Chp. 14 : Is This Jealousy?

Entering the stronghold we were greeted by a green haired male.

He stretched out his hand towards me but his gaze was upon Meriella.

"Welcome home Meriella and… You must be the famous reincarnated Flyman". He said, finally looking in my direction.

I looked over at Meriella realizing that when she said "we home" she actually meant she lives here in The Undergrid.

I awkwardly reached out my hand to greet the green haired less attractive version of myself, knowing I'm in his dad's body was kind of weird especially because the dude looked kind of like me. "Emerson, you must be my son " I joked as he shook my hand. He must be a serious guy because the silence after what I said was piercing.

Based on how Emerson welcomed Meriella back, the way his eyes lingered on her sent my mind racing, wondering if the two of them were a thing…. I didn't think about the possibility of Meriella being in a relationship, in fact I didn't ask! But surely she wouldn't have kissed me if she was with someone… Right… She made so many flirtatious jokes throughout our journey I just assumed she's into me and single but now I feel foolish for even thinking someone as beautiful as Meriella would be single and interested in a FLYMAN as they've clearly been calling me. Why did she kiss me then?

Was this normal in Arcadia amongst humans.

Emerson: "Terrchel right? Leghorn warned me that some side effects of your reincarnation are zoning out but I didn't expect it to be this bad".

I snapped back to reality realizing I was still shaking his hand whilst in deep thought about what their relationship could be. A rouse of jealousy brewing in my heart. I pulled my hand away abruptly at the realization. Emerson, noticing my change in body language, raised his eyebrows with a sheepish expression on his face.

Terrchel: "Well yeah, that's part of why I agreed to come see you. So let's get straight to the point but first where is my dear friend Leghorn?"

Emerson: "Follow me, let's get comfortable and welcome to our humble home"

He warmly smiled at Meriella and gestured for me to look around whilst following behind him.

Meriella side stepped to be next to me, trying to keep up with my pace with her cute short leg movements.

She looked up at me, with enthusiasm giving me a rundown of the hideout. "Em' made this place a home for the pillagers crew and I. We were the first to leave The New Arcadia City, after my brother Lawrence Abstainace took over my Father's legacy of Presidency; separating the two parts of the city".

As she spoke I admired how she used hand gestures to explain and point out everything as we walked side by side. I honestly wasn't really listening to what she was saying but she went on "We allied ourselves with like-minded individuals who prefer working with their hands and clinging to the old ways of living".

As we walked through the hideout Meriella pointed out a storeroom with tons of foods and a working station next to it where people wearing gumboots, hairnets and gloves with masks covering their faces worked delicately with a paced speed preserving food.

"We grow our own food and we have groups designated to different tasks".

I looked over to the opposite side of the hideout and there was a makeshift room with a dedicated space where people were focused on what seemed to be herbology.

"This is where we mix herbs together to make our own medication, Arcadia only offers chemical infused shots but people like you, humans without any artificial augmentation or enhancements can't use those so you left to die without treatment".

"I'm part of the scouts. I keep tabs on everything going in and out of both The New Arcadia City and The Undergrid. I bring the intel back here and Em sends the Rovers to retrieve our findings".

I just looked at her and nodded in acknowledgment of everything she's saying, my mind wondering why she calls him Em but she calls me by my full name.

She continued yapping, "Sometimes it's items the Elite Arcadians deem as obsolete and sometimes its special case missions. Like you. We aim to be peaceful in all we do but we always prepare for war down here".

She moved a red curtain out the way but I stopped walking and didn't follow any further.

She noticed my feet hasn't moved and turned back to tell me to come inside but I was taken aback by being classified as a special mission.

She tilted her head waiting for my reaction she seemed confused as to why I'm not moving. I think by now everyone is used to me zoning out and they just wait for me to snap out of it.

I so badly wanted to ask Meriella if I'm just a special mission to her, but I choked back my words and slowly entered the meditation room where I saw Leghorn bowed down on a mat. He must have been praying as I heard him say "Amen" and when he saw me standing in the room he rose to his feet at sensing me and it seemed like he wanted to hug me but he hesitated. He must have sensed my guarded body language.

I nodded in his direction, greeting him without wanting to engage in physical contact but Meriella jolted past me and leaped at Leghorn wrapping her arms around him filled with childlike excitement.

I was thrown into confusion at the scene before me. I felt betrayed like an outsider being tricked into some plot I didn't understand.

Leghorn knew Meriella and yet didn't mention anything about her despite me trying to figure out who she was since I landed in Arcadia and this Emerson guy clearly knows Leghorn as well. "Em" seems overly friendly with Meriella too and clearly she knew everyone long ago but everyone kept me in the dark.

So the only one tripping over my feet these past days has been me, blindly trying to puzzle together things everyone already knew.

Are they trying to make a joke out of me because I'm a fly reincarnated. Do they see me as unworthy or is my new life just a SPECIAL MISSION? What is the point of any of this?

Leghorn was sent to keep me in check and and… my mind was overstimulated at this point and I just didn't want to think any further or deeper about any of this.

I felt my emotions turn numb and I nonchalantly pointed to each of them with my finger, my eyes moving from Leghorn to Meriella then to Emerson and back to Meriella "Sooo, basically, you guys all know eachother. What's going on here?" I said, my voice came out obnoxiously pessimistic but on the inside a feeling of nausea hit my stomach.

Before anyone could answer my question about what's going on, I decided to leave the room uncaringly, the last thing I saw before turning my back on them were blank stares.

I came here for answers to this whole classified reincarnated thing and removing Arnold's memories ect or at least stabilizing mine in some way but right now I don't even know if it's worth it. Leghorn already betrayed me and now Meriella.

I just need some air...

I walked out the meditation room and took a staircase leading to a rooftop of a broken down building.

When I reached the highest point of the building I sat on the ledge with my legs dangling in the air. A cool breeze hit me, blowing my hair in all directions. All the overthinking hurt my head but the breeze was refreshing.

All I could see before me was a desolate city, half broken down and glowing lights and part nature reclaiming the land.

The past few days here in Arcadia I can tell that The Undergrid was filled with those who just didn't seem to fit the mold of New Arcadian society due to wealth, beliefs and status.

It became a separated city of misfits and outcasts, where the discarded and those who dared to stand out found solace in the darkness.

A home for those who come to commiserate about the meaninglessness of life, not wanting to be held up to the New Arcadia's standards.

Here in the heart of The Undergrid it seems Meriella alongside Emerson built something meaningful for all these kinds of people. A beacon of hope, I guess; in these desperate times of struggle for freedom and power throughout Arcadia.

I couldn't help but think about how fragile life is. One moment, you're flying high; the next, you're fighting for your life. Kind of like the state Arcadia. This hideout is the only good thing happening down here.

Sitting on this ledge is a sobering experience, but it also makes me want to appreciate the beauty of life and the importance of living in the moment, not getting lost in the madness around me.

The New Arcadians are like controlled puppets without any freewill, they mindlessly follow whatever they're told and given without thinking about what's happening because they don't care. Their status and wealth is all that matters whilst The Undergrid Arcadians is unbalanced and unstable in many aspects it's seen in the state of the city and the people.

Here's no order and harmony in Arcadia and nobody seems to be seeing the bigger picture. I know I'm only a human for a short period of time now but all of this feels wrong. Surely I wasn't reincarnated just to experience this kind of chaotic life.

All the effort that was put into giving me life... Everyone else here was given that same breath, but they don't seem to see it.

I closed my eyes to fully take in the atmosphere.

✧✦✧

As Terrchel stood atop the crumbling undergrid building, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, letting the symphony of scents wash over him.

The dampness of moss clung to the air, its earthy fragrance intertwining with the sweet, heady aroma of herbs wafting from the makeshift herbalist corner below.

The acrid tang of dirt and oil hung heavy, Terrchel immediately knew The Undergrid part of Arcadia must have had industrial roots before the rebuilding of the City.

The distant crackle of fire from a cooking pit or blacksmith's forge added a warm, golden note to the melange. There must be a blacksmith close by that he hasn't seen yet he tells himself knowing his senses are never wrong.

As he listened, the rowdy, distant echoes of crowds in the alleyways below rose up like a tide, a cacophony of laughter, shouts, and music that seemed to reverberate deep within Terrchel's chest, connecting him to the vibrant, pulsing heart of The Undergrid.

Terrchel heard footsteps approaching he knew it was Leghorn but stayed facing the view infront him until he saw Leghorn appear next to him and sit down on the ledge as well.

Terrchel: "Do you hear that? The music.. What is it?"

Leghorn: "It's called prave, an Undergrid favorite"

Terrchel: "The culture they have going on here is definitely a comfortable mix between everything in one place"

Leghorn: "Yeah I guess you could say so"

Leghorn took this as an opportunity to check in on Terrchel's progress, assuming that him engaging first in conversation meant he calmed down from whatever happened a few minutes ago when he stormed off.

Leghorn: "The Light Realm has been watching you closely. I was informed by General Leghorn that you've leveled. Care to pull up the stats?"

Terrchel avoided eye contact and pulled up his swatch nonchalantly commanding his abilities levels to be analyzed and displayed in a hologram table format.

Here's a list of your current abilities and strengths levels Master Terrchel :

Compound Eyesight: Level 2

Acute Sense of Smell: Level 3

Agility and Reflexes: Level 2

Fly's Instinct: Level 2

Swarm Sense: Level 3

Regenerative Resilience: Level 1

Environmental Adaptation: Level 2

New ability detected : Energy-infused projectiles and Chrono-Swarm technique

Leghorn: "You've improved tremendously in the time we've spent apart but wait the last two new abilities those can only be obtained through celestial energy ! How could you have possibly unlocked the power to channel these techniques? "

Terrchel: "None of this was by my choice of cause, I don't even understand most of what's going on"

Leghorn: "Sometimes you need to face things alone to improve rapidly"

Terrchel: "I wasn't alone remember, Meriella was by my side. We fought The Temporal Guardians".

Leghorn: "Those guys aren't a joke! They've been on the mission since before I joined The Light Realm. Meriella being by your side must have unlocked these powers some how in you. Her Celestial Energy must have propelled the atmosphere on a atomic level"

Terrchel: "This same mission that I'm somehow a part of years later... What if I wanted to experience a normal human life, with a family and a home. Not unlocking powers and fighting interdimensional beings. Arnold had the opportunity to have those things but he wasted his life on science and pursuing Arcadia which only brought him a unfulfilled life. He neglected his family and was never home enough to enjoy it. I don't want to be focused on the wrong things and miss this opportunity given to me.. To live a meaningful life. As a fly I lived as you all are now just doing your duty, but it doesn't feel right living that way now that I'm human"

Leghorn: "You have to complete your assignment. You were reincarnated for a reason"

Terrchel: "Is that all you guys care about? Me completing some God given assignment that I don't understand but everyone seemly does!"

Leghorn: [sigh] "I don't know what you're expecting? Arcadia is falling apart the mission comes first. The balance of the realms are at risk and I have to do everything to fix this. It's my duty"

Terrchel: "I thought you cared about me as a Human not just whatever experiment is happening here. I thought we friends! Why didn't you just tell me about Meriella and Emerson why do you continue letting me find things out on my own and keeping me in the dark making me work for the truth"

Leghorn: "You don't understand, I'm from The Light Realm".

Terrchel: [agitated] "What exactly is your point!?"

Leghorn: [calm] "I'm given instructions and need to obey it without getting emotionally invested and interfering when it's not my place. You're human now and humans need to make their own decisions and learn things on their own in order to grow. If I keep telling you everything and guiding you all the way holding your hand then you'll never reach your full potential"

Terrchel: "So you presume that treating me like an objective is the most appropriate way to do what you think is best for me or rather what's best for Arcadia. What if having genuine friends is what I needed to grow and ease into this whole human thing! Why should everything be about being better, doing better can't we have meaningful moments in this meaningless life and still reach our full potential!!"

Terrchel stood up his face was red with anger, jaws clenched as he hovered over seated Leghorn, who shortly after rose to his feet to meet Terrchels gaze.

Terrchels eye's were filled with hurt which made Leghorn sad and his tone of voice turned empathetic.

Leghorn: "Terre, last time I had an important mission here in Arcadia… I let my emotions get involved. I thought making a decision based off how I felt would be doing something good but sometimes bad things need to happen in order for greater things to be achieved".

Terrchel: "I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. The least you could do is tell me what happened? Why do you keep insisting you need to fix something that was done, maybe that way I'd understand you better"

Leghorn's expressions softened, he realized that despite keeping Terrchel at arms length. Terrchel thought of him as a friend and actually wanted to understand him.

Leghorn: "Well let's go back inside it's cold out here and it's a long story so we might as well get comfortable for it".

Terrchel: "I don't want to be inside the hideout at the moment, let's go to Cybro's Pizza Den instead. I'm starving. I don't remember when last I ate, but you're paying and I'm still upset just so you know ".

Leghorn gave Terrchel a slight smile and nodded in agreement. They made their way back down the stairs on the building they were on, passing through the mediation room to reach the hideout tunnel that would lead to the rest of The Undergrid.

Whilst passing by Terrchel spotted Meriella in a corner of the room laughing with Emerson.

She caught a glimmer of Terrchel passing by and smiled at him but he remained cold and immediately looked away without acknowledging her.

Her smile immediately dropped and the tension in atmosphere between the two of them was uncanny.

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