Verona fiddled with a folded sheet of paper. A few weeks ago, when she had found it among her school supplies, it had been brand-new and crisply folded. Now, its edges were torn and its creases were worn from how many times she had unfolded and re-folded it. She knew its words by heart, but she continued to pour over it in the hopes of wringing another drop of information from it.
A small sigh came from a few seats over, where Verona’s twin, Analia, was sitting next to one of her friends. Through the link that bonded them, Verona could feel her boredom. On another day, she would have mindsent her a smile or a joke to cheer her up. But things still weren’t settled between them.
The preacher’s words washed over Verona. Normally, she enjoyed listening to the older woman instruct her class, but today Verona just couldn’t concentrate. Her mind was too full. She tried to distract herself by glancing around the room.
It small and rather bare, adorned with about fifteen chairs, which were occupied by students in various stages of boredom. Preacher Dara stood on a podium near the front of the room, teaching. There wasn’t much to look at. Verona wished they could meet in the main hall - the intricate carvings and stonework could always distract her.
The one other item in the room was the church flag, stretched across the wall behind the podium like a banner. It had a gray background, and in the middle was a circle, split into twelve radial sections of alternating black and white. Below the circle was the name of the church. Along the outside were its various teachings written in one of the old languages.
But Verona had seen the flag so many times before that it couldn’t hold her interest for very long. She didn’t want to think about Analia, so she unfolded the paper and read it yet again.
Verona,
I'm sorry I have to tell you like this, but I am leaving at last. I have made contact with the Arbitrators and I’m going with them. I won’t say how, in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. I’m going to miss you so much! I wish I could have persuaded you to join me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you again.
There is one way you can contact me, but you can only use it once. I have left a dropbox on a secure interweb platform. The username is freedomgirl500gmn and the password is 12596902935094. You can use it to send me a message, but you can only use it once. From this day on, if anyone logs into it or hacks it, the entire dropbox will delete itself after half an hour. That should give you enough time to send me a message, and then it will be destroyed before the police can get their hands on it.
Please only use it in a dire emergency. My superiors will not be happy to know that I have potentially compromised their location, and they will be even less happy if your message is frivolous.
I only ask one thing - please don’t give this message to the police. In fact, just don’t tell anyone about this. They shouldn’t be able to find me with it, but I don’t want my parents to know that I’ve joined the Arbitrators. You know how they are. Let them just think I’ve gone missing. It’ll be for the best.
I have to go now. Good luck with your degree. I wish I could be there to see you graduate. Don’t let Trask bother you too much.
Love,
Lani
Verona still couldn’t quite believe Lani had actually done it. Everyone in the church had heard of the Arbitrators. They were the underground movement, the heroes that fought for absolute justice. Officially, they didn’t exist. Nobody spoke of them openly. Some thought they were just a legend. But Lani had been obsessed with them. She’d looked for them for years. And finally, she had found them.
Someone tapped Verona. It was Analia.
“Aren’t we going to leave?” she said. “We’re going to be late to have dinner with Mom.”
With a start, Verona realized that the class was over. Nearly everybody else had left.
“Oh, yeah, I was just thinking.” She jumped up and they left.
They walked to the tram station in an uncomfortable silence. The day was hot and sunny, hot enough that Verona wondered if the weather control was faulty. Verona wished she could fix things between them, but she didn’t know how to persuade her.
“So, why did you come today?” Verona finally asked. “I thought you weren’t sure about church anymore.”
“I’m not,” said Analia shortly. Verona could feel her closing herself off, away from discussion. “I went for Mom. You know how she already feels bad about having to work during church. Besides, it’s not like I’m an atheist now or anything. I’m just not sure about some things.”
Verona didn’t know what to say to that. Their argument from the night before was still fresh in her mind.
The tram pulled up to the station. The girls swiped their metro cards and got on. Verona stared out the window, watching buildings and parks whiz by. For the first time in her life, she didn’t understand Analia. How could she not want to live her life as justly as possible?
The journey passed in silence, neither girl speaking to one another. Analia had cut off her emotions from Verona, so Verona could only feel her presence. Not knowing Analia’s emotions felt odd. They had fought before, but never for this long. Verona missed their closeness.
Beside her, Analia pulled up a textbook called The History of Forensics on her techpad and started listening, a device in her ear wirelessly transmitting the sound. Analia had always preferred audiobooks. Verona decided that was a good way to keep her mind off of Analia, so she pulled up A Study of Magic and its Effects on Interplanetary Colonization and began to read.
She was halfway through the chapter detailing how teleportation had caused colonization of other planets to increase rapidly when a hologram that only she could see, courtesy of the implants in her eyes, popped up above her wrist. She had a new message. She activated it, and a quiet, male voice played in her ears.
“Miss Verona Sheif, I regret to inform you that your mother has been in a vehicle accident. She is in critical condition at Ibur’s hospital. Please come quickly.”
The message ended. Verona stared at the screen. Could it be a hoax? O God of Balance, please let it be a hoax, she thought. A surge of alarm washed over her and mingled with her own. It was Analia’s. Verona turned her head and met Analia’s shocked face. The pit of her stomach dropped.
/You got the message too?/ Verona sent. Analia just nodded. All barriers were down now, the feud forgotten.
/We have to go to her./ Analia sent.
/I know./
Minds working as one, they got off the tram at the next stop and boarded a different one that would take them downtown. Verona fidgeted in her seat as the trees went by. Image after image of terrible accidents flashed through her mind, each scenario worse than the last. She noticed Analia was gripping the edge of her chair tightly, knuckles white.
After what seemed like an eternity, the tram pulled into the station. They ran the entire way to the hospital, an enormous skyscraper that dwarfed the buildings around it. They burst inside, breathing hard.
“Are you Verona and Analia Sheif?” the stern-looking receptionist asked.
“Yes,” Analia gasped.
The lady pressed a button and a moment later a doctor came through the double doors.
“How is she?” Verona asked, hurrying up to him.
The doctor shook his head sadly.
“Her injuries were too severe,” he said gently “She succumbed moments after arriving. I am so sorry for your loss.”
A/N: This is for LMS. It's still pretty rough. I'm horrible at exposition so feedback on that would be appreciated. Also, the title is highly subject to change.
I must say, first chapters this well-written are hard to come by. I'm going to split up my review into different sections to keep everything as organized as possible for you when you come back to edit everything.
Points: 529
Reviews: 45
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