As the lights faded and the sounds of Zorak's screams died away, Andie sank to the floor, and let herself fall back into the grass. Isabelle and the others sat beside her.

"Ow!" she groaned, remembering too late that hard surfaces and wounded shoulders rarely mixed. "That was a brilliant move..."

Bane helped her sit up.

"Here, let me look..." Isabelle said.

Since discovering her powers, Isabelle had been reading up on a lot of medical books.

"Hmmm the wound's neat, that's good..." she said as she eyed the damage. "It looks like it's fairly deep though, so I don't know if I'll be able to fully heal it..."

"That's okay, Isabelle, don't waste your energy," Andie said.

Isabelle tutted and rolled her eyes as she removed the bandage.

"Adrianna Galestone, will you stop refusing my help? You saved my life, it's the least I can do. Now shut up and let me work."

She poured some water onto the wound, making Andie wince.

"You sound like Jessica," Andie chuckled.

They all laughed at that.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Isabelle asked.

"Of course it is," Jessica said. "I am awesome."

Andie laughed, but stopped quickly because it jarred her shoulder, which, she had to admit, hurt a lot. She didn't know how she was going to explain this to her parents... she doubted they would believe her if she said she had been mugged, not to mention that they would want to involve the police, which would bring all kinds of problems they didn't need...

"Okay, this might sting a little," Isabelle warned.

"It's all right," Andie assured.

Isabelle closed her eyes. Her hands glowed on Andie's shoulder, and though it did indeed sting, she could feel her wound starting to heal. After a few minutes, Isabelle sat back, examining the result.

"That's about the best I can do," Isabelle said. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, thanks, Isabelle."

Bane sighed with relief, touched Andie's cheek and kissed her. Then, they all smiled at each other, relieved that their troubles were over, at least for a little while. It had taken a little time to convince the others that Bane was not their enemy, but Andie was glad to see that their friendship had slowly begun to rebuild itself.

The drive home was not fun. Her entire body ached. She wondered if using their powers was like extensive workouts. It certainly felt like it.

"Adena?" Andie asked.

"Andie, are you all right? You were injured! We all wanted to help, really, but..."

"I know," Andie said. "Don't worry. The chances are that given how furious he was, seeing you and the others would only have made things even worse."

Adena pondered that.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. I'm just glad you're all unharmed."

"He is gone, right? We did send him to the Demon Realm?"

"I can't sense him in the vicinity, so I'm afraid I can't be positive, but I believe so. The portal felt exactly the same as it did the last time."

"Good..." Andie said, slightly absently.

She looked ahead thoughtfully as she turned a corner.

"What's on your mind, Andie?" Adena asked.

"... I'm just wondering about the consequences. We sent Zorak back to where Zarias is. I guess I'm hoping we didn't sentence him to a horrible fate..."

"Does Zorak know his son helped you?"

"I don't know. He never mentioned it, but he's not stupid, it's only a matter of time before he finds out... and when he does..."

"Zarias won't last very long..."

"Exactly... should we go and check on him?"

"No," Adena said immediately. "That would be just as dangerous. If Zorak doesn't know yet, it could clue him in. You have no reason to go there, this time. Even if you claimed it was to fight him, he wouldn't believe you."

"Because we always fought him in our world..." Andie said.

Adena nodded.

"We can't do anything more for him." she said.

"I guess not... and I don't even know if he's in danger. For all I know, they staged our escape to let our guard down for another plan."

"I suppose that's possible, but I doubt it." Adena answered. "What are you going to tell your parents?"

Andie pondered the question for several minutes. She had to think of something... but the idea of having to make up another lie was almost more than she could stand.

"... what if I told them the truth?" she asked.

Adena's mouth fell open.

"... What?"

"I can't keep it a secret forever... if Hannah's taken captive again, or if I am, I'm going to need an explanation... why don't I tell them the truth?"

"Andie, that's... are you out of your mind?"

"No, I'm actually serious. My parents always told me that the truth is better than a lie, however noble your intentions were. And I've been violating everything they taught me for months! I... I'm tired of lying. And of forcing smiles on my face when all I want to do is scream. Or of making conversation at the dinner table when Zorak is plotting his next move against us while we're eating lasagna."

"They'll never believe you!" Adena exclaimed.

"I'm not a liar, they know that. Well... usually. And it'll probably take a while for them to be able to wrap their head around it, sure, but I think they will."

"And what if they don't?" Adena asked. "What then?"

"... I'll... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Andie said. "But they can't be in more danger than they already are without knowing, right?"

Adena didn't answer at once, probably considering the pros and cons of the idea.

"Look... Hannah got really close to the line of fire, I can't force her to lie to our parents." Andie said as she turned into her street. "Keeping it from her friends is already a lot to ask of her."

Adena watched the house get closer.

"I suppose you're right." she said.

Andie parked the car outside her house and climbed out before slowly making her way to the door. This was partly because she was nervous and partly because her body still ached from the battle. She flinched and touched her injured shoulder, which jarred with every step. It was still better than it had been. She took a few deep breaths and stepped inside.

"Honey?" Andie heard her mother call. "Is that you? I was just about to call you, I was getting worr-Oh, my God!"

Lauren had come out of the kitchen to greet her and was taking in her appearance. Andie didn't need a mirror to know she probably looked terrible. Her hair was tangled, her clothes torn and bloodstained, her face matted with dirt, soot and sweat. Before she could say anything however, Hannah shot out like a bullet and threw her arms around Andie's waist, almost knocking her off her feet. She hugged her back, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the relief of being home, and having her family with her.

"Hank! Hank, come quickly!" Lauren called.

Hank hurried into the hallway and saw Andie.

"Honey, what happened, are you hurt?"

"It's nothing serious, Dad, just a few cuts and bruises." she said.

"Did you get into a fight?" Lauren asked.

"... In a manner of speaking." Andie said.

"Here, come sit down." Lauren said, taking her arm and leading her to the living room.

Andie didn't say it so she didn't alarm her parents, but she was grateful for the chance to sit down. She didn't think her legs were going to carry her much longer.

"I'll fix you some hot chocolate," Hank said and vanished into the kitchen.

"Good idea, thank you, honey." Andie's mother agreed.

Hannah, Andie noticed, didn't say a word. She just held her sister's hand as they went to the living room and sat next to her on the couch. Lauren, of course, pelted Andie with questions. Andie merely nodded or shook her head or spoke in short sentences whenever that didn't suffice. Eventually, Hannah said:

"Mom, stop. She'll explain when she's ready."

Lauren stared at her younger daughter in astonishment.

"You know something about this?" she asked.

Hannah glanced at Andie hesitantly.

"... I think so. But just give Andie some time."

Lauren was so shocked she didn't press on. Andie wrapped her good arm around Hannah and squeezed her. They sat in silence a few minutes until Hank came back. Andie took a long sip from her mug (scalding liquids had never bothered her). She let the warmth flow through her body, soothing her. She set the mug down but kept her hands around it for comfort. After a few moments, she steeled herself and said:

"Mom... Dad... I have to tell you something."