Daughters of Truth - Masterminds #1, Chapter 16
After Aria was captured, Lucy, the Mastermind of the Sea, was left to ponder on her own. Will the plan work? Will they find their freedom?
“As from tomorrow, you’ll stop hearing from me. I’ll be captured, sentenced as a Hybrid and taken to The Oracles’ dungeons.”
Lucy kept replaying the call she had with Aria a few days ago in her head. She hadn’t reacted, she didn’t know how.
“It’s all going according to plan,” Aria had said.
Indeed, she hadn’t heard from her the next day. She was able to at least distract herself with her fine arts coursework, but when she returned home in the evening, it was all she could think about.
“And soon, we will be free.” These had been Aria’s last words before she’d hung up.
Free… What does it even mean to be free?
Lucy couldn’t complain: she was born into an upper middle-class family with caring parents who worked with the ‘government’ and had a twin sister, Dahlia, who loved her and spoiled her as much as she did.
Both her sister and she had always had the liberty to choose whatever they wanted to pursue, whether at school or during their free time. And they had the means to do so. Her sister went abroad earlier this year for her university studies to study Business and Economics at one of those prestigious institutions.
As for her, she had stuck with her passion: painting. Despite her father encouraging her to follow her sister abroad, she decided on a local university where she enrolled in a Bachelor of Fine Arts course. It wasn’t that she felt guilty about using her parents’ hard-earned money for what people often considered a ‘useless career’...
The truth was that… she had discovered that her life had been a lie all this time.
In fact… neither she nor her sister was even human. Neither were her parents. And the ‘government’ jobs they held that funded their comfortable lifestyle? Nothing to do with the actual government of their country.
She had found out that she was the Mastermind of the Sea by chance: as she loved to paint, she would often play with watercolours… and soon enough, she realised that she could control the flow of the soluble paints on the canvas without lifting a finger.
In other words, she had once painted a beautiful coastal landscape with her mind. She could control everything that had a water base. Why then was she the Mastermind of the ‘Sea’? It was Aria, a Hybrid on the run, half-Writer and half-Mastermind of Fear, who had explained everything to her. Their encounter was probably not coincidental: Aria had been looking for her and her sister… and it so happened that she enjoyed ‘Paint and Sip’ workshops too.
Where did those powers come from? And what about Dahlia?
Didn’t it ever occur to you that it’s unusual for twin sisters to be so different in appearance? People who know about Masterminds would instantly recognise you as Mastermind twins.
Twins born from Mastermind parents were meant to be the opposite of each other: the concept behind the powers of Masterminds was that of balance and harmony… which would only be achieved by acknowledging the opposite yet interconnected forces that held our world together.
Light and Chaos. Sun and Moon… and as for you and Dahlia, you two are the Sea and the Earth. And you both are two of the four Elemental Masterminds born in this world.
Thus, she and Dahlia were the second most powerful type of Masterminds that could ever exist after Light and Chaos.
To Lucy’s surprise, it had not been that hard to believe: was it because she had an artist’s mind? Or was it because Dahlia was such a different person compared to her: while she was born with thin blond hair and bright blue eyes, her sister had thick dark hair and green eyes. While she loved to play dress-up and wear cute skirts every day, Dahlia enjoyed getting her hands dirty in the park and wore jeans all the time.
People never believed them when they said they were twins.
Aria’s explanation had only felt natural. As if everything had finally fallen into place.
As for your father…
Her father, known as ‘Mr. Clark’ to many but more often known as the ‘Mastermind of Truth’ in Aria’s world, held an important position by the ‘government’ which she learnt was called ‘The Oracles’.
And merciless it was. That government turned Aria and others like her into criminals merely because of their birth.
There’s never been a moment in my life I can remember where I didn’t feel like I had to run away. Because I was born this way, I had to become a runaway. An outcast.
Aria’s predicament couldn’t be compared to hers, of course, but when Aria told her story, Lucy couldn’t help but reflect on her own childhood: she and Dahlia would constantly be mocked because of how different they looked. Her friends would spark rumours about them being adopted and ‘brainwashed’ into being sisters.
It was only through painting that she found tranquillity and solace.
She would hide herself from the world around her and dive into a world filled with colours.
It didn’t make her feel better when she discovered her own powers. Yet another reason to feel like she didn’t belong.
That was why she had decided to take part in Aria’s plan: to usurp the current ‘government’ and create their own. It was a crazy, ambitious plan, she had to admit. But she wouldn’t lose anything by giving it a chance.
As close as she was to Dahlia, she hadn’t felt comfortable telling her about them being Masterminds. Aria had also advised her to allow Dahlia’s powers to manifest on their own instead of forcing the truth on her. After all, their father, as she learnt, was actively trying to hide as much of their true nature as possible. It was an innocent wish: for his daughters to grow up like normal human beings.
But in retrospect, it’s inevitable that your powers will manifest sooner or later. You and Dahlia are no ordinary Masterminds. Elementary Masterminds carry a bigger burden than the rest. The responsibility of maintaining elemental order in this world, this universe.
Big words, almost unbelievable truths… that was what Aria told her, and she believed her. With all her might, she believed in her too.
After Aria had told her not to expect any texts or calls from her, she had almost jumped when her phone chimed. Had the plan failed?
Of course not, the message was from her sister.
Dahlia: Hey, I’m coming home tonight! Guess how…
Lucy: Home?? Are you taking a flight just to visit us for the weekend?
Dahlia: No! Well… I’m getting a lift… on a private jet… with a certain someone…
Lucy: NO WAY. It’s that guy from our school you’ve always had a crush on, right?
Dahlia:...
Lucy: ???
Dahlia: Yep, it’s Ash.
Lucy: Wow, he’s that rich, uh… but how? What happened? I need to know everything!
Dahlia: Tell you later at home. Gotta run now!
Lucy often wondered whether Dahlia had chosen that particular university on purpose, knowing Ash had also enrolled there.
Ash… that rich quiet kid…
There are way more Masterminds around you than you think…
She hadn’t hidden how shocked he was when Aria told her about the ones in her secondary school. And indeed, Ash was one of them: the Mastermind of the Moon… considered as a reject by his super-wealthy family. Stuck living with Nya, a nice girl who always smiled at her whenever they crossed paths… who was also the most dangerous and evil Mastermind of all: Chaos.
Unbelievable.
Yet, it all made sense somehow.
It was now past dinner time. Dahlia could arrive at any moment now. Lucy was washing the dishes when she heard the front door open. No one had knocked yet… but of course, their father would have felt it in advance…
As the Mastermind of Truth, he knew everything, didn’t he? Did he also know that Lucy knew about their powers? Maybe… but maybe not. Masterminds weren’t gods after all. In truth, they were as flawed as any other human being.
Lucy ran her fingers through the flowing tap water. As the water fell into the sink and outside through the sewage tunnels, it allowed her to listen to what was going on. Meanwhile, she leaned towards the window as she tried to get a view of the three silhouettes on their front porch: the angry father, the returned twin sister and her potential boyfriend.
“Dad—” she heard Dahlia say.
“Get inside.”
The Mastermind of Truth was definitely angry.
It seemed like he was staring straight at Ash, not even glancing at his own daughter.
Dahlia did as she was told. Lucy heard her footsteps as she entered the living room… and stopped. Of course, Dahlia was as curious as her and wouldn’t just go back to her room. However, Lucy had no idea whether Dahlia could hear them from inside. As for her…
Her father had closed the door behind him.
“You…” he said in a menacing voice.
The young man held his gaze, his hands tucked in his pockets.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Truth, but I thought it’d be nice for Dahlia to come back for the weekend since she hasn’t seen her family for a while, and I have this private jet that—”
“Don’t call me that.”
“What?” Ash snickered. “Oh, you mean ‘Truth’?”
Lucy could only imagine her father’s face as he struggled to keep his composure.
“I forbid you from getting acquainted with my daughter.”
“Why not? I swear I have no ulterior motives. And you can rest assured: I haven’t told her anything and I don’t intend to. I respect your decision for not including her in…” He waved his hands around. “...our world. But…”
Lucy could swear he was smirking.
“...let’s face the truth, shall we, Mr. Clark? What happens if her powers awaken? What happens if she finds out on her own? That could be even more dangerous if she has no one around her who can guide her through that experience.”
Her father articulated his words as if he were stabbing Ash with them, one by one. “That is for me to worry about. It is none of your concern. You stay away from her.”
“Well, I’m still picking her up on Sunday so that she doesn’t miss class next week.”
But her father had already turned away and walked back inside the house. Lucy heard him lock the door behind him… while Dahlia ran upstairs before he could see her.
“You’re welcome.”
These were Ash’s last words before he jumped… and his body lifted off towards the sky. Lucy bit her lips to prevent herself from gasping.
Not all Masterminds had the ability to fly… but he was the Mastermind of the Moon, so he could.
Incredible…
Lucy turned off the tap and let the clean dishes dry on the rack beside her.
D. K. Waye