Inside & Out Ch 9: The Symbiotic Civilization!

(Charlotte)

I didn't go to work today.

Which was fair, I think, considering I spent most of yesterday accidentally saving a kid's life, triggering some kind of psychic resonance event, and being told by a guy in all-black tactical gear that I was now officially enrolled in an elite four-year academy for magical super-cops.

So yeah.

Sandwiches could wait.

The air was warm as I walked home, the sun just low enough to give everything that soft golden haze. Usually I'd be rushing to make it home before the streetlights flickered on, but tonight... I didn't feel like rushing anything.

My mind was too full.

Apparently, I'm a Sentinel. A soon-to-be Sentinel.

I have "gifts" now. Powers.

Cool, right? Except... I still had no idea what those powers were.

I lifted my right hand and squinted at it, the same way I had a dozen times already.

There—right between my fingernails—I caught the faintest glimmer of movement. Microscopic, practically invisible unless I where to use my enhanced eye sight, which was always a pain to do.

The Zeyvaris.

Tiny people. Tiny. Like "a single drop of water could drown your whole civilization" tiny. And one of them... apparently one of them gave me this power.

I could barely wrap my head around it. I mean, what even was that? A cosmic parasite situation? A spiritual bond? Space magic? Who knows, all I know is one of them made me special. 

"Thanks, I guess," I murmured, glancing between my nails again.

The tickle faded.

Still weird.

Still not used to it.

But what I kept circling back to—again and again like some kind of obsessive stalker in a rom-com—was him.

The blue-haired boy from the white void.

"Who are you, mystery man..." I whispered.

His eyes had been full of the same shock I felt. Like he wasn't supposed to be there either. Like we'd both been yanked into something too big for either of us to understand.

And that glow...

That light coming off his body. It was the same color I saw coming off mine when the car hit the shield.

Could he be... I couldn't even finish that thought, 

As my mind continued to shift from one subject to the other.

I kicked a pebble off the sidewalk and sighed. My legs kept moving on their own, muscle memory guiding me through familiar streets. Home wasn't far.

But my mind drifted again, this time to the conversation with Agent Duren.

It kept playing over and over in my head.

***

(Flashback) 

"Why me? Why now? How could I be a Sentinel?"

Across the metal table, Agent Duren had sat with his usual calm, looking like a man who'd long ago learned not to be surprised by anything. His black vest was sharp, uniform creased to precision, like he ironed it with military-grade lasers. His gloves lay on the table beside his helmet—sleek, dark, and hiding eyes that were far too observant.

"There's no fixed time for awakening," he'd said, folding his arms and leaning back slightly. "Some people awaken young. Others? Later. But there's almost always a trigger—trauma, fear, sometimes intense compassion. Something that cracks the barrier open and lets them through."

Charlotte had blinked, confused. "Them?"

"That's the part they'll explain in more detail at the Academy," Duren said. "But I'll give you the basics. You're bonded to a Zeyvaris."

She remembered squinting. "Those little... people in my body." 

"Yes," Duren confirmed, with the sort of weight that suggested she'd better get used to saying that sentence without flinching. "Microscopic doesn't mean insignificant. Their civilization exists parallel to yours, inside yours. They're not parasites. They're symbiotic. And among their kind, there are three factions: Blue, Red, and Yellow."

He'd pulled up a visual on his tablet, flipping through holographic representations of glowing humanoids, each marked with a distinct aura.

"Blues are support. They maintain stamina, energy, internal equilibrium. They're the ones you're most likely to see."

Charlotte nodded faintly, remembering all the times she saw them in her skin, doing their work, making her body feel amazing. 

"Reds," he continued, "are warriors. Immune defenders. Fast. Fierce. Most of the time, they act like a bodyguard unit. They're the once's that keep you healthy." 

Charlotte had leaned in then, eyes narrowing. "And Yellows?"

"Rare. Royalty, to their kind. The only ones capable of forming a direct bond with a Sentinel. That bond is what gives you your abilities. Without a Yellow, you don't awaken. Simple as that."

The idea had stunned her. She had powers now—because some microscopic royal inside her decided to say "hello."

As she thought about that now, on her porch, a small, conflicted frown crept across her lips.

Yellows had glowing yellow hair, Duren had said. But the boy in the white void—the one who'd looked just as startled to see her as she had been to see him—his hair wasn't yellow. It was blue. Definitely blue.

(Flashback end) 

***

She hadn't said anything to Duren at the time. It felt... off. She hadn't wanted to sound crazy. But now, staring at the peeling paint on her front door, the image wouldn't leave her mind.

Why had a boy with blue hair awakened her powers?

And how had she ended up in that space with him?

Was he even real?

Her fingers grazed her wrist instinctively, like trying to feel the warmth that had poured through her chest when she'd activated—when the shield had saved that child. It was all tied together. She just didn't know how yet.

Charlotte finally turned the knob and pushed open the door, stepping into her apartment. Her boots clicked softly against the hardwood, but her thoughts were louder than any footsteps.

Something was happening.

Something bigger than her.

And it had started the moment she locked eyes with that strange, blue-haired boy in the void.

Whatever this Sentinel life was, she had a feeling it was just getting started.