DECEMBER 25, 2008

Vera Mod sat on a sofa in a long hall, longing to hold Theo Majestic's third child.

The babe had been born when the morning sun's light still touched the royal palace, but Vera hadn't seen the child. The moon's beautiful light glowed against the royal palace. Vera still waited. She could go to one of the beds and sleep, but the woman had to stay awake and be ready to hold the baby girl she would mentor.

A painting displaying Soynite High Boris Endman stayed against the blue wall. The man depicted in the painting stood near it, keeping his thin arms crossed. Boris was the tallest High. Near him was another sofa, but the man didn't sit on it. Nick didn't sit on it either. The young boy rested on his side, asleep on the sofa's blue comfort.

Like Vera, Nick's Watcher was a female Watcher. And Nick's two siblings were female.

If Theo and Lilly had a fourth child, would the kid be a boy or a girl?

"Nova has a good home," Boris said, bathed in the illumination coming from the ceiling light above. No windows were in the long hall. "Hailey Majestic has one. It's wonderful that this child isn't going to be sent away. I'm grateful Theo refused to let that happen."

"He's great," Vera said. "He's never going to leave us."

"And none of us are going to leave him," Boris said.

Vera smiled.

"I'm going to be here to see Nick, Nova, and Hailey grow up," Boris said, placing a hand against his chest. "And if Theo and Lilly produce another child, we will keep that child safe. No more babies are going to be taken."

He rubbed his neck, shook his head, then bowed it.

Alice Endman, Boris's only grandchild, had been taken. People who had been born with the same power as Vera had searched for Alice, but those Bloodhounds had failed to return to Soy with a baby.

"It's all right," Vera said, letting her hands stay pressed against the sofa she sat on. The woman kept her shoes against the blue carpet. She kept her friendship with Boris Endman alive. Hope was alive. "We're going to find your granddaughter."

Boris lifted his head, and he made eye contact with the twenty-year-old Watcher.

"You do so much for all of us, Vera," the High said. "Thank you. Hailey has a wonderful mentor. That much is obvious."

"You're welcome." Vera replied.

She still hadn't seen Hailey, but it was still a good night. A great night was what it was.

Vera looked at the clock on the wall. It ticked as the older brother of Hailey and Nova turned in his sleep. It ticked as Boris waited like Vera. It ticked as Soy remained safe.

"Here she is," a voice announced.

Theo Majestic.

He carried a small Soynite, a girl wrapped in a blue blanket. Seeing baby Hailey Majestic made warm joy flow through Vera, and that happiness made the Watcher grin.

She stood. The woman was ready to be closer to Theo's newest child.

"Boris, wake up Nick," Theo said. He moved his gaze to Vera. "Do you want to hold her, Vera?"

"Of course," the Watcher said.

She headed closer to Theo, who gave her Hailey.

"Hello, little one," Vera said, watching Hailey watch her. The newborn hadn't known Vera for a year, but that would change. "I love you already."

When Nick was awake and close, he said, "Sister."

He stared at Hailey. Vera, Theo, and Boris did the same. They wore smiles. Happiness, like Nick, was awake.

It wasn't gone.

DECEMBER 25, 2015

The other Majestics were gone.

Seven-year-old Hailey Majestic was not gone, and it was Vera Mod's responsibility to take care of her.

February 20, 1988 was Vera's birthday.

Vera was twenty-seven years old. She was still a Watcher, still someone who had been forced to attend a Watcher academy after graduating high school. All Watchers had been babies. When they had been babies, the Soynite government forced them to become future Watchers.

As her blue socks slapped against the hard floor, Hailey ran while carrying a doll Vera had gifted to her earlier. It was the little Majestic's seventh birthday. Theo, Lilly, and three of their children hadn't come to celebrate.

Vera crossed her thin arms as she stood near the door that opened up to the huge room. Like Hailey, she wore a white shirt with long sleeves, blue pants, and blue socks. The Watcher couldn't remember what Theo Majestic had been dressed in the last time she saw him.

Regardless, Vera saw Hailey's beautiful blonde hair trail behind her as she ran toward a blanket on the floor.

Not far from the blanket was a slingshot, a small blue ball, and ten knocked over empty cans. Hailey had used the slingshot to strike the cans with the ball. That had been target practice. Firing a gun inside a space station wouldn't be smart.

Vera had made Hailey shoot ten harmless targets with a ball. The seven-year-old would have to shoot dangerous Freeman targets with laser beams one day.

Nick Majestic.

Nova Majestic.

Hailey Majestic.

Anne Majestic.

Three out of four of those children were gone, away from Vera, away from Hailey.

Vera hadn't seen Summer Locket or Anne in a long time. If Anne was still alive, that meant she wasn't a baby anymore. She should be able to speak, but it wasn't as if Vera could hear her talk. The only Majestic Vera had spoken to in years was Hailey, Anne's older sister.

As for Lilly and Nick, those two had left years ago. Theo had still been around when that happened. He had lost his wife. He had lost his only son. Before losing Lilly and Nick, though, Theo had lost Anne.

Vera wished for Nick and Anne to see Hailey again, and she had to prepare the kid to be ready to fight and kill Lock Tannis, the man with too many pale fools in his arsenal. Hailey's world had practically been reduced to a space station, but Vera still trained her. She could turn her into a warrior. The woman would love for the kid to become a warrior, and the Soynites who opposed Lock Tannis needed Hailey to become a warrior.

The cruel Lock Tannis didn't occupy the space station Vera and Hailey lived in. He did not stand inside the room the two Soynites were in. The room provided safety to two people who deserved to be safe. Located in the wall was a wide window. The door next to the window opened up to the long hall outside the huge room, but that door was closed. No one opened it. The Watcher and her girl lived with each other and no one else.

Vera heard a knock on the window.

Hailey didn't stop running, so the woman assumed she hadn't heard the knock. Vera turned to the window.

Standing behind the window was a woman. To Vera's good fortune, the woman didn't have too-pale skin. She didn't carry the intense desire to do what Lock Tannis pleased. Well, Vera assumed she didn't. A boy stood next to the woman, staying next to her as the illumination in the room glowed against his blond hair. He focused on Hailey.

Vera knew those people. She knew that mother-son pair.

Lilly Majestic and Nick Majestic had come to the space station. They had returned to the place, but Theo's absence remained real.

Did they know about that? Did Lilly know her husband had gone away? Did Nick know his father wasn't with Vera and Hailey?

Vera furrowed her brow, then swallowed.

After exiting the room, Vera shut the door. She looked at Hailey through the window. The girl now kneeled on the blanket she had moved toward. The kid couldn't see the window.

"Vera!" Nick said.

He put his arms around his younger sister's Watcher. She hugged him back, shut her eyes.

Nick had gotten taller and older. He was eleven years old.

The hug came to an end, then Vera looked at Lilly, the woman who had abandoned her husband, her third child, and Vera.

Lilly opened her arms, intent on giving the other woman a hug, but Vera turned her palm to her.

"I'm not going to hug you," the Bloodhound said. "And I need you and Nick to move away from the window."

Lilly and Nick, both dressed in black clothes and wearing their Soynite pendants, moved away from the window. Hailey's biological mother turned her back on the wall. Vera stood in front of her.

"Theo is gone," Vera said, crossing her arms. "He left, just like you did. I haven't seen him in years, and I spent that time raising your daughter."

"My father is gone?" Nick said. He scowled. "Did the Freemans take him? Did you see them capture him? Why didn't you look for him?! You're a Bloodhound!" You could have found him!"

He clenched his fists. As he did so, Vera pondered on how powerful he was. Perhaps he had already developed a Save.

"Relax, Nick," Lilly said. She brought a hand to the boy's shoulder. "You're going to release your anger on our guests, son. I knew there was a chance we wouldn't be able to get Vera's help."

"What guests?" Vera asked.

"Go to the hangar," Lilly said. "Then go into my spaceship. It's the same one me and Nick left in. Tell Hailey to take a nap, then meet me and my boy in the spaceship. Let's go, Nick."

Lilly and Nick moved toward the door at the hall's end.

What guests?

Vera inhaled through her nose, then exhaled a big breath through her mouth.

She set a hand against her forehead, uninvited frustration going through her. Lilly, the mother who had abandoned her loved ones except for her son, had come back. She had brought Nick, Hailey's eldest sibling.

When Vera went close to Hailey again, the girl was still on her knees on the blue blanket.

Vera kneeled next to Hailey. The Watcher stroked the child's blonde hair as she continued playing with the doll. Hailey didn't know her mother and brother were in the same space station as she was, but Vera knew. She had also been commanded to tell Hailey to take a nap.

"Go to sleep, Hailey," Vera said. She tapped the blanket two times with her hand. "Right here."

Hailey put the doll down. She moved onto her side, then closed her eyes.

"Sleep well, little one," Vera said. She kissed Hailey's cheek, glad she hadn't complained, grateful she hadn't asked any questions. "I'm going to be back. I just need you to sleep right now."

Vera went to the hangar.

It was larger than the room the Watcher had left Hailey in. Rows of Soynite spaceships were in the hangar, and Lilly stood close to one of the space vessels. As she carried a notepad and a pen, Lilly waved at Vera. Vera didn't wave back, but she did move close to the woman.

"Where's Nick?" the Watcher asked.

"He's inside," Lilly said, then she tapped a finger against the spaceship's blue metal. "He's already with our guests. Let's join them."

Lilly opened the spaceship's door, then she and Vera moved into it. The two women took steps through several halls, both planning on getting to the same place as Nick.

The socks Vera wore slapped against the floor as Lilly's shoes made a louder noise. Vera's socks were softer than the shoes, and, as the Watcher moved beside Theo Majestic's wife, the woman's boy's capacity for violence seemed bigger than his sister Hailey's.

Good.

As long as Nick fought against Lock Tannis's massive empire, his possible urge to bring deep misery to his enemies was great. Vera would rather see Hailey bring justice by shooting pain into Lock Tannis's minions. After all Vera had suffered through, she had earned the right to see terrible foes suffer.

Vera and Lilly found Nick in a room with two chairs, ropes, and two shirtless Freemans.

The chairs faced away each other. Their occupants faced away from each other. The space between the two chairs was six feet, and the Freemans using the chairs as seats were restrained by the ropes.

Nick gripped a dagger in his hand. The boy's hand stayed on the weapon's black handle, and the sharp blade reflected the ceiling light's bright glow. Hailey's brother donned a scowl.

"I love how I'm going to hurt you two with a weapon other gross Freemans made," Nick said, hurling his Freeman words at the restrained Freemans. "First, though, I need you both to answer my questions. And you will nod or shake your heads. If you don't know the answer to a question, you will open your mouths."

Vera turned her head to Lilly. Nick's mother smirked as her son was on the verge of becoming a torturer.

There was a chance Nick had tortured Freemans before.

The Freemans weren't able to attack. They didn't have the power to use vicious Nick's dagger to stab Vera's breasts before stabbing her in the heart. If Vera was a fortunate woman, she would use Nick's weapon to kill the captured Freemans.

Theo's son stepped to the spot in front of the Freeman closest to him. The enemy sneered.

"Is Theo Majestic alive?" Nick said, speaking Freeman. "If you give me a verbal response, I will cut you. Answer my question by shaking your head. Or nodding it. If you don't know the answer, open your mouth. Is Theo Majestic alive?"

The Freeman glared.

Nick slashed his face.

"Answer my question!" he shouted.

Blood pushed out the big gash on the Freeman's too-pale face. He trembled.

"Is Theo Majestic alive?" Nick asked the Freeman.

He opened his mouth.

The restrained brute didn't know if Theo Majestic was alive. Or maybe he had lied.

"Okay," Nick said. "It's time for me to ask the other guest."

He went to the other Freeman guest.

"Is Theo Majestic alive?" Nick said. The Freeman opened his mouth. "Okay. You don't know either."

He looked at Lilly.

"They don't know where Father is, Mother," Nick said, speaking Soynite.

"It's okay," Lilly said. "You're doing well, son."

She wrote on a page of her notepad.

"Do you know where Anne Majestic is?" Nick said, speaking Freeman. The Freeman opened his mouth.

The boy returned to the spot in front of the Freeman he had cut.

"Do you know where Anne Majestic is?" Nick asked.

The Freeman opened his mouth. Nick went to the other Freeman, asked him the same question, but he didn't know where Anne Majestic was either. He he had possibly lied.

"I want to talk to the Freemans," Vera said. "Let me ask them some questions."

"Sure," Lilly said. "Nick, give the dagger to Vera."

Nick gave the dagger to Vera. He headed closer to the blue wall, turned, then rested his back on it.

With the blood-adorned weapon in her hand, the Watcher went near the bleeding Freeman. Her socks stayed against the hard floor, which bordered the blue walls surrounding the too-white brutes.

Outside the spaceship's walls was Hailey. If the three Soynites in the current interrogation room had luck on their side, Hailey would stay asleep. Vera didn't wish to see any Freemans aim their eyes at Lilly's third child.

"Remember, open your mouth if you don't know the answer," Vera said, speaking the captive's native language. "Non-verbal communication only. Do you know where Theo Majestic is?"

The Freeman shook his head.

No.

"Your friend better give me that same response," Vera said.

She took steps past the bleeding Freeman's chair, then came to a stop in front of the other Freeman.

"Do you know where Theo Majestic is?" Vera asked.

The Freeman shook his head.

No.

"I'm losing my patience," Lilly said, speaking Freeman. "Since you two Freemans don't know anything of value, I am going to make my friend Vera kill you. Slowly. If you don't want that to happen, I suggest you speak. Talk!"

Vera slashed the unharmed Freeman's arm. He shouted, pain coursing through him, which was what so many Soynites had experienced during the invasion. Freemans had attacked those Soynites. The pain the hurt Freeman experienced was well-deserved.

The Watcher grinned.

The Freeman guests hated being tortured, which was understandable. But Watcher Vera hated what they had done to her people and her planet. Freemans were born evil. And Vera wished more Soynites believed that.

Every Freeman alive had been born evil. That needed to be the truth. It had to be.

"If both of you keep being fools, I will give each of you a slow death!" Vera shouted.

"Blind!" the bleeding Freeman yelled.

Vera scowled at him, the same Freeman whose blood dripped off the dagger.

"She's blind!" the Freeman said. "One of the Highs."

A blind High. A High was blind, and that High was female. Perhaps a Freeman had gouged out her eyeballs.

"No," Lilly whispered, speaking Soynite.

Then she shook her head.

"Which one?!" she said, speaking Freeman as she glared. "Which one?!"

"The girl with the orange hair," the Freeman said. "Her eyes are useless."

After shaking her head, Lilly wrote.

The Freeman smiled.

Freemans drew satisfaction from suffering Soynites. Knowing a Soynite had been blinded gave the captured Freeman joy.

Vera had seen a photograph of the High girl with orange hair, and the High's first and last name had been written on the back of that picture.

"That Soynite won't be a threat to Great Leader Lock Tannis," the Freeman said.

He grinned as he bled.

"What's your name?" Vera said.

"Zale," the Freeman answered.

"Bye, Zale."

Vera slipped the dagger into Zale's broad chest, burying the red blade into his beating heart. Because of Vera, that heart would stop beating in the near future.

Nick smiled.

Lilly focused on the notepad.

The other Freeman stayed in his chair, which wasn't difficult to do, considering he was tied to it. This one was not fatally wounded. But Vera could change that. She would change that.

"Bye, Freeman." Vera said.

She went in front of the Freeman, who struggled. The Watcher used the red dagger to kill the pale fool.

Vera moved next to Lilly, who stood next to Nick. The lifeless Freemans changed into smoke. The blood on the dagger morphed into smoke too.

Nick had smiled. His sister Hailey didn't share the same Freeman-hating nature as him. Wherever the blind High was, Vera hoped she hated Freemans as much as Theo's son did.

When the three Soynites were outside the spaceship, Vera said, "We didn't learn anything useful."

She looked at the dagger's flat side.

"That Freeman told us information he hoped would discourage us," Vera said, speaking Soynite. "What use is a blind High? She can't be a soldier."

A blind Soynite couldn't put up a good fight against the Freemans. That meant Vera would have to train Hailey harder, try grooming her into a better potential killer of Lock Tannis.

"I know," Lilly said. "But my husband made those children into what they are. They're our rulers. And we need to help them. One of the Highs is blind, and we have to do what we can to make it easier for her. We're also going to find my daughter. We're going to find both of my daughters. We're going to find Nova and Anne."

"But we decided that it was best for Anne to stay with Summer," Vera said, talking to Lilly as her son eyed the Freeman dagger. Perhaps the kid fantasized about slaughtering Freemans. "I can't look for Anne. And I can't look for Nova. Soynites can be dangerous, and we don't know how dangerous Summer became. As for Nova, I don't have to explain why it would be dangerous to find her. The Freemans are hunting her. Hailey isn't ready to leave this space station. It's too dangerous."

Hailey's mother and brother had captured two Freeman warriors. It seemed as if the two Majestics had decided to take the fight to the Freemans. If that was true, then Vera would be a fool if she let powerless Hailey go with them.

Lilly moved toward the door in the distance, the door that led deeper into the space station.

"I'm taking my daughter back," Lilly said. "Come on, Nick. We're going to get your sister."

"She's not ready to go out!" Vera said. Nick moved next to his mother, who kept closing the distance to Hailey, the girl in a different room. "Lilly, Hailey is weak. She doesn't have the will to kill, and she has compassion for the Freemans. She has compassion for Lock Tannis. I need time to train her. I need to get her ready for what's out there. Plus, she's only seven years old. A seven-year-old girl can't fight in a war."

Yes, Hailey was a Pure, which meant she would develop every single Save if she lived long enough, but the child didn't have any powers. She had never fired a laser weapon either.

Lilly kept walking.

Vera cursed in Freeman, because swear words didn't exist in the Soynite language. She took quick steps past Lilly and Nick, then aimed her palm at the blonde-haired woman's chest.

"Stop!" Vera said, tightening her grip on the dagger.

"She still has the dagger, Mother," Nick said.

Vera didn't wish to stab Lilly or her son with the weapon she had used to kill the two Freeman torture victims. Lilly and Nick had to learn that.

"I'm not going to use it," Vera said. She bent down, set the weapon on the floor, then straightened. "See? I put it down. Listen. Listen to me, Lilly. I don't think you should take Hailey with you. It's not safe for her. If she goes with you and Nick, she is going to get killed. I can't let you go with her, and it's because she isn't ready. I love her so much. And I don't want anything bad to happen to her. The Freemans blinded Lovely Windsore. Zale probably did it. If the Freemans caught Hailey, they would do worse than blind her. She is a daughter of Theo. And they know that. Hailey needs to stay here. She's safe in this space station."

How long would that safety last?

Vera didn't know. But she was aware the space station was a safe place now, a safe zone. That mattered.

Lilly frowned, then she turned her back on Vera. The woman gripped her blonde hair strands.

"Hailey is my baby," Lilly said, her voice shaking. Nick stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Lilly faced Vera. Tears filled her blue eyes. "Nova and Anne are my babies too. They're my kids. I'm going to get back to them. If I didn't let Land Preachman convince me that the Freemans were going to attack Soy, I would still have Nova with me. I can't see Nova. And I also can't see Anne. But I can see Hailey. Let me see my daughter again, Vera. Me and Nick have to. Then we're going to leave. She doesn't have to know that me and her brother came here."

Anne had been a literal babe, a literal baby, the last time Vera saw her. Lilly had taken notes during the torture, but she hadn't been able to hold her youngest kid in a long time.

Vera took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said.

Later, Vera watched as Lilly kissed the sleeping Hailey's forehead. Then Nick did the same. Hailey didn't wake up. She just stayed asleep on the blanket with her doll close to her.

"Happy birthday, Hailey." Lilly said.

"Happy birthday," Nick said.

Both of the Majestics had tears on their faces.

When they were in the hangar again, Vera, Lilly, and Nick trained their gazes on the spaceship two Freemans had been killed in. Justice had been served inside that spacecraft. Nick looked at the Freeman dagger on the floor, then it levitated a few feet closer to the ceiling high above.

Lilly cried without sobbing. Vera had killed two Freeman enemies earlier, but that didn't prevent sadness from sinking into Hailey's mother.

"I'm going to come back for Hailey, Vera," Lilly said. She turned to Vera. The Watcher turned to her. "That's going to happen one day. Anyway, are you going to let me hug you this time?"

"Of course," Vera said.

She and Lilly hugged each other. Vera shut her brown eyes, and tears filled them as she embraced the woman with absent loved ones.

"Take care of yourself," Vera said. "I'm going to keep taking care of Hailey. I love you."

"I love you too," Lilly said. "You really are like family to me. I'm going to see you and Hailey again."

Vera opened her eyes. She and Lilly stopped hugging each other.

Nick soon wrapped his arms around the Watcher, and she hugged him back.

"It was nice to see you again, Nick," Vera said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Nick replied.

The hug ended.

"Remember when I got mad at you earlier?" Nick said, fiddling with his fingers. Vera nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I really do hope you find your father, Nick," Vera said. "But I think he abandoned me and Hailey. He told me not to look for him, then he left. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he really was captured by Freemans. The Freemans I killed probably knew his location."

"We're going to find him," Lilly said. "Or you might. When Hailey is ready, maybe both of you will find Theo. For now, though, take care of my daughter. Keep loving her. You're a great Watcher, Vera."

A tear left Vera's eye. She sighed, then nodded.

"Thank you," Vera said.

Lilly had abandoned Vera and Hailey, but the blonde woman did love her daughter. She loved her daughters. Nova and Anne, Lilly loved them both. Those two girls were sisters to each other, and they were not physically close. Nova had never even met Anne. Anne had never met Nova.

Because Land Preachman had influenced her, Lilly had allowed for Nova to be adopted.

Land Preachman had brought Ascend Museum into existence. His ultimate fate was unknown to Vera, but she had spoken with Land several times. He was friends with Lilly. It was Land who had convinced Lilly the Freemans would bring destruction to Soy, and his words had caused a reaction in Lilly. That reaction had led to Nova becoming an adopted child. Lilly had figured Nova would have been safe if she lived away from the royal palace.

The invasion had come, destruction had engulfed Soy, and that destruction had consumed more than the Soynite royal palace.

During the invasion, a not-so-great Watcher had stolen Anne. Theo's youngest child had never reunited with her mother, who loved her.

Vera hadn't kidnapped Hailey. The girl's father, her mother, and her older brother had left, and two of those Soynites had, after a long absence, returned to the home containing Hailey. The kid was like a daughter to her Watcher. Lilly, she was Hailey's mother, but Vera had become like a non-biological mother to her charge.

Lilly had made it obvious she planned on going to the space station again in the future. When that day came, Vera would have to let the mother see Hailey.

"Tell Hailey I love her," Lilly said.

"Tell her I love her, too," Nick said.

"I will," the great Watcher said.

After Lilly and Nick left, Vera kneeled on the blue blanket, the one her little Majestic slept on. Majestics had gone away.

Hailey hadn't left, however, and that mattered.

"Hailey, wake up," Vera said, tapping the sleeping kid's back. "Wake up, little one. I have to talk to you."

The girl opened her blue eyes. She moved into a kneeling position.

"Hailey," Vera said. "Your mother loves you. Your brother loves you too."

"I know," Hailey said.

She didn't know her mother and brother had come to the space station. She didn't know Freeman warriors had been tortured inside the building, torture that Vera had participated in.

Hailey didn't sit on the Freeman throne, but she was precious.

She was precious and the Soynite public hadn't known she existed. Only several people had been aware Theo Majestic's wife had been pregnant multiple times in her life. Those multiple pregnancies had lead to multiple children.

It was possible Boris Endman and the other former Highs had informed Lock Tannis about the Majestic children, Theo's blonde-haired, blue-eyed kids.

Boris, like Don Ascend, had betrayed his friends.

Hailey giving a speech to Boris wouldn't convince him to fight for her.

Vera's former friend needed to be killed. Boris was Hailey's ex-housemate, but he had joined Lock Tannis, who was a bigger fool than him.

Hailey might see Boris the fool again.

Though, at the current moment, Boris wasn't present and Hailey was.

"I love you, Hailey," Vera said.

She hugged the girl. Hailey hugged her back.

"I love you too," Hailey said.

Vera smiled.

When the hug was over, Vera said, "I hope you're enjoying your birthday party."

"I am," Hailey said. She brought her hands to her doll, then stroked its blonde hair. "Thanks for throwing it for me."

"You're welcome," Vera said. "Come on. Let's go to the cafeteria."

After they stood, Vera and Hailey held hands. Hailey also held her doll, which Vera had found in a different room in the space station. The pair walked toward the door.

"Everything is going to be fine." Vera said.

She grinned, filled with hope. And hope had seemed as if it would never move into the woman again. The Watcher had raised the child of her two friends, and she didn't lose the belief Hailey would kill Lock Tannis.

Hailey needed to destroy one belief. In order for her to realize Lock Tannis needed to be killed, she had to stop believing all life was precious.

Her Watcher knew the honest truth.

Not all life is precious.

MARCH 3, 2022

"All life is precious." Hailey Majestic said.

She wore a blue shirt, blue pants, and blue shoes. The socks she wore were white, like her grandfather's hair had been when he was close to death.

Holy Majestic had died.

There was a bed, a rectangle-shaped desk, and a girl in the bedroom, but Holy Majestic's son was not in the area. He was not in the space station. He was not with his third child.

With four walls around her, Hailey rested on her bed, her comforter underneath her.

"All life is precious, but Vera doesn't believe that," Hailey said. She had one hand against her clothed stomach. The ceiling light bathed her in its bright light, but it didn't destroy her non-physical conflict with Vera. "She even believes that Freemans are born evil."

Vera believed every living Freeman had been born evil, but Hailey refused to believe what her Watcher believed.

She fiddled with her fingers. Then the girl moved her focus to the man in the photograph, the picture she had taped to the wall.

"Father, where are you?" Hailey asked.

"I told you that you have to forget about him," Vera said. She and Hailey had lived with each other for years, just each other. Of course the person who had talked was Vera. Hailey sat up. Her Watcher stood in the doorway, watching her. "And you have to forget about your mother and your brother. They were here on your seventh birthday, but don't expect to see them anytime soon."

Hailey's brow furrowed.

Lilly Majestic and Nick Majestic had come to the space station on Hailey's seventh birthday? How much taller had Nick become? Hailey would love to hug him. She would love to hug their mother.

But they weren't in the teenager's home.

"What?" Hailey said. "My mother and brother were here?"

Vera nodded.

Hailey moved off the bed.

"And you never told me?!" Hailey said. Vera brought her left hand to her right arm. Hailey's heart moved quicker, beat quicker. "My mother was here! Nick was here! But you kept it as a secret! Why?!"

Vera took a step closer to Hailey.

"Relax," the Watcher said. "Your mother and your brother came here. That was years ago. It was your seventh birthday, and you didn't see them. But I did. Me and Nick tortured two Freemans. It happened in the spaceship your mother and Nick came in. We learned that Lovely Windsore is blind. I don't even know if she's still alive. Anyway, your mother wanted to take you with her. I couldn't let that happen. You were weak. You still are."

"I am not weak!" Hailey said. She clenched her fists, genuine anger rushing through her. "My mother came back for me, but you didn't let me go with her! And you always say that she abandoned me!"

"She did!" Vera said. She shook her head, shut her brown eyes, then exhaled. The woman opened her eyes. "I convinced her to let me keep raising you. She said that she was going to come back here. One day. Then she told you happy birthday while you slept. Your brother did the same. They both kissed you too. But they're gone, Hailey. They should've come back a few years ago. I really could've used their help back then."

"You're bitter about that!" Hailey said. Her fists shook. "Because of that, you decided that it was better to keep saying bad things about my mother, when you could've just kept waiting!"

"Your mother still abandoned y-"

"Stop talking!" Hailey shouted.

Vera turned, then slammed her hands against the desk, the same desk she had placed her dagger on earlier. The Watcher seethed. Her shoulders rose and fell.

"My mother would've protected me!" Hailey said. "She loves me. But you talk negatively about my family. My father loves you, and you act as if you don't love him. Maybe you don't love me."

Vera faced Hailey, then pointed at her face.

"Don't say that!" Vera said. "I am your Watcher. I am your friend. And I am practically your mother. I am your mother, and I love you. Also, don't ever say that I don't love your father! I love him more than you know! And you're my daughter. I've been your mother for years."

"You're not my mother!" Hailey said. She sped walk toward where Vera stood. "It's your fault my mother left me here!"

Hailey aimed a glare at the Watcher. Vicious anger continued spreading through the girl, and she brought a hand to the nearby chair. Hailey could've used the chair to hurt Vera, but she didn't.

The nearby woman would never be Hailey's real mother.

Hailey's cheeks were wet.

"It's okay," Vera said.

She put her arms around Hailey. And Hailey didn't hug her. For Vera, it must have been like hugging a pole, but Hailey's dislike for what she had done seemed more important than anything else.

"Get off of me!" Hailey yelled.

"It's okay, Hailey," Vera said.

Hailey's cheeks were wet because she cried. She sobbed as the one-sided hug remained unbroken. Hailey cried while shutting her eyes. And she would have cried tears of joy if she had talked to her mother and brother years ago, but Vera had stopped that from happening.

Hailey pressed her hands against Vera's front, then pushed. The woman broke the hug. Hailey opened her eyes.

"Your mother is gone, but I'm here for you," Vera said. "I really do love you. When I first held you, back when you were a baby, I loved you."

"I love my mother," Hailey said, speaking the truth. She wiped at her tears. "And I love my father. I love Nick. I love Anne. And I love Nova."

"Hailey," Vera said, tears in her own eyes. "Don't be like that, please. There's one name you didn't say."

Vera should leave the room.

The strong urge to see the woman walk away slipped into Hailey. Unlike the orange-haired High, Hailey could see. She wasn't blind.

"Where's Lovely?" Hailey said. She swallowed. "Where's Lovely Windsore? I want to see her."

Vera rubbed her forehead with her middle finger and ring finger, as if Hailey's words had made pain stab into her skull.

"Wherever she is, going to her is something you don't want to do," Vera said. "A blind Soynite won't survive in this universe for too long. The Freemans wouldn't let that happen. You want to meet a corpse."

Lovely was alive. She needed to be.

A photograph Hailey had in her possession showed Lovely as a kid. That photograph had been taken during the attack on Soy and its people. Years had gone by since that picture was taken. Lovely had become older, but Hailey could find a blind Soynite girl with orange hair. She could find Lovely, help her. If Hailey were blind, she would want a kind Soynite to make her life easier.

Lovely's sight had been yanked from her. But she was still a person. She deserved happiness.

"You don't know that," Hailey said, aware she didn't shout. But frustration still resided in her, made her like Vera a lot less. "She might still be alive."

"She's dead!" Vera said. "All of the Highs are."

"Don't say that!" Hailey said, frowning.

Vera went near the girl, then placed her left hand against her back. She brought her right hand to Hailey's chest.

"Your heart is beating, Hailey," Vera said. She moved her hands away. "So many Soynites don't know what it's like to have a beating heart. That luxury went away because of the Freemans who killed them. The blind girl is dead. Your older sister is dead. Cape is dead. And all of the Soynites outside our home got killed. Me and you are the only Soynites alive."

The Watcher brought her hands to Hailey's hair, but she might as well have been an armed Freeman warrior.

And the girl would rather have a different person touching her. Vera's touch had turned awful. It had turned into something the thirteen-year-old didn't want.

Hailey took a big step back.

"Don't touch me!" Hailey said. "You're trying to make me stay here! Well, I don't want to! I'm going to find Lovely! Before I do that, I'm going to find my father! And I'm going to get back to the rest of my family!"

Theo Majestic.

Lilly Majestic.

Nick Majestic.

Nova Majestic.

Anne Majestic.

Cape Majestic.

What was Cape's current name? Clark? Bruce? Peter? Jake? Rick?

Hailey didn't know what name Cape went by at the present time.

She knew the floor underneath her feet. She knew the desk Vera had slammed her hands against. She knew the space station she preferred to leave.

Hailey moved her gaze to the photograph displaying her father, then she went closer to it, took it off the wall. The blonde closed in on the dresser in the room, then she grabbed the photographs displaying the Highs when they had been younger.

The thirteen-year-old's father had helped those children. It was his daughter's duty to help the latest High generation.

And Theo Majestic's reign as Supreme High had been a long one.

May the six Highs live long and happy lives.

Hailey closed the drawer with the back of her hand. She took quick steps to the spot near the walk-in closet, opened the door.

"Hailey, what are you doing?" Vera asked.

"I'm going to leave," Hailey said, stepping into the closet.

It was a closet that contained an object she needed, an object meant for carrying other objects.

Hailey flipped the light switch. Bright light covered the narrow space, shining against what Hailey needed.

The girl grabbed one of several backpacks, unzipped its biggest pouch, dropped the photographs into it, zipped the pouch.

Like Hailey's eyes, the backpack was blue. Hailey was a Majestic. She could put on a backpack.

But she could never kill a Freeman person. That would be bad and awful and horrible. The same terrible nature that coursed through Vera didn't have to course through Theo Majestic's third child.

Hailey put the backpack on.

She had a ruthless Watcher to leave, and that Watcher's name was Vera Mod. Leaving Vera would be better than staying with Vera. Finding Theo Majestic would be better than not finding him. Hailey had to find her mother. She had to find her brother. She had to find Anne, Nova, and several others. The girl needed to find her father. She needed to find him as soon as possible.

Vera stood near the desk, wiping away her own tears. She looked at Hailey, who looked at her.

"You're not ready for what's out there," Vera said. "Pale fools attacked this space station before, and you weren't ready for them back then. You're still not ready to fight them."

It wasn't as if the desire to fight Freemans lived in Hailey.

The universe wasn't infested with Freemans. It was populated with them. Hailey hadn't erased the urge to befriend a Freeman person. Freemans would care about Hailey, but the blonde's Watcher didn't believe it. The woman would rather try convincing Hailey all Freemans who were alive had been born as evil people.

Vera.

She was wrong.

"I can handle the Freemans," Hailey said, surrounded by four walls, walls that were as solid as Vera's ruthlessness. "I'm going to fly one of the spaceships out of here. It has supplies, food, and clothes. When I'm inside it, I won't need you."

She headed toward the open door.

"Hailey, please!" Vera said.

If Hailey left, it wouldn't please the brown-haired woman. But the teenager needed to leave. The space station she lived in had become like a prison, with Watcher Vera being like a prison guard.

When did Hailey's home become like a Freeman base?

She wasn't glad to be in the space station, wasn't glad to be so close to Vera, wasn't glad to be a person who didn't search for her father.

Hailey stopped, turned. She held onto her blue backpack's straps.

"Don't look for me." Hailey said.

Vera had refused to look for Theo Majestic. She still refused to look for him. If Hailey had good fortune in her life, Vera would refuse to look for her.

Hailey's space station had a population of two: herself and Vera, the Bloodhound who frustrated the space station's young resident.

The space station would have a population of one. Soon.

Hailey Majestic made her exit.