Sarah woke up to her wrist vibrating. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the time. It was 5 am. Sarah tapped the holo-tablet. It was her grandmother who looked exhausted but not devastated.

“Grandma. Is mom alright?”

She nodded.

“It was very close, but your grandfather was able to save her. Which wouldn’t have been possible if you hadn’t called me when you did. It was a miracle you called her when you did.”

Sarah rubbed her face with her arm that wasn’t occupied with creating a holo-projection.

“You look like you need sleep Grandma.”

“Yes, I just promised I would call you as soon as I knew more. I’ll call you as soon as she is awake and leave a message if you’re in class. You should get some more sleep Sarah.”

Sarah shook her head.

“I would have been getting up in half an hour to go do my jog anyway.”

“Girls your age needs their sleep.”

“I know but my psychologist said that getting into a good routine that involved healthy food and lots of exercise would help me with my ADHD, so I’ve been trying to make sure I started my day with a good work out. Its good practice for when I join a AAA hockey team.”

Her grandmother shook her head.

“I don’t agree with you playing such violent sports. I just wish your other grandmother would listen to me.”

Sarah gave half smile.

“Grandma I love you, but I respectfully disagree. I’m happy you care enough to tell me what you really think.”

Her grandmother looked slightly ruffled that Sarah disagreed with her.

“At least your polite with your teenage rebellion.”

“Thank you for letting me know Grandma. I call back and check on her later. Are you sure you’re okay with this? She isn’t really your daughter.”

“Nonsense. She’s a human being in need. And she’s your mother and believe it or not your grandfather and I have grown rather attached to having a grandchild. I’d like to believe my alternate would do the same thing for my daughter.”

“Thank you for being awesome grandma.”

Her grandmother started to blush. Sarah kissed her hand with her lips and touched the holo-tablet.

“Can you pass that to Grandpa for me.”

“I will. And Sarah, why is your hair red?”

Sarah shrugged.

“The psychiatrist here said I looked like I was stuck in an appearance rut, and I should do something to change it up, it was either this or three nose rings and nipple piercings, so I went the permanent spell for hair color change. I might still do the nipples.”

Her grandmother looked like she was about to faint.

“I’m teasing you Grandma, it’s a temporary spell. I already feel like a new me.”

“Saints be praised. You almost gave me a heart attack. You have your father’s sense of humor.”

“I’m not sure that is a compliment.”

“It is most assuredly not. Perhaps we can cure you of it.”

“Thank you for being a British Grandmother.”

“What does a “British Grandmother” have to do with anything?”

“A Scottish grandmother will tell you look like crap outright; A British grandmother will try to fix while criticizing you politely. These are known facts I researched it when I was younger.”

Her grandmother frowned.

“I’m teasing you Grandma. I’m sorry this is probably random…but did you make your daughter learn Scottish Gaelic?”

“I did.”

“But you’re British?”

“Your great-grandmother made me promise to do it as part of a pre-nuptial agreement. So, I had to take lessons from her. She also wouldn’t speak to me in anything but Gaelic. She was a…difficult woman.”

“My mother made me learn it to, wouldn’t let me speak English at home.”

“Well, some things do not change. Sarah, since your mother is going to be staying with us until she is well, and not a danger to herself, can you tell me more about her? You were very quiet about her or what she did to make you so angry you would not speak to her.”

“That is a very long story for 5:30 am in the morning when you haven’t slept.”

“I would like to be prepared.”

Sarah looked at her wall and sighed. She felt little feet working their way up her arm and onto her shoulder. Her grandmother didn’t quite shriek but she was shocked.

“Why is a rodent crawling on you? The academy as certainly gone downhill since I was there!”

“It’s okay Grandma, this is Sir Gallant he is the brave protector of the Tower of the Black Rose where the Princess, that’s me hides from the world. On the first floor in a slightly below ground dumpy room.”

“You are speaking nonsense girl.”

Sarah held up the holo-tablet so her grandmother could see the wall of black rose vines.

“I grew a plant in class, it kind of spread.”

Her grandmother looked impressed.

“Sarah, you are quite talented. I did not see any thorns.”

“I didn’t want it to have any.”

“You grew it and manipulated its physical qualities?”

“Oh yes it was a bush type of rose not a vine.”

“You are going to be as good a healer as your grandfather and you won’t even need to use magic. And they said you were a PL8?”

Sarah shrugged.

“And the mouse…well it can talk. Or at least we understand each other.”

She glanced at Sir Gallant.

“Sir Gallant this is my grandmother the Lady Macdonald. Could you say Hi?”

He spun around in a circle and did the same thing Sarah had done to blow a kiss.

“See what I mean?”

“You can speak to animals?”

“I’ve never done it before I think he might just be magical because its Earth-3 and everything is infused with magic here.”

“Hmm, still it’s a rodent filthy thing.”

“Don’t be like that grandma, he’s super friendly and helpful. He wakes me up when I have nightmares, which stops me from causing earthquakes.”

“Well, be careful dear.”

“Grandma, did you still want to know about mom?”

“Yes, sorry, continue.”

“Mom’s parents were also Lord and Lady MacDonald. He was a doctor; Her mother was a lawyer. She grew up in Scotland. She went to Cambridge like her mother. She met dad there he was taking Engineering, Electrical Engineering. I… well I believe your daughter died just after the Academy?”

“Yes, she did. Your father did not take it well and vanished. Now we know where.”

“So, dad went to Earth-2 to find her. He pursued her and wooed her because I guess she isn’t that much different from your daughter? I don’t know he never talked about her and well you haven’t told me much about her, which I understand I know, I could tell it was hard. Her parents were flying to Russia for some medical conference before I was born, and the plane crashed. No survivors. She married my father was a crown prosecutor and then went into private practice when I was born. When I was six, they moved to the US, and I won’t get into the whys right now. She attended Harvard Law school to study US law. She worked in private practice in Minnesota until… well again not getting into the whys, but we moved to Arizona and then because dad’s job was so well-paying, she started working as in legal aid. She basically didn’t draw a salary and just did everything for free for them. She made a lot of good friends in the law community of Phoenix because of her volunteer work. I think, maybe she was on track to become a Federal Judge. But I don’t know, she didn’t really discuss work, but she had a lot of meetings with politicians and was talking to the district attorney a lot.”

“What about her title and lands?”

“She has a younger brother who fought her in court to inherit everything. Mom wasn’t bitter about it? I don’t know she seemed happy most of the time.”

“A brother? Do you know him well?”

“Honestly no, he treated us like we were second class citizens. And then he got arrested for drug trafficking and money laundering with terrorists. Everything was taken by the British government. Huge scandal but mom’s name never came up, so I guess, you know there is a silver lining?”

Her grandmother looked quite upset.

“And where is he now?”

“Prison somewhere. I don’t know. I barely knew my cousins and we lost contact afterwards.”

“You didn’t have a son grandma?”

“No, your mother was an only child. Your grandfather and I were much too busy for more than one.”

“What happened to your daughter? If… I mean it’s okay to ask.”

“It is fine, it has been a long time. My daughter died fighting a terrorist named Mycilli he killed her. He was her partner with MANA and he killed her when she refused to join him.”

Sarah blinked.

“I don’t understand… the article said a car accident…”

“Sarah, sometimes what the news reports and what really happens are different here. MANA and Earth Gov don’t like to admit their agents go bad.”

Sarah nodded.

“Do you think he might go after mom?”

“I doubt it, he hasn’t been heard from in years.”

“Grandma its nearly six, I need to get going or I’ll miss my spotter at the gym.”

“Alright, I’ll call you when your mom wakes up. Have a good day.”

“I love you grandma.”

Her grandmother blushed a bit and hung up. Sarah got up gathered up her work out cloths and kicked off her PJs leaving them in a pile on the floor she walked out in her underwear and blinked when she saw Maria sitting on the common room couch reading a strange looking tablet. Maria looked at her and Sarah did her best to cover herself up with her workout clothes.

“Sorry didn’t think anyone would be a wake.”

She rushed into the shared bathroom and came out dressed in a hoodie and a pair of long lycra leggings. Campus weather report was showing it was pretty cool outside. She waved to Maria who stood up.

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“Sarah I would like to show you something.”

Sarah walked over to Maria earbuds in hand.

“What’s up?”

Maria showed her some text she had highlighted. It was in the same language from the note Carly had shown her last night. It read: My hands had green veins in it as the tree sprung to life where before there had only been rock. It burned like an anathema to my undead form. My mother is safe and so is my long-lost brother. When it is time, I will free them from this tomb, until then the tree shall guard them.

“I don’t understand.”

“This is my sister Enid’s journal. She was a vampire. She was Eyre’s mother. She described exactly what happened to your hands when you made the tree grow and resurrected the mouse.”

“You remember?”

“Yes, once Ms. Sheppard mentioned it my nieces’ power was broken. It would have broken eventually I am older than her at least physically, so her power is not effective on me as it is on mortals.”

“I remember bringing the mouse back too. What does that mean?”

Maria’s hand stroked her crucifix.

“I do not know Sarah, maybe my sister is one of your ancestors. She had many children. Thirty at my last count. And she was from Scotland originally. I also found a photograph.”

She tapped around the tablet and showed it to Sarah. It showed a pale red-haired teenager with very green eyes. She wasn’t especially intimidating looking her physique had a lot in common with Sarah’s. At her side was a much taller teenage girl her hair was the same color as Sarah’s and her eyes were an ice blue almost silver. She looked like a female wrestler. The pair dressed in 16th century style dresses. And there was a shanty town and tall ships behind them. Sarah blinked if she hadn’t been told differently would swear, she was looking at close relatives.

“Which one is Enid?”

“The one with red hair.”

“She looks nothing like you.”

“My father rescued her and adopted her. Everything I know about her I am learning from her journal. She was a woman of great conviction and great love. She was also very absolute in her beliefs, so much so it blinded her to the option of mercy.”

“Sounds like the Headmistress.”

“Well Enid was her mother. I believe it would be hard growing up with a mother who was so demanding.”

“Do you know what she meant by mother and brother are safe?”

“I do not. I do not see any reference to a brother in either journal. Some of it is missing though. She did mention that our mother was murdered by Pugmentia in Rome during the Great Fire.”

Sarah rubbed her shoulder. Then glanced at her watch.

“I need to go Maria.”

“I hope you have a good run.”

Sarah gave her a small salute and went outside did some stretches and began her morning workout routine. Which consisted of a jog to the Athletics complex and free weights in the gym. She managed to get breakfast today which was an improvement. She tried the double dose the doctor had suggested and when it kicked in, she felt more like her usual self or at least medicated self. She waited on the stairs for Ms. Sheppard.

Carly showed up at 0800 as she said she would and motioned for Sarah to follow her. They had a long trek across campus which Carly made Sarah jog. The old school buildings as they were, had been abandoned near the edge of the original barrier. They were rarely visited for legitimate business or even illegitimate business. They were out of the way and there had been some reports of infestations of magical creatures that had slipped through the wards somehow. They had a mix of red brick buildings and brutalist concrete. Their destination wasn’t inside a building but the old training grounds and magic ranges. There were thirteen senior boys there dressed in athletic wear and five senior girls. They all straightened up as soon as Carly arrived. She looked at Sarah and motioned to the senior students who were now lined up for inspection.

“Meet this school’s version of the ROTC, these are all aspiring members of the MANA accelerated training program.”

“Senior Cadet Carter.”

A girl came to attention. She had short cropped brown hair and brown eyes. She looked athletic but not as lean as Sarah. Carly looked them all over.

“Okay troops, you’re probably wondering why your lazy asses were hauled out here instead of to your PT class. This is Sarah. She is from Earth-2, you are going to be assisting me in her unofficial MANA PACPPLT. She wasn’t born here so she did not undergo it at age ten like all of you. It is unofficial because we already know she has powers but the Headmistress would like a better assessment of her abilities so she can receive a better educational experience. This is classified anything you witness, will not be divulged to anyone. If there are any broken bones or bruises, we had a training accident. After we finish here you are to forget this happened. Your PACPPLT results were kept confidential and only released to the Headmistress, this young lady deserves the same protection. Am I clear?”

The all stood at attention and spoke in unison.

“Yes Ma’am!”

“You, sad sacks of shit are actually going to make me cry real tears of joy, look at you doing parade maneuvers with precision and unity. First up is the strength assessment. Carter, assign four cadets to get the firearms testing set up. I will remind you cadets that all your training applies here. Pick two cadets to assist her with her training. And get her weighed in. Anyone not actively assisting with the test will be ensuring the hand-to-hand training arena is in good working order.”

She clapped her hands.

“Get to it children.”

The cadets started to disperse as their senior cadet assigned them to their different tasks. She and one of the larger boys joined Carly and Sarah. Carly was looking over the testing procedures to make sure they followed the protocols.

“Okay first up is strength testing. You will now do increasing bench press weights until such time as you cannot lift the bar off your chest. No telekinesis allowed. Carter and Towns will spot you and ensure you do not break your ribs.”

They started at Sarah’s body weight which was around 59 kilograms. So, sixty was her first lift she did it easily. Carly motioned for them to stop.

“I know the protocols say start at her body weight, but I know she can do ten reps of 100 kilo’s so let’s start at 120 hmm?”

The two cadets looked at each other than Sarah who was staring at Carly.

“Ms. Sheppard, I have only ever done 115 kilos.”

“Give it a try. You haven’t had to push yourself before.”

Sarah nodded and the two cadets added the weights. Sarah pushed it off the bar with assistance and the two cadets released slowly ready to grab it if something went wrong but it didn’t Sarah managed with to do one rep with it. It wasn’t easy for her, but she did it. The cadets looked at

each other then added another 5 KG. Sarah lifted that as well. The bumped it up another 5 KG and Sarah lifted that to, though with more difficulty. This was repeated a few more times until she hit her limit at 132 kg. The cadets were impressed at least. Carly noted the weight on the test.

“Next is the legs.”

Sarah sighed and went through the same process. Everyone came to the conclusion she was strong, but not superhuman. Which was no surprise to Sarah. Next was the firearm proficiency test. Considering Sarah had never had occasion to even touch a firearm she assumed this was going to be terrible. Her inexperience with firearms led to a quick thirty-minute lesson on range and firearm safety as mandated by MANA testing standards. They had assault rifles, pistols and a sniper rifle at their disposal. They were all well maintained. Sarah was hesitant to even touch one once it was loaded. She kept hesitating when she went to pick one up causing Carly to get frustrated.

“For the love God Sarah you are a PL8, you are more dangerous without one of these then you are with one. Just pick one and let’s get this going. I’m getting gray hair here.”

The cadets were standing around watching. Most had ear protection on. Sarah finally picked up one of the pistols. She turned the safety off as she had been advised and she started shooting. Her body seemed to know what to do and took proper stance and she fired off the entire clip. Six center of mass, six in the head. She flicked the safety without thinking and put it down gingerly.

“Beginner’s luck?”

The cadets did their safe range procedures going through the motions of making sure all guns were down and one ran out and brought it back the target. Carly quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m have to qualify every year and my rating isn’t this good. Jesus. Sarah this isn’t about impressing anyone if you spent time at the range, you could have told us and saved half an hour.”

Sarah shook her head.

“I have never touched a gun in my life. I mean I’ve shot them in video games but…”

“Okay let’s make sure it’s not a fluke set up again next target over. Same pistol. Carter, reload the pistol please. Sarah, please keep your shots in center of mass, that is where they are scored.”

Sarah picked up the semi-automatic pistol and fired off twelve shots again. All of the shots were in a small cluster in the center. The tablet that was recording confirmed twelve shots and twelve hits on target. The target was brought back to the group. Carly took a picture of the target, and the app was able to confirm twelve separate 10 point shots.

“Now the assault rifle. You have ninety rounds. Three magazines, semi-automatic, burst fire and fully automatic. If at any point you don’t feel safe cease fire put your weapon down and step away. If you get a jam, you are to clear it and continue like you were shown. You have two minutes to fire as many round as you can. Go.”

Sarah picked up the assault rifle with more confidence. She fired off thirty single round shots at the first target. Moved to the second target and fired off ten three round bursts. She moved the last

target and fired six five round bursts unwilling to just hold the trigger down. She popped the last magazine out. Put it on the table switch on the safety and put the rifle down with the barrel pointing down range. She’d finished in under a minute. The targets all came back with perfect shot clusters except the fully automatic which was still densely packed but also unavoidably more spread.

“Well Sarah, you are at peak human performance for assault rifle and pistol, based on this performance the test says the sniper rifle testing is redundant. It predicts the same results.”

Sarah nodded. The whole experience felt strange. It’s like her body and mind knew just what to do like it had done it a hundred times before. She had experienced it with marital arts and sports. Muscle memory was a hell of a thing, but she had never touched a gun before.

“Well next is hand to hand assessment. Which of you cadets would like to volunteer to go a few rounds with Sarah here?”

One of the boys held up his hand. Carly poked him in the chest.

“What is the rule I taught you tubby losers on the first day of training?”

“Never volunteer for anything ma’am.”

“At least you were listening. You two get to it. No face hits. Full speed, full strength. I want to see control and I want to see bruises, or this isn’t a valid test.”

Sarah was fairly confident with this test; She had spent two years training in two separate martial arts she was also taller than her opponent which gave her reach. She tried hitting him a few times being aggressive as she usually was in a sparring match, but he blocked countered her. She started to watch how he moved and judge his strengths. He attacked her a few times after about five minutes of back and forth she had a good judge of how to take him down. She feinted with one of the strikes she had tried a few times he tried to counter, and she kicked him hard in the ribs he went down gasping for breath. Sarah’s next strike was a knee towards his face, but she stopped with the fabric of her leggings touching his nose. He held up his hand. One of the other cadets rushed over and checked him out.

“He’s fine. Nothing broken.”

Carly made some notes.

“Two volunteers please.”

No one stepped forward after watching Sarah nearly break the first cadet’s ribs.

“Carter, pick two.”

She picked one of the girls and one of the boys to go up against Sarah. They got in a few good hits Sarah was used to the hits from Kung Fu where there was no padding. She used the fact there were two of them against them. Their attacks weren’t well synchronized, so she parried several attacks and when the chance was right, she grabbed the boy’s arm when he tried to strike her used him as a shield and he took a solid blow to his stomach. He was trying to double over and looked like he was going to throw up, but she kept him in the arm lock hold. Keeping him between her and his partner. She eventually got tired of struggling with him, so she kicked him in the back of the knees, and he went down she released his arm and he tapped out rolling around holding his gut and his arm. Sarah had already determined how to beat the female part of the pair. She would expose herself when she kicked. Sarah waited for the kick and swept the other leg and punched her hard in the thigh and she went down holding her leg. Sarah’s next strike would have broken her nose if she had connected but she stopped short the girl tapped out.

Carly made some more notes. And held up four fingers to Carter. She picked four more cadets to get onto the dirt training platform. They surrounded her and she could defend against two of them but the other two would get hits on her and she took a bit of a beating. She refused to tap out. She felt like she was fighting against her body it wanted to do one thing and her martial arts training wanted to do another. So, when they made another attack Sarah decided to stop resisting just do what her body felt like it should. This time she was able to dodge the two attacks behind which she wouldn’t have thought of doing she grabbed one of their arms and with a foot sweep was able to turn them into a weapon against the teammate on the opposite side the pair were in a tangled heap. She did an open-faced palm strike on the one to her front and lept up and did a double foot kick at the one coming from behind. She rolled past the one that she had hit with a palm strike and now all four were on the same side of her. Three of them attacked her at once while the one she had hit with a double kick was trying to catch her breath and rubbing her chest where the blow had landed. Sarah did another Aikido throw on the largest one that was coming the fastest he went flying and skidded across the dirt she blocked a blow for the other one while bringing her heel down on the last girl’s thigh hard enough the girl went down clutching it and rolling. She spun around with a foot sweep and using the momentum of her last attacker, a larger boy she sent him flying and he skidded along the ground and rolled out of the ring and into the grass. She was left standing with all four of the cadets groaning on the ground holding various limbs and body parts.

The cadets who had not been in the training arena were wincing as they watched their fellow team members take blow after blow. Carly wrote down some more notes.

“The rest of you in.”

Carter walked to Carly.

“Major, she’s fourteen. She’s already going to be black, and blue do we need to do more?”

“Test says we go until she taps out or is knocked out. Sarah? Are you okay to continue?”

Sarah put her fists together and bowed.

“Yes ma’am”

“She’s not done yet, so neither are you lot.”

Sarah stretched as she waited for Carter to decide whether she was going to stop this and risk Carly’s wrath or just get it done. Sarah for her part was excited unlike firearms martial arts was something she enjoyed. It was physical competition. She felt a bit bad for the various cadets who were sitting on the grass with ice on various body parts, but she wanted to see how far she could go. Carter finally motioned for the rest of the cadets that were still standing to join her. Carly folded her hands behind her back.

“Cadets do not go easy on her; She hasn’t been going easy on you. She’s a tough girl she can take a few hits. I saw her take a bullet. I am guessing none of you can say the same. Proceed.”

The resulting fight looked like something out of a movie with one protagonist decimating a room full of bad guys. Sarah took a few hits to the face just by virtue of all the people there. None were enough to break anything or to knock any teeth loose. When it was done there were eleven cadets including Carter on the ground. A couple were unconscious because they didn’t know when they’d had enough. Sarah had a cut above her eye and a swollen lip. She would probably be bruised for days with her pale skin. The cadets that hadn’t been involved were assessing the damage to their comrades. There were three broken bones and a few bruised ribs. Some of the bruised ribs were Sarah’s, Carly made some notes. In the test.

“Okay Cadets go to the Med Center get patched up. Remember, ‘training accident’, I’ll make sure you all get commendations for spending time assisting Junior students in their learning.”

Sarah shook several of their hands. Most seemed to have no hard feelings towards her. She didn’t have any towards them. The pain hadn’t really set in yet. She was still flush with the thrill of the fight and competition. In about two hours when she went to get up from class after sitting for an hour and a half, she would have instant regret.

“Sarah, you should probably head there too. Training accident.”

Sarah nodded and shuffled off with the cadets who were heading towards the medical center. Carter and a few other cadets who weren’t injured started gathering up the equipment. Carly reviewed the videos and test results. Sarah had scored high in Physical Aptitude and Combat training. So high that she was recommended for immediate recruitment. Which basically was MANA’s way of saying get them while they are young and impressionable. Carter approached Carly.

“Yes Cadet?”

“Ma’am, message received. We will work harder.”

Carly quirked an eyebrow.

“What?”

“We understand now how much harder we have to train. Getting a MANA Agent to school us is impressive. I assume she does undercover work at high schools?”

Carly laughed.

“No, she is 14 years old she is in Grade 9 at this school. This really was to test her at the Headmistress’s request.”

“With respect ma’am, why isn’t she in the MANA advanced training program? Anyone with test scores like hers should be on the short list.”

“Because this test wasn’t official and is going to stay unofficial. Senior Cadet. We were attacked trying to retrieve that girl by supers on Earth-2. No one but MANA knew about her. There is a leak, so this is why this is to be kept secret. Do you understand?”

“Understood ma’am. We will keep her secret.”

“Good job Cadet. You are dismissed.”