Umrinc's leathery face appeared on the tele-screen, his black eyes wide with excitement, anxiety, or perhaps both. "I need the both of you here immediately!! Come to my personal facility, there will be a guard waiting to escort you in." He moved to turn off his vid-screen, and Ijael held up a hand.
"Do you mind explaining why we're being summoned??" he inquired, glancing over his shoulder at his sister, who held her stomach. Shaking his head, his eyes returned to the screen, awaiting Umrinc's explanation, which was not long in coming forth. "I didn't want to involve the two of you in this, but it appears as though it's necessary. Do not tell me that you haven't noticed what we thought to be satellites orbiting at night." Truthfully, Ijael had seen a glimpse of them, though something told him that Keigharia hadn't, as she'd been in her room, working. Whenever she had one of those times when she wanted to practice her gifts, all doors and windows were shut, all lights off, and all machines booted down for that time frame. Ijael nodded, peering over his shoulder at his sister, who caught the hint and nodded, her eyes a bit bleary from the vision induced slumber.
"Those satellites were not what we thought them to be, with a few peaceful creatures aboard. I took a delegation of peaceful salutations with me when I flew up to meet them, hoping to welcome them to our planet. When we tried to board the largest satellite ship, it began to glow red, the doorway vanished, and the ship sent out a pulse that rocked our ship, disorienting its central command unit. We never did get to see what was aboard ship, we simply moved to greet them, and were hit with the sonic pulse. Immediately, my crew and I turned tail, and retreated back to Irayleu'minmuy. The moment we entered the atmosphere, we could feel the sonic pulses radiating from the enemy ship, and that was when I thought to call you. I hate to use your gifts for such a time as this," at this, Keigharia snorted, holding a hand up to her face to muffle the sound, "but I think that-"
"We'll be right there." Ijael flipped the switch, powering down the tele-screen, and turned to face his sister. "What was that all about??" he asked, suspecting her normal amount of thinly-veiled hatred to be the culprit. However, she seemed to be trying to decide something within herself, for it was a good minute before she answered with a simple, "nothing." Forgetting the question he'd asked before the alarm sounded, he moved to change clothes for the call, motioning her to do the same when she remained in the same place she had been in when he'd turned to go. "What?!?!" he demanded, as he saw the still bleary look to her eyes. She shook her head, appearing to return to the present, and moved to her room, ignoring Ijael as she found a catsuit that wasn't in need of laundering.
How do I tell him that... that I know something's not right with Umrinc's story, when I have nothing to back it up besides the vision I had. Telling him about Analyn and Ton'loran will throw him off... this is such a mess!! the young woman groaned, unknowing that in the other room, her brother was concerned about her. Ijael wasn't sure, but he knew something had happened while she was in the bathing chamber, though now was not the time to find out what. Hurriedly, he tossed on a comfortable standard issue uniform and jacket, pulled on thick black boots, and met his sister, fully dressed, ebony hair combed and pulled back into a messy bun held with two chopsticks. His chocolate-black hair had been brushed neatly into place, the wispy ends of it brushing his upper back, proving that he was in need of a trim. He regarded his sister with explorative hazel eyes, trying to detect what it was that was keeping her uneasy.
"We'd best be on our way, get all this over with," she muttered, picking up the keys to the Vettura, along with the satchel she rarely left behind. Rubbing his intricately woven, metal-incased crystal, he noticed as Keigharia turned that she did the same, and shuddered. What is going on here?? The last time we relied on the crystals to keep us calm and focused... he didn't want to finish the thought. The crystals had been given to them by... well, he wasn't sure who they were from, truly. All he knew was that, one morning, when they were in the complex with Masouna, a many years ago, he'd found his outside his door. Keigharia had found one similar, a note with each, describing to them how the crystals could be used to concentrate upon when something made them feel out of control. They'd used them as such, for the past eleven years.
He left the building, climbing into the passenger seat as Keigharia revved the engine, both dreading this, and drawing a strange sort of resolution from it. Her mind was locked up so tightly that Ijael couldn't have read it is he'd tried. All he got, when he did a surface prove, were so many things running together that there was hardly any space between them. Trying to send soothing feelings her way, he was rewarded with a growl from her, her eyes staying on the road. "Keep your mental gifts to yourself, Jae, they aren't going to help me here."
"Aren't going to help because they can't penetrate, or simply because you won't let them??" he ventured, as she breaked for a traffic signal. Turning to glare at him, she muttered, "don't. Just don't. I can't explain anything to you now, but I don't want any of your mental suggestions clouding my judgment, Ijael Seibutsu." Ijael felt a shiver run up his spine, then back down, as the traffic started to move again. What's gotten in Ari?? No matter how hectic things are, she's never this... what would you call it?? He moved to touch her arm, but pulled back at the last minute, feeling as though he didn't know his sister.
Keigharia could sense her brother's distress, knew that he was worried about her, and yet a part of her didn't care, couldn't care, couldn't focus on anything else but the matter at hand: seeing Umrinc. Everything they had planned, when it came to escaping the planet untraced, she knew that she was going to blow in a matter of seconds, and yet, every fiber in her being screamed that she didn't care, all she wanted was to see the death of the man she knew had to have cause an inner death in both Analyn and Ton'loran, who she had trouble calling her parents, as she'd been without for nineteen years.
Her spirit raged in war within her, part of her wanting desperately to let Jae in, to let him know what was going on, and why she'd snapped as she had, her whole personality changing. The other, stronger part of her knew that she couldn't risk endangering her older brother, that somehow, before all that she privately planned was begun, he had to be gotten to safety. She knew that, whatever happened to her, he had to think that she was doing this for him, Jarre, and Varus, and not for their parents. If only I knew how to leave what I know with him, for him to find... the thought refused to finish, for the part of her who wanted to cling to her brother didn't want to think about what would happen when she had to face the High Wizard of Irayleu'minmuy.
Her mind on other things, she parked the Vettura, tossing the keys in her satchel, as though this was any other day, any other summons by Umrinc. However, as she descended from the vehicle, she couldn't help the shudder that passed through her at the thought of entering Umrinc's personal war chamber. She'd seen it in visual layouts, though only the room, not the maze that she knew it took to get to the large area, covered with three layers-thick of what Earthlings would have called bullet proof glass, that rose out of the ground in a dome.
Ijael felt the shudder that passed through his sister, saw it as he neared her side, and reached over, oblivious to her want to be left alone, and caught her hand, squeezing it tightly. Despite what he could feel was resentment at being touched, he was almost sure that the young woman who locked eyes with him, smiling a sorrowful smile, was his Ari... not the hard woman he felt in the Vettura. However, the mask slid back up as they neared the entrance to the facility, and the tall, tan young man felt as though the air about his sister had cooled a few degrees, whether psychologically or physically, he was unsure.
As a guard met them, leading them in, Keigharia glanced at her brother out from under her lashes, wishing that she could reassure him that everything was going to be alright. However, she knew, if somehow she was to make it out of this, she would be changed, no matter how much she desired otherwise. Something in her, perhaps the compassion part, had already shut down, and she knew that it was only her deep tie with Ijael that kept her heart with him. He holds my heart, he's held it ever since we were young. He is a part of me, as I am him... please, let him get out of this alive, she sent a prayer skyward, thinking about what Umrinc had said during the vision, about Analyn and Ton'loran believing in a Higher Being, a Supreme Power, and wanting to believe in it as well, if only to connect with them for a few moments.
So engrossed were the twins in their own thoughts, that they failed to note the paths which they took, only followed the tall dark man that led them. Through the underground they wove, the tunnel mazing as it turned this way and that, a good fifteen minute hustle, twenty or more minute walk at normal pace. All the way, Jae could feel a change in his sister, as though she were preparing for a fight, though she would hardly let him in to understand why. It was at times like this that he hated being a twin, because he wanted so badly to help her, and knew that if she were only his younger sister, that the want would not be so desperate. As it was, he could not delve into her mind, which he was sure was permeated with anger, confusion, and other emotions he could not identify, only feel the force, the strength of her pain, radiating from her in waves that jumped from hurt to anger to determined resolve, all so rapidly that he was exhausted simply trying to keep up.
Ari, would it be so hard to let me in, let me help you with this, whatever it is?? he asked her, though he may as well had been talking to himself for all the answer, much less entrance to her thought paths that he was denied. The feeling was odd, as though she were pulling away from him, and yet, in the next moment, he felt his hand in hers, dry though cold as she squeezed his. Their eyes met, and he could see glimpses of his sister, the one he knew and loved, struggling to break through, tears in her eyes for the briefest of seconds before she dropped his hand.
~Don't worry, Jae, I'm here. You can't help though.~ Jae jumped as a sad voice touched his mind, and though she wasn't looking at him, he knew that he was right, she was inside that shell of a determined young woman, somehow. ~Ari??~ he asked as the two pulled up short, behind the guard, who rapped on the door. ~Yeah, Jae??~ The door opened, and he let out a mute sigh, clinging to her mentally, all the while a step behind her physically. He felt the revile that entered her at the site of the wizard, his gray hair... ~Ari, what are you looking at?? Why does Umrinc's hair...~ his voice trailed as she glanced back at him, and he caught a flash of her eyes, pupils dilated a bit more than normal.
"Ijael, Keigharia, yes, yes, you are just in time!! I cannot hold these creatures off any longer, there is no possible way for me to do that and stay alive. All of them, they charge at us, at Irayleu'minmuy, seeking to decimate our planet, wiping its existence from the solar system." Keigharia turned the man off, ignoring the rest of what he was saying, her dilated pupils taking in the expanse about her, trying to figure out how to get out of there, once they were in, or more importantly, how to get Ijael out of there.
The room, if one could call the enormous tower-rise a room, consisted of the latest computers and gadgets, as far as she could tell, and she made a mental note of the few things she didn't know the use for. Most of the equipment she'd seen, knew what it did, but had never touched it. However, now she inventoried everything she could see, memorizing its position, for later use. She kept one eye on Umrinc, not wanting to arouse suspicion in him, not when it wasn't necessary.
Ijael tried to concentrate on what the high Wizard was saying, but with Keigharia's rapid storage of items about the room, his mind felt as though it too was being used to store information. ~Ari, for crying out loud, what the heck are you doing??~ He received no answer, and felt Umrinc's eye on him, trying to discover what was going on in their minds.
"Ijael, perhaps you did not hear me. I want you over in that corner of the room, helping to deflect the incoming missiles. Are you purposely daydreaming, or does you sister have something to do with why you are not able to answer me??" Ijael stiffened, noting that Keigharia became steel-spined as well, her face taking on an edge, as she glared at the high Wizard.
The Culmination
