Soar, Part 24 - Conclusion

"Sounds like we have company," came Irene's voice from the room and all the girls tensed. "Sebastian? Do bring our guests in!"

Sebastian pressed one gloved finger to his lips and winked. Then he pushed the girls into the room.

Irene looked up as they stumbled in. She frowned and looked over at Anka. "These were your, ah, friends, yes?"

Anka's face was frozen, his wide eyes full off horror and his mouth slightly agape. He swallowed thickly. "I... I'm sorry," he said and turned away. Alex had no idea if the words were directed at them, his mother, or even himself.

"Well then," said Irene. "What ever should we do with you?"

Anka's head whipped up.

"Please, mother, they have nothing to do with this," he said, panic very evident in his voice. "Just let them go, please, don't hurt them."

Irene laughed, but didn't stop whatever she was doing.

"I'm not going to hurt them, silly," she said, a lopsided grin on her face. "I have no interest in having casualties. I'll have to remove their memories, a bit later, but right now I don't have the time to deal with that. Sebastian, tie them up."

"Yes, mistress," said Sebastian and procured a rope from somewhere.

"I thought you were on our side," hissed Roxie when he started to tie their hands behind their backs. "You told Vanilla about-"

"I'm terribly sorry about the confusion," Sebastian cut her off, a small smile playing on his lips. His expression was impossible to read. "I am the butler to the Wuopio family, and I owe my utter and complete allegiance to the head of the family, until they are deemed unworthy of the title. And that, at the moment, is mistress Irene."

"Oh," said Roxie. They looked at each other for a moment and then she nodded.

"And that means I must do any and all things that my master commands me to," he continued as if he hadn't stopped. "I hope you don't take it personally, miss."

"What exactly are you doing?" Alex asked Irene after Sebastian had tied all their hands behind their backs and they were sitting on the floor against one of the walls. "Some kind of witchy shit, right?"

"And why should I tell you?" asked Irene calmly. "It's not like you're going to remember any of this afterwards, when I've erased all your memories."

"Yeah, but it's really gonna bother me right now if you don't," said Alex, just as calmly. "And don't evil geniouses love telling their plans to the captured heroes?"

"I am not evil!" Irene protested, finally looking up from the bowl.

"Could have fooled me," said Alex. "What with the kidnapping, soul sacrifice, and, you know, tying us up."

"I am doing this for the greater good," Irene said, trying to regain her composure. "To make the world a better place. And I'm not sacrificing anything, all the souls will be returned after the spell has been completed."

"You keep saying that," came Anka's voice. He was staring unseeingly at the opposite wall, his mouth turned down into a sneer. "You keep saying that you'll return the souls as if there will be any of them left after this."

"There will-" started Irene.

"You don't know that!" shouted Anka. "You have no idea what you're doing and you have no idea what'll happen to the souls during the spell and you have no idea what you're dealing with!"

"What are we dealing with?" asked Skye, studying the large pentagram in the middle of the room. "That's a summoning circle, that much I know, but what exactly are you trying to summon?"

Irene sighed. "It's going to be okay," she said. "You need to calm down, Anka. He promised me, see? He promised, that once I free him, he'll make everything better. Don't you want to make life easier for all of us? For Ahiru?"

Anka swallowed again, and looked over at the small girl next to him. She looked back, her eyes wide. Her face was oddly void of emotion. He sniffed and placed a hand on her head, pulling her close. The girl lets out a soft "ah" as her face collides with Anka's shoulder.

"He can do it," said Irene, something manic glinting in her eyes. "He can make her all better. No more nightmares, no more overwhelming emotions. She'll be able to live normally. And he'll be able to fix all our lives."

"What... what's wrong with her?" asked Olivia quietly. Irene's gaze turned to her.

"You probably don't know this, but animorphagi are a species which possesses empathic powers. It helps us connect with nature, and the world around us," she said. "Sometimes being surrounded by large groups of people can be fairly draining on us, so we tend to keep to ourselves."

"That's why I've been homeschooled until now," said Anka quietly.

"Yes, school was an unpleasant place for Anka when he was a child," conceded Irene. "But Ahiru... Her empathic powers are without comparison. There's never been someone as powerful as her in the recorded history of the entire family. But that means she's constantly overwhelmed by other people's emotions. She can't go anywhere with a lot of people without having a panic attack, or worse... But he," the manic glint was back in her eyes, "he can make Ahiru all better. He can make us all better once I free him."

"Oh no," said Skye. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the summoning circle. She had recognized the pattern. "Who is 'he'? Tell me, right now!"

Somewhere up in the house a clock chimed midnight.

"Time's up, little ladies," said Irene, turning back to the table.

"No, no," screamed Skye, trashing against the ropes. Her wings were flaring up dangerously. "You can't do it, you can't free him!"

"Who!? What's going on Skye??" asked Roxie, yanking at her own bonds.

Irene started to reciting something in Latin. The flames of the candles around the room flickered threateningly. There was a distant rumbling sound.

"Stop it, please!" Skye cried. "You'll get us all killed!"

"Mother..." said Anka cautiously. Ahiru was clutching her head in obvious pain, whimpering slightly and pressing against Anka. Irene's eyes flicked to her children but she didn't stop. If anything she seemed more determined to finish the summoning.

"Please," Skye was outright sobbing now. "You can't do this!"

"Someone tell us what's happening!" shouted Alex. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and the rumbling sound was growing louder. "Who is she freeing?"

"Samhain," breathed Anka.

Alex and Roxie stopped dead on their tracks. Olivia paled.

"No," she whispered. She turned to look at Skye, then at Irene. Her eyes were wide with fear. "You fool. You have no idea what you're about to unleash into the world."

Irene's voice faltered but she didn't stop. Olivia's calm horror seemed to affect her more than Skye's uncontrollable sobbing.

"Mother, please, we can still stop this," said Anka shakily, although it was apparent he wasn't hoping for much anymore. Ahiru was still clinging onto his arm, her whimpering having been replaced by quiet sobbing.

"Isn't summoning Samhain one of the unforgivable taboos?" asked Vanilla. Her voice was level and indifferent and if it weren't for the extremely focused look on her face one would have thought she didn't care at all about the situation.

"It... it is," said Roxie quietly. Her eyes flicked to Sebastian and then to Anka. "Anka! Your mother has committed an unforgivable taboo! She is no longer worthy of to represent the family and that means you must step up!"

Anka drew in a shaky breath. A few candles were blown out. The summoning circle began to shine. Hie eyes widened as he understood the implications. His expression steeled.

"Sebastian," he said. "Stop her."

"Yes, my lord," said Sebastian, his lips curled into a devilish smile and he bowed. In the blink of an eye he was on the other side of the room, twisting Irene's hand behind her back and slamming her against the table as she let out a screech. He spoke something in a language that sounded similar to Latin but wasn't and swiped his hand horizontally.

The circle stopped glowing. The rumbling became more distant before it disappeared completely. The candles that had gone out flickered back into life, illuminating the room with their happy dancing once more. Irene kept screaming and cursing against the table.

Anka got up on shaky legs and rushed over to the girls, quickly untying them. He returned to Ahiru's side while Alex took rope to Sebastian, so he could tie up Irene.

"You traitor!" she spat at Sebastian as he sat her down in the side o the room. She tried to struggle against the ropes, but to no avail. "I am your master, you must do as I say!"

"Unfortunately, miss," said Sebastian in a tone that said it wasn't unfortunate at all. "You no longer are. I am bound to serve the family and it's head, which you no longer are. I owe you no allegiance anymore."

Irene's eyes widened in shock and horror. Sebastian's smile was very selfsatisfied.

"I guess you're the head of the family now," said Alex, bumping Anka with her elbow. He scratched his cheek.

"I guess," he said. Irene's eyes snapped to him.

"And you," she seethed. "You think you can manage being the head of the family? You can't even take care of yourself, let alone your sister, and you think you can run the family? Don't make me laugh!"

"I'll take good care of Ahiru, so don't you worry," said Anka, steadier than Alex had anticipated.

"He could have helped her," Irene snarled. "He could have made her life easier! He could have fixed her!"

"She's not broken, mom!" shouted Anka and the room fell quiet. Irene stared up at her panting son, who looked much older, suddenly. "She's not broken," he said again, quieter.

Ahiru tightened her grip on his waist and looked up at him. "Right," he said, and put a hand on her head. "Let's get out of here. We can call the police from upstairs."

~x~

It took the police ten minutes to arrive and another ten for the children to explain exactly what had happened. Irene kept shouting obscenities until Sebastian gagged her. Roxie's mom arrived just as they were finishing up the explanation, eyes panicked and wide. The moment Roxie saw her, something broke and she started bawling, tears rolling fat and wet from her eyes. Ma'at rushed over to her daughter, kissing her wet cheek and engulfed Roxie in a giant hug. The other girls found themselves teary eyed as well.

They cried. They hugged. They called their parents, which made them cry even more. Ma'at spoke to each of their parents, explaining the situation a bit more clearly than their bawling daughters had and while everyone was concerned they were also glad that no one was hurt and it was truly over now. Fatigue hit all of the girls near simultaneously as their tears dried up and Ma'at packed them, Anka and Ahiru included, into her car and drove them over to Roxie's place. She had arranged it with their parents that they could spend the rest of the night together and then she would deliver the children back home in the morning. It would be Monday tomorrow, but given the circumstances no one suggested that the girls need go to school.

For the second time in the past 24 hours they climbed into Ma'at and Reginleif's huge bed and fell asleep, drawing comfort in the closeness of the others.

~x~

Tuesday morning opened up clear and crisp. It had snowed in the night, just a bit, but the temperature was to rise as the sun did and it would no doubt melt immediately. Alex sat at a bench in the park where it had all started, and stared down at the road that... The road. Technically she should probably be in school, but after everything that happened, her parents had told her that if she needed a few days it would be alright.

"Whatcha thinking about?" came a voice by her ear and she turned to see Olivia grinning at her. Skye and Roxie were standing next to her. Alex huffed out a laugh.

"Nothing much," she said with a smile. She felt more peaceful than she had the whole week. "Trying to sort out exactly how crazy the last two weeks have been."

"Yeah, don't I know that feel," said Roxie and plopped down on the bench next to her. She stretched her wings above her head and then pulled them against her back again. "I spent the entire yesterday just staring at a wall, I couldn't believe all the stuff that happened."

"Oh, have you heard about the condition-," started Alex and then paused, a sudden lump appearing in her throat. She swallowed past it and continued. "The condition of the victims?"

"After Mr. Wuopio found out we'd arrested his wife and told him exactly what she had almost done, he became a whole lot more cooperative," said Roxie with a smirk. "Seems like he hadn't been in on all of the details there and had had no idea who exactly they were about to summon. He promised to retract the curse."

"So they're..." tried Skye, her hand taking a tighter hold on Olivia's where it was looped though her arm. "Okay?"

"Last I heard they were still in the hospital, although some of them had already started to wake up," said Roxie. "Don't know about Annalise yet, though."

There was a short silence, broken by a small cough from behind them.

"Hello," said Anka, smiling sheepishly. Ahiru was clinging to his waist again, clearly shy. "I, uh, I hope I'm not disturbing... I understand if I'm the last person you want to see right now."

"That's okay," said Skye with a pleasant smile. "We can't blame you for what your parents did, and you did help out in the end a lot."

"I guess, but..." he said, looking down. "I'm sorry I got you all dragged into this mess."

"Nah, bro, you didn't really drag us anywhere, we dragged ourselves," said Alex, waving at him. He looked at her, brows knit together in confusion. "I mean sure, the graffiti got us really interested, but we were already knee deep in the thing before we even noticed that." She paused and considered something for a moment. "Although I'll have you know, that was still the dumbest possible thing you could have done."

Anka laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess it was," he admitted. "Well... Thank you. For helping out."

"So what's happening with you two?" asked Olivia. "They didn't arrest you, clearly, but what's next?"

"Oh, well, I am going to be a witness in the trial," said Anka. "The police don't really consider me an accomplice since I was being coerced by my parents to do what I didn't want to, and if I'm cooperative with them they won't find it necessary to press charges. As for what next... I'm not sure. I'm almost 18, so I'll be able to get Ahiru's custody soon enough, and it's not like we'll have any financial trouble since the family assets are still ours... I'll try to find Ahiru a good tutor, or a school somewhere and then continue my own studying." His grip on the small girl tightened and he smiled slightly, worn out and too old for his young face, but happy none the less.

"Sound like a plan," said Olivia. "If you want, I can recommend some schools especially for empathetically gifted children?"

"That would be so helpful, thank you," said Anka, his face brightening.

"Shouldn't you people get going to the hospital?" asked a new voice behind them and they all turned in surprise. Vanilla took a lollipop from her mouth and gestured at them with it. "You'll be late for the touching reunion soon."

"Haha, what?" asked Alex, as she pieced together what exactly that meant. "Are you saying...?"

"That your fifth little dancer is waking up?" said Vanilla and grinned. "Go see for yourselves."

Alex's face broke out to a grin and she hopped off the bench. "Oh my gosh, let's go!" She stopped. "How do we get there?"

GET ON, said Skye, already morphed into a giant beast. Alex blinked up at her in surprise, while Olivia squealed and climbed on her back. COME ON I WANT TO GET THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. FLYING IS THE FASTEST WAY.

"Oh, right," said Alex and climbed on, Vanilla right behind her. Roxie flapped her wings a few time, indicating she was ready to fly as well.

"I'll see you guys later, I guess," said Anka.

"Shut up and start flying," Alex told him. He blinked. And then he smiled.

The four figures took off from the park and flew their way to Sam Memorial Hospital.

~x~

Annalise blinked her eyes a few times, looking up at a white, unfamiliar ceiling. It was weird, why was she looking at a ceiling. The last thing she could remember was hurrying to dance practice... She noticed the distinct beeping of a heart monitor and panic hit her like the tide crashing in. She was in a hospital, staring up at a hospital ceiling, having been hospitalized for something she had no recollection of. Why was she here? How long had she been here? Was someone else hurt? Were the girls..?

"Annalise?" a soft voice next to her said and she blinked again and turned her head. Her eyes focused on Alex's face, very close to her own. She looked relieved, but also like she'd been crying a lot. "Hey, you're okay. You're okay," she said, really more to herself than to Annalise, and took a deep breath. She was pushed aside by Roxie who leaned in closer.

"Oh thank Odin, you really are okay," she sighed and smiled.

"What-" tried Annalise, but her voice gave out. Her throat was cry and sore and she cleared it. "What happened?" she managed to croak. She sat up a bit more and suddenly she had a pile of girls in her arm, all her friends hugging her tightly and crying. She squeezed them back the best she could, but her muscles were still slightly numb. She noticed three figures standing a bit away from the bed. A boy and two young girls. The boy seemed slightly familiar...

"Hi," he said and waved at her. She frowned and he scratched his cheek.

"You..." she said. Her friends let go of her and pulled back to see what she was talking about. "You're the new kid."

"Oh, right, you don't really know them, do you," said Alex. "These are Anka, his little sister Ahiru, and uh... Vanilla. She's, well. One of the other victims."

"Victims?" asked Annalise. "What... exactly happened?"

The girls exchanged glances and pulled up chairs around Annalise's bed.

"Now that... is a long story."
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Yay.

I'm not sure I like the very very end but ahhh it's good enough. I still think this would work a lot better as visual story but well we'll see.

So you're up tomorrow again. Can't wait to see what you'll come up with. Bye~

Pie out.