Twisted Returns

"Don't waste our time, Amber," Alina says, sighing. "It couldn't be you."

"But it was."

"Explain to me, then."

Amber closes her eyes as we all fall silent. I look from her face to Alina's. Alina's expression changes from confusion, to surprise, to horror, and once again confused. It's like a silent conversation passing between them. Maybe in the same way as communicator necklaces work.

"It's not that," Alina says, facing me. "I thought you would have remembered, but I guess not. As an angel, my specific power is time stopping. I am also a mind reader as an extra. It wasn't always this way, and so I may respond to others' thoughts as if they were speaking."

I nod, as it all makes sense. I then focus my attention on Amber, who sighs.

"You see? My fault," she says, shaking her head in shame. "I regret it everyday."

"I never knew what they were," Alina says. "But it makes sense now. They kept the secret locked up well in their heads."

"I didn't know either, or I never would have done it. But the hole story fits together - it just all makes sense."

"Wait!" I interject. "What's going on?"

Amber looks at Alina. "Do you want to tell her, or should I?"

Alina shrugs. "It's your story. I'm just trying to fill in the details, the blanks, figure out what to do."

Amber takes a deep breath and faces me. "Alright. Well, as I said... this is all my fault. I know the people who are attacking us."

"Who? And how?"

"There are three of them... three leaders, anyway. Two witches, one fairy. They were in prison for abusing and experimenting with illegal substances. But that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"They are the attackers," she says grimly. "They are the ones causing all this, I'm certain. They broke out of prison all those years ago. I wasn't concerned - I was assigned to you at that point."

"I'm still confused. How is it all your fault if they're the ones causing this?"

She sighs and shakes her head, taking a seat beside me. "I have to start at the beginning."

"Yes, please do," Alina says. "You didn't have the whole story in your head for me."

"Yes, yes," Amber says. "But you know most of it. You know them."

"Still."

"Their names were Alex, Phuong, and Nephi. They were three friends, and they were beautiful. It was a shame to see them in prison." She takes a seat and holds her head in her hands. "About a hundred years ago, Alina and I started working at Zemia, the prison. Ironically, it also means Earth, but that's another story... We would check on inmates everyday, make sure security was working."

"Not much fun," Alina adds.

"True," Amber agrees. "It was a very tedious task. But then the trip arrived, maybe about twenty years ago. And they were nothing like I thought they'd be."

"How so?" I ask.

Amber closes her eyes again. "Alex... he was charming. They all were."

"Did they trick you or something?"

"Not exactly. But... I don't know. I talked to them, got to know them. Like I said, they all had a certain charm about them. Alex, mostly. He was optimistic, never worrying about his future. Even if it was that he was going to be stuck in jail for the rest of his life."

From the painful expression on her face, I realize that I'm not the only one who's heartbroken. Alina looks at me and nods, solemn.

"He told me that I was the light itself," Amber continues. "I'd been told that many times... but it was different, coming from him. I found myself getting closer and closer to prisoners. The light attracted to the dark, they said."

"It was just like that," Alina says. "But it never worried me. Maybe it should have, but it didn't."

"You have your own problems, Alina," she replies. "And I should have seen mine. I've never admitted it, until now... I am a guardian. We are supposed to protect, and we aren't supposed to fall in love. And I was falling in love with the forbidden. I fell for darkness when I was supposed to be the light. I was falling for a mortal who would only pass away while I lived, mourning. It was not a good situation, but I found myself... liking it."

I find myself almost relating to her story, and I feel the same sting she must feel everyday.

"And then my worst mistake. When my hundred years was nearly up, I was devastated. I knew I couldn't let him forget me, and I wanted him to come back to the good side if he was ever released. And so, I left them a bit of light."

"And I never knew," Alina says. "I couldn't control the mind reading at that point, not well, at least."

"It was just something for them to enjoy. Since their own magic was disabled in the prison, I left them a sliver of mine."

"I thought that magic couldn't be transferred that way," I say.

"Not for you," she explains. "But it's different for me, as I am an immortal. But anyways, they must have had the duplicating skills. They must have duplicated my magic and used it to break out..."

"This all makes sense," Alina says. "But we're missing some details. Even though they escaped Zemia, how did they get into Crystallaria?"

Amber shakes her head once more. "They were charming. They knew how to manipulate people. They must have been able to duplicate something that gave them access."

"Your story makes sense," Alina says," but there are still parts missing, holes in the story. I can see in your mind that you truly mean what you say. Yet there has to be more to it, though..."

"That's all I know."

Even after Amber's story, this whole meeting feels like a waste of time. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know... but I just wanted to help in any way possible. I guess I'm a criminal, though."

"Amber, you are my dearest friend and it hurts to be the one to lock you up." Alina's eyes dart around the room, searching for something invisible. "But if they find out what you said today... it may very well be for your own safety."