CHAPTER 22

Jasmine had missed running.

To her, this was an insane realization. The girl took a turn as she felt the blood pump through her legs and the wind whistle past her ears. Jasmine had woken up bright and early just for this occasion, and it had been worth so worth it. She was running laps around the palace’s courtyard, making sure not to slip on the gravel. To think that kings and nobles spent their leisurely days hanging out here in the past and that now it was hers? It felt good.

Well, ‘hers’ was a figurative term. It was Gessner’s, but she was free to do whatever she wanted here, and it felt like a tiny victory to the family that had caused her people so much suffering. It felt like weeks had passed— meeting Gessner, joining the TIA, the fight, and the hospital— but it had only been two days. Jasmine had gone out to run because she missed it, but also because she wanted to distract herself from the fact that Franz’s sister was arriving in an hour.

She came to an abrupt stop, practically drifting against the gravel. She was back at the building’s entrance. Jasmine contemplated running another lap as she took a large sip of water from her bottle. She felt full of energy; so full in fact that she wished Kaleb was here to spar. Thinking back on her loss against Palmer, though, it was clear that physical strength wasn’t going to cut it. Jasmine had been reckless— she hadn’t thought straight, and she paid dearly for it. Without Franz, she’d still be unable to use her right hand.

So why was she pissed at him?

Of course, Jasmine knew why, but that didn’t make it right. This wasn’t her. Every time she even thought about Franz’s sister, she thought about her mom. About how it could have been her that had lived. She sighed.

“Maybe one more lap, then.”

Yeah, one more lap would help clear her mind. One more lap at full speed.

---

Running more hadn’t worked. The only thing Jasmine felt now— or rather didn’t feel were her legs. The girl made her way through the Presidential Palace’s wide corridors, her body drenched in sweat. Eventually, she found herself in the showers, which in reality, was more of a huge bathhouse. The room was grand and old. It was made of bright blue ceramic tiles, which created a sense of contrast with the outside. Jasmine rolled her eyes at the eye-popping waste of space. There was enough space here to fit hundreds of people, yet she was the only one here. Jasmine started running the water as she took off her clothes. Angela had given her, Agnes, and Veronica a lot of her old clothes that she didn’t need any longer, so at least she hadn’t been running in a suit.

She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. Was it getting too long? It almost reached her lower back now, and it could prove to be a liability. Easy to grab.

Jasmine liked her hair though. It was basically the only part of her body that she liked. She’d always been a late bloomer— shorter, scrawnier than everyone else her age, although that was probably in part because of how little she got to eat during most of her teenagehood, and to be honest, she’d rather not think about that at all.

After a quick wash, Jasmine slowly shuffled back to her room. Only thirty minutes left. She wasn’t surprised to see Agnes already sitting in her bed.

“Hey! Need something?” She asked, smiling.

“Wha— you’re in my room, I should be the one asking you that.” Jasmine replied.

“I’m just joking around, Jazzie. I kind of wanted to hang because Franz is being a drama queen over his sister and Veronica’s being Veronica.”

“Meaning?” Jasmine asked, tilting her head. She sat next to her friend.

“Meaning she doesn’t give a shit. Anyway, how are you feeling? I know this is hard for you.”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you for asking though, I really appreciate it.”

Agnes laid back on the bed and stretched. “Then you better smile and be nice to Ria then, because she has nothing to do with your problems.”

“Her name’s Ria?”

“Yeah, didn’t you hear? It’s all Franz has been talking about. Plus, he told Hermann her name, remember?”

“I guess I just forgot. I mean I’ve also been avoiding Franz since we got here yesterday.” Jasmine paused. “I hope she sucks.”

Agnes chuckled. “Bitchy thing to say, don’t you think? Leave the girl alone, and you’ll be fine. You don’t even have to be friends with her.”

“I suppose I don’t have much of a choice. The worst part is that I know the hate— no, hate is too strong— the jealousy is irrational, but I still feel it.”

“How about you channel that jealousy toward someone that actually deserves it, yeah?” Agnes stated, maintaining her stance.

“Easier said than done, but like I said, I’ll try.”

“Atta girl. You got this!”

---

Thirty minutes had passed in a flash, and Jasmine was currently at the palace’s entrance, squinting at the dark SUV driving into the courtyard. She looked to her right and saw that Franz could barely contain his excitement. He was biting his lip, trying to contain his stupid giddy smile, and he appeared to have lost all of his fatigue from yesterday. The car pulled over, and Gessner was the first one out of the car with an agent by his side. It looked like he had already had enough of staying at the underground TIA facility.

Ria Thomas was the last out of the car, and the first thing Jasmine noticed about her was how similar she looked to her brother. They had the exact same dark hair and eye color, and their nose was also alike. The girl looked directly at her brother, and after a few short seconds, she smiled.

Darn her, she thought. They even had the same smile.

The girl looked no older than fourteen. Ria ran at full throttle, barreling toward her brother. She embraced him in a tight hug, and he did the same. Jasmine stood there, watching silently as she tried to restrain herself from thinking about her feelings toward this girl. She failed.

“Oh, Ria, look at you! You’ve grown so much! Allfather, I— I can’t believe you’re real. Have you been eating well? Three meals a day?” Franz asked. He freed her from the hug, hand square on her shoulders to take a better look at her.

“I’m good, Franz. I missed you. I missed you a whole bunch, I thought you were dead.” His sister answered. Her voice was lower-pitched than Jasmine had expected.

“So did I! You’ll have to tell me all about it later. Would you like an early lunch? You wouldn’t believe the food the cooks make here, it’s incredible.”

“I wouldn’t say no to that. In the meantime, can you introduce me to your friends, and maybe tell me how you got all of this?” Ria snorted, pointing at the palace behind the group. “And how you got involved in all of this with Marshal Gessner?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to cut your reunion short, because that information is classified.” Gessner finally declared. He had only been watching so far. “But feel free to do introductions. Agnes, Jasmine, I need you in my office in an hour.”

“Oh, okay.” Ria said, much much feebler than before.

Gessner made his way through the grand palace doors and disappeared into the halls. The metahumans did the same, each of them introducing themselves to Franz’s sister. Jasmine managed to be friendly— she noticed how Agnes was glaring at her every time she spoke, warning her.

“So, everyone here’s a meta, then?” Ria asked as they turned into the dining room.

Jasmine could hear the cooks working overtime to feed the entire staff lunch soon, and they were probably working on dinner too. The group sat at one of the tables.

“Yep, born and bred.” Agnes said proudly. “You got the same power as your brother, Ria?”

“Not really.” She said, to everyone’s astonishment. “I mean, I sort of do, but it can barely be called a power. He’s always been the prodigy.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself, Ria. The truth is, everyone else sitting at this table got lucky, you’re just average.” Franz intervened, patting his sister on the shoulder. “Hey, you should get the beef stew, it is out of this world.”

Ria nodded.

Jasmine abruptly stood from the table. “I’ll get everyone’s food! So, two beef stews, Agnes, I guess you want the usual?”

“You got it, Jazzie, spaghetti and meatballs.”

“Veronica?”

“I will have whatever you deem best, Jasmine. I am not a picky eater.”

“Great! Just great, I’ll be back!” Jasmine barely managed to get the words out before she ran away.

She was being stupid, and she knew it. Jasmine paced toward the hole in the wall, used to place orders or simply take an already cooked meal to go. She couldn’t bring herself to not look at Ria with distaste. Hopefully the meal would pass quickly and she’d be on her way to Gessner’s office. The girl struggled to keep every plate balanced in her arms, but she managed. Jasmine wobbled back to the table, intentionally taking more time than she really needed. She placed each dish on the table.

“Hmm, smells good!” Ria exclaimed as she eyed her food. “You wouldn’t know how good this feels after all this time spent in Hulvestein.” The girl ate a spoonful of her stew.

“Right, tell me how you lived so long alone. I mean, when I was captured, you were so… so…” Franz started.

“Clingy? Shy? Nervous?” She interrupted him, smiling. “Yeah, but the Hoovers took care of me for a while, and then they sent me to some relatives in Hulvestein. It was relatively peaceful for a while— they kept me hidden, of course. And then Marshal Gessner took over, and I didn’t have to hide anymore.”

“No shit?” Agnes said, tomato sauce dribbling off her chin. “Damn, we’re pretty similar. What about you, Franz? Tell your story to your sister.” She continued with a malicious glint in her eye.

Jasmine was curious as well, of course. She knew virtually nothing about Franz’s past apart from the fact that he’d been starving when TIA agents found him, and then he’d tried to be an off-the-grid doctor.

“Maybe later, in private.” He said hurriedly. Jasmine instantly noticed the foot tapping.

“Don’t worry about it, I was just joking around.” Agnes replied. “Sorry. Tell me about up north, though. Apparently, people are going crazy?”

“A whole bunch of rioting, yeah. Whole cities going up in flames, looting and stuff. It’s not safe to go out at night.”

“Damn, even when they kill practically all of us, they still manage to blame us for everything bad going on in the world. Isn’t that depressing?” She replied with a sigh.

The rest of the meal went by quickly, and it mainly constituted in Franz catching up with his sister, talking about old times, struggles, and whatnot. Jasmine hadn’t paid too much attention.

“How much time we got?” Agnes asked as she leaned against Jasmine.

“I don’t know, we should really ask for phones.” She replied, right before noticing a clock against one of the walls. “Ah, twenty-five minutes.”

“Alright, I’m gonna take a dump. See you at the boss’ office?”

“Sure, see you there.” She said. She shot a quick look at Veronica. The girl almost hadn’t said anything during the entire morning. “Veronica, can I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“Follow me.” Jasmine grabbed her hand and dragged her to a secluded room. Even though she was invincible, Veronica’s skin was still so soft.

“Alright, I’m asking you this as a friend, and I know you won’t spill, but I just need your advice or this is going to eat me up, and I’ll go crazy by tomorrow.” Jasmine continued.

She paused, waiting for a reaction. Of course, there was none.

“Continue.” She said.

“I have this problem… there’s this girl that I hate for a really, really stupid thing that she has nothing to do with, but even though I know it’s stupid, I still can’t bring myself to like her. I’d like to know how to bottle up my emotions like you do. Please?”

“I see. You hoped your mother would be alive, but she was not, and when Ria was found, you started to feel an irrational dislike toward her.”

Jasmine coughed abruptly and shook her head. “You know what, in retrospect, I was being really obvious. But please, I need your help. How are you so good at being you?”

“Be careful what you wish for. My affliction is something I would like to get rid of. Plus, I am afraid I can’t give you a straight answer, being so unemotional seems to be something I can’t affect in any way.” Veronica said, her bright blue eyes piercing through Jasmine.

“Figured it was still worth a shot.” She quickly said with a sigh. “Thanks for the help anyhow, and sorry for dragging you out here without asking.”

She started marching out of the empty room.

“Wait. I also need your help with something.” Veronica said, just as she was about to walk out of the room.

“Huh?” Jasmine answered, feeling skeptical. “What could someone as amazing as you need help with? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ll try to help in any way I can.”

“I would enjoy it if you assisted me in finding out what is happening to me. I do not wish to get into it now, but it has to do with emotions. Doctor Biermann failed in that regard, but I believe that I am making good progress.”

Jasmine sprinted to her and grabbed her hands tight. “Of course, I’ll help you! How about we go out just you and me later today? I’ll ask Gessner right away, I should get to the meeting anyway. Just sit tight, and I’ll come back to see you, alright?”

“Yes.” She said with a slight tilt of her head.

She left the room and made her way up the stairs to Gessner’s office. Jasmine felt giddy— she looked up to Veronica in a lot of ways. Her friend was everything she aspired to be: strong enough to protect herself and the people she cared about, not vulnerable to stupid feelings, and last but not least, she was beautiful. So beautiful, it was almost uncanny.

Any opportunity to learn more about her would be welcome. Agnes was already waiting in front of the door, leaning her back right up against the wall, whistling the opening theme of her favorite television show.

“Hey, ready to go in?” Jasmine asked as she approached.

The girl turned her head, revealing her eyes. They still took her breath away every time. Each one was unique and burned with a fiery passion— light brown and hazel.

“You’re there early. Bossman said one hour.” She replied, with a certain nonchalance in her voice.

“Always better to be there early than late.”

“That isn’t always true, trust me. But I’ll go if you want to, I suppose.”