At the top of this chapter is a seriously amazing edit for Glitches by @MagneticMelon. Thank you for making it!

Also, I feel the need to mention a comment made by Salminion on The Ice Queen of Lessaenes because it is, by far, the most amazing comment I have ever received on any of my books. 

"Never interrupt someone reading a book. Especially if it's by J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, or @Strawberry_Cream1928."

How awesome is that!? I took a screenshot of that and saved it forever!! Thank you so much Salminion!!!

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I woke up to find myself leaning against a tree in an awkward position. Pushing myself up with my palms, I sat up, surveying the scene. It was eerily quiet, still enough for me to hear my own breathing. As I stood up, I felt a sticky liquid trickling down the muddy slope and onto my shoe.

I gasped, stepping backward in revulsion, when I realized what it was. Fresh, warm blood mixed with dirt and Aural residue. 

"Hello?" I called, stepping out into the clear. My hands were raised, ready to fire a bolt of Aura at the slightest noise. 

"Is anyone here?" A few seconds later, I heard a response. 

"I am."

Turning around, I saw Justin kneeling in the dirt, his messy brown hair obscuring part of his face. He lifted his head, looking up at me. To my relief, his eyes had returned to normal and he spoke in his regular voice. Saralee was gone. 

"Oh my gosh, I never want to experience that ever again," he put his head in his hands. 

"Well, neither do I," I snapped. 

"It's not that...just...it felt terrible, like I was a puppet! I couldn't do anything, only watch! Whoa!" He instantly fell silent, beginning to scrutinize my face. 

"What?" 

"How'd you do that?" 

"Do what?" 

"Your face!" He pointed to it.

"What happened to it?" 

"Nothing happened to it, that's the thing!" Justin exclaimed. "Just thirty minutes ago, Saralee practically burned half of it off, and now it looks as good as new!" 

"She's learning to regenerate skin," I turned my head to see Amanda walking out from behind a tree that looked to be about a few hundred feet away from the one I had been asleep on. 

Phew. At least Justin and I aren't the last ones. 

"Only Gifted royals have the ability," she explained. "But anyway, it's time to get everyone together. Get a head count, see who's left." 

"Well that sounded dark," Justin sighed. 

"It is dark," Amanda smiled grimly. 

"Guys, you can come out!" I yelled. "It's safe now!" 

The first one to emerge from the trees was a trembling Kelly. She rushed over to me the minute she saw me, planting herself firmly by my side. 

Next came the Speedies, in a tight group. I counted four of them. Pretty good, considering the fact that there had just been a massacre. 

"Glitches of WGO, assemble in the clearing!" Amanda shouted through her cupped hands, and more kids climbed down trees and out of ditches, joining us in the middle. 

"Division leaders, report to the front!" She ordered. Vince, Ellie, and Blake promptly arrived, yet Tim was nowhere to be seen. Scanning the area, I saw his body curled up by a tree. 

"Congratulations, Claire, you've been promoted," Amanda said cheerlessly. "Guys, your new Sloppie Division leader," she pointed to me, followed by a smattering of polite applause. 

"How many survived in your divisions?" Amanda asked, her brows furrowing with anticipation. 

"Two," Vince whispered, looking down at his feet. "Just me and Iveya."

"Okay," Amanda breathed in sharply, looking at me. 

"Same. Just me and Kelly," I said. I hadn't seen any of the other Sloppie boys, and Tim was confirmed dead. 

"Four in the Speedies," Blake sighed. "We lost Lucy and Keaton." 

"Only one in the Cookies," Ellie said softly. "Only me." 

"And we have three in Government," said Amanda, looking around. "Megan, Calvin, and I."

"That's twelve..." I shook my head in disbelief. "Twelve out of originally thirty." 

"I believe Claire and I owe you an explanation," Amanda sighed, turning to the Glitches. 

"You sure do!" Vince yelled impatiently. "And Justin!" He pointed to my brother who stood beside me. "What happened to him and Jade?" 

"Yeah!" Iveya said crossly. "Why did you guys all suddenly get weird superpowers...like, even weirder than Glitch powers." 

"Calm down, guys, I can explain," Amanda put her hands up defensively. 

"So, you guys already know this world isn't real," she began. "But you don't know why it was created. More than a decade ago, there was a disaster. The entire world was destroyed. A man named Lucas Williamson and his associates- the people you know as the Programmers, created the Program to protect their children. Humanity's future. Us. The Glitches. There is no outside world to escape to, we're all that's left." 

"But...what was the disaster?" Kelly asked, her eyes widening with fear. 

"I'm getting to that. It was an invasion, an alien invasion. Our first war with them was in the year 2743. After that war, we humans decided that we needed to work together against the aliens: the Lessaenites. So, we got rid of countries, and formed the Human Union, a colossal empire of Earth, the lunar colonies, and the Martian colonies, all under one President. Later, the Lessaenites attacked again, and the Lessaenite King was killed in the war. The Queen was so mad, she became super bloodthirsty and some even say she went insane. She decided she wanted to destroy everything...and yeah."

"But what does that have to do with Jade and Justin? And you still haven't explained your powers," Vince pressed on. 

"The Lessaenites- or more specifically, the Icehearts, the ruling class of Lessaenes- have the ability to possess human bodies that are imprinted with the Iceheart insignia. The insignia is usually imprinted as a tattoo on the back of the subject's neck, and also serves as a tracker and the means for control. These tattooed, controllable humans are known as Codes, and Jade and Justin were Codes."

"So they were being...controlled by these Icehearts?" Vince raised an eyebrow. 

"Yes. All the Icehearts want is to kill us, every single one of us. More than a hundred years ago, the Lessaenite Queen, Saralee Arystenn, vowed to wipe out the human race. And now, the Glitches are the human race." 

"But why do you and Claire have the same powers as the Icehearts who were attacking us through Jade and Justin?" Eva narrowed her eyes with suspicion. 

"You're not going to like the answer to that," Amanda sighed. 

"I still want to know," Iveya said impatiently. 

"When you hear this, you're going to want to turn on us," Amanda squeezed her eyes shut for a second. "You're going to want to murder us on the spot, but I can only ask you to at least try to understand. Not all Lessaenites are bad. Some of us are actually trying to fight the Icehearts, to end their reign of terror. We're called the White Hot Flame. Claire and I are Lessaenites, but we're supporters of the White Hot Flame. That's why we have the powers: Auras." 

"Should I tell them about me...you know...being the Princess?" I whispered to Amanda. 

"Not yet," Amanda shook her head. "They'd kill us for sure."

Iveya, Vince, and Kelly exchanged doubtful glances with the other members of WGO. 

"I trust them," said Iveya. "Their story makes sense, and it's the best option we have at the moment." 

The rest of the remaining Glitches voiced their agreement. 

"Okay, glad that's settled," Amanda smiled. "Now that we've-" 

"President Myers, the exit!" A younger Speedie yelled, pointing up to the sky. All of our gazes followed his arm to a shocking sight. The shimmery, white rectangle outlined against the sky was shrinking, and the arms of Code were retracting. The portal was closing.