Chapter 157: Eight Out of Nine

Her father and grandfather met her in the hallway, and her mother forced a cheerful tone as she re-entered the room, not addressing what had just happened; her grandfather made a few concerned inquiries, but her mother skirted them. "How is all of South Korea in danger from her using her powers to jumpstart my healing?"

The bunny shook her head. "Evidently, it pulled a powerful person or group’s attention. Your mother could have channeled a spirit that is dangerous or made an enemy. I have no clue how this mudang works; all I know is what little you’ve said about it."

Rachel rubbed between her eyes. "I don’t know much about it myself... I never cared enough to ask her. I just thought it was good she’d found peace through it."

Compiling everything she knew, she concluded that the best way to get answers would be to confront her mother. Every move had a counter thread that brought a murky future of fortune and misfortune; the path wasn’t as clear as it had been during the Legend Quest, which could have been due to how many threads were in play.

"Tell me everything that happened."

Nia broke into her report, giving detailed information as to what happened from the instructions she’d left her, how everyone reacted, and what little she’d learned since they’d left Miami. Much of it Rachel had expected, yet there were a few things that made her ponder.

They were in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, right next to the White House’s West Wing. One of the rooms had been fitted with medical equipment so she could be close enough to the President when she awoke.

Everyone, including Nam, Alexa, her grandfather, and even the Green Beret platoon, had accompanied them to Washington, DC. Scarlet had been spending a bit of time with her father and grandfather at the latter’s request, wanting to hear about their adventures in the early part of The Oscillation. Apparently, her aunt and uncle were having some trouble with Soo-geun, her cousin, and he wanted to understand Scarlet’s point of view since she was close to his age of seventeen.

Nia’s report came to an end when the bunny commented that she was pulling away from the shared spiritual space, meaning she was waking up, and slightly sooner than expected.

"How much time do you have left?"

The bunny brought up her window. "Two hours and thirty-eight minutes."

"That works... I’ll need you to be with my mom to give her updates, and I don’t want to leave her alone until I get a chance to confront her about the call."

Nia got to her feet and stretched out. "I’ll go with her, but it is morning. Scarlet won’t be able to join if we go anywhere."

Rachel tilted her head with a small smirk. "Mmm. I’m sure she can get creative; she still has that umbrella they made, right?"

"They do," Nia nodded. "Not the most safe mode of transportation when the sun could burn her alive, but I suppose it depends on how willing she is to risk going out. You’ll be with this General Dallas person?"

"Haaa. Yes, and likely for an extended period of—"

A dizzying transition between lucid and dream suddenly veiled her thoughts, and suddenly, she was staring into the worried reaper’s face, bangs pulled back by bobby pins.

"Rachel! Rachel, you’re awake?! I-I think she’s—ack!"

"What’s up, Fangs?" Rachel forced a weary smile, lifting a hand to flick her forehead. "Space, much? Ugh. I feel like a car ran over me...on a good day."

Her brother’s deep chuckle followed; he came into view, the tallest of their family, towering over the rest of them—well, so long as Rachel stayed in bed. "So, an average Friday at the gym, huh? Woah, uh—and this must be Nia?"

The grinning adult bunny shimmered into existence, holding a peace sign. "That would be me. Please be careful with the major; she’s still quite fragile."

"Rachel!" Mom bustled in; she got a kiss on the forehead before her father gave her a reassuring nod and pulled her mother away to hug her from behind.

"You’ve looked worse."

"Thanks, Dad," she weakly laughed. "Grandpa."

"Glad you’re alright, Long-Eared Devil," he chuckled. "I’ve heard you can grow horns. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Florida about that military operation. I look forward to the details."

Alexa wore a strained smile next to her brother, her arms held tightly against the front of her dark blue dress. "It’s...good to see you in one piece. This has been...really hard."

Figuring she was mainly talking about The Oscillation in general, Rachel gave her brother a soft sigh as Saint Barbara slipped into the room. "Hey, Nam, I want to talk about that police thing later; it looks like the President isn’t going to wait. Mom..."

"Mhm! What can I do?" she hastily asked, shooting a motherly, disapproving stare in the saint’s direction for disrupting them. "Does she really need to be carted off the second she wakes up?"

"Mom, cool it. I’m okay," she said, probably not convincingly, given her exhausted voice and appearance. "Take Scarlet and Nia shopping for me—take Alexa, too. Okay? Anything you get her to wear can be copied to me, so you have my proxy clone."

Nia’s eyebrows drew together. "Rachel, we were all supposed to go together?"

"Things change, Captain Bun." The nickname got a thrilled smile on her mother’s face. "Maybe rope Anthony, Selvaria, Maria, and Fiona into it. I need something good and formal to change into in the coming days... All of us do, probably. Go have fun, Scarlet, Nia... And Alexa..."

The pretty blonde’s bright blue eyes creased as she gripped her arm. "Mhm?"

"Water under the bridge? Hey, let’s talk later."

"Sure?"

"And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Grandpa. I have some questions for you, too."

Her well-dressed grandfather gave her what she took as a proud nod. "Perhaps after you’ve taken a nap. You really should pace yourself."

Nam groaned as nurses came in to help her into a wheelchair. "You know Rach has never been one to sit still. Do you remember the claw machines she’d always somehow break when she was eight? I thought it was crazy. Eight out of the nine we found just didn’t work! But she wouldn’t give up, dragging Mom around town."

Her father and mother laughed at the story, but Rachel was now seeing everything in a new light when it came to bad luck.