Zandra Saturday was eleven when she discovered her powers while saving her brother in Fiji. She didn't know it at the time, but it was the start of everything for her. From the first time she ever showed her glowing eyes she had entered a room and the door had slid shut behind her. She didn't hear the lock click until Antarctica.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Secret Saturdays. If I did it would've continued and Zak would've gotten his powers back. I always hated that part. Everything was so beautiful and awesome but then he gets demoted to Normal. I hated that! I loved his powers!
Chapter 1: Salutations and konichiwa.
"So this underwater boneyard could lead us to another cryptid?" I muttered. It looked like a bunch of sunken ships and bones to me. I wasn't sure how this proved a giant Fijian shark God really existed.
"We've had a growing number of reports about the Dakuwaqa lately. This is our best bet for tracking it." Drew answered. I sighed and ruefully shook my head. By now I should know that anything said in the presence of my mother can and will be heard and can and will be used against me. One day I'll learn to think quietly.
"How?" Fisk asked. "Fish don't leave paw prints." He demonstrated by lifting up one of his feet for inspection. Fisk, otherwise known as Fiskerton Phantom Saturday. He's my big brother, takes care of me even if I don't really need it. There's something else you should know.
I smiled up at the seven foot tall gorilla-cat and motioned for him to go back to playing pretend sonar. That other thing you should know? Yeah, he's what we like to call a cryptid. They're animals (And plants) that regular science doesn't believe in yet. They're amazing creatures, every single one is amazing and unique in its own way. I've always loved cryptids, and I guess that's a given when you see who my parents are.
There's my mom, first of all. Drew Saturday, raised by Tibetan monks in the Himalayas and wielder of a solar powered sword that also sends out blasts of energy, she's my mother. My father is Solomon Saturday, but everyone calls him Doc. The only reason I know his name is linked to the same reason my parents' bedroom is now sound proofed. Don't ask, I really don't like to think about it.
Now, my dad is African American, a firm believer in science and the wielder of the Battle Glove, it collects kinetic energy and then sends it back in a powerful punch. My mom's kind of special in the looks department, I forgot to mention it earlier, she has pure white hair. Don't ask me how that's possible before the age of fifty. I wouldn't be able to answer.
And of course there is my other big brother. Komodo is a cryptid too, although he's slightly more normal looking. He could pass for an actual komodo dragon except for the fact that he can digest pretty much anything.
I break off for a moment when his tail thumps the back of my knees. I send a grateful look as near to his position as I can get and refocus in on what my parents are saying. We're going to be surfacing soon.
Komodo is also part chameleon, did I neglect to mention that? His ability to turn utterly invisible is pretty amazing.
As for me, I have a salt & pepper type lay-out for my hair. My bangs are solid white like my mom's, but the rest is black. I have a deep natural tan from my dad. Like my parents I also favor the Halloween color choices for my wardrobe, though I don't go full catsuit and I probably never will. I'm happy with an orange crop-top with a black undershirt and yellow short-shorts. The crop-top has a stylized S for Saturday on it.
That's my family in a nutshell. We're just your basic Cryptologists and Cryptologists-in-training. We're part of a super secret group, ironically called the Secret Scientists. I would've picked something cooler, like Destructo Brains or something. If there's an unsolved mystery in the world, you can bet there's a secret scientist trying to solve it before the bad guys. My family and I though, are special even among them.
We're all that stands between you and everything that goes bump in the night.
"Zandra, come on." My mom called. "We're joining the villagers in their ceremonial apology to the Dakuwaqa!"
"Coming mom!" I call back to her and start climbing out of the sub.
That's got to make you feel safe right?
"Yes, ever since the missionary Elija Saturday was killed here our people believe we were placed under the Saturday Curse." The headman explained. I wasn't sure what relation we had with Elija, other than he was on dad's side and dead for almost a hundred years. That these people believed he had put a curse on them kind of stung me though. I didn't want to think that anyone in my gene pool could knowingly hurt people.
"Was Elija a mercenary?" Fisk bent over to whisper to me.
"No Fisk, a missionary is someone who spreads religion to other countries." I explain. I guess he wasn't able to spread much brotherly love before he was cannibalized. I shudder at the very thought of people eating other people. I can barely stop myself from throwing up on camping trips when Mom teaches me how to survive in the wilderness. I don't think no matter how desperate I get I'd ever be able to eat another human being. I don't think I could even manage it with a cryptid.
"This is nice, everyone's happy!" Fisk mentioned to me. He probably didn't make a lot of sense to everyone else here, but my family's always been able to understand him. Some more than others of course. "Can we eat this?" He slapped the rear of a cow meant for a sacrifice or something.
That is predictably where it all went wrong. At least this time I can honestly say that it wasn't my fault. All finger pointing will be directed at Fiskerton.
The cow was startled by his slap and charged forward. It would've been okay (There were other cows) except it knocked over a torch, which lit a tiki on fire. The same tiki the headman now screamed symbolized the curse. And yep, here comes the angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
I blew my hair out of my eyes in a huff and glared at my brother.
"What?" He asked defensively. I gave him a look that I knew he'd recognize to tell him that I wasn't taking the blame for this one. This was all his.
"Hey, hands off the big brother!" I cry, pushing aside a couple villagers when they try to grab him. Things escalated and then wound down with Fisk dangling from a cliff by a single vine as a sacrifice and myself holding that vine.
"A little…help here!" I grunt, digging my heels into the ground beneath me. I hope this isn't one of those cartoon crumbly cliffs that break apart at the worst possible moment. That would really stink.
"It's alright Zandra sweetie, Doc's waiting below to catch him!" My mom called. That's great to know, my loving big brother or not Fiskerton is a seven foot tall gorilla-cat. He's heavy.
"Wait a minute, I'm getting something from the cryptipidea!" I can hear him down below. He must be on top of the sub. I take a gulp and adjust my grip on the vine. I can't let go until I know he's ready to catch Fisk and he sounds just a little distracted right now.
"Something large, fast, and with a genetic resemblance to the Dunkleosteus." Now I know he's distracted.
"Dad! I can't hold him forever!" I shout down at him. Fisk screams against his gag and wriggles in my hold. I mentally curse and try not to get pulled over the edge.
"It's the Dakuwaqa!" He gasps. Something tries to wrench the vine from my grip, but I don't let go. Instead I fall down too, straight into the water below. For the record, the Dakuwaqa is very big and has many teeth.
"Zandra! Fiskerton!" I hear my dad yell a split second before I crash into the water's surface. I find Fisk and cut him loose from the vines. When we surface we see that dad is now hanging onto the thing's back and punching it with his patented battle glove. Man, I wish I had one of those!
We try to swim to the sub but the Dakuwaqa's having none of it. After the third near miss I start to get angry. I stop trying to swim to safety and round on the so called Shark God.
"Get away! Fisk is like family and I won't let you eat my brother!" I command it. Something inside me snaps when it ignores me and goes once again after my brother. "I said get away!" For a single moment the fish and I are one, I can feel everything he is feeling, but somehow I know that he can't feel me. For just a single second it's human-but-Dakuwaqa and Dakuwaqa in the water with Fast-Prey and Strong-Prey.
And then….Well, and then the feeling's gone and the Dakuwaqa is turning around and leaving. Somehow I know that it will find new hunting grounds, and leave for less populated waters.
"Zandra?" My dad pulls me out of the water. I'm still staring dumbly at where the fish swam off.
"Zandra, sweetie? Look at mommy." My mother takes my cheeks in her hands and turns me to face her. For a minute there's this shadow across my mind, Egg-Layer and Nesting Waters Safe. It only lasts a minute and I come back to myself.
"Mom? What was that?" I ask, my eyes stray back to the horizon. I can't see the Dakuwaqa anymore.
"I don't know." She answers honestly. We return to the village, which begins a celebration. They declare the curse has been lifted by the descendants of Elija Saturday.
"How did you make the fish listen?" Fisk asks me once we're back on the airship and getting ready for bed. Nine thirty on the dot, unfortunately.
"I don't know!" I snap. He's asked that at least ten times now. "I just got angry and told it to leave and then it left! I didn't even realize I was glowing!" My eyes actually, but that's a minor matter. Apparently they glowed orange when I told the fish thing to leave us alone.
I don't know what happened either. My parents said that we would investigate this power, see if I could draw it out again. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I dreamt I was a Dakuwaqa.
Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break!
"Okay Zandra, find your center, focus your energy." My mom coached. I was almost shaking with concentration, glaring at Komodo who had been volunteered for this experiment. I wasn't having much luck with getting that power to come out again.
"Mom, it isn't working." I groan, giving up for now. Komodo huffs, unhappy with being the guinea pig. He's lying two feet in front of me, eyeing us like we're insane for even trying.
"What did you feel with the Dakuwaqa?" She asks me, completely ignoring how very frustrated and bored I'm becoming. Fisk is so lucky, he's playing a video game back in the living room while I'm in the training room trying to glare Komodo into a stupor.
"I told you already, I got angry, I told it to leave us alone, it left!" I list for the one hundredth time. At first I tried explaining how the fish and I had become one but Mom had only gone on to say that was natural and Dad kept trying to quiz me on separating feelings from science.
"Try giving Komodo and order." She suggested. I mentally groaned but obediently turned to my brother.
"Komodo, I order you to go and get me something to eat from the kitchen." Okay, so I wasn't taking it seriously. Can you blame me? As far as I know I might've just honestly intimidated the Dakuwaqa, or maybe it just wasn't feeling hungry, or decided we weren't worth the effort. The glow my parents told me about could've been a trick of the light. Sunlight reflecting off the water and my clothes providing the orange color.
Unsurprisingly, Komodo snickered and stayed right where he was. My mom hummed thoughtfully and had this far away look in her eyes. I wonder what she's thinking about. Hopefully not of chucking me and Fisk into the ocean with another giant fish.
"I have something that might help." I jump and turn around to see Dad walk in with one of his hands behind his back. "If your mother's right about these powers then they should be enhanced with a mystical object." He brought his hand out and showed me some three clawed hand. I gingerly took it from him.
"Gee, thanks Dad. Every girl dreams of getting an amputated animal foot." I struggle not to gag.
"Zandra, this is the hand of Tsul Kalu, it's a powerful mystic tool." Mom scolded me. My shoulders slump at the realization that they are going to make me glare some more at Komodo, only this time while pointing an amputated animal foot at him.
"Okay, now breathe, focus on Komodo, ignore all distractions." Wow, it is surprisingly hard not to get distracted with new pieces of advice flowing out of Mom's mouth every few seconds.
I shift my stance and look Komodo directly in the eyes. A minute ago he had looked bored, but now he stared back just as intently. I can feel some sweat collecting on my brow but I don't dare wipe it away. I've got something, no idea what, but I've got something.
"Good good, now hold that power, focus." She nearly startles me out of my concentration. I grip the hand tighter and finally realize that it's glowing. There's a sort of shift, in my head! I can feel Komodo's interest, unease, hunger as if I was the one feeling it. He stands up and walks closer to me, disbelieving what his senses are saying. I'm not Human-nestmate anymore, I'm Sister-Dragon and he doesn't understand how I'm able to smell and feel like one of his but still look like who I am.
"Zandra?" My dad lays one of his big hands on my shoulder and the connection breaks. I sway and gulp as my vision swims. I'm suddenly aware of every part of me shaking and I nearly drop the hand, which would have invited Komodo to eat it.
"Dad?" I answer thickly. "What was that?" I can admit to myself that I feel a little scared. Normal people can't do that, why can I?
"We don't know honey." Mom gives me a big hug and I instantly feel a little better. "I've never heard of someone having cryptid powers before, but we'll get on it right away. We'll figure this out."
"Okay, but in the meantime," I trail off and flash my best innocent smile while holding the hand up. Once you get past the amputated foot thing the things it lets me do is awesome!
"Not a chance." Mom answers, snatching it from my hand. I sigh and pout but leave them to their adult time. Fisk should want an extra player by now and he does owe me for getting rid of that curse back in Fiji. Maybe we'll sneak back to the tv and watch some Weird World together. My parents don't like that show, but its good tv.
"Are you done?" He greeted me with a wave from his right foot.
"Yep, did you know my parents have this magical animal foot that lets me use that power?" I ask him. He sometimes does know things that I don't. I figured I might as well ask.
"A rabbit foot?" This is one of those normal times where he knows just about as much as me.
"No, they called it the Hand of Tsul Kalu." I take out my personal Cryptipidea and search the name. He's a hunter cryptid, and the guardian of some mystical sights. There's no special article about his hand though, or why it got amputated.
"Hey Fisk, check this out, apparently he's got this Honor Code that makes him have these duels with anyone who's mistreated his mystical spots." I lean over to let Fisk read the screen.
"He sounds pretty cool." Now if only my power could help me get one of those. He's never lost a target, how cool is that?
Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break! Line Break!
"Try moving closer, but not too close, just keep the connection going." My mother made contradicting orders make perfect sense, honestly. I growled quietly and took a couple baby steps closer to the cryptid.
Fur-And-Friend mixed in an awkward balance with Sister-And-Young. This time my target was Fisk. So far I'd gotten him to do a couple cartwheels but that had strained my powers too much. Now we were just working on how long I could keep it up using the hand of Tsul Kalu.
I broke the connection and slumped to the ground, tired but not on the verge of total collapse. It felt like my bones had all melted into jelly, and held together solely by force of will alone. I knew now that the achy feeling would fade in a few minutes, that I could no reactivate my powers with the hand again as soon as a few seconds to catch my breath.
"Alright, now try to activate the power without the hand." Mom nodded. I reluctantly returned the artifact and stood to face Fisk again.
"I don't like doing this." He grumbled. It didn't seem to hurt, they just didn't like not being in control. I wouldn't do this if they didn't agree to it. Fisk and Komodo seemed to agree with my parents that this power needed testing, and they were the safest guinea pigs. They weren't likely to eat me if I got it wrong.
"I know buddy, this is the last one." I reassured him. We always stopped at trying to activate my powers without a tool. It was usually the longest part of the session though. Most of the time was spent glaring and trying to create that shift in my head that started the process.
I held my own hand out this time. I took three big breaths, mostly to buy myself time, and focused on Fisk and what I wanted him to do. I stared harder at him and noticed that he was nervous, but it wasn't the same bone deep knowing as when I'm connected to him.
Another thirty minutes later the session ended with me still unable to call up the power without the hand of Tsul Kalu. I didn't really expect anything better. Now that the magical session was over though, it was time to run through the actual training with Dad. I groaned and went outside to run the obstacle course.
"We've gotten some reports of a new cryptid." Before I could even get to the door Dad had sprung out of nowhere with this highly welcome piece of news. A hunt for a new cryptid to document meant a break from this frustrating cryptid power training. Or maybe a chance to use my power on something other than my brothers. That'd be a welcome change of pace.
"The flashlight frog, said to originate in Camiroon Africa." He informed us as we boarded the air ship. It seemed like a pretty small time cryptid, nothing on the size of which we normally deal with. I mean usually we get exploding snakes or giant fish. The frog thing made me wonder if they'd been researching tiny cryptids for me to practice on.
No, I didn't ask. If they didn't think of doing this it might give them ideas. And if they did, I'd never find out for sure anyway. I learned how to sneak from the best.