To put it bluntly, I am Her Majesty, Queen Falina Sarinia Corstul, reigning Queen of the Andalite Empire, respected ruler of the HomeWorld, Jewel of the Corstul dynasty, Flower of the Land, Beloved of the people, and Head of Intelligence to the planet Earth, under the form of the human called Reed.
Got a headache yet? Shocked? Your headache and your shock are about to get bigger...
Earth is under attack. Our attackers? The yeerks. Who are the yeerks, you ask? They are parasitic slugs that crawl into your head, entering through the ear canal, and wrap themselves around your brain, entering every pore and crevice, opening all your memories and controlling all of your actions. You're a prisoner in your own body. You can't even move your own arm, or blink. The yeerk has control of those functions. All you can do is scream, while the yeerk lives the life you once lived, pretending to be you, while your family knows nothing and suspects nothing...
So now that I've gotten all of the cheerful news out of the way, here's the deal: There are people fighting the yeerks. Who? Me. I am. But not alone. There are others who help me...
Patrick is our leader. Leader of what? The Morpher Society. We're a group of teenagers who have the power to morph, and we use it to fight the yeerks. Patrick got his ability to morph when an Andalite ship crashed in his backyard one night. There was a hole in the ship, and the morphing cube flew out, where Pat found it. When he touched it, he automatically accquired the ability to morph. He knew something about himself had changed, but he just didn't know what.
Patrick went back inside to his friends Tom and Nick, who were spending the night at his house, and they came outside to inspect the blue cube, too. Then they discovered the andalite. They talked to the Andalite a while, and then the Andalite gave them all the necessary knowledge about the invasion of earth. Then he gave Tom and Nick the power to morph before he died. Patrick has the morphing cube now, and he has it hidden away for safekeeping. Only he knows where to find it.
There is another group with morphing powers that helps out sometimes. They call themselves the Animorphs...
Patrick knew he couldn't fight alone, so he found a few people he trusted, and enlisted them. He gave them the power to morph, and they became members of the Morpher Society.
When I joined the Morpher Society, however, I already HAD the power to morph. This is my story...
I'm an orphan. The people at the orphanage just found me in a basket on their doorstep one morning. They said I was the quietest baby they'd ever seen. Since I was just left on their doorstep, they had no idea who my parents were or any indication of my past... so they had to make do. If you were to look at my records at school or my birth certificate, there's a lot of unanswered blanks on them. For example: My birthday. Everyone has a birthday, right? I don't. Not a real one. They had to GIVE me one. I was a week old or so, when they got me. That's their best guess, anyway. So they picked a day out of that week and gave me a birthday. But it's not my REAL birthday. It's just one for the records.
I lived at the orphanage for about a month or so. Then a family came and adopted me. I lived out the next thirteen years with them in New York, never questioning my past. Until that night...
I was throwing up. I'd been to a rave that night, and I was stoned, drunk, and sicker than a dog that's eaten Jalepeno peppers. I was trying to find my way home, and I'd taken a wrong turn down an alley. I'd just tripped over some garbage, and as I somehow managed to get back up again, I saw him. Elerinial Skiyth Naruth.
He looked sort of like a blue deer with fur, and he had a scorpion-like tail with a blade on the end of it that looked like a Scythe.
Naturally, I thought it was a hallucination. Then he started talking. He told me that he was an Andalite warrior and that Earth was under attack. He told me he needed someone to help him fight. He said he needed someone he could DEPEND on, though. Not someone who was poisoning themselves with alcohol and drugs, like I was.
The realization of what I had become hit me, and in that instant, I broke down crying, forever changed. The Andalite healed me, and gave me the power to morph. Then we fought side by side for two more years. Until I lost him in battle...
But I don't want to talk about that. It's too painful. Let's skip ahead to when I met Eric...
After Elerinial died, I still felt lost and alone again, but I didn't try to fit in by killing myself with drugs and alcohol again. It would've dishonored Elerinial's memory. I just sort of wandered around, keeping to myself, mostly, and then I met Eric. It's funny how things work out, sometimes. I met Eric in an alley, too. I was on my way home from school, and I decided to cut through the the alley where I met Elerinial, because I'd had a rough day, and I wanted to go there and think. I always felt safe there. You know?
Anyway... I was in the alley thinking, and these macho thug guys tried to come mug me. Whatever. Like I was going to let THAT happen! Since no one else was around, I started to morph, to freak the guy out. Just as I did, though, some guy came hurtling into the alley. Between my morphing and his sudden appearance, the muggers DEFINITELY didn't want to hang around, so they high-tailed it out of there. Luckily, by the time Eric turned to look at me again, I was standing there, looking as normal, calm, and collected as can be.
Eric never did figure out what I'd done to make those two men run so fast. Not until later, anyway. But he helped me out, and made sure I was okay. He even walked me the rest of the way home. I liked Eric immediately. He was nice. Funny, too. We became really close, and before I knew it, I had a friend. A best friend.
About a year later, though, my parents decided to move. I had to leave Eric behind. I was going to a totally new place, with no friends whatsoever, to start over.
Oh yay.
I kept to myself again, after I moved. I'd been there about three weeks and I hadn't really made any friends yet, when the teachers decided to take us on this nature survival day. What fun. We had to pair up and find our way through the woods, with a map and a compass, stopping to check in at checkpoints or something. Some of the kids ditched this and went out alone, though. The teachers didn't care. All they wanted was a day off, anyway. I was among the group of ditchers. The project was stupid, and we knew it. The teachers didn't care one way or another whether we could make our own way through a forest.
So instead of participating, I just set off into the woods, wandering around. It was a nice day outside, and it was a perfect day for flying...
When I morphed, though, I thought I was clear. I didn't know that someone was watching. As I flew into the air, I heard someone swear, and I looked with the eyes of a red-shouldered hawk to see who it was. It was a kid named Marco, who belongs to the group I mentioned earlier, called the Animorphs.
Landing, I demorphed again, and Marco and I began to speak. He started freaking out about how Jake was going to freak and after a while, he was really incoherent and I couldn't understand a thing he was saying. Finally, after he calmed down, we talked for a while, and Marco asked me to come meet Jake and the others after school. I agreed, and Marco shook his head and went off to go find Jake.
After he had left, I morphed a Red-shouldered hawk again, and took to the skies. As I was circling above, I saw someone down in the forest, who was acting sort of paranoid. Intrigued, I landed on a branch nearby him, and watched.
It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing, but once I did, I swore in general thoughtspeak, and the boy who was morphing heard me. Caught, I had no choice but to demorph and introduce myself.
His name was Patrick. After he demorphed, we started talking, and he told me about his group of Morphers. I listened, but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. Finally, he asked me to join The Morpher Society, and I agreed.
After the Survival Day was over, they bused us back to school, and we went back to classes for about 15 minutes before the bell rang and we were allowed to go home. Marco met me at my locker, and we left school together so I could go meet the Animorphs.
WhenI was leaving the school the next day, walking home like I usually do, when I heard someone running to catch up with me and calling my name. Turning around, I saw that it was Patrick. He wanted me to come to the fort with him and meet the other members of the Morpher Society.
Agreeing, I followed him through the woods near the school. There was virtually no clear path through it, so I was worried about getting lost, when we finally came to the fort. Patrick led me inside, and introduced me to Stacey, Tom, Matt, and a few others who were at the fort that afternoon.
As time wore on, I found myself growing to like these people I fought alongside in my battle against the yeerks. They were great friends. I liked them all a lot. One however, I was growing to like considerably more than others.
Oh, come on! You know who it is! I don't actually have to tell you, do I?
Anyway, after a while, I finally got up the courage to tell Patrick how I felt. I'd taken to calling him Pat in the months before, and he didn't seem to really mind. When I told him how I felt, however, he didn't take THAT so well. He freaked out on me and told me he just wanted to stay friends. I accepted this, but things were very uncomfortable between us for the next couple of weeks.
The tension between Pat and I after that was too much for me. After a week or so, I told Stacey that I couldn't be in The Morpher Society anymore, because it was just causing unnecessary tension between Pat and I, and messing up the whole group in the process. So I left.
During the next two weeks, I didn't really do much of anything except go to school, eat, and sleep. I honestly didn't care much about things anymore. I avoided talking to Pat- or even looking at him- in our classes together. I buried myself in school and talked very little to anyone, not even Stacey, who was extremely worried about me for some reason.
One afternoon as I was walking to my locker after school had ended, Stacey was there. She handed me a note and told me it was from Pat. I opened the note, and inside, Pat wrote that he needed to talk to me in the park this afternoon, after school. Folding the note again, I finished getting my things and left school, heading for the park.
On my way to the park, I began to wonder why Pat wanted to see me. Was he going to try and convince me to join the group again? As uncomfortable as I felt, I probably shouldn't have left the group. Letting my feelings get in the way of the task that Elerinal had passed on to me was foolish and stupid. If Pat was willing to let me back in...
When I got to the park, Pat was already there. He was sorta standing near a group of trees, and I shuffled over. We sort of stood there for a minute, not saying anything, and then Pat finally spoke.
Pat told me the very thing I had NOT been expecting. He liked me too! He'd been afraid it would mess up things in the group and make things weird between us, so he'd told me he only wanted to be friends. When I quit the group though, I guess it made him miss me and realize that things had gotten awkward between us anyway. After he told me that, we sort of laughed at all we'd both been through in the past few weeks, and then Pat leaned forward and kissed me.
Unfortunately, the kiss didn't last that long, because Matt had been hiding nearby and saw us kissing. Laughing, he snapped a picture of us, and we jumped, pulling apart quickly. When we realized what happened, we were livid. Matt was threatening to blow it up and show it to everyone. Which he DID do, once he got ahold of Tom, but Pat and I got even with him for that. I got ahold of Matt, and after he had a few broken bones, I think he finally got the point.
So between school, fighting the yeerks, killing Tom and Matt on a regular basis, and trying to maintain a relationship with Pat, my plate was full. Unfortunately, however, it was only a matter of time until my plate was overflowing.
The next big event that took place was the arrival of my best friend, Eric. He was moving down from New York city to live near us, since his dad's company was opening a new branch down where I lived. This was awesome! It was beyond awesome! It was fantastic! It'd be just like old times...
Yeah right. So much for my illusions
When Eric arrived, things went fine at first, but as yeerk activity kicked in, I found myself abandoning Eric more and more. Then, one day Eric followed me into the woods and caught a bunch of us morphing. We had no choice but to share our secret and make him a member of the Morpher Society.
Things were bad from the start, when Eric joined. Pat and Eric seemed to have this automatic animosity for each other, and Pat didn't hesitate to tell Eric what he thought of him. Then when Pat found out Eric was smoking dope, the trouble REALLY started. When I found out about this, I freaked out. I'd done the drug scene before, and I didn't want to see my best friend going down that dead end street. Eric had a good reason for it, unfortunately. He had lung cancer. Terminal. The dope helped ease his pain.
After we all calmed down and managed to stop crying, the Ellimist appeared to Stacey and explained that we could cure Eric. On a planet in another galaxy, creatures called the Xoom had the cure for Eric's cancer. When Stacey told us this, we all crowded into a ship and went to the planet of the Xoom. When we got there, I took charge for some strange reason. I didn't know WHY at the time, but I have my suspicions, now. And they ALL point to the Ellimist. Anyway, the Xoom cured Eric for us and then we went back to Earth and tried to go back to our normal lives. I don't know how Eric ever explained the sudden disappearance of his cancer to his family and doctors, but I'm not gonna ask.
Eventually, Eric and Pat got used to each other and they became cautious friends. They still aren't really good friends, even to this day- but at least they get along now.
After THAT all took place, we gained another new member for our group. This time it was an Andalite named Trinka-Jalida-Fali, who, as we found out, was the younger sister of Elerinal-Skiyth-Naruth. When she was still very young, Elerinal taught Trinka how to fight. Females weren't really allowed to fight on the Homeworld back then, so Elerinial had to teach her in secret. Then, one day during battle, Trinka snuck off her ship and managed to get inside the Blade ship of the yeerks. She found out a lot of information while she was on the Blade ship, and undetected, Trinka stole a bug fighter off the Blade ship, which was low on fuel. As a result, she crash landed on Earth, near the fort, and we made her a member.
It's interesting how things always tend to "happen" near the fort, isn't it? Again... I point my suspicions to the Ellimist.
A few months later, when things had finally settled down a bit and returned to normal- or as normal as things COULD get for us- the Ellimist decided to pay a visit. He visited ME, in fact. He told me that I wasn't who I thought I was. Then he told me that I was Nothdarin: A being with two true shapes of existience- each being a true form. THEN the Ellimist informed me that I had a choice to make. Why? I was his last hope. The only chance.
Now that's the kind of thing that could go to a girl's head. Luckily, it hasn't. I didn't ASK for all this. It wasn't MY idea! But I'm stuck with it, so I'm going to take my responsibilities seriously. I mean, if you're forced into something, you might as well give it your all.
The choice that the Ellimist asked me to make was this: I had to choose between two worlds. On the Andalite Homeworld, he informed me, I was the Andalite heir to the throne- Queen, in fact, since the last ruler had recently passed on. My Andalite name was Falina Sarinia Corstul, of the Corstul dynasty. On Earth, I was just Reed. Plain, nondescript, smart-aleck Reed.
I know what you're thinking: Wow. Tough choice. How could I leave Earth behind, though? I'd just started to make friends, and I'd found someone I really cared about...
I had to make a decision, though. The Ellimist told me he would ask for my decision next time he visited me. Then he just left. Disappeared! He hadn't even told me how long I had to decide...
Over the next few weeks, I fretted and worried over my decision, after I told the others what had occurred when the Ellimist spoke with me. After that, people sort of left me alone. There wasn't anything they could do to help, so I guess they just thought it'd be best to leave me to my own devices.
When the Ellimist DID visit again, it was two weeks later, and we were right in the middle of a battle against the yeerks. One minute I was in my tiger morph, fighting Hork-Bajir, and the next I was in my human form, standing face to face with the Ellimist. I remember the conversation perfectly, so I'll repeat it verbatim:
"It is time, my child", he informed me, as if I hadn't figured out that for myself. "I'm not ready!" I protested. "I haven't decided anything yet! I need more time!"
"I can give you no more time, child," The Ellimist told me. "The decision must be made now. Decide. Earth or The Andalites."
HOW could I decide, I wondered frantically. They both needed me! Then, suddenly, I knew what my decision had to be. "I am ready, Ellimist. I have made my decision."
"And your decision, my child?" he asked calmly. I however, was ANYTHING but calm. I was shaking, and worried about making the wrong decision. But this was it. There was no turning back. "I shall care for both planets, Ellimist. I choose Earth and the Andalites. I shall divide my life between fighting the yeerks on Earth with the Morpher Society, and being Queen of the Andalites." I let out a shuddering breath, still shaking, awaiting the Ellimist's judgment.
He gave none. "Then so it shall be, my child." Then, he smiled and disappeared. Yes... SMILED. I'd made the right decision! I was elated.
After he disappeared, I found myself right back in battle again, fighting the Hork-Bajir controllers exactly as before I'd left. After the battle was over, I met the others at the fort and told them what had happened in battle that day, and what decision I'd made.
Then... because I'd never done it before, I actually tried to access my other form. Once I finally figured out how to shift from my human form to Andalite form, it was incredible. You don't KNOW power and grace until you take on the body of an Andalite. The thickly muscled body, the powerful tail and the deadly tailblade... the quick, liquid movements and graceful leaps that the body was capable of...
It felt so natural. It was home. I WAS Andalite, just as much as I was human.
Shortly after I became Queen, I went to the Andalite homeworld, and I stayed there. It was an indefinite length of time, but finally, a month later, I came home to Earth. My ship landed in the stretch of woods back behind the fort, and before we'd landed, we'd picked up yeerk activity on our sensors. So when we landed, we were battle-ready. Off the ship, my infantry and my guard marched, straight toward the controllers. I myself followed, in Andalite form, and we fought the yeerks.
You know that slogan "The Few. The Proud. The Marines."? That could easily apply to the Andalites. They ARE the few, the proud. They were the best fighters on the planet. Powerful, fierce, loyal... and the Queen's Guard was the crowning jewel of the infantry. If you want to see fighters, these are the people you look up. They're incredible in battle. I can't even BEGIN to describe it to you. It's something you have to see to believe.
We won the battle that day. The members of the Morpher Society joined us in battle, once I'd alerted them that I was back, and that controllers were in the woods. After the battle was over, the Andalites marched in front of me again, and when we came to my friends, they part for me as I walked forward. I'd shifted to my human form after the battle, and I wore a loose, silk robe the color of the sky, with a deep cowl that covered my face, and long sleeves that hid even my hands. When I reached my friends finally, I pulled back the cowl of my robe, and my red hair spilled out down the back of it as I watched them. I wasn't sure how they'd react. I'd changed during that month on the Homeworld, and we all knew it. The change was as obvious as the grass was green.
Things went better than I expected. They accepted me back, and we had a lot of catching up to do. As we went back to the fort, two Andalites followed me. When I got a few weird looks about this, I explained that they were my personal guard. Their names were Naiko and Thalia, and I introduced them to the others. Naiko and Thalia were my two closest Andalite friends. When I was on the Homeworld during that first, long, interminable month, I was very lonely at first. My advisors and coumcillors were busy piling work on top of me, so I could turn to THEM. The guards that they'd placed on duty to protect me, however, soon became my friends and confidants. I clung to them as if my life depended on it. I was so lonely. So damned lonely...
Eric, Stacey, and Trinka all greeted me rather ecstatically, and the other members of the group welcomed me back as well, if with slightly less enthusiasm. Pat however, was very quiet when I returned. I couldn't blame him, really. In his eyes, here was someone completely new... someone completely different than the girl he'd known when I'd left. He was just supposed to accept that? Not a chance!
I tried to understand what Pat must be feeling after I returned, but I was still hurt. I buried myself in paperwork and my duties as Queen, trying to ignore this rift between us, but it was still there. We had both grown apart, and we knew it.
I'm always busy, nowadays. Spare time is virtually a foreign concept to me. Between school, being a member of the Morpher Society, and being Queen of the Andalites, I don't have time to just goof off or talk to people. Stacey understands that, but she's always trying to get me to relax and lay it aside, anyway. She worries about me. Eric and Pat understand about my duties, but I think it still hurts them that I don't spend time with them anymore or talk to them. I've hurt a lot of people since I became Queen...
After I'd been back for about a month, my advisors informed me that I was- get this- betrothed. To Naiko! Yes, THAT Naiko! The bodyguard who'd become my closest friend and confidant over the last few months, was promised to me in marriage, under a contract that had been drawn up before I was even born! Is that INSANE or what?! I wasn't ready for marriage! First of all, I was too young, and second of all, how could I possibly want to get married, when I couldn't even fix my relationship with Patrick?
I tried talking to the coucil, but they wouldn't see reason. I WAS old enough for marriage, by Andalite standards. I need to get married and produce an heir, in case something should ever happen to me while I'm fighting the yeerks down here on Earth. I tried EVERY way I could think of to weasel out of it, but the council wouldn't relent. The marriage was arranged by the Ellimist himself, they finally told me, and only the Ellimist could decide to void the marriage.
Great. The Ellimist again. He's ALWAYS interfering in my life! After a meeting with the council one night about my marriage contract, I found out why. The Ellimist is my father.
I'd known since my first meeting with him that the Ellimist was my real creator, but it had simply never occurred to me that- in essence- it made him my father. I'd never been that fond of the Ellimist really, and my fondness for him didn't increase after I found out he was my father. He was manipulating me like some puppet, and I hated it. I hated that I was being forced into some marriage that I didn't want, by the Ellimist and his stupid games. With this new knowledge, my upcoming marriage, and my duties as Queen, the stress built and built...
I know I worry people. I know that. What can I do about it? I HAVE to do this. There's more at stake than what I want. If it means I have to give up everything I've ever wanted, then so be it. If people can't accept that...
Shortly after the Ellimist pointed out this bit of knowledge to me, that I'd somehow managed to overlook, we had a huge battle. It was ugly. You haven't seen carnage or slaughter until you hear the screams of your friends as they die around you, falling one by one, laying in puddles of blood, waiting for death to come. Bleeding. Suffering. Screaming. If you have to watch a friend die, you will never forget it. And the worst part, is that you know its all your fault. They died because of you...
I'd gone off to the woods that day, for a walk by myself. I do that more and more often, lately. It helps to clear my head a little. That day, however, walking didn't help at all. So I morphed a red-shouldered hawk and took to the skies. The air was great for flying that day. The sky was so blue...
Things got so much uglier, so soon.
When I was flying, I noticed some movement down below me. I'd caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and when I focused my full attention on the movement, I would've gasped, if I'd had a human mouth. Down below me, were HUNDREDS of controllers.
Flying back to the fort at top speed, I contacted Trinka in thoughtspeak on the way, and informed her of what I'd found in the woods. Commanding her to assemble the troops, I told her to place Naiko and Thalia in command of the Andalite Infantry, and have them come in from the north and attack. Then I placed Trinka in command of my personal guard, commanding her to attack from the east, and I hurried back to where the controllers were. I had an appointment to keep.
Trinka alerted the others to battle I guess, because when the fighting started, the members of the Morpher Society were there. I don't know too much about what happened during the battle. I only know the part of the battle that was between me and Visser Three.
I waited in the brush nearby while the others were still assembling and making their way to the lake where the controllers were, and when a Hork-Bajir walked by, I knocked him unconscious with the flat of my tail blade, and absorbed his DNA. Then I quickly morphed him, and high-tailed it out of there before he woke up. Mingling and blending in with the other Hork-Bajir controllers in the crowd, I made my way to the largest of the Bug fighters. I knew what I would find inside.
When the door slid shut behind me, I should have been nervous. I wasn't. I don't know why I wasn't, but I should have been. I remember exactly what each of us said, so once again, I will repeat verbatim:
{So,} Visser Three greeted me, {At last I get to have the pleasure of meeting the great Andalite Queen.} He sneered. {Or should I say displeasure?}
{Call it whatever you want, Visser Three. I'm not here to discuss your hatred for the Andalites.} {No, I suppose you aren't, at that} he allowed, {So what brings the great Andalite Queen into my presence? Have you come to submit to me? Earth is ours, Andalite. We have as good as conquered it, already.}
{You will never have Earth, Visser. Or the Andalites.}
{Ah, yes. The great Andalite pride. Bow before me, Andalite. One way or another, I shall take Earth.}
{Visser Three, I have come here for one reason and one reason only: We fight. To the death.}
{Interesting proposal, Andalite. I accept. With your death, conquering Earth and the Andalites will be much easier}
THAT made me mad. If I ever wanted to kill the Visser, it was then. {Fight, Visser. Now. We find higher ground away from the fighting, and we don't stop until one of us is dead.}
After we reached higher ground, where we were by ourselves, we fought. Tail-to-tail, blades whipping through the air so fast that they were little more than a blur. The Visser was a seasoned fighter, in the body of a mature, experienced Andalite War Prince. I had the body of an adolescent female, with little experience in fighting. The odds were definitely against me.
As the battle raged on below us, we fought fiercely. It was all I could to to keep up with him. I was tiring, and he knew it. I couldn't take it much longer, but I refused to stop. Then... just as I was about to collapse, Dan jumped into the fray, with Eric following. This surprised the Visser, and it threw him off balance. Almost reflexively, he killed Dan with a single stroke of his tailblade, and then turned to Eric, who was in a wolf morph. As Eric bared his fangs at Visser and growled, I took my chance. My tail blade sailed through the air, and... wounded the Visser just as he turned tail and ran. He was outnumbered, and he knew it. He disappeared into the woods and took off in a bug fighter, with a handful of controllers that had managed to survive the wrath of the Andalites and my personal guard.
When I looked out onto the battlefield after the Visser had fled, it was utter destruction. Controllers bodies littered the ground, and mixed in here and there were the ten bodies of Andalite warriors, and six animals bodies- my friends who had died in morph, during battle. It was all my fault.
Patrick lost his cousin Jack during the battle. He hasn't been the same since. He's really quiet, and he won't look me in the eye anymore. I know he blames me for the death of his cousin, and it's all I can do to wake up each day, with the blood of my friends on my conscience.
Exactly a week after all of this happened, I was sleeping on the couch in the fort. I was exhausted, and I'd accidentally fallen asleep in the middle of some paperwork I'd been trying to finish up. All of a sudden, I was awake, and the only thing that was on my mind was getting to the school, fast. I didn't know what it was or how I knew... but something was VERY wrong.
When I got there, I found out what it was. Looking around to see what it was that had drawn me so frantically to the school, I came face to face... with me. It wasn't the same me, of course. It was a different me. Just as I was trying to form the words to ask what the hell was going on, the Ellimist appeared. He explained that the Reed before me was a Reed from a parallel universe, where I ruled as Visser One of the yeerk empire. Where things were doomed. The Reed before me had submitted willingly to the yeerks as a youth, turning her friends from the Morpher Society in to the yeerks, betraying them, and now ruled as Visser One, over the yeerk empire and the universe. Bored with her status in HER universe, she'd come to conquer my universe, seize my throne, and rule as Queen of the Andalites AND ruler of the yeerk empire in TWO universes. My hate built to an all time high.The Ellimist set down three simple rules for our battle: 1)We had to fight until the death. The victor would get the Andalite throne. 2)Earth had to be our battlefield, and 3)No morphing.
After the Ellimist left, I'm not sure who attacked first. I think it was me. I was seething with fury over this little traitor. She'd sold out her friends. Everything I was working for in this universe, she'd thrown away in hers. I wanted her dead.
We ended up wrestling on the ground for a while, rolling around, trying to choke each other, and give each other black eyes. Finally, I threw her off of me, though. Then I employed my karate and swept her feet out from under her once she'd managed to stand again. Just then, I heard someone call my name, and as I automatically looked to see who it was, she grabbed a baseball bat, and knocked me over the head with it, from behind. Everything went black.
When I finally woke up a few hours later, it was pitch black outside. Disoriented, I stood up, wincing in pain as my head throbbed. Lightly touching my scalp, I winced again as my fingers came in contact with a very large scab where I'd bled.
This bitch had to go.
Unsure of where I would even find her, I went to the woods, keeping my guard up. She could easily attack me and catch me off guard while I was in the woods. But surprisingly... it was I who found HER. With Patrick.
Quietly, I watched them talk together, and I knew what I had to do. There was only one way to get rid of her. It was my only advantage.
Shifting into my Andalite form, I ambushed that little worm and jumped forward, tail-blade arcing through the air toward her throat. She backed up in time though, and ducked just as I was about to kill her. Then, she smiled at me. Oh, how she smiled. It was the most vile, most despicable thing I've ever seen. She gleefully pointed out to me that the Ellmist had forbidden morphing, and since I'd morphed, the throne was now hers by default.
{I've got news for you,} I told her, {This isn't a morph. In this universe, I discovered my true heritage. Nothdarin: a begin with two true shapes for existence.} Then, as much as I hate to admit it, I got perverse. {And I'm not dead yet, am I? You will never have my throne, but I will have your head on a platter.}
She shrank back from me as the truth of who and what I was sank in. Then, as I drew my tail-blade back to kill her, I couldn't do it. {Filth,} I muttered. Turning my back on her, I started to walk away. Then, hearing her run at me from behind, my tail-blade reflexively, whipped back through the air. I heard a thump behind me, and when I looked at her, she was laying in a pool of blood.
After I explained to Pat what happened, I went back to the fort, so much more exhausted than I had been when I'd set out. Shifting to my human form, I walked back by myself. Then he came. My father. The Ellimist. There are many Ellimists, but this one alone was my kin.
{You have done well, my daughter,} he greeted me, {You give me hope. The universe has hope.}
"Thank you, father," I replied. I had finally come to terms with exactly who and what I was. With this acceptance, I was also able to accept my father at last.
A few days later, after Patrick's parents found out about Jack, they started keeping Patrick at home. I haven't seen him for a long time, now. I suppose that's just as well, really. I don't want him to see me like this. I hate the monster I've become. I can't even look in a mirror anymore. I hate everything that's reflected in it.
Don't feel sorry for me. I don't want your pity. I don't want anything from you, except your help. I'm sharing this story with you because I'm asking you to join me. To help us fight the yeerks.
It's been a month or so since my ordeal with the evil Reed. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Patrick. Sometimes this hurts, but other times I'm glad. If I don't see him, I can ignore the pain inside.
When the school announced a formal dance a few weeks later, I wasn't sure I was going to go. I was invited by Marco, but I just didn't think I should go to the dance. I had other things to do, right?
Right.
I did end up going to the dance that night, and for a while I had fun. Then, like clockwork, everything went berserk. I was having a nice time dancing with Marco-he was making me laugh nonstop. Something I hadn't done in months. Then, Stacey fainted and had a little visit from my dear old dad, who can't mind his own business.
We didn't want to attract attention, so we hustled Stacey out of the dance as fast as we could, and when she came to, she told us what the Ellimist had said.
Stacey, one of my best friends, is my mother. When she was less than a year old, she recognized that something was very wrong with the world. She didn't know it yet, but Earth had just started to be invaded by the yeerks. Stacey sensed something was wrong, and she saw the need for something to be done. But what?
The Ellimist saw this realization of Stacey's and created ME. His hope. The hope of all. Stacey is my mother because- in essence- she played as much part in my creation as the Ellimist.
It's bizarre isn't it? My friend, who is less than six months older than me, is essentially my mother.
So when I found out the yeerks were burning half the city's block that night, I guess it was natural for her to freak when she thought I'd died in the fire. We had all gathered at the fort the next day, after Stacey's experience with the Ellimist. The Animorphs were all there with us, and when my father's voice filled my consciousness and told me of the fire, I leapt into action. The Animorphs high-tailed it over there with us, and when we got there, all I was concerned with was getting the innocent people out of the fire.
Morphing tiger, I crept into one of the burning buildings to pull people out, and the others hurried to do the same. The air was thick with smoke, and the tiger part of me was frightened. It didn't like the smoke, and it wanted to be away from the fire. But the human-perhaps even the Andalite-part of me, urged it on. The building was falling in around me, and several times, I just barely moved out of the way before bits of burning roof tumbled down on top of me.
Finally, a strange smell filled my nose. The tiger part of me was puzzled. It didn't understand what the smell was. The sound I heard was unmistakable, though. It was a baby.
Making my way through the fire, I found the bodies of two adults on the floor near the crib. They were dead already. I had to save the baby, though. I HAD to. Demorphing to my human form, I took the baby in my arms and looked around for a way to exit. There wasn't one. I was trapped. I was going to burn alive, and my screams joined the baby's. Sobbing, I screamed one final time before things went black. "FATHER!"
The next thing I know, I'm outside, safe and sound, with the baby in my arms. And dear old dad is standing before me. {Hello, daughter.}
"Father," I greeted him warily. "Thank you for saving me from- from the fire.
He laughed. {I did not do that, daughter. You did it yourself. The translocation was of your own will, not mine.}
What was he saying? I was an Ellimist too? When I voiced these fears, he laughed at me again. {No, daughter. You are Nothdarin, not Ellimist. You carry with you traits of three races, though. Andalite, Ellimist, and Human. They serve you well, child. Your Ellimist side had to be awakened by your own will, child. Your mother is a primitive Ellimist. The first human to show such abilities, in fact. Combined with my Ellimist heritage, we give to you a strong Ellimist background. Your powers will be great, I think. Fare well, my daughter.} Then he disappeared, leaving me with the baby. The baby I'd decided to keep.
When I got back to the others, they were so relieved to see me. I never did tell them about how I really got out of the fire, or about this new part of my heritage. I don't think I'm ready yet. It would only worry mother more, anyway.
Everyone thought I was crazy to keep the baby, and I guess I am. But what was I supposed to do? His parents were dead now, and somehow... we'd bonded with each other. I named him Darren, and I care for him now, as if I'd given birth to him myself- even if I am still fourteen.
So now that you know my past, my history, who I am... what will you do now? Walk away? If you shrug off everything I've told you and just walk away, then you're no better than the other Reed was: a traitor to your race.
Join me. I look into Darren's eyes now, and I see the future: Hope. A universe free of Yeerk rule. And I won't quit until I accomplish it. I can't let Darren grow up in a world dominated by Yeerks.
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