Sasha stared out at the burning violet planet, legionnaire signals drifting through her body no matter how much she tried not to focus on them. She held GT close.
“This is-”
“The fate of a doomed world,” Dyré said, leaning against the glass. Her eyes shined in her reflection. “They never showed you one up close, did they?”
“We…” Sasha searched for the words. “We never had the time. We were too focused on getting to Cici."
“The fox? Is she that important to you? More than the lives of a world?”
“I never said that. I just…”
Her voice trailed off. No matter what she could think up, it all sounded selfish to say aloud. That she just wanted to see her friends. That she didn’t think things were so bad. That she only saved planets if they were on the way. Assuming they wanted her help. Dyré kept her gaze locked ahead, her expression betraying nothing.
“Madame Dyré,” Sasha asked. “What are the legionnaires?”
“That all depends on your perspective, dear child,” the spider said. “They are monsters, yes, but they aren’t without function. Or purpose.”
“But all they ever do is break stuff.”
“That is their purpose, my dear. The creatures of the White Legion were bred to destroy.” She pushed aside a lock of her hair. “Supposedly they were once no more dangerous than your typical hurricane or flood.”
“That still sounds pretty bad.”
“Maybe. But hardly on the level of a cosmic threat.”
Dyré raised her commpad, a holographic projection appearing with a few clicks. Sasha glared at the little girl who appeared as a floating head. She’d yet to have said a word to Gabriella since her forced initiation. And given the little girl was apparently someone important within the Black Web, Sasha was fine with things staying that way.
“Gabriella,” Madae Dyré said. “Be sure Bettle doesn’t start another knife fight while we’re gone. We shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”
The little girl responded with a salute. Her gaze shifted to Sasha only a moment before the projection cut out.
Dyré reattached the device to the side of her dress, Sasha following her as she made her way towards the exit hatch. They’d taken a smaller ship down to the first planet on Dyré’s liberation list. As the graduate, it would be Sasha's responsibility to close the Stem and Root so the planet could be free again. A task Madame Dyré promised would be a simple stroll through memory lane as long as Sasha remained close to her.
Still. Of all the places Dyré could have chosen, Sasha couldn’t help but feel uneasy about their target being her fallen home. Shiny had never looked more bare.
The driver opened up the doors, Sasha wincing instinctively at the sight of broken buildings and scorched roads. The legionnaire portals were just as numerous as Sasha recalled the last time she’d been planet-side. As were the many white creatures that descended upon them the minute they landed.
Madam Dyré stepped forward, two hands dancing in the air. They both stiffened, strings of black web springing out that turned the legionnaires into mists of powder. Sasha stepped off the ramp, her chest tightening when she recognized a crumpled tower of brick with a broken olive-colored sign.
Olive Branch Academy.
“Is it as you remember?” Dyré asked, splitting a fanged legionnaire and its many brothers.
“Of course it’s not,” Sasha said. “This is…This was…”
She bit her lip, staring at the broken O amongst a sea of holes and exposed wiring. The scuffed tiles of her school were covered in smashed lockers and fallen light fixtures. She could even see cameras buried under rubble.
Dyré placed a hand on her shoulder, Sasha looking up to see a somber gaze across the spider’s face.
“This is the fate of a lost world, my child,” she said. “For every planet you cannot save, there is only more of this destruction to witness.”
As she said this, she swept her hand across the island. At the comic shop that had been reduced to glass and beams. At the homes so mangled she could barely tell which one she’d once lived in. At her hideout that had been reduced to a pile of ash and dented metal. Sasha shrunk.
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked. “Are you just trying to make me feel bad? ‘Cus it’s working.”
Dyré knelt in front of her, her free hands still shooting webs that seemed to kill everything within a 3-yard radius. Her gaze softened, words holding an almost calming tone.
“I only need you to see, my child,” she said. “And to know that, for as harsh as it may seem, it need not be this way.”
She stroked Sasha’s cheek, her hand warm against the panther’s fur.
“You have been blessed with incredible gifts, my dear. Gifts that those in power would see squandered if they got their way.”
“Those in power?” Sasha asked.
“You know them well.” Her eyes flashed. “That panda. The weasel. The AIC only sees you as a tool to fight their war. But I see something much more. The question remains whether you can see it too. I suppose only time will tell.”
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Her gaze shifted. Dyré rose, all six hands jerking in a singular direction. Sasha glanced over to see a giant being bisected in multiple places, limbs ripped off to leave a lone torso to fall to the ground. While the piece all disappeared into powder, Dyré stuck a final web to the regenerating legionnaire, swinging an arm to launch it somewhere across the island.
Strong and smart. Just watching Madame Dyré work filled Sasha with equal parts comfort and pain. Compared to her, she might as well have been a civilian. She looked down at the God Tool in her hand.
“All I see is a useless girl with a stick,” Sasha said.
Dyré’s fangs spread into a smile. “Then you may require an extra set of eyes.”
She took a step back, a blaze of orange appearing directly in front of her. Sasha looked up to see the enormous frame of a headless legionnaire, a low rumble erupting into a loud roar as its tendril arms carried it forward. Sasha felt something land on her chest. Moments later, her body was yanked forward, the panther landing squarely in the arms of the waiting spider.
“We’ll have to continue this discussion later.”
Four arms wrapped around her, Sasha blushing at the sudden contact. Dyré jerked backward, a black web carrying her away with the headless legionnaire quick to follow. Its arms shot out, the spider diverting through the air while she continued to carry them by web, alternating between yanking them back and killing another approaching enemy.
“You can feel it, can’t you?”
“Huh?”
“The Stem Portal,” Dyré said.
With everything else happening, Sasha had barely remembered her end of the mission. But as they swung through the air, she did notice the familiar signals of a Stem approaching. Looking over Dyré’s shoulder, she saw the shimmering section of air closing in fast.
“I see it,” Sasha said.
“Good. It’s your turn to open it, my dear.”
She swung them down low, Sasha being let go to drop directly in front of the unopened portal. Almost immediately, Dyré turned and shot out a much larger web, the giant halting as it fell right into the string of black.
Sasha plunged GT inward, jolts running through her body.
“It doesn’t look like my web will hold it long,” Dyré said. “Is the portal open?”
Sasha stepped back, the purple substance appearing in a snap. No ambush this time? Her relief was short-lived as she heard the giant roaring behind her. Her heart rate shot up when she saw a second headless cut the first free. Both monsters roared into the sky.
Holy-
Sasha turned to the portal, half-expecting some demonic netherworld spawn to appear. But all she saw was powder. And a black web.
“That should take care of that,” Dyré said.
She flung out another web. One that pierced both headless legionnaires. They turned to powder before they could so much as growl. Sasha blinked.
"W-what?"
She stared from the clouds of mist to the spider rubbing her many wrists. Her gaze met Sasha’s, a smile returning as she nodded toward the Stem portal, her air as casual as ever despite having taken out the creatures with reinforced hides. That her web pierced with a simple flick of Dyré's hand. Sasha groaned.
Not useless my tail.
She shuffled over to do the one thing she was decent at, shoving GT into the growing purple gate. A small jolt later and the Stem portal was evaporating into gas.
“Does it bother you?” Dyré asked.
Sasha’s gaze fell to the ground.
“To have so much potential untapped? I admit, it is a lot to ask of a child.”
Sasha sighed. “I know it’s just growing pains. I know this thing is powerful. And it’ll make me strong one day. I just wish that day was today.”
She looked up to see Dyré standing in front of her, a hand extended. Sasha stared down at it. Madame’s wrists had turned red and swollen. But when Sasha opened her mouth to question it, the spider gave her a knowing smirk.
“Shall we save your world, my child?” she asked.
Sasha hesitated, but she took the spider's hand.
***
The Root Portal shut with a small crackle, portals closing one after the other across all of South Island. Sasha stared up at the sky, the dark violet light being replaced with rays of golden sunlight.
But even as she stared up at it, she only felt a pit in her stomach. Without the threat of death hanging over her, Sasha could see the world for what it was. A place so rundown that even the insects would have trouble finding food. Far from the home she’d known for so long. She knelt in the rubble, staring down at the shattered remains of a grandfather clock.
“Madame Dyré,” she asked. “Do you know what happened to the survivors?”
“That depends, dear child. The graduates would have been sent to do the AIC’s bidding in this endless war.” Her gaze turned somber. “But I’m afraid the non-combatants would be shipped off to other academy worlds. There can never be enough graduates as far as they’re concerned.”
Sasha winced. “Is that all we are? All I am? Just someone to throw at the White Legion?”
“This is how the AIC has always been, my child. You were bred to fight just as the legionnaires were bred to destroy.” She put a hand on Sasha’s head. “But that need not be the path you choose. A sword may not choose to be molded. Or who it acts on behalf of. But you are no sword, my dear. Far from it in my eyes.”
Sasha stared up at the spider. Her warmth was something she couldn’t remember ever feeling with an adult before. Mr. Xan was always so standoffish. And who knew what Mr. Erin was thinking? He always looked at her like a squishy toy. Like a cub. Someone to be protected, but only because of what she was.
But Madame Dyré was different.
When she looked into her eyes, it felt like she was looking at someone who didn’t just see her as Sasha the Graduate. For the first time, it felt like she was being seen as Sasha the Panther.
Trekking through the remains of her home, the two finally reached the shuttle again. Sasha lingered, the pit only growing as Dyré’s words moved through her head.
“What’s going to happen to me when this is over?” Sasha asked. “After the legionnaires are gone, what happens to me and my friends?”
“If history is any indication,” Dyré said, “you will be put to work elsewhere. You’ll probably spend the remainder of your days toiling for some emperor, noble, or small army. Wherever you’re needed, I’d imagine.”
Sasha shrunk. “Do I get a choice?”
Dyré stroked her cheek, her warmth soothing Sasha’s fur.
“As long as you are with me, you will always have a choice, my child,” she said.
Sasha purred. She wanted to hug the spider but was afraid of how she’d react to it. Instead, she simply met Madame Dyré’s gaze, the pit subsiding as she looked at the spider woman. The only adult who’d ever told her the truth.
“I- I don’t want to be someone else’s tool,” she said. “Please let me stay with you, Madame Dyré.”
The spider’s smile grew. To Sasha’s surprise, Dyré drew her in for an embrace, all arms wrapping around her. The panther squeezed her back, enjoying the warmth resonating off her new guardian. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be at her side.