Two blurry shapes loomed on the other side of the glass, and I blinked a few times, trying to focus.
My head bobbed about in the warm water as I took in my surroundings. When I stopped pounding on the glass, I floated. How wasn’t I drowning?
A face appeared on the other side of the tank, and I opened my mouth in a noiseless scream. Through the murky haze of my terror, I registered that the face belonged to Callan. His gaze locked on mine, a look of wild shock in his deep-blue eyes. My alarm subsided slightly when he pressed his hand against mine on the other side of the glass. I tried to calm the swell of fear inside me.
Callan pressed some buttons on the control panel on the front of the tank. I steadied my breathing, waiting for the tank to open. Nothing happened. The second figure stepped forward, and I instantly recognised the purple hair and flash of lilac eyes. Callan and Rylixa fiddled with the control panel for what seemed like an eternity but could only have been a few seconds. Eventually, I heard a muffled bleeping sound. The liquid drained out of the tank. I yanked at the wires, pulling them off my skin. The door opened with a whoosh, and I fell out. Spluttering and crying, I tried to catch my breath. The full weight of realisation crushed my chest. My heart thundered, and I couldn’t breathe.
“Eliza! Eliza, calm down. Take it easy,” Callan said. It was only when he draped a robe over my body that I realised I was naked.
Ry smoothed back my wet hair. Water no longer clogging my throat, I drew in a long, deep breath, but I couldn’t still my racing heart.
I gripped Rylixa’s hand.
“I made a terrible mistake,” I managed to choke out.
“Shh, it’s okay. Just let yourself breathe.”
I filled my lungs with air, but I couldn’t quell the dread rising inside me. I’d made more than a mistake; I had been so utterly stupid.
Clutching the robe, I struggled to sit up. My gaze darted around the room. The white glass asymmetric figures told me I was in Queen Ayla’s private quarters at the Regia. The tank I’d been in was one of the six cylinders I’d found Florielle and the others in.
“Jack… I need to find Jack. Where is he?” I said. Callan and Ry exchanged a glance, and a fresh wave of panic gripped me. “Where is he?”
“Jack’s okay,” Callan rushed out, concern etched on his face. “Eliza, he’s okay. Try to relax. Take another breath.” He held his palms out in front of him, motioning for me to keep calm. “Jack is on Earth,” he said softly. “He’s on Earth.”
I took another breath, inflating my aching lungs. “Earth?”
“He’s with Daisy and the others.”
Tears blurred my vision. They were okay. They were on Earth together. I swallowed, but just that thought made me start to calm down some.
“Everyone thinks you are dead.”
“No, I…” I what? How did I even begin to explain? “I was in some kind of fake parallel dimension or something. With no aliens. Well, there were aliens, but they weren’t a part of my life.”
“How did you get back? Wake up or whatever?” Callan asked.
“I’m not sure. I stopped believing it was real and smashed the Orb of Tealon.” They looked at me as if I had told them I’d flown here on a unicorn. “I know it sounds crazy. I guess I managed to overpower whatever hold the orb had over me and wake up? I don’t know. All I know is I need to go to Jack and Daisy.”
I tried to push myself up, but I immediately swayed. Rylixa grabbed my arm.
“Alright, warrior princess, not quite yet. For a start, let’s get the rest of these wires disconnected.”
Gently, she began peeling the suckers off my skin.
“This one is still connected.” A blue tube ran from the tank and connected to my wrist, underneath my daisy tattoo, back where it belonged. I brushed my fingers over the ink.
“Here.” Callan unhooked the tube from the tank, and I tugged the tube out of my skin. The instant it disconnected, a rush of energy hit me. Reaching out with my mind, I welcomed the connection. I gave a half laugh, half wail as the familiar power of Conscientia surged through me. My head lolled to the side as it pulsed through my veins. I revelled in its familiarity.
Energised, I got up, this time steady on my feet. I slipped on the robe and walked over to the huge wall of containers. I ran my hand across the glass.
“How do you feel?” Rylixa asked. She and Callan were both still watching me like I was an exotic animal at the zoo who might attack or run away at any given moment.
“Good. I feel stronger, and my head is clearing.”
“Here, this will help.” She handed me a glass of water and a small parcel wrapped in foil. Inside was a large cube of what looked like neon-green jelly. “I’m not sure what she was feeding you in there, but this will give you some nutrients.” She watched me stuff the cube in my mouth, slurping it down like a jelly shot. “None of us had any idea, Eliza.”
I took a large gulp from the glass of water. “How did you find me?”
“I managed to get my hands on some of the queen’s research and pieced it together. It didn’t make much sense. What I could make out seemed to be about using the Orb of Tealon to create a portal that could transfer a consciousness while keeping the person physically stable. It was just an inkling that it could be something important, but Cal and I came back to see if we could dig up anything useful. I never for one moment thought… I can’t believe you’re here.”
I met her amethyst gaze. “Thank you for coming back on a hunch.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “Of course. What was it like for you?”
“It was real. I was told I was being rewarded for sacrificing myself. I was at university, and everyone was alive, my mum, Rick… I can’t believe it was all a dream. I thought it was some kind of time loop. At least, that’s what Cylania told me.”
“It wasn’t a dream. Well, not exactly. Because of Conscientia, she couldn’t kill you, so she transported your mind into an augmented reality,” Rylixa said.
“To keep you out of the way,” Callan said from where he stood at the door.
Nerves swirled in my stomach at the tension on his face. “Why?”
Rylixa took my hand. “Eliza, while you were… out, Queen Ayla invaded Earth.”
My blood ran cold. “What?”
“When we left Bayronite, we flew to Andronia where King Kailyan and Drayton helped us transport the survivors to safety. Little did we know the queen had already set her plan in motion. She sent her troops to Earth. She gained control quickly, given your planet’s weakened position. We followed as soon as we could.”
“I’ll be blunt—the situation on Earth is pretty grim,” Callan said. “Things were bad before, but now there is an active enemy to contend with. Jack, Scarlett, and the others have been rounding up anyone they can find to build a resistance, but at this point just surviving is an achievement.”
A surge of venom blazed through me. Queen Ayla had played me. She had used the orb to set up a trap, and I had walked right into it, giving myself up like a martyr. I thought I was saving lives, but who knew how many others had died since?
“What about my dad?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.
“Sitting by her side,” Callan said.
“I’ve got to get back. I need to go home,” I told him.
“It’s not that simple. It’s chaos out there. It’s not like before. We can’t just fly back.”
“We can’t, but maybe Eliza can,” Rylixa said thoughtfully. “She could take a pod.”
Callan’s brow creased. “All the way to Earth? That little thing will never make it.”
“If we fly her to the outer rim, she’ll only need to make it through the wormhole, and it will take her straight back to Earth. We can programme it to land in Silver Leaf Forest. She won’t even need to do anything.”
“What about the queen? She has to be controlling who is coming in and out,” I asked.
“The pod is small enough to go undetected… hopefully.”
Callan bit down on his lip.
“Please, Callan. I have to go back.” I wasn’t stupid; I knew it would be dangerous, but I would take the risk if it meant getting back to Jack and Daisy.
“Can I speak to you for a minute?” Callan asked Rylixa.
They moved away, speaking in hushed tones. The brush of Rylixa’s fingertips on Callan’s arm, his light touch at the base of her spine didn’t go unnoticed. I took a few steps closer.
“We can’t send her off like this. Look at the state of her. She’s in shock,” Callan said.
Rylixa rubbed her temples. “What choice do we have? How long until they realise she’s gone? Once they do, they’ll lock this place down tight. We need to get her out of here. Now.”
“Ry is right.”
They swivelled around with matching open mouths, as if they had forgotten I was actually there.
“Queen Ayla is obsessed with Conscientia. She won’t leave it unguarded for long. And she wanted me out of the way for good reason. It sounds crazy, even to my own ears, but I am a threat to her. I’m learning how to harness Conscientia’s power more and more. I need to be out there with my family, fighting her.”
Callan shook his head. “It’s a crazy plan… but it might just work.” He clapped his hands together. “Alright, let’s do it.”