A/N: This is set after book ten, Into the Gauntlet, which, F.Y.I., was really good, though I was initially doubtful, since I had wanted the last book to be written by the creator of the series himself, Rick Riordan. But that's beside the point.

CAUTION: Book Ten spoilers to those who have not read it.

EDIT: Hi! I've decided to edit the chapters a little. Okay, maybe not just a little. I got the Black Book of Buried Secrets which revealed some stuff and messed up the arrangements of the events, so I kind of rewrote some parts. But some parts I left more or less the same. It might be sort of confusing, so I think it would be better to re-read this, especially the Ian/Natalie/Isabel parts. I know there's a lot of information to take in per chapter, but I have a full plotline ahead and everything.

"Think about my proposal, won't you?" the man asked, smiling rather maliciously for some reason or another.

Isabel shrank back into the corners.

"Perhaps," she replied, hoping she sounded nonchalant and indifferent. "I shall consider your offer. But I still doubt the existence of your family. When I break out of here, and of course I will, I'll have my people check our records."

The man snorted, smirking.

"Do you really think, Isabel, that you will break out of your prison? Granted, Lucians are highly resourceful, but the only way that you can escape now…" His eyes flashed. Then he smiled, showing his blindingly white teeth, though instead of making him look friendly and pleasant, it made him look positively evil. And though Isabel was no stranger to evil, she gave an involuntary shudder. "Well, you know. But dear Isabel, I am surprised you have not even tried to make a move to escape yet. Am I right in wondering if you are afraid of your own branch… and your own family?"

"How dare you!" Isabel spat, glaring. "I fear no one!"

But the truth was, Isabel Kabra had just met the first person to ever have made her afraid.

"Wow!"

'Wow' pretty much summed it up, Amy thought.

Never since embarking on the Clues Hunt had Amy thought that she would get the chance to make friends and enemies in high school, get to have her own locker to personalise in high school, get to sample the (horrible) food in high school- or even go to high school, really.

And now here she was, at her locker, taking out the books she needed for her next lesson, while her friend chatted to her from her side.

"Wow, Amy! Wow! Wow! Wow!"

"Wow what?" Amy asked, half amused, half irritated.

"Him!"

"What?"

"There! There! See!" Diana seemed to be incapable of proper speech.

Amy looked in the direction Diana was pointing and her jaw dropped.

"Yo, Amy."

Was he happy? He did not really know himself.

But he knew he was happier.

Or was he?

He was so confused.

"Ian?"

"Hmm, what?" Ian snapped out of his reverie. It was a few days after the events in the Gauntlet, and also a few days after going to Isabel's trial in Boston.

"What are we going to do?" Natalie asked, softly.

Ian knew what she meant.

Even though Vikram did cancel their bank accounts, after coming out of the Gauntlet, they had received two million each, which provided for their necessities (branded clothes and extravagant buffets). But Ian also made quite a living, having taken over their family's art dealership. And they didn't really need to spend much while they were at their home. Or their previous home, whatever. The point was that they had returned to the Kabra mansion as soon as they were notified that Vikram was on the run. It didn't feel very right, but they were still entitled to the mansion, even if they were no longer exactly Kabras.

They were now the Lucian leaders- Isabel and Vikram hadn't had time to change who they had long ago decided would continue to run the Lucian branch, and as a result, Ian and Natalie found themselves the new branch leaders. It was a hard task, but they weren't too bad at it. The really hard part was trying to soften the Lucians, make them less cruel, and try to slip in thoughts into their subconscious that the Cahills should unite. He now understood how impossible things must have seemed for Amy and Dan. There were a lot of Lucians who were suspicious of them, but Ian supposed that Isabel's lessons when they were younger paid off- though he hated to think it. They could be very persuasive, and adults could be bought over by his- and Natalie's- charms, if only for a moment or two. But a moment or two was always enough time to slip away.

Even though not everyone trusted them- but since when had there been trust in the Cahill family?-, especially those who had heard about what happened in Ireland, there were always some people who were afraid of the Kabra family power- even if Ian and Natalie had emancipated themselves, they still weren't exempted from this.

Speaking of Ireland… it was something that everyone had raised. When the teams in the hunt had met up lately to discuss issues, the topic of how everyone seemed to know was always roused. Hamilton had already managed to speak to the Tomas and get people to listen to their side of the story, thoughthere were a few people who were very suspicious of them. Ian and Natalie so far had been trying to ignore the whispered accusations behind their backs. Nobody had dared to accuse them to their face so far, but Ian and Natalie had made it very clear in their own way that no one should speak of this matter in front of them. After all, they were now the branch leaders.

Other than the service of the Lucians under their hand and the many servants, maids, butlers and what-have-you that were employed to meet their ever need, they were left to their own devices. That sounded rather ludicrous, but it meant that they were left to their own devices in the things that mattered- how to run the Lucians, since they now realised they had to do it a different way from what was expected, though Nataliya Ruslanovna Radova was a great help- and generally what they should do. Ian wouldn't admit it, but he was really thankful for the aid of William McIntyre and Fiske. He and Natalie would be at a loss of what to do without them.

All in all, they now had really busy lives.

But still… they didn't really have a family anymore, besides each other.

"I mean… do we continue to stay here? It doesn't really feel right, but where would we go? And… how are we supposed to make the Lucians realise that maybe uniting with the other Cahill branches is the right thing to do? And…" Natalie trailed off. There were so many things they didn't know what to do about.

There was silence.

"I don't know," Ian finally answered.

Amy didn't know whether to be more surprised that Jonah was standing in front of her, or more surprised that he had ditched his 'Gangsta' clothing and was dressing like how normal people would. Except for the cast and arm sling he had. Heck, he wasn't even using his 'Gangsta' slang much, besides that 'Yo' when he had addressed her.

But after Amy thought for a while, she realised she wasn't all that surprised. Everyone had changed so much. Of course Jonah wouldtoo. She'd already seen the changes in Jonah in the Gauntlet, when they'd had to face Isabel.

And they'd all united in the end… the biggest change- for everyone- of all.

And so, instead of giving him a cold and wary look which she might have done before the events in the Gauntlet, she smiled and waved.

"Hi, Jonah."

Jonah came closer. You had to give it to him- he was good. He still managed to swagger, even if he was in a cast and an arm sling to boot.

"Your injuries have more or less healed?" Amy asked, remembering how injured he had been. "I mean, besides your leg and your arm, of course."

"Yeah, they have," Jonah shrugged. "Just had to spend some time in the hospital, then the docs just about repaired everything."

Docs? So maybe he hadn't completely shrugged off his gangsta language, after all. But then again, Amy never really expected him to.

"But anyway," Jonah started. "I need to tell you-"

"Are you Jonah Wizard?" Diana suddenly burst out from nowhere, peering intently into Jonah's bewildered face. "Could you give me an autograph or something?"

"Uh…"

More girls had suddenly flocked together, noticing Jonah.

"Jonah!"

"Why did you quit?"

"Give me an autograph, please!"

"Jonah, I love you!"

A/N: So how was it? Please drop a review!

BTW, there was this whole fiasco when I was moving my computer and random paragraphs and sentences got deleted, and though I tried to repair it, I might have missed out some parts, so please tell me if you see any mistakes or whatever.

Thanks! And again, review!~