Part 18. Black Hopes

Amber woke. Her eyes darted around the room, looking at the light levels and the few faint gleams of LEDs in the darkness. She was pretty sure she was awake now, and that this wasn't some illusion conjured by a dark wizard. Mel had taught them all a few tricks that he thought could make it easier to recognise the real world, and they were just getting the hang of using them. Once the Enemy had shown its face in the real world, it was hard to feel safe even at home. They always had to be on the lookout.


She'd met with the other Rainbow Knights again; they seemed to be sticking to that name now. They had nothing else to say. A week since the attack, a week and two days, and then three. All the others could come up with was to keep watching, see if there was any sign of what the monsters had wanted. Mel was bringing Alex all the newspapers and other reports he could find, so she could sort through the witness statements and attempt to find some symbol of truth. But everything was moving so slowly. They were this world's only hope to fight the Enemy, and there was absolutely nothing they could do.


Amber decided that today would be the day that changed. She was going to do something, to find more information or to find the Enemy's weakness. She didn't know what she could do, but she also knew that she had to try. She wasn't going to sit back and wait any more.


That decision made, she pulled on her clothes and bounded down the stairs three at a time, rushing into the kitchen for breakfast.


"Early morning again?" Mom grinned, "I'd love to know what's got you so excited about school lately."


"I love you, Mom," it didn't mean anything more than what it said on the surface, but that got Mom to turn and look at Amber again.


"What's wrong, sweetie? Are you worried about something?"


"No. I just... I wanted you to know I think about you. Even if I'm talking to my friends, I mean. Whenever something happens, I'm worried about you. And I want you to know that."


"Is it the monster that's got you thinking like that?" Mom seemed to be pulling things out of thin air, but Amber thought she might be able to understand. She wanted to tell Mom how much she cared if she was going to do something against the Enemy, even if she didn't have a clue yet what the Enemy even was, or what she could do. But Mom knew that she was the most important person in Amber's life, the two of them against the world, so just saying it like that must be weird.


"Maybe," she nodded. It was kind of true, in a way. It was the monster that had told her this couldn't wait, and they actually had to do something about the Enemy. The day after, she'd been glad they escaped. When Mom wanted her to take two days off school to make sure she was coping mentally, she'd been excited about having days where she didn't have to do any work. But now she was starting to understand why the grownups were so scared even if they didn't understand it themselves. She was trying to do the right thing, and she didn't want to make Mom worry about her for no reason. "I think I just want you to know, when I go somewhere with my friends, you're still my mom. Like you're always there for me, even if you're not like, really there."


"Have you got a boyfriend?" that question was totally out of the blue, "Ohh, my little girl is growing up so fast! You just make sure he's really as nice as he says, you hear me? Don't make the mistakes I did."


"I've not got a boyfriend yet, Mom," Amber couldn't stop herself blushing as she thought about it. She didn't really understand all that stuff yet, and she was pretty sure she wasn't ready to have a real boyfriend. Besides, who would she choose? The only guys she even spoke to were Jack and Mel. They were both miles away, both way too old, and one of them was dead.


"You're thinking about it, though. I can tell. Call it a mother's instinct. I won't pry, right? But be careful."


"I will," Amber nodded. She didn't need to correct Mom. She just wanted her to know that she was keeping herself safe. And she was, just not in the way Mom thought. "Don't worry about me so much."


* * *


School wasn't a realm of excitement. It was just as interesting as Amber might have expected, with the typical array of arguments between the boys, who she didn't really pay much attention to until Eddie Stryker punched Keith Bendis in the middle of an English lesson that was just about to send everyone else to sleep. They managed to stay awake, and the teacher even tried to incorporate their antics into whatever the topic of the lesson was supposed to be, while the boys in question were waiting outside the office of the head of year.


Amber wasn't particularly interested in talking about other people's adventures, and she was sure she didn't want to know about anything that would have boys who were normally good friends hitting each other, so she didn't try to guess what the problem might be.


When it came to lunch time, the kids were running around screaming, venting some of their frustration after too many hours having to sit still and be quiet. There might have been more drama going on, but Amber didn't see it if there was. Friendships formed and were broken all the time, and the boys would forgive each other soon enough. She might have been a weird dreamer, but Amber thought she was pretty smart for not worrying about whatever the kids around her were excited about on any particular day. It would all be different tomorrow.


And today, there were more important things to worry about. She needed to find the Enemy, or do something that might stop it. Or maybe find the Princess. She didn't know how, but that wasn't going to stop her trying. And right now, it was like an itch that she had to scratch. Not just an urge, but a literal itch, spreading up her arms and down the back of her neck. She couldn't keep still, and she knew that there was something important out there, that she just had to be doing right now.

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