The Cloak Guard

Aftermath, Part 2

"Hold it right there. And...we're good."

Emily gave a sigh of relief as she sat up, stretching a little. Whenever she posed like that, she was reminded of how hard it was to stay still for so long. Still it was good exercise even it was murder on her joints. She stepped away, taking a swig of water.

She was currently doing some modeling for Fiona's Fabulous Fashion, an up-and-coming fashion chain that was proving to be pretty popular. Her mom had jumped on the opportunity the second it had come up and Emily didn't mind seeing as it was simple stuff, just showing off some of the new dresses and skirts. At least it wasn't a bikini. She hated those poses for the summer shoots but her mom always found a way to get her front and center in them.

"Oh well done honey," her mom said, walking up. "Just make sure to keep that arm covered up. We don't want the camera to get that scar of yours."

"Mom, it's fine. It's practically healed by now."

"Practically doesn't mean completely," she reminded. "All it takes is one image and then that's all people will see. Then your image is ruined and that'll be that."

Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Emily thought to herself. It wasn't even that big of a scar. She looked at it now, seeing it was now more just a blemish on her skin than anything else. She was more grateful it hadn't hit an artery or something like the doctors had said or else she might have lost her arm. She shuddered at the idea of continuing all her training one-handed. She knew she would be able to do it, it would just mean that much more work.

That whole incident had been a lucky break for her. She still couldn't believe she'd made it through with just this small scar. It felt like she should have deep wounds or something but physically, she was perfectly fine. Mentally? Well, that she was less sure of. She had no idea where to even begin to wrap her head around it all.

Neither did Britta. Emily had found her after the fight ended, unhurt, and had felt a wash of relief. But that nearly faded over what happened next.

"What did happen?" Britta asked, scratching her head.

"Wha-what do you mean? You know what happened. You were there."

"I remember...an explosion. Yeah, there was some kind of explosion and then a few others. I think they said...it was a steam vent or something like that."

Emily had stared at her friend like she was crazy. "What are you talking about? Don't you remember? We were in the gym and then that giant attacked us."

"No..." Britta said, now staring at Emily like she was the crazy one. "Did you hit your head?"

"Did you?" Emily retorted. "We were practicing with my powers and..."

"Wait powers? What powers? You have..." Britta stopped suddenly. 'Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a sec." She closed her eyes and clutched her head. Emily's stepped closer, concerned but Britta waved her off. "I...I remember we were in the gym. And we were...I stretched...your arm...and then there was this...OH!" she suddenly yelled, gasping. "We were attacked by a giant. And you have powers. And then...oh my god, I remember now."

They spent the next few minutes going over it. Soon after that, Emily learned that what had happened to Britta happened to everyone else. No one at the school remembered what really went down. Travis told her that it was probably the people above Swarm like this mysterious Lord Kane. He figured Britta was able to fight it off because she had seen Emily use her powers for a few days. Emily wasn't sure but she didn't have anything better. She was just grateful she didn't need to talk Britta through it all again.