Hey everyone! 

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not writing in, like, forever. It's been a crazy summer for me. And when I get emotionally messed up, that means I either write A TON or I don't write at all for a while. 

I've got 12 days until I move into college. EEEEEEP. Haley_Ferland has already moved into her college, and Imma miss her so much :( 

I'm going to try to write some between now and then, and depending on my class load (NO MATH OR SCIENCE THIS SEMESTER, PRAISE), I'll try during the school year. 

WHO SAW SUICIDE SQUAD AND GHOSTBUSTERS?? Seriously, two of the best movies of the year, along with Civil War and Deadpool. 

General Sierra Updates: 

1. Still single. Lol. Word of advice: do not have a summer fling. 

2. I have naturally dark brown hair, but in a month or so, I'm bleaching it. We'll see how that goes... 

3. COLLEGE AHHHHHHHHHHHH

4. I'm still waiting on that full request for Blue Moon and I'm casually dying. 

5. I've just begun re-writing the part in Three Tasks with the mermaids. I'm priding myself on diversifying the characters a lot. I've got two Native American brothers (the Calens), a Brazilian-American (Diego, who used to be Mark, who used to be a combo of Stark and Banner), an African-American lesbian (Scarlett, who used to be Natasha), Jack is now half-Hispanic, half-British, an Asian (Georgia, who used to be Pepper), and general gay-ness (Sidney, who used to be Andrew, who used to be Peter Parker).  Saldra is now black, Saissa is mixed race, as is Lam (ew), and other things that I'm excited about. 

YAY ME. 

6. Things might happen in the hopefully-published series that do not happen in the online version. So far, most of those things are good. One character lives who originally didn't, although one died who originally survived (not very important); one ship will continue to sail unbroken; and betrayals happen. MUCH HAPPINESS. 

7. Yet another profile pic change, this one feat. my unruly curly hair. 

Okay sorry. It's been a while. 

Please VOTE and COMMENT! 

xoxo Sierra xoxo

Chapter 7:

Emmaline could arrive at the Calen house any minute, back from her vet clinic, and Victoire isn't interested in her coming home to be killed. So she and the others fly around the house, throwing things in bags and stealing food from the kitchen.

"I feel like I'm committing a crime," says Giovanna, hesitating at the pantry.

"Let me help you with that," says Victoire, reaching around her friend and grabbing a box of crackers, a loaf of bread, and peanut butter. "Get anything else that can fit in Dean's bag, because who the hell knows when-slash-if we'll be able to get more food."

"Aren't we bringing money?" asks Ajia, appearing in the kitchen with one of Kyle's hiking backpacks slung over one shoulder. Her dreadlocks hang everywhere across her round face, and she is out of breath.

"We can try," says Victoire. "But aside from the fact that I'm damn broke and Kyle and Emmaline have their wallets with them, we don't know where on Earth we're going to end up. Dollar bills could be useless."

"Do we need passports then?" asks Giovanna. "I still have mine."

"Mine's at home," says Ajia.

"If we have the portals, we won't need them," says Victoire. "And we also have Riyell."

Anthony walks into the kitchen, likewise carrying a backpack. He looks uneasy. "This is a bad idea, I'm telling you right now. Kyle and Emmaline are going to go crazy, and you know they'll get in touch with Rani. Which makes things more complicated if we're trying to save everyone from, you know, dying."

Victoire hadn't thought of that. "We'll leave them a note," she says. "Not giving any details, but at least telling them to mind their own asses if they don't want to die. It's a lesson a lot of people need to learn."

"Well, I guess we're almost done," says Anthony, jerking a finger at the ceiling. "They're finishing up. Would it be a bad idea to grab some kitchen knives in case we need to protect ourselves from any witches?"

"Oh shit, I forgot," says Victoire, then runs back upstairs. She sidesteps Ayaan, who is clumsily walking through the hall and trying to carry two duffel bags and drag a suitcase behind him. She walks into her room, which is covered in glass. Carefully stepping over the shards, she reaches under her bed, feeling until her fingers wrap around the hilt of Videl's double-sided spear.

She lifts up the weapon, unlatching the knob so the blades at both end shoot out to create a spear nearly her height. The setting sun catches on the spears and on the broken glass, casting blinding light around the bedroom.

Victoire stands, snapping the spear back to its original one-sided dagger. She is just about to leave when her boots crack on the glass... and on the box Emmaline and Kyle gave her. She knows she needs to leave now, but something about the box, tethering her to her past, draws her to it.

Careful not to cut herself more, Victoire kneels down, setting the dagger beside her. She pulls the rest of the box out from the bed and removes the lid. She grabs the pendant, tying it around her wrist, the leather wrapping around her like veins. As she does so, something pokes into her skin. Victoire looks down to see a small charm hanging from the leather necklace. Holding her wrist closer to her eyes, she sees that it is a tiny iron scorpion.

"What the hell," she mutters. She glances up at her bed. On the headboard is a watercolor drawing of a scorpion, given to her by Elizabeth when the girl decided to paint everyone's horoscope. Born October 24, Victoire barely makes the cut as a Scorpio.

Besides the one of her and Videl, there are more photographs in the box, kept together with a rubber band. She grabs the bundle and stuffs it in her backpack.

"VICTOIRE!" shouts Dean. "Come on, we have to go if we're going!"
"I'M COMING!" she hollers. Fingers flying, she goes through more of the box- much of it contains faded coloring pages ripped from books, plus a few toys. "Stupid childhood," she says to herself. There is nothing else in the box, and Victoire gets ready to stand when she notices the corner of an envelope sticking out from underneath a scribbled coloring of Winnie the Pooh.

She slides the envelope out. On it is written a single word: Scorpion.

"This scorpion shit is weird as fuck," says Victoire, who has no qualms about cursing out loud even when nobody is there to hear her.

Her sharp nails rip open the envelope and pull out the piece of paper, which is more like parchment from Harry Potter. The writing is small and cramped, but elegant, with twists and curls on the ends.

"VICTOIRE!"

"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT!" she shouts. Just before she stuffs the letter back in the envelope, her eyes drift to the bottom of the parchment.

I'm sorry I'm gone.

-Videl.

August 2018.

Victoire tenses. This letter is from Videl. From fifteen years ago.

"Videl," Victoire whispers. She throws the envelope in her backpack, then stands. Running out of the destroyed bedroom, her heart races.

Had Videl known he was going to die? Why did he write to me?

And what did he say?

*

Victoire manages to put Videl's letter out of her head as they gather in the kitchen minutes later. Bags are littered on the tile, some only halfway zipped, and everyone's faces are taut and worried.

Victoire sets the music box on the counter and opens it. Immediately, the portal surfaces, swirling in the kitchen.

She glances at Giovanna, who is sitting at the table with a piece of paper in front of her. "Finished, Gia?"

"Does this sound okay?" she asks, tucking her red hair behind her ear. "'Kyle and Emmaline- Don't come looking for us. It's not safe. Something happened, and we don't want you getting hurt- everyone is fine. If it makes you feel better, Anthony is with us. From Gia and the others.'"

"I don't know if telling them that Anthony is coming with us is much comfort," muses Victoire. "But otherwise, sounds good."

"Thanks," says Anthony.

"We need your blood," says Ri, nodding to Victoire. "It will open the portal and send us to wherever Baya wants us to go first."

"One step ahead of you," says Victoire. She unsheathes the dagger and presses the blade into her finger. Ignoring the sting of pain, she adds, "How much blood do you think this is going to need? Because I'm pretty sure I need some of it."

"If the portal accepts your blood," says Riyell, "it should only require a few drops. The blood goes directly in the box."

Victoire hovers her finger over the wooden box. "Here goes nothing," she says, letting the crimson droplets plop into the music box.

Immediately, the nursery rhyme begins to chime again, and the portal hums, swirling faster and glowing brighter.

Victoire wipes the red-tipped dagger on her sleeve and slides it into her backpack. "Let's go."

*

Two hours later, the Calen household is in shambles. Only fifteen minutes after the portal closed, Emmaline came home to find Gia's note. One trip upstairs introduced her to girls' destroyed bedroom. Immediately, she called her husband, and Kyle made it back to the house from LA in an hour, with Jack in tow. Thankfully, the other children are still at their friends, and Emmaline called their babysitter to ask if she could keep watching Arabella for a while longer.

"Well we clearly can't let them do this," says Emmaline, squeezing her fingers tightly together.

"We we clearly shouldn't want to die either," says Kyle. He's sitting beside his wife on the couch, while Jack is on his laptop, typing frantically.

"They're phones are turned off, or their international," says Jack in his British accent. His voice has deepened, his face no less handsome with age. He's wearing a pressed white shirt and black slacks, and his brown wings hang freely off his shoulders. "If they Jaunted or used a portal, then that could make sense." He leans back in the chair he's currently occupying and loosens his tie. His day was chock-full of a flight from New York City, meetings, and a frantic visit to the Calen household. The coffee cup beside him is almost empty. "But even if we could track them and get to them, is that such a good idea? Assuming it's Baya, and assuming it's the same person who used to shag Caomh, she'll start killing if she's unhappy."

"We need to get the kids back here," says Kyle. "I don't trust their friends' houses, or Agnes's house."

A beam of light appears in the kitchen, and an instant later, Rani is standing before them.

"Thank goodness," says Emmaline. "Rani, we have no idea what to do. They're all gone, to God knows where. We think it has something to do with Baya. And judging by Gia's note, going after them is a terrible idea. And if Baya is still here, we have the rest of the kids to think about."

"I have legions keeping track of Baya's movements on Niriket," says Rani. "Though I doubt she will return there. I will remain here, to help you protect your household in case Baya comes knocking. As for Victoire and the others, I have an idea of how we can watch out for them, assuming we can find them. I'm sending someone after them, someone who can follow them and look out for them if need be. We all know someone who knows how to track expertly, not to mention she knows how to hide. She should be joining me in a couple moments to-"

Another beam of light jolts through the kitchen, sending Sarge scampering into the living room to hide behind the couch.

The young woman shakes out her vibrant red curls and grins toothily at the Calens.

"Oh, no," says Kyle.

"Oh, yes," says Jack.

The woman grins wider, swinging her bow from her shoulders. "Ye know, I've missed you too," says Marjoy. 

Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of Marjoy's return? 

Any predictions? ;) 

Please VOTE and COMMENT!

xoxo Sierra xoxo