Hope for a lost cause

## Summary

Alex and Mae end up getting captured by Anubis, Darcy, and Sandra, and thrown into a cell, and nearly tortured. When it seems like all is lost, Sandra comes back and frees Alex and Mae, and reveals to Alex how zhe used to be Mae's best friend, but grew apart due to Sandra fearing that they could hurt Mae. After finding out that Sandra's family hid them to keep her safe, Alex and Mae have to help Sandra find their family, and nearly save them from dying after one of Anubis' gruesome punishments, venom stagnating in their body from a whip wound that hadn't healed in years, poisons them. Then Alex and Mae have to help patch the holes left in Sandy's family after being apart for 21 years.

## Characters

* Alex
* Mae
* Nova
* Ava
* Sandra/Sandy
* Scylla
* Cyrus
* Celeste
* Estrella
* Amari
* Ajax
* Portia
* Anubis
* Darcy
* Queenie
* Byron the fake realm guy

## Alex's POV

We walk through the rain drenched streets, lights dotting the sides of buildings like the night sky. I spot my face reflected in darkened windows. Tall frame, slightly disheveled curly red hair, purple eyes glowing. I follow my parents into a dimly lit building. All of us snap our fingers and become instantly dry.

Mom's brow furrows.

"Momma, are you okay?" I ask, a slight urgency in my voice.

"I had a vision." she replies, letting me take her hand. "Someone is in danger. I know who it is."

Images flood my mind. Someone I recognize.

*It's Sandra. One of Anubis' servants.* But the question is, how does Mom know Sandra? Anubis treats his lackeys like shit, so maybe something terrible happened to hir.

"After we rest, we have to go." I say. "Maybe we can help Sandra. I just hope they let us help them."

I spot a figure in the dark, a flash of green eyes, messy fur, and the smell of a mixture of blood, cigarette smoke, and vodka hits my knows.

Ugh. Anubis' breath is worse than his entire soul and his tiny stony heart put together.

“We should follow him.” I say.

“Hey.” I say, yanking him by his jacket to face me. “What the Hell are you doing?”

“Going back to my camp.” He mutters. “To punish Sandra. They disobeyed me.”

“Well I can clearly see why. You’re not the most honest person I’ve known.” I say. “Now what did Sandra do?”

“Well I was going to pursue a guardian who got injured while trying to stop me, but they blocked my way and healed her instead! Sandra was supposed to help me capture them, but—“

I cut him off.

“Read past your own fucked up beliefs about your lackeys!” I say. “Deep down I really don’t think Sandra wants to work with you. I highly doubt they even like you! Face the facts!”

“All they’re supposed to do is follow—“

I cut him off again.

“ShhhhHHH. They’re people too. We’re talking to Sandra whether you want us to or not, so shut up and go sniveling back to those deadbeat partners of yours.”

Anubis walks off, grumbling to himself.

I shift into human form, and walk over to a partially destroyed building, with Mae and Alex in tow.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

### Narrator POV

He trudged into his hideout, mentally going over everything that had just happened over the past 10 minutes.

He hadn’t expected to be confronted by his own enemies over something that was none of their business.

*Besides, Sandra’s just a follower. Maybe they’ll eventually stop caring about them and be on their way.*

Anubis sighed. He kept thinking that his own slave wanting to leave him was quite ludicrous, as he thought that he had broken her to the point that she wouldn’t even consider something like rebelling.

Then he mentally kicked himself.

Them. *Them.*

How could he have forgotten? He was still trying to shake off the fact that Sandra was changing before his eyes, and referring to themself with pronouns he thought were only reserved for multiple people.

Then, he heard knocking.

“What do you want?” He said, disgruntled.

“The Hell? I only want a status report!” Darcy bellowed from the hallway.

“Well…” He said. “Sounds like one of our scouts, Sandra is…distracted.”

“How so?”

“They’re not listening. Instead of attacking a guardian, they help them.”

“Strange. Here. Take this.”

“Why?” He asked.

“Well…Maybe it’s time to put them in their place.” Darcy hissed menacingly, as she pulled out a venom laced whip. “Perhaps it would teach Sandra not to be…*rebellious.”*

A twisted smile spread across Anubis’ face.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

## Sandra’s POV

Today hasn’t gone over well. I found out a guardian got injured, and tried to help them, but I couldn’t show Anubis that despite what he thought, I still had my magic, but I had to carefully hide it away so he wouldn’t get suspicious, considering the fact him and his followers get their magic stripped.

I hear people call my name. All the time, yet it doesn’t feel like mine at all.

“Sandra, do this, Sandra, do that. Sandra, you’re an asshole.” That’s all I hear from people. Although I’m beginning to notice my name sounds…wrong.

It was the name I was given, but at this point, I don’t know who I even am anymore. Friend or foe? Leader or follower? There’s really no words to describe the surreality of everything happening.

I’ve been lied to ever since my family left me at a children’s home to protect me, but now, 21 years later, all alone with no allies, I don’t know what truth is anymore since I’ve been lied to many times, and I’ve spent most of my adolescence and adulthood *lying* to people.

I don’t know where my family is.

I don’t know who I can trust.

Who knows? What if my family doesn’t want me?

What if they hate me? What if they

Perhaps I’m stuck being a lost cause.

There’s no hope for someone like a lost cause.

Maybe I’m better off rotting here considering the things I, Sandy, have done.

I recall being told that the world doesn’t see people like me, an enemy’s follower, valid.

Being told that I can’t change. That I can’t help people.

That I’m insignificant.

That since everything I did has already been done, it’s set in stone.

But maybe those naysayers are wrong, but just haven’t put their swords down long enough to realize it. If no one listens, *fuck* those people. They mean nothing to me.

Maybe all hope is lost, but if that’s true and no one will help me, then what the hell am I gonna do about it?

I’ll find a way out. I always do.

My memory has been cloudy, but not like the “oh I forgot something” cloudy.

It’s almost like my mind doesn’t want to remember the pain and sorrow and bloodshed.

Although the one thing I remember is sneaking off to a healer’s hut and getting found by a psychiatrist.

I remember being in a fog, trying to find my sister after coming across a wanted poster Vex labs made of her.

*When did the fog start happening?* The healers had asked.

*I don’t have a concrete date of when it started happening.* I replied. *The only thing I remember is my parents running away. Then explosions. If I try to remember anything beyond that, I just feel…a wall. A-A dead end. It’s really scary.*

And there was nothing they could do at the moment, but whenever Darcy talked about my parents, who were guardians themselves, fear consumes me. My whole body tenses up.

What happened to them? What if they got killed?

What if maybe all of my hopes that I’ll find them are null and void?

If I have to prove that true, then I’ll just have to wait for the right people to find me.

Look out world, I’m going to make my own path in life, and mow down anyone who dares to stand in my way.

But the question is, where will I do it and how will I do it?

What if I get caught? What if maybe this is just wishful thinking?

Lost

Don’t know where to look

Don’t know who to trust

Thoughts bouncing around

Like the echo in a cave

My anger

Burning like the fires

In my mind

In my heart

Determination

spreading like water

over every fiber of my being

I am lost

but I will be found

No matter what happens.

## Cyrus’ POV

“I hear talking.” I say. “But only one voice. And it’s Sandra’s. They must be in here somewhere.”

I stumble through broken pieces, rubble, and trash, until I spot Sandra with their back against the wall. Their arms are covered in wounds and scratches.

“What are you thinking?”

“Just trying to figure out my next move.” Sandra replies. “I know what you’re doing, and I know you aren’t going to hurt me. Not like *Anubis*.”

They say his name with a hiss. “I had always regretted being his follower, but I didn’t think twice about defecting until now.”

“Now’s your chance.” I say softly, shifting into human form and holding out one hand. “Come with me.”

“But…what if he finds me?” Sandra asks. “I don’t want the shit beaten out of me. I don’t exactly know defensive tactics. I only know offense.”

“Use those.” I say. “Use whatever the fuck you’ve got.”

A small smile appears on Sandra’s face. “Okay. I’ll go with you.”

They take my hand, and after some walking, Sandra’s ears twitch, and the expression on their face drops to a mixture of sorrow and fear. Their eyes widen. I hear Sandra’s breath quicken. I place my hand on their shoulder

“Hey…You okay?” I ask.

A tear streams down their face.

“No…Not really.” Their voice cracks a bit and lowers in pitch. “Cyrus…I want to be free but I am still very nervous about it. I want to find my family. I want to love someone, and to be loved back. I want someone out there to care about me, but…what if it’s too late?”

I look into Sandra’s eyes, and despite the fact that they are years older than me, and slightly larger built, the look in their eyes and the way they hold themself makes them look smaller.

“I will help you.” I say earnestly. “But first I suggest we meet a few friends of mine. I won’t let you go.”

Sandra gives me an affirming look.

We walk through the building until we reach the outside, the night sky dotted with tiny stars, the plaza around us dimly lit by the light of two moons, one full, and one a half moon. The rest of the town is surrounded by the warm glow of street lamps with a little glowing orb floating inside each one.

“Wow. It’s beautiful.” Sandra says softly.

I walk over to Alex, Athena, Mae, and Nova. Upon setting her eyes on Sandra, Mae envelops them in a tight hug. A startled expression flickers across Sandra’s face, but quickly morphs into one of pure joy.

“It’s been a long time.” Mae says warmly. “Welcome back, Sandra.”

“Thank you.” They whisper. “But Mae, I have to admit something to you all.”

“Go ahead.” Nova says.

“I am beginning to realize that Sandra…that name isn’t really me anymore. It’s the name I was given when I was born but now it just represents a part of me that isn’t really authentic. It was like another version of me that existed a long time ago, but doesn’t really exist anymore. People change. Anubis may not know this, but so did I.”

“What’s your name?” Nova asks.

“It sounds close to my old one, but my name is…*Sandy*.” They say fiercely. “I’m me again. Haven’t been in a long time. It was a name I asked people to call me on online chats when I would sneak out of Anubis’ hideout and go into a computer I secretly hid. He never knew, but he will now.”

“Hello Sandy.” Mae says, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so happy…to really know you more.”

“So am I. I’m ready to let go. I’m ready to love. I’m ready to protect. And I will always be there for anyone who needs me. It’s what the heart and soul were meant to do as a whole.” Sandy replies. “And I have more to reveal.”

“And I’m willing to help those who need a bit more time to understand this very long complicated journey.”

## 3 weeks later

### Queenie’ s POV

“Where are they? Where are they??” Anubis mutters, searching through several poorly maintained rooms.

“Who is ‘they’?” I ask.

“Where the Hell is Sandra?” He says. “I’ve been looking for that insolent mud brain all day. Just when I leave them alone for one hour…”

“Since when do they go by ‘they’? Ughhhh change is harrrrd.” I whine.

“Apparently since yesterday. Just stick with it.”

“Fiiiiiine.”

“Quit your bellyaching and find them!” Anubis yells. “Jesus christ.”

“Okay, Okay!” I yell. “Ugh.”

We exit the building and find the glow of a firelight from inside of a forest.

“Well did you find Sandra?” Darcy asks.

“No, but I think I know where she is.” I say. “OOooo! This is going to be so fun! We’re getting a slave back!”

“They’re my right hand.” Anubis corrects.

“Whatever. Let’s go.” I say.

We reach the forest, and there they all stand.

“Hey losers!” I yell. “We found you! Come on, Sandra, time to go home. Work to do.”

Pain spreads to my entire body as I feel a fist collide with my abdomen.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Kindly fuck off.” They say. “Also my name is Sandy. Get that right.”

“Jeez, what’s with the name changes?”

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I’m not your obedient slave! I’m a person like everyone else! Mae gave me the courage to find a team who actually cared about me!”

“You defected?? IDIOT! You never know when they’ll find out you’re bad and leave you for dead!” I scream.

“No.” Sandy replies. “You guys were the ones who did that. I’m not the one who’s bad here. You all made me do things I never wanted to do. I never wanted to hurt people. I was forced to.”

“So what? You didn’t know those people.” I say.

“Forget that. They were poor innocent souls harvested purely for your sick lab projects!”

“Awww you’re no fun to fight.” I say petulantly.

“This isn’t about fun. This is about the fact that I’m no longer your ally. I never was.” Sandy says. “So shut up so I can gather the others.”

I hear a gunshot, and see that Darcy has a bullet wound.

“Cover for me!” Sandy yells. Soon they’re surrounded by Mae and the other guardians.

Darcy stumbles back up again, then pulls out a venom tipped whip, and snaps it once.

“This is what you’ll be facing if you try to ever escape us again.” She says.

“ENOUGH!” Sandy yells. “Enough of all this. I am not letting my friends—-my family get hurt!”

Their eyes glow. A magenta aura surrounds them.

I feel myself being blasted backwards by a large shockwave.

Sandy flips us off.

### Sandy’s POV

“Failed again!” I hear Anubis yell. “You guys are all a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

“Hey.” I yank him sharply by his jacket. “That’s no way to treat anyone.”

“Why do you sound so weird? Like your voice has gravel in it.”

“It’s been deepening a little bit over the past few weeks.”

“Yeah but you’re not a kid! Maybe you just have a cold or something.”

“You have to realize that the person you think is your servant isn’t anymore.” I say. “People change. I’m changing.”

“Blah blah blah with all the change talk. Just come back.”

“I’m not going back. My alliance is with the guardians now.”

“Fine! Be that way! But Darcy will know about this.”

“Darcy can go stumble into a trash pit in a drunken stupor for all I care. You’re so full of shit I’m pretty sure no laxative can treat that ego of yours. They’ll just have to accept the fact I would never hurt the people you wanted me to, because I cared about them. You should know that.”

He shouts angrily. I run off.

“Let’s get back to wherever you guys set up a camp or something.” I say.

“We didn’t set up camp. We live here. Our home is a 45 minute walk away.” Mae says. “You should meet Alex.”

“I know them.” I say. “They just haven’t gotten to know me fully.”

### Alex’s POV

“I hear footsteps. It looks like mom and the others are back, and brought someone with them….and it’s…” I pause. “Wait, aren’t you one of Anubis’ henchpeople?”

“No.” the person replies. “I defected because I realized that there’s more to life than hurting people.”

“I sort of recognize you, but I overheard you said you go by a different name now.” I say.

“Yes. My name is Sandy.”

“Um…Hi.”

“I want to apologize. I’m sorry if I ended up hurting you or the people you cared about every time we ran into each other.”

“Forgiven.” I reply. “Even though it was really Anubis who was behind all this.”

“I’ve never been his ally, but he forced me to basically be his slave. I didn’t think defecting was possible until now.”

“What made you realize that?” I ask.

“Pulling up all the memories of what happened during my life from the time I got separated from my family at 11 years old made me think they would still save me.”

“Why were you separated?” I ask.

“It’s because they wanted to keep me and my fraternal twin sister Ivory safe. We were at this group home for a while, then I got tired of staying there because even though the people there were pretty nice, I just felt like there wasn’t any hope for me, so I packed my bags and went off on my own for a bit. Then one day, I got attacked, fell unconscious, and woke up in another orphanage, and I saw a poster of the fake realm guy on the wall, and I knew that this place isn’t a safe one. I tried to run away then got beat up. Turns out it was a training camp for those Vex labs and the fake realm guy deemed worthy to be their servants and workers. It was terrible. Then eventually I became Anubis’ right-hand thinking it would be an opportunity to somehow be free but I was wrong. I was only treated like trash, just like the rest of them, but the punishments were more brutal. Then when my sister tried to rescue me, she was thrown out and made a criminal. I’ve been forced to do things I never would do to anyone. That incident with me trying to help a guardian was because I cared, and I always have.”

Their voice cracks and they sob softly. A tear streams down their face.

“When I was taken in, my parents said they were only doing this to keep me safe, and would come back for me, but now…I don’t know if that’s true or not. I don’t know where they are, I don’t even know if they’re alive, and at this point, I don’t even know if I have faith in what they told me anymore. I really really want to find them, but I don’t know what to do.”

“I can help you.” I say. “Because it’s clear you care about a lot of people, but you just need others to do the same to you. You’re too kind and gentle to be like Anubis.”

Sandy smiles. “Thank you, Alex.”

I shift into human form. A surprised look flashes over Sandy’s face.

“Do you have a human form?” I ask.

### Sandy’s POV

“I…I don’t know. I never really grew up around humans. Or taught much about human forms. Humans popped up one or two times in my life, but only briefly. Byron the fake realm guy is a human, and I’ve seen guardians shapeshift quite a few times, but I just never learned it because at first I didn’t feel a need for it, but after becoming Anubis’ slave, I didn’t learn out of fear he’d find out I still had my powers, because every one of his lackeys had their magic stripped. I was the only one who secretly had powers, but hid them. Now I don’t even know if they’re there anymore.” I reply.

“Well being able to shapeshift into a human form is a sign you still have magic in you.” I say. “I can help you with that. All you have to do is visualize yourself as a human then eventually you will shift. It may take a few times to be able to do it at will.” Alex says.

“If that’s what might help, then I’ll try.” I say.

I close my eyes. Tingling washes down my entire body. I feel sensations I’ve never felt before. Normally I can see faces of people I know in my mind. But now I just see my own face reflected back at me, but now it looks different.

I have pale ivory skin, short messy dark brown hair, and light freckles on my face. My eyes still retain their heterochromic colors of magenta and purple.

I open my eyes and stare down at my hands and arms, laced with scars each in their own stage of healing. They match the rest of my body, skin smooth, but also possessing natural creases. I study my face, while round, it still has visible but softly accented cheekbones. There are three earrings on my right ear, one on my left.

I gasp. “Wow. I-I wasn’t expecting this to actually work.”

“Well, looks like it did.” Alex says.

We hear thumping noises through the roof, then yelling.

“If you don’t get back to camp where you’re supposed to be, I’m bringing out the big guns!” Anubis yells. “Sandra, just surrender!”

I emerge from the building.

“Who the hell are you?” He asks. “Where’s Sandra?”

“I was them.” I reply. “My name is Sandy.”

“You’re a human.”

I shift back. “Correction: this is a human form.”

“What?? You don’t have magic. All me and my henchman don’t have it. They’re all stripped. Now come along.”

“No.” I say. “Now hold on a freaking minute here. I still have magic. I always have. I just had to hide it from people like you.”

“You had magic this whole time?? Liar!!” He yells

“And this time we won’t fail in getting you back. And this is to help you…stay in line.” Darcy pops up behind me. I feel her hand grip my wrist tightly.

I hear the crack of a whip hit my side. Stinging pain radiates through my entire body.

My vision swims in and out.

“ALEX!!” I scream, my voice cracking. “If you find my mom, dad and sister, have them wait at the nearest medical facility!”

“I will!” They reply. “And I’ll make sure to help them and the team save you!”

“Nightly night.” Darcy says menacingly. The world goes dark.

Hours later, I open my eyes, and spot Anubis and Darcy talking in the distance. I feel a dull ache in my abdomen, and put my hand on the area where I got whipped. The wounds open again, this time oozing thick black venom.

A headache pounds at my temples. Then I hear my own voice echo in my head.

*Venom can’t kill you directly. but if you’ve had previous untreated wounds, then get hurt again with a venom laced object, the venom from the previous wound that stagnated will accumulate and turn into a tumor that will eventually block vital organs, killing you. The only way of saving you is surgery. It may hurt for a while but it will be worth it.*

Pain throbs through my entire body.

Then I feel my mind being pulled away from me. Then I end up in astral form.

“We have work to do.” Anubis says.

I can only watch from afar, as I see myself, with my battered, bloodstained, venom wounded body, get up, and follow him. At closer glance, my eyes have a dull gray sheen to them.

Anxiety rips through me. I scream loudly.

“If you don’t have magic, how are you doing this to me??” I yell. “Why do you do this? All those poor souls being forced to watch themselves commit unspeakable crimes!”

“Whatever. It’s all in the name to make Anubis the ruler of this realm.” Darcy says. “It can go on now that we got you back.”

“NO!” I scream. I launch myself forwards, into my body, and land a blow to her face.

She gets up, clicks a button, and I spy a hoop on my arm glow, and I scream in pain, and am forced to separate my astral form from my body once again.

“Mind control!” I say angrily. “HOW??”

“If ya don’t have magic, use tech.” Darcy says. “Oh Sandra, you almost cost me $500 for almost breaking this control device.”

“I will not let you hurt me again.” I say.

I hear the doors slam open. Darcy clicks a button. The hoops on my wrists stop glowing. My body falls to the ground. I close my eyes, and hunt for my heart beating. It’s there, but quite slow and erratic.

“You’re surrounded!” I hear Alex and Mae shout in unison.

My body falls to the ground, the color flickers back into my eyes, and a mix of purple blood and black venom leak from a burst wound on my side.

I feel myself float back into my own body.

The world fades and darkens once again.

I hear voices.

Faintly.

“We have to find a facility to help Sandy.”

Then I hear others I partially recognize.

“I can’t believe we did this. I regret having left my child behind.”

“I don’t want them to die.”

Then sobbing.

I feel movement. Every bump and jostle.

Time passes.

I feel someone prick my arm. Then tingling. Through closed eyes I see spots of light.

My eyes flutter.

“I think they’re waking up.” I hear someone say, which I think could be Alex, but am not sure, since it feels like my drugged up exhausted brain is sorting through piles of mixed up information all at once.

“What…what happened?” I ask. My voice is raspy, and a slight dryness in my throat makes me cough. I feel a slight pain in my side. I run my hand across my stomach and feel a bandage wrapped around part of my torso. The room appears to be a healing room, warmly lit by floating orbs, the sun partly peeking through clouds, spreading light on some of the hospital furniture. There’s a shelf full of books with their spines well worn.

“Child…” I hear someone whisper. “We finally found you after all these years.”

My vision clears, and the face I see resembles mine, but softer, with lines around the eyes, and a less defined shape in the cheekbones.

“Mom?” I say. “You and dad came back.”

She nods. “When Alex led us to you, you were in bad shape. You lost a lot of blood, and were nearly dead. Thank god the venom tumor got removed. It’s been quite a long time since we sent you our previous letter. We knew we would come back for you.”

Tears build up behind my eyes, but then I feel my stomach twist into a hard lump inside of me.

Then I feel anger. My gem glows slightly.

“Why would you do this??” I say, the raspiness in my voice fades as it rises. “You…You say you wanted to keep me safe, but I was beginning to lose faith in what you told me!”

“I’m so sorry….”

Then she accidentally forgets my name. All the bad memories of my past self flow out.

“My name is Sandy.” I say. “Mom, why?? You say you loved me, but here I am a complete mess. I was treated like shit for the last 22 years!! What the hell were you thinking??”

“We didn’t know what was going to happen next.”

I spot my sister Ivory join me.

“Mom, we know you just wanted to keep my…brother safe, but maybe leaving us wasn’t the best idea.” She says. “I’m so sorry, Sandy.” A tear streams down her face. She wraps her arms around me.

“Honey, I think Sandy’s right for calling us out on this.” My father says.

She nods sadly.

I hear a door open, and the person who enters is Cyrus with a pitcher of water.

“Sandy, you’re awake.” They say, relieved. “The healers said that it looks like the incision on your stomach is already starting to heal, except you’ll have to stay here overnight.”

“Well if it’s for almost dying, then it’s probably worth it.”

“That’s not all. During the operation, they incorporated cybercells into your body to permanently rid you of becoming mind controlled. There are advantages too.”

“What are cybercells?” I ask.

“Well they’re like the biological cells in living beings, but…cybernetic. Mind control doesn’t work on cyberfolk, and it was the only way to save you, except your cybernetics are internal. People won’t notice unless you tap into your powers.”

“I can shapeshift.” I say. “But I don’t quite feel my magic in me. I hope it’s not gone.”

My gem pulses and glows.

“Sandy, if your gem is glowing like that, it means you still have magic, it just went dormant, so we’ll have to help you reawaken it.”

“But how?”

“Nova and I will teach you.” Mae says.

I see images of the event that happened 2 hours ago.

My blood soaked body.

Darcy with her venom laced whip.

I hear screaming.

Anubis with his mind control device.

Darcy’s voice.

“Perhaps this would make you more…agreeable.”

The bitter taste of the temporary mind wiping serum she forced me to drink, then the fog and numbness.

Nausea hits me.

I shoot my arms upwards to cover my forehead and eyes. The IV line in my left arm tugs slightly, causing it to sting.

“Mom, Dad, help—get them away, get them *away* *PLEASE*!!”

Alex shoves an empty bowl in front of me, and a thick wave of liquid and digested food bits flows out of my mouth.

I gulp a glass of water and spit it into the sink, the nausea leaves a bitter and sour taste in my mouth.

I sob. Tears stream down my face.

“P-Please don’t leave me, Mom.” I whisper. “Please.”

“I won’t, my child.” She whispers

I shift into human form, and catch my damp tear stained face covered in scratches, messy black hair, and eyes and nose reddened from crying.

I feel mom rub my back.

“I’m a mess.” I whisper. “Even more of a mess than I was before.”

“Don’t worry. After your incision heals completely, we can find you a room at a bathhouse.” Alex says.

“But I want to at least clean myself up a bit. I’ve been aching to do it.” I say.

Nova brings in a small tub of warm water. “Maybe we can at least wash your hair. Is that enough?”

I nod. “It would help a little bit.”

### Ivory’s POV

I turn to Alex and Cyrus, and take my father’s hand.

“Can we chat for a bit?” I ask.

They both nod, and we temporarily exit the room.

“What’s your name?” Cyrus asks softly, a hint of warmth in their voice.

“My name is Tyene.” Sandy’s mother replies.

“And mine is Ajax.” Their father replies.

“You said you hid your children away when they were young to keep them safe.” Alex says.

“Yes, that was the intended purpose, but I’m afraid we didn’t think this through when we did it. We didn’t know Sandy and Ivory would end up with more harm than good.” Ajax says.

“When I tried to help Sandy and snuck into Vex labs, they branded me a wanted criminal.” I say.

“We can’t fix past mistakes.” Tyene says. “But right now let’s just focus on helping both you and Sandy.” She puts her hand on my shoulder.

We enter the room again.

“I know that it might take a while to reawaken my magic.” Sandy says. “But I also want to learn to heal. Learn all kinds of things. I want to love again, but it’s just…hard.”

Anger lines their voice.

"I know I just met my biological family, my mom, dad, and sister, but seriously guys. I know it was out of love, but I basically wandered around in the middle of nowhere while you were off fighting, doing who knows what while I was hauled off to an orphanage to be some guy's shitty henchperson, left to rot with venom wounds that turned out to almost kill me, did the grunt work for a couple of egotistical assholes and hid my powers, all while thinking the letters you sent me would help me find you! I didn't find you until now! Now I'm afraid someone will abandon me all over again. How the hell is that okay?!...“

They sigh. “Maybe I’ve been hiding it, but things hurt more than I thought they did.”

“And we apologize.” Mom says

“You guys saved me, but where would I live? where would Ivory live?” Sandy asks.

“Our house is still intact. We still live in it. You can stay until you can find yourself a place to live.” Dad says.

“I didn’t know you still lived in it. Anubis said Vex destroyed your house, but I didn’t know if I wanted to believe that.” Sandy says

“Nope, those were lies.” Mom says.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Alex says. We all turn to face them.

“Ever heard of Jewel labs?” They ask.

Sandy and I both nod. “We’ve snuck into it before, but it was mostly to hide from Anubis temporarily and get food and medical attention.”

Sandy’s stomach growls audibly. “Speaking of food, I haven’t had the fresh stuff in years. Probably explains why I often get diarrhea a lot.”

“Sandy, bro you’re supposed to refuse the garbage they give you, sneak out, and if you bump into a guardian, ask them for food or something.” I laugh dryly.

“Well I do have the rest of the breakfast I didn’t finish because I wanted to save it for later, but you can have it.” Cyrus says. “Don’t worry, it’s good.”

## 1 day later

### Sandy’s POV

“Except I don’t know what to do next.” I say.

“Well I got a message from one of the healers that you’ll go home in a few hours.” Ivory says.

“I’m staying with Mom and Dad, right?” I say.

Ivory nods. “Until the guardians can help you find a place of your own.”

“Here. Take these.” Alex says, handing me some clothes.

The clothing they hand me is nothing like what Anubis forced me to wear. No rips, tears, stains, or threads anywhere.

It appears to be a navy blue shirt with a golden colored hoodie and tunic, paired with sand yellow pants and leather boots, along with what looks like a small scarf.

I disappear to change, and exit holding the scarf in one hand.

“What is this for?” I ask.

“The scarf is made out of nanofibers.” Cyrus says. “When you cover half your face with it, it protects you from smoke, poison gases, dust from sand or storms, along with sleeping gases, and those used to brainwash people.”

“Wait, there are gases that brainwash people?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to watch.” Cyrus says, shuddering. “Poor souls doing terrible things that are out of their control, and if you look closely, they have filmy gray eyes.”

“Yeesh.” I cringe, covering the lower half of my face with the scarf. “Better safe than sorry. What kind of uniform is this?”

“It’s an elite guardian’s uniform.” Mae says.

A chill runs down my spine. Excitement, surprise, and confusion race through my veins.

“W-wait but I’m not a guardian. I was enslaved for 11 years, and I thought that you had to help people a certain amount of times to become one.” I say.

“That’s not always how it works. We ran into you more than once, and every time we were captured, you didn’t hurt us, and you’ve tried to help someone plenty of times, even if you had to do it in secret.” Mae says. “Even through those hard times you still cared about us. For those actions, you’re now an official guardian. Welcome to the coven, Sandy.”

“Wow…thank you.” I say. “But one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“You know, I do want this to look a bit cooler, but also practical. I’ve been thinking…chains?”

“Really? But how is it possible to add chains as an accessory?”

“I’ve seen plenty of people from all over this place when I would sneak out.” I say. “I’ll find some when I get the chance.”

The group and I walk out of the medical facility, my hand is interlocked with my sister Ivory’s hand.

We’ve been united again.

Even though it’s been 10 years.

10 years as lost souls.

10 years torn between thinking we’d be saved, and at the same time, thinking that maybe it wasn’t even possible.

Spending most of my childhood, adolescence, and some of my adulthood alone. Back then I thought people wouldn’t trust me. I thought I’d never get supported.

But here I am

with a team of my own to be a part of.

I’m no longer “Sandy, one of Anubis’ good-for-nothing magicless goons.”

I’m now “Sandy, a friend, a family member, a warrior, a sibling, and a guardian who will not let anyone down.

Unshackled, Unbound, Unapologetic for who I am. Who I will become.

I didn’t know if liberation was a real thing until now.

People can change. I changed. I just needed to find the right moment.

We exit the healing facility when an idea pops into my mind.

“Hey I’ve been thinking that maybe I should clean myself up a bit.” I run one hand through my hair. “Besides in my opinion I still look kind of messy.”

“We can’t fix past mistakes.” Tyene says. “But right now let’s just focus on helping both you and Sandy.” She puts her hand on my shoulder.

”Even though only Vex sees you as a criminal, deep down I think you’ve been forgiven by the innocent people there. You just wanted to help. You tried your best.” I say. “Now all we need to do is reintroduce me or something. I just hope they’re not going to be scared of me though. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”

We exit the healing facility when an idea pops into my mind.

“Hey I’ve been thinking that maybe I should clean myself up a bit.” I run one hand through my hair. “Besides in my opinion I still look kind of messy.”

“I brought some electric clippers.” Ivory says. “They’re battery operated.”

“Wow…Thank you so much.” I say.

I hear a low hum, and feel the clippers rub against the back of my neck, then a comb is run through my hair. Ivory hands me a mirror.

My hair is shorter and neater, with the underside shaved, and the rest flows neatly around my shoulders. Bangs frame the upper part of my forehead. The entire style forms a mullet.

“What do you think?” She asks.

“It’s so perfect.” I grin. “Thank you.”

“Now let’s get you home.” Mom says. “You need your rest.”

I hear someone running towards me.

Byron the fake realm guy.

“Seriously? I can’t believe I was called into this. Sandra, you belong to me, not those guys. Get back here. I have a taser.”

I walk over to Anubis and jab my clawed pointer finger into his forehead. It leaves a slightly cut dent in the center.

“Ow! Why’d you do that?”

“I’m not your ally.” I reply. “I never was. Get over it. These ‘guys’ are my parents and twin sister, Cyrus, and Alex. Also get used to the fact you can’t really assert your dominance over a seraphic Moon wolf. Face it. Your superiority complex, man child tendencies, weak stamina and 5 foot height are nothing compared to my height of 6 feet, undying love for a lot of people, and regrowing knowledge of magic. Sorry dude, you’re screwed over. In fact you already were. Even back in the supposed ‘good old days’ which for you is the 1930s, you still did terrible things. Everyone including the humans, know this. You try to do all this in the name of ‘protecting humanity’ when in reality, you only care about yourself. Everything you do ends up endangering both races. The humans and us magic beings. You’re risking our chances of safely opening ourselves up to them and allowing humans to learn magic and become guardians themselves.”

“What’s the point in that? They hate you.”

“They don’t actually hate us. They were afraid. But as the years went by, more curious seekers were entering the realm, but all safely came back with stories to tell.” I say, shifting into human form. “When I get the chance, I will temporarily venture outside this realm and see what the other side has to offer. Bill has been quite helpful.”

“You’re allied with Bill the defect?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. He’s turning an old building next to Jewel labs and its houses into a school. He says he’ll make me a teacher once it’s completed and he gets things up and running. I’ve been secretly training to be one for years. But it wasn’t until now that it became official.”

“And we’re all so proud of you.” Mom says.

“We need to go.” I say.

“No, you’re still—“

I hiss menacingly, baring a sliver of my teeth. That’s enough to frighten him.

“Shut up, noob.” I interject. “We’re leaving. Without you. Soon you’ll face the wrath of that dirtbag boss of yours. Don’t say I warned you, but I did.”

“I’ll get you someday. Maybe make a kill.” He growls.

“Uh huh. Sure.” I walk off with my parents, sister, Alex, Athena and Cyrus following.

I hear him say something else I don’t pay attention to. Right now what I’m focused on is fixing things with my family.

Deep down, I know it will be worth it.

## Dusty’s  POV

I’m  in the middle of playing hopscotch  with Nixie  and  my  phone buzzes.

“Let  me guess…Charlie’s  calling?’’  Nixie  teases.

“Be quiet,  Nix.’’  I  laugh.

“Well, you two are always  flirtatious  around   each other.’’   She  laughs.

“Like  you  and  Zach?’’  I laugh, nudging her.

“Stop it, sis. You  have fun all the  time, but   I have  to wait until I’m 18 to date,  like  you did.’’   Nixie  sighs.

“Estrella is actually the name of one of Cyrus’ daughters.” I say.

My phone buzzes. A text from Cyrus.

Wait for me. We’re bringing Sandy home.

Who’s Sandy? I type back.

The fake realm guy’s former slave. Sandy was never really bad to begin with. They were just deeply wounded by being stuck with him for 18 years.

That’s really sad.” I say softly.

“What’s going on?” Nixie asks. “You look really sad all of a sudden.”

“I feel bad for Sandy.” I say. “They were forced to be with someone who would hurt them for 18 years.”

“It’s okay,  copo de nieve, I’ll help you.”  Nixie  says.

Out the window, I see several figures moving. One appears to have a scratch or two on their face that appears to be half healed.

The figure speeds up to a rapid pace. Eventually they go up and knock on the door. When I get a closer look at them, they appear to look like…

One of Anubis’ slaves.

Sandy.

I hesitantly let them in. Alex, their parents Mae and Nova, Athena, and Cyrus accompany them.

“…Hi? My name is Dusty.” I say nervously.

“Hello, Dusty.’’  They look me  up and down before they take my diary and start to read it.

“You were enslaved, right?…” I ask. “I hope you’re okay with me asking.”

“It’s perfectly okay.” Sandy says, their tone warm and melodic. “Yes, I was in fact enslaved. It was not fun at all. Even though Anubis can be really ruthless, I sort of was able to develop a sort of shield against him, you know? To not be afraid of him.

“He’s the one who killed Oliver."

“Hard to say this, but thanks to him, I had to do everything in secret. Even get food and other basic necessities.” Sandy reaches into their pocket and shakes a small bottle of pills, popping one into their mouth. “Including these.”

“What are those pills?” I ask. “They’re not drugs, are they?”

“They kind of are.” Sandy replies. “ADHD meds.”

“Oh. I didn’t know you had ADHD. Normally people have tons of energy and doesn’t know where to go.”

“Well on the outside it’s more subtle, but on the inside I feel like everything inside me is moving around. Anubis never realized this because he was too busy beating me up, but the constant lateness, me forgetting things, and the time distortion that would cause me to sometimes stop doing his grunt work because I thought I had been doing it for half a day was because of my ADHD. He also made me work even when I was clearly exhausted, and the funny thing is that he would sometimes repeated scream at my face while I ended up crash sleeping for an entire day.”

“Well…” I say. “At least you can rest easy knowing you can put yourself first now.”

Sandy nods, grinning softly. “My family and I will be going home soon, but I just wanted to stop in and say hello.”

Azure comes and sits in my lap.

“What’s up, Azure?” I say.

“Who’s he?” Sandy asks.

“A friend.” I say

Azure joins us next to the couch.

“Anyway, do you want any tea?” I ask. “My mom is visiting for the day. She likes visitors.”

“I just hope she’s okay with me being here.” Sandy says.

“She is. Jenna was formerly Anubis’ right hand, but defected a long time ago. She stayed with her for a bit until she and Griff fell in love and moved in together.”

“Who is Griff?” Sandy asks.

“One of the Wolfren tribe leaders. I met her through Thesia, a wolf queen who married then Sky princess Persephone. Thesia was from Vex labs, but was hidden away by her mother so she wouldn’t be abused.”

“I know Thesia.” Sandy says. “She was and still is one of the people I still talk to. We were childhood friends. I’m about to tell her I defected.”

My pet wolf, Azure, tries to lick my face.

“Not now, girl.” We can play later.”   I say gently.

“Looks like Azure wants to play.” Star giggles.

Stars suddenly barks four times and signs four different letters.

“What’s she doing?” Sandy asks.

“It  looks like she's trying to tell me something.” I say.

Azure looks at me and whimpers.

“What’s wrong, love?”  I ask.

Azure begins limping.

“She is hurt.” Sandy says. “Hello Stars. Give me your leg.”

Sandy does a small spell circle. Star’s leg glows and the wound heals.

Azure looks up at Sandy. “A-Awe you fwiend owr foe?” She says softly and haltingly.

“Friend…” Sandy begins. “But…you can speak?”

“Yeah, but I’m afwaid they won’t understand me. This non sentience is a disguise. A wuse.”

## Sandy’s POV

“It’s okay. I’m not the type to mock anyone for the way they act or speak. You can’t control that.” I say. “But I can help you speak properly if you like, if that makes things easier on you. Is that okay?”

I lock eyes with her.

“Sure…If that means I can feel good about it.” She says. “Thanks fowr healing my leg.”

I hug her. She gets up on 2 legs and sits on the couch. She gestures towards her lower jaw, beckoning me to massage that area.

“Does it feel good?” I ask, gently scratching it.

She nods, then laughs.

“Hey, wemember….‘wabbit  season’?”

“Yeah.” I reply. “‘Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit’…”

We both laugh. “God, I used to love that cartoon when I was a kid.” I say. “Now Star, I used to speak that way when I was little, but we fixed it by reading off of flash cards with R sounding words, and trying to say them correctly. I’m going to help you by using them, but remember, there is no rush.”

“Okay.”

“Would you like to try some?”

“Yeah…But Dusty  has to help.”

“Okay.” I reach into a small satchel and shuffle a small deck of cards.

“Dusty, could you kindly join us?” I ask.

“Sure.” He says.

“Let’s begin with this one.” I say, reading off of a card. “ ‘Rory’s lawn rake rarely rakes really right.’ Can you try saying that?”

I repeat the twister, but slower.

“Now you try.” I say patiently. “Do your best.”

“R-Rory’s lawn w-w-rake wawely wakes…really right.” Star says haltingly.

“That’s really good, Azure.” I say. “Shall we try another?”

“Okay.” Azure  says.

I reshuffle the cards and pull out a new one.

“Rox rockets really rapidly.” I read.

She repeats it slowly, but more confidently, with less mispronunciations.

“Good girl.” Dusty says.

“You’re getting it.” I say.

“Thank you…Can we  play a game?” Dusty asks.

“Sure.” I say. “Now, sweet. Have you ever heard of Bananagrams?”

“No...awe they edible?”

I chuckle. “No, dear one. They’re a game where you are given a certain amount of letters and you have to make words with them crosswords,style.”

“Oh. wow.” She says.

“Would you like me to get them out for you?” I ask.

Stars nods, then looks at Nayah.

“What’s up, Stars?”

“I wanna play Bananagwams.”

“That’s what we’re about to do.” I say, pulling out a banana shaped pouch with alabaster colored tiles with black letters engraved on top.

“It looks like you’re getting some courage.” I say warmly. “Now, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“But first, I want you to do something for me.” I say.

“What is it?”

“I need you and Dusty to call the others into here. I need them in order to travel into a memory viewing realm.”

“Why do you need multiple people?”

“Well, you don’t really need more than one person for the spell to work, but in this case, I need them all here because I want them to experience my story, from my life before I was kidnapped, to what life was like through the eyes of one of Anubis’ former slaves. Through my eyes, to now, and all the things in between, along with people I bumped into along the way knowing how much I really hurt on the inside, to me trying so hard to help people, but having to do it in secret, along with hiding my powers from the fake realm guy, Anubis, and Vex labs.”

Azure nods.

I close my eyes, then open them. Through a reflection on the vase on the living room mantle, I catch my eyes glow as I telepathically communicate my message to everyone waiting outside.

“Now Azure,” I say. “Are you willing to go through this? Even if the moments may seem intense, the events that will happen in this memory realm are not actually happening. While they feel real, they are really only projections shown by the realm and the person who experienced them. The people in the memories cannot see, feel, nor hear you. And remember, if you start to feel scared, I’m here for you. All of you.”

Alex and the others join me. We hold hands.

“Feel the energy.” Dusty says.

The room around us starts to change and shift.

“Close your eyes.” I say.

Then we’re in a different realm.

One that resembles an overcast cloud world. Floating orbs with faint moving images inside of them materialize in front of us.

“Now.” I say, picking one up. “You’re about to go to your first stop on my memory lane.”

I flick the orb, which expands and covers the entire realm in its own energy, which takes us into a small house.

“This is where my parents live.” I say. “Thankfully it is still intact now. They still live in this house.”

“Wow.” Star says.

“Would you like to see how it all began?” I ask.

“Yes!”

## 10 years ago

### Sandy’s POV

I enter the house with a small bag of books when Mom stops me.

“Mom?…Is everything okay?” I ask.

“The neighbors’ house got raided by Vex labs workers.”

“That’s not good.” I say.

“And on your 10th birthday, too.”

“This is terrible. We have to go.” She says.