Enceladus

“So you were spying on me for eight years?”

“Yes, Princess. Your parents gave me the assignment and I gladly accepted. Long live the King and Queen,” John said and bowed his head.

We had been in transit for a week now. I was all but interrogating John.

“So what about the years before I worked at Brioso?” I asked. We were in the ship’s cafeteria.

“I just spied on you from a distance. When I heard you put in an application to the café, I immediately got the management job there through mind control. I was on Earth to protect you, Princess.”

I nodded. It was a shock to me that my parents sent someone to look out for me on Earth. I wondered how they had found me so easily.

Lynx sauntered in the room. “Amelia,” he sang. “It’s time to train.” He was carrying two swords in their sheaths. “You need to be at your best when we take down the murderers.”

I followed him to the training/weapons room. I didn’t know why Cassiopeia and Lynx took one of our biggest ships. They didn’t need that much room for the two of them.

Lynx and I finished sparring and I excused myself to use the restroom.

I was walking down one of the numerous halls and I swore I saw a flash of blue hair. I missed Lainie. But as I turned the corner, I saw the flash again. Suddenly, I started running in the direction I saw it.

“Lainie?!”

Then I saw her. She was wearing a plain white tee-shirt with her back to me. Her blue hair had faded slightly.

“Lainie?”

She whipped around. “Amy!” She ran up to me and jumped up into my arms.

I inhaled her scent. “How did you get here?”

She chewed her bottom lip. “I never left.”

“What? I’m so happy to see you! It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s fine, Amy. You can protect me.”

I led her back to the cafeteria where everyone was. “Anyone want to explain? Lynx?”

He looked just as guilty as John. Cassiopeia was giving Lainie the stink eye. I glared at them all.

“It was Lynx,” Cass said.

“Düå,” Lynx spat.

“Lynx.”

“Sorry, nïx. I just wanted to bring Lain for you. I know how much you care about her. And look, she loves it.”

“I’m sorry,” Lainie said.

“It’s okay. You can stay. It’s not like there’s anywhere else you can go,” I said.

“Actually, there’s an SE base close to our location,” said Cass.

“Crown Princess,” John exhaled sharply just as Lainie asked what SE was.

Space Enforcement. They were like police in space. There were very strict rules of the universe. They controlled it all, even if Earth and a few other planets were oblivious to the universe’s secrets. SE kept alliances intact. They had one overall rule; never tell oblivious planets of SE’s existence.

“It’s nothing, love.” I held Lainie’s waist.

“What? She cannot stay here. She does not belong with us, on Enceladus,” Cassiopeia said.

“Excuse me?” I let go of Lainie and stepped closer to Cass.

“Zë tô zür ïjå. Ŷë gïx.”

I slapped her. “You are not my family. You have never been my family.”

She stumbled back, shocked. “I kept you out of trouble in all of your cowardice years on Enceladus.”

I tackled her to the ground. We wrestled and I heard Lainie yell my name. Cass reacted by using her telekinesis to hold me above her, in the air.

“Put me down!”

She laughed at me. I had split her lip with my slap. It was bleeding slightly.

She kept me in the air and with her other hand, summoning her control of the elements. At first I didn’t know what she was doing. Then I quickly realized. She was using it to suck the air out of my lungs.

I gasped, bringing my hands to my throat. Cass let me down but continued to torture me. I vaguely heard Lainie screaming. My vision started to dull. I grabbed my throat. Lainie knelt in front of me.

“Okay, try to calm down,” she said. She started rubbing my back. I assumed she thought it was a panic attack and not Cass’ magic.

Suddenly, I could breathe. I inhaled several deep breaths. I looked around to see what had changed.

Across the room, Cass was lying on the floor, passed out. Lynx was the source. John wouldn’t have touched a hair on our heads. Lynx nodded to me and I gave a curt nod back.

“Princess Cassiopeia!” John rushed to her side. He obviously had a thing for my rotten sister.

“Amy, are you alright?” Lainie had me in her arms as soon as I started gulping air. “What happened?”

I looked up into her concerned brown eyes. “Remember how I told you . . . Enceladians have powers?” I inhaled. “Well, Cass specializes in controlling elements. Just now . . . she used it to take my air.”

“Why does she hate you?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John carrying Cass out of the cafeteria.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I look nothing like Lynx or Cass. I also look nothing like my parents or Del and Cal. They used to say mother had an affair and had me. They were never kind to me. They would all bully me except for Lynx. He was always so kind and loving.” I smiled at him.

“Mïð zü,” he said and left the room.

“Did he say ‘I love you’?” Lainie asked.

I nodded.

“What did Cassiopeia say to you earlier?”

I sat up and looked at my lap. “She said ‘we are your family. Not her’.”

“Oh.”

“You are part of my family. You and Lynx are my family. Ü mïð zü.”

She grinned and kissed me. “You have to teach me your language.”