Emmy gets into trouble, about ten years before Last Specter.
Author's note: Another Emmy flashback that may not make it into my longfic, but is there in the backstory nevertheless. She's twelve here… I guess writers really do torture their characters. I'm sorry, Emmy :(
"Azran crystal, Emmeline." Uncle Leon held up a tiny shard of the artifact I had just broken. "It gathers and transmits light, and transforms it in ways we are not yet privileged to understand. One piece"—crack!—"is worth more than ten thousand careless little girls."
The crystal chip was still in his hand, one edge stained red. No bigger than a penny. Glittering.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked.
"I'm sorry." I clutched at the leg of my scratchy uniform. "They were chasing me, and I—"
Crack. Another line scored across my cheek.
"I said, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"N-Nothing, Uncle Leon." My eyes were blurring. "I'm sorry," I whispered again.
"Pah. It's done. I have repairs to make." He turned away. "Stop sniveling, girl. You're dismissed."
"Don't send me away, Uncle! Please—"
"Dismissed!"
I ran from the room.
I washed my face in the bathroom, patched up the cuts with butterfly strips and silver cream. Uncle Leon kept me inside until they healed. You can't see where they were anymore, unless you know to look.
He'd never hit me before. He never would again, except once.
I see those scars every time I look in the mirror, reminding me I can't afford to fail.