The First Flame part 15

After assuring a thousand times to her sisters and mother that she was fine, Ran got to shower and rest. Oddly, she hadn’t seen much of her twin, so she went searching for her.

Ran ignored the guards that followed. Neither her nor her sisters could escape the watch system Vrox placed on them.

“Do you need something, Princess?”

She bit her tongue to hold herself from replying, “it’s Ran, not Princess.” She almost confused this Ezronian with Eon. She missed him that much.

“No, thanks.”

She walked to Terra’s bedroom, which was only a few doors down. After a quick knock, she waited for the other princess to open.

“Ran?”

“Uh, yeah. Did you not miss me?”

Terra sighed. “Of course I did. Come in.” She opened the door wide.

Ran sat on her bed and examined her room. It was messier than usual.

“Mom was really worried.”

Ran shrugged. “Now she’s really pissed, curtesy of dad.”

“Yeah.” Terra sat next to her and stared at a wall.

“So? What’s with you? Are you on your period or something?”

Terra winced. “No. I… you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Ran raised an eyebrow. “What did you do, woman? I don’t think mom can handle any more drama.”

“I…”

Ran tossed an arm over her shoulders. “Relax. You’ll be fine. I’m usually the troublemaker and I’ve been fine until now, so nothing you say will–

“I’m pregnant.”

Ran choked on her own spit. She coughed so violently that a cringing Terra had to pat her back.

“What? How? I mean, you’ve never really shown interest in… oh, shit. Does mom know?”

“No, she doesn’t. This is bad, isn’t it?” Terra wrung her hands with a devastated look on her face.

“No. No, it’s not bad.” Ran grabbed her hands and squeezed. “This is great! You’ll do just fine. I was just surprised. I mean… who’s the daddy?”

Terra burst into tears. “Dad’s going to kill me!”

Ran hugged her. “No, he’s not. He might kill your baby daddy, but not you. Come on, stop crying. This is good news! You’ve started the second generation post-Vanishing.” Ran kissed the top of her head. “I’m so happy for you.”

“It was a one-night stand. Last month, at the festival. We just… clicked, and, I mean…” She trembled with sobs. “This is too much.”

“Relax. Who is he?”

“Um… the better question is what is he.”

“Uh, an Ezronian hybrid male? Unless you somehow found a way to get knocked up by a girl.”

“No, Ran. He’s not a hybrid. He’s a full-fledged Ezronian.”

Ran scratched her hair. All full-fledged Ezronians, the ones that weren’t hybrid products of Terrans and Ezronians combining, were older men. Her father and uncles, for instance, were in their forties.

“You lost me. You slept with an older dude?”

Oh, yeah, Vrox would definitely kill the baby’s father. He would see this as some sort of pedophile violation. Terra was twenty, and he would’ve wanted her to settle with someone around her age.

“He’s sixteen years older. He was months old when the Vanishing happened. I saw him, and he was hot and mysterious, so we snuck out and… I’m so dumb!”

“Oh, that’s not too bad,” Ran said. “At least he’s not fifty. Relax, girl.”

“Dad will hate him,” Terra cried.

“Dad will hate every dude that fucks his daughters. Look at what he did to Eon, and he only got to kiss me.”

“I’m such an asshole,” Terra said, wiping her tears. “You’re going through something worse and I’m here crying.”

“I’m going to be fine too.”

It didn’t matter whether she has to slave away to The Federation to get the fuel to fly to Earth. She would do it, because there was no way she wouldn’t abandon Eon.

The sisters hugged in silence. Ran spent the new two days by Terra and her other sister’s side, who also received the news. Although they were twins, they didn’t prefer each other over the rest of their sisters.

They all swore to keep Terra’s secret and did their best to distract Ran. It wasn’t really helping. Ran remained on edge, worried about Eon.

The word of Eon’s banishment spread through The Ruins fast, and men were more jumpy around Vrox than usual. Ran noticed that they were making an extra effort to avoid eye-contact with her, as if afraid that Vrox would maul them.

Ran’s irritation boiled over when she found Akane, the only human woman that could never have kids, gossiping.

“I mean, one of them is a rapist, and the other is a dictator that abandons his own people. That family is…”

“You mean the so-called rapist you fought Lizza over?”

Akane turned, her eyes widening. The Ezronian male she had been talking with scrambled.

Ran reached for her necklace to untie it and pushed her hair into a bun. She was ready to take the busybody bitch down.

“Down, Ran.” Kira and Lizza, Ak’s wife, showed up and held her back.

Ran lashed out. “Not so tough now, bitch? Come on. You want to trash-talk my dad and uncle?”

Kira and Lizza dragged her away, although they needed help from Neil.

“Akane is just hurting,” Lizza tried to reason.

“She’s been hurting for twenty years because she couldn’t have kids? That might have excused her first year of bitchiness, but she’s tested her luck for too long.”

Neil elbowed her and gestured toward Kira, who was rubbing her temples and looking stressed.

Ran forced a “Sorry,” through her teeth. “I lost my temper.”

Kira’s shoulders relaxed. “It’s alright, honey. Just get some rest.”

Ran wanted to give her the same advice. Apparently, she hadn’t so much as looked at Vrox in days.

“I’ll make sure she behaves,” Niel offered. “You guys can go.”

“Thanks baby.” Kira kissed Neil’s cheek, and then Ran’s. She left with Lizza on her heels.

Ran sat on the ground and crossed her legs like a child.

“Stop pouting,” Neil said, sitting next to her.

“I feel like a caged animal. I want to get out of here, to go look for him.”

“Then go.”

“Are you serious? I’ve got two guards tailing me at all times. Dad won’t let me leave this place.”

Neil sighed. “Why didn’t you fall for someone that’s not your kidnapper? Why did it have to be this dude?”

Ran stared at Neil and then grinned. “I think I found out how to get out of here and check out the warship.”

“How? By poisoning Vrox?”

“No. You and I are going on a date.”

“Excuse me?”

Ran tossed an arm over his shoulders. “You heard me. We’re ‘dating’ now. Dad will love the sound of this, and will let me go out with you.”

“We’ll be pretending, right? Because… you’re like a sister to me.”

“Yes, pretending. Another hybrid already snatched me up.”

There will be 1 more update this week!