The Second Archon War: Interlude 9

Warning: this chapter contains graphic material. Reader discretion is advised. 

Interlude 9: Lupus Cor

“Make sure to read chapter 3 from Island of the Blue Dolphins, we’ll have a discussion on it tomorrow morning,” the teacher said just as the bell rang, and everyone scrambled to shove everything they could into their backpacks. 

Taylor hurried outside, where she found Sarah already waiting for her, phone to her ear. Taylor was more than a bit jealous, as while Sarah’s parents had got her a brand-new Jaido 2004 with slide-out keyboard at the start of the school year, Taylor’s mom told her that fifth graders didn’t need cell phones. Even if basically everyone had one now. 

“Yeah, I love you too. No, I won’t be home after school, Reg. I’m going over to Taylor’s house to study, then we have Kendo. I’ll see you when I get home, OK? Yes, I’ll feed your stupid fish if you’re gone, don’t sweat it. ‘Kay, bye.” 

Sarah hung up and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, so annoying. Why does he have to be so clingy? I’m ten, not five.” 

“Are your parents gone again?” Taylor asked, and Sarah nodded. 

“Yeah, he probably just wants to know if he can invite another girl over. I bet he already has another girlfriend after he broke up with Veronica last week. I don’t know why, I liked her, but he was in one of his moods again. He’ll find another girlfriend though, he always does.”

They walked from their classroom to the bus stop. Taylor’s mom had to work late today, so they would just take the bus back to Taylor’s apartment. As they walked, they chatted about kendo, as well as homework. As they did, they overheard something that sent a shiver down both their spines. 

“Houston got hit, huh. Is it still there?” one of the sixth graders said, peering at his friend's phone.

“Yeah, they said Scion showed up and fought him off before he could do too much damage, but the death toll will still be pretty bad. Still, could be worse,” his friend with the phone said with a shrug. “Could have been Brockton.”

The two girls walked in silence for a moment, until Sarah let out a nervous giggle. “Well, at least we’re safe for four more months. Probably more. The Endbringers don’t like to hit the same country twice in a row.”

Taylor adjusted her backpack, feeling sick to her stomach, but setting her jaw. “My dad would have protected Brockton if an Endbringer came. I will too.”

“Yeah, with your…huh,” Sarah paused, poking Danny’s vision as it dangled from the backpack like a charm. 

“What?” Taylor asked, swiveling her head around to look. 

“Nothing, I thought it- Woah!” 

Taylor walked straight into another kid in front of her, who’d just walked right in front of her. She fell back on her rear, while the other girl sprawled out on the sidewalk, dropping the plastic container she’d had in her hands, and spilling out what looked like leftovers everywhere.

“Ow! You made me drop it!” the other girl snarled, getting up and curling her fingers like claws as she bared her teeth at Taylor. 

“Uh, sorry,” Taylor said, adjusting her glasses and blinking. She recognized the other girl, but didn’t know her very well. She was in their PE and music classes, but she spent most of her time in Mrs. Monroe’s class, where the special needs kids went. But something about her had caught Taylor’s eye, and her pulse began to race. 

“Now I have to get more!” the girl growled, trying to scoop the slop back into the container. “And they already threw out the leftovers! Now she’ll starve!” 

“Who would eat that?” Sarah asked, wrinkling her nose and helping Taylor up. “I wouldn’t even feed that to my dog, Rachel.” 

“No one asked you,” the girl snapped, clutching the Tupperware protectively. Rachel. That was her name. But the object she shoved back under her hoodie on a leather thong was what really caught Taylor’s attention.

“Um, if you’re hungry Rachel, I have half a leftover sandwich,” Taylor offered, looking down at her stained sweater. She’d have to wash it. Actually, it had already had some stains on it, Sarah had commented on it earlier. Taylor hadn’t really noticed. 

The other girl's eyes lit up, and she held out a hand. “Give it.”

After digging out the sandwich, Taylor proffered it to Rachel, who snagged it, then stepped off the sidewalk and into the bushes. That was a bit odd, and on impulse, Taylor followed after her. 

“Taylor? Where are you going, we’re going to miss the bus!” Sarah complained, but followed after her. It wasn’t hard to follow after Rachel, who was making no effort to hide her tracks. She ducked under the school fence, scrambled up the bank on the other side, and headed into the woods on the other side, keeping her container of leftovers steady the entire time. Taylor copied her, Sarah following and complaining the entire time. 

When Taylor stood up on the other side of the fence, Rachel was glaring down at her, arms wrapped protectively around the food. “You gave it to me, you can’t take it back.” 

“I don’t want to take it back; I was just wondering where you’re going,” Taylor said. “I see you in PE and stuff but we never talk, and, you have one too.”

The other girl’s glare dropped for a moment, and a look of interest came over her face. “You have a dog, too?” 

“No, um,” Taylor held up her inactive Vision, then nodded to the same Vision that Rachel had hidden. Unlike Taylor’s, it crackled with Electro energy, though it was invisible under the dark fabric. “Your Vision. I hadn’t noticed it before.”

“That’s because I keep it hidden so people don’t ask dumb questions,” Rachel said with a snort. She turned to Sarah. “You have a dog. What’s their name?”

“Uh, Ducky. She likes to swim,” Sarah said, sounding confused. 

Rachel suddenly stepped forward, her eyes as she got right into Sarah’s face. Rachel was taller than either of them, and bulkier too. The rumor was she’d been held back a grade, which was why she was in Mrs. Monroe’s class. She sat by herself in a corner of the cafeteria, away from even the other sped kids. She rarely talked, this being the most words Taylor had ever heard from Rachel all school year. She’d been new this year, though no one knew where she’d come from. 

“Do you take good care of Ducky? You don’t keep her locked in a kennel all day, do you?” Rachel growled, her voice low and menacing. “It’s not good for dogs to be locked in kennels all day. I hate people who don’t look after their dogs properly!” 

“No, we pay for her to go with a dogsitter! She’s a golden lab mix, she’s got a lot of energy and she’s really friendly, even if my dad says she’s dumb as a bag of bricks I think she’s sweet.”

Rachel glowered for a few moments, then nodded. “You can come.” Then her head swiveled to Taylor. 

“Uh, I like dogs too. I wanted to have one, but our apartment is too small, so we got a cat instead,” Taylor said nervously.

“That’s good. You shouldn’t lock dogs in little apartments. Ok, you can come too.” Then Rachel turned around, scrambling up the earthen bank between the school and the woods.

“She’s weird,” Sarah said, not bothering to lower her volume. 

“She’s got a Vision, I need to know how she got it,” Taylor replied and hurried after Rachel. “Rachel, wait!” 

The other girl didn’t slow down, so Taylor had to crash through the undergrowth to reach her, branches clawing at her face and bushes snagging her feet. She stumbled a few times, but she managed to reach Rachel right as they got to the creek that ran through the woods. 

Before Taylor could ask the million questions bubbling at the tip of her tongue, she heard barking and splashing. She turned to see a filthy-looking terrier splashing across the creek, barking happily as it splashed around Rachel’s feet. On seeing the dog, Rachel’s face transformed. Instead of the surly scowl she usually wore, a smile bloomed on her face, and she knelt down, batting the small dog around playfully and laughing. 

“Hey, Angelica! Good girl, good girl!” Rachel giggled, flipping her dog over on its back as the animal wagged its tail and nipped at her fingers. 

“Why do you have your dog back here? Where’s its leash? You’re supposed to keep them on a leash,” Sarah said, coming up behind them and frowning down at the dog. 

“She doesn’t need a leash. I trained her.  Angelica, Sit.”

Immediately, the dog sat on the mossy bank, wagging its tail and looking up at Rachel hopefully. 

“Stay,” Rachel said, tearing off a chunk of Taylor’s sandwich. She set it on the tip of Angelica’s nose, then held out a closed fist. The dog was practically vibrating with eagerness, and drool started dripping from her muzzle, but she didn’t try to take the food. 

Then Rachel opened her fist and said, “Take!” The dog instantly flipped the food off her nose and snapped it up, eagerly scoffing down the bite. “Good girl, Angelica.”

The dog barked happily, then sat back down when Rachel held out an open palm. She tore off more food, then set it in front of the dog. “Hold.”

Angelica was still, almost frozen, her eyes the only movement as they flicked between Rachel and the food only a few inches in front of her on the ground. Then Rachel flipped her hand over and said, “Take,” and the food vanished down Angelica’s gullet. 

“See,” Rachel said, nodding in satisfaction. “I trained her.”

“Wow, can you train Ducky? She never listens to me,” Sarah said, crouching down and holding out a hand to the dog. Angelica growled and snapped at her fingers, and Sarah jerked them back. “Hey!”

“Leave her alone. She’s my dog,” Rachel said, glaring daggers at Sarah. “She doesn’t like other people.”

Taking a bit of food, Taylor put it in her palm and looked to Rachel. “Can…can I feed her some?”

Rachel scowled, then looked at Angelica. “She doesn’t like other people. Her owners were jerks. So I stole her. She’s mine now.”

Angelica licked Rachel’s fingers, whining for more food, and Rachel sighed. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you. But you can feed her.”

“Harsh,” Sarah said, but she picked up a bit of the slop and held it out to Angelica as well. This time, the dog eagerly licked the food from their fingers, then barked happily for more. 

“She’s really dirty,” Sarah said, making a face.  “Don’t you wash her?”

“She’s fine,” Rachel said with a scowl. “I wash her in the creek.”

“Yeah, but she’s got burs and tangles in her coat. It’s ugly, and it probably itches her,” Sarah said in her most superior know-it-all all tone.

There was an electrical crackle, and Rachel’s eyes turned purple, her lip curling into a snarl as she clenched her fists. Taylor and Sarah both jumped back, fearing for their lives. 

But then Taylor saw the tears in Rachel’s eyes, as the other girl cried, “I know! I keep trying to take care of her! I swore I would never let another dog suffer, but I just…I can’t…if I show her to Helen, she’ll take away Angelica, just like happened to Rollo! Just like what happened to my mom! And then I’ll be put in another home and I’ll never see Angelica again! And I won’t let that happen!” 

For a moment, Taylor and Sarah just stared at the furious but weeping girl, as Rachel sucked in great breaths and hot tears trickled down her face. Then Angelica whined, coming forward and licking at Rachel’s face. The lightning faded, and Rachel hugged Angelica tightly to her chest. “I won’t let you go. I promise.”

A few things clicked for Taylor, and she let go of Sarah, coming forward to squat down by Rachel. “If you help me reignite my father’s Vision, I’ll help you take care of Angelica.”

Blinking back tears, Rachel looked at Taylor quizzically. “Huh?”

Taking off her backpack, Taylor unclipped the Vision and held it out. “My father was Danny Hebert, Longshoreman.”

“You know, the one they named the library after,” Sarah said, but Rachel’s blank expression showed no signs of recognition.

Swallowing, Taylor continued on. “He was a hero. This was his Vision. I need to figure out how to get it working again, so I can find the Siberian, and kill her.”

“I don’t care about the Siberian, I care about dogs,” Rachel said bluntly.

Sarah quickly pulled out her phone, talking as she did so. “The Siberian is one of the Nine, you know that right? Of course you do. Well, did you hear about what they did in Kansas just last week? Here, let me show you.”

“I don’t watch the news, it’s boring,” Rachel muttered, but she peered at the phone. Her face slowly went from disgruntled to pure rage, as her short messy hair stood on end again and her lips curled back in a snarl. 

Taylor felt sick to her stomach, knowing what Sarah had on her phone. The Nine’s new biotinker, Bonesaw, had found an animal shelter. She’d slaughtered all the dogs and cats at the shelter, turning them into horrifying creations that had rampaged through the city of Topeka alongside the rest of the Nine. Legend had gone there to assist the local Protectorate team, and they’d killed Winter and Chuckles. The human casualties had been light this time. But the mangled bodies of dead dogs had littered the battlefield. 

“They hurt dogs?!” Rachel snarled, and Angelica began growling as well, her hackles rising as the terrier paced about her mistress’ legs. 

“There was a story about the Siberian finding a litter of puppies and eating them. Then their mom,” Sarah said flatly. Taylor wasn’t sure if that story was true or not, but she appreciated her bestie backing her up. 

“And if they ever come here, I’m going to find them, and kill the Siberian, then the rest of the Nine,” Taylor declared, clenching her father’s Vision tightly. “I’ll protect Brockton Bay.”

“And the dogs,” Rachel snarled. 

“And the dogs,” Taylor agreed.

That seemed to settle things for Rachel, and she nodded, then squatted down on the creek bank and pulled out her Vision, holding it in the palm of her hand. “I dunno how I got it. I had just found Angelica. She was locked in a kennel. I could hear her whining in the backyard, so I broke in. But she was chained up and there was a lock on the chain, and I couldn’t break it. I remember how mad I was that anyone would ever hurt a dog like that. Then I heard a voice.”

Taylor held her breath, pulling out her notebook and scribbling furiously. This was just like all the stories she’d heard on the PHQ forums!

“The voice told me that I would be rejected by human society. I said good, ‘cause humans are stupid. Dogs are better. Then she told me-”

“I need the exact words, for research,” Taylor interrupted. “Can you recite it exactly?”

Rachel frowned at her, then closed her eyes. 

Though all mankind rejects you, you will not stray from your path. 

You will be the storm, your Vision scouring all those who would harm those you cherish. 

Though you are not of the same blood, you will seek your kin and defend them for Eternity. 

Let your Ambition form your own pack, Daughter of Wolves. 

When Rachel finished, Taylor thought she could hear distant thunder. The other girl gazed down at her Vision, her expression one of wonder. “I don’t really remember words too good. I hate school, especially reading. Books don’t say what they mean, they should just say what they mean and not ask all these weird questions. Only dogs make sense. But I’ll always remember those words.”

They sat quietly with Angelica, who was still worked up after the lightning, petting the matted fur. At last, Sarah stood up. “Well, at least we can give Angelica a bath. We’ll go to my house first to get the shampoo and stuff, then go to Taylor’s to wash her.”

“Why my house?!” Taylor demanded. 

“Cause your mom won’t be home for a while and we can wash Angelica while we wait for kendo, and my brother would pitch a fit if we brought home a stray dog, but your mom is cool,” Sarah said reasonably. 

Sighing, Taylor agreed, but Rachel looked concerned. “But…if they find me with the dog…won’t they take her away?”

“You said they took away your mom, are you in foster care?” Sarah asked bluntly. 

Rachel didn’t seem to mind, and nodded. “Yeah. Helen and Troy are who I live with now. They don’t like dogs.” 

“Do they know you have a Vision? You said you keep it hidden,” Taylor said, nodding to the glowing gem as Rachel tucked it back under her hoodie. 

“You’re the only ones who know I got it,” Rachel mumbled, looking ashamed. “I don’t want people to take it away too. They always take all my stuff. My mom took it to sell for drugs, then the cops took my stuff when they took me, and they took Rollo too. Just cause they said he wasn’t mine. But he liked me better.”

“We won’t let them take it,” Taylor promised. “You can be on our team to fight the Nine when we get our powers.”

“When you get your powers. I don’t want any powers,” Sarah sniffed. 

Taylor rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue with Sarah. It was usually exhausting and pointless to do so. 

They took the bus to Sarah’s house, hiding Angelica in Taylor’s backpack. The dog wasn’t terribly happy about the situation, but Rachel told her to stay, so she curled up in Taylor’s backpack and let herself be carried by Rachel. 

When they arrived, Sarah snuck in, while the other two girls waited on the porch, letting Angelica out to sniff around. Angelica had to go, so they took the dog around to the side of the house by the garage where the garbage cans were. While Angelica was squatting, the side door opened, and Reggie stepped out, carrying a piece of paper and a rope. He froze when he saw Taylor there, while Taylor felt her heart race in panic.

“Hey, I got the stuff, I don’t see-” Sarah walked around the side of the house, took one look at the situation, then quickly took charge of it. “Oh hey, Reg. I forgot my uniform, so we stopped by. This is Rachel and her dog Angelica, she’s my new friend. We’re taking her to Taylor’s, bye.”

Frantically motioning to her friends, Sarah beckoned them away before Reggie could question them. 

“Hey, wait!” Reggie said as Taylor and Rachel scrambled away. Taylor froze, while Rachel’s hackles rose and she turned, growing at Reggie. But he brushed past them, going up to Sarah and wrapping her in a hug. 

“I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure, I love you too, you big dork,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

“Wait her just a sec,” he said, and ran into the house. Taylor eyed Sarah, while Rachel backed away, snapping her fingers for Angelica to heel. 

Before they could escape though, Reggie came back out, carrying his walkman and several CDs. “I want you to have this, OK? I know you keep borrowing it, so just take it.”

“Uh, thanks,” Sarah said. She smiled at Reggie. “I’ll feed your fish, I promise.”

“Thanks,” he said, giving Sarah another hug. Then he brightened. “You’ll be alright.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “You picking me up after kendo?”

Reggie paused, looking worried. “Uh, I might not be able to…but if no one else can…”

“We can drop her off,” Taylor said hastily. “It’ll be fine.” 

Reggie nodded, then turned around. “Good. You won’t need me.”

“Yeah, I’m not a baby, dork,” Sarah called as Reggie went back into the house. She turned around. “Come on, let’s go give Angelica a bath.”

It was only another short bus ride to Taylor’s apartment, then they snuck Angelica inside and put her in the bath. The three girls made quite the mess along with the dog as the lathered and rinsed her, laughing as they scrubbed at the fur, which turned out to be a light brown instead of a dirty grey. They were up to their elbows in soap when Taylor’s mother came into the bathroom.

“I hear laughing, what is- TAYLOR!” 

All three girls froze, slowly turning to face Annette. Which was the moment that Angelica picked to jump out of the bath and shake her fur dry with a happy bark, getting all three of them and Annette wet, along with most of the bathroom. 

“Taylor,” Annette groaned. “What is…never mind. Get this cleaned up. Then you can explain to me who your new friends are.”

“Um, OK,” Taylor agreed. 

“And I guess I’ll need to heat up another pizza. What’s your name, dear,” Annette said wearily, taking off her glasses and wiping the soap suds off. 

“She’s Angelica. I’m Rachel,” was the reply, the emphasis on the dog. 

“Alright. I wonder if dogs eat cat food,” Annette muttered, then shook her head again and walked out of the bathroom. 

Rachel turned out to be quite a bit bigger than Taylor, but they managed to find a bulky sweater and sweatpants that fit her after they wiped down the bathroom and dog. Angelica did indeed enjoy cat food, though Inigo the cat looked at the dog suspiciously from his perch on a bookshelf as the dog ate what the cat considered his rightful supper. All three girls eagerly devoured the frozen pizza and green beans, though Rachel was suspicious of the vegetables. 

“Do your parents know you're here?” Annette asked Rachel.

“No,” Rachel said bluntly. 

“Well, we’ll have to call them, you can’t just wander off, and they don’t know me,” Annette said.

Rachel shrugged. “I don’t know who my dad is and my mom’s in jail so she probably can’t talk to you. I don’t know the number either.”

“Oh! Ah, I see. Who looks after you, Rachel?” Annette tried again.

“I look after myself. And Angelica,” Rachel growled, pulling her pizza protectively closer to her. 

“I…see,” Annette said faintly. She glanced at her daughter. “Taylor…”

“You should probably call Helen and Troy, since they’re your foster parents,” Taylor pointed out.

“I guess,” Rachel said with a shrug. 

Annette had a long phone conversation with Rachel’s foster parents, which sounded rather animated to Taylor. They didn’t seem like bad people, as she laughed and smiled during the conversation. Rachel had a much more terse exchange with them, but the long and short of it was that Rachel was allowed to go to kendo.

“They seemed very happy that you’d made some friends, Rachel. They were worried about you,” Annette said as they all scrambled into the car with Angelica. 

Rachel just shrugged, looking out the window and holding Angelica on her lap. 

“Um, she’s new at school this year, she started in November,” Sarah said helpfully. “She’s in Mrs. Monroe’s class, but we met her after school ‘cause she had Angelica and Taylor saw-”

“-saw her with the dog!” Taylor interrupted. 

“Dogs require a lot more work than cats, Taylor,” Annette said as she drove. “I thought you were happy with Inigo Catoya.” 

“I am!” Taylor assured her mother. “But Rachel likes dogs.”

“Cats are stupid. They don’t listen,” Rachel muttered.

“Just like little girls!” Annette said brightly, then laughed at her own joke. Taylor didn’t think it was that funny.

When they arrived, Taylor’s mom promised to walk Angelica around the strip mall while they attended class. Rachel seemed leery of the idea of being separated from Angelica, but Sarah and Taylor assured her that kendo was key to “The Plan.” 

“What plan?” Rachel asked as they ushered her into the dojo. 

“You know, the plan to kill the Siberian,” Taylor said. 

“And save the dogs,” Sarah added.

“Oh, OK. As long as it’s to save the dogs,” Rachel agreed, nodding seriously. 

Sensei Noelle was happy to have a new student, even if Rachel was “just visiting” that night. They did their exercises first, which Rachel seemed to enjoy, since she was easily able to do more sit ups and pushups than either Sarah or Taylor, even though they’d been practicing really hard. Taylor figured it was probably the Vision. 

After that, Sensei Kazoo led them in their basic sword drills. He stressed it wasn’t traditional kendo, but “Origin Bladework.” Taylor figured that was much cooler, since that was the same sword style that Lightning Princess Ami used. She’d been in Kendo class for over a year now, so she was getting pretty good at it. 

As they were practicing, there was a sudden shout, and a flurry of blows to the side. Taylor turned her to see Rachel savagely swinging at Noelle, even though they had just been learning basic grip with the beginners. Noelle was calmly parrying each artless blow, but they were coming faster and faster. 

“Stop!” Sensei Kazoo shouted, and began to move through the crowd of students towards the duel. As he did so, Rachel let out a snarl of rage, and her sword suddenly crackled with purple lightning. She struck a blow with the fury of the storm, which Noelle smoothly parried, putting Rachel off balance. She rapped her sword on Rachel’s hands, making the younger girl drop her sword with a cry.

“ARRRROOOWW!” Rachel suddenly howled, and there was a peel of thunder. A massive wolf lept through the windows at the front of the dojo in a spray of glass as children screamed, the glowing beast snarling as it lept for Noelle’s throat. 

In a roar of wind, Sensei Kazoo was there, blowing back the wolf with a gust of wind. He rapped the beast smartly across the nose with the flat of his blade, and the creature let out a whine of pain. 

At the same time, Rachel attacked Noelle with claws of lightning, her entire face contorted in bestial fury. Noelle pivoted on one foot, dodging to one side, then brought her blade down hard on the back of Rachel’s head. Rachel crumpled to the floor, unconscious, and the wolf outside howled in rage, then collapsed, revealing that it was only Angelica. 

“Rachel!” Taylor cried, then raced over to her friend’s side, Sarah hard on her heels. 

Noelle was already there though, and put out a hand to stop them. “Wait! She could have a head or neck injury! Don’t touch her! We need to wait for the medics and the protectorate. Sarah, get your phone and call them, we need to-”

“Already here,” a familiar voice said, and Legend swooped into the room, glowing with power. His eyes sought out Junior’s first, and he relaxed slightly when his son waved to him. 

“I’m OK, dad.”

Nodding, Legend dropped to the ground, and turned to Sensei Kazoo. “What happened?”

“It seems a young Vision Holder did not disclose her powers to me before joining my class,” Sensei said grimly, stepping over to Rachel’s side. He ran hands glowing with Anemo over her, then nodded. “She’ll be alright. Vision Holders are made of tough stuff. That was a good blow, Noelle. Not many could stand up to a Vision Holder with nothing but a wooden blade.”

“I-I just reacted with my training, Sensei. I didn’t even think about it. Oh, I should have been more alert, and noticed she was getting enraged! And my blow, I was careless, I could have killed her!” Noelle said, wringing her hands anxiously. 

“Who is she?” Legend said, looking around the room. His eyes locked on Taylor. “Taylor…”

“Um, I-I, um,” Taylor stammered, then looked to Sarah.

“It’s like this, you see,” Sarah said, stepping forward confidently. She laid out only a slightly falsified account of their meeting Rachel, which left out only unimportant parts like their Oath of Vengence against the Nine and specifically the Siberian. 

“I’ll have to call her foster parents to confirm this,” Legend said with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “How did they not notice they had a young Vision Holder in the house?”

Before that could be answered, Rachel jerked upright, her eyes wild. “Angelica!” 

“Easy there,” Legend said, putting a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “You’re-”

“You can’t take her, she’s MY DOG!” Rachel shouted, her body crackling with lightning as she flung Legend’s hand off her and stood.

Just then, Junior ran over, carrying Angelica with Anette. “It’s OK! Your dog’s fine, see?” 

Instantly, Rachel relaxed, eagerly taking Angelica from Junior as the dog licked at her face. She hugged Angelica tightly, tears trickling down her face. Then she looked up at Legend himself, and said defiantly, “You can’t take her from me.” 

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Legend said with a chuckle. He knelt down, putting his head even with Rachel’s. “But I think you and I need to talk, young lady.”

“As long as it’s about dogs,” Rachel said stubbornly. “I only like to talk about dogs.”

“She’s um, in my class,” Junior said. He waved nervously. “Uh, hi.”

Rachel frowned at him. “No you’re not. You’re in Mr. Richard’s class. I’m in Mrs. Monroe’s class.”

“We have art together!” Junior said hastily. 

Rachel nodded. “Yeah. I guess.” Then she turned towards the shattered glass everywhere. “Who broke the window?”

It turned out Rachel didn’t remember anything after she’d taken a light blow from Noelle. Sensei said it wasn’t unusual for inexperienced Vision Holders to get overwhelmed by Elemental Energy and go berserk. Legend said he’d take Rachel (and Angelica) back to HQ and debrief her and her foster parents about the situation, while Annette loaded Taylor and Sarah into the car. 

“No kendo classes for the next week, I’ll have to get this repaired,” Sensei said, nodding to the broken glass. 

“Um, are we still allowed to come?” Taylor asked nervously as her mom tried to drag her away.

“I think you’d best. Though next time, your friend Rachel will need to come with the Wards for their private lessons. It’s not safe to have a Vision Holder practice arms with civilians,” Sensei explained. 

“Noelle did OK,” Sarah pointed out stubbornly. 

“Noelle is a special case,” Sensei said with a small smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll still get to see Rachel.”

“You do find the most interesting people, Taylor,” Annette said with a sigh as they drove to Sarah’s house. “Did you know she had a Vision? What am I saying, of course you did.” 

“Um, I saw it when we bumped into her. I just…I wanted to know how she got it,” Taylor admitted. 

“Taylor…you’re going to have to give this up at some point, you know that, right?” Annette said, looking into the rearview mirror at Taylor.

“No, I won’t,” Taylor sulked, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly. 

Her mom looked like she wanted to say more, but they were on Sarah’s street, so she kept quite until they pulled up to Sarah’s house.

“Thanks, Mrs. Hebert,” Sarah said, grabbing her stuff and jumping out of the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Taylor!”

“Bye,” Taylor said, waving as Sarah ran up the driveway.

“Come around to the front seat,” her mom said, looking meaningfully in the mirror again.

Groaning, Taylor got out and walked around. She’d just put her hand on the door when she heard Sarah scream. It was a soul-piercing wail of pain and despair, more frightening than all the screams she’d heard when Angelica had broken through the glass an hour ago. Without even thinking about it, Taylor dropped everything but her wooden sword and barreled up the steps after Sarah.

“TAYLOR!” Annette screamed behind her, but Taylor ignored her. 

I have to protect her. I have to protect them, Taylor thought, and it was though she felt her father’s hands on her shoulders. She didn't even see as her Vision roared to life, crackling with power as she dashed up the stairs. 

When she reached the top, she found Sarah on her knees, weeping uncontrollably as light spilled out of the bathroom in a pool around her in the darkened house. She raised her sword high, ready to strike down whatever evil she found.

But when she got there, Taylor’s sword slipped from her nerveless fingers, and her Vision died out again, snuffed out like a candle flame. She could only stand there, frozen, as she looked at the body dangling from the bathroom ceiling. She slowly knelt as her mother ran up the stairs shouting for her, putting her arms around Sarah as she wept. 

“No, no, no, no, no,” Sarah pleaded, scrambling with clumsy fingers as she tried to dial 911 on her phone. 

Taylor knew it was already too late though. This time, again, she hadn’t been able to save anyone.