Heather and Serena arrived at the school. She was stunned by how big the building was. Serena said, "Breath taking isn't?" Heather mumbled, "Huh, Mr. Jay's house is nothing compared to this. And I thought it was big." She didn't realize she had said it loud enough for Serena to hear her. Serena replied, "What was that? And who's Mr. Jay?" Heather covered her mouth and responded, "Forget I said anything. Let's just get this over with." They walked into the school. Serena said in her head, Who is this girl? Why do I feel like I know her? I know she means well. There are probably secrets better left unsaid, but still this feeling is driving me crazy.
They arrived at the principal's office. Serena knocked on the door. They entered the room and Serena said, "Hi, Professor." The man looked up and replied, "Hello Serena, I was expecting you. This must be the girl you were telling me about." She nodded. Then he turned to Heather and continued, "I'm Professor Sycamore and I'd like to personally welcome you to our school." Heather responded, "Thank you, I'm glad to be here." Serena announced, "Well I'm going to head to class. I'll show you around the school later." Heather nodded and Serena left the room. Professor Sycamore asked, "Can you tell me your name please?" Heather answered, "My name is Heather." She took off her hood and the professor gasped, "You're the girl that disappeared years ago!" Heather stared at him with her emerald green eyes. He cleared his throat and said, "Right on to the matter at hand." Heather signed the forms and he stamped them showing that he approved. Heather was about walk out and put her hood when the professor called, "Heather wait! When are you going to tell Serena who you are?" Heather implied, "I was planning to do it on my birthday which is week from now." Professor Sycamore suggested, "I would actually do it sooner than that." Heather asked, "How come?" He explained, "Because your friends skip school that day. They go down to your house and leave gifts everyday on your birthday. I don't blame them though. I'd honestly do the same thing." Heather was shocked, but at the same time happy that her friends cared as much as to remember her birthday.
Heather thanked the professor and left the room. She put her hood on and looked around to find Serena. She was easy to find due to her honey-blonde hair. Heather saw that Serena was hanging out with her friends. When the girl with red hair saw Heather approaching, she started to freak out a little bit. When the raven-haired boy and Serena saw Heather, Serena said, "Relax I know her." Serena walked up and greeted, "Hey, did you get your forms filled out?" Heather replied, "Yes, I did." Serena responded, "So, when do you start?" Heather confirmed, "I start tomorrow." Serena hugged her out of excitement then she resumed, "By the way, these are my friends from childhood, Ash and Scarlet." Heather said in her mind, Well what do you know? They're still here too. Guess that leaves a few more people. Heather contended, "It's nice to meet you both." Ash commented, "You too, but would you mind telling us your name?" Heather answered, "I'd rather not tell you my name yet. And before you ask, I have my reasons why I won't share my name." Ash and Scarlet stared at Heather. They then decided to not push her on the subject.
Then they heard some people approaching. They turned to see a gang of people heading their way. Ash, Scarlet, and Serena became tense. Heather noticed that they had become tense. Heather asked, "What's going on? Who are they?" Serena answered, "That's Gary and his gang. They used to be friends of ours, but they turned on us." Heather was shocked at this information and she questioned, "What happened between you guys?" Ash explained, "We had a friend whose name was Heather. She disappeared a long time ago and we all were heavily effected, but Gary was hit the hardest. We discovered that he had a crush on Heather. We searched for her day and night, but we couldn't find her. Gary gave up and believed that she might have been dead. But we believe that she's still alive and waiting for us." When Serena looked at Heather, she saw that she had a big bright smile. Heather replied, "You have every right to believe that. No one can tell you what to believe and what not to believe."
Gary and his gang came over and stopped in front of them. Gary said, "Hey losers still trying to prove that Heather is still alive? Just face it. If she was still alive, she would've come back on her own years ago." Heather almost said something out loud, but she covered her mouth to keep herself from revealing her identity. Gary and his gang looked at Heather and Gary continued, "Who is this loser? She looks like she came from a funereal." She ignored Gary's rude comment and just refused to say anything. While Gary was demanding her to answer his question, Professor Sycamore telepathically told her that two men were looking for her. He also explained that one of them had a staff. Heather looked in the professor's direction. She saw her captors and she became tense. Then Heather turned to Serena and said, "I have to go." She started walking away, but then Gary yelled, "Hey I'm not done with you yet!" Then one of Gary's gang members tore the hood off her cloak. Then they all became shocked when the saw who was underneath the hood. Heather turned around and looked at them.
Ash said, "Heather?" Everyone couldn't believe that their childhood friend, who had disappeared long ago, was standing right in front of them. Heather saw her captors heading her way. She started to back up. Ash and the others wondered what was going on. Then Heather took off running. Gary called out to her, but then a man asked, "Excuse me kids, but do you all have relations with Heather?" They turned around the face him and his friends. Gary answered, "Yeah, we're her friends." Heather stopped running to see that her captors were talking with her friends. She knew what was going on and her friends' lives were going to be put on the line. She ran back to save her friends before they found out the hard way that they were being tricked. Ash and the others saw Heather running back and this time she was angry. When Heather rejoined her friends, she revealed her hidden powers. She levitated her captors and she said, "Leave them out of this!" She then threw them a few meters away. When they saw her approaching, they tried to run. Then they found themselves chained to the floor. Heather knelt down and took the staff and the set of keys from the leader. He demanded, "Heather release us from the chains." She replied, "So you don't like being chained up?" He responded, "Of course I don't like being chained up! What's your point?" She answered, "Well now you know how it feels!" Her captors were shocked by what she said. Then the leader ordered, "Heather you better give me my staff right now!" Heather contended, "No. You won't need it where you're going. And where you're going is prison!" He gasped, "You wouldn't dare!" She angrily yelled, "I would! It's what you deserve for kidnapping me all those years ago! You also deserve it for abusing me the way you did!" Heather's friends gasped. They now had learned the truth about Heather's disappearance. The professor saw Officer Jenny coming in and had heard Heather's testimony. They arrested them and took them to their vehicles.
Officer Jenny walked up to Heather and said, "You did a great job Heather. We've been looking for these criminals for years. Long before you were kidnapped by them. When you disappeared, we assumed you might have been dead because we found no trace of you. I'm sorry that we didn't think to look for you captors." Heather replied, "Thanks and it's okay. I'm just glad they finally got what they deserve." Officer Jenny responded, "Sometime soon I want you to come to the station and fill my in on what happened to you." Heather agreed and Officer Jenny went back to the station. Heather and her friends went to Serena's house and she explained to them about what had happened to her. When she was finished, Gary asked, "Why didn't you come back to us, Heather?" Heather answered, "I'd tried to escape so many times, but I couldn't. I would be punished severely if I did. The only reason I'm here now is because of Josh. He helped me to escape." Scarlet looked at the staff and was about to pick it up. Heather warned, "Don't touch that!" Everyone saw Scarlet flinch and back away from the staff a little bit. Ash questioned, "Why?! What's wrong Heather?!" Heather explained, "This staff holds dangerous magic. In fact, this staff is part of the reason I couldn't escape to begin with. He said he saved a little girl from these powers, but I don't really believe he did." Serena inquired, "So if the magic is so dangerous, why are you holding the staff?" Heather continued, "Some of the staff's magic was used on me, so I'm able to hold it." Gary added, "By the way, are you planning to wear that cloak the entire time we discuss this?" Heather hesitated, "Huh? Oh.. Right." Heather had told them that her captors put her in chains, but she didn't tell them that they were still on her. She started to take off her cloak. Then it fell to the floor and revealed that Heather was still bound in chains.
Everyone stared shocked at Heather. Gary said, "Heather why didn't you tell us that you were still bound in chains?" Heather explained, "Actually I did. I just didn't directly state it. I never said that the chains were removed. Also why do you think I took the set of keys from them and told them that now they knew how it felt in the first place?" Then they all at once understood. Heather then freed herself from the chains. Scarlet then stood next to Heather and the staff glowed when she came close. Heather saw that the magic inside the staff was reacting to her. Heather turned to Ash and asked, "Hey Ash, did your sister suffer any kind of tragic accident in her past?" Ash answered, "I'm not sure. I do however remember my sister having powers like me and you, but when I got back from summer camp she had lost her powers. My mother might know about it, but every time I ask her she gets so upset that she couldn't talk. So I stopped asking her." Heather then suggested, "Then let's ask her. Because this staff is reacting to your sister and that suggests that she has a connection to it." Everyone agreed to go to Ash's house and talk to Delia.
When they arrived, Delia welcomed them. Delia was especially surprised to see Heather. After she served the children, Heather got down to business. She said, "Delia, would you mind telling me about how Scarlet lost her powers? The reason I'm asking is because this staff glows every time she comes near it." Delia was quiet for a minute, but then she placed her cup of tea down on the table. She explained, "It was a day after Ash left for summer camp, Scarlet was in the living room and I was in the kitchen. But then all of a sudden, I here the door open and Scarlet screaming. I ran in to see what was going on. I saw three men enter the house and one of them was holding that very same staff. I tried to rush over to Scarlet to protect her, but I found myself unable to move. It was like I was incapacitated, but then I saw his staff was glowing. I figured he was making sure that I couldn't help Scarlet. Then he stripped Scarlet of her powers and sealed them in his staff. Scarlet screamed so loud and I thought I was going to burst into tears. Once I was able to move I held Scarlet close and the man told me that he appreciated my help allowing them to acquire the necessary means to complete their mission. They cryptically explained what their mission was and they always said 'She'. I'll never know who they were going after. I was too upset about Scarlet not being able to learn what her powers are." Heather looked down. Her expression was unreadable. She then replied, "Delia, their mission was to kidnap me." Heather retold the story to Delia and she was shocked by this and responded, "I can't believe I didn't make the connection." Heather explained that it was in the past and that they should move forward.
The went outside to watch Heather break the staff. She held the staff upside down behind her. Then she swung her arms forward and she slammed the staff on a rock. The staff shattered and the stored powers inside were released. A red flame rose in the air and turned into a fiery bird. Then it flew straight towards Scarlet. At first, Scarlet's eyes were white and emotionless and her hair was a dull maroon color. Her hair was also very short. Scarlet couldn't even speak for some reason when she was younger. She only made certain sounds to express her emotions, since she couldn't show them with her eyes. When Scarlet looked at the fiery bird, it flew directly into her. Red flames flared around Scarlet and she began changing. Her hair grew longer and it was a bright red color. Her eyes became a scarlet color and full of emotions. Then the flames dissipated and she turned to her friends and family. Ash shocked said, "What just happened?! Why did Scarlet's appearance change?!" Heather explained, "Well when Scarlet lost her powers, she lost a part of herself as well. Her powers became her spirit form. This prevented her from talking or showing her emotions. And one other thing, Scarlet actually knew I was alive the entire time because her spirit form was in the staff." Ash turned to Scarlet and asked, "Is this true?" Scarlet replied, "Yes. I did know that Heather was still alive. I also knew where she was. I only wish I had found a way to tell you this." No one had heard Scarlet speak before, but they were glad she was back to her old self. Heather knew that there would be a challenge though. What villains would face her in her days of freedom. Heather knew she would have to stay sharp in order to make sure her friends were safe.
