𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏, 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝: 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬

𝑨𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂

What matters most is how well you walk through the fire. Or so my mother had always told me. I disagree. I believe that what matters most is why you walk through the fire.

Well, why do I walk through the fire? Because I have no other option. If either walk through the fire or sit there and do nothing against the powers of evil. We just can't have that, now can we?

"Twenty-four hours Amalia. Twenty-four to turn yourself in." The trees and wind seemed to whisper. The exact words Prism had spoken fourteen hours ago.

"Ten hours is long enough, right?" I whispered to myself, sinking into the bench in the garden. I had ten hours to come up with a plan on how to manipulate the heroes into thinking I was their prisoner, to be able to escape and gather vital information at the same time. It was giving me a major headache and I still had a blank whiteboard staring at me judgingly.

Another letter drifted through the wind, ruffling my feathers, white with black speckles, like that of a snowy owl, and landing on the bench next to me. I grabbed it by the edge, as if it was infected, as it probably is, and opened it carefully. Inside was the Ghost's elegant handwriting.

Dear Shifter and the Outcasts

This is the Ghost. I slightly hope this letter finds you well, or well enough to turn yourself in. You have about ten hours till we come and get you. You will not require anything and will be subjected to a simple questioning session. We would love it if you would do it peacefully, but we have no qualms about bringing you in forcefully.

Sincerely,

Ghost and The Vitality Wings.

I shook my head, setting the letter down. The heroes were always so perfect, so... polite and honorable. It was disgusting.

"Got any ideas Amalia?" Christina, the team 'doctor' called, walking over.

"Not a single one Chris and we both know I can't go to the Twilight board about this." I sighed, rubbing my eyes as she nodded. The Twilight board are the strongest villains of the age. They would chew me out if I even considered asking them for help. Something about 'not being evil enough to take down the heroes and get the revenge you desire' or some nonsense.

"Well, we have what.. twenty-one hours to figure this out."

"Actually only ten. Ten hours to figure out a nonexistent plan." I laughed humorlessly, shaking my head.

"I'll call the team in and we can work on brainstorming ideas." I nodded and she walked out, a healthy glow surrounding her.

Here's the thing about Christiana, she's a healer, and a damn good one at that. She's the reason we still have Kalora. Some details had fallen victim to time but I could remember many of the details as if it happened yesterday not ten years ago.

I had been sitting on the couch of the hideout where the Outcasts currently reside, playing with babydolls.

The Whisper, a popular serial killer at the time, had found his groove, therefore murders were on the rise. It wasn't rare for me to wake up to the sound of screaming. I guess I had become immune to it, not that it was a good thing by now, but back then it was.

The doorbell rang, "I'll get it!" I called to Christina, Malcom and Kosta, who were playing, reading a book, and playing video games, respectively.

I remember opening the door and finding a girl, about my age, shivering on our porch. How she had gotten there, I had no idea.

"Christina, Malcolm, there's a girl at the door! She's shivering." I had yelled into the living room and the two older kids came running. I never noticed the blood, until we had gotten her on the couch, away from the cold rain, even then, I thought it was kool aid. I desperately wish I had been right that fateful night. "Hey, Chris? Why does she have red kool aid on her head?"

Christina had rushed over and found that the girl, who turned out to be Kalora, had a large gash going from her left shoulder blade up to the base of her head. "She just slipped and fell, Lia dear."

Kosta, being the more mature one of the two of us, saw the situation for what it really was, and pulled me into my bedroom to play with my barbie dolls.

Now that I recall it, I should have seen that it was quite odd as he never wanted to play with dolls with me, being a year older. I guess I just hadn't cared, I was desperate to get to talk to my brother.

The next time I saw Kalora, she was lying on a bed, asleep, with ace bandages wrapped around her chest, neck and head. Malcolm told me that the Whisper had gotten to her but she had luckily survived.

I bonded with the girl over the next couple of months of her recovery, bringing her toys to play with, giving her meds, and eating lunch with her. We had become inseparable, join at the hip if you may.

"Ama." Speaking of the girl, she had taken her place next to me, along with the rest of the team, who fanned out around me in a circle, the white board taking its place in the dead center.

"Sorry, I was thinking," I said, hardening my expression. "Down to business, we have nine hours and thirty minutes to figure out a plan before the dogooders come to 'pick me up'." I quoted pick me up with my fingers and Malcom cracked a smile.

Kosta looked like he had just come out of a lot of hard thinking, which he probably didn't. "Do we still need you alive?"

I glared at him, my mouth hanging open. "Yes, Kosta. We still need me alive! Είσαι τόσο ηλίθιος."

"Hey! I am not stupid!" He exclaimed and I smirked.

"Oh really, prove it." I challenged and he sputtered. "You've already failed Kost."

"Okay children. Yes, Kosta, we need her alive, she is the team leader after all." Kit scolded.

"Yeah, Kosta, listen to Kit. She's like a whole month older than you!" I interrupted but fell silent when she cleared her throat. Kosta gave me a look and I stuck my tongue out at him.

'Yes, thank you Amalia. But you need to be nice to your brother."

"Me? Nice? I'm always nice. Every day of the week, twenty-four hours a day." The Outcasts laughed at that.

"Oh, really, Miss. Shifter?" Avonlea snorted, throwing an amused look my way. "Remember lunch last week? You threw an old lady at the brick wall of the library!"

"Le! You make it sound bad when you say it like that!" I protested, gaining another laugh. In reality, I saw an old lady about to get hit by a school bus. I panicked, tried to move her out of the way and accidentally threw her against the library wall. "It really wasn't my fault, I was trying to help. It was really her fault for being in the way."

"Amalia!" Malcolm scolded me and I made a noise of annoyance.

"Guys, you realize you just spent a whole ten minutes, when we could have already come up with a plan?" Everyone stopped mid-argument and mumbled apologies to Christina. "Thank you. Now does anyone have any plans?"

None of us said a word. "I'll take the silence as a no. Now here's a question you'll have an answer to, what is 'The Vitality Wings' greatest weakness and how can we use that against them?"

We sat in silence, each of us thinking though our past battles. What had the heroes had a soft spot for during them?

"The people!" Kosta suddenly exclaimed.

"What if we take one of their heroes and use them as a bargaining chip?" Malcom suggested and I beamed.

"That's exactly what we need!" I exclaimed. "But who should we use? Most of them up there are pretty strong, powerwise at least."

"If we got a water relate super stuck without his source of water, we could very easily over power them. Maybe someone who can breathe underwater?" Avonlea suggested.

"There's several options. But they could summon water out of air. We need someone with lesser control. Someone young." Kalora added and my eyes shined, gears turning and clicking in my head.

"We kidnap the Merman, then."