Ravela’s eyes shot open. She listened, without moving, for noises. She heard no intruders or other disturbances. No monsters stalking, no demons battling it out, no stone creatures flying outside searching for flesh to tear from bones.
Sitting up, Ravela rubbed her hands over her face. Just one tiny conflict and her nightmares were back.
She looked outside it was almost time for her to run. Ravela wanted to run she needed it. Blowing off some steam would be the ideal solution to her current restless mind.
Preparing herself for her morning run was easy. Leaving her room, however, felt unusually difficult. Her hand closed around the knob but she hesitated to turn it. Ravela felt safe in her room. Who knew what waited outside of her small insignificant four walls?
She steadied herself and took a deep breath. Once she reached the stairs it felt like weights lifted from her shoulders, and she could breathe freely again.
She descended the stairs quietly and left the house through the side door. Outside safora was already waiting for her and to her surprise Laena too.
Ravela joined the group and said. “Okay, let’s get to running.”
And like that, they took off running. The silence dragged on for a long time. Ravela wasn’t bothered by the silence. She just enjoyed the wind on her face and the cool morning air flowing through her lungs. Breath by breath a liberation of her state of mind.
Ravela stopped at her favorite flat stone. She sat down on it crosslegged as she was accustomed to. Her eyes wandered down the path around the lake. Nobody far and wide, Ravela concluded.
“So, I assume we need to talk again.” Ravela opened the conversation.
Safora stepped up deciding she’d have a go at Ravela first. “You promised us to tell you the truth. Are you human?”
Ravela bared her teeth in a challenging grin. Ravela scoffed. “I am as much a human as you, right now.”
Ravela got up from her bolder. “Any other questions, or is it now my time to explain some things to you?”
Her steps now walked around the girls like a wolf cornering its prey. “So here are the things I’ve come up with. New rules! Since you’ve so far still gone to your training it seems my talk about responsibility hasn’t germinated yet. The two of you can’t take part in school sports anymore. Not only are you barely in control of your powers, but you have shown me that you have little impulse control and might just hurt others.”
Safora looked shocked. “I would never hurt anyone.”
“No, Safora of course you wouldn’t until suddenly it somehow becomes necessary. Of course, Laena wouldn’t either unless she said something someone might take a certain way and now she has to pull her friend into a criminal, DANGEROUS scheme. You two are something. I am not telling you to do it. I am asking you to take a long hard look at yourselves and the harm you may bring upon people you care about.”
Laena had the good grace to study her shoes, but Safora was not as conscious of her crimes. It irked Ravela not just a bit. They held each other's gaze for a minute.
“Were you not going to steal from me, again? Were you not about to force my hand just to get your way? For someone so distraught at your friend's suffering and so inconsolable when your friend wanted to change you sure show little shame for risking your brother’s life over the head of the one person who carries all the responsibility here.”
That second barrage finally did the trick. Ravela could see the guilt in Safora’s eyes as she finally reflected on her actual deeds and not her justification for them.
Ravela used her telekinesis to lift herself off the ground. She could feel the power she absorbed from her crystal ease the use of her ability by an enormous margin.
Lifting her legs into a crosslegged position again she now sat in the air.
The girls exchanged glances again. Ravela landed softly on her rock.
Ravela decided to change the topic. “Your summer break will be over soon and I was thinking about getting a place for myself. I was thinking of settling down near a big city. I wanted to build a place where we could help your abilities develop. That is if you’re still interested in my guidance,” Ravela put her hands in her lap. “Are you?”
Safora and Laena walked away and started discussing amongst themselves. Ravela could still hear them but decided to respect their privacy by plugging her ears with her fingers which got her a look from the girls. It made her grin.
When they walked back toward her she theatrically put her hands back down. “Well, what have you come up with?”
Laena was the one to take charge this time. “First off, we are truly sorry about what we did and if you’re still willing to work with us we would be thankful. This all is new to us and completely unknown territory, please could you be more forthcoming in sharing information and your thoughts with us?” Laena ended her speech by making an apologetic gesture with her hands.
Ravela was glad that they seemed to be still interested in working with her. She was not sure they’d still be open to that.
“If you should go anywhere it should be Pliada City.” Safora declared.
Ravela raised an eyebrow at this confident statement. “Pliada City? Why there?”
Laena jumped in. “The school we go to is there. If you live and work near the city you can help us train. If you move anywhere else we won’t be able to stay in contact.”
“I suppose I should move that way for your sake. But…,” Ravela sighed. “I sure would love a purpose of my own. After all, don’t we all need something to work toward in life?”
Ravela jumped up from her stone and declared. “Alright, enough of this. From here we’ll have a fresh start and in time you will see placing your trust in me was a good thing. It is getting late let’s run back the way we came, for today. You need some time to think about the last few days. Let’s not hold a grudge over these... Misunderstandings, alright?”
“Yeah, let's,” Safora said not entirely convincing Ravela, but she decided to give the wounded pride of the girl some time to nurse her ego. Laena just nodded. The gears in her head were turning. She was already in the middle of reflecting on her actions and Ravela’s words.
Ravela just took off past them. “See you back in Gradjia.”
While on the way back Ravela thought about her future and what she wanted to do with her life here.
She wanted to help people, but she didn’t want to stand out. Life in the background would be nice. Her thoughts jumped to the deputies rushing headlong into danger to help out the detectives under attack. The sheriff and inspector diligently care for their people and community.
The sense of comradery she felt just by saving the detectives and getting respect and recognition from their colleagues.
Something in Ravela yearned for a life that would secure society from dangers and help the people. She didn’t know where the urge came from but she felt it so earnestly that she couldn’t deny it calling to her. more than the thought of becoming a baker, a mailman, a lumberjack, or a cook. All she felt was the desire to be part of this brotherhood of law.
Her mind jumped from her professional future to another need she felt. The wish for privacy and the ability to work and tinker unseen. A place where her worldly possessions and herself could feel safe.
Slowing down together with her running mates, Ravela reentered Gradjia. She wanted a place to call home. The training with the girls was almost an afterthought to that wish. She wanted to feel safe.
Safora split from the group and jogged through the park back home for breakfast. Ravela and Laena jogged the rest of the way back to Ma Stone’s house.
Ravela couldn’t help but feel a ravenous hunger boil up inside her. She was famished.
Ravela and Laena entered the house together and found Ma Stone already sitting at the dining table.
“Oh, Laena there you are. Deary, I have to revisit my friend.” Ma Stone greeted her granddaughter as she got up slowly from her hair. “Would you be so kind to accompany me?”
Laena came to her grandmother's side. “Of course. Are you okay?”
Ma Stone laughed. “Oh, certainly. Go eat your breakfast We leave once you are done with breakfast and in some good clothes can’t brag to my friend about my granddaughter if you wear training clothes, now can I?”
Ravela nodded at Ma Stone before sitting down. The scent of fresh scrambled eggs and warm bread filled her nose. She dug into the food the moment Ma Stone was out of the room.
Her mind merrily shoved all other thoughts aside for the breakfast that sat in front of her. A huge grin spread over Ravela’s face. Now wasn’t the time to be planning every next step. Now was the time to enjoy breakfast.
Laena and Ravela didn’t exchange any words during breakfast the girl had her thoughts to keep her company while Ravela ate away on her breakfast happily contemplating white noise.
Laena on the other side of the table had a small crisis. Her entire world was about to crumble. The moment Safora and Laena announced they’d step down from all their sports clubs would lead to an apocalyptic situation for all her friends, teammates, and coaches.
While miserably picking at some scrambled eggs the teenagers mentally began listing every club she was a part of. Volleyball, table tennis, gymnastics, fencing, and the track team. She had looked forward to trying these sports with her new observation abilities, but now she felt like a cheat to have even considered it.
Her image would take a hit, Laena just knew her fellow students wouldn’t take the departure well. The trainers would most certainly throw a fit.
She began unenthusiastically eating her breakfast. Opposite of her Ramiel, chowed through plate after plate. It irked Laena that while she had to deal with her grandmother's house becoming a crime scene, her school life getting turned upside down, and her entire worldview being challenged the man responsible for half her troubles seemed completely at ease.
After finishing her plate somewhat reluctantly she got up in a huff. Laena hurriedly got into proper clothes and joined her grandmother by the plywood door. She frowned looking at the beautiful old door that now lay shattered on their front porch.
Her grandmother had been sick for a long time and this friend of hers wasn’t doing too well. Laena was scared of the day when she would have to come to terms with the loss of her grandmother. The thought alone sat like a lump in her stomach and gripped her heart like a vice.
Walking with her grandmother down the path by the lake, Laena looked back, spotting Ramiel watching them from the front door.
All things considered, she should be thankful that he had kept her only family out of the recent mistakes she made.
But the guilt she felt just filled her with shame and regret. She swore to herself not to act like that again. Not when so much was on the line for her family. Laena linked her arm under her grandmother’s arm. Family was everything to her. It was all she ever had.
Dr. Ito sat in her executive office reading reports, quarterly earnings, and productivity reports. Finally, she reached the papers she had been aching for.
But before she could quench her thirst, a guest entered her office.
“Brother? What brings you to my office?”
Her older brother sauntered with the swagger of a man not ever in a hurry, never not in control of the situation.
“Father wanted to check up on you personally. He thought that entertaining your eccentric side would yield a more focused daughter. Well, what our father deems more concentrated. I always found your vigor more than adequate.” He lowered himself into one of the chairs on the other side of her desk. “But truthfully, I volunteered to see how you’re doing. Recently your actions became more,” Karro Ito paused weighing his description, “distracted.”
Himiko Ito sat the documents her contacts had gathered painstakingly in hand. “Dearest brother, whatever it is you and father worry about I assure you, I have never been more driven in my life.” She opened the folder in her hand. It contained a long list of registered payments to banks with certain relevant serial numbers. Sorted by day of entry.
“As a matter of fact,” She began her sentence scanning the summary of the text. The numbers sorted by date revealed a blooming out at a certain point. “I have a new expansion of our business in mind.”
She stood up studying the dates. The money had been laundered, that much was clear from the pages she saw. But before that, a few notes were registered on the East Coast. Others might have chalked that up to a delayed or prolonged circulation of the other notes, but not Dr. Ito. A bright smile spread across her face. Those entries were all before the days of the newspapers publishing her fed corruption scandal story.
The manager had been leeching off her father’s company for years and Himiko had ignored it because he made an unreasonably good profit, but when that money vanished he became a pawn in her fishing expedition.
She walked around her desk. “Tell father I am going to expand our business to the East Coast.” She squeezed her brothers should affectionately. “Thank you, for checking on me personally, brother.”
Her brother studied her for a long moment. “You seem different. Maybe, I will check up on you more often. See that you get some more time for your hobby here and there.” He stood up from his chair. “Sister, do be careful. Our father never stops running us through the gauntlet. But we never were adversaries, you and I. Do call me anytime.”
Himiko watched her brother leave the office just the way he had entered it. She turned toward her phone and pressed the button that called in her secretary.
The secretary picked up and her meek voice immediately showed her fear of being fired.
“Yes, the meeting with my brother is concluded. Get me a detailed briefing on Praetania. Plants, factories, industry everything. And get me some good maps too. Oh, and Mjorra, do it on the double and I might just ignore that I had no warning about my visitor.
“Praetania.” She rolled the state's name over her tongue. Throwing the folder back on her desk. ‘I found you!’
