Chapter Twenty-Seven

I stood up and paced back and forth exactly like what Samuel had done only seconds ago. I would have followed him, but I wasn't even sure where Marie was at right now. The only times I had seen her on Merak were when she had approached me...or randomly appeared somewhere. I was certain she was always somehow watching me, but finding her location would be difficult.

There was no doubt that Marie was once again somehow connected to this latest incident. Did she really hate me that much that she would take both Theo and Aurora away from me? Why?

She had to know that we had spoken with the Regency. That was the only answer that popped into my head. Marie had to be getting me back for talking with her sisters.

"Erik," I said aloud in the empty room. "Erik, can you hear me? If so, I need you."

After several moments, Erik appeared in front of me. "Yes, Esadore. You summoned me."

"Tell me what happened to Theo and Aurora."

"What do you mean?" He shook his head. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"The explosion. I saw it. Theo was talking to Aurora when it happened. They were together and now they are gone."

Erik's lips pinched together as his body began to change into several objects in front of my eyes, before turning into what looked like a silver liquid drop that quickly approached me, encasing my entire body. I tried to scream, but was completely covered in the substance. It felt warm and oddly comforting.

My body felt like it was floating and then the climate around me changed. The warmth was gone and now the cold hair tickled my neck. Seconds later, I was once again standing in front of the Regency.

The four sisters stared back at me. All four silently watched me. None of them blinked. Their eyes were wide and questioning. I glared back at them. Finally, I cleared my throat. I didn't have time for games. I needed answers right now. Most importantly, I needed to know what happened to Theo and Aurora.

"What's going on? Where did they go? What did you do to them?"

One of the sisters walked forward, "The evil is quickly approaching. We thought we had more time, but we don't. Esadore, we had to act."

"Act? What does that mean?"

"We need our army to begin preparing."

"Army? What army?"

"The new Ciphers that Marie brought back—"

"How did the explosion happen?" I swallowed down the large lump in the back of my throat. Suddenly, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what they had to say unless it was to tell me that Theo and Aurora were safe somewhere.

The sister standing to my far right cleared her throat. "We needed a distraction to take some of the new Ciphers. Erik has kept us informed at how strong they are all becoming. It's very impressive. If we can continue to train and educate them on our world then we may be able to fight off the evil...and survive."

"What about the ones that are still back there? You left hundreds of Ciphers under Marie's control!"

"They will stay and fight with our sisters...and likely die," one of the sisters responded. Her voice almost song-like. "They will be casualties of the war."

"Do you even know what that mean?"

"Yes Esadore. We have studied the English language quiet extensively over the past few days. It's an interesting way to communicate, but obviously it's effective." The sister paused before continuing on. "It means they will die, but that's really not our problem."

"My entire team is out looking for Theo," I could feel my cheeks begin to burn. The timing of their so-called "distraction" had put my team, my true family, in jeopardy. "I won't allow them to be casualties of war."

"We are sorry. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice one to save many," the sister on the far left quickly said. Her voice deeper than the others.

"I won't fight without them. They are everything to me. I need to know that all of them are okay. You must tell me the conditions of Samuel, Audrina, Gave, Luther, Theo...and Aurora."

The sisters paused and then one looked over at Erik. "Do you know the location for the Ciphers Esadore is referring to?"

"Yes," he nodded.

One of the sisters in the middle suddenly looked annoyed. "Go find them and pull them down here. I'm tired of wasting our time with this little inconvenience."

"Will do," he turned and disappeared.

"Where exactly are we?" I looked around at the empty white walls This must have been Marie's inspiration for Artek. It looked very similar. I should be happy right now that the Regency was pulling down the rest of the team, but I couldn't seem to calm my raging nerves.

"In our home. In your home as well Esadore. This is where you grew up. Don't you just love it? We think it's one of the most beautiful places ever created in the galaxy."

The four sisters suddenly turned and began to walk away. It seemed odd, but I followed. It didn't seem fair that they could say something about my childhood and then leave me. There was so much I wanted to know right now. Finally, they had mentioned something about me in a different state in my life. There were so many questions that suddenly filled my thoughts.

"This was my home? I don't remember it. Tell me more."

"It was. We all live here. It's how we stay protected. There are too many that want us dead because of our powers."

"Did I have a room?" I stopped in the middle of the hallway. Their backs still faced me. They didn't stop.

"Yes," one of the sisters quickly responded. "It is in the upper wing next to all of our rooms."

"We all have rooms near one another?" My eyes narrowed at the thought. Why would we all be near one another?

"Of course. It's the easiest way for our security to keep watch over us."

The floor below me lit up with every step I took as I continued to follow behind the sisters. The walls seemed to be almost liquid. It was beautiful. I felt my body begin to relax as my feet continued to put one foot in front of the other. They all walked at the same slow pace before coming to a stop. The hallway in front of us suddenly turned into a large room. I instantly recognized some of the faces of the Ciphers. They were all sitting off to the side, huddled in the corner, almost as if they were afraid.

I walked in front of the sisters. "They're scared. Can't you see that?"

"Why?" One of the sisters asked. Her facial expression grew contorted.

"Because this is an unfamiliar place," I snapped back. "Because you just set up an explosion as a distraction to grab and move them here and obviously no one has spoken to them since their arrival."

"But we are not scary. They should fear Marie. Do they not know that?" One of the sisters stared back at me, her face began to change into different objects, before finally becoming a bright light.

I turned my attention back towards the Regency. In so many ways, the sisters seemed incredibly wise, but in others they didn't. "I know, but they don't. These are all new Ciphers. No one has really educated them about their capabilities or why they are on Merak. Their memory is limited. Most probably remember their human lives and no very little about this planet in which they are connected with—"

"It's their home! They have the RaCO of some of our best Meradors!"

My eyes scanned all of the faces and came to a stop on Luka's. He was sitting right in the middle.

"You grabbed Luka?" I turned back to the sisters. I was surprised they had knew about him, but also very happy to see his face. Luka would be a good defender for us.

Erik appeared next to me and spoke. "Yes, he hates Marie so it was only natural that he was the first one for us to make sure was on our team."

"Does he know about you?" My eyes scanned the faces of the Regency to see if their facial expressions would give me more clues as to what was really happening right now.

One of the sisters nodded. "Yes, we have met. He knows that Marie killed his father and killed him as well. At least, his human self."

"Are you sure we can trust him?" My hands flung out to my sides to emphasize my question. I didn't know much about Luka, but there was something about him that made me nervous. He was the one Cipher I feared right now.

"No. Not entirely. He has the RaCO of a soldier here on Merak, but we are most interested in the fact that his father is the man who challenged Marie."

"She's not in the group?" I looked back at the sisters.

"Who?" They all replied in unison.

"Aurora."

One of the sisters, with a long, narrow face looked over at me. "She and Theo ran as we grabbed the Ciphers."

Another sister responded. "Erik, where are they?"

A look of fear crossed his face. "They ran, but I grabbed them, but then they disappeared. I promise this is what really happened. I'm sorry Esadore. The rest of the team is still out looking for them and they don't know what is going on right now, but Theo and Audrina were pulled down here. They managed to disappear."

"Erik, have you failed us again?" One of the sisters voice instantly grew very loud, almost into a shrill.

"No. I grabbed both of them." He shook his head trying to defend his actions. Erik's eyes had grown wide, with a look of fear.

"Don't lie!" The shouted in unison. "We don't like liars and we expect that our commands be done...right!"

"I'm not!" His eyes had grown wider as he began to walk back away from the sisters. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. She held up her hands, palms towards Erik.

His body fell to the floor and began to morph into various objects.

The sister suddenly grew taller as she released a thick bolt of electricity that came into contact with where Erik had just been. Everything glowed as Erik's body convulsed and again changed into several different objects. Finally, there was nothing left except for ash.

"What have you done?" I looked back over at the sisters. "Why did you kill him!?"

"He disappointed us for the final time. We expect only the best on our team."

"Can we save his RaCO?" I asked, hoping there might be a way for Erik to come back to life. He had been a good friend to me. I wanted to turn and throw up, but I knew that would show them a sign of weakness. I had to be strong right now. The Regency had to know that I could be a strong soldier and member of the Regency.

"No. He is nothing more than a pile of dust now. That's why we used this particular method. It is the one way to guarantee a death. We don't need Marie coming in and taking Erik's RaCO and creating another Cipher to fight against us."