Chapter 7: A Frozen Tundra

Part 2 of 3: Regrets of the Sightless

A rustling awoke Tara in the dead of night. She was having a rather pleasant dream about returning back to her home when the noise had stirred her. Tara groggily looked around the room. As always in Olympus, two of the girls had to sleep outside in the central room, and unfortunately for Tara, it was her and Fiona's turn. Tara considered herself somewhat lucky, however, as Fiona always let Tara sleep on the couch, while the pink-haired girl slept on the floor. It wasn't something Fiona wanted any sort of payment for; it was just a part of her character which, the moment she laid on the couch, Tara very much appreciated. But now, in the middle of the night and in almost total darkness, Tara could hardly appreciate anything in her drowsy state of mind.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Tara noticed that everything was exactly as it was left. Fiona was lying next to the television, a spare blanket pulled over her shoulders, and her back turned to her friend. Once Tara realized that it was not Fiona who was making noise, she immediately turned her head to the makeshift kitchen. It wouldn't be the first time that she had caught Dash or Pinky rummaging through the food supplies, and Tara thought that it most certainly would not be the last. However, much to her surprise, no one else was in the room with her. She and Fiona were all by herself. She heard the rustling again, and this time, she was able to pinpoint its source. However, Tara didn't actually believe her ears when she located the noise.

The rustling was coming from Rachel's room.

Tara was very tired, but her curiosity completely took over her actions. It wasn't every day that Rachel became active, after all. So, very quietly, Tara stood up from the couch, and tiptoed over to the second bedroom. She made extra sure to avoid tripping over Fiona's sleeping form, but aside from that, she moved with relative haste, not wanting to miss whatever was happening behind the closed door. Tara reached the door, and taking a deep breath, opened it up, hearing a slow, painful creak in the process.

Tara was rather shocked by what she saw. Rachel was up and about, pacing back and forth in the small space between the door and the beds. Her right arm was held in front of her, and she dragged her feet across the floor, occasionally bumping into the bed, creating more rustling. Her hand constantly slammed into the wall, and every time it did so, she made a quick turn, and started to walk in the other direction. However, more importantly than that was that Rachel appeared to be happy. She had a smile on her face as she walked, and it carried both a sense of utmost joy and utter hatred, which was a very strange combination indeed.

But once Rachel heard the creaking, of the door, she instantly stopped moving. Rachel's smiled faded in a flash, and she paused dead in her tracks, her right hand pressed against the left wall.

"Rachel," Tara said, rubbing her eyes once again. "What's going on?"

"Oh," Rachel suddenly said. "I thought everyone was sleeping. I'm sorry."

"That's not answering the question," Tara stated, now closing the door behind her. Rachel looked worried at first, but soon her face relaxed.

"It's nothing, really," Rachel spoke. "It's just… I'm… I'm just incredibly excited."

"Excited?" Tara asked, confused. "Why?"

"Because we found them, that's why," Rachel said, barely able to keep her voice down. "You tracked those motherfuckers down."

Tara was stunned.

"But... how did you know that?" Tara said, genuinely surprised. She didn't recall ever telling Rachel anything about AJ's discovery. As a matter of fact, she purposefully kept Rachel in the dark, out of concern about how the bind girl would react.

"Tara, we live in a fifteen meter room," Rachel said. "It's not really difficult to hear what goes on in this base. I listened to AJ's little report. I've been spending the last few hours celebrating. But that doesn't matter now. All that matters is what will happen tomorrow."

"Rachel, out of curiosity," Tara said. "What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?"

Rachel grinned.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rachel asked happily. "We're going to do what you brought us here to do: kill the Korbalovs; make them suffer."

"Look, Rachel…" Tara started to say, but was cut off by Rachel, who started to pace around the cramped room once more.

"I've been dreaming of this for months," Rachel said with glee. "This confrontation, I mean. I imagined it perfectly…"

"But Rachel, we--" Tara tried to speak, but was cut off again.

"They would never see us coming," Rachel said, an almost sadistic tone in her voice. "We would take them by surprise; kill Kristov first, of course. Rip his bloody heart out. And then, we'd need to take our time with Yuri…"

"Rachel, hold on a second," Tara said, more loudly than before. She wasn't feeling comfortable with the amount of hatred and discontent in Rachel's voice. It sounded as if Rachel really wanted to torture the Korbalovs for what they did to her. It even sounded like she had dreamed of it.

"We could do whatever we wanted to him," Rachel said coldly, getting lost in her own imagination. "I know what I would do to him. Walk up to that smarmy, stupid, cocky bastard, grab onto his bloody face with that idiotic complexion, take my thumbs, and jam them right into his fucking--"

"Rachel, enough!" Tara forcefully said, grabbing onto the British girl's shoulders. Rachel was knocked out of her daydreams of blood and torture, and refocused on reality. "We're not going after the Korbalovs!"

Rachel felt rather confused. She didn't understand why Tara would suddenly start lying to her; she had to be lying, of course. After all, Tara couldn't really be considering ignoring the two most despicable men in the world. The two men who beat her senseless. The two men who forced her to betray her team. The two men who had rid her of sight forever. She simply had to be lying. Right?

"What… what are you talking about, Tara?" Rachel asked with half of a smile. "You can't be serious?"

"Rachel, we talked about it today," Tara sighed, releasing her grip. "We figured it's too dangerous to try and take them down. The mission is to rescue General Wilson, and get back to the States. Nothing more."

Rachel was now entering shock. She could hardly believe her own ears. Was it true? Tara didn't sound like she was joking around. In fact, Rachel couldn't even remember a time where Tara had lied to her, or joked with her. As soon as Rachel realized this, she suddenly regained use of her emotions. And unfortunately for Tara, frustration and rage were the two most prominent ones.

"But… but why!?" Rachel demanded to know. "Don't you remember what they did to us!? What they did to me!? Why aren't we going after them!?"

"It's simply too dangerous," Tara firmly stated. "We can't risk everyone's lives because of a need for revenge."

"But you were the one who wanted to go after them in the first place!" Rachel exclaimed.

"That was before!" Tara said, now raising her voice as well. "I was angry, in pain, and wasn't thinking clearly! I was letting my emotions guide me, like you're letting yours do right now!"

"But you… you…" Rachel said, growing even more frustrated. However, as her rage grew, so did another emotion; one that she had a bitter history with: despair. "You can't possibly expect me to go along with this? You can't expect me to watch idly by as the Korbalovs march right before my eyes!? How do you even think I could go on this mission, and know that I wouldn't be able to get what I deserve!?"

Tara was silent for a moment. She knew that this would have to come eventually. Whether it was at Olympus or Camelot, Russia or the United States, it was inevitable. It pained her to say it, and she knew it would hurt Rachel even more, but it had to be done. It was simply the way things needed to be.

"Rachel," Tara said softly. "You're not coming on this mission with us."

Rachel was not expecting that. Deep down, she knew it would probably be so, but she never actually thought it would transpire.

"I… I'm not going along?" Rachel said in utter disbelief. Tara shook her head.

"No," Tara said sorrowfully. Rachel bowed her head.

"But I… I have to do something…" Rachel said, feeling nothing but disappointment in herself.

"Rachel, look," Tara tried to say gently, but couldn't make the words sound any kinder. "I understand that you want to help out. I know you want to be a part of this team. But… I just can't do it. Bringing you on a mission would mean putting everyone else I harm's way, just to make sure that you stay protected. In this line of work, that's just something I cannot accept. Look, this is really hard to say, but…"

Tara took a deep breath.

"I… think you shouldn't be a part of P.O.N.Y. anymore."

Rachel's heart sank. She fumbled her way onto the bed, and sat on its edge, her head bent over in shame. She couldn't believe it; she was being kicked out of P.O.N.Y. It was a cruel and wicked thing to do; just because of her injuries, she couldn't be involved in one of the most important opportunities in the world. She refused to believe it. Rachel needed to hold onto the hope that there was any way she could help.

"No," Rachel said sternly. "I… I'll think of something. There has to be some way I can help; I just need to find it--"

"Rachel, there is nothing you can do!" Tara shouted suddenly. If Rachel could see Tara's face, even in the darkness, she would undoubtedly see tears. "I know you want to help. Don't you think that I've been trying to find a way for you to do something? That maybe I've been trying to ensure you stay here? I've been thinking about this for months, but there is nothing. I'm sorry."

"You're wrong!" Rachel shouted in defiance, her voice becoming more pained. "I won't be put down! I'll keep searching. I'll find a way to-"

"Rachel, you're blind!" Tara finally cried out. Silence filled the room; both girls feeling a terrible emptiness.

"You're blind," Tara repeated, more softly. Both girls started to break down in sobs as Tara continued to speak. "Do you think I like doing this? Do you think this is what I want to do? You're my friend, but we've just been running away from this for months. I can't just pretend like this isn't real anymore; this is reality. You can't help us anymore. I really, really, really wish you could, but you just can't. You're a liability. I… I just can't let you go out there and get yourself killed. I'm sorry."

There were no more arguments left to be had. All of Rachel's dreams shattered apart, as the cruel nature of the world finally settled in. She was blind. It was something she had been only half-facing for the past few months, but now, everything became clear. She could no longer be part of P.O.N.Y; it was impossible. If she had eyes, she would shed tears. But alas, her sobs eventually died off into a low moan, and all Rachel could do anymore was beg.

"Please…" Rachel said, her voice terribly strained. "I just… I just can't be worthless. You don't know where I'm coming from, Tara. I need to do this."

"No, you need to understand where I'm coming from," Tara said with a hoarse voice, trying her best to remain stern. She wanted nothing more than to tell Rachel she could stay on the team. But she knew that she had no say in the matter. "It's over, Rachel. I can't help you."

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door, and then the door slowly creaked its way open once more. Tara wiped her eyes of tears as she saw a timid Fiona standing in the doorway, an expression of worry plastered on her face.

"Is everything all right?" Fiona asked. "I heard shouting."

"Yeah, everything's fine," Tara lied, rubbing her eyes again. She figured that it was too dark for Fiona to see her tears. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's okay," Fiona said, brushing the hair out of her face. "I was up anyway."

Tara briefly looked back at Rachel, who was now hugging her knees close to her chest, and silently sobbing. It didn't take long for Fiona to notice something was wrong, although Tara spoke before she could say anything about it.

"Fiona, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tara asked. Fiona gave a quick nod in silence, although Tara could clearly see that Fiona had only grown more worried. The two stepped out of the room, and closed the door; Tara gave one last saddened look at Rachel before the door was shut.

"What's going on?" Fiona questioned, very concerned.

"Look, Fiona, you're not going on the mission tomorrow," Tara said rather suddenly. Fiona was taken aback; she had no idea why Tara had suddenly brought this up.

"Wait, why not?" Fiona wondered, feeling slightly depressed.

"I need you to do something really important for me," Tara explained. "I need you to stay here tomorrow, and watch over Rachel."

Fiona quickly cast a glance to the second bedroom, where she could hear the sound of faint sobs.

"What's wrong with Rachel?" Fiona asked. Now that her eyes were adjusted to the darkness, she could see that Tara's eyes were tearstained, although she didn't bring it up.

"I'm just worried that she'll try to do something about the mission," Tara admitted, clearing her throat. "I just want you to keep an eye on her, and make sure she stays here, and stays calm. I'm entrusting this to you, Fiona. You can do it, right?"

Fiona considered this for a moment. While it was true that she did want to assist Tara in the rescue of Wilson, and she hated the concept of Tara going into danger without her, it wasn't very difficult for the smarter girl to affect her decisions, especially if she happened to request something personally. After three seconds, Fiona gave a confident nod.

"Okay, I'll watch over her," Fiona stated. Tara seemed to become more calm after this, and walked back to the couch.

"Thanks, Fiona," Tara said. "I owe you one. Now let's go back to sleep."

Both girls recovered themselves in blankets, and closed their eyes. Unfortunately, neither of them could return to slumber, and they both stayed awake in silence until the sun came up.

__________

February 13th, 2016

The girls set out at nine. It was a tough decision whether to need the thermodynamic suits. The suits were rather uncomfortable, and they questioned whether or not they would need them at all. AJ had argued that they would help with the combat experience, and would be far more efficient to wear than heavy coats. However, after some debating from Tara, the girls decided to put on a light layer of clothing on underneath the suits, so that if they proved to be ineffective in combat, they could be removed. In the end, only AJ wore just the suit, and everyone felt comfortable enough.

Fiona sat on the couch, feeling exhausted. Rachel had never even left her room since the events of last night, which Tara had decided should be told after everything was said and done. She didn't want Rachel's departure to distract anyone, especially during such an important project. But Tara had faith in Fiona to keep Rachel under watch until she returned, and despite Fiona's yawning, she seemed rather capable.

The girls took the red truck, which, while hardly efficient, kept them out of the snow. The storm was better than it was before, and it was supposed to clear up even more as the day progressed. With a turn of a key, the mission had been launched. The first stage was relatively simple; get to the two-mile target zone fifteen miles southwest. AJ had managed to trace out a route to follow, and she sat in the passenger seat, directing Tara along the snow-covered roadways.

The twenty minute trip was surprisingly silent. The P.O.N.Y's were simply so tense and so nervous that all language had escaped them. Even Pinky, who was keen at talking at all but appropriate times, reminded quiet, opting instead to look out the window, and hum to herself. The pathway led the girls downhill to the base of the mountain ridge, where another set of roads carried them along just beneath the large, rocky formations. To their left were the mountains; to their right, a cliff leading down to a ravine. They drove upon the only road through the mountains, yet it was completely deserted.

Suddenly, AJ recognized her surroundings.

"Over here!" AJ called out, seeing the signal on her phone. Tara pulled the car to the side of the road, and slowed to a stop. The girls exited out into the icy cold, and immediately felt thankful for the bodysuits. Their faces were chilled, but their bodies were kept nice and warm. The suits were modified to have holsters attached at the hip, and everyone except Tara had a pair of pistols by their wastes. Pinky also had a rather large sniper rifle attached to her back, which had been modified from the weapon used by Melanie Moon. Besides this, there were also the modifications to the shoes, specifically spikes jammed through the soles, and a rather nifty modification that changed the color of the suits from black to white. In fact, no one even knew this feature existed until AJ pointed it out to them, and they had to take a brief moment to marvel at the advancements in technology.

"Okay, now the signal appears to be coming from just over this here mountain," AJ said, pointing to her left. The slope itself was not steep by any means, but it was very rocky, and one wrong step could lead to a nasty tumble into the jagged stones.

"Got it," Tara stated. Her sword was strapped firmly to her back, and she was glad to be able to use the magnificent weapon once again. "But that just indicates a two mile zone, right?"

"Yeah," AJ said with a frown. "I had to send out the signals manually. It was just a rough guess."

"Well, then I guess it's time to start hiking," Tara said. Dash groaned.

"Great, climbing a fucking mountain," Dash muttered to herself. "That won't be stupid and dangerous in any way."

However, Pinky displayed much optimism, and before Tara had even finished going over the plan again, Pinky had started to jog vigorously up the mountainside, as fast her wounded legs would take her. Tara called out to stop her, but Pinky ignored the shouts, and was already about fifty yards up the mountain.

"Okay, talk as we walk, people," Tara ordered. "Let's move."

The girls officially started their ascent (although Pinky was now two-thirds of the way to the edge of the mountain, moving surprisingly well for someone who was nearly crippled), and rechecked their strategy as they went.

"So once we get to the top of this hill," Dash said. "I take the long way around with AJ, and keep a lookout for some big-ass fortress, or something."

"Basically," Tara said, keeping her arms raised to block out the wind. "Pinky and I will take a direct march through, and if any of us spot something, we can all rendezvous from different angles."

"But here's the thing," Dash said. "How long do you really think this will take us? Don't give me any of that bullshit like, 'it will depend on factors', or some stupid shit like that. I mean, what's your real guess on this thing?"

"I don't know," Tara moaned out. "It could take all day for all I know. And that's just to find them. That's not even counting the rest of the operation."

By this point, the three were nearly at the top of the mountain, which was actually rather short itself. Pinky was already standing at the peak, and she was gazing out beyond where the girls could see.

"How close do you think we started, though?" Dash asked. She was trying to find some perspective that made it seem like there was less work to do. Unfortunately, every time Tara spoke, it seemed like it would take longer and longer to accomplish the most medial tasks.

"Could you stop asking things like that!?" Tara said, now clearly annoyed. "Asking it over and over again isn't going to make it get any closer. It's probably miles away, and it will take hours to cross that kind of distance in these conditions!"

"Or it could be that thing over there," Pinky suddenly called behind her, pointing to something in the distance.

Tara reached the peak, and could hardly believe her eyes. Roughly two hundred and fifty yards away, tucked nicely into a long plain of snow inside a circle of mountains, was what appeared to be a giant log cabin; its lights shining brightly through tremendously large glass windows. While the structure was made of reinforced wood and stone, the majority of the house was made of six inch thick glass. If Tara was closer, she would unmistakably be able to look inside, and see the vast, comfortable looking living area inside. The house clearly looked like it was occupied, and with great joy, the girls realized that they had stumbled right upon the Korbalovs' house. However, in a matter of seconds, Dash's joy turned to frustration, as she bitterly turned towards AJ.

"You mean you were, like, a football field's length away from their base the whole time!?" Dash spoke with a hiss. AJ scowled.

"Hey, I couldn't go anywhere in that weather," AJ stated in defense. "It's not like I could do anything about it anyway."

"You could have done something, you lazy bit-" Dash started to say, before Tara stopped her.

"Calm it, Dash," Tara ordered. "What's important is that we found the base. Step 1 is complete, and a lot faster than we thought it would be."

"Fine," Dash groaned. "Now what?"

"Now we wait for our chance to strike," Tara stated. "Step 2 has officially begun."

__________

Olympus could only be described as somber. Everything was painfully quiet; so much so that each insignificant background noise amplified in Fiona's ears. She had nothing to do except sit in silence. Of course, there were other things she could be doing to preoccupy herself, such as watching A Little Red Cap for another time, but she felt that doing so would be horribly disrespectful. After all, it was not a time to be enjoying anything at all.

Rachel was leaving.

It wasn't terribly challenging for her to figure out. She had heard plenty of choked sobs from Rachel all throughout the night, and now, in the quietness, she could hear them even more clearly. It was dreadful to listen to. Her friend was having a breakdown mere feet away, yet she couldn't do anything about it, for Fiona feared that talking could put Rachel over the edge. And so, she continued to sit on the couch in silence, hearing the cries of a broken heart.

But it was worse for Rachel. She was in her room, sitting on the ground with her back to the door, and her knees pressed to her chest. How unfair was it all to find out that she had been a failure once again. Rachel had struggled with many difficult things in her life, but never before had she felt so alone. She could only blame herself, no matter who would tell her otherwise. She felt utterly responsible for everything bad that had happened to her; it wouldn't be the first time in her life. She could only wish that she had the power to fight back; to change it all; to rewind the clock.

This power did not exist within her, unfortunately. In her desperation to finally matter, however, she managed to cry out to Fiona.

"Fiona," Rachel cried out. "Please…"

Fiona was shocked at the sudden break in silence. She stood up, and slowly walked to the second bedroom. She placed her hand upon the door, but she couldn't open it. She didn't have the courage to face Rachel during such a distressing time. Still, she managed to find the energy to take a deep breath, and respond.

"I can't, Rachel," Fiona said, already knowing what Rachel was going to ask. "You know that."

"How can you do this to me?" Rachel pathetically asked.

"We both know it needs to be done," Fiona spoke sadly. "You can't fight people when you can't even see."

"It's not that," Rachel admitted. "It's not something you would understand."

The comment struck Fiona with great interest.

"Why wouldn't I understand?" Fiona questioned softly.

"It's just…" Rachel said, unsure how to answer. "I… I need to be a part of this. I can't be worthless."

"You're not worthless," Fiona said, confused. Yet she could practically hear Rachel shaking her head.

"Yes, yes I am," Rachel repeated. "This was my chance to prove my worth. This was my chance to show everyone that I did the right thing; that all of the lies and heartbreak actually had some meaning behind it."

"Lies?" Fiona asked. "What lies?"

Rachel realized that she said too much. She changed the subject.

"N-nothing," Rachel said, quickly trying to wipe the mucus from her nose and regain her complexion.

"Have…" Fiona said in disbelief. "Have you been hiding something from us, Rachel?"

"What? That's… that's ridiculous," Rachel said, growing very nervous. Fiona didn't buy her bluff.

"Rachel, is something wrong that you can't tell me about?" Fiona questioned. Rachel stuttered about aimlessly, trying to pass off everything as preposterous. But Fiona pressed on, now immensely curious as to what Rachel could be so worried about. "Rachel… you know that you can tell me anything. We're friends."

"I…I… I just can't, Fiona," Rachel said with a sigh. "You don't know what it's like; to have to live nothing but a lie each and every day. You would never understand."

Fiona was silent. She remained this way for many moments, contemplating a great many things. But finally, after so many thoughts had bounced around her head that she felt it would burst, she spoke again, barely in a whisper.

"I know what it's like," Fiona admitted. Rachel listened intently, as Fiona sighed. "I know that it's like agony. That every moment you feel like someone will find out is like driving a nail through your head. I know what it's like to despise it so much, and to feel so ashamed of it, but know that you can never let it go. I know what's like for others to hate you for it, when you only want their understanding. And I know what it's like to live with it every single day, carrying around like ghost that never leaves you alone, even in your darkest hours. I might know what that feels like more than anyone."

"But I also know what it's like to let it out," Fiona continued. "To tell the truth, it's one of the greatest things in the world. You think you can just drag it around forever, but you can't keep it with you, or it will destroy you entirely. It's not easy to let others in, and it's not easy to have faith in them, but trust me when I say that it's the only way to stay afloat. Look, Rachel, I know you feel afraid of this, and I know you don't want to let me in. But… please; you need to have trust in me. You need to let it out."

Silence. There was only silence. Dreadfully long, empty, painful silence. A door separated them; the angel who wanted the truth, and the blinded who wanted solace. They were both so far apart, yet so close together; both wanting to be with and without each other. It was either the strangest combination, or one that fit together perfectly; there was really no way to tell unless they opened the door. But then why was it so challenging; why was it so easy to keep others out, but so hard to let them in? Why couldn't it be as simple as turning a knob on a door? Or was it?

The great conflicting thoughts were present all around. Could she do it? Could she let them in? Would she? How was it possible that the most timid of all could break free, while the most extravagant lied in chains? How was it possible, and how did she do it. Although maybe it wasn't how; maybe it never was. The lies that she thought kept her hidden had only kept her constrained, and perhaps, just perhaps, the question wasn't how the door should be opened.

It was why.

And to Rachel, the simple concept of faith seemed to be reason enough.

"Do you really want to know?" Rachel asked, more anxious than she had ever been. Fiona smiled.

"Of course, I do," Fiona said as honestly as she had ever said anything.

Rachel couldn't believe what she was about to do. It was never something that had crossed her mind before. What would Fiona think of her? How would she feel. These natural thoughts of worry were present, but they weren't Rachel's focus. Her focus was saying aloud what should have been said a very long time ago.

"I'm… not who I say I am," Rachel said. "Almost everything I've told you girls about me is a lie. My family, my interests, my life… it's just been one giant fabrication."

"What… what do you mean?" Fiona asked. Rachel sighed.

"When I was born," Rachel began. "I was diagnosed with a severe mental illness. It wasn't like something anyone had ever seen before; it wasn't fatal or anything, but it was certainly odd. I was born with an increased amount of memory and cognitive cells in the cerebrum. To put it in Laymen's terms, I was essentially a human supercomputer. Ever since I was two years old, I was able to instantly remember absolutely anything I ever saw or heard. But it was more than that; I couldn't just remember it, but I could understand it all. It was an incredible sensation."

"So that's your big secret?" Fiona said, quite surprised. "You're smart. That's not really a big deal."

"First of all, I wasn't 'smart'; I'm one of the most intelligent people on the planet," Rachel said, actually smiling back at some of the memories. "Secondly, that's not the problem. Just listen for a bit. Anyway, my intelligence was, and is, basically unmatched by most normal human beings. I have an IQ of 285. I can read through an entire college-grade science textbook in an hour, and can perfect a test on every topic in it the next day. Hell, the reason I got into Ymerton was because I got a perfect score on my SAT's."

Fiona considered this for a moment. She had known that Ymerton was one of the most prestigious schools in the country, and it was incredibly difficult to get in. She had briefly wondered how Rachel had entered the school for a fashion program, but the mystery now seemed to resolve itself. Rachel continued on, thinking back to her younger days with sentimentality.

"The best time of my life happened just before I turned ten. My family life was actually perfect, for once. Not only did my parents actually seem to like each other, but I also had a sister during this time. Her name was Belle, and she was only three at the time. She was really a sweet thing, and I wanted her to grow up to be just like me. I really liked those times we spent together. School was also fine up until that point. Since I was so much smarter than the other kids, I was told I should have skipped several grades. Technically, I might have graduated senior high a year earlier, in fact. But I kept refusing them, because of one person in particular: Selina. Selina was my only friend when I was a kid. We were both essentially the most basic form of, well… I guess 'nerds', would be the term. We met in the first grade, and stuck to each other like paste. Selina always had a problem managing her weight, and I wasn't very pretty or anything, and I looked like what anyone would expect from a loser; I even wore glasses back then. We were like the perfect pair."

"But kids were always just a bunch of pricks to us. Even at a young age, children knew how to say rancid things. I always shrugged it off as nonsense. But once I was ten, the other kids got much worse. They would throw stones at me as I walked home from school, they would trip me in the halls, they would taunt me both in and out of class; it was hellish. I can't even remember how many times I was beaten up. Selina got it even worse, though. She was called a 'fat pig', and 'a shameful existence'. But she was never put down by it like I was. We had lockers next to each other, and she used to say to me, 'Those blokes are just jealous that they can't comprehend our vast superiority. They can take those fancy insults of theirs, and shove 'em right up their arse. Right?' Those always cheered me up. But even then, things never seemed to get better. At home, things were even shittier. My mum had found out that my father had cheated on her with his secretary; there was so much screaming all of the time. It might have been even worse than school."

"There was this vicious cycle over the next three years of bullying, beating, and cheating. I couldn't get out of it. Still, I tried to keep to what I was good at; learning. I read everything I could get my hands on, advanced human biology, advanced calculus, advanced United States History, you name it. I learned the entire political backstory of Argentina on a Tuesday night when I was bored. I still know the name and policies of every one of its rulers. Every year, I would get an offer to jump ahead to college; I couldn't believe what an opportunity it was. I considered taking it several times, but I never did, because I didn't want to leave Selina all alone with the bullies. I hated those kids. I deeply despised each and every one of them with all of my heart. All I wanted was Selina and I to be happy, and those assholes kept fucking up everything."

"And then, suddenly, everything changed when I turned 13. Senior High was upon me before I knew it, and more importantly, I quickly noticed that I was becoming more… woman-ish, so to speak. You know what I'm talking about. It all changed so fast. The next thing I knew, the insults stopped, and were replaced with compliments. People actually talked to me because they wanted to, not because they wanted to taunt me. One night, several of the popular girls had invited me to a party. I couldn't believe it. Soon, that became commonplace, and I was the most popular girl in the school."

Suddenly, Rachel's tone darkened, and Fiona could detect that she was slowly bringing forth hateful emotions into her speech.

"I actually thought things were going to get better. But I was horribly mistaken at the time, and I couldn't judge the situation clearly. Very soon, I learned that it was not an easy task to remain at the top of the food chain. The parties became more and more frequent, and I found that I had to change myself in order to avoid the tormenting of the others. The amount of time I spent studying had to be reduced. My tastes needed to be altered as well. The popular girls cared little for physics and mathematics; all they cared about was what sluttish tops they could wear. So, I evolved. I tried my best to lose interest in textbooks, and learned the styles of the latest fashions and outfits. My grades slowly started to drop, as I needed to purposely fail tests in order to draw off suspicions from the others that I was some sort of brain-damaged freak. I still remember when I came home with a failing grade, and seeing how baffled my family was. They had never known me to be a failure before, and to them, it seemed like another step in our family's road to destruction."

"But that wasn't all I had to do. I needed to test myself in other ways for approval. Those girls were monsters, building themselves up on incredible highs. One night at a party, one of them slipped me a pill of ecstasy. They told me to take it, and when I refused, they started taunting me again. I couldn't take the peer pressure; I gave in, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the couch with no shirt on and a horrid headache. That was how I basically spent the rest of high school. The amount of things I did could put most people to shame."

"And I think that wasn't even the worst part. All of these events had started to slowly pile on top of each other. I was going out every night, and I didn't make it to school half of the time. My grades plummeted like mad. My house was in turmoil too; my dad was caught cheating again, and this time, my mum threatened with divorce. That was stressful enough, but the other kids kept raising the bar on what it meant to be one of the special people. I lost all control of myself at those parties; sometimes I passed out drunk, sometimes I was convinced into snorting cocaine, and most of the time, I went to bed with the first horny bastard that I saw, usually without protection. I felt disgusted with myself. I was ashamed of everything that I had become. I felt like I was eventually going to die from all of the thing I was doing to my body, and it absolutely petrified me. But I kept doing it regardless. Still, I needed to reassure myself that I wasn't utterly useless; that I could still be much worse of a person than the out of control monster I was transforming into. So, I brought myself up the only way I could think of."

"You became a bully," Fiona suddenly interrupted in a hushed voice. She had remained silent until this point, but the story's destination was getting quite clear to her. "You attacked everyone else to make sure you didn't feel repulsed every time you stared at yourself in the mirror."

Rachel snickered. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I had a rather cruel vocabulary, and I never left a victim tearless when I was finished with them. I ridiculed anyone I could to maintain my power. It didn't matter who; I just needed to feel like I had some sort of worth in the world. I hated myself for it, but that didn't matter. In the end, I became the very thing that I had once hated, and no matter how much I wished it weren't so, I refused to change, even when I heard stories of people cutting themselves over things I said. One day, I noticed several other popular girls tormenting someone I the halls. It just so happened to be Selina. We had grown apart over the years, and I know that things had only gotten worse for her. She was harassed endlessly, and no one had ever come to her aid. When I saw what was going on, I instantly rushed over, and joined in on the taunting. The others all stopped and listened to what I had to say. I… I still can't believe what I said to her that day. If you were there, you probably would have slapped me across the face. She tried fighting back, calling me a 'rotten, unloved whore', and saying how, 'people like me deserve to beaten excessively.' But she couldn't hold out for long; my words were simply too much for her. I… I still remember the last sentence I said to her. I… I said, 'You know… the world would probably be a much more pleasant place to live if the fat, disgusting, wild animals like you were rotting in the earth.' She ran out of the school in tears. Those… those…"

Rachel took a deep breath, as she suddenly broke down once more from the memories.

"…those were (sob) the last words I ever said to her. (sob) The next morning, I entered the school, and received nothing but shameful glares. One of the other (sob) students told me what had happened: Selina (sob) had hung herself from her closet the night before. I (sob) couldn't believe it; it just didn't seem real. In a flash, (sob) every feeling of dread, every feeling of remorse, every feeling of self-hatred came back full force. It was overwhelming. I had (sob) to go back home because I couldn't hold myself together (sob)."

"Everything fell apart after that. It was (sob) just a string of one wicked event after the other. I was getting all of the blame for (sob) Selina's death. People would constantly send me hate (sob) mail telling me to drink bleach, and they told me that I shouldn't (sob) deserve any happiness for the rest of my life. All of this built up the pres-(sob)-sure in my household to its breaking point, and eventually, we split apart. (sob) The custody battle was ferocious, but in the end, my mum (sob) took Belle, and moved to the States, while my father and I stayed in (sob) England. He wasn't much of a help in dealing with the (sob) stress. In the end, the question I asked myself every (sob) night was what to do with my life. It took months (sob) to decide, and all the while, I still had to deal with the tormenting from the (sob) school, the peer pressure of my 'friends', and the guilt of causing the death of (sob) one of the only people who ever actually cared about me."

"But you know what I (sob) did? I decided not to change anything. I looked myself in the mirror for a long time (sob), and although I saw a murderer, I knew I (sob) could never change. I felt like… if I did change (sob)… if I went back to my true self (sob)… then everything would be pointless. It would almost be like I had wasted (sob) years of my life trying to be something, and getting only pain and suffering out of it. But I thought that if I (sob) stayed on the current path, if I kept up my little illusion of my life, (sob) then maybe it wouldn't turn out to be a fruitless effort. Maybe, just maybe (sob), I wouldn't feel like I had been completely worthless to the (sob) world, only good to hurt others."

"And Fiona," Rachel said to the door, noting how quiet the other girl was being. "I lied about a few other things (sob) to. First of all, I came to America because (sob) I wanted to find my sister. I know I said it was to (sob) get into Ymerton, but really, I just want to find her; (sob) maybe rekindle that old feeling of joy we used to have together. Also, I really (sob) fucking hate fashion. It's bullshit, and stupid, and no logical person should (sob) care about it. But most importantly, I lied about why I joined P.O.N.Y. I know I (sob) said I joined to avenge Spyke; I lied. I… (sob) I joined for me. I knew it was finally a chance (sob) for me to prove my worth; one final opportunity to add something to the world, where I could contribute so much (sob). And I guess that's why I need to go on this mission too. I (sob) know it's stupid, and I know so much has changed, but… (sob) this is all I have now. If I can't be of any use now… (sob) what use could I ever have?"

That was all that Rachel said. The entire time, Fiona had listened carefully to every last detail. In the end, she wasn't entirely sure what to think, or what to feel. As time passed, the silence remained, and soon Rachel started to feel as if she had offended the shy girl beyond repair.

"Fiona?" Rachel called out. "Do… do you hate me now?"

Fiona didn't answer the question. Instead, she somberly sighed.

"I was bullied a lot as a kid," Fiona said rather suddenly, much to Rachel's surprise. "I used to hate the other children so much, and I always wondered: if I ever saw one of them again, what would I say? I used to think that maybe I would attack them; get payback for what they said to me. But honestly, I don't think I really hate anyone. Everyone has made decisions that they deeply regret. I don't think anyone should be blamed for that."

Fiona smiled at the door. "I don't hate you Rachel. You're a good person, even if you don't want to think it. I'm sorry for what happened, and I'm sorry for all of the things you had to do. But you don't have to lie anymore; you can put all of that behind you, and become the worthwhile human being that you already are."

"You know what?" Rachel said, now smiling to herself. "I'm sorry, Fiona. For that nasty shit I said to you a few weeks ago. I despise that kind of cruelty. And you know what else?"

"What?"

"This may be the last time we spend together," Rachel proclaimed. Despite the grim circumstances, neither she nor Fiona could keep from grinning. "I may not get another chance to say this, but… you are a wonderful person, Fiona. We haven't spoken to each other a lot, but you are truly a sweet girl."

"Thanks," Fiona said happily. "And by the way, I think 'freak' Rachel would be a splendid person as well."

"She is," Rachel said, even starting to laugh. "I may not be on this team any longer, but mark my words, Fiona: I will do everything in my power to be as worthwhile as possible." She paused for a moment, before suddenly laughing fully. "Man, I just thought about how ironic this is; I needed to get my eyes ripped out to see how everything should have been. Isn't that the story of my life?"

However, she was met with silence. What Rachel had not known was that ever since she started smiling, Fiona had considered doing something incredibly dangerous and stupid. When she didn't even realize it, Fiona had gotten up, walked to her room, grabbed the necessary items, and returned with an immense amount of confidence. The next thing Rachel knew, the door was being opened up behind her, and something soft was being tossed onto her lap.

"Rachel, put that on," Fiona said, smiling with determination. While Rachel was shocked, Fiona breathed a sigh, and said something which she felt that she might drastically regret later that day.

"You're not going to feel worthless anymore. Get up. We're going after the Korbalovs."

__________

At the peak of the mountain, a small base camp had been established. Using supplies they brought in the car, they made themselves a rather comfortable shelter for the storm (or as comfortable as they could make it when surrounded by snow). They had dug out snow graves into the mountainside, and were prepared to sleep there if necessary, covered by thick sheets. The storm had gotten better as the day went on, just as predicted. There was still plenty of snow to go around, but it was much better to see in now, and it wasn't nearly as cold as it was before. The four girls could now clearly see the Korbalovs' house, and watched it constantly.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be the major problem of the day: nothing was happening. As the hours passed, Pinky lied on the mountain and stared the building down under the scope of her gun, only looking away to briefly accept a piece of chocolate from Tara. The others had drawn out more plans, and after a laborious process, they were quite certain that they could handle any situation. However, in order more all of their plans to work, they needed to study what the Korbalovs did during the day. Yet that time never came, and now, as darkness started to fall, and the storm ravaged on, the girls waited around the mountain peak, very bored and very tired. Eventually, Dash had had enough, and started marching about in a furious manner.

"This is bullshit!" Dash loudly proclaimed. "We have all these giant fucking plans, but we're useless as dicks since no one will fucking do anything! Are you sure this is even the right house, Spark!?"

"Who else lives in the middle of a mountain range?" Tara retorted, now rising to meet Dash, who was walking just above her. "Besides, I told you it would take a long time."

"No you didn't," Dash corrected. "First you gave a vague answer. Then you said it could take a while. Then you said that it would take less time than we thought it would. Don't fucking make up history, Spark."

"Dash, is there any chance you could stop being pretentious at this time?" Tara rudely remarked. Dash took mock-offense.

"Ow, my feelings," Dash said, clutching her chest. "How will I ever be the same!?"

"Hey, guys!" Pinky called out. However, she was ignored, as Tara and Dash started to fight, and AJ was too busy shaking her head in disappointment at their actions.

"How is it that we've been back in action for one day, and you go back to automatically hating everybody?" Tara said. "You were actually tolerable back at Olympus!"

"Well, yeah," Dash said, walking closer to Tara. "Cause I was bored and sweaty and shit. But now I'm so hot and bothered that I just can't contain my fucking emotions anymore. Who knows; maybe if you practice cunnilingus with me, we can all get along swimmingly."

"Tara, Dash, AJ…" Pinky said, looking back at them.

"How do you generate these immature comments so quickly?" Tara wondered aloud, now approaching the rainbow-haired girl in annoyance.

"I don't know; I guess it's cuz I'm just so damn wonderful," Dash announced with a grin.

"KORBALOV!" Pinky shouted in frustration. The focus immediately shifted to her, and Tara and Dash stopped their bickering, and walked over to her; AJ stood up from her perch on the snow, and looked off towards the house. Pinky was staring through the scope of her rifle at a large man standing in front of the house. Despite the heavy snow and great distance, she was able to make out most of his features. She could see that he wore a thick fur coat, which was light brown in color, and had a wide hood, which was pulled up over his head, covering his eyes from view. She could see that he wore black pants, and had on thick boots, which were somewhat sinking into the snow. Pinky could make out some other things as well; he had very thick black beard, which would have kept his face very warm. She could see that the coat he wore was torn at the sleeves, separated at the bicep. And most importantly, she saw that he had two deep crimson arms.

"It's Kristov," Pinky announced to the others, never looking away.

"What's he doing?" Tara asked, very curious. She could only make out a vague shadow in a blanket of white, and she found herself heavily relying on Pinky's abilities to say what she saw (which she didn't have too much faith in, if she were to be honest).

"He's kinda just standing there," Pinky said, trying to focus. "Wait, now he's moving."

Pinky announced what Kristov was doing as she saw him. She saw him face the mountain to her far right. She saw him stretch out his limbs, and then slowly pull his arm back. She announced that he had slammed his fist into the ground, and immediately afterwards, all of the girls felt a shockwave through the earth beneath them. It wasn't enough to knock them over, but it was certainly noticeable. Pinky then saw him turn so that his back was to her, and then repeat the process, slamming his fist into the ground, and shooting out a shockwave towards a faraway mountain, which split through the snow as it went, and left a terrible rumbling.

"What's he doing now?" Dash asked. Pinky tried her best to explain.

"Okay, he's turning this way," she said. "Not all the way; he's facing kinda to our left. Okay, now he's pulling his arm back; he's going to do it aga-- wait, he stopped."

"He stopped?" Tara said, confused. Pinky nodded.

"Yeah, now he's just standing there again," Pinky said. Every few seconds, she would report what he was doing. "Still standing. Still standing. Still standing. Still standing. Still standing… wait, now he's moving again."

Pinky paused.

"Well, what's he doing?" Tara pleaded to know. Pinky, however, was quite baffled.

"I… I don't know," Pinky admitted. "He's… kneeling."

"Kneeling?"

"Yeah, he's holding his right arm close to his chest," Pinky said. "Okay… now he's running in our direction, and his arm is all glow-y. Now he's…"

Pinky suddenly became horrified.

"RUN!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She stood up, and immediately bolted towards the other side of the mountain peak. Tara took one glance at Kristov, and instantly understood what was so frightening. Kristov had broken into a sprint, and while he was running, he cupped his hands together, and placed them over his head. In a flash, he leapt into the air, and then with all of his strength, slammed his mighty fists into the ground. The next thing anyone knew, he was suddenly airborne; the shockwave had propelled him upwards at a great velocity, and know, he was falling right on top of the girls camp; his teeth gritted together, and his arm pulled back, ready to strike out. The girls ran as fast they could over the peak, and back down the other side of the mountain. They had the slightest hope that maybe, just maybe, they could get back to the car, and retreat back to Olympus.

But those hopes were shattered, as when the girls were less than a quarter-way down the slope, Kristov collided with the ground near the peak. The shockwave was incredibly intense, and within a matter of moments, all four of the P.O.N.Y's had been launched in the air, and were now tumbling down the rocky mountainside.

To Be Continued...