"This is so unfair," whined Kat as she and her brother made their way through the school yard. "I can’t believe they’re still making us going to school."

Tyrell groaned and grabbed Kat’s arm, yanking her back as he gave her a stern look. "Remember what Dad said. We’re not supposed to talk about this in public. And school's still important no matter what poweres we've been endowed with. Try to keep things in perspective, will you?" His sister giggled as she pulled her arm from his grasp in one smooth action.

"Well, it's still not fair."

Glaring at his energetic sister, Tyrell sighed. Why did he even bother reasoning with her? As far as Kathryn was concerned she could take on Chimera all by herself. Unlike himself, Kat didn’t seem fazed in the slightest by the things that Jace and Tiana had told them. So the legends in the old book were true. The book itself had actually been young Celeste's diary that she kept when she had been in the twins’ current situation. Jace had hidden it in the attic, figuring that his children would never think of going up there since it hadn’t been cleaned in quite some time. He had never imagined that his children would spend many childhood moments gathered around the diary and listening in awe as one of them narrated the tales of the mystical Shards.

Now they were in possession of these odd crystals that were forged from some archaic power source. Each had some way of harnessing the essence of the Earth’s elements and using the power to create a powerful sorcery. Seeing the twins’ fight, Jace had hypothesized that since the time that the Shard keepers were supposed to have existed, the Shards had changed so that their powers could only be released through the medium of some kind of weapon, usually a sword.

"Great! As if I don’t have enough to worry about, now I have to contend with some blood-thirsty group out to kill my parents," Tyrell thought to himself as he watched Kat skip up the stone steps leading into Carthala High. He knew for sure now that these Shards had something to do with his dreams. This is what they had been warning him of for a long time. Now all he had to do was find the other two boys who would probably be somehow connected to all of this.

"Maren!!" Kat’s excited shriek nearly deafened the boy, bringing him out of his thoughts, as he turned to see Maren racing toward them, tie askew and hair mussed. With him, followed a very stern-looking Angelique who carried with her one of the books that Tyrell had forgotten on his rush to get to school.

"Hey! What’s the deal with not telling me your parents were dropping you off? Me and Angelique waited twenty minutes for you two. You could have at least told us you were coming early. Why’d you get here so early anyway?" questioned Maren snatching his best friend by the back of his shirt collar and shaking him. "This better be good, Arteme!"

Tyrell unlatched the older boy’s fingers from his shirt and tried to shrug as he had seen Maren do so many times. Unfortunately, Tyrell wasn’t too good at appearing nonchalant. Maren gave him a suspicious glare as the mahogany-haired youth tapped his fingers against the back of his neck. "Well, Mom and Dad decided that they should make sure we got here on time since they weren’t so sure that Kat was going to stay if they didn’t bring her here themselves," Tyrell explained, figuring that this was as close to the truth as he was going to get.

"That’s not entirely true!" huffed Kat, tugging on Maren’s arm, "It’s because...."

"Kathryn! That is the truth!" snarled her brother, a warning evident in his tone. Kat halted her explanation and mumbled something under her breath.

Then she looked at Maren and Angelique and lowered her head in compliance. "Okay so it is the truth. They were afraid I was going to try and skip class," she said with curtness, placing one hand on her hip in an indifferent posture.

"Oh what an interesting development this is. Widdle Katty not wanting to come to school. And after all the times, you’ve criticized me for playing hooky. You are such a hypocrite Kat," laughed Maren, patting the girl on her strawberry-blonde hair.

"Shut up, Maren!"

Seeing the two feuding with each other as usual, Angelique made her way over to Tyrell and fixed him with an accusing gaze. "You’re hiding something again." Tyrell eagerly shook his head ‘no’ and prepared to explain. Before he could speak, a high-pitched beep echoed through the air and all the teenagers, except Angelique, groaned aloud.

"Damn it!" hissed Kat, knowing that the sound meant that they were all officially late which usually meant one thing.

"Miss Kathryn! I think we could do without your sass," a voice boomed behind them, causing all the tardy youths to jump in surprise. They turned to see the very angry face of the school’s assistant principal staring straight at them.

"OH h-hello, Mr. Mara. As you could see...." Kat cooed while smoothing a wrinkle in her skirt.

"Save it! I could do without your flimsy excuses as well. You’re all late and I’ll be seeing you after school. Though I guess that’s not much of a change for you, Mr. Torrence," he snapped looking at the almost amused look on Maren’s face. "Now get to class!" Mr. Mara gave the children one last disapproving glance before stalking off into the halls once more.

"Alright! I guess I’ve got some company for detention today, eh Arteme," quipped Maren as he punched Tyrell lightly and then dashed into the halls.

"Oh shut up, Ren!" growled the younger boy as he charged after the boy with both Kat and Angelique trailing behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kat slammed the dictionary on her desk and kicked at her chair as she threw herself upon it. "An essay! This is all your fault, Maren!" she whispered fiercely to the boy behind her as she ripped a piece of loose-leaf paper from her notebook and began scribbling. "This is soo humiliating. An exemplary student as myself stuck in detention with the rest of these losers."

"Keep it down Kat! I want to get this done before four so I can still meet up with Cyrus," urged Tyrell as he jotted lines down across his paper, making up the majority of the sentences.

"Yeah spaz, some of us are trying to work," added Maren, his voice oozing with sarcasm as he sketched a miniature snake on the top of his desk using a tip of a compass. He had some schoolbook leaning on his side to hide what he was doing, but when Tyrell glanced back, he could easily see what his friend was working on.

"Mr. Torrence, would you like another day added to your already enormous list of detentions?" Mr. Mara’s voice inquired from his behind a massive pile of paperwork.

"No sir."

"Then will you please be quiet?" The man then turned to face Kat, who was cackling aloud, overjoyed at Maren’s predicament. "That goes for you as well, Ms. Arteme." Kat lowered her head in shame and grumbled something under her voice about this still all being Maren’s fault.

Tyrell sighed as he continued to watch the raven-haired youth toiling over his artwork. Where did his friend get these sharp pointy objects? He turned back to his essay and continued writing his essay that mostly consisted of big important-sounding words and sentences that simply repeated each other. In other words, complete BS. Kat was right. This was humiliating. His father would kill him if he knew he got detention. After all, he was usually an A’s and B’s student. This was the first detention he had ever gotten in his three years at Carthala. Bored, he looked back yet again to see Maren adding the inked-in diamondback markings to his masterpiece which, he guessed, was supposed to be some kind of rattlesnake.

A few minutes later, a lady wearing a pressed suit walked into the room and mentioned something to Mara. Looking exasperated, Mara groaned and looked out at the classroom full of students busy writing their essays or engaged in some activity that resembled essay writing. Leaving them alone for a couple of minutes couldn’t result in some catastrophic event. Besides, what the lady had told him sounded important and in need of immediate action.

"If anyone leaves this room without their essay on my desk, I’ll personally insure that that student is promptly suspended. And I mean you, Torrence," he warned shooting a threatening glance toward Maren who mocked him with an innocent smile. He rolled his eyes and then proceeded to follow the woman out of the room.

"This is so stupid!" his sister continued to whimper after he was gone, as she flipped through the dictionary in search of a synonym to ‘rule.’ As she resumed her complaints about her unjust predicament, the girl sitting behind Maren slipped out of her seat and walked up to the fuming girl. This new girl had a graceful shade of straight black hair that was wrapped up in an elegant bun at the top of her head while the remaining part fell upon her shoulders. A small white-gold ring complete with an amethyst stud brushed against her chest as it swung from a chain dangling around the girl’s throat. Clearing her throat, she tapped Kat on the shoulder and when Kat whirled around in anger, her gentle blue-violet eyes met the other’s flaring dark blue.

"Excuse me, but there are other people in this room. We would like to finish our work too. So would you mind keeping your voice down," the dark-haired girl spoke as Kat stared back in shock. She had never seen this girl around Carthala before so she decided that she must be a new student. Well, if that was the case, then it was Kat’s sworn duty to present herself as a caring friend to any incoming youths.

Kat dropped her grimace and replaced it with a kind smile as she pushed back her long braid of strawberry blond. "Hey, I’m sorry for being such a spaz. It is my first detention, you know."

"Mine too," replied the other taking her hand and rewarding it with a warm shake. "I just got here today and I already got detention. My mom’s going to be furious."

"Yeah this place is kind of strict. You’ve got to be real careful about what you do. So girl, what’re you in for?" interrupted Maren finishing the final touches to his sketch.

"Really! Of all the nerve, Maren, asking her about her personal business," reprimanded Kat shooting her brother’s friend an icy glare.

"Oh it’s really all right. I got caught criticizing the school’s dress code. This place doesn’t look too kindly on style, now does it?" chuckled the other girl noting Maren’s disheveled appearance with a slight smirk.

"Nope," the boy replied as he ran his hand through his raven hair with pride, clearly trying to show the girl his red spikes.

"By the way what’s your name? Mine’s Kathryn, though most call me Kat. That moron with the freaky hair is known as Maren. At the back of the class is my cousin Angelique. She’s the one with all the dark clothes and the silver hair. And right over there, working tirelessly on his essay, is my twin brother Tyrell. We’re not identical twins though we were born on the same day," chattered Kat, trying to draw the dark-haired girl’s attention from the show-off Maren.

"Interesting," the other girl said with a smile, still gazing at Maren. "My name is Nadia Auriel." She said this more to the boy beside her than to Kathryn as she looked down at the tiny rattlesnake he had inscribed on the desk’s surface. "You’ve got quite a talent, Maren."

"Thanks. I enjoy my work. When I get older and become a famous artist, people are going to call this my Detention Period." Nadia reacted to his joke with a cheerful laugh and leaned over to get a better look at the drawing.

Just then, the door of the detention room flew open and revealed a panting girl who looked like she must be a sophomore. Her wispy bright blond hair brushed across her shoulders, as her bright blue eyes appeared to be searching for someone within the room. Beautiful sapphire icicles dangled from her ears and trembled a bit as she moved her head from side to side. Then her eyes lit up, as she seemed to find what she was looking for.

"Nadia! I’ve been looking all over for you. You didn’t tell me you had detention," she gasped as she watched her friend pull away from Maren and turn around.

"Sorry Gayle, but I couldn’t find you before the end of the day," responded Nadia as she sat back against her own chair. "Don’t worry, I’m almost done with this essay so we can go soon."

"Well, I’m done," sighed Tyrell who had been quiet during most of the conversations. He closed his books and put away his supplies, then walked up and set his essay on the front desk. "Hey Ren, you better finish that now. Cyrus is going to be pissed if we miss another meeting," he called to his friend, smiling at the irritated expression on Maren’s face. Turning to his sister, he adjusted his school bag and grinned. "See you later, Kat. Hope you have fun finishing that paper." His only response from her was a vicious glare.

"Um...Tyrell...was it? Could you hang with Gayle until I finish? She’s been waiting to go biking all week and I’m so sorry to make her wait longer," the black-haired Nadia asked with hesitation, glancing back at her blond friend.

"Sure," agreed the boy as he walked over to the girl standing by the door. He waved a quick goodbye to his friends. As he did, a hand fell upon his shoulder.

It was Angelique. He had practically forgotten she was still here in all the talking. "Since I’m finished, I guess I’ll go with you," she said as Tyrell nodded his head.

Next to them, the blond girl clasped her hands in excitement as her eyes sparkled with delight. "This is so great! My first day of school and I’m already making friends. What a treat! Let’s go out to the courtyard to wait for the others. By the way, the name's Gayle Krystal." She shouted goodbye to Nadia and then sprinted down the halls and toward the outside doors. Angelique gave her cousin a hesitant look before Tyrell motioned to her to come along.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It was almost six’o’clock by the time Tyrell started walking home from his meeting with Cyrus and Maren. After leaving Gayle to rejoin Nadia and his sister who had been invited to come with them on their little ride, he and Maren had gone to see Cyrus. Cyrus was an intelligent seventeen-year-old with sandy brown hair and a pair of dark blue-rimmed glasses that covered his light brown eyes. He served as the only drummer and had sort of become the boss of the band since Maren was far too busy building their image to deal with the small things such as getting gigs and Tyrell just didn’t like being the leader.

As usual, Maren and Tyrell had arrived late and Cyrus wasn’t too pleased, which made for a rather uncomfortable meeting. Though he always seemed quiet and way too busy with schoolwork, Cyrus was not one to mess around with. He had a real control streak in him and hated to have his plans altered. The meeting had ended as Tyrell had figured, with Cyrus refusing to play another gig unless someone was found to work the bass guitar. Without Mika, they’d be up the creek for some time. Of course, Maren had simply threatened to beat Cyrus to a bloody pulp if he didn’t play, but Cyrus had still refused and Maren had spent the rest of the meeting complaining about Cyrus being a stubborn ass.

Still, they couldn’t play without Cyrus. He was not only their drummer but their composer as well. Though Maren was extremely gifted with the electric guitar as well as a fairly impressive voice, he couldn’t come up with a song to save his life. Even Tyrell was only good at designing lyrics; he had no ear for musical conception. Therefore, the only choice the group had was to find a new member by the end of the week or call off the gig. To top it all off, Kat had shown up and convinced Maren to check out a movie with her. Already pissed at how the situation was going, Maren had readily agreed and left the group in a huff. Yep, this was shaping up to be the usual agonizing and annoying week that Tyrell had grown accustomed to knowing.

He trudged down the sidewalk beside an empty park; kicking a small brown stone along his way and watching it tumble end over end across the uneven cement surface. After a bit, the stone became wedged within a crack in the sidewalk and refused to move any further. Frustrated at the way, nothing seemed to ever go the way he wanted it to, Tyrell kicked the pebble with as much force as could muster. It was swept out of the crack and into the shrubbery beside him. As soon as the stubborn rock sailed into the bushes, Tyrell could almost hear a faint rustling within the leaves. Startled he knelt down and peered through the leaves, parting the branches to the side. His efforts were rewarded with a deep-throated growl as a pair of intense amethystine eyes met his gaze.

"What the hell!" he yelped falling onto his back and back-pedaling with his feet. Before he could get up, a huge black shape emerged from within the bushes. Terrified, Tyrell leapt to his feet as the creature’s true identity came into focus.

To his horror, the boy realized that he was staring into the eyes of an enormous black canine. The feral gleam in the beast’s eyes informed him that this was no mere cur but was in fact a wild wolf. This must have been the same creature that his father had seen. Jace had said that it and the golden-haired man seemed to know each other. He had even said that the wolf had attacked Lionelle before the man had incapacitated it. Jace had said that the wolf was on their side, but how could he be sure? He was afraid to trust anything nowadays, especially a wild beast.

He held his breath as its violet eyes moved over his body slowly as the animal regarded him with a kind of cold curiosity. Still growling within its throat, the wolf retained its standing posture and lowered its head as if to attack.

Tyrell was overcome with a numbing fear as he watched the creature’s movements. His heart was thrashing against his chest and every part of his body was screaming at him to run. Yet something in his mind refused to heed the rest and he simply remained standing on his wobbly legs, looking straight into the face of a hungry wolf. He didn’t understand how this could be possible. How could a wolf this size get into a city park without being noticed? Not only that but this city was miles away from any sort of wilderness where a wolf might live. So what was this creature doing here in the park?

> Stupid boy! Why don’t you run? >

A sharp ticking voice seemed to seep into Tyrell’s mind and his eyes wandered around the area in search of its location. Not trusting the wolf to hold off on attacking until he had finished his examination, the boy had to limit his search to what his eyes could see. Turning his head might prove to be a deadly error. Still, the voice had sounded so close, almost as if its speaker was right next to him. But if that was the case, shouldn’t he be able to see him or her without looking too hard.

Confused, the boy returned his shifting vision to the wolf that was still staring at him with the same interested expression. He was somewhat surprised that the beast had chosen not to attack while he had been preoccupied with the enigma of the voice. Much to his bewilderment, the wolf rested on its paws; its mesmerizing eyes still following every breath he took. Something about the way it stood, with those eyes catching the waning rays of the setting sun seemed to keep the boy from bolting, as his better judgment demanded. There was a kind of aesthetic appeal to the wolf that seemed to take place of its dangerous savagery.

Caught in the daze, Tyrell reached out to the animal, whispering in an awed voice. "You’re so beautiful." As if he had made a grave mistake, the wolf let loose a vicious snarl and snapped at the outstretched hand. Its fangs barely missed tearing through the fragile flesh, only managing to graze the thumb side of his hand.

< Don’t touch me!>

Tyrell snatched his hand back and held it to his chest, unable to block the hissing cry inside his head. It sounded so full of anger and despair. He held a hand to his head, trying to force the voice away. Feeling hurt and confused, the teenager began to back away from the wolf, harsh anxious gasps flowing from his mouth.

< Where are you going? I wasn’t really trying to hurt you. Believe me, you’d know if I wanted to attack you.> The same voice stopped Tyrell dead in his tracks and he gazed into the animal’s darkened eyes. A crazy idea was beginning to stir within his brain as he glanced at the way the beast had chosen to return to its original studying position.

"You’re not really going to hurt me, are you, boy?" Tyrell said in a low tone as he once again reached over to touch the wolf. It seemed to take in his words as the look in its eyes changed into one that resembled shock. His hand fell upon its shaggy pelt and he allowed his fingers to toy with the ebony hairs. "Are you the voice I keep hearing?"

< You can hear me? >

Tyrell could feel the muscles of the animal’s shoulders and legs all bunch up as if the animal was becoming tense. Then, his fingers came in contact with something hard and smooth buried within the ruff of the creature’s neck. He tried to lift it up to see what it was but all he could see through the black waves of fur was a tiny glimmer of orange. "What’s this?" he asked in a soft voice as he tugged at the strange object. The wolf’s purple eyes went wide with fright and it let loose a blood-curdling snarl.

< Get off! >

Without warning, the wolf tore away from the boy, snarling once more as it bared a set of shinning white fangs. It whirled to the side and raced through the tangled shrubs and back into the park. Tyrell watched, too stunned to react, as the beast dashed along the grass, its muscular legs stumbling in a desperate surge of speed. Within moments, the strange creature had disappeared from his view.

Unsure of what to do next, Tyrell raised a palm and laid it upon his forehead to see if he felt hot. He felt dumbfounded. Not only that, he felt plain stupid. A few moments ago, he had considered conversing with an angry wolf. This was way weirder than his dreams had ever been. At least with them, there was still the comfort that they weren’t real and he’d wake up and everything would be fine. But this had actually happened.

"I guess everyone’s right. I am going nuts," he groaned out loud as he slid his fingers down his face.

While he allowed the pressure of his fingers against his skin to cool down his anger, he noticed a slight movement in the distance close to one of the park’s benches. Hoping that perhaps the mysterious wolf had returned, Tyrell rushed forward to get a better look. As he drew closer and closer to the form waiting farther off, he soon realized that it was definitely not was he had been looking for. Within a span of a few moments, his anticipation had reverted to outright shock.

Sitting on a bench and gazing at him with hungry, vengeful eyes was the same man that had interrupted his parents the other day. The wind lapped at the man’s hair, causing it to billow out like the mane of his namesake. Normally the stunning combination of the predatory golden eyes and the ruffled sun-streaked tresses would have seemed beautiful and comforting, but in this case they represented a hunter who had discovered his prey.

"Well well if it isn’t our little hero from yesterday," Lionelle sneered, tapping his long nails against the wooden surface of the bench. "Come to finish what you started?"

Tyrell gulped and tried to back away from the older man who seemed genuinely amused by his efforts. Sliding of the bench, Lionelle rose to his feet and glanced around himself for a moment. Having done this, he turned back to the retreating boy and shrugged.

"Thinking of running are we? Where do you plan to go? I assure you I’m much quicker than you imagine and can easily catch you if I so desire. Besides, there’s nobody else around here to help you this time."

"What do you want?" the boy asked, his voice shaky as he fought the urge to run, knowing that if what the man said was true, he’d never get very far.

"Why you, of course," responded Lionelle, a dark smile appearing on his lips as he looked at the frantic expression on Tyrell’s face. "Well not exactly you yourself. You see, I want to learn about your power. I was told that only the Keepers could control the Shards as you and your female companion did the other day. I’m curious to know how you possess this power as well."

"I..I don’t know," snapped Tyrell, feeling the cross underneath his shirt began to burn with increasing energy. It seemed as if it was feeding off his fear and the presence of the Chimera was merely adding to the effect. The searing heat against his skin frightened him as his fingers sought out the silver chain wound over his throat. None of this made any sense. If this accursed relic was supposed to have mystical powers and the ability to protect its wearer, then why was it hurting him now?

Seeing that his younger companion was having some trouble at the moment, Lionelle used the moment to bridge the gap between him and the teenager, leaping from the bench and landing right next to the terrified boy. The instant the Chimera’s feet touched the ground, the seething fire of Tyrell’s cross became unbearable, sending sharp jolts of pain through the youth. His eyes widened with agony as he stumbled a bit on his feet and started to collapse to the ground, only to have his wrist caught in Lionelle’s hand. Lionelle chuckled and yanked the boy toward him, feeling a slight wave of heat emitting from the pulsing cross.

"Having some trouble with your necklace? Maybe I could get it off for you," he snarled as he grasped the back of the chain and wrenched it upward, driving the thin object into Tyrell’s throat. Tyrell choked as the movement cut off his breath and he snatched at the cord digging into his flesh. The cross was also making its own mark against his skin as its sharp ends pricked at his neck. Lionelle smiled at the boy’s futile actions and jerked the boy’s arm behind him, spreading the terrible agony throughout Tyrell’s shoulder.

"I’m actually a bit surprised boy. I assumed from our last encounter that this would be more of a challenge. I suppose you’re nothing more than a helpless child after all," pouted the Chimera as he sighed with regret. He began to pull on the chain even harder as Tyrell’s struggles grew weaker and weaker. But just as the boy sank to his knees, Lionelle was thrown to the ground by a familiar blast of wind. Tyrell toppled backwards, crashing onto his back and taking in heaving sobs of air.

"Hey, I might be getting good at this anticipating danger stuff!" a voice chirped through the air. Clutching his glowing cross in his hand, Tyrell lurched to his knees to see Kat giggling in glee as she brandished her sword, Dragoneye.

Lionelle lifted himself to his feet and then lunged at Tyrell with a growl. Remembering yesterday, the boy whispered the incantation as the burning relic once more transformed into the majestic blade, Divinity. Power surged from the weapon, blinding Lionelle with its glare and causing him to miss Tyrell by an inch. Not wasting any time, the boy rolled away from the Chimera and staggered to bring himself upright. Lionelle’s bloodthirsty eyes fell upon the youth as he braced himself against Divinity for support.

Hissing with fury, Lionelle mumbled something under his breath, causing a menacing stock whip to materialize in his hand. He reared it back to lash out at Tyrell. As he did, another zephyr sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Not a fast learner, are you?" shouted Kat as she ran toward her brother who seemed to be having trouble staying on his feet. Without warning, Lionelle’s whip tore through the air, heading straight for her delicate white throat. There was a sharp smack as the wound cord of the whip met resistance against a blade of pure onyx stone. Usually such a material would crack under such force, yet the onyx edge remained whole. Tyrell pushed the whip away and held his blade before Kat. His arm trembled and perspiration beaded upon his forehead as his body fought against the lethargy that had overwhelmed it.

"Don't touch her!" he panted, grayish-green eyes growing stern and dangerous.

Offended by this sudden show of chivalry, Kat nudged Tyrell’s arm out her way and held Dragoneye in front of her. She glared backwards at her twin, her expression signaling her displeasure of his brotherly concern. Nonplused, Tyrell stepped back from Kathryn, deciding it would be pointless to fight with her at the moment.

As the two exchanged opposing glances, Lionelle used the moment to swing his whip in a large arc formation. A blazing pyre sprung from the weapon, racing toward the inattentive youths.

"Kat! Look out!" another cry sounded from the distance as Tyrell jumped back in alarm. His sister whipped her head around to realize what was coming toward her. Instinctively, she sliced her sword in a diagonal motion, causing a rush of violent wind to slam against the flames, turning them upon their summoner.

Lionelle gaped in muted shock as his own fire charged him, engulfing his entire being. Upon covering the Chimera, the conflagration rose skyward and then subsided to sizzling embers just as fast as it had begun. Tyrell and Kat watched in disbelief as the smoldering pyre faded into nothingness.

"You killed him," Tyrell gasped, gripping his sister’s shoulders with shaking fingers as his emerald eyes filled with terror.

"I...I..." stammered Kat, blinking while she stared at the place where both the fire and the golden-haired man had been moments ago. Her face changed from one of surprise into one of pure puzzlement. She shoved herself from Tyrell’s grasp and made her way over to the now-extinguished flames. Dropping to one knee, she examined the area, sapphire eyes searching for some unknown object. Finding nothing, not even a single blade of singed grass, she shook her head to the side.

"No," the girl said in an almost trance-like voice.

"No what?" her sibling asked, impatience twisting his voice as he walked over to Kat’s side, still struggling to make sense of the whole thing.

"No, Lionelle’s definitely not dead."

"Why do you say that?" Tyrell replied, a quizzical expression crossing his features. Kat sifted her fingers through the mound of grass and stared up at her brother with serious dark eyes.

"Look here, Tyrell. Do you see any ashes? Any bone? Anything to even indicate that something was burned?"

"Um...no," the boy remarked as he meticulously scanned the spot with his eyes.

"Well, I’m no genius but I’m pretty sure that when something is burned, it at least leaves behind ashes. It doesn’t just disappear without a trace. Not without some ridiculously high level of temperature," Kat explained, making sure Tyrell was following her method of reasoning.

"I guess."

"If you ask me, I think he just used our distraction to escape and devise a better plan of attack. We already know that he’s skilled at some form of sorcery. How else could he create fire and magic whips out of thin air?"

Tyrell nodded and focused on returning Divinity back to its customary guise of the shimmering onyx cross. He dropped the object back inside the folds of his dress shirt and smoothed the rippled fabric back into place. Kat watched him with placid eyes, but made no attempt to change her own weapon. She shrugged her shoulders in an indifferent gesture and then climbed to her feet. Seeing her move seemed to remind her brother of something that had occurred to him during their fight with Lionelle.

"Hey Kat, who was that voice that warned you of Lionelle’s sneak attack?" he asked, gazing at Kathryn with a look of cautious curiosity.

His blue-eyed sibling seemed to jump at his query and shifted her eyes from Tyrell’s. She pasted an innocent smile on her face and tilted her head to the side as she began to speak in a nervous voice. "Oh that...that was just...uh it was..."

"Wow! That was so beyond cool!" an exhilarated yell stopped Kat’s rambling as both youths turned around to see a very enthusiastic Maren strolling up to meet them. Tyrell stared at him in utter horror as Maren slapped him on the back, almost knocking him over in the process. "Damn Arteme, why didn’t you tell me you knew how to use a sword? But I must say, I’m afraid our dear Kathryn did outshine you."

"Maren!" screeched Kat, sapphire eyes glistening with rage as she snatched a piece of the older boy’s shirt and tore him from Tyrell. The raven-haired youth regarded her coolly and then smiled with wicked delight at the pure fury etched on her face. But before he could devise a sinister comeback, Tyrell whirled around to face him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Ren?" he hissed through clenched teeth as he looked back at his friend, his face a hodgepodge of incredulity and irritation.

"Yeah and after I told you to wait for me!" pouted Kat, shoving Maren backwards as the other boy smirked and toyed with one of his earrings.

"Let me get this straight. You freak out in the middle of our dinner. Then, you scramble out the restaurant as fast as you possibly can, leaving me dumbfounded and with the bill, which you promised we would split. On top of this, half of the other customers are looking at me as if I'm some sort of freak. And you expected me to actually listen to you? Tsk tsk sweetheart, you don’t know me as well as you think," he snickered, his steel gray eyes flashing with delinquent-like charm.

"God, I positively detest you, Maren!"

"Hey, it’s your fault I’m here! Well, yours and Arteme’s. How dare you try to hide such a huge secret from your best friend?"

"There is no secret!" the girl argued as she suddenly remembered that she still clutched Dragoneye within her palm.

Maren rolled his eyes and pointed to the object with a casual flick of his index finger. "Oh," he drawled, "then what do you call that, Kathryn?"

Kat groaned and tried to envision the weapon reverting to its amulet facade. Almost instantly, the sword obeyed her commands, vanishing as a garnet gem resembling a slanted eye appeared in its place. The strawberry-blond straightened her face and then dangled the charm before the cocky youth. "See, it’s just a relic. There’s no sword. It was probably just your imagination running wild with you again, Maren."

"Um...hate to say this, but I’m not convinced," the boy replied in a low tone as he brushed aside a lock of his jet-black hair that had strayed over his forehead. "You still haven’t explained how you could sense that Arteme here was in a bit of a fix. You knew that even without seeing it. So what’s up with that? Is it some special form of twin ESP?"

"It’s possible. Try reading a book, I’m sure you’ll encounter some evidence of such a thing happening."

"Yeah and I’m sure it would involve making swords emerge out of nowhere and mastering the power of the wind also, wouldn’t it?"

"Maybe," Kat tried, looking down at the ground so that she wouldn’t have to see the disgusted expression on Maren’s face.

"Oh give me a break!" sneered the older boy as he swiped the necklace from her fingers and held it high above her reach.

"Give it back you jerk!" the girl yelped, leaping up at the jewel and slicing the empty air with her outstretched fingers. Maren shook his head in petulance, bringing the necklace even further beyond his companion’s reach.

"No no no. Not until you tell me what the hell is going on here." Kat cursed and lunged at her trinket once more, still managing to seize nothing but useless wisps of air.

Tyrell watched his sister jump at the lofted item for a few moments and then held out a hand to clasp Maren’s arm. "Let her have it," he said, gazing up in defeat. Maren gave him a perturbed glance but obediently dropped the necklace back into Kat’s open hands. Then he grabbed his best friend’s shoulder and drew himself closer so that he was looking the mahogany-haired boy directly in the eye.

"After I practically saved Kat’s life, that’s all you have to say to me? I think I at least deserve an explanation!" the older youth raged, disappointment evident in his tone. His friend turned his head and nodded. He knew that Maren felt betrayed at the thought of his confidant keeping something so important from him. They had always told each other everything. With the exception of Angelique, Maren was the only person whom Tyrell trusted completely. It did seem wrong to lie to him like this.

"Does Angelique even know?" Maren inquired, breaking through Tyrell’s reverie. The other boy shook his head and moved away from Maren. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and drew a jagged circle in the dirt with his toe.

"No, she doesn’t know. And I don’t want her to know. The only reason I’m going to tell you is because after what you’ve already seen, lying would be useless," replied the green-eyed youth, jerking his head toward Maren to emphasize his point.

"But you can’t tell anyone else," added Kat, poking the older boy in the shoulder with her long nails. Maren cringed as her sharp tips tug into his skin since the flimsy uniforms of Carthala weren’t built for any sort of abuse. Tyrell glared at his sister in anger and slapped her hand.

"Too bad someone else had trouble understanding that rule!"

"Hey! I didn’t tell him. He followed me! Like I was expecting him to follow me after he swore he would wait. This is so not my fault," the girl grumbled, realizing that Tyrell was alluding to her actions. Tyrell mimicked his friend’s earlier gesture of rolling his eyes as Kat stomped her foot against the ground and prepared to throw another one of her infamous fits. "Shut up! It’s true!"

"Whatever," Maren sighed, stepping in between the feuding family before they could launch an all-out war on one another. "So what do you two say we head over my house and you two can tell me all about how you’re the keys to some 'hidden' powers."

"Yeah! That’s a great idea Maren! Did you hear that, Tye? We could call ourselves Keys. It could be our special code name. Oh code names. I like the sound of that. I’ll be Garnet and you could be...umm Onyx?" quipped Kathryn, perking up from her state of despair. She smiled at her brother and batted her slender blond lashes.

The other both drooped his head and groaned. "Kat, you take this whole thing way too seriously."

Unbeknownst to the teenagers, a pair of violet eyes was following their movements, not too far away. As the children continued their sojourn to Maren’s abode, the owner of the dark eyes pulled away from the fountain it had been hiding behind and snarled. <These wretched brats are going to be more trouble than I thought.> The animosity of the voice cut through the air and sent a chill creeping down Tyrell’s spine. Unable to clear the final slur from his mind, Tyrell shivered at the oncoming cold of the night.

*~*~*~*~*~*