The Promise

After Anya Corazon is fatally stabbed by a member of the Sisterhood of the Wasp, Miguel Legar — a mage from the Spider Society — is convinced that Anya is the initiate that he has been looking for. Telling Anya to count backwards from 100, Miguel then casts a spell that heals her injury. In the middle of the spell, he tells Anya to give him the most precious thing she has as life is precious and the spell demands a token. Anya then hands over the locket that she was given by her mother. When she asks who he is, Miguel explains that he is her guardian who will protect and train her if she fights for them as their chosen one. When he asks if she will accept this destiny, Anya has no choice but to say yes. Putting her locket around his own neck, Miguel tells her to brace herself as the rest of the spell will be painful. As he produces a feather, he tells Anya to close her eyes and remember that pain is a dream and that you cannot awaken into joy without it.

Later early in the morning, Gil Corazon — Anya’s father — returns to the apartment where they live. He is unaware that his daughter is wrapped up in a cocoon of webbing suspended over her bed. When he knocks on her door and calls her name, Anya wakes up thinking it’s her mother calling to him. Realizing that it’s her father, she instinctively breaks out of the cocoon and notices her bedroom is full of webbing. She convinces her father not to come in by saying she’s not dressed. Gil doesn’t come in and tells his daughter to hurry because she’ll be late for school. Anya only has fragmented memories of what happened the night before. Remembering that she was stabbed, she discovers that there is still a hole in her hoodie, but there are no scars or wounds to indicate she was stabbed. She also notices a blue spider tattoo that has been put on her arm and vaguely remembers Miguel giving it to her and she begins to wonder what happened to her.

When Anya arrives at Milton Summers High School, her friend Lynn is upset that she didn’t call the night before to tell her that she was okay. As she is scolding Anya she notices that her locket is missing, and figures it must be missing since she is always wearing it. That’s when the jock that Anya was supposed to fight the night before walks by bragging about the group of people he fought in the park the night before. He claims that they must have been members of a Middle Eastern terrorist organization, but when one of the other students points out that it couldn’t be possible if the woman of the group wasn’t wearing a burqa. The jock then points out that there was a small earthquake, assuming that they were terrorists who set off a bomb. Hearing this reminds Anya of her encounter with the Sisterhood of the Wasp and how they were incinerated during their conflict and wonders if it was a bomb that killed them all. That’s when Anya decides to call the jock on his bullshit, telling the others that he is a liar because she was there also. However, that’s when the bell rings and one of the teachers tells them all to get to class. In class, Anya suggests that they need to reinstitute their regulars so they can keep up to date on school gossip so she can stick it to the jocks. After correcting the teacher on pronouncing her name, Anya and Lynn continue talking about their plans when the teacher asks them to stop talking. This briefly reminds Anya of her mother and she suddenly remembers that her locket is missing. She figures she lost it in the fight the night before and figures the man who saved her can tell her what happened to it and answer all the questions she has.

At that same moment, Miguel Legar has called his superior to find out everything they have on the new initiative. He’s not happy to learn that she is a fifteen-year-old girl who is still in high school. He also learns that her father is Gil Corazon, a reporter for the New York Herald. However, when he learns that Anya’s mother is deceased, Miguel tells them not to go into further detail, saying it is for the initiate to tell him what happened. Later that day, Anya is Lynn are practicing gymnastics in the school gym when they notice Paul Townsend enter the gym. The two are smitten by Paul, who was a member of their crew back in junior high. Anya becomes embarrassed when Lynn presses the issue but quickly joins the other girls practicing gymnastics when Lynn yanks down her sweat pants. As she Anya practices she is unaware that Miguel is watching her from the shadows evaluating her agility and skill. He thinks she is rough around the edges, but she already has potential. When Anya falls while working the parallel bars, she keeps on getting up refusing to give up. That’s when a voice calls out asking Miguel what he’s doing in this place, warning him to be careful because they’re always watching. However, Miguel cannot find the source of the voice, as the only people in the gym are teenagers who can’t see him due to a spell he cast.

After school, Anya and Lynn part company agreeing to send out some calls to their old friends. On her own, Anya decides to return to the park for answers. Sure enough, she finds Miguel and she tells him how she has come looking for her locket. When he shows Anya that he has her locket he tells her that he cannot give it back because of the pact that she agreed to. She suddenly remembers that she did after she got stabbed. Miguel then says it’s not safe and hands her a business card for a company called Webcorps and tells her to meet him at that address tomorrow afternoon, saying that it’s not safe to talk out in the open like this. Surprisingly, Miguel manages to disappear while Anya was looking down at the business card. When she calls out and asks what’s at the address on the business card. Miguel’s parting words are that she’s going to find her future.

Recurring Characters

Araña, Webcorps (Miguel Legar) , Gil Corazon, Sisterhood of the Wasp, Lynn, Paul Townsend

Topical References

Al-Qaeda