Hello everyone, and welcome. I wish to thank all of my reviewers for the last chapter.

XV-Dragon (You're always first, man. LOL. Thank you for being a loyal supporter.); Cartoonloverfan101 (Hey you winks. I will set up an appointment with the Oracle and let him know he's being a jerk.); Nemrut (Think I may have touched a nerve, here. I'm sorry if I offended or hurt you. I loved your "arguments;" they made me think. Thank you for sticking with me.); Nightroad (You make some very compelling points, as always. Thank you for planting little thoughts in my head.); Nerd4eva (Yay for nerds!! I'm a dork, too. And I'm not sure I've ever like Tibor, to be honest...hmm. Typecasting much?); Lost Prince (Good job sneaking up on mom! Tell her I love her. Thanks for your thoughts.); Dawntodark (Hay Lin the Defender...I like it, too. I also like your sig, by the way. Thanks for reading.); Shocklance (Thank you for such compliments. The edge of your seat? Wow...thank you. Wonder how the Council will live this one down...); Wolfgurl211 (Hehe...I love the emotion behind your review. Thank you for making me smile.); Darev (I've missed you; glad to see you back. So many questions, I wonder where to start. But they did make me ponder, and I'm hoping to continue the saga. Thanks for sticking with me.); DayDreamer9 (Thank you for another review and for making me smile. I loved the Caps Lock part of your review; it made me laugh.); Toolazytomakeanaccount (Hmm...I wonder what Will's going to do, too. LOL. Thanks for your thoughts); Philip Gipson (Kanye West...he's quite the character isn't he...Thank you for another review, and for the emails you send me. How is your trailer coming?); Starwin (Ah, my friend. I always smile when I see your reviews because they let me know what I'm doing right and what I should improve. I have no idea what hands clapping over the internet sounds like, but I thank you for the applause. Thank you also for being honest and letting me know what doesn't work. I take these thoughts to heart.)

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I would also like to thank my two past editors AzhureTigress and Visigoth29527. Even though you two no longer serve in this capacity, you helped me immensely and for that I thank you. WPL and WPV could not have been without your efforts. So thank you both.

Now without further ado, may I present:

Epilogue

Dear Diary,

I haven't written in a long time; in fact I'm not even sure why I keep you anymore. But I have to get my feelings out somehow, and I don't know how else to do it.

I can't talk to my mom; how could she possibly understand what I'm going through? There are so many pressures that come with being the leader of the Guardians, and these past months have been worse than ever. I'm afraid my schoolwork is suffering so badly that mom will forbid me to see my friends. It's not something I ever wanted, and now I feel trapped.

Cornelia seems to take all of this in stride. She's cool as ever and doesn't seem affected by the pressures of defending the universe. She manages to pull down good grades and still remain pretty normal in spite of what's been happening. Still, I know it's all an act. She's as frazzled as the rest of us; she just refuses to show it.

Taranee always gets by; I'm really jealous of how easily everything comes to her. Without her we would be in real trouble. Her brains have gotten us out of so many messes, I can't even begin to count them. She should be leader...not me. She's always so supportive of me, though...whether I deserve it or not. She's doing her best to hold all of us together, and I can see how tired it's making her. Just yesterday, she missed four questions on Collins' pop quiz. She never misses anything on a quiz. She's always perfect. She's disappointed with herself; I can see it even though she tries to hide it.

Hay Lin is a wreck. She looks tired and beat; like a neglected cat. Can't say I really blame her...look what's happened? But still, I'm really worried about her. I don't think she's sleeping, and I know she's losing weight. She's not her usual cheerful self anymore. It's like somebody drew a curtain over the real Hay Lin and gave us a pretender instead. Honestly, her Astral Drop has more life than she does. But I don't know what to do to help her. I feel as helpless as everyone else.

Then there's Irma. She's still in the hospital, and has been for a week, now. We go see her every chance we get, but sometimes I wonder why we do. She doesn't even know we're there. All she does is lie in her bed in a fetal position. Her eyes are wide open, but there's nothing behind them. The doctors called it catatonia and started pumping her full of all kinds of drugs I can't even pronounce. Taranee seems to know what they are, but she knows everything, so I'm not surprised.

I looked up catatonia on the internet, and it's not good. It says the disorder is commonly associated with schizophrenia. I looked that up, too, and it says that hallucinations are a symptom. Irma said she's been hearing voices in her head...could it be her post-traumatic stress is developing into something else?

I don't know how long Irma will be this way, but I guess people can die from this if they're not treated. Taranee keeps telling me that's not going to happen, and I want so badly to believe her. Guess I've become somewhat of a pessimist given all the crap that's happened lately. I mean, how much can one kid really endure? If Irma gets through this, what kind of person are we going to see? I have a terrible feeling she won't ever be the same.

I heard a doctor telling Mr. Lair about a place called Heatherfield Hills. Cornelia has a grandmother there. Apparently, she has Alzheimer's and requires constant care. I don't think Mr. Lair was considering it, but what if that's Irma's future? Some kind of group home for people who can't care for themselves.

I never realized how much we all depend on Irma to keep things light and happy. Even Hay Lin feeds off that energy, and it keeps her happy, too. Now it's gone and it's affecting everybody. I feel like I should do something, say something, but what? Everyone looks to me to make this all better and I'm as clueless as they come. These are the kinds of things adults are supposed to handle; what hope do I have of making this better?

I have to admit I feel some anger towards the Council; especially the Oracle. He did this to Irma, and I want to know why. He didn't offer any explanation; just took her powers and sent her away. Well, Irma's not a stray dog and I won't let anybody treat her as such. Tomorrow is Saturday and I intend to pay a visit to Candracar. I want answers, and I'm going to get them.

And yet, a part of me wonders how I can be angry with the Oracle when all of this is my fault. I let Nerissa take Irma. I didn't find her fast enough to stop them from torturing her. I gave the command to help the Mage cast that horrible spell on her. I almost got us all killed in the aviary because I wasn't prepared.

I'm the one that made the decision to bring Irma back...to put her through the Joining.

What if Cornelia was right? Maybe I should have let Irma go. I've always thought it was better to live than to die, but now I know there are worse things than death. Did I do it for Irma? Or did I do it for me? Was I really trying to help her? Or was I selfish? These questions run through my mind and keep me awake at night.

I feel like I'm slowly losing it. Even my mom has noticed something's different. She keeps nagging me about my grades, and she wonders why I keep to myself all the time. I guess it's because I don't want her to see my crying. I bear such a heavy burden, and I'm ashamed that I'm thinking about myself at a time when one of my best friends needs me. I'm just so frustrated because I don't know what to do!

One thing I do know...I can't let the others know what's happening to me.

I'm scared, and I feel so alone. Not even Taranee can take away my inner pain. She tries as best she can to buoy me up, but she falls short every time. As a telepath, I'm sure she must know how I really feel; but then again, she's pretty careful about invading someone else's mind. All I know is I can't handle this myself, and I need help. But who do I run to?

Well it's getting late and I feel really tired. Not sleepy...just tired. I suppose I should try to sleep, but I'm not looking forward to it. It's hard to block out the nightmares. But I have a have a big day tomorrow, so I guess I should try.

Confronting the Oracle is something I feel I have to do alone. I know Elyon is pretty upset by all this, and she'll probably be mad when she finds out, but I really feel this needs to be leader to leader. If we're going to be the agents of Candracar, then the representative of Candracar should be forced to answer for what he's done. Tomorrow is D-Day for the Oracle.

I guess I'll say goodnight now. Hopefully my demons will let me sleep.

–

And that's it for What Price Vengeance. Please let me know your thoughts and feelings.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone for reading and for supporting me. Your thoughts and suggestions have made me a better writer, and have given me motivation to continue this saga. So I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.