Opposites Attract

Rescue

"Kasey," Cain said weakly from the ground, and both sisters' gazes found him, looking down on him with obvious hatred, "You little minx. I thought..."

"What did you think? Hm? Thought I was on your side? A poor, defenseless girl with no magic? That I would actually stand for the imprisonment of my village?"

"You hated them. They let you be taken."

"My father let me be taken. All else are innocent. Especially my sister."

Molly looked back and forth, overwhelmed and feeling faint until she felt calm sweep over her. The long-forgotten feeling of Kasey's magic, like a cooling sea breeze, slowed down her racing thoughts, bringing her back from the brink of a panic attack.

Kasey knelt next to Cain, and Molly felt his magic try to take hold of her. It was weak, a last attempt to save himself, but her magic overwhelmed him immediately. Molly could practically feel it in the air, sweeping over the whole area. Kia stirred from where she lied on the floor, and David, who seemed to have been frozen, moved to go check on her.

Kasey withdrew her magic from Cain, and he suddenly went limp.

"What did you do?" Molly asked, reveling in this new calm like she hadn't felt in weeks.

"I went inside his head, messed things up a bit, got some intel. He's the Ice Witch's close friend, so he knew a lot. He, Blake, Jynx, and the Witch all work together, like some elite squad. Your friends are fighting Blake right now. From what my friend Mei has told me, they need some help."

Molly finally felt the other source of magic in the clearing, looking down from her perch on a tree branch and smiling a crooked smile.

Kasey withdrew her magic from the clearing, and all of Molly's emotions came crashing down on her. Kasey, feeling the utter desperation in her sister's aura, knelt next to her and hugged her. She was still in shock, but she hugged back, clinging tight to her.

"What did you mean about Dad?"

"Hm?" Kasey was distracted, trying to sort through her sister's emotions.

"What did you mean about Dad? You really need to listen."

"Easy. He was... It's a long story. After Mom died, he took to gambling. He quit after a while, but he was deep in debt. The person he owed said he'd take me instead. Dad agreed, and he hired a Manipulator to change your memories."

"So... this whole time, I thought I was responsible for your death, and now you're telling me that Dad gave you away to save himself from his debts."

"It's really unbelievable, isn't it? I thought he was joking when he told me to go with his 'friend". Either way, it happened. Why would I lie about it?"

Kasey could think of several good reasons a sane person wouldn't believe her, even if she was telling the truth, but Molly's shock-addled brain accepted this fact with little difficulty.

"After everything... This is less shocking than it should be."

"We'll have time for catching up later," Kasey replied, "After we go help your boyfriend."

"He's not my-"

"Molly. I'm a Manipulator. You can't lie to me."

"We're not... officially dating... he's not sure if he loves me... I'm not sure if I love him..."

Kasey shrugged her shoulders and helped Molly to her feet before moving to David.

"Well, well, well, long time no see Davy."

"Don't call me that."

"Who don't you know?" Molly asked vaguely.

"Your boyfriend?"

"He's not my-"

"Don't fucking lie to me."

Molly rolled her eyes, but she couldn't fight her grin.

"Are we going or not?" David asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

They both met his gaze and nodded, and off they went.

---

Jax looked up at Blake from where he lied, panting, on the ground. He had managed to throw him, and all parties were out of breath. 

He dragged himself to his feet, spitting blood from where his tooth had cut his cheek.

"Still going, hm?"

Blake seemed smug, as if he wasn't just as exhausted as Jax.

Leah screeched as she almost got ignited, leaping out of the way and landing clumsily.

Evan shot a blast of lightning, which Blake dodged, only to be grazed by an ice blade thrown by Jax. He cursed, and Jax threw another. The area was low on water, so he was drawing it from the air at this point.

Blake seemed to realize that he was having trouble, because he laughed again, a terrible laugh that grated Jax's ears and his patience.

He made a knife from the others, melting on the ground, and this time he charged forward, only to be thrown back again. Evan charged him as well, almost out of magic, and Leah bound him for a moment, forcing his emotions to change.

Blake was hit, but he didn't go down, instead he launched another wave of fire.

The three were knocked back, and they all struggled to get up, arms and legs shaking from the emptiness of their magic reserves.

Blake grinned, and Leah opened her mouth to scream a warning, when suddenly he was hit with a flying dagger, tumbling end over end until it reached it's target, implanting itself in his shoulder, just above his heart.

"That was a warning," a deep voice said, and they all three looked up to find David, standing with Molly, Kia, and a strange girl who could have been Molly's twin.

Jax managed to get to his feet, while the other two were still barely managing to sit up.

Blake grinned, "Wonderous, four more to murder."

Molly didn't answer except to glare, and the next second he went up in flames. She put him out after a second, and he went limp, but he didn't even collapse completely before a pillar of earth shot up and sent him flying.

David smiled grimly and raised his hands, summoning twin blades out of thin air. They flew with perfect accuracy, one embedding itself in his stomach and the other in his chest. Blake hit the ground hard, twitching and spasming, before going eerily still.

Molly looked down at him for a moment, disgust hardening her gaze, before she looked up at Jax and it softened. Her feet were moving before she could stop them, and she wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could.

A moment later his legs gave out, and she went down with him, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"Cain was horrible," she said, muffled by his shirt.

"I can imagine."

"I don't know if you can."

He watched her pull herself together, slowly, before she pulled them both to their feet, supporting him when he almost dropped again.

"We still have to fight the Witch, but let's focus on freeing the villagers."

"I can lead the way."

Jax, Leah, and Evan all whipped around, but the others were calm.

"My name is Mei. I'm a seer. That's how we knew where to find you."

Jax shook his head in disbelief.

"And this is Kasey. My sister."

Jax looked sharply at Molly, then Kasey.

"What? You never told me-?"

"Because she thought I was dead, and it was her fault. Do you blame her?"

Jax held up his hands in surrender, letting Molly help him move closer, so they were practically pressed against each other.

Mei lead the way, and they walked on.