chapter 7

Akino was wandering down a long corridor searching for the bathroom late at night when she heard voices. One voice seemed to be Elisa’s and the other was someone else that Akino didn’t recognize. In the dimly lit hall there was a door with bright light shining from beneath it. Akino fixed herself against the door to listen in better.

“Elisa, there is no reason to worry. No one will try anything.” The voice was a female voice that resembled soothing crystal chimes.

“But our parents are gone. They are out and we are alone.”

“You are not alone. You have Ambeon and Nero�"”

“Ambeon is not an aggressive person. She doesn’t dwell on violence and Nero might not be enough.”

“You also have that other girl. I’m sure you wonder the same things. She could be the third to the trinity!”

“And you believe that Ambeon is part of it?” There was a pause at what Akino thought was the other girl nodding her head.

“Now remember, if you have too much trouble come back to heaven. We can’t do anything down here.”

“Even though that might involve abandoning these people? There are three people hired to possibly take my family out.”

“It is not as simple as you put it. A war could easily be started but it is the surface that must start it. You have Jessica here. As long as that is possible then you should be safe.” There was a pause for a long moment.

“Thank you. I know what I must do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Good bye.” Only silence follows and then the door is suddenly yanked open and Elisa pulls Akino in her room.

“You heard everything, I presume.” All Akino could do is shrug.

“Most of it I guess.”

“I’m sorry. It is unfair for you to be in the middle of all of this.”

“This is my homeland. I am glad that I’m in this so I can know what is going on. I have the potential to do something. What was that Trinity thing about?” Elisa looked around as if hoping no one was listening and then she spoke in a low tone.

“Technically, the Trinity are a group of guardians. They protect this planet from big danger. My mother was one of them along with two siblings; Zack and Lara Yumari. Now it’s believed that you, me, and Ambeon and the next in line.” The puzzled look on Akino’s face made Elisa smile. “I’m pretty sure this sounds crazy but it is only what you want to believe. I won’t force this any further.” Akino spoke up suddenly.

“Do I get any super powers? Are the others still alive too?” Elisa is taken aback. Normally people would brush off things like the Trinity, even after what happened twenty years ago when the planet almost died. But Akino was proud to be a selectejd individual that could possibly have the power to take care of the immediate problems.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Maybe, maybe not. I’m not even sure if we are the right people anyway. It’s just a rumor. Now you should get to sleep. Nero’s on patrol and he might think something’s up if he checks your room and doesn’t find you there.” Akino nods and heads for the door.

“Elisa, thank you for coming to help us out. I really appreciate it.” Elisa merely nods and Akino heads back to her room.

 

The next morning Akino is awakened by yelling. She opens her door and can tell the yelling was coming from down stairs. Akino’s first thought was that it was the mercenaries breaking in but as she neared the balcony she could make out the voices better.

“You call that cooking? I could easily make this fourteen times as fast and it would still taste much better.” That was Jessica’s voice to what Akino guessed was Ambeon.

“I haven’t even finished it yet, goofy! Besides, you know you don’t cook. You’re too arrogant.” Ambeon changes her voice to a high pitched dramatic version of Jessica. “Oh, look, I’m Jessica and I have butlers. Look, I’m Jessica and I don’t know what manual labor is. Look, I get to use my maids and butlers to forcefully play video games with me when I’m bored and if I lose too much then I force them to play badly.” To Akino’s surprise instead of Jessica getting upset she laughs along with Ambeon.

At least they are starting to get along with others. Akino thought and went downstairs to join them.

 

Akino daydreamed throughout the whole first half of the day. The Trinity idea was on the front of her mind constantly. It wasn’t a wonder that when the bell rang to dismiss class for lunch she had to be shaken by Ambeon.

“Wow, Akino. Either you didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night or there is something big on your mind.” Akino took out her box lunch and set it on her desk.

“It was kind of both.” Akino’s face turned serious and looked into Ambeon’s eyes. “Ambeon, when I first met you and you ran away�"I wasn’t because I was a person on this land and you were scared was it. It had something to do with that food that you seemed to get from nowhere for the fish.” Ambeon chuckled nervously and Akino could easily tell the girl was uncomfortable.

“I think the lack of sleep is getting to you. You’re coming up with�"”

“Why are you being cold?” Ambeon flinched at the word ‘cold.’ “I thought we were friends. I didn’t even question you when you dragged me into your problems. I trusted you so why can’t you do the same.” A brief look of horror came across Ambeon’s features and then was quickly replaced by sadness. The students eating in the class overheard Akino’s outburst and paused in the eating and conversations to see what the arguing was about. Ambeon notices and takes ahold of Akino’s hand.

“May we have this talk on the roof or somewhere private?” Akino hesitates but notices that Ambeon is struggling to hold back tears and stands.

 

The roof is empty but as Akino and Ambeon look up they see that it is probably because of the threatening clouds that loomed.

“Ambeon, I’m sorry that I snapped. I’ve been hit with more in the start of the year than I have my entire life. I just want to know what’s going on�"know what hit me, you know? I’ve never seen such a look of pain on someone unless they lost some�"” It occurred to Akino that she must have struck a nerve and possibly bring forth some feeling or emotion that Ambeon may have wanted to stay hidden. She had to choose her words carefully. A slip up could possibly permanently damage the friendship they had.

“Did something happen to you? Did someone or something do something to hurt you?” There was a long silence following the questions and Akino thought she may have chosen the wrong words after all.

“I had a sister, Akino. She was the energetic prodigy that everyone loved. I was just ‘the other child.’ Both of us were perfect identical twins. Not even the best detective could tell us apart aside from a small hint in the way we wore our hair or the shoes we wore. Because of her excellence and outward personality she absorbed all of the attention while I sat on the outside. But she always knew I was there. We would always be together even if it was her calling the shots and telling me what to do. I was content with living behind her until she got more and more extreme. She would come up with pranks to play on other people, mostly our family, and I would always be the person to do it. Her pranks would get more and more extreme and dangerous. Pretending to go missing, stealing an important item of our parents, and pretending to play dead. Eventually it resorted to burning our parents’ secondary house. This was when I realized that our jokes and pranks were not in our best interest. I retaliated for the first time since we started…and it was also the first time I saw her get really angry.” Ambeon’s hand unconsciously drifted to her cheek.

“It was also the first time she hit me as well. By this time we were both out of control. I managed to bring forth some courage I never thought I had and speak out against my sister. I said something that resembled the words you spoke against me in the classroom. I tried to walk away but she grabbed my wrist and was trying to apologize for hitting me but I knew it was just to get me to follow her again. I wouldn’t accept it and she resorted to insulting me and hitting me again. I pushed against her as hard as I could and she through a glass banister that we were standing next to on the third floor. She fell to the first floor and landed on a glass table that was in the living room below. She was dead before I could descend the two floors to get to her.

“I knew that my family would be devastated if she were dead so I quickly came up with a plan. We wore different ribbons to and shoes to display our differences that day. I switched mine with my sisters.” Ambeon was shaking and Akino put a hand on her shoulder. “The funeral for my dead sister that was thought of as me was small. No one really showed up and my parents seemed happy that they thought their prodigy daughter was still alive. I’ve never been so hurt before.”

“So you’re saying that you’ve kept up a front this whole time?” Ambeon nodded her head and Akino looked at her very seriously. “What was your sister’s name?” Ambeon hesitated to answer.

“H-her name was Ambeon.”

“What about your name?” Ambeon stayed quiet until Akino shook her. “I refuse to stay friends with someone who refuses to be themself! I didn’t become friends with Ambeon. I became friends with you and if you want to stay as your sister than I can’t acknowledge you as anything more than an acquaintance!” The sorrowful look returned to ‘Ambeon’s’ eyes and she dropped to her knees hugging Akino’s waist.

“Please, I-I don’t want to be alone again! I never had anyone to be with until you showed up in my life. I want to remain a close friend of yours forever!” Akino helps her friend back to her feet.

“Then tell me the name of my close friend.” ‘Ambeon’ smiled the same innocent smile that Akino first saw.

“It’s Yukino.”