Chapter 29 “Hello, Goodbye”

Akira leaned as far down to Redemption’s neck as she could, avoiding a Shocker ball that flew over her, too close for comfort. Redemption dived to the right, brushing past a building and turning sharply into an area filled with flying dragons.

Moments ago Seth’s thoughts had reached Redemption and the white dragon had let Akira know that they the others had done their part and it was time to meet at the Red Dragon.

“Ree, we need to get rid of these guys,” Akira warned as Redemption weaved in and out of stunned dragons and their riders who stared after the white dragon and his rider in disbelief.

“I’m trying!” was Redemption’s response, “It’s not use! I can’t blend in with the other dragons.”

“Then let’s stop trying to blend in and hide in some dark corner,” Akira thought.

Redemption turned another sharp turn, avoiding a Watcher, whose dragon had come from the front, moving against the flow of dragons to try and intercept Redemption.

“Forget it Akira,” Redemption thought, “Even if we did get away and managed to hide, they would find us again in no time. I am after all the only white dragon around.”

Akira knew that her dragon told the truth. She had not considered this before but now she realized that there was no way they could make it to the Red Dragon undetected, and that caused one serious problem.

“Oh you’re right,” Redemption agreed. “There is no way that WE can get the meeting point, but there is a way that YOU can.”

“Ree…” Akira began to protest, wondering what he was going on about.

“Tell me where this meeting point is and I’ll drop you off nearby without our pursuers realizing. You go to the meet the others and I’ll just continue leading our pursuers in circles. When you’re done, call me, I’ll be right there and we can get out of here.”

“No way Ree, I’m not leaving you alone to be chased by a bunch of…”

“Come on Akira, you have to admit my plan isn’t that bad,” Redemption protested.

Akira frowned. Redemption was right. With his plan she could meet up with the others and see what they had found up while devising their escape route out of the city.

“Great, since you agree, how about we put some distance between us and our pursuers?” Redemption asked gleefully as he stretched his neck forward and folded his wings slightly back. At once he shot forward with a new burst of speed.

“I didn’t say I agreed!” Akira protested.

“Just shut up and tell me where to go already,” was Redemption’s cheeky reply as he zoomed past one building after the other.

Realizing that her dragon seemed to have already made up his mind about the situation, Akira did not argue but instead gave him instructions on where to go.

Redemption followed her directions with ease, dodging and diving on the way and weaving throughout countless buildings, all to create a larger gap between him and their pursuers.

When Akira let him know that the Red Dragon was nearby he headed towards the streets below. Akira shot a glance behind to see that their pursuers were far enough behind for Redemption to be able to make them lose sight of him for a moment if he were to suddenly turn into a side road.

“Just what I was thinking,” Redemption thought as he turned sharply. “Drop and roll,” he commanded as he suddenly flipped upside down.

Akira did as her dragon said. She let go completely of the saddle and found herself falling before she suddenly hit the ground. Tucking herself into a ball she rolled, ignoring the confused shouts around her.

As soon as she stopped rolling she scrambled to her feet only to find herself standing in the middle of a small ‘no fly’ zone packed with people who were staring up and pointing in awe in the direction Redemption had disappeared, oblivious of the rider who had just dropped from his back.

A sudden gust of wind blew Akira’s hair into her face and lifting one hand to remove it she was just in time to see a group of Night Riders zoom past on their dragons, still in close pursuit of Redemption.

“You going to be able to handle them?” Akira thought worriedly.

“Trust me on this kiddo, I’ll manage,” was her dragon’s cocky reply.

Shrugging Akira glanced around to get her bearings. She remembered this street, the Red Dragon was close. Keeping her head low as not to get noticed she began to walk.Pushing her way through the crowd she made her way to the inn where she hoped the others were already waiting for her.

Suddenly she turned into a narrower road, that was stuck between a cluster of tall buildings which had a few smaller ones standing in their shadows. In front of a familiar smaller building she came to a halt.

A familiar man with a bald head and a scar that ran from his right eye down to his upper lip, stood nearby, next to a wooden building in which Akira could see a few dragons standing. He crossed his arms and watched Akira as she walked past him and towards the building small building, ignoring the wooden one altogether.

“Do I know you?” the man grunted as she passed.

“Don’t think so,” Akira replied smoothly as she passed him and reached the door to her destination. For a moment she paused with her hand on the handle. If Dominique and Seth were already here, she could only hope they found something useful.

Not hesitating any longer she pushed the door open, bracing herself for the noise that, if her memory served correctly, would hit her.

Surprise filled her when she was greeted by an almost silence, broken only by a few mummers as people talked. Blinking she stared around the large room that was filled with tables and chairs. Where were the flashing lights and the dancing teens or that horrible music that had all been here last time she was here?

“Akira?”

At the sound of her name being called Akira turned her attention to the source. A smile spread across her face as she saw that around a table in the middle of the room, the others sat. Kirk, Tresus, Liam, Savannah, Anita, Dominique and Seth, they were all there, safe and sound.

Letting out a sigh of relief Akira hurried over to them, noting on the way how other than her friends there seemed to only be a four other people on the room, a couple sitting at a table in the far corner, and two teenage girls engrossed in a conversation near the door.

“Hello beautiful,” Dominique cheerfully greeted her.

Seth glared at Dominique and Anita shifted uncomfortably in her chair while Akira just raised an eyebrow, wondering if Dominique was trying to make Seth kill him.

“Your okay,” Seth sounded relieved as he turned from Dominique to look at Akira who slipped into the spare seat beside him.

“How’d things go?” Kirk asked casually.

“Well, we broke a window,” Dominique replied with a grin, “It was awesome.”

“A window?” Anita snorted.

“Yep,” Dominique told her cheerfully as he tilted the chair he sat on back and stuck his hands casually behind his head, “That was just before we jumped from the twenty third floor of a building,” he grinned at Akira and then winked. Seth clenched his hands into fists while Treses, Kirk and Liam all looked somewhat amused.

“Try crashing through a wall,” Akira muttered in reply, purposely turning away from Dominique as a lady with a tray filled with mugs walked up.

“You what?” Seth asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Akira replied, watching as the lady with the tray placed the mugs on the table. “You guys sure got comfortable,” she commented as the guys all grabbed a mug and began to sip the liquid within.

“We were waiting for you,” Savannah grinned.

“Tell me you found something,” Akira turned her eyes on Seth.

“Other than the fact that Steeson has an interesting past, not really,” Dominique was the one to reply.

“Nothing?” Akira asked in disbelief.

“Jack couldn’t tell us much,” Seth sighed. “We did find out though that Steeson needs direct contact to whoever he puts under his control, so as long as we keep our distance, we should be fine.”

“I could have guessed that,” Liam muttered.

“So this was all just what? A big waste of time?” Akira asked.

No one replied as almost everyone suddenly seemed more interested in the mugs they held than answering the question.

“Great, so we come all the way here and still we have nothing that can help us on Steeson,” Akira muttered.

“It was worth a try,” Tresus said, trying to stay on the positive side.

Akira just shook her head as she turned to look at the two girls that were chatting in the far corner.

“So…” it was Kirk who spoke up. “I hate to have to be the one to ask, but where do we go from here?”

All heads turned expectantly to Akira and Seth.

When Akira didn’t reply Seth did, “we go back to the Academy in our time. See if we can figure something out…”

“We’re running out of time,” Akira muttered.

“We can’t rush this Akira,” Seth replied. “If there is one thing Dominique and I learned at Jack’s it’s that Steeson isn’t to be taken lightly.”

Akira didn’t reply.

“Well, since we’re here,” Savannah’s eyes lit up as she spoke, “how about we do some shopping?”

Anita shot her a look.

“What?” Savannah asked innocently, no longer seemed the scared girl she was just moments before.

“Savannah,” Kirk sighed patiently, “There are Watchers and Night Riders out there looking for us. I don’t know about you, but Liam and I were lucky to get here without getting caught. We had to use every trick in the book just to get away.”

“Kirk’s right,” Tresus agreed, “and I think it’s high time we started getting out of here. Who knows how long until they find us here?”

Dominique opened his mouth to add something but he never got to it as a high pitched squeal interrupted him.

“Savannah?” all heads turned to see none other than Lindsy skipping over in their direction, her brown hair bouncing in the pony tail she had put it in. “No way!” she squealed as she reached the table. “You guys are all here!”

“Lindsy?” Akira asked in disbelief, wondering what the girl was doing here.

“Hey!” Lindsy gushed. “Its soooo great to see you guys! Why didn’t you let me know you were meeting up here?” she suddenly pouted.

“Uh…” Dominique began, looking as confused as everyone else at Lindsy’s sudden appearance.

“Lindsy, what are you doing here?” Liam frowned with worry in his eyes.

Lindsy blinked in surprise as she turned her gaze on him. “Aren’t you happy to see me?” she asked looking hurt.

“It’s not that!” Liam quickly said. “It’s just that…”

“I went shopping,” Lindsy cut him off with a pout, “Having no one to go with I got bored and so came here in hopes of meeting someone familiar. But I can see that I’m not wanted here,” she turned to leave.

“Lindsy,” Savannah jumped up from her seat and grabbed the other girl’s hand. “Don’t leave,” she begged.

Lindsy turned to face the group, a pout still on her face.

“We didn’t mean things the way you think. We were just all surprised to see you here,” Savannah explained as she looked at her friend pleadingly.

Lindsy let out a reluctant sigh. “Alright then, you’re forgiven.” Her face suddenly lit up. “So now that you’re here, how about we do some shopping?”

Savannah looked truly remorseful as she shook her head. “Sorry, Lindsy, we…” she never got to finish the sentence as the sound of the door crashing open resounded throughout the room.

All heads snapped towards the door. Horror filled Akira as she saw the Watchers that stood there, a look of triumph on their face.

One of them raised his already charged Shocker, aiming it right at Lindsy who stood frozen with a look of confusion on her face.

Akira stood and opened her mouth to shout, to warn Lindsy to get out of the way and yet nothing came out. She seemed to be frozen to the spot and watched as with a grin, the Watcher shot the Shocker and a blue ball came flying right at Lindsy.

Somewhere in the background Akira heard Liam yell and yet she herself could do nothing but watch as the blue ball of electricity headed right for Lindsy. She watched as at the last minute Savannah suddenly pushed Lindsy out of the way, the blue ball colliding with her chest instead.

For a moment Savannah stood, her eyes widening in shook before her whole body seemed to be taken over by spasms. She then went limp and began to fall to the floor.

“Savannah!” a voice that sounded a lot like Anita’s screamed somewhere in the background, and yet to Akira the voice was barely audible as she stared at Savannah’s falling body.

She barely noticed the Watchers that poured into the inn. She barely noticed how tables around her seemed to suddenly explode as they were hit with badly aimed Shocker balls. She did not notice her friends scrambling out of their seats, throwing themselves to the floor to avoid getting hit.

“We have to get out of here!” someone that sounded a lot like Tresus yelled, yet Akira barely heard him.

Someone grabbed her and pulled her to the ground while two others flipped the table they had sat around, moving it as a protective barrier in front of the group just in time as a blue ball smashed into it.

Akira slowly looked up from the floor she lay on. She saw Anita springing to her feet and running over to Savannah, ignoring Tresus who yelled at her to stop and dodging his hand that tried to grab her. She saw Liam grabbing Lindsy and pulled her along, covering his face to protect it from flying splinters from tables and chairs that seemed to explode as they were hit with blue shocker balls.

He didn’t get far before he and Lindsy were forced to the ground where they huddled, with Liam protectively wrapping his arms around Lindsy.

Akira blinked, the shouts around her fading into the background as she watched Anita kneeling by Savannah, holding her hands which were glowing against her friend’s chest as she tried to heal her, tears streaming down her face as her lips moved, oblivious of the danger she herself was in.

Dominique and Tresus sprang into action, racing over to Anita. Dominique pulled forth his rod on the way and turning it into a pole blocked a few blue balls before he slid down beside Anita, Tresus following his lead.

Akira watched him seem to freeze as his eyes landed on Savannah’s face and her heart sank as Dominique lifted his eyes and helplessly looked at Tresus and shook his head.

He turned and grabbed Anita’s arm, telling her something rapidly and yet Anita shook her head.

Akira saw her mouth a ‘no’ as she continued to stare at her glowing hands, as though willing them to help.

Tresus and Dominique exchanged a look and Dominique nodded. Turning Tresus ran to where Liam and Lindsy lay, dodging shocker balls while he pulled forth what looked like his own Shocker. Kneeling beside Liam and Lindsy he shot back a blue ball at the Watchers before shouting something.

Liam and Lindsy got up and scrambled towards the fallen table where Akira sat with Tresus following.

Akira sat frozen, staring at where Savannah lay. She watched numbly as Dominique grabbed Anita and began to pull her away from her fallen friend. Anita screamed, reaching out for Savannah, calling her name over and over again while Dominique struggled to pull her towards the cover of the table while deflecting off blue balls with the pole in his hands.

Seeing that he was struggling Kirk sprung forward and rushed to help. Seth in the meantime pulled forth a knife and briefly standing, tossed it, embedding it in the chest of a Watcher that had been aiming his Shocker at Dominique. No sooner had he done so than he had to duck to avoid a blue ball coming right at him. He got behind the safety of the table just in time and the ball went flying harmlessly over him, smacking into the wall behind.

“Akira!” Seth turned to face her just as Lindsy, Liam and Tresus dived behind the table to join them. “Akira!” Seth repeated.

Akira stared at him blankly. She saw his lips move and yet did not hear him. He wanted her to help, do something, and yet she sat frozen.

Kirk and Dominique reached the table, pulling along the still resisting Anita who had tears streaming down her face.

“We have to get out of here!” Dominique yelled at Seth.

“Back door!” Kirk was the one to reply as he pointed to the back.

Akira heard none of it as she stared at Anita’s tear filled face. There was only one reason Dominique would have dragged her away from Savannah’s fallen body, only one reason he would leave her lying there all alone. Yet it couldn’t be. Akira couldn’t accept it. There had to be a mistake.

Slowly she stood and began to walk, her feet seeming to suddenly move by themselves as they carried her towards where Savannah lay.

She blinked again as she walked, time seeming to slow down as each step took her closer to her friend.  She walked, ignoring the blue balls around her that seemed to light up the room around her again and again and yet all seemed to miraculously miss her as she went on.

Akira did not see Seth yell something at Dominique who nodded, his face covered with scratches form the splinters, nor did she hear when Kirk yelled for the others to follow him before he made a run for the back door, pulling Anita along with him while Seth and Dominique jumped out from behind the table.

Seth threw another knife at the Watchers, sending another slumping to the floor while Dominique held up the Shocker he had gotten off Tresus and let a blue ball fly, distracting the Watchers long enough for the others to reach the back door and disappear through it.

She did not see Dominique knock out a Watcher that reached him after which Seth yelled something at him and both boys got into a stance that suggested they were ready for any attack.

Akira noticed none of it as she reached Savannah’s side and slowly knelt down. She reached a shaking hand towards her friend, hoping that she would find her to be alright, yet when she saw her eyes she froze.

Savannah’s once brown eyes that had always been filled with a happy twinkle were now dull and glazed over. The shocked look on her face was frozen there.

“No,” Akira whispered. “No,” she reached her fingers to her friend’s neck, hoping for a pulse. And yet she found none.

In shock Akira stared down at Savannah’s body as realization filled her. The Watchers were not shooting Shockers to stun anyone, no; they had turned up the voltage too high. They were shooting to kill.

The confused shouts in the background filtered through to Akira’s mind and she slowly turned her head to take in the scene behind her.

Splinters flew about and blue light flashed through the in as Watchers shot their Shockers, seeming unconcerned about who they hit. The two girls that had been talking happily before were huddled underneath a table, looking more than terrified, while the couple that had sat at the far table was nowhere to be seen.

Seth and Dominique stood side by side, both looking more than scary as they faced the Watchers head on, Dominique holding a Shocker in one hand and his pole in another while Seth clutched one sword, his eyes seeming to calculate their chances as they swept over the Watchers and before them.

Dominique deflected a blue ball and Seth kicked a Night Rider in the stomach that had charged them. He turned and yelled something at Dominique. Dominique looked reluctant but then, without arguing, turned and ran for the back door, following the others, leaving behind Seth who shot a glance over at Akira before he lifted his sword, deflecting a blue ball with it just in time.

None of what was happening seemed to register with Akira as she turned her head back to see Savannah lying on the floor. Her friend was dead. They had killed her, killed her in cold blood. Savannah had just been trying to help Lindsy. It wasn’t fair, none of this was right.

“Akira!” at the sound of her name Akira slowly turned her head to find Seth had come up beside her. His face and arms were covered in cuts and he had a nasty gash along his cheek, yet he seemed not to notice as he stared at her in worry.

 “We have to go!” Seth yelled, yet to Akira it sounded distant, just like everything about her. None of it seemed real.

Seth ducked his head, avoiding a blue ball just in time as it zoomed over his head.

“Now!” Seth yelled as he grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her.

When she didn’t budge he turned to look her at her only to find that she was staring at him blankly.

“She’s dead, they killed her,” the thought flashed through Akira’s mind again and again.

“Akira!” Seth shook her. When she didn’t react he turned his head just in time to see a Watcher had come up behind him. Reacting as quick as a flash Seth kicked out, sending the Watcher crashing backwards into a table. Springing to his feet Seth ran his sword through another Watcher that approached.

Akira slowly turned her head to stare at Savannah once more. “They killed her,” she blinked as something inside her seemed to snap.

Slowly she stood up, oblivious of the blue balls of light flashing around her, of the flying splinters or of her cowering friends.

“They killed her,” each time the thought repeated itself her anger mounted. She should have done something but instead she had done nothing but watch.

As she stared down at her friends body her fists clenched as anger and grief coursed through her veins and a roar seemed to fill Akira’s ears as suddenly, she seemed to begin to glow a faint white.

“Kiddo? Talk to me, what’s going on?” Redemption’s voice spoke in her mind as her dragon picked up her change in mood from where he flew.

Akira did not reply as she continued to stare down at Savannah.

“Akira?” Seth’s voice yelled as he shot a glance at her and confusion filled him, yet he suddenly had to turn to avoid a blow from a Watcher.

Akira noticed none of this as she continued to stare at Savannah, seeming to glow whiter with each moment as a feeling filled her.

She knew this feeling, the feeling where she forgot everything else, the feeling where she could be injured and it wouldn’t matter. A feeling she had felt when battling Haiden before, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a while, not this strongly.

Wind seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere and wooden splinters of smashed tables were picked up and seemed to swirl around her. Power seemed to radiate from her every being as she stood, glowing whiter and whiter.

“Kiddo?” Redemption’s voice asked in her mind.

The Watchers and Seth all seemed to pause, staring at the white light that was emitting from Akira and the wind around her. This was something they had never seen before

One Watcher, fear on his face, slowly raised his charged Shocker and aimed it right at her before shooting it.

Seth let out a warning yell as the blue ball made its way to Akira, yet without even opening her eyes looking Akira turned ever so slightly and lifted her hand at the last moment.

Seth watched in absolute surprise as not fire, but a white light seemed to emit from Akira’s hand. It met the blue ball, seeming to engulf it. Yet instead of stopping, the light continued, hitting the Watcher that had shot the Shocker square in the chest and flinging him backwards against the wall which he hit at full force before slipping limply to the floor.

All the Watchers stood frozen, none seeming sure what to make of this. Even Seth stared, not sure if what he had just witnessed had been real.

Akira’s eyes suddenly shot open and her head suddenly snapped around to meet the a few Watchers that stood near the door. Upon seeing her eyes they all seemed to shrink back in fear. For Akira’s once blue eyes seemed to suddenly be a glowing white.

Ignoring the fact that the Watchers suddenly had ceased to fire and just stood staring, Akira lifted a hand towards them. As a white light seemed to build up on the end of her hand the Watchers turned, scrambling for the door. Yet they didn’t get far. The light from Akira’s hand seemed to suddenly release itself and fly almost like a fireball would, right towards the Watchers.

There was a roar as the ball hit the Watchers, its force throwing them forward. Yet the ball affected not only the Watchers but also the wall behind them and Seth could only stand and stare with his mouth open at the results. For where once the door had been, there was now a large gaping hole.

“What the…?” he began to ask as dust began to settle around the hole.

Akira didn’t respond, seeming to neither care that she had just done something she had never done before, or about the gaping hole in the wall. Instead she turned to survey the remaining Watchers throughout the room, a look of pure hatred on her face.

It was when he saw that look of hatred that Seth’s surprise left him and worry filled him instead. This wasn’t like Akira.

Still glowing white Akira slowly lifted her hand and aimed it at a Watcher that stood, seeming frozen to the spot in fear.

“Akira no!” Seth grabbed her hand.

Blinking in surprise Akira stared at Seth.

“Don’t do this,” Seth told her gently. “They’re not worth it.”

Not replying Akira just stared at him, yet her eyes seemed to suddenly stop glowing white and returned to their familiar blue. At the same time those eyes filled with shock as she glanced from the gaping hole in the wall down at her hands in disbelief.

“Kiddo?” Redemption’s voice asked once again just as Seth and Akira saw a group of dragons and riders approaching the Red Dragon.

“Night Riders,” Seth breathed as they came closer. Quickly he sheathed his sword. “Let’s go!” he grabbed Akira’s arm and turned. Sprinted for the back door he pulled Akira along just as the first Night Rider’s dragon landed outside.

“I’m on my way kiddo,” Redemption spoke firmly in Akira’s mind.

Akira did not respond. She seemed to not be able to do anything but let Seth drag her along throughout the back door and out onto a crowded road. He turned to the right yet a Night Rider and his dragon suddenly swooped down, blocking their path while screaming civilians scrambled out of the way.

The dragon growled, showing his teeth as he took a step menacing step forward. Akira just stared at him numbly while Seth turned to run the other way. The dragon, reading his move, responded by taking on gigantic leap and landing on the other side of Seth and Akira, promptly turned to block their path once again.

“Crap,” Seth muttered as he let go of Akira’s hand and unsheathed his sword, “Looks like we’ll have to deal with this one ourselves.”

“Oh no you won’t,” Redemption’s voice sounded in both Seth and Akira’s minds moments before they both felt themselves being grabbed by something and lifted up into the air.

“Hold on,” Redemption’s voice warned as he scooped them up in his claws and swooped upwards, leaving a stunned Night Rider and his dragon behind.

He rose up, dodging a tall building just in time.

“The others left, Dominique managed to take them back once they reached the stabling area,” Redemption thought making Akira realize that he must have answered a question Seth had asked. “And we’re going to follow suit,” Redemption added as Akira glanced back to see that they were being pursued by Night Riders.

She blinked as suddenly they and their surroundings seemed to blur and a moment later disappeared altogether. Surprised Akira realized that it was all gone, the buildings, the people, the Night Riders that had been following them. Redemption was flying over familiar green meadows.

Realization hit her that Redemption must have somehow travelled through time in the middle of his flight.

“I’m getting better at it,” Redemption thought as he circled and approached an area of rocky ground below. When close enough Redemption gently dropped Akira and Seth from his claws before he landed beside them.

“Get on,” he told Akira gently.

Numbly Akira responded, pulling herself onto her dragon’s back just as a green one appeared from behind them and landed beside Seth.

“Emerald,” Seth murmured fondly as he pulled himself onto his own dragon that had waited for him, leaving the others to go to the Academy while she stayed behind and waited for her rider.

Seth shot a look over at Akira but she did not return it as Redemption spread his wings and took off, heading to the Academy building that was visible some way ahead and where the distant figures of a few dragons and riders where already approaching it.

As Redemption flew Akira felt grief hit her. Savannah was gone. They had killed her and she had done nothing to protect her.

“Akira, you had nothing to do…” Redemption began.

“It’s my fault Ree, I should have done something...”

“Kiddo, you can’t blame yourself every time something goes wrong,” Redemption thought as the Academy rapidly approached before them.

“If I hadn’t pushed for us to find something on Steeson we would have never gone through with this crazy plan and Savannah would still be here,” Akira thought as Redemption circled above the Academy and dropped towards the courtyard with Emerald close on his tail.

“Akira…”

“She’s dead!” Akira thought angrily. “Savannah is dead!”

Redemption didn’t reply as he landed in the courtyard. The others were already there, each looking dejected as they dismounted from their dragons.

Anita was sobbing on Dominique’s shoulder while he had a comforting arm about her, his own face filled with grief. Tresus and Kirk looked like they weren’t sure if everything that had happened was real as they both sat lifelessly on their dragons.

Liam stood near Lindsy who seemed more shocked than anything.

“Liam, what in the Lands is going on here?” she demanded. Catching site of Redemption her eyes widened, “Is that Fluffy?” she shrieked. “Why in the Lands is he not pink but white?” her eyes were wide and Akira could see that there were so many emotions in them. The girl was beyond confused and the fact that Savannah was gone forever seemed not to have registered with her yet. “And where is Daffodil? Why won’t she come when I call her?” she added hysterically while Liam tried to calm her down.

Students that had been working in the courtyard stood around, watching, all seeming to realize that something was wrong.

“Akira,” Seth spoke gently as he shot her a worried look.

Akira ignored him as she slipped off of Redemption’s back.

“You going to be okay kiddo?” Redemption asked her worriedly.

“Check their eyes!” Brandon’s familiar voice commanded as he appeared from the Academy building with a few students with him who promptly headed towards the group that had just arrived to check out their eyes for any black rings.

“Akira!” Brandon called as he spotted her and marched over, anger on his face. “What were you thinking going to the future like that!” he yelled as he approached her and all eyes seemed to turn on the two.

Akira didn’t reply as she continued to walk. Brandon intercepted her.

“I asked you a question!” he told her angrily. “Do you have any idea what…?” he trailed off as Akira lifted her eyes to meet his and he couldn’t help but blink at the hollow look which seemed to be in them. For the first time he lifted his head and took a good look at the group that had returned. “You’re missing one,” he murmured as his gaze snapped back to Akira. “Akira, where’s Savannah?” he asked her in a low tone.

Akira just shook her head before she pushed past him and headed for the Academy.

“Akira!” Brandon yelled after her, yet she ignored him completely. She ignored the confused looks, ignored everything and everyone.

Walking into the Academy she made her way to her room. Only once she was there and had closed the door did she lean back against the door and slip to the cold stone floor. Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled forth the shimmery white cloth she had put there only hours before.

She stared at it as Savannah’s laugh echoed in her mind.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Akira whispered in a broken voice as her eyes filled with tears, “I’m so sorry Savannah.” And that was when she broke down and wept.