jae, was crying.

  “What happened?” Elijah asked softly as Lydia came and sat on the step lower than the two of us. The spring time breeze blowing through her hair as she dropped her face into her lap.

  “I… I don't… know.” She said through sniffles,

  I patted her back before standing up. “I'll talk to her, okay?”

  She nodded without lifting her head. Elijah looked up to me with an annoyed face, it was as if to say, “Why are you leaving her with me." To which I just shrugged my shoulders to before going back inside.

  I took my shoes off and put them by the door like we were supposed to do. I didn't see Jae-yoon's shoes there, so she obviously didn't bother to take them off before she ran through the house.

  I walk around towards the front of the house and then head up the stairs. Passing by my room, I reach Lydia and Jae-yoon's door is closed, but that doesn't stop Jae-yoon's sobs from coming through to the other side. I knock lightly which is answered quickly with "Go away!”

  “Can I come inside?"

  “NO! I said go away!" Jae yells back.

  “Alright well I'm coming in.” I open the door and a pillow is instantly thrown at my face. I close the door quickly and the pillow thuds against it. I wait a second before opening the door again, this time a bit more cautiously. I peek inside to see Jae-yoon is balled up on her bed.

  "Um…” I start Not really knowing what to say. It wasn't the first time I'd seen her cry. Normally it would be from her getting in trouble with Ms. Erica. But this time it wasn't anything Ms Erica did. It's weird to see Jae-yoon upset, since she's the one usually smiling and bouncing around with energy.

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  I spent some time standing in the doorway halfway making sure she didn't throw anything at me again. and halfway still trying to come up with something to say.

  "You're wondering why I'm so upset.” My eyebrows raise a bit not having expected her to be the first one to say something. she doesn't move her head and stays balled up.

  " Uh yeah… what happened?” I ask moving further into her room and sitting down on the bed.

  “It's just that, I keep trying to be nice and show her stuff and then she does it and then she does it better than me. And when I do it, it's not special anymore!" Jae-yoon unloads, taking a deep breath in between her sobs.

  "Oh we-”

  " It was like that with our English homework, at first I was helping her with that and now she gets better grades than me, And then with Gymnastics it was like that too, and then Elijah said her move was better than mine and he doesn't even know anything about gymnastics and I just wanted to be her friend but she keeps ruining everything for me.” Jae-yoon continues unleashing the flood gates. In the moment I felt traumatized by her level of distress.

  "I'm sorry.” Is the best I could manage at the time. I just wrapped my arm around Jae-yoon and let her cry. I didn't really even understand half of what she rattled off to me. Some of her sobs made it so hard to understand. I didn't really need to know what she was saying though. I could see she was hurting, And I could feel it.

  Literally, as I held her, faint signals of her neverous system sent, some of her feelings through to me making me want to tear up and cry too, despite not having felt upset the moment before. We both sat there together for a while before she started to feel better. After she stopped crying I then told her to talk to Ms. Erica about Lydia.

  Ms. Erica was much better suited for handling this kind of drama than I was. She had been out front talking with Ian, and some of the other guys that dropped off supplies so everything that happened went unnoticed by her. But when she came back inside and saw how quiet things were, it didn't take her long to figure out what happened.

  Later that night, Ms. Erica Called me down to her office just before bedtime. Normally when she calls me to her office because I've done something to get myself in trouble. I walk down the stairs to the foyer, and turn into the study.

  In the back of the study is a small section that Houses Ms. Erica's desk. It has a Victorian style to it. It was stained, rich mahogany which I could always smell whenever I sat down in front of it. Ms. Erica wasn't there though as she normally was.

  Instead she stood off to the close right side, the wall initially blocking my view. She doesn't turn and acknowledge me as her fingers run along the bound edges of the books which line her library's bookshelf.

  “Go ahead and take a seat sweetie." She says softly. Her voice was warm and Gentle which helped me relax.

  I figured she wasn't upset at me, but I still nervously wondered what she wanted. I walked over and took my seat in front of her desk. The rich wooden smell brings back memories of times I'd been there before.

  It felt like I waited an eternity before she finally found the book she was looking for and made her way over to the desk. Not much sat on top of it. Just a large bulky computer. It's peripherals and a lamp.

  There was plenty of space for the book she'd picked out and sat between us.

  "Do you know who Adyseus is?” Erica Asked me as she opened the book and started to search through its pages. I sit up with my knees in there chair and lean onto her desk so that I can can look over into the book.

  "No ma'am.” I said with peaked interest wanting to learn.

  Erica smiled at that. It was subtle, small. The kind of smile that you could tell wasn’t about amusement. It was the kind that curled her lips because of something remembered, something far away.

  “Well,” she said, her fingers brushing softly across the old parchment as though it were delicate skin. “Then it’s time you learned.”

  The moment she spoke again, I caught it—that faint rose-sweet smell. It always kind of danced at the edge of your senses. You never really noticed it until it was already there. Warm. Soft. Almost too gentle to question. I breathed it in without thinking, and just like always, the thoughts that had been darting around in my head slowly began to still.

  Erica's voice carried in that dreamy, syrupy way it always did when she told stories. Like she wasn’t just speaking from memory—but from feeling. And when she spoke, everything else just... faded.

  “Adyseus,” she began, “wasn’t like most men. He was a good and kind hearted man that didn’t fit in the world he was born into.”

  She turned the book toward me a little. There wasn’t a picture on the page, just text—old script. But it didn’t matter. When she talked like this, you could see it all in your head.

  “They called him the God of Sailing, not because he was some untouchable legend, but because people needed a word for the impossible things he could do. His ship never took on water. Not a single drop. No storm could stop him. He’d glide through waves that swallowed lesser vessels whole.”

  She paused and leaned forward a bit, resting her hand against her chin. Her eyes flicked toward me, curious to see if I was following. I nodded without a word, already too deep in it to interrupt.

  “He could’ve used all that power for himself. Made fortunes. Bought kingdoms. But he didn’t. He used it to carry medicine, supplies—hope, Kaiden. He gave it away like it cost him nothing.”

  Something about the way she said that made my chest feel heavy, like I could feel the weight Adyseus must’ve carried, even though he didn’t show it. Erica turned another page, slow and careful.

  “Of course, not everyone loved him for that. Men with power don’t like sharing it. And when one man is kinder and faster and better than all the rest… well, eventually, even his goodness became a reason to hate him.”

  There was a silence that followed, and I realized I hadn’t blinked in what felt like a minute. The smell of rose lingered, soft and inviting.

  “They plotted behind closed doors. Paid off officials. Hired men to sabotage him. But Adyseus… he just smiled through it. Said kindness could weather any storm.”

  She glanced up at me, and I caught her eyes for a second. There was something in them. Not pity, not sadness. Just… knowing. Like she'd seen storms like that herself.

  “Then one day,” she continued, her voice dipping lower, “a hurricane leveled a coastal town. They were known for their medicines and spices, and if no one got to them fast—they’d lose everything. Adyseus was already preparing to leave when a rival’s ship got caught in the storm.”

  I already knew where this was going. Or at least, I thought I did.

  “He didn’t hesitate. Turned around, sailed straight into the heart of the storm. Rescued every soul aboard. Even his bitterest rival—Thestyn. And when Thestyn tried to thank him… you know what Adyseus said?”

  I shook my head slowly.

  “‘We owe each other dignity. Nothing more.’” She said it in his voice. Not mimicking, just… breathing the words like they were real again.

  She let that linger before she turned the page one final time.

  “Thestyn asked him to deliver the cargo they’d saved. Said it was bound for another town that had been hit. Adyseus, still believing in the best of people, agreed. He took the crates. Took the route Thestyn gave him.”

  Erica leaned back now, crossing one arm gently over the other. The smell in the room deepened just a little. My head felt light, not dizzy. Just... safe. Like I could fall asleep in her voice.

  “And that’s when they killed him. The ship exploded. There were no survivors. Turns out, the crates had been rigged. Not by Thestyn alone—but by every merchant who feared that one good man more than a thousand bad ones.”

  She let the silence hang there like a painting no one wanted to touch.

  I swallowed, but my mouth was dry. “Why would they do that?” I asked, almost under my breath.

  Her eyes didn’t leave mine. “When desire turns into resentment–that’s called envy. And The veiled have always been envious of our power.”

  And for a second, in that room, with the warm mahogany and the smell of roses, I felt myself growing angry. It was like understanding what she said, caused thorns to sprout in my heart.

  I didn't say anything for a while. I just stared down at the page as the words began to look as though they were fading. I blinked my eyes a few times trying to get them to clear up before Ms. Erica drew my attention again.

  Not by her saying anything but by a subtle bit of emotion that I could feel leaking through her. A sense of sadness, and anger, just like what I was feeling, but also excitement, confidence, and accomplishment. emotions I didn't understand.

  Looking at her face her emotions switched to curiosity and fear before they faded and I couldn't feel them anymore. I wondered why I could feel them in the first place, but with how fuzzy I was feeling I thought it was just in my head.

  Her face studied me with a quiet curiosity, but showed none of the fear I just felt.

  “Why did he help them.” I finally asked, looking down at the desk now as I ran my finger along its smooth beveled edge.

  I heard her chair creak a little as she leaned forward, the soft thud of her elbow and the sound of her sleeves sliding across the mahogany desk. It felt like I could hear everything. It was strange even the grain of wood felt more detailed under my finger.

  “Like I said, Adyseus was a good man. But he thought I'm order to be good–he had to show kindness. Even when it hurt. Even when people didn't deserve it.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. I began to wonder what it meant to deserve kindness. I didn't think Thestyn deserved any, but apparently Adyseus did.

  “But if he hadn't helped he would've lived." I said my finger settling on a small seam where two pieces of wood meet up together.

  Once again I could hear nearly every small motion she made as she shifted and closed the book, sliding it over clearing the space between us.

  "You're probably right.” Her hands shifted back to a position where she could support her chin. “He died trying to save people who would never do the same for him. And he did it because he thought kindness was everything.”

  She let those words linger in the air much like the smell of rose and mahogany. I saw that she had a gentle smile that barely stretched the corners of her lips. Even still her eyes were cold and sharp.

  "You have a qood heart Kaid" She said her eyes shifting as she searched into mine. Almost as if she were reaching into my soul to make her words sink in more. "Jae-yoon told me about how you talked to her.”

  I snickered, "She did most of the talking.”

  Ms. Erica laughed a little too, soft and warm, like how my mom used to when I said something silly. Then she leaned forward and gently took my hands into hers. They were soft, but firm.

  “That’s why I wanted to share Adyseus’ story with you,” she said, her voice low now. “He was kind. He showed mercy… and it got him killed.”

  Her words sunk in deeper than normal and I could feel my chest tighten, much like when I hold breath. I could feel the warmth coming from her hands and again I could feel her emotions this time more clearly. Anticipation, Excitement, earnesty, Anger, hate, hopefulness.

  “You can still be kind, Kaiden,” she said, her thumbs brushing the backs of my hands. “You just have to be smart about who you give your kindness to. Mercy isn’t for people who’d use it to hurt you. Not everyone deserves it.”

  I didn’t say anything. I just nodded a little.

  She let go of my hands and leaned back in her chair. “So be kind to yourself first… by never letting someone else’s hate be the reason you get hurt.”

  “Okay?" Ms. Erica asked simply. Her tone was warm and relaxed.

  "Yes ma'am.” I reply in kind as the tight sensation in my chest began to fade. Erica game me a slight smile and clapped her hands together without actually making a noise.

  “Perfect, now go and get some sleep” Ms. Erica said dismissing me. "Tomorrow we all need to talk. I think understanding where we all come from will help us to be a bit nicer to each other." She said as I stood up from my seat, my legs buzzed slightly as they'd fallen asleep from the way I was sitting. We both said goodnight to each other and I went to bed.

  The next morning we all talked just as Ms. Erica had said. It was interesting learning more about everyone, and a bit awkward too having to share more about where I came from, but I felt better when I was finished.

  Jae-yoon was the first after her family discovered she was Unveiled, They just dropped her off at a UAD Facility in Seoul, Korea. They claimed that she would randomly manipulate the air around her and cause them to pass out. They actually wanted to keep her, But didn't know how to care for her without risking their own lives.

  Jae-yoon's story was the most peaceful of all of ours. For Elijah, He would throw temper tantrums and cause things in his home to float and fly around causing damage to his family's home. As they believed He was possessed with some sort of demon, they tried to kill him which resulted in him accidently killing them to protect himself. His brother who he'd told me about before, was orphaned and now hates his brother for killing his parents.

  In Lydia's case, her family claimed that her Light abilities were an indication she was a prophetess sent by god as she could use her powers to heal. A great contrast from Elijah's story. A group of fanatics one day kidnapped Lydia for her healing abilities and forced her to use them to make a profit until she couldn't anymore. When they saw she wasn't able to help them they turned her into the UAD claiming she was a girl abandoned by God.

  And then of course there was my story. The product of a dysfunctional family and subjected to the abuses of a drunken stepfather. If there was one constant between us all it was that we'd all been abandoned or betrayed by those who were supposed to care for us the most.

  Erica never yelled, and she never had to. It was the quiet looks of disappointment that seemed to rake coals over our nerves. When we messed up, there was this deep feeling sometimes that we'd lose everything. That we would be abandoned once again.

  It was as if the level of debt we felt for being taken in, drove us to be perfect. It was that indebtedness that made it easy for Erica to teach us whatever it was she needed to. We hung on her every word, when she told us we were special, we believed her, when she told us we were bound by nothing, knew it was true.

  The year I turned eight, Erica started to encourage us to use our abilities. Since Green-house was completely isolated, we'd often go outside to play using our abilities with no concern for onlookers. As our level of comfort using them grew, Erica would guide us in how to use them better and with more efficiency or purpose. But eventually they became a bit too different for her to direct us individually on her own so she got some people to help.