To be a Hero

Missy (Miss Mystery) - The aftermath

The view from the rooftop is spectacular.

The moon glows in the black sky, illuminating the area just enough to give it a ghostly look, the stars scattered around above our heads make the scene almost magical. I could list the dozens of constellations sitting in the sky, but I would be here for hours, explaining the myths, legends and stories that go with each one.

We sit atop a building, resting our muscles and going over the battle that just took place. My cat, Midnight, is balancing along the edge of the building, his eyes darting around the night sky, as if watching something (or someone). I can see my teammates' eyes drooping from exhaustion, including mine. We don't usually get much sleep, most nights we are off patrolling or training so sleep isn't really a top priority. We also have school, meaning some nights we take time off and focus on studying and homework. We are all in the same year so we help each other with assignments and homework, Macy is usually the one helping though, the rest of us just do what she says.

'Ok,' The Elemental says to get everyone's attention, 'last minute checks.'

We all turn to each other, having done this countless times before, checking for injuries, trackers, rubble or anything that might be a risk to us or our families. We usually just find some scrapes on each other or pass over a scar and laugh about the memories. The worst injury we had was when Missionary got a knife embedded into her shoulder blade and wouldn't let anyone touch it. We struggled for about ten minutes and ended up having everyone but me holding her down and I had to pull out the knife. I'm pretty sure she kept it as a souvenir.

Today we don't really have any big injuries. The Elemental has a sore back and shoulder (which she won't let anyone touch) from being thrown into a wall, I'm pretty sure we all know she's trying to hide another injury but we all know she deals with them better on her own, and Empress got a gash on her left arm which may need stitches, but apart from that, just some scrapes and bruises that will heal up within a week. Missionary will make us do this again at her place, checking that we haven't left anything out or are hiding something. Before we started this vigilante thing, Jaina made us all do a medical training course so we know how to handle that sort of stuff.

We stand up, to get ready to head to Missionary's home. She is pretty rich so we keep everything there, she's even been hinting at the idea of putting in a base of operations downstairs.

Usually we would head to Missionary's, drop off our stuff and each go our separate ways, but it's the weekend so we are all staying at hers for the night. I usually try to avoid going home, my parents don't agree with my spiritual beliefs so I am not really welcome. I usually stay with Missionary or Empress. No ones ever been to The Elemental's house and Lady Prophet has lived with Missionary since last year.

We run and jump across the rooftops, the energising rush making us forget about our exhaustion. My cloak billows around me when I run making me feel more connected to the spirit world. I look over to my friends who all seem lost in thought too, maybe thinking about the battle, maybe thinking about all the homework we have due next week, which none of us have started.

My cat is leaping at my side, glancing at me occasionally. He is a weird cat, I don't really know where he's from, he just sort of appeared one day and never stopped following me since.

I hear a giggle to my left and see a spirit flying next to me. She smiles the most unforgettable smile, making all my troubles disappear. She radiates happiness, the sort of happiness that could brighten the gloomiest of days. She has glowing silver hair that propels back when she flys.

I do know this spirit. She's one of my friends from the spirit world. Her name is Caity and she watches over me when I fight. I feel a special connection to her, more than any of the other spirits, but she doesn't feel the same. The only person I've told about Caity is Fern (Empress) because I'm the only one she talks to. I reach out to her to grab her hand but she disappears into the night with one last smile.