30 Things are Not Always What They Seem

"Jayce can you go any slower?" Ralnas groaned as he stood behind his friend on the stairs to Micu's basement. Jayce laughed with hints of pain sneaking through each intake of breath. He continued descending the stairs until he finally reached the bottom and lowered himself onto the couch. Finally released from the near constant pain of standing he smiled contently and closed his eyes.

Jayce was quickly asleep and his three friends tucked him in with blankets before tiptoeing upstairs. "Jenira what actually happened in that room. Don't give me the mom appropriate version." Micu was right in front of her as soon as they were a safe distance from Jayce. Jenira glared back at him. "I don't know what you mean Micu."

Ralnas was surprised at the intensity of the argument between his two friends and jumped in to intervene. "Guys! Relax! We're all under a lot of stress today. Let's not take it out on each other!" Ralnas glanced between the two as they continued to stare daggers at each other. "What was the tattoo he asked about in the simulation Jenira," Micu spoke forcefully. Ralnas felt his efforts were in vain but remained standing in between. "How should I know! He was spitting blood when he passed out Micu! I was barely able to understand what was happening before he passed out." She got into a stance that they were all familiar with.

Jenira had her own fighting style. It never made sense when they watched it but she had picked it up one summer and been practicing it ever since. To Ralnas it looked like she was fighting by trying not to actually hit the person. He didn't understand it and she had never defeated anyone at school with it. The three boys often teased her about it but she never ceased in her practice of it. Even Chiron had talked to her about forgetting this unique fighting style but she still didn't change her mind.

Micu rolled his eyes, "If you're not going to tell me the truth then I'll just ask Jayce. He can't lie for shit." Ralnas stifled a laugh as he continued making sure he was always in between the two. Jenira smiled coldly at him before relaxing. "Fine. You do that." She turned and walked into the kitchen. Ralnas looked at Micu, "what the hell man?" Micu smiled at him, "I thought she was hiding something. Just had to make sure there wasn't anything that they were leaving out." He followed after her and Ralnas stood there dumbly. "Did I miss something?" He called out after them.

In the kitchen, Jenira and Micu were laughing and making sandwiches together. Ralnas continued to be thoroughly confused. His growling stomach made the decision for him and he joined in making his trademark peanut butter jelly and cheeto sandwiches. Micu commanded a TV screen to float to the end of the table and switched on the highlights.

Out of protest they no longer watched anything on the Human Daily channel. Instead, they had quickly become fans of the Inside Post's coverage of the capability exam and tuned in to see the days events.

A smartly dressed reporter was sitting at a desk with highlight clips playing behind him. "Two surprising outcomes today! Both first and third place from the logic puzzle exam won their rounds again!" A cutaway to the Yuhru team with the brightly colored leader appeared on the screen. They had fought in the trees against a gecko race to win their exam. The reporter was shown again and he spent a great deal of time examining their tactics. Micu was entranced but Jenira and Ralnas quickly became bored.

Opening up his Ripple app Ralnas searched for anything interesting until the highlights came back. "Aw, the rock dudes lost today..." he muttered with disappointment. "You mean the Ogrium team?" Jenira corrected him. "Yeah, whatever they're called. I liked them." Ralnas complained. The report cut to the second exam. The three once again looked up at the TV together.

"Second place of the logic exam struggled today. Ogrium's are not known for their tactics, so much as their brute strength and determined personalities. It showed today." The reporter explained. A clip appeared on the screen. "Of the four remaining teams they had all of their members as the map began to shrink. However, they were outmaneuvered by a very crafty human."

Micu perked right up at this and his sandwich fell back to his plate. Jenira started snickering as Ralnas glanced at his friend then back to the TV with a smile on his face. "Yes though she was the only member of her team she singlehandedly eliminated two of the remaining teams!" A clip of Isabel using the rocky formation to sneak behind the Ogrium team and throwing her last grenade just before them appeared on the screen. As the Ogrium team quickly jumped back to avoid the blast radius Isabel dashed out from cover and eliminated all four in quick succession. "Unfortunately, she just didn't have what it takes to defeat all three of the other teams."

The camera angle widened and a woman who was familiar to Jenira appeared on the screen. "That's Tara Sourcurl!" Micu looked her up and down thoroughly. "I thought she would be taller." "Wait, isn't she the one that has the show we said we were going to announce our team on?" Ralnas asked. "Yes, you moron." Both of his friends said at the same time. Ralnas scowled and took an angry bite of his sandwich.

Tara's candy sweet voice filled the kitchen. "For a single human to take on three teams and almost win is an impressive feat in itself! She floated upwards on her thin wings. "We fairies have never had a war bone in our bodies but even I can see this girl is talented. I think that this might be the most accomplished class to come out of humanity in generations!" The camera cut back to the initial reporter who was smiling widely. "You heard it here first folks! This class of humans is Tara approved!" He then spun his chair to face the first camera again. "Unfortunately she was eliminated by a team of Crocuta. You may recognize the most famous member of their race, the team leader of Nuke, C-4."

Ralnas nodded as though that made perfect sense. "Are crocuta skilled in tactics?" Jenira asked her brother. Ralnas continued nodding. "C-4 is considered just as smart in tactics as some of the legendary tacticians at other teams. He just likes explosions more than the others." Jenira made an "ahh" sound and turned back to the TV. Micu looked dejected seeing Isabel hadn't won the exam. "Micy it's okay, you should text her that you saw her compete!" Jenira ventured hopefully.

Micu turned pale. "Jenira don't you think that's too forward?" Jenira gave him a confused look, "to tell her that she did a good job is too forward?" Ralnas started choking on his sandwich and spit out crumbs all over his plate. Micu scowled at him and turned back to Jenira. "I'll think about it..." Jenira smiled, "You should! What's the worst that could happen?" "She hates it and never talks to me again?" Micu looked glum. "And she talks to you now...?" Micu glared at Jenira, "Sometimes! Okay fine I'll text her!" He pulled open his app on his watch before hesitating. "I uh don't know what to say..."

Ralnas jumped up and ran next to him. "Let the chick magnet Ralnas Marrow guide you down the path to greatness my friend!" Jenira stood up and washed her plate in the sink, "Micu just do the opposite of everything he says and she'll love you." Ralnas glared at his sister before turning back to Micu. "Okay, I like to start my conversations with the classic." "Do I even want to know what the classic is..." Micu said with a mocking tone. Ralnas didn't seem to notice or care. "It's simple hit them with the "Yo" and they always come back wanting more." Micu raised an eyebrow, "That really works?" Ralnas nodded confidently.

"I'm going to check on Jayce you two lady killers!" Jenira called before heading down the stairs. The back and forth between the two echoed behind her as she descended the stairs. Jayce was laying on his side watching highlights on his watch when he noticed her. "Did my mom bring my clothes yet?" Jenira shook her head no. Jayce raised an eyebrow, "So this is that talk you said we needed to have on the train then?"

Jenira nodded seriously, but Jayce could see a tinge of blush on her cheeks. "Well, you better hurry up before the other two wonder why you're taking so long to check on a sleeping friend." "Nah, Ral is giving Micu relationship advice," Jenira replied quietly. Jayce laughed then clutched his chest. After a few strained coughs, he smiled at her, "I would gladly climb those stairs again to listen to that." Jenira laughed and sat down next to his chest on the couch. Pulling the blanket back to reveal his chest Jayce shivered at the sudden influx of cold air against his body. He also knew he was shivering because it was Jenira who was touching his chest.

"How does it feel?" Jayce shrugged, "I have no idea how to describe it. But it's a dull pain constantly." Jenira nodded and leaned against his body. "Jay I have to tell you something." Jayce tensed and looked at her with anxious eyes. "I know what happened to you earlier. I also know why your tattoo changed." Jayce's mouth opened with surprise but he didn't make a sound. "You know that fighting style you guys always tease me about?"

"Yeah? What does that have to do with my tattoo?"

Jenira bit her lip before answering, "Well there's a reason it looks so weird. I can't use it to its full capabilities and that's why I can never win a fight with it." Jayce looked at her confused. "If you know that then why don't you use it to the full extent of your abilities?" "Because it uses the power of an Overwatcher..." Jenira said softly. "I don't understand? What are you saying?"

Jayce had been feeling exhausted before Jenira sat down but he was wide awake now. "During that summer you three spent together so often playing dodgeball I went exploring major hub three." Jayce had another million questions forming in his mind but stayed silent. "I was feeling so lonely, missing my parents and Ralnas still thought of me as his annoying younger sister. I stumbled into a church that looked like it had a beautiful elf woman carved above its doorway." Jayce had to speak up now, "I thought none of us had been outside the human safe zone?" She smiled at him, "I didn't know anything about the place, I honestly can't even tell you how I got there. It was like someone else was controlling my legs."

He nodded slowly before she continued. "A kind priest with golden hair brought me in and spend the next few days with me. He seemed to sense my potential and started training me in that martial arts style over the next few weeks." Jayce's eyes were open wide with surprise but he did his best not to interrupt her. "He also taught me about the simulation. The true simulation. It's true that humans have won the last three grand prizes but how many times do you think a race has actually succeeded in claiming the grand prize?" Jayce shook his head with confusion, "I don't know. I thought that every time there was a grand prize the competition just kept going until someone won it."

Jenira smiled sadly, "And as humans that would make sense. We've become used to winning it. But that hasn't always been the case. For over 4000 years simulation time no one won the grand prize. The Overwatchers didn't want to share their power and made the grand prize too hard to win." Jayce was dumbstruck, "You mean that there wasn't a winner here for 4000 years? What the hell did they do the whole time?"

Jenira laid a hand on his chest, "The Overwatchers laughed at the races try to claim the prize and fail over and over again. They delighted in the death of the champions of the various races. That is until a mixed team attempted the grand prize. On that team was one of the first humans to work with other races. A young girl who prayed for vengeance to befall the Overwatchers before she too was struck down." Jenira teared up slightly, "There used to be five Overwatchers you know? Well two of them, one brother and one sister, saw the pain that they were causing and went to their brothers with pleas to ease the suffering of the races stuck in the simulation." Jayce wiped a tear from her face and tried to process everything she was telling him.

"Well, the three brothers didn't like that idea at all. They cut their brother in pieces and scattered his remains into one of the volcanoes they formed in the simulation. Their sister ran away from them for as long as she could. They finally found her hiding in the human safe zone." Jayce raised his eyebrows and looked at Jenira with a mix of shock, confusion, rage, and sadness. She choked back her tears and continued. "She had been living with a human family for months before she was found. The humans fought to protect her but they didn't stand a chance. As her brothers struck her down she exploded into a green mist that filled the human safe zone. Her brothers assumed she was dead and returned to observing the simulation from above. But ever since she exploded more and more humans have been appearing with negative potential." She hesitated for a moment, "Like you."

Jayce touched his chest and looked again at the spider that now covered his heart. "This is her symbol, isn't it? And the claw was one of the brothers wasn't it?" Jenira looked at him with shock, "Yeah... how did you know that?" Jayce let a small smile take over his lips. "He talked to me while he tortured me. He mentioned his brothers. I can string the dots together." Jenira nodded with understanding. "The humans started winning after her sacrifice. She made your negative potential possible..." Jayce grabbed her hand, "Is this why you're always so hard to read? Because you've known this the whole time?"

Jenira nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "I've never been able to tell anyone, because who would believe me? I tried finding that church a million times since but I never have been able to. Even yesterday we passed right by where I remember it being but it was just an empty lot. That priest, I think he has some connection to her power. He taught me how to condition my body for wielding her abilities. I can barely control any of it even now... but ever since your potential was revealed I have felt my power increasing..." She looked at Jayce with a mysterious look.

He sat up and pulled her close to him. "I guess you're stuck with me until we figure this big mystery out?" She smiled and felt tears sting her eyes, "thank you for believing in me Jayce." He leaned close enough to kiss her and whispered, "I didn't really plan on letting you get away from me in the first place." She rolled her eyes and hugged him tightly.