My Sister's a Guardian (RotG Fanfiction)

Chapter 43: This Loss of Mine

(Content/trigger warnings for this chapter: self-hatred, people pressuring child to get over anxiety)

--Ranya--

They've done whatever they came here to do?

Self-hatred clawed at the inside of my chest. Pitch had sent this attack specifically after my family, hadn't he?

Reason said that if he had, there would've been a lot more Fear Angels climbing into the basement, and he would've focused the attack on my house, but my self-hatred took my original idea and ran with it. Besides, why else would Pitch have summoned this attack? The Fear Angels had ignored me and gone after Isabelle and my dad.

Really, we didn't know what he had been trying to accomplish today.

---

**Isabelle**

I was now responsible for the paralysis or kidnapping of so many people I knew. Not to mention everyone else who had been killed by Terror Storms or paralyzed by Fear Angels, suffering from horrible nightmares.

Now only Ranya and I were left in our family. That meant she was next, and once she was gone, who could take my place?

Without Dad, she didn't even have a plan to defeat Pitch. Could she do something with just her and Dakota at all?

Ranya had turned to her and opened her mouth when Jack leaped back inside through the window.

He fidgeted, his face extra pale, nearly sickly. "The other Guardians are coming."

Dakota narrowed her eyes at him and said in an eerily soft voice, her words quaking with a barely withheld rage, "You left them here alone. Now their dad's paralyzed."

Jack picked at the edge of his hoodie. "...I'm sorry. We didn't mean for this to happen."

"Why did you do it?"

He froze. One moment. Two. Dissipating smoke drifted through the basement. "...We thought leaving Isabelle and her family in danger might inspire her to become a Guardian. And show her she could protect others and not be paralyzed by the Fear Angels—get over her fear."

My heart constricted and tried to tug me to the floor. So it really was my fault Fear Angels paralyzed my Dad. But my stomach acid boiled to hot steam that scorched my chest. Ranya's face reddened until it looked like flame. "What?" I yelled. "You put my family in danger on purpose?"

"Isabelle, Pitch said he's gonna kill you when you become a spirit, and you can't keep that away fore—"
"You're not the boss of me!"

Footsteps thumped above, and I startled as they tolled on the stairs. The rest of the Guardians came to face us. Their expressions were as varied as they were people. North's gaze was tilted toward the ground, his face drooping; Bunny's eyes were wide; Sandy had a guilty look; and Tooth clasped her hands in front of her, her lip quivering.

Dakota blinked before her face hardened to stone, and she crossed her arms. "They all would've been paralyzed if I hadn't made it."

"We're running out of time," said North.

"Isabelle could've been paralyzed and kidnapped," Ranya spat. "Then you wouldn't have your Guardian anymore, and you'd have no time."

"People are dy—" Tooth tried.

"You're gonna blame that on Isabelle? That's Pitch's fault."

"You should protect the people you said you would," Dakota said. She opened her mouth for a few moments, something cracking through her stony face, before closing it and hardening again. She glanced back at Ranya. "I have something to tell you later."

"Why are you even helping them?" Jack narrowed his eyes at Dakota. "This is the third time we've seen you with Ranya, and the second time with Isabelle. What are you planning?"

"That's none of your business. But if you have to know, we're planning on how to not get killed."

(A/N: I'd love it if you voted, commented, added this story to your reading lists, and followed!

I'd also love it if you joined my Discord server! You can talk about RotG with fellow fans, share and talk about RotG fanworks, talk about my works, get notified when I post a new chapter to anything, and make friends! Copy and paste this link to join: https://discord.gg/v4dHDdXA (Go to the latest chapter for a link that works; Discord disables them after a week))