The Wastelands

Underground Training Facility.

Lilia could hear the storm even from down in the underground training area, and if that wasn't enough, the whole place rocked back and forth. She and the others had to hold onto something just so they wouldn't be a tangled mess on the floor.

'Oh no,' Terran and Heather had lost. Lilia had expected them to lose, but still, it was so frustrating that she couldn't do anything to help. She hated this feeling of helplessness.

As soon as Lilia regained her balance, she knew that they were not the only ones having an issue.

The screen flickered, but Lilia didn't need to look at it, she could hear them. There were people still not safe in the quarantine area.

Her ears stung with their screams.

She attempted to get Headmistress Weatherly's attention. "Headmistress, there's…" She stopped to see the Headmistress was on the floor. Her head was bleeding. One of the white coats hovered over her with bandages. Lilia stepped towards her. "Are you..."

Headmistress Weatherly waved her hand in dismissal. "I'm fine." When the white coat started to wipe the blood from her eyes, her eyes flashed. She grabbed the man and pushed him away. "That's enough." She unsteadily got to her feet. No one dared to help the woman, not after that scene. She grabbed the back of Stella's chair to have a better look at the screen. "Report, what's happening?" the Headmistress barked at Stella.

Stella adjusted her very bent glasses and typed furiously as she slouched in her chair.

"The students, some are still outside," Lilia interrupted, pointing the screen outside the quarantine area.

The Headmistress didn't waste any time. "Miss Andres."

The secretary appeared at the headmistress's side out of thin air, like a ninja. Lilia always wondered whether the secretary was a Vine Virus survivor, but there was no apparent evidence. Then again, her clothing might be hiding the vine markings.

"Get those students to safety."

"Yes, ma'am."

Before she did her disappearing act, Stella interrupted. "Wait!" she said. "We have a bigger problem than that."

"What?" the Headmistress asked.

"The seismic waves are decreasing, but the storms are picking up velocity." She paused. "In fact, I think Heather's powers are attracting surrounding weather anomalies."

Headmistress Weatherly sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Get to the point."

"If we don't remove the source via Heather, then the compound is in danger of being crushed," Stella rushed in one breath.

"Meaning we have to contain Heather, and soon," Rachel finished.

"How do we do that when we don't know where she is?" asked Statson, putting his two cents in. He was helping Rachel up, still holding her arm, and neither looked any worse for the wear.

"Easy, find the eye of the storm, find the source," Lilia said.

Stella smiled at Lilia like a proud mama. "Exactly."

Lilia rolled her eyes at her little sister's foolishness. She may not go to class regularly, but that didn't mean that she didn't know how to crack open a book… a time or two.

But Stella didn't see the eye roll; she was already typing away. "Printing out the coordinates." Stella handed the printed paper to the Headmistress. "West of the compound near the river."

"Good work." The Headmistress smiled.

The creaking sound of the chair made everyone turn towards Druid. Despite her red eyes from crying, they couldn't be more determined. She touched the containment capsule that Bryson was in before facing the rest of them.

"Get the containment capsules ready. I will get Heather," Druid replied. She reached out for the map.

"Are you sure? This seems like a trap to me, and with your powers not working…" Rachel trailed off.

Druid's hand, the one not holding the map, suddenly erupted with fire, making Rachel jumped back, startled, Statson almost doing the same. He looked peeved at himself for showing weakness. "It's time for my part," Druid finished.

"Then what about Terran?" asked Rachel.

Stella was seemingly unaware of what was going on behind her. Her eyes were glued to her computer. "Terran's fine for the moment. The tremors are subsiding. He can barrel underground. I wouldn't be surprised that he used that to contain himself… quick thinking on his part. Of course, that's all speculation."

Lilia nodded her head in agreement. "Makes sense. Sounds like what Terran would do."

Headmistress Weatherly sighed rubbing her forehead. "Either way, he's stuck there until his medium manifested and regains control. So let's focus on Heather for now."

"Well, it's no use standing here, willy-nilly," Statson said, finding his cowboy hat, which was lying on the floor underneath the table. "Might as well help get those kiddos to safety." Heading for the door, he called out behind him, "Girly?"

"Yes, Sergeant," Rachel acknowledged.

Before she headed to follow Statson, she stopped at Lilia's side. Lilia stiffened at the closeness. "After this crisis is over, we are going to talk. There are a lot of things that you need to explain. I deserve that much"

Lilia nodded hesitantly. "Yes, you do."

"Be safe." Then Rachel turned to follow Statson out.

After Rachel left, Lilia breathed out, "You too."

Turning, she saw the Headmistress busy yelling at her staff, and Stella analyzing the storm. Lilia felt a little left out. She hated the waiting game, especially when she knew that she was Shadow's last target. "I don't like this," Lilia whispered.

Quite frankly, she didn't like her odds against him, despite what Druid said. Her abilities were more in tune with her body. Lilia didn't have the destructive force as Heather and Druid's. And they weren't as precise as Bryson and Terran's. Lilia skimmed her fingers across the flute case strapped on her side. She has only one plan that might have a slight chance of working. But maybe….

Lilia glanced at Druid, and Druid was smiling, holding out her hand.

***

Wastelands: By the River.

There was a lot of damage, but Druid couldn't pinpoint where Heather was. She couldn't worry about that right now since the real danger was just a few feet away, the shadows gathered. Druid waited for the shadows in front of her to form.

He's doing this on purpose. He wants to test how afraid I can get, Druid realized.

When Shadow himself stepped through, she saw that he was smiling slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, a mouse just wandered in, or just the bait for the cat," Shadow replied in a sing-song tone.

"What nothing else to say, no advice for me?"Druid asked.

Shadow was not phased by Druid's needling. Or how she knew what he was doing. "If I had, would you follow it?"

Druid slowly moved into her fighting stance. "No."

"Oh, come on, what's the point in fighting? Why don't you hand over your Medium, you know you're going to lose." But he did the same.

"I know," she answered as cheerfully as possible, trying to hide her nervousness. Druid must do this for Bryson. Not only for Bryson, but she also had to do this for the future. If this didn't go her way, things would get even messier. She could not let it happen. "But, I will make sure it hurt."

Druid's resolve hardened, beckoning Shadow to come at her.