My husband and I were just sitting down for the second cup of coffee, when the phone rang. I could guess who it was, our daughter Kaley had put it in her mind to go on an excursion last night, guided by her dreams, as she called it. The girl would be the death of me, she was putting far too much stock in our shared gift. Her grandmother had filled her head with fairytales of old, talking about a triumvirate of dreamwalkers, grandmother, mother and daughter, standing together and using their gifts to shape destiny.
Personally, I thought it was hogwash, yes, we had a gift that was passed on over generations, something quite unique, which was why we didn’t spread it around. The first child was always a girl and the gift always went to that first girl. And as soon as a fourth would join the linage, in our case as soon as Kaley got pregnant, the eldest, in our case my mother, would slowly lose her gift and die. Those were sad facts for us, who carried the title Isleen.
But that did not mean that she should traipse all over creation, guided by her dreams hoping that the real world obliged her fanciful ideas. A couple of months ago, she had told me that she had dreamed of her husband, an idea I could understand, I had shared Finley’s dreams before I had ever met him, but it did not mean that she should blindly trust those dreams. And certainly not if she was having visions of fighting and claimed that her intended, or as she called him, the lucky one, had the gift of foresight, which would mean that there was a real chance that the real world would bite her in the behind. But who was I to tell her differently, she was an adult, or so she said.
No, over a decade of experience as a clinical psychiatrist and far more experience with our shared gift were utterly ignored by my daughter and her dreamy ideas.
As Finley answered the phone, he listened for a moment, turning pale as he did so, before growling an answer that sounded like “We are on our way!” into the receiver and told me that my skills would be necessary.
He called up the ready-room and got a small team ready to roll out, so it was official business. Hopefully, Kaley had not created some huge incident, but I had a feeling that the hope would be futile.
The group gathered, five Powered and a couple of mundane police officers, and we rolled out in a convoy, upwards, into the mountains. The short briefing that Finley gave was quite surprising, somehow our wayward daughter had managed to find a paramilitary, possibly terrorist, base and taken it upon herself to attack that base. I knew she had a secondary Power, giving her increased strength and speed, just like I had a secondary Power that gave me incredible empathic senses, but still, it sounded almost like a fanciful tale. But only almost, for all her faults, she was no liar.
We got to a large, wrought-iron gate in a wall that, at first glance, looked as if it belonged to a luxury resort, but the second glance showed that it was far more reinforced and defensible than one would think. The large, iron crosses prominent in the gate added to the impression of martial strength. The gate was open and we were greeted by my daughter, standing next to two other people, one a haggard looking young man, the other a petite, black-clad female form.
Further back, a collection of weapons was gathered and, across the lawn, a large group of sitting prisoners. maybe thirty people, all apparently tied up with some sort of zip-ties.
When I got out of the transport, I stretched my senses towards the two people next to Kaley, trying to get a sense of them. The young man seemed stressed but overall happy, the female not so much. To my senses, sadness clung to her like a coat, not the sadness of a sudden loss but a bone-deep sadness that had taken time to fester and infect her soul. Hidden under that current of sadness was a confused, tangled ball of emotions, happiness, joy, anger, relief, all mixed together into a confusing mess. But even that mess did not manage to hide the core of her personality, a personality that wanted to love and wanted to be loved. The petite girl was a good person at heart, I could feel it.
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Finley started to take control of the situation, as was his job, and Kaley asked me to talk to the young woman, she was the reason I had been called.
“Hello, young lady. You can call me Isleen.” I said, using my Powered title to introduce myself. Her reaction was initiate surprise, followed by acceptance.
“Hello. So, you are her mother? You can call me Anath. Or, maybe… maybe you can call me Sophia.” with those words, she removed her mask, showing me the face of a beautiful tragedy. Her eyes gleaming with tears, her face wet with them. But even through the tears, I could see the strength that was hidden beneath.
“Well, then you can call me Glenna. And yes, I am Kaley’s mother, nice to meet you.”
She gave me a wan smile, “Nice to meet you, too. I guess you want to know what happened here?”
“No, not really. I leave those official tasks to my husband. I am however curious about that young man over there.” I carefully started to draw her out of her shell. At first it went slowly, but soon, the words fell from her lips, as she recounted her last months. The tale was a tragic one and it made the reason for her sadness incredibly obvious. The young woman, Sophia, was not just on her way to a serious depression, she had one. It also reminded me how horrible some people could be. Or maybe horrible was the wrong word. Her parents had made mistakes, yes, but I always strove to see the good in people.
Hopefully, her parents would find the help they so desperately needed. It would be my job to give Sophia the help she needed.
“You know, Sophia, maybe you should take a step back. Take some time to sort out your emotions, without putting pressure onto yourself, simply to find out who you are. Just go to school, no running around in your costume, no working as a Powered, no nothing. Just be a teenager and start figuring out who you are and where to go from there.” I suggested.
“Your friend, Metis, as you called her, maybe she has simply misunderstood something. But as you are now, could you help her understand you? If you don’t understand yourself? Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up, you are still a teenager. And yes, I know, you probably don’t want to hear that. But you have all your life before you. Right now, you need to take the time to figure out your emotions, not chase after your girlfriend. If she is as smart as you think, she will do the same before the two of you will meet again.”
“But… but what if she doesn’t like who I will be then? What if she finds someone else?” the young girl asked.
“Sophia, that might happen. But, relationships break apart all the time, especially at your age. Give it time and once you meet again, the two of you can talk, figure out where to go from that point. For now, you need to get better. From what you told me, life has thrown you enough curveballs in the last two years to give even the most well-adjusted adult pause, not to mention a teenager.”
“And where would I live? I don’t think my brother will want me around as a parasite, especially not if he and Kaley start going out together.”
“Don’t worry. I know my daughter well enough, if she sets her mind to something, for example catching your brother, she will succeed. That means you are sort of my daughter in law, you know? So, I can simply treat you as another daughter.” I said, making a few rather broad mental leaps in my reasoning.
“So, you can stay with my husband and me, as long as you need to. And if you want some training for your Powers, I’m sure my husband can help you find someone.”
She looked a little skittish, but I had a feeling that I would be able to bring her around. It had the advantage that she would be supervised, just in case something happened. After all, she and her girlfriend had broken quite a few laws, not that anyone needed to know all the details. Well, Finley would know them, but nobody else.
But helping her back onto her feet would be a long term project, she was a walking wounded, it was a wonder that she had managed to come so far, without breaking. But she did it, maybe with help, maybe with a few cracks on the way, but she did it. And I would do my best to help her get well and find herself. She deserved some luck in her life.