A/N: Last chapter until summer ends! Also, thank you for favoriting this story, Zaconator and Zackis, and thanks for reviewing again, CaptainReb; I appreciate it!
Chapter 6: History of the Storms
Alena sat at a nearby table in the back and beckoned the other two humans to join her, trying to keep from getting nervous. It had been a long time since she'd so much as whispered a word of magician history to anyone, let alone outsiders. She just had to trust that they wouldn't take abuse of that knowledge. But, despite it all, she couldn't help but remember what Victoria had said just that morning.
"You told them about Rebecca AND you told them about magic?! You don't even know if they can be trusted!" Victoria hissed, eyes narrowing at the older girl. "They might be undercover agents for the Empire, for all you know!"
Alena scoffed dismissively. "Please! We both know that, if Rex is everything that Rebecca said before she died—and we both know she'd never lied to us about anything—then he is someone who can be trusted!"
"Well, he might be, but the company he keeps might not. I mean, you don't even know anything about them except that they're rebels, and we both know what happened to the last rebels that came to Kalifa! And what happened because they came from Kalifa! And don't even try to defend that Ezra Bridger; I can practically smell the dark presence over him!" Victoria's eyes flashed with barely concealed anger as Alena shook her head.
"Well, what do you expect? He's fighting the Empire, for the Force's sake! Of course he's been forced to make some tough choices, Victoria!"
"Don't lie, Alena! We both know that's not the real reason! He's been using the Dark Side of the Force!"
Alena growled at Victoria, at her wit's end with that girl and her need to distrust everything and everyone. Just like always. "Oh, like you're some incredible model of restraint against dark power? Don't you dare think, for one moment, that I've ever forgotten about what you did when the Empire came!"
Victoria's eyes narrowed into slits, and her mouth became set in a grim line as she clenched her jaw, shaking her dark ponytail at Alena. "That doesn't make what I told you any less true. You can't deny that you have no idea who these people actually are! You're just assuming everything without any type of evidence to support it! You'll destroy us all because they 'seemed so nice!'"
Alena huffed at Victoria, shaking her head at her. "I don't have time for this; let's just get this shift over with without one of us trying to murder the other. I know that you'll have to restrain yourself a lot more than me." Victoria's posture became ramrod-straight as her eyes burned darkly at the older girl, and even Alena had to admit that that was a low blow, but she just couldn't control her mouth sometimes, and she wanted to stop talking with that girl. There was never any point in it. Not with Victoria.
Alena quickly shook off the memory and focused on the people in front of her, nervously tucking her short hair behind her ears, and flashing a false smile at them. Victoria was wrong about these people; she just knew it. "Sh-should I start from the beginning?"
"That'd be a good place to start," Ezra said, resting one of his arms on the table with narrowed blue eyes. Something about that look was…off, but Alena quickly shook it away. It was just Victoria getting to her. Nothing was wrong with him.
"Okay, but…it's quite extensive. Then again, you did ask for it, so I'll try my best." Alena began. "But it's been a while since I've heard the stories, so some details may be a bit…fuzzy for me, but I'll do my best. So, I'll start at the beginning." She cleared her throat; she had a lot of talking ahead of her, and she leaned forward cautiously.
"Well, you know that Rebecca is a magician by now. But, you probably don't know a whole lot about her…um, familial history. Rebecca's family was known for being among the most powerful magicians in the galaxy, which is weird, because those in it that became magicians only lasted for the last few generations. The way I heard it, was that, hundreds—or maybe it was thousands of years ago, nobody's really sure how long ago it was, but I'm missing the point again. Anyway, it all started with Rebecca Storm's mother, a woman named Skylar. She was raised in the Jedi Order since her birth, and had always had a strong Force connection. And she also had powers that other Jedi didn't have, which was actually magic, but she didn't realize what she could do until she was about sixteen years old. She didn't know it, but she had these abilities due to the blessing of a certain manifestation of the Force. Legend has that it takes the form of a huge phoenix bird, made of golden flames, and guided magicians back in ancient times. But, soon, the Phoenix had to leave the mortal plane, so it personally found and trained the First Phoenix Magician, a person that had been imbued with the Phoenix's power, which is known as the Phoenix Blessing, and is one of the most powerful magicians in known existence. And Skylar was that first person."
"Wait, what?" Ezra interrupted, obviously confused, eyebrows furrowing. "But you said that was who-knows-how many years ago! How can that be possible?"
"I was going to say how that's possible, actually," Alena said patiently, smiling slightly at the younger teenager's obvious eagerness to learn. "Anyway, like I said, when she was sixteen, she told the Jedi Council that she'd started discovering her magical abilities, but they refused to listen to her claims, believing that she was falling to the Dark Side. When she refused to stop using her new-found abilities, they…well, to be blunt, they literally threw her out of the Jedi Order to fend for herself. And she went on her own journey to figure out what was happening to her. Eventually, she realized the truth about the Phoenix and the magical abilities she had, and learned to control them with the help of the Phoenix, since, even though the Phoenix may not have always been with her physically, it was always connected to the Phoenix Magician. And when she was twenty-one years old, she cast a spell on herself that prevented her from physically aging, ever. She'd always look like a young adult until someone finally killed her. Then she proceeded to find, train, and guide other magicians in the mystical arts. Then, she had a student who, unfortunately, became the First Dark Magician, and also cast an anti-aging spell on himself."
"What happened to him? How'd he become a Dark Magician?" Ezra interrupted. Alena smiled sadly at him, wishing she could say.
"Unfortunately, I don't remember what happened that managed to turn him. I remember he was one of Skylar's most promising magicians, and that he might have had a…thing for her, but that's about all I remember about him before he became a Dark Magician. Anyway, he declared basically war with Skylar, and spent the rest of his life trying to destroy or turn her and her other magic students, while trying to amass an army of Dark Magicians. And they were always at each other's throats for a long time afterward."
"Eventually, the Phoenix Blessing left Skylar one day, moving to another host to start the cycle over again; apparently the Phoenix doesn't like to have its power stay in one place for too long. That meant that Skylar's power began to wane, but since she couldn't age, she didn't die, and the Dark Magicians couldn't kill her, either. So, she kept training more magicians and fighting the Dark Magicians. Then, one day, she met a self-taught bounty hunter magician named Eliakai. Needless to say, they fell in love and got married, having a family that started with their first-born daughter, Violet."
"She ended up becoming a Dark Magician, didn't she?" Rex asked, raising an eyebrow. Alena glumly nodded, remembering the pain in her old mentors' expressions as they recounted the event.
"Yeah, she did eventually. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Skylar and Eliakai were happy for a time, but then Skylar became pregnant with her second child, and the First Dark Magician somehow decided that that second child would become a threat to him and the power of his followers, so he hunted down the family. Eventually, he caught them, and Skylar ended up giving birth in a dungeon, which is really not the best place to have a kid, if you ask me. For some reason, though, he didn't kill Rebecca when she was born; I guess he wanted to turn Rebecca into another Dark Magician, but he wanted Skylar to give her to him willingly. And, each time, she refused, even as he forced her and her older daughter to watch Eliakai literally get ripped to pieces. I heard that they ended up burning what was left afterward." Alena shuddered as she spoke.
Skylar Storm was roughly pushed through the doorway by the guard "escorting" her to the castle's balcony, trying to keep a firm hold on the newborn child wrapped in rags. Her older daughter, Violet, kept a firm hold on her mother's leg, pushing her face into the clothing. Even at two years old, she could sense the malevolent intent in the air. Skylar smiled sadly as the thought came to her. If they got out of there alive, she'd make sure her daughter was trained the right way.
The smile faded away as a dark figure stepped out of the balcony's shadows. The Dark Magician Spero, once her romantic interest, now her greatest enemy. His dark hair was cut severely short, the dark robes hiding his imposing figure. His dark-skinned face was still young and handsome, but that was to be expected, since he didn't age either. His sapphire-blue eyes looked at her coldly; any love that had once been there in the past had been swept away by his madness and evil.
"Evening, darling. I hope you've been comfortable these past weeks, since you've given birth to your child now." His eyes dropped to the baby in Skylar's arms, greedily staring at her, arms moving as if to take her by force. But he wouldn't do that. He couldn't, not since she had cast a protection spell on Rebecca (and also Violet) before she had even been born. Before she had been imprisoned, and her magic had been nullified. "I hope you've changed your mind about keeping her."
Skylar raised an eyebrow at him. Every month, he asked the same thing, hoping her and her family's harsh imprisonment would change her mind. It never did. No matter what happened, she would never condemn her daughter, either of them, actually, to live a fate worse than death with him, where he would twist their minds and souls with his dark magic and manipulation for his own purposes. "Like I've told you before, Spero, no. I won't give her up to you, no matter what you do."
A dark smirk appeared on his lips as she spoke, eyes alight with dark humor, as though he knew something she didn't. Skylar's dark blue eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked out over the balcony. "No matter what I do, eh?" He chuckled darkly as his prisoner watched wordlessly, the baby in her arms giving a little wail, the toddler at her side clutching her clothing tighter between her tiny fingers. "It's funny that you say that, Sky, because, I was wondering what I would have to do to make you give up your daughter. What would be enough to break you, in particular? Imprisonment hasn't broken you, after all; it's only made your convictions stronger, which is admirable," he admitted, "but futile. Neither has breaking your husband's bones every week, when I take him down to the 'special dungeon.' Then it came to me. It's not what I would do that matters; it's what you would do." He pointed at Skylar as he spoke, and a chill of foreboding ran down her spine. "Your decisions, your choices, not mine, matter to you. Well, I'm giving you a choice now, Skylar Storm." He bit out her last name bitterly, jealousy that she had chosen someone other than him to love flashing over his face. "What are you willing to live without more? An insignificant baby," his gaze redirected to the newborn as he beckoned Skylar to look over the balcony, "or your true love?" Disdain shone on his face as he spoke of Skylar's husband, and as she looked out over the balcony to the clearing below, she suddenly realized what he meant.
On the grounds below, her husband Eliakai was lying spread-eagle on the ground, scarred face staring up into her eyes, the soldiers around him holding him down as they tied the ends of four metallic ropes to his arms and legs, one for each appendage. Following the ropes with her eyes, Skylar saw the other ends of the ropes tied to four different horses, all standing in different directions with their backs to the man they were tied to. Skylar clenched her jaw as she looked at him, and felt Violet move from her legs to wordlessly stare at her helpless father, fist jammed into her mouth to keep from crying out to him.
"Now, when I give the order, my men will force those animals to run as hard and fast as they can in the directions they're currently turned to. The ropes will follow, and so will your precious husband. The only question is how many pieces he'll be ripped into." Spero smiled sadistically at Skylar as she sharply inhaled and turned her head away, feeling tears gather at the corners. "Choose wisely, my girl. And I'll even give you a bonus: give up your baby, and I'll let your husband and other daughter go free, and I'll never bother them again. So, what's it going to be?" A manic light shone in his eyes, obviously taking pleasure in her indecision.
If she took his offer, the next time she saw her younger daughter again, she'd be her sworn enemy, indoctrinated into dark practices for as long as she lived with Spero. On the other hand, if she refused, her husband would be painfully killed. And she'd still be in prison either way. But...she should have suspected this day to come, for her to have to choose between her child and husband. That was just how Spero was; he enjoyed watching her suffer, and either way, she would. But she knew that he thought he had found her weakest spot of vulnerability in her husband's death. He thought that she couldn't live without him.
But he didn't know anything about love anymore.
Locking eyes with Eliakai below, she silently conveyed her thoughts, her decision, into his dark brown eyes. He understood, and silently nodded, giving his blessing to her decision, no matter what that entailed for him. Skylar turned to face Spero, a defiant look in her eyes meeting his smug gaze.
"Go ahead, then, Spero."
Spero's evilly smug look faltered at her words, a confused look coming over his face. "What? You mean you're just going to let your husband die?" His confusion quickly turned to rage as she nodded solemnly. "But you'll be separated forever if you don't hand over that child, witch!"
"That's something you've never been able to understand, Spero." Skylar said firmly, yet sadly. "We won't be separated forever; just for a little while." She gazed at her baby snuggled in her arms, a wistful smile coming over her face. "We'll see each other again someday."
Spero's eyes burned with a mad fire as he watched her, becoming more enraged with every word. "Well, if you're that confident about it, then you'll have no problem with me making sure it's as painful as possible for you," he said with a quiet, simmering anger as a guard grabbed Skylar and forcefully thrust her head over the balcony to stare at the bound magician below. Skylar struggled to keep a firm hold on her baby as she was jostled, and she spotted another guard grabbing little Violet and lifting her over the balcony so she also had a clear view of her father.
Spero wordlessly lifted his hand high above his head and swiftly brought it down, signaling his soldiers below into action. As Skylar helplessly watched, the horses Eliakai was tied to were fiercely whipped, spurring them into action. Tears streamed down her face as his ropes went taut for a moment as the horses started running. She shut her eyes as his horrible screams reached her ears along with the unmistakable wet sound of ripping flesh. The screams abruptly stopped, but were quickly replaced by the terrified screams of Skylar's two-year old daughter.
"But I'm missing the point again. Anyway, Skylar eventually broke out of his prison with her children, and used most of her magic to finally defeat the First Dark Magician and imprison his spirit inside his own black iron sword."
"After that, she moved to Kalifa to raise Violet and Rebecca, but was ultimately killed by Violet when she somehow got it into her head to find the First Dark Magician's sword, and became possessed by it, going insane in the process. After about three years, she was finally killed by her own sister, Rebecca Storm, and…well, I'm sure you know the rest of that story, as I've told you."
"But..." Ezra narrowed his eyes as a thought entered his mind, "...they were all powerful magicians, though?"
Alena nodded. "They were powerful, yes, but there were others in the galaxy who either wanted that power or saw them as a threat, and...well, you've heard what happened to them all. Skylar was killed by her own daughter, Eliakai was literally ripped to pieces, Violet was killed by Rebecca, and Rebecca got blown up by a Sith Lord. If they were alive today, I'm sure they would have told you that they wished they didn't have that much magical power. It was a...pretty big burden for them all, and they paid the price for it with their lives."
For a few minutes, neither of the rebels in front of her spoke. Rex looked like he was taking a moment to comprehend it all, adopting a serious expression, and Ezra…well, he certainly looked sad, but but he also seemed...excited in a way that made Alena a little uncomfortable. She'd just outlined the basics of the most powerful line of magicians in history, which was filled with more bad than good, to be honest, and he looked…almost like he was happy about the story. It was a little creepy. She was beginning to think that Victoria may not have been too far off the mark about him. But she couldn't be right. She just couldn't be. Finally, Rex spoke.
"Could you elaborate on this 'Phoenix Blessing,' Alena? You said it eventually passed on from Skylar Storm. So, there's more than one Phoenix Magician?" His brow furrowed as he spoke, and Alena was glad to have a question she could answer.
"Erm, yeah, there have been multiple Phoenix Magicians in our history, but the Blessing only passes to one person at a time, so there's only one Phoenix Magician at one point, not multiple at the same time. Nobody's sure when the Blessing is supposed to move on from its previous host; sometimes people have had it for twenty years, and others have only had it for a year. Each time, though, when the Phoenix Blessing leaves a person, his or her magic diminishes considerably, because a lot of it came from that Blessing. However, a small part of its power still remains in those previous hosts for as long as they live afterward, and finally leaves permanently when they have died. Our last Phoenix Magician was actually Rebecca Storm's friend, Dakota Farthing, my second trainer."
"I bet she was handy to have in a battle," Ezra spoke up with a small smile. Alena smiled back at him uncomfortably.
"I suppose she could have been, but she had...issues about battles and war in general. Her parents' entire lives were centered around war, and she didn't exactly have a happy childhood because of it, unfortunately."
"So, if she's dead now, then who's the current Phoenix Magician?" Ezra said, leaning forward eagerly. Alena studied him for a moment, and was sort of glad for what she was about to say next. He was being a little too...prying for her comfort.
"Actually, no one knows who the current one is. He or she has yet to make their presence known in the magic society. Either that, or the Phoenix permanently took back its Blessing, leaving us to fend for ourselves without a Phoenix Magician."
"That seems...kind of harsh." Ezra said, visibly deflating. Alena narrowed her eyes at him, not liking how he was acting about this whole thing. Why was he taking all this so personally?
"Maybe, but we've been getting along fine without one for the past five years. I'm sure we'll be fine, but—"
"Alena? Are you coming out anytime soon? The place is getting packed out there." Alena jerked her head up and internally groaned at Victoria poking her head through the doorway as she testily spoke, feeling her hackles rise. She always had to interrupt. She shook her head exasperatedly, trying to keep a hold on her temper, and answered through gritted teeth.
"I'll be out in a little bit, Victoria; don't worry. Besides, you've handled worse than a mob of customers in the past years. You can keep up for a little while longer."
Victoria narrowed her dark green eyes and silently shook her head at the older girl before ducking back out. Ezra turned to Alena from his seat. "Well, you two don't seem to like each other very much. Why would that be?"
Alena breathed out shakily. She certainly wasn't prepared for an interrogation, of sorts, about her own life. This guy was kind of weird. But, she supposed that she had to tell them sometime. Especially if she was going to join their rebel cause. No secrets then. "Our relationship is...very complicated, to say the least. Victoria and I grew up together, and we were once like sisters. But...everything changed when Rebecca and Dakota were killed, and the Empire came to Kalifa. She...she decided to do something...that can't ever be forgiven, and I realized that...maybe I never knew her at all." She snapped her head up suddenly, putting on a smile, trying to put the other two humans at ease. It didn't hurt anymore. It didn't. "And that's all you need to know about it."
Ezra nodded, a somber expression crossing his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Alena waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine; there are just some things I don't like talking about." Alena stood up from the table as she spoke. "I have to go back to my shift; I hope I explained things well enough for you—" A knock at the back door interrupted Alena, and she curiously opened it, wondering who would be knocking at the back entrance to a cantina. But there was no one there. She looked around, and noticed a stack of papers on the ground. Maybe they were a little out-of-date nowadays, but they were still useful for getting information across quickly and discreetly. She groaned as she realized what was on the flyers, and picked them up, bringing them back inside, depositing them in the nearby trashcan. "I swear, if I get another stack of these stupid things, I'm going to track down whoever's responsible and wring their necks out."
"What are they?" Rex asked curiously, picking one out of the garbage. Alena shook her head tiredly as she answered.
"It's just a bunch of flyers about this meeting of an underground movement group in Masato City. It's called 'Kalifa's Saviors,' but it's just about a whole bunch of people bad-mouthing the government and how it should be overthrown. I hear it's very...convincing, however. I've never actually gone to one, but from the word-of-mouth I hear it's very hard-core." Alena tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice as she spoke of this group. Sometimes, she just couldn't believe how gullible other people were.
"Is that what you meant when you said there was talk about the government joining the Empire?" Rex asked curiously. "These...'Saviors' spread that rumor?"
Alena sighed. "I'm assuming so, Rex. They're the only ones that seem crazy enough to spread that kind of stuff. I've heard that the Kalifan Court's been trying to stamp it out, but they haven't been doing such a good job."
"Well, then maybe we should crash this meeting," Ezra said, taking the flyer from the older human and reading it. "Maybe if we can get rid of these people, the Court will decide to have Kalifa join us."
Alena raised an eyebrow skeptically at that. "Maybe, I suppose, but some of those court members are pretty slimy creatures. But I guess it's your best chance right now."
"Do you know where we can find the meeting place, Alena?" Rex asked as he leaned forward. Alena wrung her hands together nervously as an idea came to her.
"Well, I suppose I have an idea; I know a guy who might have an idea of where they meet."
"Great," Ezra said, smiling broadly.
"Well, I don't think we should keep you from your job much longer, Alena." Rex put in, standing up. "We'd better get back to the crew."
"Take care," Alena nodded at them, raising her hand in farewell to them. Rex nodded and walked out the back entrance, but Ezra hovered behind for a minute. "What is it, Ezra?"
"Well, I was just wondering," he began, turning to her. Alena was immediately on guard. This kid was really starting to ask too many questions for her comfort. "Is it possible for a Jedi to have magic powers?"
Alena blinked at Ezra for a moment, not really sure what to say to that. "I...I don't really know, to be honest. I suppose that it could be possible, since you have a Force connection, but I've never really heard of a Jedi, besides Skylar, that is, getting magic powers."
"But, hypothetically speaking, if I had a magic teacher, I could develop the abilities, right?" Ezra asked hopefully, a strange light in his blue eyes.
"M-maybe," Alena stuttered. "I don't really know."
"Then, maybe you could teach me?" Ezra asked. "It'd be a great weapon to have against the Empire, and magic seems like a useful skill to have. You could do anything with it."
"I-er," Alena stuttered, not really knowing how to proceed. There was something...off about him, but she supposed she could test him to see if he had any magical affinity, and go from there. "I suppose I could test you, to see if you have any capacity for it."
"Great!" Ezra said, smiling brightly, looking like a carefree boy for a moment. "How about tomorrow?"
"Sure," Alena said, flashing a false smile, trying not to give away how uneasy she felt. Ezra waved and left, leaving Alena to her increasing uneasiness about him. But Victoria just couldn't be right about him. She'd never been right about anything else, so why should this time be any different?
Violet remembered the day she had first met the flower shop's best customer, Rem. She remembered thinking that she was very pretty, in her early twenties or so, with light skin and long blonde hair, and a red aura flickering around her lithe body. She remembered how that woman had spoken to her, always calling her these weird pet names like "hon" or "sweet cheeks" in a sugary-sweet voice. Sure, it had been annoying, but she had gotten used to it since Rem came in at least once a week to either order flowers to be hand-delivered by the owner, or to complain that she had gotten the wrong flowers. Violet had remembered thinking that was really strange when she had been the one to put together Rem's flowers, and had made sure that she got the order right, but, again, she had gotten over it. She had had classes at the Academy to deal with, and other orders to focus on filling. She had never thought that something was up with how Rem had been. That there was actually a purpose to all of those complaints and claims.
Now she realized what a mistake that had been as she walked into Vicino's office and caught Rem wrapped around her boss, who was married, and was currently sucking his face off. For a moment, Violet froze. She wasn't sure what to do about something like this. Her mom had never told her what to do if she accidentally walked in on an affair, of all things. Then she got mad. How dare Vicino do this to his wife, betray her trust like this? Mary was one of the nicest people she'd ever met, who came into the shop when Violet and Vicino were working late and gave them a home-cooked dinner to eat, who always asked Violet how her day was going and how her studies were coming along, who always smiled adoringly at her husband like he was the only one in the room. And while all that was going on, he was cheating on her with another woman the whole time. Mary didn't deserve to be treated like that. Not for a second.
She loudly and pointedly cleared her throat, interrupting the couple in front of her, who both sprang apart like the other was on fire. Vicino turned to Violet, surprise clear in his eyes. "Violet? I thought you were on break for another hour." He spoke as if he hadn't just been involved in the most scandalous thing she'd seen yet, and it only increased her ire.
"I wanted to get started early, so I came back. I thought something had crashed in here, and went to see what was wrong." Violet's voice was cold and pointed as she raised an eyebrow at Rem, who was turning an embarrassed red under the younger girl's stare, and crossed her arms. "And don't tell me that it's not what it looks like; I may be young, but I am not stupid. But I do want to know what you have to say for yourself. I think you owe me that much, at least, after what I've just seen."
"A-all right," Vicino said cautiously, red aura flickering with his emotion as Rem quickly exited, muttering about letting them hash it out. "Please, sit."
"I'll stand, thank you very much." Violet said, turning her gaze to him. She didn't even want to think about where else they might have had their...thing in his office. Or anywhere else in the shop, for that matter.
"Right, then," Vicino cleared his throat. "Well, as you know, Rem is one of our best customers, and there was just this...spark between us when we met. One thing led to another, and we...we fell in love." Vicino smiled with an expression Violet had never seen him give his wife as he spoke. It made her sick to her stomach. "Now, I can't expect you to understand, given the circumstances, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Mary yet, please."
"Why not?" Violet asked coldly, as Vicino's smile faltered. "Is it because you want to tell her yourself? Or is it because you don't even want her to know?"
"I'm waiting for the right time, Violet," Vicino said in a hard voice, eyes narrowing. "I can't expect you to understand how difficult it is for me, but I really can't have you saying anything to Mary. That's for me to decide."
"And how long will that be, exactly? Never?" Violet asked doubtfully with scorn. "I can't believe you! You're married to a woman who is obviously smitten with you, and maybe she doesn't look like she belongs in a fashion holo, but that doesn't give you the right to trample all over her and take advantage of her love and trust for you! How can you even think that I'll be going along with your little charade?"
"Because, if you don't, I'll fire you," Vicino said in a chilly, quiet voice and, as Violet looked closer, his red aura flickered, and she could actually read his malicious thoughts and intentions for a split second. At her stunned silence, he continued. "And that means no more apartment, and no more Academy, because I'll make sure you'll never get a job anywhere else in this city. And unless you want that to happen, little girl, you'll keep your mouth shut and do everything I say, with no questions asked. I have the power to destroy everything you want and have, and I'll do it, unless you do what I want. I will not have my reputation ruined like this by you, of all people. Any questions?" He smirked knowingly at Violet as she remained silent, silently simmering over her predicament. She knew that she should tell his wife, but she also loved her job (well, maybe not so much after today), and she loved going to the Academy. And she had no doubt that he'd make good on his promise. And most of all, she couldn't stand to hear her mother say, "I told you so," if she came back home like this, with absolutely nothing to show for all her hard work in the Academy. "No? Then get back out there and do your job!"
A/N: So, what do you think, I wonder? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts, since reviews are food for a fanfiction writer's soul, and have a great summer!
