Kanika chewed the end of her pen as Scott wrote on the whiteboard. She was seriously contemplating doing something to lighten the mood - like taking Scotts' visor for a spin and seeing him blunder about with his eyes tightly shut.
This particular line of thought, however, was cut short when Kankia started to feel like someone had grabbed hold of her heart. She stopped, stock still and the pen dropped. Her surroundings grew distant and all the usual classroom noises faded into the background.
Beams of energy started to pump into her. Four... no, five beams aimed directly at her heart. Had she been able to see herself she would have noted a nimbus of light surround her. But she was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice that, let along register Scott turning around, seeing said Nimbus and tell her off for playing practical jokes.
Kankia tried to follow the beams, but they each seemed to go off in different directions. She picked one at random and followed it to its source. She caught a glimpse of Faolan standing upright and staring at her. Kankia pulled awy and tried another one, this one taking her to Saku. Saku, like Faolan was standing and staring at her, and like her was in a classroom. She followed the third and the fourth, which took her - as suspected - to Serafina and Victory, both staring at her.
Kankia touched the fifth one. It was a good deal weaker than the others and shivered at her touch. She followed it more carefully than the others and she only had a brief flash before the beam crumbled.
All contact broke off and Kankia gasped for breath. The nimbus retreated.
"Mama!"
Serafina
Serafina blanched, sitting perfectly still for a long moment, before her brain kicked in and she scrambled to get to a phone.
Nyx's kittens
There was silence in the office, then simutaneously four lines started ringing. While Kurt was trying to answer the phones, Scott and Kanika entered the room.
"Oh!" Kurt exclaimed, spotting Kanika. "Dey are for you."
"All of them?" Scott asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Sera, Saku, Fao and Viccy, right?" Kankia smiled.
"Yes."
"Can you put them all on speaker and give us some privacy please? It's a family matter."
Kurt glanced at Scott who nodded. Kurt did this thing and the two left the room.
"Hey guys," Kanika said as soon as the door shut.
"What the hell just happened?" Victory demanded to know.
"What did you guys see?"
"Just you," Saku replied.
"Okay, well, I saw all of you. And Mama."
Serafina
"Yeah?" Serafina's tone was slightly skeptical. "So, what does this mean then?"
Faolan cleared his throat. "You think Mama is still around somewhere? We'd know, right? We'd know."
Saku
"I saw her," Kanika insisted.
"Mama died," Victory replied. "I don't know what you saw, but it wasn't Mama."
"Look, her signal was very weak -"
"How convienent."
"It broke when I tried to follow it, but I do know this much. It was coming from Bubastis."
"Bubastis?" Saku repeated. "That's the ruined city of Bastet in Egypt, right?"
"Right."
"Oh come on Saku," Victory sneered. "You're not seriously buying this? It's probably just a trap to get to us."
Serafina
"Besides," Serafina put in, her tone somewhat contemptuous. "Even if she is still alive, why bother?"
"Sera!" Faolan admonished.
"Oh whatever, don't give me crap," Serafina replied. "She abandoned us as kittens."
"For our safety," Faolon pointed out.
"Yeah, because we've all led such safe lives since then," Serafina argued back. "Maybe you have, but I haven't."
"Same," Victory agreed. "I'm with Sera on this one. She abandoned us. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a mother."
Saku
"I can't believe you guys!" Kankia exploded. "After all this time there's hope that she might still be alive. Have you call conveiently forgotten the blood rain? That was Mama's blood. Okay, so we may not have lived the safest lives since she left us with our fathers, but at least we're alive. As it occured to you that she was actually saving us from something worse?"
"All the more reason not to pursue this," Victory replied.
"Well, I'm going with Kanny," Saku said firmly.
Kankia smiled.
"Thanks Saku," she said softly.
Serafina
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe we're better off without her?" Victory shot back.
"I never said I wouldn't go," Serafina snapped. "Of course I'll come. We're family. But I have doubts, Kanika. Sorry if that offends you."
"She's right," Faolan agreed. "I have doubts too, but we are family."
Saku
"Offended? Me? Ha," Kankia replied. "And... and you're probably right to have doubts. I know I saw Mama but none of us know what condition she'll be in if - when - we find her."
"Oh come on," Victory said. "Don't tell me that you're all going to pursue this?"
"You can always stay home," Saku replied. "No one's going to make you come."
Serafina
"No, Viccy, you're coming," Serafina said in a firm tone that none of her siblings had heard before.
"What? You're gonna make me?" Victory scoffed.
"Yeah," Sera replied. "This is a family thing. I have... I have a feeling it's going to require all of us."
Saku
"Okay someone is going to make you go," Saku said.
"Saku?"
"Yes Viccy?"
"Shut up."
"But I enjoy listening to the sound of my own voice."
"Argh. Fine. Whatever. I'll go. I have a feeling someone is going to have to be there to keep you children out of trouble. And when it does turn out to be a trap I can say I told you so."
Serafina
"Right," Serafina drawled, rubbing her eyes. "When do we go?"
"What should we pack?" Faolan joked.
Saku
"I guess, the sooner we go the better, while the trail - such as it is - is still hot," Saku replied.
"I don't know, Fao," Kankia said. "Whatever you think we'll need."
Serafina
"Alright."
Serafina paused.
"I better tie up some loose ends then. See you guys soon."
"Same." Faolan sighed. "See ya's!"
Saku
"Bye," Saku said.
"This is a mistake," Victory said to Kankia when they all got off the other lines.
"Say what you will, Viccy. Say what you will," Kankia replied.