Lily moved to rinse her finger off in the sink. “It’s okay Heidi,” she said between her teeth. “I don’t think it’s too deep, and the pain is already subsiding.”
“I can heal it for you,” she offered.
Lily shook her head, looking away. “It’ll be fine.”
Heidi sighed. “I seem to recall you saying a couple of weeks ago that if I just grabbed it and said I was gonna heal you, that you wouldn’t stop me.”
“Yeah, but–”
“Let me see it,” Heidi said more firmly. All she really had to do was touch Lily on the shoulder, but she wanted to still have an idea of how bad it was before starting.
“Okay,” Lily agreed quietly, sounding ashamed for some reason. She turned off the water and reached over to grab a paper towel, only to freeze solid.
“What’s wrong?” Heidi said in concern, moving closer to see…
Nothing.
“It’s gone,” Lily said in complete shock, rubbing the paper towel over it. “W-What just…” Her voice trailed off, finally looking over her shoulder with wide eyes, meeting Heidi’s shocked gaze.
Suddenly, the room began to spin as the pieces fell together all at once, Heidi having no doubt that Lily had cut her finger, even though she hadn’t seen the blood herself. After all, Rose wouldn’t have reacted to nothing.
No, this could only mean…
“I…I need to get something from my room…” Heidi said, abruptly turning away and trying to rush up the stairs before she passed out. She barely got behind her door before she slumped to the floor, lying on her side, her thoughts shaken by this new revelation.
Lily’s finger healed itself.
However, how this came to be wasn’t what mattered to her. For Heidi, that wasn’t the realization that had just shaken her world.
Instead, it was something more foundational. Something more fundamental.
For a long time now, her sense of worth had been directly tied to her unique superpower. An ability that made her invaluable to most others.
But if Sam, Freya, Rose…and now Lily, could all heal on their own…
Then she’d just lost the only purpose she had.
She now had nothing she could offer their family.
No reason for them to keep her around.
She had just lost her worth.
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
April 10, 2735 – Current Day – Morning
As Lexi pulled her red Ferrari up to the wide front steps, adorned with massive cement pots filled with colorful flowers, I prepared myself for the fact that I wouldn’t be able to use my second-sight for the duration of this meeting. I mean, at least it wasn’t as bad as being stuck in a statue for seventeen years, which was were my claustrophobia problem originated from. But lacking the ability to extend my vision, like I’d always been able to do, did cause a slightly suffocating sensation to spark in my chest.
Still, I knew I should be fine if I just focused on my physical vision and didn’t think too much about the unexpected limitation.
Of course, my alarm prompted Lexi to become anxious herself, but I assured her everything was fine when she asked what was wrong. We were then both silent until she pulled to a stop right at the steps. There appeared to be plenty of parking spots in front of the building, but they seemed more for visitors rather than personnel.
“There’s a parking garage around back,” she explained in response to my gaze. “They said they’d let me know when you were done. I’ll come get you as soon as I’m able, to show you around.”
I nodded, finally focusing on the two people waiting for me.
Mrs. Knight was sitting on the steps at the top, looking bored out of her mind with her elbow on one knee, her cheek resting in her palm. She was wearing similar clothing as before, wearing a black military outfit that fit her slim figure like a glove. The only difference this time was that she didn’t have a gun strapped to her hip – that small detail, was at least encouraging even if it never would have hurt me much in the first place.
The slouched posture made her look even smaller than usual, appearing much more like a kid at the moment, though I’d never dare treat her as such. The fact that she could even shut the Assistant Director of the S-FBI up, and treat the extremely tall older man like a child, reminded me that she wielded more authority than first impressions might initially imply.
As before, I could see a little bit with my second-sight, everywhere except for the roughly ten-feet by fifteen-feet oval space surrounding the Supreme Guardian. It was almost like opening my eyes underwater without goggles on, but I knew once I was within five feet of the five-foot-tall imp, I’d basically be blinded by her ability.
The other person was another young woman I’d never seen before, standing just outside of Mrs. Knight’s denser bubble, a few steps down. Her posture was ‘at ease,’ her back straight, her feet shoulder-width apart, her hands clasped behind her back. Her black uniform also fit her like a glove, revealing she was almost uncomfortably skinny and sinewy, though undoubtedly strong.
However, there were a few odd aspects of her appearance as well.
For one, she had black lipstick on, like she was a goth chick cosplaying as a soldier, along with slight Asian features coupled with extremely pale skin. All this was sharply contrasted against her jet-black hair, that only went down just far enough to barely touch her shoulders, as well as her pale seafoam green eyes that felt extremely exotic.
Like, seriously, beyond my daughter’s unique teal eyes, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen anyone with such a unique eye color. There was something almost…feline, about it. Granted, considering she was wearing black lipstick, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were colored enhancement contacts instead, and I couldn’t see clearly enough to confirm one way or the other.
The last unusual aspect of her appearance was the seemingly poofy spots underneath her clothing. Like in
