Chapter Text
(10 Years Ago)
"Mom, where are we going?" asked Jordana.
She and her sisters, Amy and Ana, along with their parents, were on the large moving sidewalk, which they didn’t go to very often. The last time they had went on it was for Jordana’s speech about how dragons were disgusting creatures at the kingdom’s lecture hall. All children in school gave a speech there. Jordana might have been only six, but she thought she knew everything there was to know about Imperium—the school, the hospital, the palace, the armory, their home, and the science lab. None of those were along the path of the large moving sidewalk except for the palace.
"One second, honey," her mother said.
That was weird. Usually, if Jordana asked something, she got an answer. If she wanted something, she got it—unlike her sisters, Ana and Amy.
They approached the palace, making Jordana worried. Were they going to take her away? No, of course not. If anyone was going to go, it wouldn’t be her—it would be Amy or Ana.
Jordana felt Ana and Amy stiffen beside her, but she ignored them. Her mother and father began talking to a scientist in Imperiun, the language of Imperium. It was ancient, but still very commonly used. The triplets’ parents made all three of them study Imperiun grammar a lot, but Jordana wasn’t as good at it as Amy or Ana. She didn’t care, since her parents said she would get it eventually.
"Amy, can you come here for a second, sweetie?" her mother asked.
Jordana was confused. Only she was called "sweetie" or "honey"—not Amy or Ana.
Amy glanced back at the youngest triplet, Ana, before walking over to where their mother and a woman were talking. Their mother hugged Amy, handed her a bag, and helped her into some kind of spaceship.
Jordana was confused. Was Amy going on a trip? That wasn’t fair! She wanted to go too!
Their parents waved goodbye, smiles—more like smirks—on their faces as they took Jordana and Ana’s hands and walked out of the palace.
Jordana was about to ask where Amy was going when Ana beat her to it.
"Amy is going on a long trip," their mother said. "Don’t you worry."
So they had sent Amy away, Jordana realized. She tried to think about what Amy did wrong, but nothing came to mind. Beside her, Ana looked confused too.
"Oh well," Jordana thought. "At least it’s not me they sent away."
Suddenly, a burst of wind came through. Jordana always loved the wind, and she smiled, forgetting (almost) all about Amy.
.oO0Oo.
(One month later, right before the Merge)
"Mom," Ana called, "when is Amy coming back?"
"Maybe if you hadn’t shamed our family, I would have told you," her mother sneered. "Go back to your room. If your interests don’t benefit the good Empress, you’ll just have to find new ones."
Ana sighed. Her parents had always favored Jordana over her and Amy. It got to the point where they sent Amy away somewhere. She had thought that when Amy left, her parents would care more about her—but that never happened.
She won first place in the science fair, and Jordana got second. She got to work in the advanced systems lab—not Jordana. She worked so hard for their love, but it never came.
When she refused to use her photac to harm innocent dragons, suddenly her parents remembered her.
"You shamed our family."
"You could’ve helped the great Empress and the Claws of Imperium."
"You’re not our daughter anymore."
That’s what they had said.
Suddenly, the ground—and her belongings—shook. There was some kind of storm outside.
"Weird," Ana thought. "Is this some kind of earthquake? But we haven’t had an earthquake in over two years."
The storm stopped, but outside there was something new—new land, a new place. Somewhere that wasn’t Imperium.
"I know you love Jordana, Mother and Father," Ana thought, "but I guess I’ll never meet your standards."
Ana started packing her things. Her parents had taken most of her belongings, but she still had a bit of money, her clothes, and some fruit.
She opened her window and left Imperium.
And as she did, Ana disappeared—
—and a new person, Sora, emerged.