Chapter 39: 39. Unseen Unknowns

Yessica had been resisting the urge to pinch herself since Leo had asked her to join the Inner Ring and brought out those three small rings.

'These rings—' Rendall had said just before handing them out, '—on top of splicing your genes with that of a particular animal, also cut your age in half. Enjoy experiencing the tail end of puberty all over again…' He had added with a uncharacteristic snicker. Yessica got the impression Rendall was jealous for some reason, but she couldn't say for sure why. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was making up for her recent failures… and fulfilling a promise she made long ago.

'Abuelita.' She thought as she looked into the bathroom mirror. 'I'm finally a member of the Inner Ring. And I'm finally going there. To your home…'

Yessica had forgotten how much she had aged, or rather, how much she had changed over the course of her life. But now, seeing herself in the mirror, the differences were to stark to ignore.

Yesterday she had been 36.

Today she was 18…

Her light, olive brown skin was tighter and smoother now and her black hair, which had already been shoulder length, now reached down to her curvy hips. Her breasts were… perkier, to say the least. To the point where her bra no longer fit her comfortably.

She seemed thinner and fitter, too. But couldn't say for sure. Rendall had mentioned that the rings used body fat to make drones or nanomachines or whatever… (The 'sciencey stuff' wasn't really her forte.)

Lastly, she looked at her face which was somehow both thinner and fuller, solidifying the fact that she was, indeed, 18 again. Her button nose that she had got from her Abuelita hadn't changed much but her cheek bones were more pronounced and her thick eyebrows sat squarely above her bright almond eyes…

…which were now purple, just like Leo's! They seemed to glisten like emeralds in the light.

"How long are you going to stand there, gawking at yourself." Came a youthful male voice from her right. "We get it… You're younger."

Yessica turned to see who had spoken with a start as she didn't recognize the voice.

She tried to hold in a gasp but to no avail, as her ears began to burn and her heart began to beat like she was running a marathon and butterflies began to flutter in the base of her stomach.

Standing in front of her was a young man who looked to be between 20 and 22. He had a thick mane of red hair and square and masculine facial features. He had a Greek nose and dimples on his freckled cheeks and chin.

His eyes, most astonishingly of all, had changed colors just like Yessica's. They had been green yesterday but were sapphire blue today. His pupils were thinner along their vertical axis, though not quite like that of a snake's.

But she didn't focus too long on that… because the man's shirt was off… and she found her eyes drawn uncontrollably lower and lower. Yessica tried to stop herself from looking but she couldn't resist. She surveyed the man's toned body. "Z-ayn?" She croaked.

Zayn didn't seem to be bothered by Yessica ogling him but he suddenly began walking forward, his eyes focused intently on her. After a few steps he reached his hand out and took Yessica by the chin like he was about kiss her.

Yessica didn't know what was happening but for some reason she wasn't repulsed by the idea.

"You dropped this." Zayn said, lifting Yessica's jaw and closing her mouth for her.

Yessica felt her cheeks burning. "I-I was was just surprised to see h-how different you looked! Don't get any weird ideas."

Zayn only grunted as he walked past her to stand in the center of the bathroom.

There was a short pause as the two stood there looking awkwardly at each other, Yessica's cheeks and ears burning while the butterflies in her stomach were throwing a parade. 'What the h*ll is wrong with me!?' she thought, half angry, half embarrassed.

Zayn sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're a horny 18 year old, now. That's what's wrong. Don't think too much about it."

"Horn-Hey I-haha— what didja—" Yessica stammered.

"Now, are you gonna watch me take a piss? Or can I have some privacy?"

'Omigod…' Yessica thought to herself. "Omigod!" she said aloud without intending to. "S-sorry! I—" She couldn't remember the last time she had said sorry to anyone (especially a man) or the last time she had been so awkward and it made her want to run for the hills. As she hurriedly turned to leave, she slipped on the bathroom's slick tile floor and fell face first into the wall with a low *thoonp*.

Despite her stinging nose and watering eyes, she immediately turned over to look at Zayn, who would no doubt be smirking his conniving little smirk.

But to her surprise and horror, he was already pulling out his—

"What are you doing!!?" Yessica yelled covering her eyes. "I'm still here!"

"Well, I really had to go—" Zayn began before suddenly stopping short to let out a sharp gasp. "W-where are you…?"

"Here! In the restroom! At least let me leav—"

"How are you doing that?" Asked Zayn perplexed.

"Doing what?" Yessica asked still covering her eyes.

"Open your eyes! Look for yourself!" insisted Zayn.

"What makes you think I wanna see your little—"

"Not that, you horny toad—"

"H-horny toa—!?"

"Just look at yourself!"

Yessica opened her eyes cautiously. "W-what is it?" She asked before looking down at her hands. "Wha…"

Where her hands should have been there was only empty air. She looked down at her torso and legs and everything was simply gone. Even her clothes. But she could still feel the cold tile floor and was still aware of her own body.

Zayn zipped up his pants. "You're invisible?"

"I'm invisible…?" Yessica said in unison with Zayn.

"I can't even see you anymore…" said Zayn in disbelief.

"Y-yeah… I got that already."

*****

"Invisibility?!" Scoffed Rendall as he stood next to Leo who was sitting in a forest green armchair at the edge of the living room.

All of the blinders were drawn and all of the lights were off so that his face was only illuminated by the moonlight that was creeping in through the tiny space between the blinders and the walls.

Everyone was standing in a circle around him.

"Silly girl." Rendall continued, emphasizing the word girl with a condescending tone. "What you're experiencing is a marvel of modern science and you think it's nothing other than mere 'invisibility'…" he whinged obnoxiously as he said the word. "Were you not paying attention at all when I gave you that ring?"

"I was but—"

"Of course you weren't! You all just come in here and—"

"My dear Rendall…" Leo mused from the comfort of his armchair. "Relax. Explain it again… That was nearly 2 days ago. I'm sure they had a lot on their minds."

At that Rendall's eyes narrowed to slits, but he bowed his head ever so slightly and replied, "Of course, Master." He then turned to Zayn and Yessica and added, "Well, I might as well give a bit more info this time, while we're at it." Then he added under his breath, with an exasperated sigh, "And I suppose I will have to repeat everything yet again once Petticoat wakes up."

Sure enough Petticoat was no where to be seen. As far as Yessica knew, he hadn't woken up after putting on his ring. She wasn't at all interested in him and had no idea what was so special about him and this 'yellow aura' nonsense that would make Leo recruit him either. But none of that mattered. She just wanted to know how she had turned invisible.

Rendall began at once. "Zephaniah has a ring which has been dubbed: The dracoRex. It means 'dragon king' in Latin. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to guess why…"

Zayn opened his mouth as though he would ask a question but Leo quickly lifted his hand to silence his brother. "That's a story for another day, brother. Now that you all are in the Inner Ring I swear to you that all will be revealed in time."

That seemed to please Zayn who only nodded.

"Anyway." continued Rendall. "Zephaniah's dracoRex is manifold deadlier than the rings you wear on your fingers. Over time, it can give the bearer any number of gifts allowing—"

"Wait a second. What do you mean, 'any number of gifts'? Like he can take people's gifts for his own or—?"

"In a sense…" Rendall said looking at Leo nervously. "Just know that, with each passing day, he will grow stronger and stronger. The dracoRex, while giving it's bearer commanding strength, was… unstable. Up until now, five individuals have bore the ring. The first three of which died agonizing deaths… The fourth was Sylvan who came into possession of the ring after it had been upgraded. He then delivered the ring to Zephaniah who is, despite all odds, not only surviving, but thriving."

"I know you're slowly working your way up to telling us how Yessica can suddenly turn invisible…" Zayn interjected. "But maybe you could speed it up." It wasn't a question.

"W-well, I'm getting there." Rendall stuttered, cold sweat beads forming on his temple. "What makes the dracoRex so deadly is the fact that it uses a virus to splice unstable DNA to the the subject."

"So the virus is what's responsible for killing the others?" asked Yessica.

"No. The virus, Dracophage, along with an internal network of nanotechnology, work together to mold the subjects DNA. The problem in the case of the dracoRex is the unstable DNA that's being used in the splicing process and how extensively it's being spliced. Or perhaps 'invasively' is the better word…"

Leo cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "So, long story short, the difference between Zephaniah's dracoRex and the rings you are wearing is that your rings only alter your DNA in a small way. They don't… remake you."

"So, that's how he became a dragon, then?" whispered Zayn to himself but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Yessica gulped hard. She had heard the story and seen the footage with her own eyes, and even experienced Zephaniah's power first hand. But the idea of a man becoming a mythical beast…? 'That meant that the dracoRex has to have a dragon's DNA inside, right? But that's ridiculous—' she began to think to herself. But at that exact moment she turned to look at Leo who was sitting comfortably with his legs crossed and his hands clasped neatly in his lap. He only smirked and gave the smallest of nods as if to say, 'Bingo.'

Yessica flinched. Before she could process that he had read her mind and that his smirk was indeed an answer to what she had been thinking, Rendall spoke up again saying, "So now, to answer the question at hand. Zephaniah has the dracoRex. Florian has the coleopteraRex (cRex for short). Zayn has been given the tigrisRex. And you, little girl, have been given the chameleoRex."

"ChameleoRex? As in, I've been spliced with a chameleon?!" Yessica inquired, astonished.

"Tigris…? So I suppose I'm half tiger now, huh…" surmised Zayn coolly, smiling ever so slightly which allowed Yessica to see that his incisors now came to viscous points unlike before.

"You're welcome." said Leo dismissively. It appeared as though he was already getting bored of the conversation and was ready to move on to the next topic.

"But why a chameleon!?" questioned Yessica. "Why not a—"

"Do you think we were able to decide which rings we got, Juarez?" interrupted Leo, his brow furrowed. "Quit complaining and consider yourself lucky."

"Lucky?"

"Yes. Can you imagine a better fit than invisibility for someone with your gift?"

Yessica flinched. Leo was right. If she could turn invisible that would open up a whole new world of chaos that she could unleash. In the next second a demented smile began to involuntarily cross her lips.

"The change is more that just an additional gift, however." Rendall added, matter-of-factly. "But, unfortunately, unlike Zephaniah's dracoRex, the gifts your rings afford will be triggered by emotion or trauma. So you won't know what you will be able to do until you can do it."

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And with that, there was finally silence.

But after a moment something started to bother Yessica and she asked, "By the way, Master Leo, what happened to Matea?"

Leo raised a surprised eyebrow. "After being suddenly promoted to the Inner Ring, receiving that chameleoRex which gives you another gift and de-ages you by 18 year, you first question is: where's Matea…?"

Having it presented like that, Yessica realized how dumb a question it was, at least as a first inquiry. But Leo simply chuckled. "Matea went back to her Master, whoever that might be…"

"Her Master? Are you not—"

"No. I am not."

"Then why was she even here?"

"She was spying for someone." Zayn interjected.

"For who?" Asked Yessica.

"Don't know and don't care." said Leo with a bored look in his eye as he surveyed his finger nails.

"How do you not know?!" Asked Yessica incredulously. "You guys can read minds!"

Leo looked sharply at Yessica. He still appeared bored on the surface, but in his eyes Yessica could see a tempest brewing. "'You guys'?"

Yessica was taken aback. 'Sh*t…' she thought cursing herself.

"'Sh*t', indeed." Leo mused, uncrossing his legs and laying his elbows on his knees, letting his hands hang freely in front of him so that he looked like a mafioso. "I want to remind you of something, Juarez. I was determined to kill you a day and a half ago… The only reason you're alive is because—" he paused as though he had been interrupted, then he rolled his eyes and said, "—because of a whim. Nothing more. Do not forget that you owe me your life, huh? And if you ever call me a 'guy' again, I'll make you blind yourself with battery acid. Are we clear?"

Yessica could only swallow her pride and say, "Of course, Master Leo." With a submissive head bow.

Leo huffed in response then said, "If you must know, me and my brother, all Leanders for that matter, have similar gifts but not the same. I can hear what someone thinks, while Zayn sees image or video representations of their thoughts. However, Matea was a master of protecting her mind, it seems.

"But she couldn't protect Sylvan's mind when I fought him on the bridge." Added Zayn with smirk.

Yessica thought back to days before when Matea had run out of the room when she had seen the rings. "Why didn't you capture her? Why not make her reveal who she's working for?"

"As was said, Master Leo can not control anyone with yellow aura. And Matea has green aura; a mixture of cyan and yellow." reminded Rendall. "And even if he could, it could be a problem."

"What? W-why?"

"Ah, to be ignorant…" Leo intoned as though he was remembering a fonder time. "Information is power in The Rings. So spies being sent between Council-members is a practice as old as The Rings itself. Now imagine if I used my gift on Matea, or tortured her, after knowing she was a spy. What do you think her Master might do to me?"

Yessica was again taken aback. "I don't understand… Why should you fear retaliation? No one could lay a hand on you with your gift."

Leo's eyes twinkled as though Yessica's words honored him, but he soon sighed and sat back in his chair. "Ignorance is bliss, eh, Rendall?"

"It must be, Master." Responded Rendall, shaking his head.

Yessica looked at Zayn who seemed as equally perplexed as she was.

"If only your words rang true…" Leo sighed again. "Of the eight members of the Dragon's Council I rank 6th…"

Yessica's jaw nearly hit the floor. "H-how can that be?"

Leo seemed almost amused as he said, "You have no idea how powerful people can be. There are people in this world who do not merely defy reason, they create their own… The lions of the world, that dine on the slabs."

Yessica was naturally confused. She looked at Zayn to see if he was following but was met with a strange sight. Zayn was standing there, a cold sweat on his forehead, biting his finger in a way that made it seem as though he had forgot something crucially important.

Yessica was about to say something but Leo went on, "So my only option, even after knowing someone is a spy, is to leave them be and protect what information I have. At least for now…"

The ominous way he said the last part sent a shiver up Yessica's spine. "But why did you let Matea know that you gave us the rings?"

"I don't know who she serves, but I have a hunch. And if it's not who I think, no harm will be done. But if it is then it could work to my favor. Either way, if everything goes according to plan, in a few months—" Leo continued, a wild madness in his eyes, "I'll be at the top of the food chain, anyways."

Yessica could only hold her breath.

"Now, everyone, go get some rest. We have two months. So from tomorrow we're hitting the ground running." Everyone besides Leo immediately began to head for the doors towards the part of the house where the bedrooms were. "Zayn." Leo called after a moment, "Could you stay here for a second. I'd like a word with you."

Zayn stopped, waiting for everyone else to leave the room. He still wore a perplexed, or even confused, expression on his face and Yessica was dying to know why. But already knew that that the moment she had thought that, both the men would know it too.

'Pero…' she began to think in Spanish. 'Si pienso en español…' she chanced a look over her shoulder just as she crossed the threshold into the hallway and her heart skipped a whole beat as she found Leo's eyes trained intensely on her. But, to her relief, there was a hint of doubt in them.

He hadn't understood!

All she had to do was think in Spanish and try not to 'imagine' anything (if such a thing were even possible). 'No. That would never work.' she thought. How could she hear them if she was not in the same room. And on top of that, even if she could hear them, they (or at least Leo) would hear her hearing them…

Suddenly a though occurred to her. 'I can't even see you anymore.' Zayn had said earlier in the restroom when she had turned invisible. Perhaps he had meant something else. Maybe…

Yessica quickened her pace, passing Rendall who was also heading for the restroom. "Excuse me." She said as she beat him to the door. "I gotta take a dump."

"Oh, too much information! Just be quick about it. I'm waiting, too." Rendall sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, it might take a while… I had enchiladas a few days ago with La Diarrhee. That's extra-picante Super Spicy hot sauce, in case you didn't know. And when I tell you Pompei is about to erupt a second time, I mean—"

"How barbaric can a woman be!?" Rendall exclaimed, his cheeks turning a soft red. "Just come get me when you're done…" He then turned on his heels and walked away towards his room.

Yessica shut the door. <<How did I do it, again?>> she thought in Spanish. She remembered how she had been embarrassed. She had wanted to 'be gone' when Zayn had started to take out his—

Suddenly her cheeks and ears began to burn and all at once her hand went quickly white then clear until it was completely gone. Until she herself was yet again invisible.

<<Excellent.>> She thought with a smile. <<Now, let's see what they're talking about in there…>>

She cracked the door open. The coast was clear. Rendall was nowhere to be seen.

She slipped out of the restroom and headed for the living room where Zayn and Leo were still talking.

The door had been shut but not completely and the lights were still off on both sides of the door so that no one would notice if the door moved a bit. In a quick motion she gently pushed the door open by another few inches and crossed the threshold back into the living room, shutting the door silently behind her.

The two men stood quietly in the center of the room.

'Leo is a dumb idiot!' she screamed in her mind, lowering herself to the ground reflexively for fear that he would suddenly make her rip her own throat out. But he didn't even blink. Then she imagined kicking Zayn right between the legs. But he, too, didn't react at all.

Yessica smiled. Her hunch had been right. When she was invisible they couldn't read her mind! 'I guess there's no need to think in Spanish anymore…'

"Did you not hear me, brother?" Leo suddenly said, cutting threw the silence. "What's wrong with you?" His voice was strangely gentle, almost caring. "Since you fought with Zephaniah and Sylvan on the bridge, you seem… different…"

Yessica instinctively nodded. Zayn had been acting strange. She couldn't quite put her finger on how, though.

"You appear less… mad."

Zayn didn't even flinch. He only looked at the ground like he was trying to remember something.

"What happened to you. What did Zephaniah do to you."

"It wasn't Zeff." Zayn growled suddenly. "It was Rutigorn…"

Leo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "R-rutigorn?" There was suddenly a dreamy quality to his voice.

"Yes. He—" Zayn then proceeded to tell Leo about everything that happened on the bridge. How he was drawn into Zeff's mind. The humiliation he faced at meeting Rutigorn. How Rutigorn had tried to completely take his powers away and, upon failing, had instead taken away his ability to read Zephaniah's mind as well as a memory of someone precious to Zayn.

"Who could that be?" Leo thought scratching his chin. "Someone precious to you? And it's not me?" It was a serious question that was aimed more at himself than Zayn. "And you have no idea?"

"How could I? I don't feel any different." There was silence for a long moment until Zayn finally said, "But I think you gave me a hint earlier."

"Oh?"

"You said something about Lion's and slabs…"

Leo was instantly taken aback. "No… It can't be…" He bemoaned incredulously. "Your precious person can't be our dear, old mother, right?! She was the one who used to say—"

Zayn furrowed his brow so intensely that Yessica thought he might strike his brother. "Don't be daft, bruv. Especially since we're the ones that killed her…"

Yessica was taken aback by that but Leo only scratched his chin thoughtfully, completely unaffected as though Zayn had just reported the weather. "Now that I think about it… Mother said it most often but she got it from…!" Leo's eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"It couldn't be… our Father… could it?" By the look on Leo's face, Yessica at once understood that, in Leo's mind, he was supposing an impossibility.

However, Zayn flinched hard and a distant and confused look crossed his face. "We have… a father?"

"N-no… I mean yes, of course. But we never met him…" Leo claimed and then quickly added, "Well, there's no point in thinking about this now. Why don't you go rest brother… We'll talk about this later. Don't think about it anymore."

Zayn, dazed and perplexed, simply strolled away, past Yessica and out of the door without so much as a word as though he had been put in a trance.

Yessica watched him leave and her heart sank. It was obvious to her that Leo had just used his gift on his very own brother yet again. But why? Why over something like this?

She turned again to look at Leo to see what kind of expression he would be wearing and she nearly gasped.

Leo's face was nearly crimson red with rage and he clenched his jaw so tightly that his teeth squeaked as they pressed and rubbed up against one another. He balled his fists and trembled violently as though he were a volcano about to erupt. And worst of all were his eyes, those terrible, terrible eyes that made Yessica want to run from that room, out of the house, and never look back. They were eyes full of hatred and contempt. And full of madness.

Yessica quickly and silently slithered out of the room without looking back, cursing herself for having come at all.

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