Chapter 18

"Alright, Rachel…breathe deeply and just clear your mind," Instructed Brianna as they were in the middle of the Training Room. "See nothing, hear nothing. Relax…you'll feel like your spinning and being drawn into something. Just let it take you…search for the answers you are seeking."

"That's so easy," Rachel muttered sarcastically at her sister. She had her eyes closed and was seated with her legs crossed. Her hands folded as they were when she had tried to force herself. She concentrated on her breathing. In…hold…out…hold…in…soon it just became natural. As if she was sleeping. For all she knew, she was.

Brianna wasn't kidding. She did feel like she was spinning and she didn't like it at all. Once the spinning stopped she found herself walking forward. Okay…forward…forward…there was something there…She tentatively pressed her hand toward it. Wanting it to open, but nothing happened. She frowned, why didn't it open? She reached upwards and carefully jiggled the door. Something fell and she opened her eyes and frowned. "Okay…what's next?" She asked.

"Well…tell me what happened," Bria suggested.

"I think it was a door or some sort of gate……it was locked……and I couldn't find the key. Before anyone says 'why didn't you break it down,' I didn't think of it," She waved it off, "I played with the door, trying to get it open because it didn't have a knob, and something fell."

Bria was careful as she leaned forward and put her hand on her chin thinking. "A door…or a gate…" she murmured to herself, "Did it have a specific design? Color? Or was it just plain? The thing that fell…was it a thud or a clang?"

"A clang…wait……the door…" Rachel rubbed her forehead. "Was the door to my shop? I remember, because my door doesn't have a knob and it's wooden because the glass one didn't do much good." She looked up at Bria, "That's…weird."

Bria shoot her head and kept her back straight as she gently stood up. She winced a bit at the stretching of the skin around it, but ignored it. She'd had worse. "No, sister, it's not weird. The answer to how to get your Sight back is somewhere at your shop." She walked over to the weapons rack and grabbed her Bo staff. Since Don and Andrew had both forbidden her from riding anywhere because it jostled her around too much, she was forced to walk everywhere, "Let's go. I need the fresh air anyway."

"We're going?" Rachel asked as she stood up. "We should bring Raph…" She muttered. It was true. With Brianna not able to fight, and Rachel's Sight gone, they'd need a fighter with them. "How weird would that look?" She asked Brianna.

"That's why we're called ninjas, Esu," Brianna chuckled, "We're able to not be seen when we don't want to be. You get Raph, I'll wait by the door." She smiled and walked in that direction. She gritted her teeth but showed no outward pain except for the fact she has a slight limp to her step. She hated this! Not being able to walk on the tips of her toes like she always did…it felt completely unnatural.

"Ninjas…" She muttered. She wasn't anything like a ninja. In fact, if she was, it would have been hysterical. She was like Casey…clumsy. Only his stealth was better than hers. She couldn't keep hidden for less than a minute. She proved that when breaking into the HQ. She walked out of the training room and went to the garage since Raphael could be working on his bike.

He was.

"Hey, Raph," She waved, "Wanna come?"

Raphael yelped when the wrench slipped from his fingers and he got his pointer finger caught. "Ah! Freaking shell…" he grumbled as he shifted and sat up. He grabbed his rag and found a rather clean spot before he whipped off the grease. He stuck his finger in his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Rachel, "Come where?" he grumbled around his finger.

"You okay?" Rachel asked as she went in further. She completely missed the question.

"Oh, yeah, I'm peachy keen," Raph muttered as he stood and went over to the sink. He washed his hands and cleaned the cut before he bandaged it, "Come where?" he asked again.

"To an abandon building to help me get my Sight back," Rachel responded.

"Sounds fun…" Raph raised an eyebrow. The two of them left the garage and he headed up the stairs to get his gear on. After a bit he came out and jumped over the railing down to her. "Why are we going there?" he asked as he slipped his red fingerless gloves on.

Rachel explained about what had happened, "So, now…we go to where I used to be and find whatever it is that can get the Sight back…" She had a dreaded feeling that she knew what it was.

Raph nodded and he took her hand as they went to the door where Brianna was waiting, "Alright, let's head out. You'll need to lead the way, Rachel."

"Yeah, I figured…" Rachel sighed and they left. They went down a few roads and they got to an alleyway. She carefully kept her eyes out for the door and when she found it she ran over to where it was. Thanking god that it hasn't been vandalized, she looked at the door. Carefully she pushed her weight on it, but she pressed too much and fell. Scrambling upward she looked and smiled.

The shelves still had the candles and incense sticks. On her table still two candles and incense sat that hadn't been burned yet. The room was dark and a bit chilly from the Winter wind. The room was made of wood, but it looked like it had been cleaned recently. She supposed that someone thought that she would be coming back and kept an eye on it for her. She'd have to thank them if she ever found out who it was.

Rachel walked over to the table and found a book of matches. Striking one she lit the two candles and smiled. Her glasses, her cards, all of the things she used for divination was all there and intact. "Something in this shop…that can help me get my Sight back…" She said aloud. She started opening the drawers in the table, trying to find whatever it was.

Then she found it…the one thing she hoped she wouldn't find.

Her mother's journal…

She touched the cover of the journal with sad eyes. She never read it. Not once. She only carried it with her because it was the last thing she had of her. She bit her lip. She felt something sting her eyes and she quickly rubbed them. She attentively opened the cover and wanted to cry. Photos of her mother were in there. Almost as if she knew that she was going to die, and wanted her to have something to remind her of her. Rachel closed the cover and placed it on the table.

She didn't want this. Having the Sight back would make her life easier, but……this was her mother's journal. She sat down on the table and sighed. Did her mother ever lose the Sight? She bit her lip as she thought that and looked at the journal again. Three years not walking in the hospital and a few weeks ago she did. Three years of trying to forget her mother and her past, it all was haunting her.

Signs…she touched the cover and sighed, "Well…I found the journal."

"Aren't you going to try and read through it?" Brianna asked softly. Once inside she had sat down and tried not to throw up. The pain in her back was excruciating, but she didn't say a word about it.

"Um…maybe when we get back…" Rachel said softly, "…I don't want to read it at the moment."

Bria swallowed thickly, but leaned heavily on her staff as she stood up again, "Then let's head back…" she said trying not to whimper. Andy was gonna kill her…

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here," a smug voice said from the doorway.

Raphael growled, "Get out of here, Hun. I kicked your ass last time, I'll do it again."

"BOTH of you," Bria hissed, "Fight anywhere but here or I'll kick both of your asses. I may be crippled, but don't think I can't do it." 'If I do, Andrew is really gonna kill me…' she thought with a mental groan.

Hun looked at her, "You don't seem to be in a position to talk."

"That may be true." Rachel said simply. "But you are out of your range. This is my territory. Get lost."

"Heh, the girl of the hour… Chaplain is very upset with you, leaving a message like that," Hun smirked and then said, "Karai's not too pleased either."

"Sue me." Rachel hissed.

"You could have said killed," Hun offered to her, "But, of course without your Sight, you're just human like the next."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "You're crossing one hell of a landscape." Her accent was coming back. When she got mad, she showed it through her voice. "Now you better get your ass out of my territory and leave us alone before me and Raph both take you on, with my Sight or not."

Hun smirked. He was baiting a reaction out of Rachel just to see what she would do for now. Now that he knew. He simply turned towards Raphael, "I just came to give a message. The war's been accepted, even though it was ungracious and quite rude. Karai accepted and so has Chaplain."

"So you did your job," Rachel said with a lighthearted shrug, "Leave."

"Also to take the journal."

That turned the air around them from tense to tight. Rachel's grip on the journal tightened. Alright…so she wasn't going to look through it anytime soon, and she needed it to get the Sight back, it was her mother's… the only thing she had left to remind her of the person that taught her how to do divination, the only person that loved her to do anything almost. Almost anything…

She was the one person that knew that when she died, it was going to be hell for her to even live with someone like him. Someone like her father, who never cared…

Hun was crazy to even suggest that she'd give it up. To even say that he was going to take it.

"I won't let you take it," Rachel said in a deadly voice, "You're going to have to take it over my dead body."

Hun clicked his tongue, "Well, then I suppose we'll have to fight for it."

"I suppose," Rachel said darkly. She couldn't believe this. She really couldn't. Chaplain didn't want her Sight back, and convinced Karai to make Hun be messenger boy. She could see where this worked in Hun's favor, if he wanted a rematch with Raphael; this was a perfect way of doing it, "Let's fight outside. I really, really don't want to have the shop ruined as much as others think it's fun."

"Your wish is my command," Raphael laughed in a smug way as he rammed a kick into Hun's chest, knocking the brute out into the alleyway.

Brianna sighed and leaned on her Bo. She turned to Rachel, "Let's get out of there while those two nutcases are fighting."

Rachel just merely glanced at her, "Yeah, I suppose that's a good idea. Use this to get away."

Bria rolled her eyes, "Is there a back door?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded. She led her through the shop and opened a door and gently gestured. There was a big storage room that obviously that was never used. It was dusty and unclean. She led the way through the storage room and opened another door that lead to an alleyway. "We're going to have to pick a spot to wait for Raphael, if we don't want to get caught," she muttered, "Or jump roofs…"

Bria groaned, "Andrew and Don are going to both kill me…I'm not sure what Leo'll do." She sighed and slid her Bo onto the strap on her back. She looked around and spotted a fire escape, "Come on, let's hurry. Raphael will find us soon enough…you'll have to go up first so you can help me…" she said. She hated being helpless…

Rachel nodded and climbed up the escape first and waited for her at the first block. "I don't think Don's going to kill you, but Leo and Andy are the ones you should be thinking about. Oh Matt's going to be in hysterics. I can see that now."

Bria laughed a bit, and then winced, "Yeah, well, Don's at least gonna be upset. I hate seeing having him frustrated at something I do," she chuckled and bent down, and then jumped to grab onto the first rung. She nearly slipped, "Ah, FAC," she growled through clenched teeth, "That's freaking cold…" she muttered and then started climb, but when she got to where she would have to bend her back even a little bit she reached for Rachel's help.

Rachel grabbed onto her hand and helped her get up, "I'm sure Don won't mind if I blame myself or something. Then again…I don't think we should even tell him about this. Andy can keep a secret."

"Yeah, you're right," Brianna nodded. She smiled and then the two hurried up to the roof just as the racket in the alleyway increased. "Doesn't sound…oomph…good down there," she grunted as they finally got over the edge.

She was right…