"Now I won't take any..." He started to say before the fact that I was coming peacefully sank in, which left him only able to say, "What?"
Caleb was staring at me, wide eyed and open mouthed. "I said fine. I'm going to got without a fight." I replied calmly.
"That's it? You're just going to give in?" Jake asked in a stunned disbelief.
"Are we going somewhere, or not?" I asked impatiently.
"I'm not going anywhere." Caleb declared defiantly. "And neither are you. Seriously Vi, what's wrong with you?"
"Absolutely nothing is wrong with me." I replied calmly.
Please Caleb. If I can gain your father's trust and join your side then possibly stop the war before it really starts. "I do have one question, Jake." I said, turning to Jake. "Can you get this off?" I held up my bound hands.
"Sorry Vi, but I don't know if that's a trick..." He started.
"I give my word that I won't fight anyone without a reason." I interrupted.
"You can trust that." Caleb sighted. Clearly trying to decide if he should bother arguing anymore.
You're already on my side, Vi, I chose your side already. Jake was sort of speechless now. He just came over and pulled the rope off of me, but left it on Caleb. I stood up and walked over to where Jake had entered. Caleb remained where he was, clearly, not going to come peacefully.
The war is not our problem. Let's just leave it behind us. We can be normal teens if we just separate our selves from these hectic other lives. He continued.
You know we can't do that! As the next in line to be rulers we cannot just abandon the people! We cannot just leave it all behind!
You have people, your siblings who will take over. The war will end by its self.
You don't know that the war will end! And why are you only referring to me as having siblings that will take over if I don't?
Because no one will take over. That is why the war will end, a war can't be just one sided.
What about your siblings?
No blood relation. Their all adopted, none of them are royal, they don't have to keep their word and they're not going to become rulers.
Well, you can't just abandon the citizens that you are supposed to look out for! Besides. I don't think Jake is going to leave with just one of us. "Um, I don't know what's going on, but it's time to go. Vi, I'll trust you if you help bring him with us. Any ideas on how?"
I looked Caleb in the eye and felt my eyes saying sorry. "Actually, I do."
No! Sorry. I released a controlled cloud of the toxin that had taken me out before, Since I had experienced it I could use it, I had also experienced the antidote, so I could form that too. He was out within the minute. I probably used too much, remind me to apologize for that later.
Jake looked from Caleb to me. "Is he..."
"No, he's just unconscious, nothing more."
"I'm impressed, can't say I thought you would actually do anything. When will he wake up?"
"Once I give the antidote."
"Antidote? this won't kill him eventually, will it?"
"No, it just blocks all your senses and makes you go unconscious until the remedy is given."
"Do you have the antidote?"
"In a way, yes."
"Okay then, let's get going. We'll find a room for you and, for now, he'll stay with you." I nodded, put a shield-like thing around Caleb that carried him along with us.
There was a portal in the hallway that lead back to Cantella, my home planet, only I wasn't in a place that I'd ever been in before. I had the feeling that I didn't belong, and I had to work to keep myself from going into "hiding mode".
"Here we are." Jake said, relaxing a bit with the fact that we weren't enemies at the moment. "I'll let you deal with him." And he left, probably to find the king and inform him of the recent events.
I released another controlled cloud, this time it was the gas form of the antidote. It took a while for his conscious mind to come back, and when it did he remained the way he was as he let everything else come back.
Sorry. I said after a silence that lasted to long. He didn't reply.
I know you think I'm a traitor, I probably seem like a traitor to everything I believed in. But, from where I'm seeing things, this all makes sense and is a good thing.
No matter how you put it, you are a traitor to everything you stood for and protected! His thought was cold as ice.
Not if my plan works. Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you don't agree with me. I'm sorry you don't get along with your family. And you have no idea how sorry I am about turning against you like I did. I really don't want to hurt you, in any way, ever. And right now I really need someone who believes in me, someone who trusts me completely...
Then you should go find Jake. I bet he would trust you that much.
But I don't want Jake to be the one who believes in me. Caleb opened his eyes and looked at me, something I couldn't decipher written in them. "I want you to be the one who believes." He looked at me a second more and then closed his eyes again.
A moment later there was a knock at the door and the person who entered caused me to get to my feet and get in front of Caleb. I was in fighting mode and he wasn't even through the door yet. "Sorry." I said, forcing myself to at least appear relaxed. "It's a force of habit."
"It's alright." The king motioned for the guards to back down. "The fact that you helped Jake bring back my son and no one has been attacked is a good sign. As well as no signals being sent or received. But I will ask you to change your, um, I never thought I would see that shade of pink..."
"It wasn't my choice. If you want me to change, I would gladly do it, even if we were enemies."
He laughed, "Jake will take you to go choose. When will he wake?"
"Okay. He'll wake only when he's ready. I already administered the antidote that will allow him to fully heal himself. It is perfectly safe, it was used on me before." He nodded and I left, following Jake down a hallway.
Caleb, I left the options open to you if you want to talk to your father or not. I'm going to wait, I don't know what his reaction will be after these past months. Please don't take too long. Okay. Jake lead me to a large room full with more dresses than at the mall at prom time. Many of the girls at my school would have freaked. I, though, was a rather picky dress shopper. "Don't ask me why this is here, I've yet to figure out. I'll wait here for you. Just come out when you've chosen one."
"Okay, it could take a little while though." And I started looking, and, as usual, couldn't find one that looked "me".
