The Sankari Legends Book One: The Scars We Hide

Just to make sure things are clear, my sister and I don’t have a good relationship with each other. When we were younger, back when we lived in Satama, we were actually pretty close. I looked up to her more than anybody, except maybe Zig. But that was before she went full-konna and left our family with Dad. Of course, Dad had left to protect us. Brittany had left for selfish gain.

Our first reunion in Suba and then every meeting since had all gone very similarly, namely Brittany taunting me and trying to convert me to the konna side, and me adamantly refusing to listen to her.

Now wasn’t any different, except that I was really not mentally prepared to deal with her. My mind was still spinning from the memory barrage I’d gotten from fixing Alec’s (and consequently everyone else’s) memories. I was trying to understand why they all had been missing in the first place, and also how my memories had been altered. I’d tried to forget things before, but never had been able to succeed. The whole thought of not only my friends’ memories, but also my own, being twisted and changed, had me lost in a cloud of confusion.

So when suddenly I was wrenched into her takot world, I was beyond disoriented.

“So, you fixed the memories then?” Brittany asked me, hands on her hips.

I didn’t answer her at first as I tried to get my bearings. When she’d used her takot powers on me earlier—back when Sabin, Tyler, Emmalie, and I were about to go rescue Alia and Alec—she’d left our setting in the same place we were already in. She simply just made the others disappear from sight and hearing, so it was just the two of us. But what she was showing me now... this was a nightmare. A memory I’d tried to repress for as long as I remember. As I looked around, I realized we were back in our old home in Satama. Outside, the fires raged, just like they had the night Brittany had left us. I frowned, wondering why Brittany would choose for us to be here.

“Pay attention, little sister,” Brittany chided. I snapped my head back to face her, heart pounding, and fixing her with a pointed glare.

“What do you want, Brittany?”

“We need to talk, Meggy,”

“About what?”

“About you, dear. Because you’re in the wrong place. You’re on the wrong side.”

“Like you know anything about me,” I snarled, my shoulders tensing.

I reached for my gun, but once again was rudely reminded of the fact that I didn’t have one on me. Not that it would’ve mattered right now. We were in a mental world. Anything I did here wouldn’t actually affect us in the real world. So even if I did have a gun to shoot Brittany with, it would be pointless.

I frowned at the thought. Would I actually shoot her? Despite the fact she was a complete witch, she was still my sister—still family. I struggled with the idea of killing anyone, even when it was necessary.

“Oh, but I do know a lot about you. For example, right now, you’re thinking about if you would be able to kill me or not, which I find very interesting by the way. The fact you struggle so much with the concept of killing, though your main weapon choice is guns.”

“Guns have more uses than just killing people,” I argued, internally wincing at my weak argument.

Brittany, obviously, wasn’t convinced.

“You know, I had hope for both you and Zach at one point,” she said, as if I hadn’t even said anything. “Both of you’ve been really disappointing, but someday I think… someday you will see things from my side.”

She sighed deeply with a faraway look in her eyes before turning shrewdly back to me. With a smirk, she added:

“Of course, you always showed far more promise that Zach, so I do have that to look forward to.”

“Screw off,” I snarled.

“I can’t help but wonder what you believe happened with the memory wipe, Megan? I mean, obviously your memories were affected to. It would take someone ridiculously powerful to wipe even your little boyfriend Alec’s memories, but to wipe yours? Who could do that?”

She was play acting, toying with me, and from the look on her face I knew she was savoring every second of it. I glared at her, annoyed at her stupid cockiness. As the links slowly came together my glare turned to a look of shock and confusion as I struggled to understand what I’d just realized.

Only a minnen would have the kind of power needed to perform a memory-wipe like that. As far as I knew, I was the only minnen in Sankruus. I was the one who wiped and rewrote everyone’s memories—my own included.

“But… that isn’t… why?” I asked under my breath, mind racing, pillaging my own memories for any other missing details.

Brittany’s smirk grew wider. “Don’t give yourself all the credit, little sister.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, slamming a barrier around my burning thoughts. “What did you do?”

“Oh nothing much… just convinced you that your friends had found out about you being a kalahati and because of that they shunned and rejected you. You got so emotionally worked up you lost control of your powers and POOF!Everyone’s memories are rewritten because you couldn’t handle the pressure.”

“What do you have to gain from me changing everyone’s memories?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. Was I really that afraid of people finding out my secret that I would make them all forget even being friends with me for the past three years? Her words shook me to the core. I couldn’t believe that was the case.

“That wasn’t part of my plan,” Brittany admitted. “I was just testing you, trying to see how you would react if you thought everyone had turned on you, and although it was unexpected,” she pointed at me, “you performed stunningly, and far higher than my expectations.”

I couldn’t stop my mouth from dropping open. “You did this… made me do this, just for you sick enjoyment?”

“Yes.” The word was concise and unapologetic.

“Before you get too angry about my involvement,” she continued, my hands clenched at my side, “really consider it, Megan. Pre-memory wipe, you had told your friends about your powers, but not your parentage. Why?” Her smirk morphed into an accusatory glare, “Because you knew that you’d be shunned and even worse, probably ejected from the academy.” She took a step closer, eyes burning bright as she twisted what I feared most into a spearhead of words that pierced the deepest parts of me. “What’s to say that you wouldn’t have intentionally cleared their memories if they happened to find out your secret? Hell, what do you even need me for? You would’ve done this all on your own! All to protect yourself from the rejection of your precious friends.”

My automatic response to that was to scream NO! They were my friends, they would understand! How could I even consider myself their friend if I would even entertain the idea of doing that to them? But…something wavered in me, a thin fault line in my resolve, threatening to break open and swallow me whole. Would I do that to them?

No! Stop thinking like that Megan! I shook my head, trying to shake her out. I was letting my guard down. Brittany was getting deeper and deeper into my head. She was altering my thoughts.

“Stop resisting it, Megan,” Brittany called to me. She knew I’d caught onto her manipulation.

“Get out of my head!” I shouted in response. Somehow, I felt my body move in the physical world as well, releasing a strangled cry at the same time. Progress.

Brittany realized this too. A look between irritation and hatred flashed across her midnight blue eyes as she lost her smirk vanished.

Around us, the fires of Satama blazed. The flames roaring louder as Brittany tensed. Something moving in the edge of my vision snagged my attention. Our parents appeared. Brittany turned too as our mom and dad embraced for what I could easily imagine was the last time before our dad ran out the door. It was the night he had left us… but for a very different reason than what Brittany had left, I realized as it was her past self to appear in the vision next.

“How are you doing this?” I asked as we watched her and our mom have and argument ended after a few moments with Brit storming out of the house and slamming the door.

“I’m not doing anything, little sister,” Brittany shouted.

Wait, did that mean I was doing this? But how…

“Megan!”

I heard the voice before I felt the hand slip into my own. Suddenly, Alec was there, standing beside me, his hand intertwined with mine.

“Alec? What are you doing here? How are you here?”

He shook his head. “I came to help!”

“Aw look, your knight in shining armor came to save you,” Brittany cooed. The flames growing quieter as she regained control. I shot her a glare, silently cursing that was all I could do.

“Alec, you shouldn’t be here,” I whispered, praying that somehow Brittany wouldn’t hear. “I’m a mental power. I can handle Brittany’s attacks. But you…”

“I know Meg,” he said, squeezing my hand. “She’s already trying to get inside my head, I can feel that much. But… something’s blocking her.”

I felt my hand heat up from where it had contact with his. I glanced down and saw there was a pale glow forming around it that snaked up Alec’s arm and spread around him in a weird sort of aura. My eyes widened as I realized what was happening.

“I think… I think I’m blocking you from her,” I said. I looked over at Brittany, who was giving me a pointed glare of hatred. So much for the “nice sister act”.

“I don’t understand how,” I continued, careful to move my lips as little as possible. “But somehow your contact with me lets you be here without being absorbed into your own takot world.”

“Satama. This is Satama, the night it burned,” Alec said slowly, looking past me to see the memories of my family that night. His gaze landed on me last, his expression unreadable but firm. “Megan… Do you… do you have any control of this place? What we see? Or what Brittany shows us?”

I opened my mouth to answer only to close it and resort to a nod.

It didn’t make much sense, but that seemed to be exactly the case. For some reason, I was still in partial control of what was happening—or at least, my subconscious was. Either way, that explained the visions of the past Brittany and I had seen, which no doubt had been caused by my minnen abilities being affected by both of us and probably Zig’s presence close by as well (I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I could sense my brother wasn’t far away from us just as easily as I could feel Alec’s hand in mine).

I realized with a jolt that because I still maintained partial control of the situation, Brittany’s powers couldn’t affect me. And also, I should be able to form my own attack on her…

I glanced at Alec, who gave me a slight nod of confirmation. Through our connection (whatever kind of connection had been formed when he took my hand), he could tell what I was asking without either of us having to speak a word or even me needing to really think it all the way through.

He knew what I was asking him to do, and he knew what I needed to do. I could feel the reluctance roiling like a rain cloud in his head, but I needed him to follow through with this if we wanted in have any chance at incapacitating my sister.

He squeezed my hand reassuringly before letting go. I immediately felt the empty space where his hand had been, but tried not to dwell on it. Instead, I concentrated on knives. I may not have had them on my physical body, but in my mind anything was fair game.

“So you already scared off your boyfriend?” Brittany scoffed and looked superiorly at me, “I can’t say I’m surprised, I mean, look at you, and look at this!” Her voice rose as she waved her hands at the burning house around us, “What sane person would ever want to be a part of your life?”

My hands were quivering, the shaking making its way up my arms and down the rest of my body. Mixed with the flames were flickering images, slips of memories, patches of sound. My heart pounded and raced in my chest, the sound overpowering the fire, beating in time with her words as they bounced around my head, looking to find purchase. I grabbed the words. Snatched them off of their track. Threw them away as a bright white light, pure and beautiful, swept through my mind. I am not alone.

I opened my hands, snapped my head up, and with every fiber of my body, pushed out the words.

“You’re wrong.”

Just as she started to laugh a hand slipped into mine. Familiar callouses met my own, and the light flowed from his hand to encompass mine until it had spread over my whole body.

“Oh, so you finally decided to join the party, huh Zach?” Brittany chided, taking note of our brother’s appearance. “Surely you aren’t going to make the same mistake you did last time.”

I didn’t know what she was talking about, but as she spoke Zig’s hand tightened around mine. His face held a pained expression and his eyes swirled with emotion that I couldn’t comprehend. Instead of addressing her, though, Zig spoke to me.

“We only get one shot at this, Megan,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. “Let’s make it count.”

I smirked. “Proceed with the ass kicking, big brother.”

Then without hesitation, I felt the energy rise in him, a raging maelstrom of darkness surrounded in a veil of white, and with our combined force we pushed the energy directly into the mind of our sister and watched as she flew into the burning wall behind her and fell to the ground, unmoving.

Thank you, I whispered in my mind to Zig.

He let out a half smile, smothered in exhaustion, and then threw an arm around me as he stumbled forward. I caught him and relief surged through me as I saw the walls collapsing around us, deteriorating now that Brittany was no longer conscious to maintain them. I was so relieved that I didn’t even feel the pain from my wounded shoulder until suddenly Zig’s full weight was on it. I sank to my knees, holding Zig up as best as I could, despite my shoulder beginning to scream in pain.

Worry about that later, I muttered to myself.

The world was becoming clear again, and I blinked a few times to clear away the last of Brittany’s mental world takot world and squinted as the real world filled in around me.

Immediately I felt someone crouched beside me, and focused to hear what they were saying.

“Megan,” it sounded like it was coming through a thick wall. I looked over and saw Alec sitting beside me, looking like he was shouting, but only sounding like a whisper. I shook my head and pointed to my ears. He nodded quickly and then waved at someone else to come over. I let my eyes close as a wave of exhaustion swept over me. My eyes flew back open as I felt something hot along my shoulders.

What is-

It was Zig’s arm, it was burning me. I smelled smoke and burning clothes as I threw his arm off and quickly moved to crouch in front of him.

My stomach turned when I saw what was happening. Zig’s arm was a roiling mess of black fog, emitting sparks and slowly moving to cover his neck and chest. My expression turned to sheer panic as I looked around for help.

Zig started to fall sideways and I instinctively moved to grab his shoulders, and then hissed in pain as my hand made contact with the dark energy.

“Someone!” I’d found my voice, “Please!”

I saw KC across the garden, accompanied by my former drill leader and the leader of Zig’s mission team Layne Blythe. The two of them were moving towards us, concern on their faces. Their attention shifted from me to Zig, looking to see what the problem was. KC’s face fell into one that mirrored my own when she saw his arm, and Layne’s shut into a steel trap, her eyes narrowing when she saw it.

In a blink they were by our side, KC having teleported them over to us.

“Please,” I had tears in my voice, “what’s happening to him?”

They both fell to their knees in front of Zig.

“Megan you need to move.” Layne’s voice cut—strong and clear—through my rising hysterics. Alec grabbed my arm and hauled me up, wrapping his arm around me - my legs still not stable enough to support my own weight - as I watched Layne and KC try and save my brother.

Layne put her hands on either side of my brother’s face and leaned in close. KC gripped his hand and shut her eyes beside him, her other hand pressed into the ground.

“Zig. Zig listen to me, right now.” Layne’s voice wasn’t sharp as it had been a minute ago. It was soft, but commanding.

“Zig.” His eyes fluttered to open, and then slammed shut as his body lurched forward. Layne put a hand on his good shoulder to steady him, and leaned her forehead against his.

“Fight it, Zig. You have got to focus.”

His breathing became labored, and sweat was pouring down his face. I watched, transfixed and unable to help, as the black around his arm started swirling away from him, and towards KC’s palm on the ground.

His body shuddered and the black flew back a few inches towards his arm.

“You are in control, Zig.” Layne’s voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. “It has no power over you, you are its master. Command it.”

For less than a second, half of a heartbeat, my brothers eyes flew open and bored into Layne’s, and what I saw sucked the air straight out of my chest.

His eyes were black. Gone was the turquoise blue that had always shone in them. They were a moonless midnight. Black fires burning, a tortured look that I knew would be seared into my memory for as long as I lived.

“I-It’s too-” he ground out between clenched teeth as his body shuddered and the black moved again towards his neck.

Layne moved her mouth beside his ear and said something that I was unable to hear.

I watched in amazement as my brother’s body became rigid, tremors wracking his frame. Layne held him in place and the dark energy lifted, much more quickly, and flew in a spiral towards the ground where I now realized KC had opened a small portal.

It hiccupped backwards and KC chimed in, one hand still clutching Zig’s, “You’re almost there, come on Zig.” Her arm broke out in a tremor as the dark energy reached the mouth of her portal.

“Hold it, KC” Layne commanded. “You have to keep it open.”

KC nodded tightly and I watched as Zig ground his teeth together, and the last of the black left his fingertips. The first part of the tendril was entering the portal. He jerked his head up and with a strangled yell the remaining dark energy flew into the portal. It closed without a sound and Zig lurched forward, his body limp and his eyes shut.

Layne and KC caught him, and I took a tentative step forward.

“Is… is he…” Tears were running down my face, but I didn’t care.

Layne let KC hold him as she stood and turned. Her breathing was still ragged as she swiped a hand over her brow to remove the sweat shining on her face.

“He’s going to be fine,” she allowed a small smile and closed her eyes, “He did it.”

Slowly I was emerging from my cocoon of shock. I could feel the gears in my head turning, whirring in my mind as I processed what I had just witnessed.

Zig, why?

“What just happened to him?” Alec asked, obviously unsettled by what had just occurred. “Why were his eyes…?”

“It’s what happens when he uses his powers like that,” KC said softly from her spot on the ground, Zig’s head cradled in her lap.

“Like what?” Alec’s voice sounded strained. I glanced up to see his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion. Was that fear? Disgust? I ran my fingertips under my own eyes, brushing away the tears that I was trying hard to hold back.

I knew what Layne was going to say before she even said it.

Layne let out a resigned breath and explained, “Zig is a shield. You know this, but…” she paced in front of me, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “But when he uses his powers…” She looked up, searching for the word. “Offensively, not to just protect someone, but as a weapon, he has to harness the dark energy inside of himself.”

“He knew this would happen!” I shouted, startling Alec.

“Megan…” he said slowly. I didn’t look up at him but instead directed all of my attention at Layne and KC. I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Why would he risk that if he knew it was going to do this to him?”

“He’s only done it once before, on one of our first missions as a team.” Layne let out a resigned sigh. “We almost lost him, and it took half a day to talk him down and another hour for KC to find a portal to send the energy through. I ordered my team not to say anything about it.”

“Why...” Alec started.

“Because,” Layne cut him off, “if it got out that Zig had dark energy inside of him—that he was part konna—, or even worse, that he couldn’t control it, you know what would have happened to him. It’s the same reason Megan never told you or the others about her parentage. It’s a huge risk to take.”

I could feel Alec’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. I didn’t need to look to know what he was thinking.

“What did you do then?” I asked Layne.

Her expression hardened into a scowl. “After that we all worked together, keeping his secret, and helping him train to control it and preparing for if it ever were to happen again.”

“Thank the Creator we did,” KC said quietly, brushing some of Zig’s hair out of his eyes. “Without the training I don’t think he would’ve made it through this again.”

Her words struck a chord deep inside of me, and I saw in them what I’d longed for my whole life. Acceptance. More than acceptance, support. Zig’s team knew his history and his powers and they didn’t run or turn him away. No, they took him in and helped him, made him better. I turned to look towards Alec and saw his soft expression as he looked at KC and Zig without judgment in his eyes. Why did I have such little faith in my friends?

“He’s going to be alright though?” I scrutinized Layne’s face as she answered.

“He should be fine, although it might take him a while to wake up.” A smile ghosted across her lips. “The first time this happened he slept for a day afterwards and then woke up and ate a week’s worth of breakfast rations.”

“That sounds about right.” I allowed a small smile of my own to slip onto my lips.

But Layne could tell I didn’t fully mean it. She studied me for a few tense seconds before speaking again.

“Megan, you do know your eyes have changed color, right?”

I automatically reached up to touch the edge of my temple, not that that would’ve helped. Alec turned towards me and noted the change as well. He looked back at Layne.

“Do her eyes change for the same reason?” he asked. “Because of her konna side?”

Layne nodded grimly. “It’s the first sign that dark energy has an affect on her. Zig’s eyes change too, on occasion. It was more frequent before we all began to work together to help him control it.”

“Before the first time… this happened,” KC said, nodding towards my unconscious brother, “his eyes started changing a lot more frequently. We didn’t really know what it meant. Even he only had a partial guess about it.”

I cast my eyes towards the ground and thought through the times I knew my eyes had changed color. Alia had mentioned something about it around the campfire the other night, and I had heard Sabin’s thoughts about my eyes changing color while we’d confronted Mecah. There no doubt had been other times before and since then that my eyes had changed. I reached to tug on my ponytail—a nervous habit I’d had since I was young—but realized my hair was still down.

Alec took hold of the hand I’d reached up with. I glanced up at him and took in the comforting expression on his face. He could tell I was scared, and that seeing Zig go through what he just had only gave me even more reason to worry about what might happen to me. But Alec didn’t care. I could see it in his eyes: he cared only if I was safe, not what might happen down the line.

Layne turned to kneel down by Zig but shot back up when we the sound of shattering glass filled the air followed by a loud string of swears that sounded suspiciously like Alia that reverberated across the garden.