#chapter 1x12

Jo didn’t know how to react to what Karen was said, and it was clear that Karen was waiting for a reaction. All Jo could do was stand there, her face throbbing. After a second or so, she finally uttered a simple, “What?”

“We’re here for your Sol,” Karen repeated. “That’s Sol in the plural sense, by the way. Our Leader seeks a number of special Sols. He wishes to possess their unique energy for himself. He scouted you and your Dueling Hearts as potential bearers of those Sols. We were sent to confirm his suspicions, and if he turned out to be right, to take your Sol energy from you.”

Jo felt like she’s been smacked in the face, now metaphorically as well as literally. Her head felt foggy, but that wasn’t the reason why nothing that Karen was saying was making any sense. “You can’t take a person’s Sol energy,” she told Karen, “that’s not possible.”

“Our Leader can,” Karen countered insistently, “but because his movements as of late are, let’s say, limited, he has to rely on his allies to seek out strong Sols for him.”

Lawrence removed a metal amulet from his pocket and held it up for Jo to see, with a nasty grin spreading across his face. It glowed faintly. “Our Leader has the ability to share powers with others, or even with some objects,” Karen explained. “He allowed us to borrow his technique for identifying those with the Sols that he is looking for, and he put his power to take the Sol energy from others into this artifact. It will store your Sol until we can return to him with it.”

“Others within our organization,” Monty explained, “will take the Sols of any strong opponents that Our Leader sends them to assess, as an offering to him, even if they don’t turn out to be what Our Leader is looking for. The three of us, on the other hand, will avoid doing so whenever possible. You four were simply unlucky enough to actually have the Sols in question. Some of them, at least.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Jo stammered. “Everyone’s Sol starts out the same, and only changes based on who they are. Everyone’s Sol is just as special as everyone else’s. Even if you could take Sol from someone, that doesn’t explain why you would want ours.”

“You don’t need to know the specifics,” Karen told Jo, sounding almost sympathetic. “All you need to know is that the three of us intend to be as delicate as we can. Even Lawrence wouldn’t just kill you for no reason. You’ll almost definitely survive the process, and because of the unique nature of your four Sols, you may even be able to develop Sol all over again and regain some of your former strength one day.”

Karen looked over at Lawrence and nodded. He stepped forward, and it hit Jo for the first time that these three were absolutely serious about this. Even injured, with her stamina depleted, Jo could feel that there was power in the amulet that Lawrence held. Jo reacted on instinct, stepping back into her back stance. Energy crackled in the air around her as her body settled into position. Lawrence’s only reaction was another of his broad, intimidating smiles. He saw that she intended to fight, and that excited him.

Jo would, of course, fight. If there was even a chance that the Sol Takers might actually be able to live up to their name, and that it might kill her and her friends, Jo would fight, no matter how hurt she was, until she couldn’t fight anymore. She’d fight all three of the Sol Takers if she had to, and she could see, in that moment, that they were prepared to make her if that’s what she chose.

And so, because she saw no other option, she made that choice.

Jo felt her energies churning within her as she focused on mixing them together, and building them up. Her life energy flared alongside her Sol energy, alleviating some of the pain that she was feeling, and she bore down on her Sol energy and wrapped herself in it. As weak as she was at this point, her aura was so small that could barely be seen, but it was all that she had. She planted her feet firmly, prepared to launch herself at her assailants with everything that she had left, but she was saved from additional pain when a new voice lent itself to the conversation.

“What’s going on out here? You’re making near enough noise to make the dead, which just happens to be barely enough to wake an old man like me.”

Jo turned, along with the Sol Takers, toward the source of the sound. Standing in the open back door of his dojo was Wilson himself, dressed in a robe, carrying a straight wooden cane that Jo knew he sometimes carried when he had to leave the dojo for an extended period of time. Jo couldn’t breathe. She’d forgotten why it was that she and the other Dueling Hearts had agreed to fight the Sol Takers in the first place. Now she was reminded, and there was nothing she could do to protect Wilson any longer if the Sol Takers decided to use him for further leverage.

“Wil,” Jo said, trying to hide how desperate she felt, “go back inside. Let me handle this.”

Wilson smiled at her, and then looked at the other Dueling Hearts still lying on the ground nearby. Jo took his meaning. She hadn’t been able to handle things so far. What made her think that anything had changed?

That doesn’t mean that you can do anything here that we couldn’t, Jo thought, but she had enough respect for the man to refrain from saying it out loud.

Instead, she looked the old man in the eyes and said, “These three are dangerous, Wil. They don’t want you. They just want us. Just go back inside.”

Wilson walked over to her, and he looked over her broken nose carefully. “I have this dojo for a reason, young lady,” he said, “I can handle myself.” He reached up, and with a swift twist, he popped the cartilage in her nose back into place. Then his hand glowed, and he gripped her nose, hard, so hard that she almost blacked out from the pain, but when his hand came away, most of the pain was gone.

Then, without another word, Wilson turned away from Jo, and stood between her and the Sol Takers. He planted his cane firmly in front of him. All of the sudden, it was like he was a different person. Jo took an involuntary step back. She could feel an intense wave of Sol pouring from her mentor’s frail body. Looking past him, at the Sol Takers, he could see that they felt it is well.

Monty and Lawrence looked at each other with varying levels of concern and confusion. Karen kept her eyes fixed on Wilson, but the calm smile that had accompanied her since her first direct interaction with the Dueling Hearts had faded from her face.

“I know who you are,” Wilson told Karen and her companions, “or rather I know who you represent. I may be trapped in the frail body of an old man, but I know more about how to augment the human body with Sol than almost anyone else alive. The three of you may have defeated these four,” he gestured to Jo and the other Dueling Hearts, “and you may have done so relatively easily, but you can’t fool me as easily as you can then. I can feel how worn out you are.”

Wilson looked to Jo, “Miss Sieger will fight at my side.” He turned back to the Sol Takers, “You three can sense the power that I wield. Are you really confident that you can take both of us as you are now?”

Jo was caught completely off guard. She’d never seen Wilson like this before. She knew that he had knowledge of Sol, obviously. He had a dojo, and he had advised her many times on how to better focus her energies, something that was often difficult for someone with a Sol like hers, but she never thought of him as threatening, or as all that capable of fighting. Now he was threatening some of the most powerful fighters that Jo and her friends had ever seen, and his threats seemed to be giving their enemies pause.

Karen in particular seemed to really be considering Wilson’s words. Finally, after a pause of several long seconds, she looked Wilson right in the eye, and she asked, “What would you have us do? Our Leader suspects that these four possess four of the Sols that he seeks. Even if we lie, his quest for those special Sols will lead him to these four again one day. It is much safer for us to simply do our job.”

“Your leader,” Wilson inquired, “prefers that you bring him the most potent Sols that you can, correct?”

Karen nodded.

“Then he would be forgiving of a delay if it meant bringing him special Sols even stronger than the ones that these four possess here today.”

“That’s true,” Karen admitted. Jo could see from the look on her face that she was already beginning to follow Wilson’s line of reasoning, but Jo herself was as confused as ever.

“Then leave here,” Wilson offered Karen, “and come back in two weeks. In that time, I’ll train these four.”

“Making them stronger,” Karen said, continuing his thought for him, “and therefore more worthwhile for Our Leader.”

“Except,” Wilson said, a fierce edge to his voice, “you’ll have to fight them again when you return, and if they’ve managed to get strong enough to beat you in those two weeks, you have to leave them in peace.”

“If you can train these four weakling to beat us in only two weeks,” Lawrence said, laughing, “then you might just be able to make that miracle come true, too.”

Karen looked over at Lawrence, and he fell quiet. She remained silent again for a few more seconds. Jo could tell that she was deep in thought, that she was trying to work something out. Jo found herself trying to read what she was thinking on her face. She almost thought that she could, too, that she could see Karen trying to come up with a way to use this situation to let Jo and her friends go, but that was just wishful thinking.

Either way, Jo was too distracted waiting for Karen to answer that she didn’t notice at first when her friends began to stir, one after another, as they shook off the unconsciousness brought about by their recent altercations. She kept her eyes on Karen. She almost couldn’t tear them away. She didn’t even realize that she’d been holding her breath until Karen spoke, saying, “I accept your terms.”

Jo’s eyes darted to the other Sol Takers. Monty didn’t seem disappointed by Karen’s decision, but he didn’t seem enthusiastic about it, either. Lawrence didn’t seem necessarily disappointed, either, but he didn’t seem like he thought it was a good idea. He looked at Jo and Wilson like he might attack them on his own, but he restrained himself, eventually turning away from them completely. Karen turned away next, followed by Monty, and the three started moving away, toward the street. As they did, Karen turned and looked over her shoulder, saying, “Two weeks. Use them well.”

Wilson continued to stand his ground, but Jo turned to her friends. They were all awake, now. Tucker was up, and he was carrying himself well, ignoring his injuries. He reached down, and he helped Sara up. She was still so dazed that she didn’t even mind leaning on Tucker to avoid using her damaged leg. Jo rushed over to them, and she helped Jen to stand up as well.

“What happened?” Tucker asked.

“Did you win,” Sara asked, looking around, “and why is Wilson out here?”

Jo opened her mouth to respond, but Wilson himself beat her to it. “That,” he said, turning, finally, to look at the Dueling Hearts again, “is a very long story, and the four of you have had a long night. You are injured, in some cases quite seriously. I can alleviate the worst of that for you, but the four of you require rest, and time to start recovering. Go home tonight and sleep, and return here tomorrow, and we will sort everything out.”

Wilson said all of this with absolute authority, in a tone that commanded respect. This was a side of Wilson that Jo was familiar with. She had encountered this Wilson before during training. This was a Wilson that she could deal with. So, when the other Dueling Hearts looked to her for answers, despite Wilson’s words, Jo said, “We’ll do as he says. He somehow seems to know more about what’s going on here than I do, anyway.”

The other Dueling Hearts didn’t seem to like her answer, but they were too tired to argue, or even think about arguing. They followed Wilson inside the dojo, and allowed him to use some of his Sol to reverse the greatest of the damage that had been done to them that night. Then they went home. To Jo’s surprise, considering all that she was feeling, and her history with nightmares, sleep actually came easy to her that night.

Even more surprising, though, was what Jo dreamed about. Rather than the nightmares of which she was accustomed, Jo’s subconscious caught her off guard. That night, of all things, Jo dreamed of Karen. Of her face. Of her confident smile. Of the way that she walked, and the way that she moved when she fought. Of her eyes, and her voice, and how it had felt when Karen had finally told them what it was that she and her allies wanted.

Jo awoke the next morning feeling confused. She was still confused about all of the things that the Sol Takers had said, and about everything that Wilson had said. She was confused as to how Wilson had been able to heal her nose, when her unnatural Sol should have rejected his life energy and made healing her impossible. On top of it all, now, she was confused by her dreams as well. Had her loss to Karen affected her so much? Why, then, had her dream left her feeling, not shaken, not afraid, but content? She didn’t have any answers, and even though talking with Wilson and straightening things out would not answer these fresh questions, any answers at this point would be welcome.

So Jo hopped up out of bed. She’d forgotten momentarily just how injured she was, and she winced when her muscles protested her movements. She had to take a few seconds to collect herself before she could stand up completely. She’d slept in her clothes, but they were too ripe, and covered in blood, to wear for a second day in a row. She changed, and then headed out into the hallway, where she almost ran right into Sara.

The two sisters just looked at each other for several seconds. Neither of them knew what to say, and they were each the kind of person who, when they didn’t know what to say, they didn’t speak. Finally, though, Sara broke the silence. “I don’t think we should tell mom about any of this,” she said, “at least not yet.”

Jo didn’t even have to think about it. If their mom found out about the Sol Takers, she would insist on helping to fight them, and Jo and Sara didn’t want to put her in danger. So Jo nodded, and the two sisters walked together. They walked down the stairs together, they walked out of the house together, and they walked to Wilson’s dojo together, all in complete silence.