Hailey woke up.

She lay on her side, resting on top of her comforter. Before she fell asleep, her mother had been behind her. She faced her mother. Lena couldn't be with her mother, but Hailey remained with hers, and the two of them didn't wear their Soynite pendants. Hailey's parents had gotten her pendant while her mother was pregnant with her. Now her mother rested on her bed, and her precious father was missing.

Hailey's mother caressed her hair, touching her. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yes," Hailey said. "And I didn't have a nightmare. I had one yesterday, though. Father was in it, and he got killed by a Freeman."

"That's never going to happen. No one will ever kill your father."

"I know."

"You've spent too many years away from Father. I wish me and him had never left you. You needed your parents, but we weren't there when you needed us. We weren't home. I'm sorry, baby."

Hailey's mother placed a hand on Hailey's cheek. Her mother didn't slap her. She would never harm Hailey.

"It's okay," Hailey said. "You came back home. You're here, and Father will be, too. We just don't know when it will happen. But it's going to. I know it will. Our family is split apart, but it's going to be together again. Me, you, Father, and my siblings will be together. All of us. I hate that we were never at the same place at the same time."

"And that's awful," Hailey's mother said. "You can't see your father or your siblings. And you have one sibling you haven't even met. She's out there, though. Nova isn't just a High. She's also your sister. She's your sister, and the two of you haven't even spoken to each other before. You and Nova haven't hugged yet either. You used to see her, back when Father could still make that happen, back before those terrible Freemans destroyed our planet. But you have to do more than just see Nova. One day you will have to touch her for the first time, and have a conversation with her. I want that to happen so badly. I know what it's like to spend years away from a sibling, Hailey. I've been away from my brother for way too long. And you haven't been around any of your siblings in years. But I can only hope that my sibling is taking good care of my daughter."

Nova and Ken used to live inside a Soynite spaceship with Lena. She despised those two, as if they worshiped Still, the planet that had taken her sight and her Saves.

"Lena hates Nova and Ken," Hailey told her mother. "She was awful to them, back when they were all still living together. Nova and Ken didn't deserve to be treated the way Lena treated them. She was awful to me, too. She was so rude to me, Mother. Lena is very cruel. She's a monster. She's only a little bit better than Lock Tannis."

"I'm sorry Lena hurt you," Hailey's mother said. "You told me that she even tried to kill you."

"She failed to do it. I was able to defend myself from her."

"Still, she did try to kill you. That monster tried to kill an innocent girl. She tried to kill one of my babies."

Hailey's mother moved onto her back, then sighed.

"My youngest baby is out there," she said. "Summer took Anne away, and I still haven't found her. Does she even know that she's a Majestic?"

For years Zoey hadn't known she was an Endman. She used to believe Misty Windsore had given birth to her. For too long Zoey hadn't been aware Misty had taken her away from her real mother.

"Zoey spent a long time believing that Misty was her mother," Hailey said. "Maybe Anne thinks that Summer is her mother. She probably doesn't know that she's a Majestic."

Hailey's mother crossed her arms. "If that's true, that means she doesn't know you and her are sisters. I wonder if she knows that me and Father had children. I gave birth to four Majestics, and two of them probably aren't even aware that they are Majestics. Whether or not Anne knows what she is, she needs to be with me again. She needs to be with her family. And Father needs to tell Nova that she is his daughter one day. That's another thing that has to happen."

Nova might not know she was Theo Majestic's daughter. She had gone to Earth with a man who knew her parents were Theo and Lilly. Had Ken told Nova the truth?

"Nova knows that she's a High," Hailey's mother said. "But she doesn't know that she's Theo's daughter. I wish she was with us. I wish I could protect her, which is something that I'm sure Ken is doing right now. He loves her, just like I do. He doesn't want her to get hurt or killed. I want both of them to be okay, Hailey. Nova is my first daughter, and Ken is my younger brother. I love both of them, and I know you do too."

Land Preachman had made Hailey's mother believe the Freemans would attack Soy one day, and that belief had made Hailey's mother give Nova up for adoption. When Land convinced their mother the Freemans would attack their home planet someday, she hadn't been pregnant with Nova. Regardless, their mother's belief had existed during the pregnancy, and it had led to Nova's adoption by Bowie and Prim.

Thanks to Zoey, Hailey knew what had happened to Land.

Hailey fiddled with her fingers. "Land Preachman is dead, Mother. He got killed while Freemans were attacking the Ascend Museum. Zoey told me. And I'm sorry."

"Thanks for telling me," Hailey's mother said. She moved into a seated position. So did Hailey. "Land was my friend, and he deserves to be avenged. When Father is with us again, we will have a higher chance of avenging Land and every other innocent Soynite who died because of Lock. Still, I really wish Land hadn't been killed."

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Tears filled Hailey's mother's eyes. Hailey placed her hand on top of her mother's. Hailey could comfort her, which she couldn't do a few days ago. Yesterday her mother had come back home, and they would bring the Majestic family together.

"My parents are dead, too," Hailey's mother said. "And so is Boris. But I can't be sad that he's gone forever, because he probably died as a traitor. Why should I mourn the death of a man who might have died as one of Lock's friends? I can mourn Land's death, though."

Hailey's mother wiped away the tears on her face. Her friend Land had lost his life, and the same had happened to many other innocent Soynites. Years ago, Land had named a museum after Don Ascend. Now Don worked for the terrible person who had ordered the attack Land had died in.

"If we're fortunate, your father is still alive," Hailey's mother told her. "I haven't seen him in years, and neither have you, but that doesn't mean that he's dead. After all, Alice Endman was missing for years, and you found out that she's still alive."

"And I'm glad that she's still alive," Hailey said. "Zoey is a good person, and she's also my friend."

"And friends are good to have. The really great ones are willing to die for the people they love. Unfortunately, it's possible for a friend to become an enemy. Lock turned some men who loved us into men who would kill us if he ordered them to. That's a problem. Boris is dead, but Lock still has some former Highs helping him. Your father isn't one of them, though. He's a Soynite who would rather kill Lock than serve him. It would be nice if more of our people were like your father. Wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

Hailey's mother ran her fingers through Hailey's hair. "I know you miss Father. I miss him, too. The Freemans that Nick and Vera tortured on your seventh birthday didn't know where your father was. Or maybe they were lying. Either way, I think Freemans did capture your father, and he must be inside one of their bases right now. I don't think he abandoned you and Vera. He just got into some trouble, and he needs his family to get him out of it. Wherever your father is, he doesn't deserve to be there. He needs to be here. He needs to be at his home. Your father, me, and you used to live in a much better home than this one. The Freemans destroyed the Soynite royal palace, but it's going to exist again. The Soy Maker will make that happen. It will bring beauty back to Soy, too."

"I remember the way Soy used to look," Hailey said. "And I remember living at the royal palace. The former Highs who joined Lock didn't want to kill us back then."

Boris had tried killing Hailey's father on Soy, despite the fact he had given Boris royal authority over almost all the Soynites when both of them were still teenagers. Boris had stopped trying to kill Hailey's father, so Lock could get the chance to do it at some point. If Lock had murdered Hailey's father, she didn't know it. But she had learned Boris had died. His granddaughter hadn't.

"Zoey isn't like Boris was," Hailey said. "She's not a traitor, and she never will be. By the way, she encountered a group called the Children of Still before. And her friend Hero met members of the Lock Tannis Church. They worship Lock."

"And the Children of Still worship planet Still?" Hailey's mother asked.

"Yes. The Children of Still and the Lock Tannis Church are two cults that we need to be cautious of. Both of those groups are full of evil Soynites. Misty's best friend, Crammer Cole, used to be a member of the Children of Still. He's not part of it anymore, but he never told Zoey or Misty who the leader of that cult is."

"Who leads the Lock Tannis Church? Do you know?"

"Bane Sinister," Hailey said. "And I know what his Saves are. He can turn invisible. He can heal wounds. And he can see the past and the future. Hero and his siblings met Bane. He wanted them to join the Lock Tannis Church, but they didn't. Their father was still with them back then. Mitch. His name is Mitch. Mitch Shame. Freemans captured him inside the same Soynite space station where he met Bane. Hero's sister Sydney is Mitch's only biological child. He adopted his other children."

Hailey was one of Theo's children, and he had given her the sword that used to belong to Princess Nerra. Freeman Killer remained on its wall mount, safe within its blue sheath, which was the same color as the sword's blade. The weapon's handle was white. The pommel formed a white skull. It was a fake skull, unlike the one its only victim had possessed, a skull that had changed into smoke. In the Soynite language, the inscription on the sword's blade read Freeman Killer. Nerra had named the weapon, and she had used it to murder the first Freeman, Zero Spike.

"And I'm sure that Mitch loves all of his adopted children," Hailey's mother said. "Bowie and Prim loved Nova, even though she wasn't their biological daughter. They cared about her anyway, and I appreciated them for raising my oldest girl. They took care of her when I couldn't. They treated her well. And Bowie and Prim are gone, but Nova still has a mother and father. Her parents love her. They always will."

Hailey left the bed. She went closer to the backpack on the floor, then kneeled. She unzipped the backpack's largest pouch before pulling a photograph from it. It showed a High who would someday love Hailey.

Soon Hailey sat next to her mother on the bed. "We're going to see her in person again one day."

Hailey handed her mother the photograph. She kissed it.

"Bowie and Prim named her Reese," she said. "But she's still Nova. And she will always be my daughter."

Hailey's mother caressed the photograph of Nova. Hailey's father had taken the picture of her, and he had photographed Lena, who had tried murdering his second daughter.

"I wonder if Boone Windsore will ever reunite with that terrible daughter of his," Hailey said. "By now, she probably knows that I left. I wonder if she still loves me."

"Do you still love her?" Hailey's mother asked.

"No."

"Good."

"I'm not Lena's friend anymore, and that's a good thing, because she's cruel. She also hates Father. She hates Nova, too. Lena used to be my friend, and now she isn't. I want a new friend. I want to become friends with someone who will love me, and protect me."

"You will make a new friend, and they will love you very deeply, Hailey," Hailey's mother said.

Hailey nodded. "I think you're right. Thank you, Mother."

Hailey's mother kissed her cheek. "You're welcome. And me and you aren't the only Soynites in the universe. We aren't the last members of our race. More of our people are out there. They're outside this space station, and some of them are good. Some of them aren't like Lena, or Lock, or any of the former Highs who work for him. We're going to find some good Soynites. And we will reunite with the ones we want to see again."

Hailey's mother moved away from the bed. She put the photograph of Nova inside Hailey's backpack, then walked toward the nightstand. After Hailey's mother picked up her Soynite pendant, she put it on. The man and the woman who had gotten that pendant for her had died. A good Soynite would avenge Lilly's parents.

Hailey moved off the bed. She grabbed her pendant, then donned it.

As Hailey's mother stood beside her, she placed a hand on Hailey's shoulder. "I know that I can't change the past. I can't change the fact that you went eleven years without seeing me. I'm sorry I left you, but I'm here now."

"And the rest of our family will be here, too," Hailey said.

"You're great, Hailey. You didn't deserve to be tormented by that awful High. Lena is never going to be as great as you are."