The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

I was in a bad way.

I knew it, knew I was sliding into a deep bottomless pit of depression and self destruction, knew that I needed help, serious, powerful help... but I just couldn’t muster the strength to care. It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered. Just like in the Linkin Park song... which I’d listened to about five hundred times over the past few days. I’d never really been much of a fan before, more drawn to lighter, more upbeat kinds of music, like pop, and light rock, dance and club music. Now... that happy, vapid shit just seemed to piss me off.

Sighing softly, I tapped in my sequence into the keypad at my parent’s house, and slipped inside. The house was completely empty; mom and dad were both in Midas City, recovering from everything that had happened last week, and Consuela, the maid, wasn’t due to stop by until tomorrow. Just as well, I thought grimly, making my way up the stairs and down the hall to my old room. I don’t really want to see either of them right now. It would just start another fight... and I’m just too emotionally drained to handle it.

I felt bad about the way we’d parted. I really did. I’d yelled at both of them, cursed them to their faces, blaming them for Jessica’s death, calling them the worst parents in history, saying I wished they’d died instead of Jessica. All of it loud, angry and hurtful... and none of it true.

I loved my parents, and deep down, I knew it wasn’t their fault. Dad had tried to spare us from the fear and uncertainty of knowing someone was out there hunting me, trying to kill me. He’d even hired bodyguards to watch over me and protect me. There was no way he could have known some lunatic with a bakery fetish would turn the entire city, including my protectors, into dim-witted, high-libido, sex-crazed bimbos. And mom... she was in an impossible spot. How could she NOT go to him instead of Jessica, and use her magic to save HIS life? He was her husband... the missing piece of her heart and soul. I couldn’t blame them... and yet I did.

Because it was easier than blaming myself for failing to save her. I paused in front of Jimmy’s doorway. Jimmy. My twin brother... the only person in this whole Goddess-forsaken world that could possibly understand what I am feeling, But where was he? No one knew, no one has seen him since my sadistic Uncle set his endgame into effect, trying to kill us.

Though they hadn’t said it aloud, I knew mom and dad suspected the worst, that Jimmy was dead as well. Well, fuck that... and fuck THEM for even thinking it! I thought furiously, gritting my teeth.

Jimmy was alive. I knew that much for a fact. He and I were connected in a way few people could ever be. If anything like that had happened, I would have known it. Felt it. He was still alive... he just wasn’t here. Still, I don’t think he would mind me using his room a bit, I thought, walking over to his stereo set, switching it on, as I made my way to his bed. After a few seconds, the CD changer kicked on, and loud, angry, head thumping, heart pounding music filled the room. The kind of music with a beat so vicious it shakes your body so hard you can’t even think. The kind of music that you went to concerts to hear and came back from partially deaf. Lying back on the bed, I closed my eyes, and let the music take me out of myself...

Nigel came back into himself. He opened his eyes and sat up on the couch as the music ended. It was the beautiful, angelic “Sull’aria” duet from “The Marriage of Figaro”. How appropriate for this meeting with his heroic duo of heroines, his beautiful Angels.

It had taken some additional coordination for Nigel to arrange to ‘free’ the last two harem girls, mainly because he insisted on ‘doing them’ together. He had to tread carefully here. He didn’t believe that the Angels would have regrets—or, God forbid, anger—about their enslavement, but as always, his motto was ‘better safe than sorry’, or, as he more often put it, ‘better paranoid than dead.’

It may be unlikely that the Angels would bear him ill will, but even so, extra precautions were warranted. Unlike the rest of his slaves, “Ivory Angel” Sioban MacMillan and “Ebony Angel” Tawnya Parkinson were super-powered heroines. If he were wrong about them, if they attacked him, they could snap his neck like a dry twig, even before Silver Girl could intervene.

That’s right, Silver Girl had returned. Ready for one last round of deprogramming. Ready to get this whole thing over with. Her mind was clearly on other things, other responsibilities. Helping Nigel free his harem was a distraction for her. The sooner we finish this, the better, for all of us, he thought.

Sioban and Tawnya were waiting in the outer office with Constance. Thank goodness that the rest of the girls had agreed to keep a lid on things until now, not letting the young heroines know that the rest of Nigel’s harem had been freed. Even so, Nigel had a small panic attack at dinner when Delores had slipped and called Constance “Connie”. Luckily, neither Sioban nor Tawnya seemed to notice that breach in Nigel’s “no nicknames” rule.

And now it was time for the moment of truth. It was time to free his last two remaining slaves, the two most dangerous ones. He reached for the intercom, “Conni—err, Constance,” Shit! I almost did it myself! “Please send them in.“

“Of course, Mr. Grimalde,” came the response, with just a hint of laughter in it. Does she think this is funny? he thought angrily. And then the door opened. In they walked, dressed for patrol as always in lacy pastel lingerie, Sioban in mint green bra and panties with matching pumps and mid-thigh cream-colored stockings, Tawnya in pale pink lingerie and pumps with jet-black stockings, both with wings furled behind them, as befitting for the enclosed space of Nigel’s temporary office. In this smaller office, the difference in size between the two seemed almost magnified. Tall, dark Tawnya was now slightly taller than Nigel, himself a six-footer. He wondered if the girl would ever stop growing.

Next to her, tiny, frail-but-voluptuous, freckle-faced Sioban was clearly the leader of the pair, despite the fact that the redhead barely cleared five feet even. Sioban took in the whole room at a glance, including Silver Girl. Her eyes, her face, betrayed no emotion except maybe wry humor. Nigel found himself wondering if someone had spilled the beans to them. Constance, loyal as always, supplied the answer telepathically, «No, Master—can I still call you ‘Master’?—she figured it out herself. And no, she hasn’t told Tawnya yet.»

Well, so much for “keeping a lid on things”. Studying Tawnya now, Nigel could see that she was a bit confused.

Seeing that she had caught her Master’s eye, Tawnya asked, “Um, Ma..., Mr. Grimalde, is that Silver Girl?” Then, turning to face their guest, Tawnya said, “I’m sorry, that’s rude of me with you standing right there. You ARE Silver Girl, right?”

Silver Girl smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth to respond, but not quite fast enough. Like the rabid fangirl she was, Tawnya pounced. “Oh, WOW!” she said, “I’m such a HUGE, um, admirer of your, ah, work? And I’m SO glad that you’re back and all. I was so worried about you! And I just think you’re so... so COOL! Oh, um, I’m babbling. My name is, ah—”

Sioban interrupted, “Oh, I’m pretty sure that she knows exactly who we are, Ebony.”

“Well, she probably knows who YOU are, O Experienced One,” said Tawnya, dipping low to give her partner a gentle hip check.

“No, Nigel’s probably given her complete dossiers on both of us. After all, we’re the reason you’re here. Right, Silver Girl?”

“Um, yeah, kinda,” Sarah replied, blushing more than a little, giving the pair of them a thorough once-over. Goddess, she’s a tall one! And the other, she’s even shorter than I am! Lacie DID mention that they were a bit oddly matched, but ‘mocha-skinned giant and cute porcelain doll’ doesn’t even begin to cover it! Damn you, Grimalde... you managed to corner the market on all the beautiful women in River City! When this is all over and done with, you’re gonna have to give me your secret.

Aloud she said, “So, um... Ebony Angel and Ivory Angel, eh? I’ve heard a bit about you before today, in the news and from the Fraisers. Interesting names, though fitting. Then again, I’m one to talk, right? Silver Girl? With silver hair and silver skin, I guess I couldn’t exactly call myself Electronia the Lightning Lass, could I?” she said weakly with a laugh.

Tawnya was confused now. Silver Girl was obviously visibly nervous, and Sioban clearly knew why. Why wasn’t her partner sharing the big secret?

This session was clearly NOT going according to Nigel’s plan. Sioban could upset the apple cart at any minute. It was time for the alpha male to take charge. Nigel ordered the girls to freeze. But then he exaggeratedly gestured to Sioban to continue, prompting her with a faux-British accent, “However did you figure it out, ‘Holmes’?”

“Elementary, my dear Master,” Sioban replied in-kind with a wry grin. Then followed a litany little things that only Sioban had noticed: tiny breaches of harem discipline, flashes of annoyance of where normally would be only blissful compliance, looks and winks exchanged among her freed sisters, and then Delores’s slip up at the dinner table to cap it off.

“I realized you must have found some way to reverse your mind control drug, and some reason to do it,” Sioban continued, “but I didn’t actually realize what it was until I saw Silver Girl. She’s here to release us from your control—”

At this Tawnya gasped.

“—and being as she is a close friend of the Frasiers, I’m guessing it was Eugene who talked you into it.”

Nigel nodded.

“I bet he’s talked you into giving up your Blackfinger operations too—”

“No,” Nigel interrupted, “True, I am working on shutting down Blackfinger, but I decided that completely on my own. When I told Frasier about that he looked as surprised as Tawnya does now.”

And indeed the tall teenager did look shocked at the things she was learning.

“Go ahead, Tawnya,” Nigel said, “I can tell you’ve got questions.”

“Master, you’re gonna set us free? You’re gonna leave us?”

“Do you want to field that one, Madame Poirot?” said Nigel.

Sioban looked at Tawnya kindly—her friend, her lover, her junior partner. “No, T-baby,” she said, “You can stay as long as you want. We all can stay. After all, he’s already freed everyone except you and me, and he didn’t make any of them go away. He still loves us all; he just doesn’t want to be a slavemaster anymore.”

Tawnya still looked crestfallen. “But, but I don’t WANT to be free! Master, please! I love being your slave! I love belonging to you! Please don’t do this, Master!”

“That’s enough, Tawnya,” Nigel replied, kindly but firmly, “Try not to worry. It’s all going to be okay. For now I need you to calm down and show me how perfect a slave you are right now. I need you to follow my instructions to the letter one last time, capisce?”

Tawnya’s voice, when she finally responded, was so unlike her that even Sioban did a double-take. Tawnya sounded for all the world like a shy, frightened little girl as she said, “Yes Master. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“Good,” said Nigel, “Right now I need you to stand in front of me. Be ready to defend me. No offense of course, Sioban.”

“None taken, Master. And I can’t guarantee what my mind will be like after I’m free. You have five other wives and two kids to think of. You’ve got to protect them from the Syndicate.” Then she turned to her confused partner. “Don’t let your guard down, T. You have to consider me dangerous.”

Tawnya nodded and took a defensive stance.

“Silver Girl,” said Sioban, “I think we’re ready.”

Sarah nodded grimly, hoping she was ready for this as well. “Alright, Sioban, just try and relax...”

Soon Sioban was lost in a dream. A dream of a happy future. A future Sioban wasn’t even sure was possible right now, but one that she wanted so badly she could almost taste it. She was with the love of her life—cascading blonde hair, blue, blue eyes, and a smile as bright the sun—Katie Frasier.

They chased each other across the sky, madly, hopelessly, HAPPILY in love. Finally Sioban caught Katie. She always caught Katie. It was their game. Katie never flew from Sioban faster than Sioban could follow. Getting caught was the whole point.

“I have you in my power now, Luminaire. You cannot escape!”

“You may have captured me, Dragonfyre, but you’ll never make me talk!”

“Oh no?” said Sioban, forcing Katie’s nose into her generous cleavage, “Let’s see how long you can resist my hypno-boobs.”

“Fool!” cried Katie, although somewhat muffled, “Your hypno-boobs are no match for my mad motorboating skills.”

And true enough, Sioban did lose her focus a bit when Katie began shaking her head and putt-putt-puttering into her cleavage. But soon she regained the upper hand. Of course she regained the upper hand. Katie always insisted that Sioban regain the upper hand. It was one of the things that Sioban loved most about Katie.

“Then you leave me no choice, Hero. Death of a Thousand Feathers!“

“Oh no!” squealed Katie, in very real fear, now trying earnestly to get away.

But it was no use. Sioban held the squirming blonde even tighter, pinning Katie’s arms behind her back. Then Sioban brought her wing tips around to brush ever-so-gently against her helpless captive’s ribs, the soles of her feet, the back of her neck.

Katie was consumed by tickle-madness. She didn’t know whether to laugh, scream, moan, or cry. So she did all of them. At the same time.

In between the inarticulate noises and the ragged breaths, Katie tried to capitulate, but it wasn’t easy.

“I... surr... surren... IGIVEUP! ... Please... PLEASE... I... can’t... I... PLEASE SIOBAN—”

“That’s Mistress Dragonfyre to you, slave!”

“PleeEEEEase... Missss... Tress... Draa-AAAAAAAAAAH.”

This was it, the part Sioban loved best. Katie was so out of it she was losing control of her light powers. First her eyes began to glow...

Sioban whisper-sang teasingly into her lover’s ear, “Squirm, little glow-worm, shimmy, shimmy”

Now her skin began to glow...

“Bounce, little glow-worm, shimmy, shimmy”

But suddenly it all went wrong. Katie’s cries were no longer mirthful; they were truly tortured. Katie’s face was no longer one of blissful surrender to her Mistress; it was a mask of unbearable pain. Her skin no longer glowed; it blazed bright, too bright to look upon.

As Sioban shielded her eyes she heard Katie’s all too familiar agonized cry, “No! You don’t understand. You CAN’T understand! Just... Just... go away. LEAVE ME ALONE!!”

Lost and hurting, Katie howled a loud wail of pure agony. Could she ever find peace? Relief? Would anyplace, anyone ever feel like home again?

Arriving back home, Lacie let out a small sigh of relief... she was home again. It was strange in a way... she’d been away only a few weeks and yet it felt like a lifetime since she’d left to go after Eugene. She’d teleported away then under her own power; now, in returning, she’d required her young beautiful niece Yancy to bring her back. Just a few days, and yet so much had changed...

She glanced around at her surroundings, and smiled, blushing heavily. Yancy had taken her quite literally, depositing them in her bedroom. The room had aired out a bit from the time she’d been away, though the scent of sex still lingered somewhat... overcome by the bimbo virus the super villain Sweet Tooth had unleashed, she and Eva had spent more than twenty four hours straight in this room having vigorous, energetic, frantic, lust-filled sex, stopping only to rest and nap or eat then returning back to it once more. She glanced slightly at Yancy, curious as to whether it was having any effect on her—while she wouldn’t at all be opposed to a repeat of their earlier, somewhat spontaneous tryst, it was probably not a good idea. Eva was with Eugene for now, and Sarah was busy helping Nigel Grimalde for a while, but eventually someone would come looking. Lacie nodded to Yancy, releasing her hand reluctantly... something about merely touching the redheaded Nesatealia girl just felt yummy.

“Ah, um... thanks, sweetie. It shouldn’t take too long for me to pack a few things. After that, if you don’t mind, I need to swing by Eva’s apartment and grab some clothes for her as well. But, while we’re here, do you want something to eat or drink? It’s been a while since you’ve visited but I think we still keep the same soda you like in the fridge...”

To her own credit, Yancy took a step back, resisting the urge to stay close to her lovely Aunt. As much as she enjoyed having her close—and she most certainly DID—she still felt a little silly for letting things get so out of hand earlier. True, Lacie had been compelled, and that compulsion had fed into Yancy’s own volatile lusts, but she still felt silly for being driven so out of control by her own powers.

After all this time, she’d thought she had a handle on it, not the other way around! “Uhm, sure, I’ll go grab a soda. Take all the time you want though, Auntie. Really. There’s a chance some emergency could pop up in Sanctuary, but could I’d be there and back in a flash, so... all the time in the world to help you out.” With a smile and a little wave, Yancy made her way out to do just that, grab a drink and return to the room. In the kitchen, she opened the fridge, smiling slightly. Yep. There it is... a twelve pack of Diet Coke, and one of Mt. Dew with real sugar instead of corn syrup. Must be left over from when Sylvie came to visit a few months ago. Grabbing a can, and a cup of ice, she poured herself a drink, then cursing herself for her thoughtlessness, headed back to the room to see if Lacie wanted one as well.

Outside in the hallway, the sound of loud heavy metal music came from the room at the far end... the music up so loud the poster pinned to the door vibrated, as if about to shake loose. She wasn’t quite so sure about the band that had started to play just know, but she recognized the band that had just finished... the Smashing Pumpkins? ‘Butterfly with Bullet Wings’...definitely Jimmy’s kind of tune. she mused as the new song began. Yancy froze, almost dropping her drink to the floor as she realized where the music was coming from. She imagined not wanting to get caught by Jimmy would help her keep her hands to herself, but given that he didn’t know she wasn’t actually dead she wasn’t sure what she should do. Her powers fed off the needs and desires of those around her, and she was acutely aware of his feelings for her.

Back in her bedroom, Lacie glanced up suddenly, frowning... the music she’d briefly heard playing outside when Yancy slipped out through the door finally registering. She could just barely make out the words being sang now: “In these moments... of loss and torment... when the vast skies don’t seem to call you...when the weight of the world bears down... and the stars have fallen like tears...” Surprised, she nearly dropped her suitcase, glancing at the doorway.

Jimmy? It has to be him! I don’t know the name of that band, but he’s played that song enough times that even I have the words memorized! But... how? When did he get back? Last any of us heard he had disappeared somewhere over in the Salt Lake City area...

Frozen in indecision, debating with herself for several seconds, Yancy decided to talk to him. They were cousins after all, and they would all find out she was alive eventually. Better for him to hear it from her herself, face to face anyway... She looked down at herself for a moment, tugged at her skirt as if to will it a little longer, and moved towards his door to give it a knock.

Sioban looked down at herself for a moment, feeling naked in her skimpy ‘uniform’, not even a skirt to tug on. Sioban’s ‘Dream-Katie’ was gone. In her place, Silver Girl stood, smiling sheepishly. The dream... the horrible nightmare... was over, already fading into a fuzzy indistinct memory. But in spite of the pain of the end of that dream, Sioban felt as if an unbearable burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

As Silver Girl stepped away from tiny Sioban, the metal-coated heroine wondered what she would see this time. Keening sorrow? Violent anger? How about a three-way orgy? she thought with a smirk, We haven’t had one of those yet. If I made a joke about ‘payment for services rendered’, I wonder if they’d take it seriously and invite me to join in?

She saw the tears welling up in Sioban’s eyes and sighed inwardly. Damn. Keening sorrow it is then. But wait—

A broad, satisfied grin grew on the Tearbearer’s face. Silver Girl realized that she was seeing tears of joy.

“Thank you! Thank you, Nigel Grimalde,” said the tiny redhead, pausing to catch her breath, to consider her words. “I’m so lucky to have had you for a master! You understood! But now. Now I’m so happy, so thrilled, so... so... liberated!“

Tawnya was confused. “How can you be so happy? You were every bit as dedicated to Master as any one of us!”

“I was, T,” said Sioban, “I was. But you see, there was a difference with me. All of the rest of Nigel’s harem, you included, are naturally submissive, at least in bed if not in life. I’m not. Rather the opposite. Did you never wonder why Nigel treated me so differently than the other slaves? Why he held me so very loosely?”

Tawnya shook her head, still not getting it.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Sioban tried to explain once more, “Look back at Patricia’s Tear memories about me. I was gone more than I was here! Hitchhiking through Europe. Volunteering for hurricane relief in Haiti. Three whole years away in Virginia getting my Chemical Engineering Ph.D. Then two more years of postdoc at that experimental refinery in Houston. Even after I came home I was gone more than anyone else in the harem was, teaching late, consulting, speaking at conferences. Nigel did all that on purpose! He knew that if I was forced to knuckle under to him too much, that deep down inside, underneath the slave girl part of me, I would grow to resent it, that eventually I would hate him, hate myself, hate my life. So he made it easy. It was easy for me to be his slave and still be myself. And it was all because he understood me!” She turned to Nigel, still grinning. “Can I hug you, Nigel? Can I? Please?“

Nigel nodded to her, smiled, and opened his arms. She let him envelope her. Tiny though she was, Sioban was much stronger than Nigel, but now was not a time to prove that.

“Thank you, Nigel! Thank you for letting me be me!”

“You’re welcome, Sioban,” said Nigel, “Although I think you’re giving me more credit than I deserve. There was no grand plan. It was your undergrad advisor who told me you had a ‘once in a generation’ mind. All I was trying to do at first was just nurture that mind. It seemed like such a horrible waste not to. Soon it was obvious to me that the best way to do that was to give you my permission to step outside your comfort zone. It became all about freeing your gifts, your mind. Today you are proving just how amazingly well you have grown into that mind. But I didn’t realize how much you chafed at the harem discipline until much later. So, what’s next, Ms. Mind?”

She paused for a moment to think about that, “Well, I’d like to stay here for a while—”

“Of course. Not a problem.”

“But, err, sooner or later I’m going to have to move out.”

“Really? I’m not that bad, am I?”

“No! It’s not that! I just—” She blushed furiously. “I think... maybe... I might be in love, Nigel.” Images sprang to her mind—long blonde hair, a sunny smile, a slow sultry kiss—and... loss and anger and inconsolable grief. “This... person is going through a lot right now, but I still want to be there for, ah, that person. It wouldn’t be right to be your harem girl and try to have an outside relationship at the same time. It wouldn’t be fair to my lover.”

“No,” said Nigel, “I guess it wouldn’t. You know I’ll miss you.”

“Oh, come on now!” snarked Sioban, “You’ll have five other lovers to keep you busy. You’ll hardly know I’m gone!”

“Rest assured, I’d know. There’s only one Sioban MacMillan... but wait. ‘Five’ others? Are you sure about that number?” asked Nigel.

“Assuming talk, dark, and sexy here wants to stay with you. You do want to stay, right, T-baby?“

Nigel interrupted. “Don’t answer that, Tawnya! In fact, why don’t you go stand where Sioban was standing, over by Silver Girl.”

“Master,” cried the big teenager, “Please don’t! I don’t want this!”

“I know,” said Nigel softly, “but it’s happening, baby. Stop fighting it. Be quiet. Stand still. Sioban, would you, ah, mind bodyguarding me?”

“No. Not at all.” Sioban took up the same defensive stance that Tawnya had held moments before. It was hard for Nigel not to compare the two, now that their positions were reversed. She looks so much tinier than Tawnya, but I bet if it ever did come to a real brawl, Sioban would find a way to win. I hope we never have to find out though. Especially not right now.

“Silver Girl?” prompted Nigel, “This is it. My last harem slave.”

“Oh, hardly your last, Grimalde,” Sarah joked as she positioned herself in front of the tall black girl, “Seems to me that your harem is just like it was before. ‘Ready, willing, and able’ even, if Connie is any indication.“

Without waiting for an answer, she faced a frightened Tawnya and said, “You’ll see brightness in the place where your hopes and dreams live. It’s nothing to be scared of. It doesn’t hurt. But you will feel different when I am done. Here goes—”

Silver Girl raised her hands and let the sparks fly one last time...

Tawnya dreamed. She had just finished her last air support run, protecting the grunts on the ground, her people, her team. She pitched and rolled her Warthog, her baby, up toward the sun. but the sun was so bright, too bright, more like a welding arc, sparks flying everywhere, washing over her, consuming her...

She fought it. Her dream changed. She was space-walking outside the ISS, training her suit’s headlight on the problem, the busted solar panel, when suddenly a much brighter light caused her suit to cast a shadow. She turned to face the bright beauty of the sun, inching past the curve of the Earth below, getting brighter... brighter... brighter...

Leaving behind a flaming car and three burnt bodies...

A look of horror came over Tawnya’s face. She fell to the floor and sobbed. She raised her fist and hammered the floor, over and over again, so hard that everything in the room that was not secured bounced, but not so hard as to make a hole in the floor.

So It’s NOT a full-blown tantrum. She is exhibiting some control, thought Nigel, That’s a good sign, I guess.

Finally she looked up at Nigel with tear-streaked eyes and wailed, “Why, Master? Why did you turn me away? Was I not good enough? Was I too much of a burden?”

“No, Tawnya, no,” said Nigel, “You’ve been amazing. You’ve exceeded ALL my expectations, as a hero, as a harem girl, as a student, as... as a human being! It was me. It’s me. I couldn’t take it anymore. It’s not right for a man to hold this much power over someone else.”

He paused. Could he make her understand? He had to try. “Tawnya, just yesterday I told someone to ‘freeze’, and she stopped breathing. She almost suffocated because I gave a bad order. And I’ve got experience! I’ve been doing this for TWO FREAKING DECADES! Tawnya... I love you. I don’t want to push you away. I’ll be your mentor. I’ll be your lover. I’ll be your master in the bedroom. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. But I CAN’T be your real-life slavemaster anymore, not the way I was.”

Tawnya shook her head, still feeling her world crumbling around her. “But... but... everything in my life was so perfect as your slave! My grades were better. I was happier. And I didn’t think about... I didn’t miss... I... I... Oh GOD! I miss them so BAD! Mom and Dad! Tyrone! They’re gone and I miss them so much!”

It was all washing over her again. All the emotions. All the pain.

The day had started out so well. Her big brother Tyrone had had another banner day as star running back for the Oregon Ducks. They all called him “T-Bone”, dating back to high school. In fact Tawnya owed him for her own high school nickname. They called her “T-Baby” because she was T-Bone Parkinson’s baby sister. But again, this was T-Bone’s day. On a sloppy wet field T-Bone had had a field day. 255 yards on 22 carries, including a 72-yard touchdown run at the start of the second half. Mom and Dad were taking him out to a big dinner to celebrate. And of course, T-Bone invited his best friend, man-mountain tight end Darryl Jeffreys.

T-Baby wasn’t with them. Oh, she would have loved to have been there. She and her brother had a great relationship; she would have cheered for the Ducks as loud and long as anyone. But she couldn’t. She had an away basketball game in Portland that Saturday, and even though she wasn’t a starter anymore, no one in the Parkinson family ever even entertained the thought that she might skip HER game to go see her brother’s. In the Parkinson family, the team was everything. You never let down your team.

So Tawnya wasn’t there as her family drove north along the Willamette River Road toward River City, reliving the Ducks’ victory, the warm glow of a great day all around. They were heading for dinner at Stefano’s, T-Bone’s favorite pizza place. Sure, it was no “Lorenzo’s”, but then again the Parkinsons weren’t exactly the Rockefellers either.

They didn’t notice the bright flashes and booming noise in the sky above them. It was just another autumn day in rainy Oregon. Thunder and lightning were a part of daily life. But the noise wasn’t thunder, and the bright flashes weren’t lightning.

It came out of nowhere, the energy bolt that hit the car. It probably wasn’t even aimed at them, just a stray shot that hit some innocent bystanders. It was collateral damage. The supers who had been fighting “the never-ending battle” up above them probably never even knew, or cared, that a stray shot hit someone. Then again, maybe they were football fans.

Tyrone was the first to wake up, and he pulled his buddy Darryl from the smoldering wreckage. Then, over Darryl’s protests, Tyrone went back for his parents. He had just wrestled his mom’s door open when the fuel tank blew. Darryl’s leg was busted up, so he could only look on while T-Bone and his parents... burned.

Meanwhile in Portland, Tawnya scored 14 points with 7 rebounds off of the bench that night against Franklin High. It was her best game of the season. Even the monster boobs that she had sprouted over the last six months couldn’t keep her down tonight. She was “in the Zone”.

They didn’t tell her about her family until the game was over.

But that was well over a year ago, and more than nine months before she became a Grimalde and a Tearbearer. Why did she forget? Why was it hitting her so hard now.

“Damn it to HELL!” said Nigel, “See, Tawnya. This is what I mean. I never meant to replace your family. I never meant for you to forget about your family. I thought your whole ‘I’m a Grimalde now’ thing was all your idea. I didn’t know that the slave training did that to you.”

“But it was my idea... kinda. I wanted to belong to you so much that I didn’t want anything to get in the way. So... so...”

“But it did happen during the slave training, right?”

She just nodded.

“And you decided that I was implicitly ordering you to forget about your family?”

“No! Not ‘forget about them’ so much as just ‘stop mourning them’,” Tawnya replied, “Master, it just didn’t seem right to be so sad in your happy family.”

“Oh baby,” he said, “You got it all wrong! You’re a part of my happy family no matter how you’re feeling. You don’t have to be Miss Smiley. You just have to be you.”

Looking up at her erstwhile master, her broad smile at odds with her tear-streaked face, she said, “Well, I know that now, NIGEL.”

As she burst into a helpless—and mildly disconcerting—case of the giggles, Sioban knelt down and hugged the big girl tight.

“That’s my T-Baby,” she said soothingly, “Master puts together 12 jam-packed hours of slave training, and MY T-Baby goes the extra mile. She finds time in there to invent whole new rules for herself.”

They all had a laugh about that, including... Sarah. When Nigel looked up, Silver Girl was right there among them, instead of standing across the room as she usually did.

Nigel had never asked Tawnya to forget about her family, but somewhere in the 12 hours of her slave training it had just clicked. Her immediate family was dead and gone. Her single aunt, her mom’s little sister, who had taken her in after the wreck, was more like a roommate than a parent. She had no family, and it seemed to her, in some strange way, that Nigel was offering her HIS family.

So when the slave training pushed her loyalty toward Nigel and the harem, she embraced it more completely than anyone could have imagined. The Parkinsons, they were her old team. They’d had a good run. But now what was important was her new team, Team Grimalde.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her family anymore. She just didn’t have time for them anymore. No time to mourn. No time to be sad. No time to miss her old team. Not when there was so much to see and learn and do as part of her new team.

No one in her new family had known her from before, so none of them noticed the change.

Well, except Darryl. It was that thought that finally snapped her out of her cycle of grief and pain. Oh Goddess! Darryl! He must think I’ve gone nuts... No, more likely he thinks I turned into a stuck-up rich bitch since I became a superhero. I gotta fix that.

When Tawnya’s expression changed... As the tears stopped flowing down her face, Nigel gathered her in his arms and comforted her. Sioban and Sarah looked on knowing everything would be alright.

I was lost in the moment, drifting away on the buoyant melody and powerful harmony of Killswitch Engage’s Always. It was just so... haunting... as if it had been written just for me. I felt the tears running down my cheeks through my closed eyes, and just for a moment, I could pretend it was Jessica speaking the words for me: “I am... with you always... from the darkness of night... until the morning! I am... with you always... from life until death... takes me...”

A loud knock at the door threw me out of the moment. Eyes opening, I cursed silently, fumbling, reaching for the remote to shut off the music. Shit! Someone’s here... must be Jimmy back from his trip to Utah. Wasn’t expecting that... kind of embarrassing to be caught like this in his room... but at least I’ll finally get to talk to him. Wiping my cheeks, straightening my clothes, I walked over to the door and opened it.

And stared into the face of a complete and total stranger.

“Sorry, bro, didn’t expect you back home so soon, hope you don’t mind me borrowing some m—what the hell?” The young woman looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. I frowned, crossing my arms at my chest, noting that she’d helped herself to a soda from the fridge. If she was some friend of my brother’s, I didn’t know her. And if Jimmy wasn’t with her, I couldn’t imagine what she was doing in my parent’s house uninvited. “And just who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my parent’s home?”

“Oh! Sorry. I just brought Lacie ba—wait...” Yancy blinked, red eyes briefly pulsing with light as they scanned Katie quickly. “Wow. It really has been awhile, hasn’t it? Longer in some ways... guess I’m going to need to get used to people not recognizing me.” She smiled crookedly. “You might remember me better with, hmmm... hair and eyes a little more brown, attached at the hip to Sylvia? Well, LaSilvas, to be more specific...” She shrugged. “I really should find some way to make these explanations quicker...” And her eyes continued to wander, mind idly lost in thought over the woman she’d left in her room, what she’d discovered, and the curiosity that Katie brought to life inside of her.

There was so much to know, and it had been so long. “I’m... really sorry to hear about what happened, by the way...”

“Er... oooookay,” I replied, blinking in surprise. The woman seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I’ve never had an eye or memory for faces, and though her smirk and offhand manner of speaking tickled something in the back of my mind, I’m not getting it. “Um... sorry... I’m a bit scattered at the moment,” I murmur softly, wiping my eyes again. “So, you know Nebb...er, Sylvia? And you’re a friend of my mom’s?” Not wanting to be rude, I forced a small smile, “I’m... Katie. Katie Frasier. If you’ve talked to my mom, then you probably heard about J... J.... my friend that passed away...”

I glanced away, taking a moment to compose myself. I wasn’t going to break down in front of a stranger. Taking a deep breath, I met her gaze again... red eyes, cute but a little disconcerting. I wondered if they were natural or contacts? “Um... you said you brought my mom back here? Is she in her room now?” She nodded, and my frown returned. I wasn’t ready for another confrontation. Not right now. “I um... need to leave. I just need to grab some CDs and go,” I replied, dipping back into the room, opening the CD player and quickly stacking them into my bag. “Sorry about this... but if she asks, just... um, just tell her I had to run, okay? I don’t want to see her right now...”

“Wait!” the woman called out, grabbing my arm. “Wait a sec, wait, please?” She moved in front of me, smiling weakly as she blocked the door. “It’s me, Katie! I’m Aurora! Well, um... sort of.” She half shrugged. “It’s an incredibly long story... and since the permanent dye job I go by ‘Yancy’ these days... but please, don’t run off so fast? I mean, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it...? I know you aren’t happy with Lacie right now, and I don’t blame you, but... please?”

Yancy? Aurora?!? I froze, eyes wide in shock... the purse slipping from my fingers, CDs clattering to the floor. Aurora? My sist... um, I mean cousin... alive? But... it’s can’t be! She died... died just like Jessica... died trying to save her mom! It was in the papers, in the news, I even have the obituary clipped to the mirror in my bedroom! Tears that I’d been repressing all this time began to flow as the jagged red hot wound of her death came to life once again at the memory. And this... this red-haired, red-eyed woman... couldn’t be her... just couldn’t... but somehow it was! That something that had been percolating in the back of my brain, the person that she reminded me of... it was HER. Different face, different body, even a different voice... but it was her! Alive!

And then the realization washed over me. She WAS alive... had been alive, all this time, all these weeks, hiding out with a new face, new identity... and she’d just brought my fucking mom back home from Midas City?!? My eyes flashed as red as hers, and the anger I’d held inside me since Jessica’s death surged up overwhelming any restraint or reason.

SLAP!

“YOU... BITCH!” I yelled, hands clenched, as surprised at the slap as she was. “All this time... ’Rora... you... you... fucking BITCH!!!” I screamed, literally shaking with fury. “I don’t fucking believe this! How DARE you stand there like that... here... in my house? Smiling at me? Joking?!? YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!” I shook my head, still crying, crying... lately it seemed like that was all I was capable of. “We thought... I thought you were... all this time... did it even occur to you... YOU LET ME THINK YOU WERE DEAD!!”

Yancy winced, shrinking back against the door as her teeth closed around her lip. “It wasn’t safe to give a call,” she tried to explain, wilting in the face of all of my anger. Deserved anger, and she knew it! “It took me awhile to actually get teleportation down reliably... and Mom was supposed to handle letting people know, but she’s been distracted trying to recover... and...” She sighed, deflating in surrender.

“Yeah, I know... I really can’t like... say anything that actually makes up for not letting you know sooner. As it said, it’s a long story. There were... complications in rescuing Sarah. And when this happened to me,” she said, gesturing to her new look, “I took the opportunity to... well... let ‘Aurora’ die, so that I could finally be with Sylvia without ruining her career!” She shrugged again, still not meeting my eyes. “And... and things got so busy! Working in Sanctuary as their first super heroine ever is hard work, learning so much about magic...” Finally, she glanced up at me again, apologetic hope shining in her eyes. “But I’m here now... and... the metal doesn’t quite feel like it used to, but if you still want to toss me into the floor...”

“Oh, I want to do a HELL lot more than that!” I growled, taking a step forward, my Light beginning to glow brightly, causing her to back up again into the hallway... just as my mom stepped out of her bedroom. She gaped at me a moment, eyes wide, then sad... and she took a step toward me.

“Baby... you’re home,” she said tentatively. “I... I thought it was Jimmy at first, until I heard the shouting.” She sighed softly, moving gently towards me again, arms open slightly. “Sweetie... I know you’re upset. This wasn’t the way any of us wanted to give you the news. But don’t blame your cousin. I... I found out about it as well, a short while ago, but I was busy, and... " She stopped, closing her eyes.

“No. No excuses. I should have told you, right then and there, but I didn’t. I’m sorry.” She looked up at me again, a sad smile on her face. As if an mere apology could make it all better! “But the important thing is that she’s alive! You can talk to her now, and catch up on—”

With a cry, Lacie yelped, falling back against Yancy, her shoulder burned, scorched, stinging... my outstretched hand glowing fiercely. I’d just... blasted my own mother. Hadn’t meant to, hadn’t planned on it, but I was running on pure emotion right now, with logic and reason just along for the ride. My Light grew brighter in my rage, and the words just seemed to tumble out of me like water.

“TALK? TALK? Do you think TALKING can make everything... anything better?” I demanded. “TALK won’t bring back the woman I love, MOTHER! The woman YOU could have saved but CHOSE to let DIE!!” Glaring at Yancy. “And YOU...I should be happy you’re here...NOW? I don’t even mind that you’re alive... I’m happy. Really. I’m glad that whole thing worked out for you! But gods-dammit, didn’t it fucking occur to either YOU or Nebby to come by HERE when you needed help? When you went off to play heroine and save mommy from the evil bad people?!? Like YOU were the only ones worried about Mom... I mean... dammit, Aunt Sarah?!?” I was screaming now, totally gone, totally out of control. But I couldn’t stop my feelings from pouring out.

My brain was short circuiting on me. I knew it. But I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Too much... it was just too much. That part of Sylvia that had stayed with me during our mind-meld kept thinking of her as my sister... as my first love... as the woman who raped me, then betrayed me, running off and leaving me drooling mindlessly in passenger seat of her fucking car! Every slight, every annoyance, every petty argument and disagreement we... no, Nebby and she had had, was inside my head, twisted and magnified a hundredfold... along with the knowledge that she was alive and well all this time, happy and content with our OTHER sister, letting ME think she was dead?!?! I knew she wasn’t REALLY my sister... KNEW it... but I felt the pain and hurt just as strongly regardless. All I felt was the pain.

“Jimmy and I... we would have been there for you! ALL of us would have! I would have been there for you in a heartbeat, if you’d called, ‘YANCY’... and maybe you wouldn’t be all nice and shiny RED now if you had!!!”

Yancy frowned. Even if she knew she and Lacie were hardly innocent in this ordeal, this had gone too far. To her, my response to seeing them there was completely over the top, almost to the point of madness! She hadn’t intended on using her powers this visit except for a little magic, but it seemed there was no avoiding it. Carefully Yancy grasped Lacie and spun to switch their places, red glistening metal enveloping her body as she turned back to face me... showing a new ‘trick’ as, with a flick of her wrist, a red spark of light moved for my wrists before turning into solid metal, pulling my arm back down to my side.

“There. Was. No. Time!” she insisted heatedly, her own temper starting to show. “All I knew when Zandra came was that my mother was in danger. The woman I’d spent every moment I could for over a year trying to find. The woman I was killing myself trying to replace—“

“BULLSHIT!” I roared back, my Light so intense now that the paint was starting to peel, and the floor beneath my feet was scorching. There was a sizzle, then a crackle, as the magical metal thingie around my arms burned away... or dissipated. Whatever. “BULL! SHIT! Don’t give me that, Sis! I fucking KNOW you, ’Rora! You ALWAYS jump in head first without thinking of anything or anyone else!” My power began to pool up in the palm of my left hand, and it was taking all of my remaining willpower not to blow my copper toned sis—, er, cousin all the way back to Midas City. “Nebby would have remembered, would have said ‘let’s go get backup’... but you probably talked me... I mean, HER out of it, said ‘We can’t wait, we have to go now, we’ve wasted too much time already!’ As if Aunt Lacie couldn’t have just teleported the whole lot of us to your front door! ONE! FUCKING! PHONE! CALL!”

From the look on her face, I knew I’d hit the nail right on the head, but Yancy seemed more concerned by my little identity crisis that the blame being heaped on her.

“Aunt Lacie,” she asked sidelong, not taking her eyes off me, “what’s happening here? Why does she keep talking like she’s Sylvia?”

“It’s complicated,” Lacie replied tersely, still favoring her shoulder. “A while back, when Sylvie came to visit, the two of them were captured by an old enemy of mine... long story short, their minds temporarily merged. It’s what you mom calls an ‘empathic shadow’ of sorts... she has part of Sylvia’s memories and feelings inside her head, and vice versa.” She sighed heavily. “It’s not usually so bad, but the stress of the situation seems to be making it hard to sort out her feelings.”

“Gotcha,” Yancy said nodding, turning to face me once more. “OKAY! Fine! Maybe I was too impatient. Maybe I went off half-cocked... and yes, maybe I paid for it. I know you would have helped out... I know you cared—but you do NOT get to judge me for what I’m willing to do for love when you’re about ready to put a hole in your own mother’s shoulder!”

She made a point of squaring her own shoulders, metallic red gold sheen glittering brightly in my glow.

“Katie... I know you’re pissed. And I know you’re confused and hurting inside, and need to lash out. Believe me, I get that. So, blame me if you want. Take a deep breath, Katie. Hit me all you want. Give me your best shot—I can take it. But you DON’T do that to your mother!”

Unrepentant... smug... stupid... give me your best shot?!? That final thread holding me back snapped... and I lost it. Completely. The rational part of me just kind of faded away completely as I struck, lashing out at Aurora with a brilliant bolt of light, heat, and anger, pushing her back several inches across the floor.

“AAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!” I wailed mindlessly, lifting off slightly from the ground as I fired, the walls blackening now, starting to catch fire. I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. This was what I’d wanted all along... something and someone to focus my anger and rage on! And I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to let loose on my arrogant little bitch of a sister/cousin!

“KATHERINE BRIANNA MACKENZIE!” My mother’s voice rang out, momentarily cutting through the haze, actually making me pause for a moment. “Stop this! Don’t you realize what you’re doing?!? You’re attacking your own cousin!” She moved to step in front of Yancy, but the gold tinted heroine pushed her back. “Don’t do this! If you need to blame someone so badly, then blame me. Blast me, hurt me if it makes you feel better. It’s okay... I deserve it. But Yancy doesn’t! All she did was try and do the very best she could to help her mom, who needed her! And it doesn’t matter if she hid the fact that she was still alive from us—she’s here NOW! Trying to make it right! If you can just... let go of the anger for a minute and try and think—”

“SHUT! UP!” I screamed back, firing again, impossibly glowing even brighter, even hotter. I was literally standing in a nimbus of flame, the wood burned away revealing the stone and metalwork underneath.

“Hypocrites! Both of you! Your loved ones SURVIVED! They LIVED!”

Yancy had moved swiftly, pushing Lacie back out of the way as my next barrage struck, this one forcing her back even more. That small bit of me not completely consumed by rage remembered a tidbit about Aurora’s metal, that her mom’s version was some kind of magical ‘gift of protection’ from a Sun God. I wondered idly if my own power, burning nearly as hot as the surface of the sun, was stronger than hers, for how much longer she would stand the strain. She’d said before—her metal wasn’t the same as it once was from her change. Would I actually kill her, consume her utterly, if I didn’t back off?

Because as much as I did, truly, deeply love her... I was having a REALLY hard time caring whether I did or not.

“What the FUCK do YOU know about LOSS, Aurora?” I demanded, stopping for a moment, panting slightly. I noted with satisfaction that she was doing the same, holding on but just barely. “Valerie is alive and well! Sarah survived! And Sylvia is still alive! MAYBE If something had happened to one of them... MAYBE you could understand what I’m feeling! But don’t stand there and preach to me, Miss High and Mighty, Holier Than Thou!” I raised both hands, glowing fiercely, daring her to make a move, to stop playing defense and to fight back. “Talk to me about loss when you actually LOSE someone you care about!”

To her credit, Yancy had taken the assault rather well, able to stay standing after all the punishment she’d taken. My blasts had pushed her and my mom all the way back down the hall to mom’s bedroom door, but she was still on her feet. She stared at me, hard, teeth gritted, the desire to push back evident on her face. Her scarlet hued eyes flashed, and she started to summon the power up inside of her... then, for some reason, she stopped, slowly shaking her head.

“Katie... I was only able to stop the woman who kidnapped my mother because she was going to destroy Sylvia. Going to make ME destroy her. I was... wrapped around her little finger, would have done anything else she asked of me... anything else! Frankly... I was lucky that I was able to snap to my senses, lucky even to have had that chance. Maybe I have Sarah, maybe I have Valerie... but you think I don’t understand loss?” Confidence radiated from her, even as her red metal melted away, as her eyes shone even brighter, and she took two small, but daring steps closer, eyes locked with mine. “If you really believe that, then go ahead. Fire away. I won’t fight you.” She sighed softly in surrender.

“Do it again, now... and I’ll get to actually meet Olivia.”

“Olivia...” I gasped, the fight leaving me completely.

Olivia Whitner. Aurora’s other mom. The woman who’d died saving Sarah’s life back before ’Rora was born... the mother she’d never even had the chance to meet. I blinked, and blinked again, the name cutting through the haze... burning it away completely... killing it instantly... and with a shudder I realized just how close she had come to doing just that.

Oh goddess...

I’d nearly done it. Nearly KILLED Aurora with my own hands! And my mom! Just like I’d killed Jessica. With a mournful desperate cry, I released all of my gathered energy, my Light, straight up into the air... burning a hole through the roof, lighting up the night sky like a giant flare before collapsing to the floor... sobbing.

“Oh... oohhh gooddaddeesss... gooddeesss... sorry... so soorry... didn’t mean it... sorry... oooohhhhh ggaaaawwwddde...”

Soft warm arms enveloped me. Yancy bent down, pulling me gently into her arms, and squeezing me close. Elegant red nails slowly stroked their way through my hair, in that way I always loved.

“Shhhh. It’s... it’s okay. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Sylvia... and I’m betting if our positions had been reversed, if you’d got in front of me... I don’t think... I wouldn’t have stopped.” She sighed. “Katie, baby, this... this isn’t you, this is the grief talking.”

I couldn’t help it, I just sobbed all the more, clutching Aurora all the tighter. She didn’t understand. She couldn’t truly understand... I was a monster. Mom sighed softly, dropping down to join the hug, wrapping her arms around both of us. “Thank goodness,” she said softly, and I noticed then that her own cheeks were wet with tears. She kissed us both gently on the cheek. “I’m so sorry... for both of you. Sorry I put you in this position, Yancy... and sorry to be the cause of your grief, Katie.” She smiled sadly. “I’m just glad this stopped before things went too far.”

They didn’t get it. Neither of them! They didn’t realize just how far around the bend I’d gone. They thought... I’d been having a temper tantrum. or venting... Shaking my head, I pulled away, violently, to break their hold, stumbling back, staring at them with wide eyes. “No! No... don’t touch me! Don’t hug me, ’Rora... or Yancy... or, or whatever!” I whimpered pitifully, drawing up into a ball. “Don’t comfort me. I don’t deserve it. I... I almost... I was gonna...” I couldn’t even get the words out, and I was started to shake. “I cou...could ha-aave...k-killed y-you! And... I d-din’t... c-care! I’m a m-monster!” I moaned pulled my arms tighter around myself, rocking slightly. I’d destroyed mom and dad’s house... melted Jimmy’s CD collection. And that was the very least of the thing’s I’d done.

“All that shit I said,” I continued a moment later in a soft whisper, “all the venom and hate and anger... it wasn’t for you... or mom. It’s all for me. I... I hate myself... so much... Her mom was right... I killed Jess... I did. Me. That’s the problem.” And I had.... I killed her... with my power... my damned fucking cursed luck. The bullet that had been meant for me had swerved away at the last minute and hit her... my fucking GUARDIAN ANGEL. It had had a choice—Jess or me... and it picked Jessica... used her as a goddamned shield to save my pitiful sorry ass.

“And... I mean, what do you do? What can you do against yourself?” I looked up to face them both, Yancy and my mom. Their expressions showed pity, which only hurt more. I simply sighed, shaking my head. “Wanna know something funny? Two days after it happened... I tried to kill myself.”

“WHAT?!” Yancy and Mom blurted out simultaneously. It was almost comedic. I smiled sadly.

“I did. A couple of times, actually. First, I closed my eyes and walked into traffic... but the cars just swerved around me.” I shrugged. “So, next, I went downstairs into dad’s lab... got one of his experimental plasma grenades... pulled the pin.... and poof! Nothing. No boom. Not even a spark. I tried twelve in a row... and NONE of them would explode.” I laughed again, and even I noted an edge of madness to it. “I tried pills... but ‘luckily’ Jess had used another pill bottle for something and put the remaining pills in the one I’d taken. And you apparently can’t overdose on vitamins.” I shook my head. “It’s a cruel joke. I can’t die... and I can’t kill myself. Fate won’t let me.”

Yancy sighed, just sitting on her knees in front of me, her arms moving as if she wanted to reach out to me, but was resisting the urge. “You didn’t... that doesn’t mean...” she began, before sighing in defeat. “There’s really nothing I can say, or do... I can’t just kiss it and make it all better. But I’m here for you, Katie. Really. You’re family, but it’s more than that! And this... you didn’t do anything... this isn’t your fault. You wouldn’t know this but... my powers? They tend to respond to a person’s desires, their most powerful wishes at the moment.” She shook her head, hiding her face momentarily behind a curtain of scarlet hair.

“That fight we almost had? I’m guessing it was partly you needing a target for your rage... and partly you hoping I would fight back... hurt you as badly as you wanted to be hurt. I could feel it... you wanting me to attack you... and you would have let me, wouldn’t you?” She smiled sadly, lifting her head again, tears in her pretty red eyes. “Goddess... I just want to hug you and make everything better, but I won’t push you.”

“Yes... and it wouldn’t work anyway,” my mom chimed in, wiping her own wet cheeks. “We tried. Her dad and I. Katie... this is just something you have to work through. I can tell you that it wasn’t your fault until I’m blue in the face, but until you realize it and accept it for yourself, there’s nothing anyone else can do.” She shook her head, then gasped, wincing, clutching at her shoulder. The shoulder that I’d lasered at the start of all of this...

“MOM! Ohh... oh goddess bless... your shoulder! I’m so sorry... I didn’t... I wasn’t...” I shook my head. I wasn’t going to descend into pitiful sobbing right now. Later, maybe... but now mom needed to be tended to. “Ro... I mean, Yancy. Sorry... that’s going to take some getting used to. Yancy... I know I don’t deserve to ask for your help after all this... but could you take my mom to the ER? She needs to get her shoulder looked after...”

My red haired cousin gave a nod as she carefully helped Lacie to her feet. “I can do that... but I’m not abandoning you, Katie. After I’m done getting Auntie looked at and patched up...” She twisted up her mouth thoughtfully, and then very softly smiled. “Maybe I can have Sarah drop by for a little visit, too, when she’s done with her errand? I know she’d love to see you again.”

I smiled slightly at that. “Y-yeah... I think I’d like that. And... is Sylvia back in town as well?”

“Sylvie’s in New York right now. I dunno where all of the band is... but I can let her know. New York isn’t really that far for me...” Yancy smiled a little more as she squeezed Lacie tighter, if gently. “Don’t worry, you just... try to hold yourself together, okay? We’re all here for you, just waiting for you to reach out to us. Just... don’t give up while we’re gone... all right?”

“Don’t worry,” I replied with a small sigh. “I’m the ‘great and powerful Katie’, remember? A nuclear bomb could go off in this living room and kill every damned person in this city... and I’d still survive somehow.” I shrugged. “Don’t worry, though. I won’t try anything crazy. But when you see Nebby again, can you tell her about Jess? The... funeral will be in a few days. Not sure if she and Nikki can make it, but... we all kinda ‘clicked’ on their trip here a while back... if the whole band couldn’t make it, if maybe it was just them...” I swallowed painfully. “I know... it’s kind of short... notice, but Jess’ mom wanted it done as soon as possible.” As well as wanting to keep me completely out of it.

Something must have shown on my face at the mention of Jessica’s mom, because Yancy frowned again.

“Sweetie... I care more about you than just wanting you not to die. But.. it’s good to know I can count on that. And yes, I’ll pass the word along. Just... hang in there, ’kay? We’ll figure this all out okay? As a family.” Yancy winked, blowing me a kiss before enveloping herself and Lacie in red light.

I sighed softly, nodding even after they’d disappeared. I really did want to see them again. Aunt Sarah and Sylvia. And Nikki, and the rest of Symphonic Nebula. But nothing any of them said would make the pain go away. No amount of well wishes could take away the loss I felt. My love, the girl I’d grown up with, the woman I wanted to grow old with, was gone. And she wasn’t coming back. And worse... I was taking it out on the people who cared about me, making them hurt as much as I was.

Sighing, I slid a hand into the back pocket of my jeans, specially treated with one of Dad’s formulas like all of my clothes to withstand the full brunt of my powers, and took out the small plastic bag. I’d picked it up on a whim earlier during my trip through Midas. I knew all too well the dangers inherent to it, how addictive it would be to someone with my personality... but right now I didn’t care.

And with her own history, I just DARE Yancy to say one word about it, if she finds out, I thought grimly, opening the bag of dust, dipping a finger lightly into it. I knew it was basically flakes, or particles, of one of Aunt Sarah’s old Chronos buddies, that it was basically a bag full of her sheddings. But I also knew that it would make the pain go away, that it would sink down deep into the crevices inside my brain, burying the pain and sorrow and emptiness beneath a mound of grey dusty peace. Closing my eyes, I turned up the bag and inhaled deeply, letting the dust work its way within me, allowing it to settle...

“Wha... huh?” Yancy asked, blinking in surprise as she and Lacie appeared in a large spacious green field filled with yellow and white flowers. “Hmmm. Okay... this obviously isn’t the doctor’s office. Or anything closely resembling one. That’s... never happened before. Sorry, Lacie.. guess I missed. Don’t worry, though,” she said, placing a hand around her waist, “second time’s the charm.”

“I believe the phrase is ‘third time’s the charm,’ a feminine voice spoke from the air in front of them, causing Yancy to start. In a brief flash of light, a young woman appeared. Or, at least she looked like a young woman. Clad in a long form fitting cream and silver robe, with long silver colored hair, and blue eyes, she could have easily been one of the young women from Sanctuary. And yet... despite her youthful visage, she could feel the age on the woman... age, wisdom, and power. It was mildly disconcerting, like standing next to a blast furnace... perfectly shielded from the heat, but with the knowledge that a simple adjustment could unleash a torrent of all consuming fire.

“Well met, Aurora Whitner LaSilvas, daughter of Lucia, from the line of Pallas,” the woman said formally, bowing slightly, “and of the chosen name ‘Yancy Nesatealia’. My name is—”

“Vurda Astrid Solveig, daughter of Urdrea, of the line of Urdr,” Lacie replied, stepping forward. “Grandmother. You’re behind this, aren’t you? You’re the one who brought us here.”

Yancy blinked, staring again at the woman in front of her. Despite the hair, she didn’t look old enough to be Lacie’s mother let alone grandmother. It did explain that feeling of restrained power she’d sensed from her. She wasn’t as knowledgeable of her Aunt’s family heritage as she’d recently become of her own, but she knew that Vurda was literally some kind of Goddess, a direct bloodline descendant from Norse mythology. It also explains how she could snatch us up in the middle of my teleportation spell. Would love to know how she managed THAT little trick. Pushing aside her curiosity for the moment, she bowed slightly in respect.

“Well met, um... Vurda,” she said with a slight grin. “And, um... nice to finally meet you. I’d love to chat with you, but I really need to get Aunt Lacie to a doctor. She’s injured...”

“Yes, I know,” Vurda intoned, walking over to Lacie. A simple touch to her shoulder, and the wound healed, instantly, cleanly, as if it had never been. “A simple healing,” she said with a shrug, “one that my daughter’s daughter might have performed herself, had she not so foolishly squandered her powers and broke taboo.”

“You mean to save my husband’s life?” Lacie snapped back, irritably, gently testing her shoulder. “Well, forgive me for having a heart, or caring more about someone’s life than your stupid rules!”

“As you can see,” Vurda continued, completely ignoring Lacie’s outburst, speaking only to Yancy, “she is fully healed. I would ask that you take my daughter’s daughter back to the home of your mother, and let them both recuperate.”

“Um, yes, that was the plan, when you shanghaied us,” she pointed out “just as soon as we returned to check on Katie—”

“No!” Vurda responded in her Goddess voice, a crack of lightning and thunder rolling through the somehow clear stormless sky. “Like you, Katherine is a Child of Destiny. You cannot interfere with the path Fate has declared she must travel. It is regrettable that one so young must endure tragedy... but it is the role she was born to play. You must not interfere.”

Yancy scowled deeply at her words. She had a real problem with so-called ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ worshipers, and the belief that everything in her life was predestined. “So... basically you brought us here to try and scare me into leaving my cousin alone? To turn my back on her? Abandon her when she needs me the most?” She gestured idly with her hands, creating a red tinged spark, allowing it to dance lightly around her before coming to rest in the palm of her hand. “Sorry Granny. Not gonna happen. I don’t scare off that easily.”

“Oh?” One of Vurda’s fine silver colored eyebrows rose gently. She gestured with her own hand... and the spark flew from Yancy’s hand to her own. “Then it’s a good thing I wasn’t attempting to scare you, child,” she stated, as the scarlet drained away, revealing a bright silver spark in its place. Another gesture, and the spark exploded, transforming into a small brown bird, which flew off into the sky.

“Your power and magic are impressive for one your age, little witchling,” she chided, “but do not mistake my amused interest for concern. You protect and rule your Sanctuary, a world of magic, safety and comfort for your people. I, however, govern all of existence. My Sisters and I do not interfere with the lives and progeny of other deities, as a sign of respect,” she said, “but rest assured that, respect or not, I will NOT allow anyone’s misguided sympathies to threaten the Great Weave—”

“Oh, just stop it, Grandmother!” Lacie yelled angrily. “Cut the theatrics, the fire and brimstone speeches. You said it yourself—she’s a Child of Destiny. That means hands off! And since your modus operendi is ALWAYS to use force first, then negotiate as a last resort, I know you’re trying to talk us into compliance because you have no other option!”

“There ARE other options, daughter’s daughter,” Vurda growled, irritation showing past her calm facade. “You, above all else should know that. That your young niece has a special destiny of her own to fulfill is true enough, but do not think that makes her untouchable!” She turned to glare at Yancy.

“And you, girl? You, who so sought to fill your mother’s shoes while she was away. Perhaps you’d care to experience a bit MORE of your mother’s life? Sarah LaSilvas had her powers sealed once upon a time, did she not?” Yancy stiffened, going suddenly cold. “Perhaps the best way to keep you from interfering is to seal away YOUR powers as well—”

“Alright, Grandmother, “Lacie sighed wearily. “You’ve made your point. We won’t interfere with Katie’s chosen destiny. But don’t expect us not to help and support her as much as possible while she’s suffering either. Families... real families, have more in common that simple bloodlines. Real families help one another, no matter the cost.“

“I never said you couldn’t be there for the child,” Vurda grumbled, turning away from them. “By all means, comfort the poor girl as much as you can. Be a mother, and a cousin, and a friend to her. But again I warn you—do not try and prevent what must be. Particularly you, young Nesatealia. Your magic and Katherine’s will not... mesh well. Indeed, if you had not restrained yourself from young Katherine’s attempts to goad you into fighting her, I might have had to intervene directly.” She sighed softly. “I repeat, do not attempt to interfere directly in her destiny. In seeking to help her, you may instead bring about her ruin. Hers... and your own as well.”

“Right. Got it,” Yancy commented, scowling. “Crossing the streams is baaaaddd. Danger Will Robinson! Message received, all right. Now... can we please leave? As nice a setting as this is, I’d prefer not to spend the rest of my day in a grassy field.”

Wordlessly, Vurda gestured, enveloping Lacie and Yancy in a brief nimbus of light, sending them on their way. Alone once again, she sighed, finally showing the pain she’d been hiding. In truth, she felt her daughter’s offspring’s pain all too well, and yearned to help them both. The taboo young Lacie had broken in restoring her husband’s cut thread was a serious one, however. She shouldn’t have made contact with her at all, but knowing she was injured, she’d bent the rules slightly, using the warning to keep out of her daughter’s affairs as an excuse to see her and tend to her. Despite her gruff exterior and her seeming aloofness, she truly cared for all of her children.

Stay well, Lacie, she thought sadly. Your daughter is not the only one who must face her own demons in the coming weeks. I pray that you both stay strong... and Fates willing, we will talk again soon. With a small sigh, she turned and stepped into the light, returning to her Home.