Power of the Planets

by Mikki Royal

About two kids, a brother and sister, who have the weight of all the planets resting on their shoulders. An evil ruler, the ruler of Venus, wants them dead. But why? **Not anything to do w/ maximum ride,just had to pick a category!**

Power of the Planets.

Chapter 1

"Amy, remember to take the rubbish out!" My brother, Aaron, yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I muttered.

"NOW!" He yelled back.

"Fine I'm going, I'm going!" I said.

I walked to our little rubbish bin, walked outside, and tipped it into an even bigger rubbish bin.

My name's Amy and I'm thirteen. My older brother, Aaron, is fifteen. We keep to ourselves, seeming we don't have any idea who our parents were, or are. But not for the reason you think.

We're not like other humans, well, we're not even human.

We look like humans, talk like humans, act like humans, react like humans; do everything the same as humans.

But, we have powers that no human could even think of.

On our home planet, Mercury, some of our people are blessed with a power, or if they're lucky, powers. Me and my brother are one of those lucky people. People that are blessed live for thousands of years, but never age when they find out they are blessed.

We represent the planets. Control the planets. Basically, if we died, the planets died.

I represent Jupiter, Mercury (yay!), Pluto and Earth.

My brother represents Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Earth, like me. He's the oldest, so he got more planets.

We are the only two to be gifted that are alive, and only in the top, like, fifty billion who have been gifted.

About our power, we control the planets. Their orbit, their weather, their rotation, everything.

By now, there may be a few questions you want to ask. Let me see if I can answer them.

How come humans don't find life on Mercury? Because my people put a protective force around it, creating an allusion.

How come me or my brother don't represent Venus? That's the planet where are enemies, the Venusaries, live. So we don't represent that planet.

How come we both represent Earth? Because of what the humans are doing to it, it needs two people to help it.

Why are we here on Earth? Because, everyone who is gifted, has to come and live here. We get sent when we are babies, not knowing anything, until an older sibling finds us. The older sibling, when a baby, is left with a note, and left with a family.

Gifted people of my planet come in siblings, so me and my brother. My brother found me when I was thirteen, that was about a hundred years ago, but I haven't aged, neither has he. He was obviously told by his adoptive family when he was fifteen.

We are currently living in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Anyway, back to the present.

I walked in the door, and into the kitchen, where Aaron was cooking dinner.

"What're we having Aaron?" I mumbled, tired from school.

"Fish and chips." He replied.

"Yay!" I said.

"So what ya learn today at school?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing. Planet stuff again. Nothing I didn't know." I chuckled.

"Have you got any homework?" He asked.

"Yes. About what causes the weather and rotation of the planets." I answered, smiling.

That made Aaron roll around on the floor laughing.

He pulled me down to the tiles with him and started to tickle me too. Pretty soon I had sore ribs and was gasping for breath. I managed to drag myself to the lounge-room and up onto the couch, with Aaron sitting in the chair next to it.

We decided to watch TV, Aaron wanted to watch the news.

It was during an investigation of a murder when there was a knock on the door, and a tap on the window.

I walked up to the door and looked through the peephole. I ran back to Aaron, who was back from the window.

"There...there..." I couldn't speak. "Z...Zero is at the door.' I whispered. He pulled me closer.

"I know," he whispered back. "Anaria is at that window. Amy. I want you to run. Now."

Chapter 2

I ran upstairs, with Aaron right behind me. I ran into my bedroom and Aaron locked the door.

"What now?" I asked frantically.

"Jump out of the window, and walk around the back, I'll be right behind you" he pushed me towards the window. I stood on the frame and jumped. I felt myself falling and I hit the ground going about thirty miles an hour, we had a triple story house.

I tried not to scream, and I thought my ankle was broken, it was all hot and I couldn't walk on it. Aaron landed next to me, he was use to jumping.

"Amy? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Broken ankle" I managed to gasp, I was trying soo hard not to scream.

"Here, lean on me." He pulled me off the ground and pulled my right arm around his shoulders.

I managed to limp around to the side gate, and we sneaked out the front, and down the street. I heard yells from inside the house.

"WHERE DID THEY GO?" I heard Zero yell.

"I DONT FREAKING KNOW!" I heard Anaria yell back.

"FIND THEM!" Zero screamed.

"Run." said Aaron.

"I can't!" I said back.

"Jump on my back, I'll carry you." He whispered.

"No. I'm too heavy. You can't possibly-" he cut me off by pulling me onto his back and sprinting down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Somewhere where we can fix your ankle." He responded.

He ran for a while, and he stopped when we got to the hospital. He pulled me inside, put me in a chair, and went to talk to the receptionist.

"My sister has broken her ankle, could you please help her?" He asked.

"Sure. I'll just need both of your full names and I will assign you a room, the doctor will be along shortly."

"Okay." He said. Uh, Aaron, we don't have last names!

He filled a piece of paper out and a nurse came out and put me in a wheelchair, and wheeled me into a small room. She and Aaron lifted me onto the bed, and I could see her name tag. It said 'Rose Hasser'.

"The doctor will be along shortly to see you." And she walked out.

"Aaron, what the hell did you put down for our last names? And what did you use for our first names?" I asked.

"Calm down. Your fake name is Jade, mine is Brandon. Our last name is Merc." He used our planet for our last name.

"Okay." I answered.

"Just try to rest before the doctor comes." He said, but the doctor walked through the door.

"Hello Jade," He said as he walked through. "My name is Doctor Riss, and I will be looking after you until your ankle heals." he shook Aarons hand and then shook mine. "How did you break your ankle Jade?" He asked, looking at me over his square glasses.

"I kinda fell down the stairs." I answered, well, I fell, or jumped, down something.

"We're not going to have to operate, but you're going to have to stay here for a while until your ankle heals. I'll bandage it up now and leave you to rest." he said has he walked over to the cupboard. He came back with some bandages and he started wrapping my ankle up.

"You're going to have to stay here for a few weeks Jade, broken ankles take about eight weeks to heal. I'll see you both later" and he walked out, rubbing his fat tummy.

"You'll heal in about one week." whispered Aaron.

We were sleeping when we interrupted.

"Excuse me, but we have people here claiming to be your parents." Rose said. Uh, um, BRANDON, WHAT THE HELL? WE DONT HAVE ANY FREAKING PARENTS!

Two people entered the room.

Zero and Anaria.

They looked at us.

They had come to get us.

"You're free to go home now Jade; your ankle is healing at a marvellous rate!" Rose said and she took off. She came back with a wheelchair, and wheeled me back to the car Zero and Anaria and obviously stolen and hot-wired. She helped me get in the back, and Aaron slid in next to me while Zero and Anaria got in the front seats.

"Thank you so very, very much for taking care of our dear Jade." Zero thanked, in a fake voice that was soo unlike his own.

They took off.

We're in soo much trouble.

Aaron, how are we going to get out of this?

"We told you last time, you can run but you can't hide," Anaria said, turning to face us. I didn't make eye contact with her; neither did Aaron, because it would kill us, literally.

"Mmmm. What do you think we should do with them brother?" Anaria turned to Zero.

"Why, dear sister, I think we should bring them to Ice Crystal." he smirked from his driver's seat, did he even realise he was only fifteen?

But that wasn't our problem.

We were going to Venus.

We were going to their leader.

Who would almost defiantly kill us.

Chapter 3

We pulled up to a paddock, and Zero hauled me out. Anaria just let Aaron step out. They tied our hands behind our back so we couldn't escape.

"Walk!" demanded Zero.

We walked to the middle of the paddock then Anaria stopped us. Zero pulled out a remote, pushed some buttons, and a massive rocket ship appeared in front of us.

"In!" Zero pushed through the tiny door in the ship. Anaria strapped us down to seats and strapped herself down opposite us.

Zero went to a board full of buttons and started pressing them. A voice came over the intercom; "All passengers please pay attention. We will lift off in one minute. Please make sure you are strapped down to your seats properly. Blast off will be in thirty seconds. Thank you." We waited another twenty while Zero strapped himself down, then the voice came back on; " Blast off in nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one!"

Then a massive groaning sound came from the engine and then a roaring sound came from the bottom of the ship as we lifted off.

It happened all too quickly. One second we were zooming at top speed towards space, the next second we were floating gently in space.

The intercom came back on again; "Blast off successful. Landing on Venus will be in forty eight hours," In case you're wondering why it doesn't take us as long as one hundred days to get to Venus, it's because we have more advanced technology then humans, so we travel through space faster. "You are now free to move around. Thank you." The voice turned off.

Zero and Anaria unstrapped themselves and floated over to all the buttons. Anaria pressed a button which turned on the gravity, so they stopped floating.

Zero was talking into a walkie-talkie like object. "Hello? Yes Ice? Sorry Ma'am. Yes Miss Crystal we have them here, we just took off. You want to speak to Aaron? Yes, yes, here he is." Zero passed the thing to Aaron and unstrapped his arm.

"Hello?" Aaron started speaking. "Yes, it's really us! No we are not enjoying the ride! No we do not want to be killed! Well, Zero and Anaria can't be that good; it took them years to capture us! You want Zero back? Fine! Here he is!" Aaron handed the thing back to Zero.

"See you when we land Miss Crystal!" Zero hung up. "Well. Are we going to undo you two, or are we going to have to keep you guys strapped up?" Zero asked.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm getting a nasty rash, so I would really like you to untie us!" I snapped, sarcasm filling my voice.

All of a sudden Zero's face was within and inch of mine. "None of that sass, young lady! You are going to listen to us, because we are now in charge, this is not your land anymore, and so you will listen!" He snarled.

"Well, technically it's not your land either, we're in space, and there is no land out here!" I said back, trying so hard not to laugh.

"SHUT UP!" He roared. "You will not talk back to me. You will listen to me, respect me! You will do the same with Anaria. You will do as you are told!"

"Since when did you become my father?" I joked.

He hit me on the back of my head. I think he thought it hurt, it hardly even stung. I was trying so, so hard not to laugh, he was hilarious. But all the same I shut up, and winked at Aaron who was giving me a worried look. "I'm fine." I mouthed.

Zero walked over to a cupboard, and pulled out something long and thin. I didn't like the look of it. He walked back over to us. I saw he had a needle with white stuff in it. "If you're not going to shut up, I'll make you!" and he jabbed the needle into my arm, and then Aaron's.

Then, I fainted.

Chapter 4

"Five…..Four…Three…..Two…One" I heard the intercom voice counting down as soon as I woke up.

Grrrt .Grrrt. Grrrt. The sound of the metal groaning was very painful for my ears to hear.

I felt Aarons hand on mine, and saw that Anaria and Zero had their eyes closed. I however, wanted to see the scenery outside of the rocket.

I pulled my gaze over to the small round window to my left and was amazed at what I saw; it was pitch black outside, with the faint glow of yellow coming from Venus. I could see far more stars than I ever did on Earth. I hate to say it, but the view from Venus' atmosphere is amazing!

The rocket finally came to a stop on Venus' surface, and all the people rushed to the ship. I saw that we were in some type of pressurized dome.

Zero and Anaria unstrapped themselves and came over to unstrap Aaron and me.

"Are you going to behave, or am I going to have to sedate you again, Amy?" Zero smirked as he undid my straps.

"No, I'm going to behave." I smirked back.

"Good." He hauled me out of my seat and held my hands behind my back. There was no use struggling, his hands had a grip on mine like steel iron. "No escaping Amy," he must have read my thoughts, or knew what I was thinking. "Plus, where would you go? You can't hide from us on Venus. And you couldn't take this ship back to Earth; you don't even know how to use it."

"Wow. I'm glad we've covered the obvious." I snapped. That got me a whack on the back of the head; this time, it really did hurt. "OWW! Watch where you hit me!"

"Watch where you hit me!" He mimicked me. "Watch your attitude!" He snapped back.

I just poked my tongue out. His face turned a nasty shade of red; I think I really annoyed him. It was priceless. Oh well. He really deserved it.

Aaron was looking at me with a frown; I don't think he approved of what I was doing. Anaria had him in the same grip as Zero had me.

All of a sudden I had a thought; why didn't Aaron and I use our powers to get us out of here? It could work. We could zap Zero and Anaria a bit, they would let go of us, and we would chuck the out of the ship, and ride this thing home when we work out how to use it! It would work!

"Oh and in case you're thinking of using your powers, think again. Anaria and I are immune to them now." Zero smirked, again. I wondered how he always knew what I was thinking. "Oh, you're wondering how I know what you're thinking, it's because since we last met, they've upgraded me to be able to read your mind. And your mind only Amy." I wish he would stop smirking, but as soon as I thought that, he smirked even more.

"Why me?" I asked, frowning.

"Because, you're the youngest, so you're likely to try and escape more, because you're too dumb to figure out that you can't escape. And when you try, we'll know. Also Aaron's mind is blocked. So what's the use of trying to get into his when it will fail?" He smirked, again. He had also called me dumb! I am not dumb! If I was so dumb, would Aaron and I have avoided being captured all these years? I don't think so!

"You avoided being captured because your brother is smart." He obviously could hear me fuming, inside my head of course.

We were shoved outside and were greeted by all these Venusaries.

"Oh my God! How did you catch them?" some asked, while others asked things like "Is Ice Crystal going to praise you guys?" and "are you hurt? Are you okay?" Pfft. Losers.

Anaria and Zero pulled us down these white corridors and into this massive golden hall.

"Bow." Anaria commanded her and Zero bowing. Aaron bowed, and tugged my jacket sleeve to do the same. I wouldn't bow to any ruler on Venus, weather it was a life or death situation.

"Why is the girl not bowing?" came a beautiful voice, belonging to the lady who had just walked through the large golden doors and who had made her way to the throne. "I repeat, why is the girl not bowing?"

I realised who she was.

Ice Crystal.

Chapter 5

"I repeat, again, why is the girl now bowing?" Ice Crystal was giving me the death stare, like I'd just broken a law or something. I suppose I may have from not bowing.

"Amy, bow NOW!" Aaron whisper-yelled at me. I shook my head. No way was I listening to him, or bowing to a person who isn't even our queen and who is probably going to kill us any minute.

"Zero! Answer me!" Ice Crystal snapped, now sitting on her golden throne.

"Miss Crystal, Amy is the stubborn one of the two. I don't think she wants to bow." Zero spoke like he was afraid of Ice Crystal.

"Hmm. Interesting. This has never happened before. Why does she think she has the right to stand?" asked Ice.

That's when I jumped in. "I'm not bowing before you because you're not my queen, I've only met you once, and you're probably going to kill my brother and myself in a matter of minutes!" I spoke with confidence; I hope I didn't sound so shaky.

"Yes. All of those are true. But you are still on my planet, my premises, and my house and in my hall; so you shall bow." She shot me another death stare.

"I thought I said 'no'." I said in a dead monotone.

"I don't think you got the message: If you don't bow, I will kill you and your brother sooner than I planned." She stared at me.

"Fine!" I grumbled and got down next to Aaron.

"Excellent! Now, Zero, Anaria, tell me, how was your trip?" She wavered over to Zero and Anaria, who were sitting beside Aaron.

"It was eventful. We first had to track them down to country, then state, then city, then suburb, then street, then house. Finding them again was actually easy. We found them and they had to jump off from upstairs, and apparently Amy broke her ankle while jumping, because we found them one week later at the hospital under the names 'Jade' and 'Brandon Merc.' A bit obvious really. All we had to do was fake to be their parents, put some wigs and make-up on, and put on fake voices to get them out. The nurses and doctors believed us and let us take Amy and Aaron. Then we took them to out ship, and here we are!" Anaria spoke carefully, as if she would get tortured for slipping up her speech.

"Okay. Did they try to use the element power on you?" What was Ice talking about? I saw Aaron face whiten when he saw me looking at him.

"What element power Aaron?" I asked him, regardless of Ice, Zero or Anaria.

"You mean she doesn't know? How could you not tell her Aaron?" Ice Crystal was laughing.

"Aaron?" I asked.

"We also have the power to control the elements. I didn't tell you because knowing also gives our enemies," he gestured to Ice, Zero and Anaria, "another place to weaken us. You can control Fire and Water; I can control Earth and Wind." Aaron looked at me while he said that.

"Yes, and don't try any of that stuff in here, it won't work, this place is immune to any element power, including the planets. Take them to their cell." Ice Crystal ordered as she rose from her throne and walked out of the hall.

Anaria grabbed Aaron while Zero pulled me up by my arm.

"C'mon." Zero growled in my ear.

They leaded us down about a hundred different halls; some pure white; some dark purple; some sky blue; some pure black, others gold; some silver; and others blood red.

The hall where our cell was had pure black walls and silver branches decorated the walls like blood lines of a person that had been dragged across the wall while they were bleeding.

Our cell door was red with more silver patterns on it, except the patterns were those of the Mercury symbols; A silver arrow pointing up, and a red arrow in the middle of the silver pointing right. The background was made up of blue, silver and gold rings centred around where the two arrows met, right in the middle. They obviously thought they were the centre of the universe. Wrong, the Sun was.

"In." was all Zero muttered and shoved me in. I fell and hit the concrete hard, and felt blood on my lips. The concrete was ice cold. Aaron walked in and picked me up and pulled me into his lap when Zero slammed the door shut, leaving us in darkness.

I started crying. For the first time in my life, I actually cried!

"Shh. It's okay. We're going to make it out of here, Amy. I promise." He hushed. "Where are you hurt?"

He felt my arm, and a piercing white hot pain passed through my arm, so much that it made me scream.

"I think your arm is broken. And you've bitten your lip." He cradled me in his arms and lent my head against his shoulder.

Eventually I stopped crying, and was just breathing hard into his shoulder.

"Aaron, what is Ice going to do with us?" I asked quietly.

"Honestly Amy, I don't know. But I won't let anything happen to you. I couldn't live with myself." He brushed back the brown hair that was over his eyes.

"Aaron, why didn't you tell me I could control Water and Fire?" I looked him in the eye.

"Because, that would have made you more vulnerable to Zero and Anaria. They know how to beat Water and Fire, but only if you use it.

He was interrupted by someone opening the door, and girl being thrown in.

Chapter 6

The door was slammed shut as soon as the girl was thrown in. She hit the ground much like I had, but got up straight away and walked to the corner opposite Aaron and me.

"Hello. What's your name?" Aaron asked.

"K…Kiara." The girl stuttered.

"I used to know a Kiara." Murmured Aaron.

"What's your name?" Kiara asked Aaron.

"I'm Aaron, and this is my sister, Amy."Aaron answered.

"Funny. I used to know an Aaron." She muttered.

"That is weird. What planet do you come from?" Aaron looked at her.

"Venus. But I'm not like them. I disapprove of what they do to people like you." She answered.

"Now I'm just freaked out. The Kiara I knew was from Venus, too. She also disapproved of they did to Meruryains." Aaron was wide eyed at Kiara now. He walked over to her and brushed her hair out of her face. "KIARA! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" he shouted, and the next second he was hugging her, tears in his eyes.

"Aaron? I thought you were dead!" Then Kiara was crying, hugging Aaron tightly.

Was I missing something here?

"I didn't know you had found your sister!" Kiara was looking at me.

"I found her shortly after I left." Aaron helped her up and they both walked over to where I was sitting.

What did he mean, 'shortly after I left'? What was he talking about?

"Amy, this is Kiara, she's an old friend of mine. She helped me find you." Aaron introduced Kiara.

"Nice to finally meet you Amy." Kiara smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Aaron and Kiara sat down with me and they started to talk about their 'old times' together. Was this really the time or place?
"… I thought they had captured you, so I came back here to look. Apparently I was right." Kiara said.

"Yes, but they have you too." Aaron responded.

"How are we going to get out of here?" I asked, breaking their conversation.

"There isn't a door that leads out of here that is unsupervised. If we managed to get out of here, it would be by some miracle." Kiara answered me.

"We've got out before; we can do it again Kiara." Aaron had a stone face, one I had only seen once; when I sneaked out to go to my friends' party, when he had said no. I knew that he was serious.

"What do you mean, 'we've e got out of this before'? We've never even been here?" I asked, staring holes in Aaron's head.

"You haven't, Kiara and I have though. About two years before I found you, we busted out of here and landed in Australia, and we found you in Victoria. It took us two years to locate you down to Melbourne. Trust me; the treatment here isn't very nice. Ice doesn't care if you're in pain, or uncomfortable, she just setting an example for every other planet just how powerful she is, and what she can do with that power." Aaron explained.

"What do you mean, 'every other planet'?" I asked another question.

"Amy, you didn't think that Mercury, Venus and Earth were the only planets that supported living beings, did you?" Aaron raised an eyebrow at me.

"I might have, but you certainly never told me!" I snapped, and felt really bad about it after.

"Amy, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto have beings on them too, like Mercury, Venus and Earth." Aaron said.

"Oh." Was all I could say.

We were all asleep when the door opened to reveal Zero.

"Aaron, Kiara, you guys know the drill. We would like to start with Amy." Zero smirked at them.

"Over my dead body!" Snarled Aaron.

"That can be arranged Aaron!" Zero snarled back.

"Aaron, it's okay. I'll be fine." I whispered to Aaron. He reluctantly loosened his hold on me, but I still had to shake him off.

I got up and walked over to Zero, who walked out after me and slammed the door, locking it straight away.

"Good little girl. Now if you're a little angel, uncle Zero might give you a lollypop after the tests. He smirked at me.

So I kicked him where it counts.

That hurt him.

Ha ha I thought, you deserve it!

He grabbed me by my arm and pushed me down some golden halls, into a massive dark purple room.

"Ahh. Brilliant Zero. Put her over there, and prepare her." Said this old looking dude who I'd never seen before.

Zero pulled me over to a corner and pulled a wetsuit out of a closet. He ripped off my top and skirt; I would have slapped him had I not been wearing my tank top and mini black shorts underneath my top and skirt.

He pulled the wetsuit over me and zipped it up. He pulled me over to the massive swimming pool, which I just realised was there, and held me there, ready to push me in.

Crap, I can't swim, but I can control water.

Chapter 7

Zero's grip on me was like steal, and I wondered where he got all his strength from.

"Give us one more minute, Zero, then you can push her in." The old looking dude said.

"I hope Aaron taught you how to control water, but by the look on your face, he obviously didn't." Zero sneered.

I stuck my tongue out at him. What else could I do? I couldn't kick him, that's for sure. But it had the desired effect; Zero's face went a dangerous colour of red.

What I didn't like was when he tightened his grip on me so much that I couldn't feel my arms anymore, and saw them go pale from the lack of blood going through them.

I thought of shaking out of his grip, punching him and kicking him until he could hardly move, bashing all of the people here, and running to find Aaron and Kiara. I pictured lots of blood and guts.

"Zero, relax your grip on her, are thoughts are going nasty, don't hold her so tightly!" Snapped the old dude again. It bugged me I hadn't heard a name for him yet. "Okay, you can push her in when you're ready."

"Have fun!" Zero snarled as he shoved me into the water.

As soon as I hit the surface, I felt the cold particles of water start to freeze me. I felt so numb. So, naturally, I started to panic. I struggled for air, but remembered that I couldn't breathe under water. I tried to swim back up into air, but they had put a seal over the top of the tank to prevent me from getting air. I felt my feet lose their feeling, and a horrible feel came over them. All of a sudden I couldn't move them. I looked at my feet, only to see that they were turning a horrible bluey-purple colour.

The horrible feeling started creeping up my legs, and I was still struggling for air. I knew I only could have been under for twenty seconds, but it felt like hours.

I couldn't bend my knees now; they had stared to turn into that sickly bluey-purple colour.

I started to punch against the seal that prevented me from breathing, finding that it was plastic. I punched, kicked and scratched at the seal, but it would break.

The water was getting colder, and I started to feel dizzy.

I felt the horrible feeling reach my heard and saw that the rest of my body had a bluey-purple tinge. The water was like ice blocks, making it hard to concentrate on getting out.

The water was so cold it hurt even to blink.

I felt my head go numb, and the horrible feeling in every part of my body.

I had a horrible thought.

I didn't have any oxygen left for my brain.

I was fighting for a lost cause.

I was going to drown.

In water.

One of my elements.

Then the last thought struck and idea, if I could somehow make myself be calm, would I be able to control the water around me to make a bubble so I could breathe?

It was worth a shot, what have I got to lose? Oh, yeah, my life.

I sent that thought out of my head.

I closed my eyes and made myself calm.

It wasn't easy but I did it.

I thought about what I wanted water to do. I thought about the water moving around me to make a bubble for me to breathe. I kept thinking this until I felt a gentle nudge.

I opened my eyes and breathed.

It worked!

I had just created and air bubble, using water!

I had just controlled one of my elements for the first time in my life!

I felt myself floating up with the bubble, remembering that in water, the bubbles floated up. So I did to.

I reached the surface and breathed in sweet air. I gulped it down, grateful that I could breathe, even if it was my enemies' air.

I felt strong arms pull me out of the tank down the stairs, and drop me on the ground.

I recognised Zero's face leaning over me, but I just continued to gulp down the air.

"She's fine. Heart rate a little fast, breathing a bit ragged, but otherwise she's fine." Zero sounded disappointed. Oh well.

"Try to get her to speak." Suggested the old dude, again.

"But it's too soon; she won't be able to, Michael!" protested a lady. Michael. That was his name. Thanks lady!

"Do it Zero, now!" Michael ignored the lady like she never spoke.

"Amy?" Zero asked, sounding like he didn't care.

I decided not to answer to annoy them.

"Amy, speak now! I know you can! I can read your mind, remember!" Zero snapped, his face going red again.

"Damn." I cursed under my breath.

"There she spoke, she's fine. Zero take her back to her cell." Michael snapped, walking out of the room. The rest followed, leaving Zero and me alone.

Great, just great.

"Amy, get up." Zero snarled.

I couldn't, the water had drained me. It hurt too much to move.

"Up now!" Zero snarled even louder.

"Can't." Was all I managed before I had to squeeze my eyes shut from the pain that had suddenly come.

Zero snarled some nasty words under his breath; ones that I didn't think Aaron would approve of me hearing. Oh well.

Too late to tell Zero that now.

Zero came over and picked me up.

But he actually carried me in a comfortable way. But again, his grip was like iron steel on me. I groaned from the pain that had started to circulate from my head.

I heard Zero grunt.

I felt Zero shift me so he could use his hand to unlock my cell door.

I heard it click open and felt Zero hand me to Aaron.

"There, safe and sound!" Zero snarled.

"What did you do to her!" I felt Aaron arms take hold of me and I felt a tiny bit better.

"Relax. She just used her water powers, she's little tired, that's all." Zero snarled, slamming the door.

I felt Aaron sit down, and felt cold, slender fingers on my head.

"She's got a temperature, and probably had a headache from the way she holding her eyes closed." I heard Kiara's voice speaking to Aaron.

"Amy?" I heard Aaron voice next to my ear.

I responded in the best way that I could.

I groaned.

"How do you feel?" Kiara asked.

"Sore." I finally found the strength to talk.

"That's normal, you just had a massive power drain; not surprising, it was your first time controlling an element." Aaron stated.

"I am majorly ticked off though! How could they just throw me in the water? What right do they have to do that?" I raised my voice, but just enough to get my point across.

"Amy could you please calm down, or you're going to get us all killed!" Aaron's voice sounded panicky.

"Huh?" Was my response.

"Amy, you just made fire explode in the other corner of the cell!"

Chapter 8

"What?" I muttered.

"Amy, you just made fire explode in the other corner of the cell!" Aaron repeated, his voice sounded amazed.

"Huh?" I still didn't get it. Then I remembered that I also controlled fire. "Oh."

"Amy…how are you doing that?" Kiara asked.

"Well…I was really mad at them and I was thinking of burning this place down." I answered, looking at the flames.

"Amy, try to get them to stop." Aaron suggested.

I nodded. I thought of not burning this place to the ground, and thought happy thoughts.

The fire stopped.

"I think you've found a way to control fire…what about water?" Aaron asked. "How did you control it before?"

"I don't know. I thought about moving the water, and calmed myself down, so I could be calm and relaxed like water; and poof! There was an air bubble around me; the water had moved and done what I wanted." I explained.

"So...all you have to do to control your elements is be like them, for example, fire equals angry, and think about what you want them to do; and they do it!" Aaron said.

"Yeah, sounds pretty much right." I murmured, sitting up.

"How do you feel?" Kiara asked.

"Better. I don't have a headache anymore." I answered.

"That's good. The water drained you completely. You're lucky you're still conscious." Said Kiara.

I wanted to know how she knew all this stuff.

The door opened.

"Amy. Aaron. We need to speak with you, right now." Anaria said.

Aaron and I got up slowly, and saw the petrified look on Kiara's face.

Zero slammed the door behind us.

"Nice to see you're feeling better. Not." Zero smirked.

Again, I kicked him where it counts.

Aaron frowned, but I grinned.

Zero grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" I screamed.

"Make me." Zero smirked.

He asked for it.

I started punching his back as hard as I could. He would at least have a few bruises.

He swinged me around so my head was facing his chest. So I just started punching him harder.

I was halfway through a punch when Zero grabbed my wrists and slammed them together.

I hurt. But I didn't cry, or even wince; I'm stronger than that.

But I couldn't move them; Zero still had hold of them.

"Amy. Enough!" I heard Aaron's voice come from behind me.

I stopped and gave up. I slumped on Zero's shoulder while he and Anaria took us down the halls.

When Zero stopped, he dropped me rather roughly, and I hit the ground. But luckily I landed on my feet.

Zero opened the doors and grabbed my hands again.

Zero and Anaria pushed us through, into what seemed like a conference room.

I didn't see any water, fire, earth or air tests, so I relaxed and tiny bit.

But guess who was on the other side of the room? You got it. Ice Crystal.

"Nice to see you again, you two!" She said as she walked over to us. She stopped right in front of me.

I didn't like this at all.

"Amy, I have been told you have recently controlled water, and only a few minutes ago, fire, how?" She started at me.

"What's it to you?" I snapped.

"Don't you worry about that. That's for me to know and me only." She responded, keeping her voice level.

"I'm not telling you." I snarled.

"She controlled water and fire. Water when we tested her, and fire when she was angry at us." Zero smirked.

"I know that!" Ice snapped at Zero.

"How did you-" I realised he could read my mind. "Damn."

"How did you do it Amy?" Ice asked.

"Well, since I don't want Mister I-Know-Everything to go picking around my brain," I shot Zero a deadly glance. "I'll tell you. I wanted to control the water, so I calmed myself down -like calm water- and pictured in my mind what I wanted the water to do. With fire, I was angry, and I was thinking of burning this place," I gestured to out surroundings, "and fire just appeared out of nowhere." I explained.

"Interesting. So it sounds like you have to act like the element, think about what you want it to do, and it does it." Ice murmured.

"Yeah, and I'm still thinking about burning this place to the ground." I growled.

"I don't think so. Zero and Anaria know how to stop you, remember? Plus I don't think Aaron would want you to risk your life just to burn this place to the ground." Ice looked at Aaron.

"Absolutely not. I would never allow Amy to do such a thing!" Aaron bored holes into Ice's face, or he would have if he had laser's built in with his eyes.

"Anyways, let's get down to business." Ice went to sit down in the biggest chair that was in the room. Aaron and I were shoved into smaller ones and held down by Zero and Anaria.

"I have a proposal for you both," I looked at Aaron; his face was a mask of worry. "I want you two to help me with something." Ice said.

"What type of proposal?" Aaron looked at Ice.

"Oh, nothing major, I just want to take over Earth. And I can only do that with your help. If you say no, you'll be killed, so will Kiara, and if you say yes, you will live here with me." Ice looked at us.

"No freaking way would we help you!" I shouted. "I'll help when Hell freezes over!"

"That is very possible with my powers, Amy, so be careful about what you say." Ice started at me.

"We're not helping you Crystal, no matter what you threaten us with!" Aaron snapped.

"Oh. Okay. I'll just kill you and find other people to help me," Ice said sarcastically. "Did you really think that I would give you a choice? Did you just think I was testing Amy's power for fun? Think again. You two are helping me take over Earth, whether you like it or not!" Ice snapped.

"No, we are not helping you, whether you like it or not!" I snapped back.

"Zero take her in there," she pointed to a door. "I'll have to talk to them separately."

Zero picked me up and dragged me to the other door, and took me inside.

I just sat on the floor with my legs crossed, staring at him.

"You're in trouble." Zero smirked.

"No duh!" I snarled.

"Ice is going to have fun interrogating you and your brother." He smirked even more.

I didn't say anything to that.

I heard guy-ish screams come from the room we just left.

My head shot up to look at the door.

If I could just get pass-

"Don't even think about it Amy! You couldn't get passed me, even if you did, Ice would kill you without blinking." Zero read my thoughts.

"Stop reading my freaking mind!" I yelled.

"How're you gonna stop me?" He asked.

I stuck my tongue out him.

"That's what I thought." He smirked.

The screaming from the other room stopped.

"Zero, let me in right now!" I heard Ice's high pitched voice on the other side of the door.

Zero opened the door and I caught a glimpse of Aaron lying on the ground, barley breathing, while Anaria tried to pick him up.

Zero shut the door and left me alone with Ice.

Ice turned towards me…

Chapter 9

Ice was staring at me. Giving me the look. The I'm-gonna-kill-you look.

I gulped. I'd never been this afraid in my entire life.

"Amy. Are you sure you don't want to help me?" She asked, with fake sweetness in her voice.

"Positive." I answered, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Oh. What a shame. You would have been a great help. Your brother has given me the same answer." She looked at me, and her eyes-which were the colour of gold- turned into a silver white type of colour.

I backed into the far corner. I didn't like this.

"Zero. Come in, I think you'll like what I'm about to do." Ice called to Zero, who opened the door and slammed it shut as soon as he was in. He smiled briefly at Ice, and then turned his gaze towards me, he was freaking smirking!

Ice gazed at me, and I felt nothing.

I wanted to know when the pain would start.

"Um, are you meant to be-" but I was cut off by a pain going through my head and circulating through my body. I dropped to the ground, screaming.

"This is what you get, when you upset me. You see, I get what I want, whenever I want it." She snarled at me.

I just lay there, silently screaming and crying. No way would I give Crystal the reaction she wanted. Nor would I let Aaron hear me.

"Have you had enough Amy? Are you going to help me?" She snarled again.

"No way, you're evil!" I snapped, and then gasped as another bout of pain went through me. How much power can one person have?

Ice walked over to me and knelt down next to me. Her eyes were still that silver white colour.

She grabbed my wrists and a pain erupted from them. I screamed the loudest I had ever screamed. So much for keeping quiet.

"Amy!" I heard Aaron yelling. But his voice was so far away. I could only listen to what Ice was saying.

"…Amy, you're not even listening to me! I said child, if you want to live, help me!"

"No!" I didn't know how many times I had to tell this to her. She was pretty stupid for a powerful person.

"Fine." She snarled.

Another pain went through me. It was too much. Why didn't she just kill me? Why was she doing this?

All of a sudden the pain stopped.

"Zero take her back to the others, I'll give her time to change her mind." And with that, Ice stalked out of the room.

Zero came over and picked me up.

I screamed. His touch burned!

"Put me down!" I screeched, and he dropped me back on the cold concrete floor. I swear I heard a crack.

"Miss Crystal?" Zero called.

"What is it this time Zero?" Ice came back and gave Zero the death stare.

"When I touch her, she screams. Is that supposed to happen?" Zero looked at me.

"Yes. It'll wear off in about thirty seconds. Why would you care?" She snapped.

"I don't. I was just wondering." Zero looked at me.

"Well stop wondering, you'll hurt yourself." Geez, was she always this mean?

Ice stalked off.

Zero waited about twenty seconds before he lifted me up. This time, it didn't hurt. But there was still some after-sting, and I had a massive headache forming.

"You're lucky she didn't kill you." Zero muttered.

"Oh yay! Lucky me!" I said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up!" He snapped.

He unlocked my cell door and threw me in, then slammed it shut straight away.

I felt someone catch me.

"Amy are you okay?" I heard Kiara's voice.

"No. I think my arm is broken." I sat up.

"Let me strap it for you," she ripped off part of her t-shirt and wrapped it like a sling around my right arm. "Where's Aaron?" Kiara asked.

"What do you mean? I thought he was back here with you?" I started to worry.

"No, he isn't. What did Ice do to you?" She looked at me.

"First she separated us, then she tortured Aaron, then she tortured me." I said plainly.

"Why did she torture you?"

"Because we refuse to help her take over Earth." I told Kiara.

"Do you have any idea where Aaron might be?" She asked, looking at the ground.

"No idea." I stared at the wall.

"What happened to your wrists!" Kiara grabbed my hands and traced the marks that went around my wrists.

That made me scream.

"Amy! What did Ice do to you!" Kiara was looking at the marks.

"She grabbed my wrists, and then my head hurt badly! I didn't know she left marks!" I was crying now.

"Amy don't cry. I just need to get you back to Earth, I need to treat this." She was rubbing the marks now.

"What do you mean 'treat this'?" I asked.

"I think Ice has placed a poison in you, and it's left a mark. I have stuff on Earth to treat this. My brother can help, if he isn't dead yet…" She whispered that last part.

"Whatbrother?" I asked.

"Explain later. Right now we need to get you out of here." She answered.

"What about Aaron. We can't just leave him here." I sobbed into Kiara's shoulder.

"Don't worry we'll wait for him." She started rubbing my back, trying to comfort me.

As if on cue, Aaron was shoved through the door. I saw that he had a few scratches on his face and arms.

The door was slammed shut.

"Amy. Oh my God, what happened?" Aaron saw me and rushed over.

"We need to get her back to my place, on Earth. I need to treat her." Kiara said.

"What did Ice do to her?" Aaron took we from Kiara and cradled me in his arms.

"I think Ice poisoned her. Look at the marks on her wrists." Kiara answered.

I felt Aaron touch the marks, and I screamed from the pain that went up my arms to my head. Aaron's finger quickly retreated.

"I know how to get out of here, and I know how to control the rocket ship." Aaron said.

"Perfect. We bust out in twenty minutes." Kiara said.

By the time twenty minutes was up, Aaron had bandaged my wrists and had gone through the plan with Kiara about a hundred times.

"Ready?" Aaron called.

"Ready." Kiara and I answered.

Aaron called wind and burst open the cell door.

"Run!" Aaron yelled.

We ran out after him.

We ran down all these golden, silver and purple halls but not once did we bump into any Venusaries, if you don't count Kiara-but she's good, so she doesn't count- and we kept running.

My legs were taking me faster than I had ever gone before; I think they were moving of their own accord.

We burst through big golden double doors and made it outside.

We saw the huge rocket ship and ran to it.

I felt something hot burn my shoulder, and turned to see Ice, Zero and Anaria chasing us.

"Faster!" Aaron called.

I ran faster. But I wasn't fast enough.

I saw Aaron and Kiara run inside the rocket just as Zero jumped on me and tackled me to the ground.

The rocket ship took off without me.

"Kiara, strap Amy in, we're almost out of the atmosphere!" Aaron called to Kiara.

"Amy! Where are you?" Kiara called. "Aaron, she's not answering me!"

"Amy! Can you hear me?" Aaron couldn't take his eyes of the control board; otherwise they would crash back down to Venus. "She's probably in the toilet."

"AARON!" Kiara screeched from near the window.

Aaron set it on auto-pilot so he could see what Kiara was fretting over.

"LOOK!" Kiara pointed back down to Ice's castle.

Aaron looked down.

What he saw horrified him.

Amy was being tackled by Zero.

"Kiara! We left her behind!" Aaron screamed.

"I know! Set the rocket back; we need to save her!" Kiara shouted.

"I can't. Once the rocket has taken off, it can't be turned around." Aaron sat down and cried.

He'd left his little sister in the clutches of an evil Venusarie.

Chapter 10

I watched as the rocket left Venus' atmosphere.

Zero pulled me up off the ground and held me very tightly.

Ice and Anaria caught up with us.

"Just what do you think you were doing?" Ice asked me as she slapped me across my face.

I didn't answer.

"You will answer me when I ask you a question!" She yelled.

I still didn't answer.

"Amy! Answer me now! What did you think you were doing? Trying to escape from me?" Ice's voice was a shrill scream now.

"Yes we were, okay? We are sick and tired of the way you treat us! What did we ever do to you? Why do you want to kill us so bad? We never even thought about hurting you before you captured us! Tell me why you are doing this to me and my brother! Why Ice, why? We have never apposed a threat to you, so why would you want to kill us?" I was yelling by the time I had finished.

"Oh, I'll tell you why. I want Venus to be the only planet in the solar system. Why? Because we are the best planet and all the others are weaklings compared to ours! I wouldn't want to kill you if you and your brother had just agreed to help me take over Earth. Then eventually I would have persuaded you to help me take over all the other planets, too! You oppose a pretty big threat to me. With you alive, your people and everyone else are alive too. So they can gang up on Venus. I don't want that to happen. We could have just taken over, and then nobody would have to be killed! But you and your brother disagreed, so now you must die, and I shall be the ruler of the only planet left!"

Okay, I must admit, I was surprised. Not at what she said, but that my plan had worked. I was stalling her long enough so that Aaron and Kiara could get away safely. She must have noticed me smiling.

"You little devil! You've stalled us! Zero take her back to her cell, and stay there with her. But first come here."

Anaria took hold of me while Zero went over to Ice.

Ice raised her hands to Zero face and closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, her hands glowed blue, and so did Zero's face.

"There. You now have the power to take away her elements if she tries to use them to escape," Ice said. "I will kill her in one week."

"Why don't you just kill me now?" I snapped.

She slapped me again. "Because I have more important things to do and deal with. I think my pedicure and manicure are more important than you." She slapped me again and walked off.

Anaria walked off with her.

Zero grabbed me again and took me to my cell.

When we got there, he unlocked the door and pushed me in. I went to sit in the far corner. I started to cry.

Zero came in and sat down next to the door.

I sobbed; I didn't like this place. I was here alone, and my brother and his friend were on their way to Earth, without me. I was happy that they got away; but I was still here. And Zero could take away my elements any time he wished! I was alone. For the first time in my life, I was alone.

Zero was asleep. I was sure my plan would work; I just had to be quiet.

I stood up and sneaked over to the door.

I thought of all the things that made me angry, and what I wanted fire to do.

I stared at the lock, and fire formed around my hands. I pointed my finger at the lock, hoping fire would obey. It did.

Fire started to melt the lock, flames licking it everywhere possible.

The flames also blossomed around me, helping me to stay focussed.

All of a sudden, I felt something burning my hands.

I jumped back and all the fire disappeared. My hand was burnt.

"I thought Ice told you to not use your elements to escape." Zero snarled.

"She technically didn't. She said I 'if' I try and escape." I snapped.

"Remember Amy, I know how to stop you from using your powers," he gestured to my hand, "and I have been given the power to take your elements away from you." He snarled.

I stuck my tongue out at him and went to sit back down.

I made myself think calm thought, and thought about water healing my hand.

Sure enough, water formed around my hand in tight wrings, but unfortunately brushed against the marks Ice had made.

I screamed. The water vanished as quickly as it had come.

My hand was healed, but the marks Ice had made were even rawer. Kiara needed to fix them soon, but she was miles away from me.

I felt the tears come down my cheek again.

"Amy there is no use crying! Ice is going to kill you and there is nothing you can do about it!" Zero snarled.

What he said only made me cry even harder.

Zero muttered not so nice words under his breath.

"Amy, shut up!" He roared.

"Make me!" I shot back.

"That's it!" He snarled. He got up and walked over to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders. He closed his eyes. For one horrid second I thought he was going to kiss me.

But something worse happened.

His hands glowed blue, and my entire body glowed blue.

I gasped.

He had taken away my elements.

"No fair!" I shouted.

"Yes, very fair!" He snarled as he walked back to his spot besides the door.

"Why did you do that!" I screamed.

"Because you wouldn't shut up when I asked!" He snarled back.

"You didn't ask! You snarled at me!" I screamed.

"Would you have shut up if I asked?" I snarled.

"Yes! If I had known you were going to do that!" I screeched.

"Well it's too late now!" He snarled.

I sobbed.

I was alone, and now I didn't have water and fire to help me. I was stuck here. With only one week to live. I hoped Aaron and Kiara wouldn't come back to get me, they would just get themselves killed. Then I wouldn't want to live at all.

I wondered why Ice hated all the other planets. As far as I knew, they had never done anything to hurt her, or Venus. I would never want to kill her, unless she did harm to someone I loved, then she would be dead.

But still, why couldn't she just get along with other races? We all could be happy, live in peace, without the humans finding out about us. It wouldn't be that hard. We would just have to convince Ice it was the right way to go about things.

Then, when the next brother and sister who are blessed with the power Aaron and I have, someone could have Venus involved with their power.

Why couldn't we do that? We could, it's just that Ice would probably do anything to stop us.

The humans had never done anything to harm Ice or Venus; they just send satellites into outer space to see what they can find. Never harming a planet or a planet's inhabitants.

"Zero, can I ask you something?" I asked hopefully.

"You just did." He snarled.

I took that as a yes.

"Why does Ice hate all the other planets?" I looked at Zero.

"Ice thought you'd ask. I'll tell you, but it's a long story.

"A long, long time ago, all the planets hated each other. When they came near each other on their orbit around the Sun, a war would always break out. "They couldn't live in peace. The leaders of each planet hated each other, and would to kill of the other leaders.

"The most dangerous race was the Jupiterkidies, from Jupiter. They had the most advanced technology, and were the most powerfulness. They hated everyone.

"The humans weren't around then; it was the dinosaurs that inhabitant Earth; so Earth was not damaged because each race was so interested in them.

"The little wars were fought over the dinosaurs. Once a year a planet would send over about five representatives to go and study the dinosaurs. The little wars broke out because some planets' years were shorter than others. With Mercury, Venus and Mars having the shortest of them all.

"Eventually these wars died out when the dinosaurs went extinct.

"So the wars over food, ruling and other major problems got gradually larger.

"Armies were sent to other planets to attack, and if possible kill the planets' leader.

"It was a horrible time. The solar systems population was more than halved because of these wars.

"After centuries of fighting, some planets saw sense. The approached the other planets and made peace. But the hardest planet to persuade was Venus. But after years of persuading, the ruler of Venus agreed to make peace with the other planets.

"The planets agreed to have two siblings be the guardians of the life of the planets; they decided the Mercuranians should be the race to have the honour, as they were the fastest and smartest planet.

"So all the races on that very night, prayed to their planet God or Goddess that two children from Mercury shall be born with the power to look after their planet.

"But there was one planet that refused to pray, Venus. The ruler believed that they didn't need a Mercuranian looking after their beloved planet.

"So they did not get chosen to be looked after; but all the other's did; because they prayed and they thought that it was the right thing to do.

"So the war ended.

"And that had been the tradition ever since.

"But I think Ice wants to go back to those times, she believes that each planet should have to fight for survival, and that the strongest should win.

"That's why she wants to kill you and Aaron so bad; she thinks that no planet should be given the right to be looked after by a mere Mercuranian; that every planet should stand on its own."

My mouth dropped open.

If all that was true, then Aaron and I are in for some huge problems.

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"Told you it was a long story," Zero snarled. "Now will you quit asking me questions and shut up?"

I turned my head into the wall and started to sob quietly. Even if Aaron and I stayed alive, the other races would surely die.

Ice would find a way to force Aaron and me into helping her, I was sure of it.

Chapter 11

I was still sobbing; Zero had started swearing at me now.

"Amy, will you shut the hell up! Sobbing is not going to get you out of here, and it won't help either, so shut up!" Zero snarled.

"Make me!" I sobbed back. He had hit about a dozen times, but that only made me cry harder. I'd never cried this hard or this long in my life ever before.

I'd been in this cell for at least four days, without any food or water, watching Zero eat and drink.

I wish Zero would just disappear.

"Huh. Wishing that doesn't make it happen!" He snarled. Oh yeah, he could read my mind, I forgot about that.

"Shows how smart you are then." He snarled.

"Shut up." I sobbed.

"Make me!" Zero mimicked me from seconds before.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He touched my wrists.

"Don't freaking touch my wrists!" I screeched through sobs. "Don't you know its hurts!"

"Why do you think I'm doing it?" He snarled. "To get you to shut up!"

"Oh yeah, because that'll work real well." I said sarcastically.

"Okay, if it doesn't hurt then I'll just-" he bent down and touched my wrists again.

I screamed.

It was agony.

Zero was asleep, thank God.

But I wasn't stupid enough to try and get out; he would just catch me again, and hurt me even more.

My throat was thick from the crying.

I was just lying there trying to get some sleep, when there was a shadow moving on the wall.

The shadow was kneeling over another shadow trying to get its attention.

That's when I realized there was a boy kneeling over me.

I screamed, but the boy quickly put his hand over my mouth before I could wake up Zero.

"Amy, will you be quiet and listen to me?" the boy whispered.

I stopped and the boy took his hand away from my mouth.

Before he could start talking, I asked him a question.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"My name is Xavier. Now will you listen?" He said.

"I don't know any Xavier." I said.

"Yes, but you know a Kiara and Aaron, do you not?" Xavier asked.

"How do you know about-" But he cut me off.

"I'm Kiara's younger brother. They said that you were still here, and that Kiara had to treat you for something to do with your wrists." He explained.

"Oh," I said. "How did you get here?"

"I have a teleporting device, I came here from our house; but we have to go in under five minutes, otherwise we'll both be stuck here." Xavier said.

"I can't leave, Zero took my elements off me; I'm not leaving without them." I argued.

"Amy-" But this time it was Zero that interrupted.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old buddy Xavier." Zero snarled.

"Zero." Xavier stood up.

"If you thought you could just pop in here with your teleporting device and pop back with Amy, you can think again." Zero snarled.

"You two know each other?" I asked.

"Yes. We used to be best friends. Then Zero decided to follow Ice." Xavier answered, without looking down at me.

"Looks like I made the right decision, too." Zero spat.

"Yeah sure, if the right decision is to help kill off all the races except your own, it is!" Xavier spat back. "Now are we going to do this the hard way, or the easy way?"

"That is entirely up to you." Zero snarled.

"Okay. Why don't you give Amy her elements back, and we can 'pop' –as you call it- out of here without anyone getting hurt?" Xavier said.

"Okay the hard way it is." Zero snarled.

"Amy, when I say go, jump on Zero's back and place your hands on his shoulders." Xavier murmured down to me.

I nodded.

"Go!" Xavier shouted.

Xavier shot god-knows-what at Zero, which burned his eyes and he fell screaming to the floor.

I jumped on Zero's back and placed my hands on his shoulders.

"Now what?" I shouted over Zero's screams.

Xavier placed his hands over mine and closed his eyes.

Zero's shoulders, my hands and Xavier's hands glowed blue.

I felt water and fire come back to me.

But that almost made me faint.

I collapsed back to the ground and felt my eyelids closing. Xavier caught me.

"Amy, you have to stay awake, otherwise I can't take you back with me!" Xavier said.

"I'm awake!" I bolted right up.

"Come here." I went over to Xavier and he hugged me against him.

"On three…. One… two… three." Xavier said.

As soon as he said three, the door opened and I caught a glimpse of Ice throwing something, and I felt a pain enter the middle of my back.

I screamed just as we disappeared.

Everything was a blur. The only think I could see clearly was Xavier.

It seemed to last forever.

But eventually we came to a stop on solid ground.

I fell but someone caught me before my head hit the ground.

"Amy!" I heard Aaron voice and felt him hug me against him. "I'm so, so sorry that we left you there. I'm a terrible brother. God Amy, I'm so sorry."

"Aaron let me see her, she looks pretty beat." I heard Kiara's voice.

"I'll take her up to her room." I heard Aaron murmur. We were back at our old house.

I felt Aaron carry me up two flights of stairs to my bedroom. He laid me down on my bed and started stroking my hair.

"Xavier, how can I ever thank you enough?" Aaron asked.

"Don't worry about it. Her safety is enough for me." Xavier's voice sounded far away.

"Could you two please get out, I need to treat her, she's been beat, and it's too crowded in here." Kiara asked. "Oh God, there's something in her back!"

I heard Aaron and Xavier leave, but Kiara had to force them out.

"Amy? Can you hear me?" Kiara asked.

"Mm." For some reason, I couldn't speak.

"Amy, the poison's spread much further around your body. It could kill you in twenty four hours if I can't get it out. Plus there's a bullet in your back. I won't be able to get it out, so be careful, and you're going to have to heal around it." She murmured.

I felt her tugging at my wrists. She brushed her fingers against the mark on my left wrist, it burned like hell. I screamed.

"Amy, Amy, it's okay! I just put some cream on it to help!" She soothed.

Eventually it stopped burning enough for me to calm down, but I still sobbed.

She tugged on my right wrist and did the same thing she did with my left, and I screamed again. But this time she didn't bother to tell me it would stop burning, I already knew.

I felt her take my pulse and do heaps of other medical-practice related things that I had never heard of.

She rubbed cream on the places where Zero and beat and burned me with fire, and felt her sooth the burns with a wet face-washer.

"God, Amy, what did Zero do to you?" She asked.

"He hit me and burned me a couple of times." I murmured.

"Why?" She asked

"Because I was crying and he wanted me to stop, and I tried to escape once and he burnt my hand." I tried not to cry at the memory.

"We are so, so sorry we left you there Amy. We thought you were on the rocket with us; but when we realised you weren't, we couldn't turn the rocket around." She said.

"It's okay." I said.

"Amy, I'm going to inject you will the cure for the poison, it will hurt, but don't worry, it'll last only a couple of seconds.

I felt a needle enter my arm and nothing happened.

But then I my veins felt like they were on fire, and the marks around my wrists felt ten times worse than my veins. I just refrained from screaming, but just barely.

Eventually the burning stopped.

"There. All you need to do is rest. I got most of the poison out, it's a wonder you didn't scream, and your immune system will have to do the rest. I'll let Aaron in." Kiara said.

I heard her walk out.

I heard Aaron walk in.

"Amy? How are you feeling?" His voice was thick.

"Sore and tired." I answered.

He lifted me up and cradled me in his arms. I felt the bullet dig in deeper, it hurt like hell, and I couldn't stop myself from screaming out in pain.

"Amy! What's wrong?" Aaron asked, his voice a panic.

"Bullet…in…back…Kiara…said…I'm…going…to…have…to…heal…around…it…oww." I gasped.

"Oh, God. Sorry!" He said.

"It's okay." I murmured the pain in my back subsiding.

"Amy, I am so, so sorry we left-" I put one of my burnt fingers to his mouth.

"Don't, or I will burn your butt into next month," I said. "Don't apologise, I know it was an accident."

"Amy-" he started.

"No," I put steal in my voice, "I don't want you to apologise again, Aaron. Am I crystal clear?"

"Yes." He just settled for rocking me in his arms. "Another thing, you know Xavier likes you right? As in, like-likes you."

"He does? I never noticed." I said.

"He looks at you like you're a Goddess, Amy; I think he really likes you." Aaron noted.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked.

"I think it is. He's a nice boy. Do you like him back?" He asked.

"Maybe…" I admit, Xavier was kinda cute, what with his gorgeous brown hair, the exact colour as mine, and his deep dark blue eyes. And his smile, the most perfect smile I'd ever seen. Who am I kidding, Xavier was the hunkiest guy I had ever seen.

"I take that as a yes." Aaron teased, brushing his brown hair away from his eyes.

"Okay fine. Then I'll just tell Kiara you like her!" I joked, starting to feel a bit better.

"She already knows that. We were together before I found you, then we were separated by Ice." I saw the pain in his eyes as he mentioned the last part.

"Are you back together now?" I asked.

"Yes. Are you feeling better?" He asked changing the subject.

"Sore and tired. Same as before," I yawned. "Aaron, how long are we going to stay here?"

"I don't know Amy. As long as it takes for Zero and Anaria to find us again." He answered.

"Won't here be the first place they'll search?" I asked.

"Unlikely. They'll think that we won't come back here because this will be the first place they'll search, so they think that we will be somewhere else, and won't search here, so naturally we are here." He answered.

"Smart. But I thought Xavier said that you were at his and Kiara's house." I said.

"We were. But we came here because it was more comfortable for you to heal. Similar surroundings help a person to heal," Aaron answered. "Get some sleep Amy, you're tired and you need to heal."

I nodded and rested my head against his shoulder.

I was asleep in less than five seconds.

Chapter 12

"Amy, come down and get your breakfast!" Aaron called up to me.

"Coming!" I yelled. I healed wickedly fast.

I ran down the stairs three at a time, and sprinted into the kitchen; I was starving.

"Your plate's over there," Aaron said, pointing at a plate filled with bacon, and next to it two eggs. "Dig in."

I sat down and stuffed the bacon into my mouth.

"Hungry much?" Aaron snickered.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

Xavier entered the door and went to his plate.

"Mornin'" he said through a mouthful of bacon.

"Mornin'" I said back.

"Where's Kiara?" Xavier asked.

"She's gone to do some shopping; we need more food." Aaron said, coming to join us at the table.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked.

"You, need to sleep." Aaron answered.

"I just did! I slept for twenty four hours strait! I couldn't possibly sleep even if I tried!" I argued.

"Well, at least watch some t-v and rest." Aaron suggested.

"Fine." I grumbled.

"Hey everybody!" Kiara said as she walked through the door.

"Do you need any help with those?" I asked. Kiara was carrying about six bags, all filled up so that there was stuff falling out of them.

"No, I'm fine thanks Amy!" She said as she unloaded the bags on the bench. "Aaron can help me bring in the rest." She dragged Aaron by his arm out the front door.

"Does Kiara like shopping?" I asked Xavier.

"Yes. She took me clothes shopping all the time. Into all the girly shops, too." He said, halfway through his eggs.

"Shame I wasn't there to see it, the look on your face would've been priceless." I teased.

"Shame…I would have dragged you into the guy shops, too." He teased back.

"Bags the couch, and the show!" I said as I took my plate up to the bench.

"No fair! You can't 'bag' the couch or the t-v!" Xavier said, putting his plate next to mine.

"Too bad!" I called, grabbing the remote and sitting on the couch.

I switched it to Disney channel, where they had a re-run of Wizards of Waverly Place.

"Oh, no you don't!" Xavier jumped on me and started to tickle me.

"No! Please don't tickle me there, I hate it! Please don't!" I managed between laughter.

"Turn it off," Xavier said as he ticked me some more. He managed to pull me off the couch and pin me to the floor. "Are you going to change it?"

"Never!" I yelled, trying to push him off, but he just tickled me again.

"Oh, okay, then I'll just do this…" he trailed off.

He tickled me even more.

"No, no, no! Please stop! No, no no! I hate being tickled!" I shouted.

"I hate watching this show," He countered.

"Too bad, I'm watching it!" I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Too, bad, I'm tickling you!" And he tickled me some more.

"Oh, please stop, please! I can't breathe, please, I'll do anything1!" I shouldn't have said that.

He got off me and snatched the remote out of my hand and changed the channel.

"Hey-" I started.

"You said you'd do anything, so I'm changing the channel, and there's nothing you can do about it!" He said, sticking his tongue out.

"Kids, Kiara and I are going out; we'll be back in a few hours!" Aaron called from the front yard.

"Yeah, okay!" I called back.

I heard the car leave the driveway, wondering how on Earth Aaron managed to get a driver's licence, he's even underage for a learner!

I pulled myself up on the couch beside Xavier.

"Why are we watching this?" I groaned.

Xavier had switched it to the Simpsons.

"Because it's funny." He answered.

"I know it's funny. But I don't like the tree house of horror ones." I said.

"Aww, do they scare you?" He teased.

"No!" I snapped. They didn't scare me at all. "I have a horror movie we can watch…" I said hopefully.

"What is it?" Xavier asked.

"When a Stranger Calls. Can we please? I heard it's really scary!" I asked.

"Fine. I'll go do the popcorn." He got up off the couch and into the kitchen.

I went through our videos, and finally found it. I took the disc out and placed it into the c-d holder.

"Ready?" I called to Xavier.

"Yep." He came back in with two bowls of popcorn. I pressed play.

The movie was up to the part where Jil, the baby sitter, finds out that the calls are coming from inside the house.

"Amy, are you sure you want to watch this?" Xavier asked.

"Yes. Are you scared?" I teased.

"Nope." He said through a mouthful of popcorn.

We were watching as Jil tried to find the kids, and as she came face to face with the stranger.

The stranger started attacking, but she went to the outside place that they had inside the house.

We watched as the stranger tried to drown her, and later trying to choke her.

But she stabbed him with a skewer type rod in the hand, and she ran outside to come face to face with the police.

It ended with her in the hospital, having a dream that the hospital was empty, and that the stranger attacked her again. Then she woke up screaming.

The screen went black as the credits rolled up the screen.

"Cool." I said as I took the disc out and put it back in its cover.

"Scary alright. I feel sorry for those kids." He said, cleaning up the popcorn.

"At least they didn't die." I said, joining him on the couch.

"Amy…" He started.

"Yes?" I looked at him.

"Well. I don't know how to tell you this…but I, uh, like you a lot." He said looking at the ground.

"I like you a lot too." I said, moving closer.

"Really?" He asked, looking up.

I nodded, putting my head on his shoulder.

He put his arms around me and hugged me. I hugged him back.

I closed my eyes and he pulled me onto his lap.

I rested my head on his chest and heard his heart beating, really fast.

"Try to control you heart, Xavier, you might faint." I muttered against his chest.

He chuckled.

"Amy…"

I opened my eyes just as his lips connected with mine.

I kissed him back.

It felt like cold water rushing down my throat, and his lips on mine felt so right, almost as if they were made for eachother…

Eventually we broke apart, breathing hard.

"Wow." I said.

"Wow." Xavier agreed.

I just rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"How are you feeling? I think your back's completely healed." He murmured.

"Better. My wrists don't hurt anymore. Kiara did a great job." I said.

"That's good." He whispered. He kissed me on my forehead.

"Guys, we're home!" I heard Kiara call.

Xavier and I jumped up and raced to the front door.

"Waddya do?" I asked.

"We have a surprise for you both." Aaron said.

"What!" Xavier and I asked at the same time.

"Oh, you'll find out later…" Aaron walked off to his room.

"Wait for me!" Kiara ran off after him.

"Come on!" I whispered to Xavier.

We snuck up the stairs, one by one, on our tippy-toes.

I silently walked to Aaron's room, and heard him and Kiara talking in hushed tones.

I put a finger to my mouth to tell Xavier to be quiet. He nodded.

"…Do you think they'll like it?" Kiara asked.

"I dunno, Amy probably won't." Aaron whispered.

"But what they have to wear is so cute!" Kiara whispered-squealed, if that's possible.

"They probably won't think that," Aaron whispered. "Kiara, keep quiet, they might hear us. I'll just go check the door…" I heard footsteps.

"Go!" I whispered to Xavier.

We sprinted down the hall and into my bedroom.

"Kids? What are you doing?" I heard Aaron call.

"Nothing!" We called back.

"Okay!" Aaron yelled.

After a minute we snuck back out and tippy-toed back to Aaron's room.

"…I tell you they will love it!" Kiara whispered.

"They don't have a choice anyway. Let's go tell them now." Aaron said.

We ran back to my room.

"Kids! Can Kiara and I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen?" Aaron called.

"Coming!" We yelled back.

We opened the door and ran down the stairs, two at a time.

"We have a surprise for you!" Kiara said.

We looked at her.

"You guys are going back to school!" Kiara squealed.

Oh, no.

Chapter 13

"We're WHAT!" I asked, horrified.

"You're going back to school." Kiara repeated.

"But we don't want to go back to school!" Xavier protested.

"Well, you are!" Kiara argued.

"Why?" I asked Aaron.

"Because you need a proper education." Aaron said.

"Are you kidding me?" My mouth dropped into a big 'o'.

"Do we look like we're kidding?" Aaron asked.

"No." I huffed.

"Besides, you get to wear cute little uniforms!" Kiara squealed, pulling out a white dress, a white top and white pants.

"No way am I wearing those!" Xavier argued.

"Oh yes you are!" Kiara snapped.

"What about you guys? Are you going to school?" I asked.

"Yes. Same school as yours, so we all have to wear the uniform," Aaron answered. He threw me the white dress and black lace up shoes, and Kiara threw the white top and pants and the same shoes that I had at Xavier. "Now go and get changed." Aaron ordered.

Xavier and I slumped up the stairs and went into my room.

"This is ridiculous!" I said.

"I know. We don't need to go to school! We're smart enough!" Xavier agreed.

"Go get changed in the bathroom." I said.

Xavier grabbed his uniform, and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I pulled off my tank top and my jeans, and slipped the white dress on over. I pushed my feet into the black shoes, and tied up the laces. I looked at myself in the mirror.

I looked ridiculous! How could they expect me to wear this!

I undid the top button on my dress and made the collar a bit bigger.

I took off the dress and went to get out the sewing machine I knew was still in my closet.

After three minutes of sewing, I had taken up the hem, and had stitched the strap at the back of my dress up tighter.

I put the dress back on, and walked over to the mirror.

That was better, you could see more of my neck, and about halfway up my thighs.

No, I'm one of those stuck up snobs that want to show boys as much as they can on their body; I just hate long and lose dresses, and tight collars.

"Amy! Are you decent?" Xavier called from my bathroom.

"Yes! You can come out!" I called back.

Xavier walked out dressed in his white top, which had a logo on it reading 'Fly High Secondary College' in green with golden wings behind it. I realised my dress had the same. His white pants had the same logo.

"White is so your colour!" I teased.

"Can say the same for you!" He teased back.

"At least Kiara and Aaron have to wear the same thing." I muttered.

"Yeah. These uniforms are horrible." Xavier agreed. "What was your old uniform like?"

"I'll show you." I walked over to my wardrobe and opened it. I pulled out a short maroon dress with black T-bar shoes.

"Wow, it's actually pretty!" I elbowed Xavier in the ribs.

"Better than this anyway." I said, gesturing to the uniforms we had on.

"True." Xavier shrugged.

"Kids! Get out here! We wanna see what you look like!" Aaron called.

I groaned. "Coming!" I called.

We took our time walking down to the kitchen. When we got there, what we saw almost made us double over in laughter!

"Aaron, what are you wearing?" I held down a laugh.

"Oh my God, Kiara, what the hell are you wearing! Xavier choked.

"This is the seniors uniform. You have the juniors." Aaron said. He was wearing a silver top with the words 'Fly High Secondary College' stitched in purple. He had a deep purple jacket on, with the same logo, and had matching purple pants on. His shoes were black lace ups.

"I think ours are cute!" Kiara said. She had on a purple dress much like mine, but a different colour, with 'Fly High Secondary Collage' also stitched in silver. Her shoes were black lace ups, too.

"All of a sudden, I feel better about our uniforms!" I said, trying so hard not to laugh.

"Me too." Xavier chuckled.

"You kids start school tomorrow. Here are all your text books and exercise books." Aaron handed us about twelve thick books each, and about ten exercise books.

"Be down in a few minutes, tea's almost ready!" Kiara said.

Xavier and I hauled our stuff up stairs and dumped the text books and exercise books in the far corner.

"Why do they try and make us learn?" I groaned into my pillow.

"That's what I want to know too." Xavier said, rubbing my back.

"We're not going to learn anything." I groaned.

"Well, it would be the last place Anaria and Zero would look for us." Xavier said.

"True. But still…why the school with the daggy uniform?" I groaned.

"I think it's their way of being mean to us." Xavier joked.

"Must be." I agreed.

"School can't be that bad. I mean, we get to meet a lot of new people, and make new friends." Xavier said.

"That's the problem. As soon as we've made a friend, we'll probably have to move because of Anaria and Zero." I groaned.

"I don't think that'll happen." Xavier disagreed.

"It's happened before, why wouldn't it happen again?" I remembered all the schools I had been to, and all the friends I had to leave behind. All because of Anaria and Zero.

"Amy, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Xavier whispered.

"It's okay; it's not your fault. It's happened to many times it doesn't bother me anymore." That was a lie; of course it bothered me, I just didn't want Xavier to feel bad.

"Come on. Let's go down to tea." He pulled me off the beg and hugged me.

I hugged him back and he kissed my forehead.

"Go get changed." I said. He went back into the bathroom as I got changed back into my tank and jeans. He came back out in his light blue top and black jeans.

"Race ya!" I yelled, already hallway out the door.

I sprinted down the stairs, five at a time – I think that's a new record – and burst into the kitchen. Xavier burst in five seconds after me.

"Na-na-na-na-na-na! I bet you!" I poked my tongue out at him. "What are we having?" I turned to Kiara so Xavier couldn't respond.

"Homemade pizza! It's on the table," I went over to my spot and saw that there was a margarita pizza and a Hawaiian pizza on my plate. They were small, but big enough. "Dig in. Aaron and I will just get changed and we'll be down in a minute." Kiara ran upstairs.

Xavier had the same pizzas as me.

We hooked ankles under the table and started shovelling in the pizzas.

"Yum!" I said, through a mouthful of margarita pizza.

"Mmm!" Xavier had just shoved Hawaiian pizza into his mouth.

We were finished before Kiara and Aaron even came down!

"Wow, are you guys finished already?" Asked Kiara.

"Yep! They were very nice pizzas! Thanks!" I said.

"You're welcome. Now off to bed. Xavier, Amy will help you set up your bed on her couch." Kiara said.

Aaron kissed me goodnight while Kiara kissed Xavier, and we ran upstairs to my bedroom.

I went to my wardrobe to get some spare sheets and pillows for Xavier to sleep with on my couch.

"Here, I'll help." I tossed him the sheets.

We unfolded the sheets and tucked the edges into the couch. I place the pillows on one end, and Xavier helped we unfold the doona.

"Sorry about the cover, I'm a Twilight fan." I apologised. My doona cover had a huge picture of Edward Cullen, like the many posters in my room did.

"It's cool." Xavier said.

"There all done." I said, flopping down onto my bed.

"So I take it that you love Twilight?" Xavier asked.

"What tipped you off?" I asked sarcastically.

"The doona cover and the posters." He said.

I rolled my eyes.

"I don't get what you girls think is so good about Twilight. I mean, I'm a guy, but really, sparkly vampires?" Xavier asked.

"DON'T FREAKING BAGS TWILIGHT! IT'S THE BEST BOOK EVER AND SPARKLY VAMPIRES ARE SO COOL! AND GUYS CAN LIKE TWILIGHT TOO!" I screamed and started attacking him with pillows.

Aaron heard Amy attacking Xavier.

"I think Xavier just insulted Twilight. Not a bright idea. Even though I can't see why Amy even likes the movies or books, I mean, vampires that sparkle? Pu-lease!" Aaron snorted.

Kiara looked at him.

"What? It's true." Aaron defended himself.

"Did you just insult Twilight?" Kiara asked in a monotone voice.

"Oh, not you too! Does every freaking girl on this planet love Twilight?" Aaron groaned.

"I asked if you just insulted Twilight, did you?" Kiara asked, raising her voice.

"Maybe…" Aaron muttered.

"Upstairs. Amy's room now!" Kiara ordered. Aaron obeyed.

Chapter 14

I was bashing Xavier with my pillows. I jumped on him and pinned him to the ground.

"Don't…you…ever…bag…Twilight…again!" I said with each pillow-punch.

The door opened and Kiara came in with a very scared-looking Aaron.

"Did Xavier insult Twilight?" Kiara asked.

I nodded, whacking Xavier with a pillow again.

"So did Aaron, mind if I join?" Kiara asked.

"Sure, go ahead!" I said, throwing a pillow at her.

Xavier used my distraction to get away.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled and jumped on his back and whacked him with another pillow. I pinned him to the ground again.

"Don't…bag…Twilight…if…you…know…what's…good…for…you!" Kiara said, whacking Aaron with every word.

"Do you think they've learned their lesson?" I asked.

"Not yet!" Kiara whacked Aaron again.

I whipped Xavier with the pillow and started whacking him again.

"I'm gonna take Aaron and tie him up in our room!" Kiara said, hauling a still very scared-looking Aaron out of the room.

"NO! PUT ME DOWN!" I heard Aaron's screams grow faint.

"Oh God Amy, you are not going to tie me up!" Xavier said.

"Who said?" I asked, sitting on top of him.

"Me!" Xavier said as I whacked him with another pillow.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

He pulled me into a kiss. I kissed him back.

"Now, are you going to tie me up?" He asked.

"Maybe…" He kissed me some more.

"Are you going to tie me up?" He asked again.

"No." I gave up. But I could always lock him in my wardrobe…

"Good girl." He went to the bathroom to get changed into his pyjamas.

I got changed into my nightie and waited until he walked out of the bathroom.

When he walked out, I jumped on him and shoved him into my wardrobe.

"Amy! What the hell! Let me out now!" Xavier shouted.

I locked the door.

"Amy! NOW!" Xavier ranted.

Kiara walked in and raised her eyebrows.

"Did you lock him in your wardrobe?" She asked.

"Yep. Nobody insults Twilight in front of me and gets away with it!" I said proudly. "What did you do to Aaron?"

"Tied him to the bed." Kiara said.

"He'll be able to get out of that by using air!" I screamed.

"Oh God! I forgot about that! Help me, quick!" Kiara screamed and sprinted down the hall.

We ran into Aaron's room to find him half out of the sheets Kiara tied him with.

"Oh no you don't!" We screamed and we both jumped on him.

"No! I thought you'd forgotten! No fair!" Aaron screamed as we tied him back down.

"Kiara, get some metal rods and place the ends of the sheets on them, I'll melt the metal around the sheets so he can't get out!" I yelled. Kiara nodded and ran out of the room.

"What did I tell you about insulting Twilight, Aaron?" I asked, sitting on him.

"That 'if I ever insulted Twilight, you would beat me until I couldn't breathe'" Aaron responded.

"Great, you remembered! Now, why did you do it?" I asked.

"Because I thought you wouldn't find out, and I thought Kiara would be one of the rare girls that hate Twilight!" Aaron answered.

"Bad choice." I tutted.

Kiara came back in metal blocks and placed them on the ends of each sheet, making sure that the sheets were connected.

"Where did you get those metal blocks?" I asked.

"Bottom of the fridge and oven." Kiara answered, securing the sheets.

"I'll melt the metal now; sit on Aaron so he can't move." I hopped off Aaron as soon as Kiara jumped on him.

I thought about what made me angry, and felt fire on my fingertips.

I thought about what I wanted the fire to do.

I pointed my index finger at one of the metal blocks.

I screamed.

My hands were burnt again.

Kiara rushed over and looked at my hands.

"Amy! What happened!" Kiara asked.

"I don't know!" I sobbed.

Aaron broke free of the sheets just as Xavier raced through the door.

"What happened? I heard a scream." Xavier asked. Then he saw me. "Amy! What happened?"

"Xavier, go get some ice!" Kiara said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I think there's something wrong with you controlling fire. When was the last time you controlled it?" Kiara asked.

"When I was in the cell with Zero; I tried to use fire to melt the lock, but Zero caught me and kinda made fire turn on me!" I wailed.

"Zero's done something to your fire." Aaron said.

"I know but what?" Kiara muttered. "Aaron, take her back to her room, I'll work out the cure."

I stood up, but had to lean against Aaron. For some reason, fire had more than just burned me. I felt like it had burned my inside as well.

I screamed again as I moved, and fell back down. Luckily, Aaron caught me.

I was semi-conscious and could just here Aaron and Kiara.

"She's not just burnt. There must be something in her system.' Aaron said, picking my up.

"I'll work on a cure, just make sure she rests and get Xavier with the ice. Once you've got her to rest, come back here, I'll need your help." Kiara yelled as Aaron closed her door.

Aaron walked through my door and through all the feathers from the pillows on the floor.

I felt sheets and a pillow under my head.

"Here's the ice." Xavier said.

I felt something cold pressing against my hands. I groaned.

"Aaron, what's wrong with her?" Xavier asked.

"We think there's something in her system that we didn't pick up before. I'm going to help Kiara with the cure." Aaron answered.

"I'll stay here." I felt Xavier sit down next to me and heard Aaron leave the room.

"That was some neat trick, locking me up in the wardrobe…" Xavier said, trying to make me feel better.

"Not gonna insult Twilight again, are you?" I said, my voice thick.

"I'm definitely going to give it some thought next time," He chuckled. Then he got serious. "Amy, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I called fire, and thought about what I wanted it to do, I felt it come, then it just burned my fingers," I mumbled. "I think Zero has done something to it."

"What did he do to you?" Xavier tried to keep his voice level, but didn't succeed.

"When I was trying to escape, I used fire to try and burn the cell lock, but Zero caught and turned fire on me. I don't know how he did it, but he did." I answered.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Feeling better. At least I won't have to go to school tomorrow." I joked, but only half-heartedly.

"Ha-ha. I'm so amused." Xavier said sarcastically.

I managed to stick my tongue out at him.

"Well, I don't! That's a good thing." I said.

"I'd rather you be at school than home with poisons inside of you." Xavier said, he had lost his joking tone.

"True." I admitted.

"I'll stay home with you tomorrow." Xavier said.

"Oh no. You don't get out of school that easily, mister!" I argued.

"Again, ha-ha, I'm so amused. I'm staying home with you, and that's the end of it!"

"But-" I started.

"No. I'm nursing you back to health. Aaron and Kiara will go to school tomorrow to talk with our teachers and get to know them. I'll nurse you back to health, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Xavier said, with a steel tone in his voice.

"Fine." I grumbled.

"Now sleep." Xavier said.

I closed my eyes, and the world of dreams crashed over me.

I was in a cell. Who knows where?

I heard the cell door open, and Zero entered.

"Ah, Amy! Glad to see that you have discovered the poison I so cleverly placed in you!" Zero said cheerily. "You'll be happy to know that we have your brother, and Kiara and Xavier of course. Ice is going to kill them any minute. She was just waiting for our honourable guest to come too. She wants to kill them in front of you, and then she will slowly kill you."

He walked over and hauled me to my feet.

"Don't bother fighting Amy. Or I might just decide to kill you here, then you wouldn't be able to see your loved ones again!" He snarled.

I groaned.

"Come on. Faster!" Zero growled as we walked through numerous halls.

Eventually we came to the golden hall.

Zero marched me inside and gripped me much like he had hundreds of times before.

I saw Aaron, Kiara and Xavier all lifeless on the floor. The only thing that told me that they were still alive was that their chests were rising about a millimetre every time they breathed.

"Amy! Glad you could join us!" Ice said as she walked up to me. She grabbed my chin and forced me to look her in the eye. "Now you can watch your loved ones die!"

I tried to get free of Zero's hold but couldn't.

She walked over to Kiara first.

I couldn't believe this was happening. After all we'd been through.

She knelt down and placed her hands on Kiara's neck.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" I screeched, trying to break free from Zero.

"Too late for that Amy." Ice said as she snapped Kiara's neck.

"NOOOO!" I started sobbing.

She knelt down next to Xavier, but this time, she pulled out a knife.

"NO! ICE PLEASE! DON'T! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING! PLEASE JUST DON'T KILL THEM! PLEASE!" I yelled.

She ignored me and slit Xavier's neck.

"NOOOO!" I sobbed even harder.

She got up and walked over to Aaron, who was still unconscious on the floor.

"ICE! PLEASE DON'T! PLEASE! NO MORE! ICE, I'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM! I NEED AARON! PLEASE! STOP ICE! PLEASE! OH, GOD ICE PLEASE! DON'T!" I screeched and tried to kick Zero.

Ice pulled out a gun and loaded it; she pointed it at Aaron chest.

"PLEASE NO! PLEASE!" I screeched, still trying to kick Zero.

"Look away, Amy, if you don't want to watch." Ice warned.

I couldn't look away. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

Ice pulled the trigger.

I saw the bullet enter Aaron's chest, right into his heart. Blood blossomed through his t-shirt and all around in torso.

I dropped to the floor, sobbing my heart out.

I saw Ice leaning over me, and she pointed the gun at me.

She pulled the trigger.

I shot straight up in bed, screaming.

"Amy! What's wrong!" Xavier said, waking up beside me.

I was too shocked to speak.

I was gasping for air.

"AARON! KIARA!" Xavier yelled.

"What's wrong?" Aaron and Kiara came running.

They probably saw me curled up on my bed, because silence followed.

Aaron broke the silence.

"Amy! What happened?" He asked.

"Bad dream." I gasped, starting to calm down.

"Seems worse than a 'bad dream' to me." Aaron muttered.

"I'm fine." I said sitting up. Everyone looked at me. "Really. I'm fine now." I curled back up under the blankets and closed my eyes.

"First sign of her distraught, call us straight away." I heard Aaron say to Xavier.

I heard Kiara and Aaron leave the room.

"Amy?" Xavier asked.

"Yes?" I mumbled.

"Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"Okay. Just remember I'm here." I felt his lips brush across my forehead as I fell into a deep sleep.

This one without any dreams.

Chapter 15

I woke up. That was the best night's sleep I had ever had!

"Amy? Are you awake?" Xavier whispered.

"Yes." I whispered back.

"How are you feeling? You had a power drain and a horrible dream." Xavier asked.

"Loads better, thanks." I answered.

"That's good. You're not allowed to go near anything hot, Aaron said to tell you. And we start school in a week, just to let you know, Aaron and Kiara are there now. They left about twenty minutes ago. They'll be back around four." Xavier said.

"Yes! No big kids!" I said, getting out of bed.

"Get dressed and we'll have breakfast." Xavier said, walking into my bathroom. I started to think he had is entire wardrobe in there.

I walked over to my drawers and pulled out a hot pink tank top and some leggings.

"Are you done?" I asked, knocking on the bathroom door. "I need to do my hair and take a shower!"

"Sure, come in!" Xavier answered.

I walked in and saw Xavier was doing his hair.

"Never met a guy before who brushes their hair." I muttered as I took my brush out of it holder and starting brushing my hair.

"Never met a girl before who does her hair before breakfast." He said.

I stuck my tongue out at him and continued brushing my hair. I decided to leave my hair down, and let my natural curls curl around my neck. I would usually straighten my hair, but Aaron had told Xavier this morning to tell me to stay away from 'hot' things.

"Out, I'm taking a shower." I ordered.

"I'll go get breakfast ready. Remember, have a cold shower, not a hot one." Xavier said as he walked out the door.

I took my nightie and hopped into the shower and turned the 'cold water' knob to the left. I felt the cold water rush over me and I had to try to hold back a shriek.

Once I had gotten used to the cold, I rinsed my hair then washed it with shampoo and conditioner. I washed myself with soap and was out of the shower.

I dried myself with a towel and got dressed.

I got the hair-drier out and started to dry my hair.

Once I was finished, I started to brush my hair again.

Don't ask why, but I brush my hair before I get in the shower. I don't know why, I just do.

I let my hair curl naturally around my shoulders and neck.

I walked out of the bathroom and down to the kitchen where Xavier was making breakfast.

"What're we having?" I asked, sitting down in my spot.

"Pancakes." Xavier replied, standing in front of the stove.

"Yum! I'll get the maple syrup!" I said, hopping out of my chair and walking over to the pantry.

I got the maple syrup out and placed it on the table.

"Pancakes are ready!" Xavier announced, flipping two humongous pancakes on to my plate.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Practise. Practise. Practise," Xavier said, flipping his own pancakes on to his plate, and joining me. "Dig in!"

I poured the maple syrup all over my pancakes and handed it to Xavier, who did the same.

I shovelled the pancakes into my mouth and felt the sweet taste of the maple syrup melting on my tongue. But the pancakes were cold. Stupid Aaron and his rules. But it still tasted nice.

"Mmm! This is so good!" I said.

"Thanks. Kiara taught me when I was eight." Xavier said through a mouthful of pancake.

"What are we going to do today?" I asked, the fork halfway to my mouth.

"What do you want to do?" Xavier said.

"I dunno…" I muttered. "How about we go shopping!"

"What?" Xavier looked horrified.

"Yeah. We'll go shopping; I have about three thousand dollars saved up from all my birthdays and Christmas'… Please?" I asked.

"Fine. Clean up here and I'll go get my money." He walked upstairs, taking his time.

I picked up my plate and his and placed them in the sink. I put the maple syrup back in its place and went to get my handbag and my purse. I put all my money into the purse and walked back downstairs where Xavier was waiting.

"We'll catch the bus to Southland." Xavier said.

We walked out the front door and locked it.

We walked to the bus stop hand in hand.

"The next bus doesn't come for about five minutes." Xavier said.

"Let's sit down on the bench, it looks like it's about to rain, and it's undercover." We walked over to the bus stop bench and waited.

"It's so deserted." I looked around the street and nobody was there.

"It's a school and work day. Everybody's probably at school or work." Xavier said.

"Oh yeah. I wonder how Aaron and Kiara are doing." I wondered.

"With Kiara's attitude, she's probably already teacher's pet." Xavier laughed.

"And with Aaron's looks, he probably has girls already jumping on him." I chuckled.

"I can't wait to go to school." Xavier said sarcastically.

"Have you ever been before?" I asked.

"Nope. I don't want to either. Everything I know Kiara has taught me or I found out and taught to myself. It's better that way." Xavier answered.

"You'll like school." I said.

"Then why don't you want to go back to it?" Xavier asked.

"It's school, who does?" I laughed.

"True."

"The only thing I purely hate about school is bullies. I hate bullying. Nobody deserves it, except for the people who bully. It's terrible, how people think that they're better than everyone else just because they're better looking, or because they wear make-up to school. Or because they're rich. I hate people like that. It irritates me." I said.

"You seem to know a lot about bullying…" Xavier said.

"Yeah. I do, and I know how it feels.

"I was bullied when I was younger, because I had curly hair, and because I had hazel eyes, when most other kids had blue, and because I had no parents. It was horrible. This one girl, Kathleen, kept calling me names, and kept saying I was ugly, but I had enough sense to just ignore her. But my friends stood up for me, and they got bullied to. We took it to our teacher, but she couldn't do anything about it." I told Xavier.

"Amy I'm so sorry. I hate bullies, too. They're horrible people. And just to tease people about their looks, well, it's horrible. And I don't think you're ugly. I think you're pretty." Xavier hugged me.

"Really?" I looked at him.

He kissed me on the lips. "Really."

"The bus is coming." I said, and stood up.

The bus pulled over at the stop and a few people got off. Xavier and I jumped on and handed the driver then dollars for the both of us, and he handed us daily tickets.

We walked over to two seats that were at the very back of the bus and sat down.

"We'll be on the bus for a while." I said.

Xavier nodded and pulled me into his lap.

"Rest, Amy." He muttered in my ear.

"Amy wake up, we're here." Xavier muttered in my ear.

"Woohoo! Shopping!" I yelled and ran off the bus.

Xavier hopped off after me.

"Where do you want to go first?" Xavier asked.

"SUPRE!" I screamed, and ran off to find the shop.

I had to run across, like, half of Southland to find it, and when I did, Xavier couldn't find me anywhere in it.

"Ooh. I like this, and this, ooh, and that. Ooh! Those tops are so cute!" I couldn't hold any more clothes, so I settled for what I had; Two blue tank tops, three pairs of black jeans, two pairs of white jeans, four black jackets, five multi-coloured dresses and three sets of leggings.

I walked over to the cashier and handed him the clothed to scan.

"That's comes to a total of one hundred and fifty three dollars." The man said. I handed in the correct amount of money and walked out of the shop with four bags full of clothing.

"Amy, if you're going to shop like that in every shop we go into, I'll go get a trolley. Wait here." Xavier walked off.

He returned about a minute later with a trolley. I piled the bags into the trolley and started walking again.

"Now where?" Xavier groaned.

"To… Cotton On!" I raced to Cotton On and went straight to my favourite section, the dresses.

I found a pretty dark purple on that was short, and found a hot pink one too. I found a summer dress that was a pretty green colour, and piled them into the trolley.

"Xavier! I found a cute top for you!" I called.

He walked over and saw what I had in my hand.

"No way Amy!" He started to back away.

"Please just try it on! It'll look cute on you!" I pleaded.

"Fine!" He took the top off me and went to get changed.

While he was changing, I browsed through some of the girls' tops they had here. I found a pretty lavender one and it was just my size. So I got the green, pink and blue ones too.

Xavier came out with the blue top on, and boy was I right! It wasn't tight, and it wasn't lose. It was just perfect!

"I was right! It does make you look cute!" I squealed.

"Lemme guess, you're going to buy it for me?" Xavier asked.

"Heck yeah I am! It goes with your blue eyes and brown hair!" I said, rushing off to purchase the clothing I had found. "Take it off!"

I had purchased all my clothes from Cotton On for seventy five dollars, and I was waiting for Xavier to come out. When he did, he was back in his black shirt. He had the blue one in a Cotton On bag. He placed it in the trolley.

"How many more shops Amy?" Xavier groaned.

"Heaps. We've only been to two! Come on! I wanna go to Equip!" I raced off towards the shop.

Equip was smaller than the others, but it had necklaces, rings, ear-ring, handbags, headbands and hair ties!

I walked over to the headband area and pick out a pretty lime green one and a dark purple one.

"Amy…this is a girls shop…why are we here?" Xavier groaned again.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a girl, so I go into the girl shops." I stuck my tongue out at him.

He groaned again.

I picked out some bracelets and some matching necklaces and ear-rings.

I looked at my handbag.

Hmm. What the hell, I'll get a handbag too!

I walked over to the handbags and picked out a dark purple on to match my purse. I looked at the company.

Bluebird. I like them.

I paid for all the stuff.

Xavier and I went through hundreds of other shops, boys and girls, and he ended up having to get another trolley.

Eventually, Xavier and I walked over to the McDonalds.

I got two double cheese burgers and a large frozen coke with large chips.

Xavier got the same as me, but he got medium chips.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Aaron and I need to eat a lot to supply energy to keep the planets going.

"We'll go home after this, Amy. That's enough shopping for one day." Xavier said.

"Fine…" I grumbled.

"Good. Now eat, I can tell you're hungry." Xavier took a bite of his double cheeseburger as I took a bite of mine.

We finished in less than five minutes and started walking out of the shops.

We got on the bus.

I saw two people hop on the bus after us.

I recognised them.

Zero and Anaria.

My heart stopped beating.

Chapter 16

"Xavier, Zero and-" I started.

"I know!" He whispered. "Keep quiet."

I nodded and watched Zero and Anaria took their seats. Zero caught my eye and I looked away quickly. We were safe for the moment, but the second we got off we would be in trouble.

"Xavier, what do we do?" I whispered.

"Wait until the last stop, maybe they haven't noticed us." Xavier said.

"Uhh…about that…" I murmured.

"Amy, what did you do?" Xavier looked at me.

"I was watching them and then Zero looked at me and caught my eye, I looked away but I don't think I was quick enough." I answered.

"We'll get off at our bus stop, lead them the wrong was, lose them, and then run home." Xavier said.

I nodded.

We waited the painful thirty minutes to our bus stop, and occasionally Zero or Anaria would look at us.

"Amy, come on!" Xavier whispered.

Xavier and I got off the bus, and so did Zero and Anaria.

We started walking in the opposite direction of our house, and we got to a wetland, and we just kept walking through, pretending that we didn't know that they were following us.

Everything was going well until I was surrounded by fire.

"Xavier!" I screamed. I couldn't get out of it. The fire was closing in on me, and I was starting to cough. I wouldn't dare try to control it; I could hurt me or Xavier. "Xavier!" I tried again, this time my lungs were filled with smoke.

"Amy!" I saw Xavier was surrounded by water closing in on him.

I looked over and saw Zero controlling the fire and Anaria controlling the water.

I coughed and fell to my knees.

I felt around for one of the pairs of clothing we had bought, and I found a tank top and though it over my head like a mask.

"Xavier! Catch!" I threw another tank at him, it dodged the fir easily, and I controlled the water just enough to let it pass through to him. He grabbed it and did the same as me, stopping at least some water from getting through.

But I was weak, I couldn't control the water to help Xavier, the fire was still weakening me. I see why Aaron wanted me to stay away from hot things.

I was starting to choke on the smoke, and I found it really hard to breathe.

"XAVIER!" I screeched, and barley heard him answer back.

"AMY! DON'T TRY TO FIGHT THE FIRE, YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF!" Xavier screamed.

"OKAY!" I managed to scream back before I fell to the ground and started to shake.

It felt like the fire was inside of me, and burning me from the inside. I could just make the shape of Xavier on the ground in the middle of all that water, coughing, like me. The shapes of Zero and Anaria moved towards us and all of a sudden, the fire and water disappeared.

Zero came towards me and picked me up.

"Don't even think about running!" He spat, hauling me up onto his shoulders.

I saw Anaria doing the same with Xavier, and saw that Xavier was unconscious.

Zero placed his hands on either side of me and they glowed blue again.

I felt the elements leave me, but this time, it felt good. I didn't have then threatening to hurt me anymore.

"PUT US DOWN!" I started to punch Zero's back as hard as I could.

He didn't answer. I continued punching for about five minutes.

Zero's hands grabbed my waist and he pulled me off him and held me by my shoulders.

"Enough! You will come with us!" He roared before picking me up again.

I still punched him, and he winced about every third punch.

"LET US GO!" I screeched, kicking him in the stomach, or somewhere around that area, I couldn't see.

"AMY! ENOUGH! WHAT YOU DO TO ME NOW, I'M GOING TO DO TEN TIMES AS WORSE TO YOU AND XAVIER!" Zero roared. I stopped.

We walked for a bit, then Zero and Anaria stopped.

"Put them down." I heard a voice. Aarons voice! I thought

"Put them down, and we won't hurt you." I heard Kiara say.

"Or, how about you come with us. That way, we don't have to hurt you." Anaria snarled.

"Nah, we don't like that idea." Kiara snarled back.

"Put them down, or we will hurt you." Aaron snarled, and he'd never snarled before.

"How about we fight; whoever wins, gets Amy and Xavier." Zero spat.

There was silence. "Fine." Aaron said.

Zero and Anaria dropped Xavier and me next to a tree, about a hundred yards away from the fight.

I watched through a blurry vision as Aaron, Kiara, Zero and Anaria faced each other. Aaron was fighting Zero, and Kiara was fighting Anaria.

"On three…one…two…three!" Zero yelled.

They ran towards each other and I saw Aaron summon his elements as Kiara landed blow after blow on Anaria.

My headache finally got the better of me. I passed out, watching the fight.

"Amy? Are you awake?" I heard Aaron's voice, but it sounded like he was speaking through a brick wall.

"Mmm?" I groaned, my head was killing me.

"Oh, thank God! Kiara, she's okay!" Aaron yelled.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to sit up, but Aaron pushed me back down again.

"Zero and Anaria saw that they weren't going to win, so they left," Aaron responded. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, actually. How's Xavier?" I had to ask.

"He's up and about. The water attack took a lot out of him, though. Also, you'll be pleased to know that Kiara and I saved all of your clothing items." Aaron laughed.

"Oh, yeah, because I was so worried about clothes." I said sarcastically.

"Do you feel well enough for school tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yep. Better and ready to learn!" I said in my most sarcastic voice.

"Well, come down for tea." Aaron said.

I got up and followed him out.

"How ya feeling Amy?" Xavier asked when he saw come through the kitchen door.

"Great, thanks. How 'bout you?" I asked, sitting next to him at the table.

"Great, too, thanks for asking." He replied, and kissed me on the cheek when Kiara and Aaron weren't looking.

"We're having spaghetti and garlic bread, so get some paper towels and place the over your tops." Kiara said, getting the spaghetti out of the microwave.

"Yummy." I muttered so only Xavier could hear me.

Xavier chuckled.

Kiara flopped the spaghetti onto our plates and placed the garlic on a round plate in the middle of the table.

"Dig in!" Kiara said as she shoved a mouthful of spaghetti into her mouth. We all copied her, and shovelled down a mouthful of spaghetti each.

"How do we know that Zero and Anaria don't know where we live?" Xavier asked, his breath smelling like garlic.

"Well, you guys didn't show them where we lived did you? Even if you walked passed it, they would figure it out." Aaron asked.

Xavier and I shook our heads.

"Then they wouldn't know where we live. And you two are still going to school. No excuses." Aaron said, shoving down garlic bread.

Xavier and I groaned.

That made Aaron and Kiara chuckle.

"It's not that bad, you know. This school is clean, the teachers are nice, the principal is kind and caring, and the recces and lunch times go on forever." Kiara said cheerily.

"But it's still school." Xavier groaned.

"Yes, it is. And you're going there to learn. Don't worry, you'll be together for every class, we made sure of it. So if anything happens, you won't be alone." Aaron said.

"But, Aaron-" I started.

"No 'buts'. You're going to school, no negotiation, end of story. You're going. Period." Aaron interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, that's what I forgot to ask…" I muttered.

"Woah. Amy, if it's girl stuff, I don't wanna know. Ask Kiara, she knows more about it than I do." Aaron said.

Kiara and I went strawberry red, and we looked at him.

"What did you just say?" I hissed.

"If its girl stuff, ask Kiara, she knows more about it than I do." Aaron shrugged. Xavier was trying not to laugh.

"It's nothing like that!" I snapped.

"Why would you even think that?" Kiara asked, staring at Aaron.

"Well, she responded to the word period, so I thought that maybe she…you know…"Aaron trailed off.

"Okay, one, eww! Two, I was going to ask how many periods there are a day! Three, eww!" I snapped.

"Ok, well, okay then. There are six periods a day." Aaron said.

"Can't believe you thought I was asking about that. I wouldn't ask in front of Xavier, eww. Anyway I would go to Kiara." I muttered as I put my plate in the sink.

"Exactly, eww." Kiara agreed as she did the same as me.

We both walked upstairs, and as soon as we reached my room, we burst out laughing.

"Oh, snap! Did you see their faces! That was so funny! Aaron thought he was in trouble! Oh, my God! That was funny!" Kiara and I laughed until we couldn't breathe and our ribs hurt.

"That was so funny! The look on their faces was priceless!" Kiara laughed.

"I can't breathe. I need to stop laughing or I'll explode from laughter!" Of course that made us laugh even harder, even though I couldn't breathe.

"Okay, okay… let's stop." Kiara said as she chuckled one last time.

"Phew!" I panted and I lay down on my bed.

"That was..." Kiara tried to find the right word, "interesting."

"Very interesting." I agreed.

I walked over to my drawers and pulled out a camera.

"Wanna go film their reactions?" I asked.

"Heck, yeah!" Kiara said.

We walked ever so quietly down the stairs and out the front door. We snuck around to the kitchen window and I pressed record on the camera as I focused it on Aaron and Xavier. It's just picked up what they were saying.

"…You know, Xavier, you can come to me anytime you want to ask me anything." Aaron said.

Xavier went bright red but nodded. Kiara and I held back a chuckle.

"Good. So, you like Amy, huh?" Aaron continued.

"Yes. She's pretty, kind, loud, smart and fast." Xavier said. Kiara looked at me and I could feel my cheeks burning up.

"Are you gonna ask her out?" Aaron asked.

Xavier nodded. "Yes. I don't know when the right time would be though…"

"Why don't you ask her tonight? You have my full permission." Aaron said.

"Okay, I will. And thanks." Xavier said.

"Sure thing. Now come on, we'd better get the dishes done, otherwise Kiara would kill us." Aaron rose from his seat and walked over to the dishes and started washing. Xavier followed.

"I expected a more funny reaction." Kiara said.

"Me too. Let's go before the see us lurking." I said as I turned off the camera.

"Good idea." Kiara said, starting to walk around to the back door.

We silently opened the door and walked up the stairs back into my room.

"I'll go get ready for bed." I said and I grabbed my nightie.

"'Kay. Me, too. I'm tired." Kiara walked out of the room.

I took my clothes off and walked towards my bathroom.

Just as I was about to close, the door, I noticed something red on my white carpet.

Damn! Aaron's gonna kill me!

I quickly got dressed again and ran to Kiara's and Aaron's room.

"Kiara! Help! I spilt red cordial on my carpet! Aaron's gonna kill me if he finds out!" I whispered frantically, so Aaron couldn't hear me.

"Okay, I'm coming." Kiara said.

I walked back down to my room, with Kiara right behind me.

"Thanks, Kiara." I said as we scrubbed at the red cordial on the carpet.

"No problem." She said as we finished.

"Thanks." I said again, as she walked out of the room.

"Go to bed, Amy, it's late." She called from her room.

I presumed Xavier was still down in the kitchen with Aaron, so I went into my bathroom, took a shower, and jumped in bed.

Chapter 17

I woke up to Xavier walking into my room.

"Amy, are you awake?" He whispered.

"No, I'm asleep, that's why I'm talking." I answered.

"Ha-ha-ha." He said.

"Was that funny?" I asked.

"Yes, it was." He chuckled.

"Okay, I'll try to not be funny." I joked.

"I never said stop." Xavier said, as he walked into my bathroom.

I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the shower water.

I was about to drift off to sleep again when Xavier walked back in, his hair sticking up at funny angles because of the water. He had a fresh smell about him, almost like mint, but not.

"School tomorrow." He said glumly.

"Why did you remind me?" I groaned.

"Aaron told me to remind you." He answered.

"Of course he did." I rolled my eyes.

"Amy…" his voice trailed off.

"Mmm?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know how to ask you…but, um, will you go out with me?" He asked, sitting down on the bed next to me.

I sat up in bed and looked at him.

"Yes!" I said and jumped into his lap.

He kissed me on the forehead. "Well, where do you want to go?" He asked.

"How about the movies?" I asked.

"Which one?" He asked.

"Mmm. How about…Tron Legacy?" I asked.

"Sounds great to me. When do you wanna go?" he said, kissing my forehead again.

"On the weekend?" I kissed him on the lips and he kissed me back.

We sat there kissing for about an hour before I felt really tired.

"You're tired, Amy. Rest." Xavier muttered as he tucked me in.

I fell asleep.

"Amy! Amy, wake up!" Aaron was shaking me awake.

"What do you want? It's too early to get up!" I groaned as I pulled my pillow over my head.

Aaron yanked it off. "We have school! Get up now, or you're going to be late!" Aaron yelled.

"What if I want to be late!" I yelled. But he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and marched to my bathroom. He threw my uniform, underwear and a bra in after me.

"Get changed now!" He roared.

I'd never seen him this angry; school was one of the many things Aaron was serious about.

So I yanked off my nightie and got dressed. I brushed my hair and knocked on my door to be let out.

"Aaron! I'm done!" I said.

He opened the door and looked at me. He was already dressed in his seniors' uniform. "Good. Get downstairs and eat your breakfast. Then come up, brush your teeth, pack your bag, then OFF TO SCHOOL!" He yelled. I'd obviously ticked him off by taking so long in the bathroom.

I raced downstairs and into the kitchen. I saw pancakes waiting on the table in my spot, and gulped them down one by one.

When I was finished, I raced back upstairs and into my bathroom to do my teeth. While I was brushing, I packed my bag with all my text books and exercise books. I spat out the toothpaste into my sink and raced out the door.

I ran to the car and jumped into the backseat, noting that my backpack was very heavy.

"Took you long enough." Xavier chuckled next to me.

I stuck my tongue out at him as Aaron backed out of the driveway. Kiara, Aaron and Xavier obviously rose before me.

It took us fifteen minutes to reach our new school. But when Aaron pulled up beside it, I was not happy at what I saw: The gate surrounding the school was pure black, and the gate had points at the top of it, the points looked sharp enough to puncture metal. The building was dark grey and did not look that welcoming. The garden was all untidy and unkept around the building, and the flowers were all wilting.

"Cheery place." I muttered as we got out of the car, hauling our bags with us.

We walked through the front doors into what I presumed was the front office. The inside was the exact opposite of the outside: It was all colourful and neat. The furniture in the office was neatly arranged, and the view of the back oval from where we were standing was beautiful: You could see about a hundred different types of flowers blossoming on the grass, and all the benching was arranged neatly. There was even a water feature in the middle of the courtyard.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Hello, you must be the new kids. My name is Miss Daphney, and I'm the principal. Here're your classes and your assigned lockers. If you need any help, just ask me or another student or teacher, I'm sure they'd be glad to help." A smiley woman walked out from behind the desk, and flipped her blonde straight hair behind her shoulders as she handed us our classes.

"Thank you." Aaron said as she walked off.

I read the piece of paper the principal had given me, and it read:

Bright, Jessicah.

Monday

Form assembly. (8:50 – 9:00)

Period 1: French. (9:00 – 9:48)

Period 2: Science. (9:48 – 10:37)

Recess (10:37 – 10-50)

Period 3: Maths. (11:00 – 11:48)

Period 4: English. (11:48 – 12:37)

Lunch (12:37- 1:20)

Period 5: History. (1:30 – 2: 17)

Period 6: Music. (2:17 – 3:06)

Tuesday

Form assembly. (8:50 – 9:00)

Period 1: English. (9:00 – 9:48)

Period 2: History. (9:48 – 10:37)

Recess (10:37 – 10-50)

Period 3: Music. (11:00 – 11:48)

Period 4: Maths. (11:48 – 12:37)

Lunch (12:37- 1:20)

Period 5: PE (1:30 – 2: 17)

Period 6: PE (2:17 – 3:06)

Wednesday

Period 1: Science. (9:00 – 9:48)

Period 2: Science. (9:48 – 10:37)

Recess (10:37 – 10:50)

Period 3: Maths. (11:00 – 11:48)

Period 4: Art. (11:48 – 12:37)

Lunch (12:37- 1:20)

Period 5: Geography. (1:30 – 2:17)

Period 6: History (2:17 – 3:06)

Thursday

Form assembly. (8:50 – 9:00)

Period 1: Music. (9:00 – 9:48)

Period 2: Maths. (9:48 – 10:37)

Recess (10:37 – 10:50)

Period 3: History. (11:00 – 11:48)

Period 4: French. (11: 48 –12:37)

Lunch (12:37 – 1:20)

Period 5: Woodworks. (1:30 – 2:17)

Period 6: Woodworks. (2:17 – 3:06)

Friday

Form assembly. (8:50 – 9:00)

Period 1: Maths (9:00 – 9:48)

Period 2: Maths. (9:48 – 10:37)

Recess (10:37 – 10:50)

Period 3: French. (11:00 – 11:48)

Period 4: Geography. (11: 48 –12:37)

Lunch (12:37 – 1:20)

Period 5: Science. (1:30 – 2:17)

Period 6: History(2:17 – 3:06)

All classes with Xavier! YAY! I wonder if Aaron requested it… hmm, I would have to look into that a bit further.

"Well, good luck and we'll see you kids after school!" Kiara called as Aaron and her walked off to their first class.

For the next couple of minutes, Xavier and I wondered around the school trying to find our class. We stumbled across C4 where our class was having French. We slowly eased opened the door, and the teacher caught sight of us.

"Ah, you must be the new kids! Welcome! My name is Mr Jack, and I hope you'll settle in. You must be Jessicah, and you must be Lance." I almost choked when I heard Xavier's fake name. "You can go take seats at the back, over there, next to Brian and Grace." He pointed us to a table which only had two kids on it, Brian and Grace, I presumed. Xavier and I sat down at the table and the kids introduced themselves. They seemed nice enough.

So Xavier and I kicked back and relaxed as we waited for the remainder of the school day to come to an end.

Chapter 18

Well, I'm not going to bore you with the details of school, but let's just say, I've had more fun being chased by Zero and Anaria. Xavier didn't like it, either, and I can recall several times we almost fell asleep during class. We stayed inside at recess and lunch, and sat quietly in the library, reading. Nothing had changed for me, school was still school, and I was still me.

"There they are, come on." Xavier dragged me to the car where Aaron and Kiara were so patiently waiting in. We hoped in and did up our seatbelts and Aaron reversed the car onto the road.

"Well, how was school?" Kiara asked.

"Mmm." Xavier and I answered.

"What do you mean 'mmm'?" Aaron asked.

"Boring." I answered.

"It's only temporary, you know." Aaron told us.

"But still… it's school, nobody likes school." I groaned.

"Only if you chose not to like it, if you chose to like it, it's actually really, really enjoyable." Kiara said.

"But we chose not to like it, so it's really, really boring." Xavier pointed out.

"Well, that's not our fault, is it?" Kiara asked.

"How many more days do we have to go?" I groaned.

"Depends," Aaron said.

"On what?" Xavier asked.

"On how long it takes Zero and Anaria to find us." Kiara answered.

"But that could be weeks!" I said.

"That's good, then. It gives us more time to work on a cure for you, Amy, and for you two to get more education." Aaron told me, pulling into our driveway.

"But what's the point of going to school if we're not gonna listen and not gonna learn anything?" I asked.

"It gives you something to do," Kiara said. "Try out for something at school, Xavier; you're good at maths, why don't you go for the maths team? And Amy, you're great at sports, why don't you try out for the netball or basketball team?"

"Because then we'd have to leave anyway." Xavier pointed out.

"Four days to go! Woo!" I said as I jumped out of the car.

"Woo!" Xavier echoed me as he got out as well.

"Go do your homework." Aaron ordered.

"We didn't get any!" I yelled as I unlocked the front door and ran up the stairs. I dumped my school bag in the corner and got some daggy clothes from the drawers. I walked into my bathroom and ripped off my uniform before hopping into a nice hot shower.

When I walked out of the bathroom, all clean and tidy, I sat down on my bed and turned my iPod on.

"Took you long enough…" Xavier walked into the bathroom and I stuck my tongue out at him.

My iPod was flat, so I stuck on charge and went to look out the window, and into the clearing where Aaron, Kiara, Zero and Anaria fought, which was quite visible from my bedroom.

"Think they know where we are?" I jumped five feet in the air as Xavier popped up beside me.

"Don't do that," I elbowed him, "but they definitely know we're in the area, but they would have come by now if they knew where we are."

"Maybe… how long do you think we'll have 'till they find us?"

"I dunno. Could be hours, days, or even weeks."

"I doubt it would be weeks. Maybe a few days,"

"It could be hours, too. You never know, which is the most annoying thing. Plus, Aaron should have learned by now that sending me to school is hopeless, I won't learn anything new at all. I think a hundred years of school is enough."

"A hundred, is that how old you are?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised. I know the same thing applies for you too, Kiara told me." I stuck my tongue out. "Plus, I'm a hundred and thirteen, God, get it right."

"Dinner's ready!" Aaron called.

"We're coming!" I yelled back. Xavier and I raced into the kitchen and the smell of chicken hit us instantly. "Mmm, that smells sooo good!" I moaned as Aaron plonked some on my plate. I didn't wait for Aaron to say 'dig in' I just started to shovel it into my mouth.

But I didn't get to finish before the was a knock on the door. Kiara, who was just coming down the stairs, Aaron, Xavier and I froze. Kiara ever so quietly walked to the front door and peeped through the peep-hole. She gasped. "Back door, now." She whispered and we all jumped up and tip-toed around to the back door.

We just got out when the front door crashed open, revealing Zero and Anaria.

"Go, go, go." Aaron whispered as we sneaked around to the side gate.

"Where are they?" I heard Anaria's voice.

"Check their bedrooms. Check the whole house!" I heard Zero yell.

We quietly swung open the gate and started to run down the street.

"There! I see them! They're running on the street!" Anaria screamed and we heard the front door open.

"RUN!" Kiara screamed and we bolted off down the road, around the corner, and around another corner.

We stopped under a tree, and Aaron and Kiara pushed Xavier and I up it. "Keep climbing 'till you can't climb anymore, we're right behind you." Aaron ordered.

I hoisted myself up to the top branch and Xavier pulled himself up beside me. Kiara and Aaron jumped into the tree just in time, and quietly climbed up to Xavier and me.

A split second later, Zero and Anaria came around the corner and stopped right under our tree.

Chapter 19

Aaron held up his index finger to his mouth, telling us to be quiet. As if we already didn't know to be.

"Where did they go?" Anaria wondered, looking around.

"Why are you asking me? You have eyes! Use them!" Zero spat.

"Well, they couldn't have gotten far," Anaria mused. "They must be around here somewhere."

"No, they're all the way in America." Zero rolled his eyes.

"Is there any way we can track them?" Anaria asked.

"I'm not sure. I would track Amy by her elements, but I still have them. And I can't track Aaron's elements. I wonder if I can make Amy scream… I just need fire…" Zero muttered. I put my hands over my mouth just in case what he was planning could make me scream.

Big mistake.

As my hands let go of the branch, I lost my balance and fell. I felt hands catch me just before I came into view of Zero and Anaria. Xavier and Aaron had caught me and were slowly pulling me back up as quietly as they could. Just before I was back in my original position, my top caught on a twig and made the faintest crack!

"Did you hear something?" Anaria asked.

"Yes. It came from the tree." Zero answered, starting to walk over to our tree.

"Probably just a bird,"

"What? Anaria you should know better, it's never 'just-a-something'. I would have thought you'd know that by now!" Zero roared. "Climb up the tree and look!"

I shot a panicked look at Aaron, who was frozen still. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Kiara whispered. "Climb up more."

"We can't, we're on the highest branch!" Xavier pointed out, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"Stay still. Very still." I whispered. I watched as Anaria hooked her leg over the bottom branch, bracing herself so she wouldn't fall. She slowly stood up on the branch and walked over to the tree trunk and wrapped her arms around it.

"Well, push me up!" She snapped. Zero placed his hands around her waist and pushed her high enough so she could get a grip on the next branch. Seven branches down from us. I didn't think she could see us yet, but she definitely would soon unless we did something. Then a funny thought hit me; couldn't Zero read my mind?

"Yes, Amy, I can. I know you're up there. I'm just playing with you." Zero called. I looked at Aaron, whose eyes were faraway- deep in thought.

"I'm coming to get you!" Anaria called.

"Good luck trying to get all of us!" I yelled. "What do we do? I'd burn them if I could…" I muttered.

"Don't fight us. We have fire and water, remember? We could kill all of you in a blink of an eye, so don't try anything funny, just come down like good little kids and do as you're told." Zero said.

All of a sudden, I felt a tug on my ankle, and just before I slipped and fell, I saw Anaria had climbed up to us. Zero caught me and pulled hand-cuffs out from his pocket and cuffed my hands together behind my back while Anaria yanked Xavier down, then Kiara, then Aaron. One by one, they were cuffed.

And again, after a short walk, we came to a gigantic rocket ship that was destined to take us to our deaths.

Chapter 20

Well at least this time they didn't sedate us or anything. So I could hear all the roaring and groaning of the rocket. I didn't think my ears could take much more. On top of that, Zero was playing with fire. Literally. He was bouncing a small flame between his hands, smiling as he bounced the flame off the walls and caught it again. Anaria was watching him, her eyes following the flame where ever it went, like she was afraid of the small flame. Every time it went near her, she'd jump and start yelling at Zero until she'd let off all her steam. Talk about funny. I could see Xavier smiling to himself and smiled, too. I saw Aaron was watching Zero as if wary of what he was going to do with that flame, which, come to think about it, could be just about anything, including burning this whole rocket. Kiara was watching Anaria mutter to herself and yell at Zero, with a small smirk on her face.

We'd been on here for at least two days, and I'd only got about two hours' worth of sleep, and I could feel my eyelids fluttering. But then again, I was ready to rip Zero's heart out through his throat, then throw him out to space, then throw a bomb out after him, and watch as his body pieces go splat! against the side of the rocket ship. Ha hah, that would be funny!

"You keep thinking that Amy. But we both know that that ain't gonna happen. Not anytime soon, not ever." Zero said. I stuck my tongue out at him, and watched as his flame flared up, meaning he was angry. Ha hah. Again. I really know how to tick off people. Good. So I should.

"We will be landing in five minutes. Please prepare for landing." The intercom sounded. Great. So in five minutes we're gonna be on Venus. Great. Just great.

Xavier's hand, which was holding onto mine, squeezed my fingers. I squeezed back and flashed a smile at him. Hoping that none of my feelings showed on my face.

"Okay. Order is that you are going to be separated into different cells. Aaron, Kiara, you're going to be in cell 5B. Amy, Xavier, you're going to be in cell 12M." Anaria told us. I sighed. They were still stupid enough to keep two of us together in one cell. When were they going to learn?

"Amy, these are re-enforced cells, there is no way to escape. Even Ice wouldn't be able to." Zero said. Buggar.

"I don't know why you guys are worried. After all, Ice really has no intentions to kill you." Anaria said, sitting down in her seat.

"Only if we help her, and we don't have any intentions to help her. So yeah, she wants to kill us." Aaron said.

"Well, you see, ice always gets her way, always. So you're going to help whether you like it or not." Zero told us.

"Fat chance," I snorted.

"Yes, fat chance that you will help. Because you will." Anaria said.

"I don't think so," Kiara muttered.

"Fine, die then, see if we care." Zero spat.

"Thirty seconds to landing…twenty nine… twenty eight… twenty seven… twenty six… twenty five…" The voice thingy came again. Zero and Anaria strapped themselves in after checking that we were all strapped in properly. "…eighteen… seventeen… sixteen… fifteen… fourteen… thirteen… twelve… eleven… ten… nine… eight… seven…" I felt the rocket struggling to beat Venus' atmosphere. "… four… three… two… one." The rocket slowly touched down in Venus' surface, and I heard the air-lock door 'pop' open.

Chapter 21

Ice's face was the first thing I saw, and she looked enraged. Angry. Mad. Furious. Ticked off. Whatever pleases you most.

"Bring them." Was all she said before she stalked off. Zero unstrapped me and Xavier and gripped our hands behind our backs, while Anaria did the same to Aaron and Kiara. They walked us down the rocket steps and onto the freshly cut green grass, and across to glass doors. They pushed us through and we were in another hall, the one we used to escape, or for me, attempted to escape.

Eventually we were shoved through another door and we entered the Golden Hall. Ice was now sitting on her throne, looking at us like she could bore lasers through our skulls. Her eyes were gold. Pure gold. "Very good. So you managed to find them again? Very good. You have made me very happy." Which means we are going to be very sad or very mad any second now. "Now, I must decide upon your punishments, unless, of course, you have decided to join me?" She raised her eyebrows in question.

"We haven't." Aaron said.

Ice looked crest-fallen "Oh well, that means I get to have fun planning how you're all going to die." See, told you we'd be very sad or very mad.

"You know there'll just be other people born carrying our power the second you kill us." I told her.

"Not unless I kill you with your own elements, there won't be."

I looked at Aaron. What was she talking about? Aaron looked back at me and something in his expression that said that he's keeping something from me. But we told each other everything.

"So, go, and enjoy your last few hours!" Ice waved her hands and Zero and Anaria pulled us out of the Golden Hall and into our cells. Aaron and Kiara were taken up another flight of stairs and Xavier and I were shoved through a door. Just before I lost sight of Aaron, I caught his eye, and he looked back, his eyes saying don't worry, we'll be fine. But, I know, deep, deep down, that wasn't true.

That this time, we would die.

Chapter 22

"Amy, sit down and stop pacing." Xavier ordered.

"Right, sorry." I sat down beside him but pulled my knees to my chest and started rock back and forth.

"Amy."

"Sorry. It's just… I can't stay still…"

He pulled me into his lap and started stroking my hair. I curled up against his chest and closed my eyes. "It's okay. We're going to get out of this. I promise. We did before, we can again."

"Yes, but it was different last time, we didn't have a time limit!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, we did. We had less than five minutes, remember?"

"You had less than five minutes, I didn't."

"Do you really think I would have left without you?"

"No." I blew a strand of stay hair from my eyes.

"Exactly."

"But still! This time, it's our lives that are at stake! And we don't even know where Aaron and Kiara are!"

"Calm down and relax. As long as I'm here, nobody is going to hurt you."

"That's what I'm worried about." I muttered.

"Well don't worry. Calm down and relax. I assume that they're not going to come and get us for another couple of hours. So it gives us time."

"Not much."

"It'll be enough, you wait and see."

"I have a feeling that if we wait too long I'm going to see something that I don't want to see."

Xavier didn't reply.

"How do you think they are?" Kiara asked Aaron.

"Amy would be breaking down by now; Xavier's probably trying to calm her down." Aaron replied.

"Do you think they'll be okay?"

"Of course, as long as they stay quiet or if Amy doesn't cry, then they should be fine, for a little while at least."

"Sit down Aaron."

"Right." Aaron stopped pacing and sat down next to Kiara, pulling her into his lap, and started to stroke her hair.

"Aaron, stop it and relax." Kiara ordered as she felt Aaron tense again. "It's going to be okay, I promise."

"I know that. I'm just worried about Amy. She's probably already started bad-mouthing their guards."

"Xavier would stop her. Unless he helps her." Kiara muttered. "But still, everything will be okay, Aaron."

Nothing Kiara said could calm Aaron down, he was so worried about his little sister that he was close to throwing up.

Chapter 23

I was just sitting there staring at the wall in front of me. Six hours. We had been locked in here for six hours. Xavier was starting to panic, going back on what he said before. Hypocrite. Ohh I used a big word in times of great stress! Surely that deserves freedom? No? Dammit.

"What are we going to do?" I groaned.

"Stay calm."

"Yeah, cause you're doing such a great job at that."

"Ha-ha."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Well, we are both serious, then."

"Good. Cause we'll need to be serious to get out of this."

"Yeah, we're doing such a great job at that, too."

"We'll get out of this, you just wait and see."

"Like I said before, I'm afraid if I wait too long, I'll see something I don't want to."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what."

"No, tell me."

"I'd rather not…"

"Amy, tell me."

I looked away. "No."

"Yes." He pulled my head around so I was staring him strait in the eyes.

"You already know what I mean,"

"No, I don't, tell me." I shook my head. "Amy."

"No. You're not going to like it, anyway." Why couldn't he just leave me alone? I didn't want to tell him, so I'm telling him.

"Amy, please?" I pulled away from him and stared at my fingers.

"No, it'll just hurt to say it."

"You really are stubborn."

"Still not telling."

"Ugh. Amy, please? For me?"

"Okay, for you, I won't tell."

"You're worried that if you do something stupid that we'll get killed for it." He whispered.

I shot him a look. "How did you know?" I asked sharply.

"I can tell by the look on your face. Amy, don't worry, I promised nothing would happen."

"Yeah, to me. I'm more worried about what happens to you." I pointed out.

"Don't be, that's not your job."

"It's not your job to worry about me, either."

"Yes it is. Aaron put me in charge of you."

"Of course he did." I muttered.

"Amy, please just stop worrying, everything will be alright," He pulled my shoulders down so I was lying across his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around me. "I promise."

Chapter 24

"How much longer are they going to keep us in here! I need to use the toilet." I muttered, wringing my hands.

"How long can you hold it?" Xavier asked.

"Not much longer." I groaned.

"I have a feeling they'll let us out soon, anyway…"

"All I wanna do is pee!"

"Okay, eww." Xavier chuckled.

"What? I'm sure you do too." I playfully punched his arm.

"Okay, you got me. But I'm better at holding on than you are."

"Wanna test that theory?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, cause you know you'll use,"

"Would not,"

"Would so,"

"Would not,"

"Would so,"

"Would not,"

"Would so,"

"Would not,"

"Would so,"

"Would -"

Xavier was interrupted from the sounds of the lock turning. Slowly, our door opened, and Zero walked in. "She's releasing you, come on!"

Xavier looked at each other and warily got to our feet.

"Hurry up! Before she changes her mind!" Zero yelled, and walked out.

Xavier and I followed him out, and found that Anaria was waiting outside with Aaron and Kiara. We ran to them and Aaron wrapped his arms around me.

"What's going on?" Xavier asked.

"You're being released." Zero repeated.

The lead us down more halls and out to the front 'yard' or whatever it was. We saw some people there, about ten or twelve, and they walked over to us.

"We'll take them now, thank you." The one in the front said, a sturdy looking male who was dressed in red drapes and velvet red pants, with his right hand outstretched.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You'll find out soon enough, Amy." A lady came and stood next to the man at the front, and smiled politely at me. She was also covered in red.

"You're lucky she's letting you do this," Anaria spat.

"Yes, of course, dear." The lady agreed, a sarcastic tone in her voice. "Let us leave." They turned around and she motioned for us to follow them, Aaron and Kiara nodded at us, so we did.

They had come here on a gigantic rocket, a giant red rocket. The lead us inside and sat us down and helped us strap in.

In a matter of minutes we were out of Venus' atmosphere.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"Why, how rude of me! My name is Kiana, and this is my husband, Isaac." Isaac gave us a wave. "This is Heather," she pointed to a lady covered in blue, "and her husband, Pierre," she pointed to a man also covered in blue, "this is Grace," she pointed to a lady covered in orange, "and her husband, Nork, "she pointed to the man next to Grace, who was also covered in blue, "this is Elizabeth," she pointed to a lady dressed in all purple, "and her husband, Nick," yes, Nick was also dressed in purple, "this is Nora," she was dressed in yellow, "and her husband, Koke," yes, he was all yellow, "and this is Thessel," she had a cross between dark blue and dark purple, "and this is her husband, Jacque." He was dressed the same as Thessel. "This is Yasmine, and her husband Ryan." They were dressed in green. She had gone through all the people, and I was trying to remember all their names.

"No, I mean, who are you?" I asked.

"We are the leaders of all the planets. Isaac and I are the leaders of Mars; Heather and Pierre are the leaders of Neptune; Grace and Nork are the leaders of Jupiter; Elizabeth and Nick are the leaders of Neptune; Nora and Koke are the leaders of Saturn; Thessel and Jacque are the leaders of Pluto; and Yasmine and Ryan are the leaders of Uranus." Kiana explained.

"How'd you know we were here?" I asked.

"We have our ways. We couldn't let you die; it would tip the scales of the Solar System." Yasmine answered.

"Huh?" I didn't understand.

"If you died, everything and everyone would go out of place. Everywhere. Not just in our Solar System, every Solar System." Yasmine explained.

"I know that, but, how did you convince Ice to let us go?"

"Easy. She knows we're more powerful than her, so she didn't want to fight, so she gave up easily, but she will try and find you again, very, very soon. But we're taking you to Saturn, so she'll have further to go this time." Grace said.

"How long will it take?" Aaron asked.

"About a week, at the least. But you'll have your own rooms; it's a pretty big ship." Isaac answered.

"Amy, Xavier, you'll be sharing, as will you, Aaron with Kiara." Yasmine instructed and we nodded our heads. "Come on, I'll show you, then you can eat."

Yasmine showed us to our rooms and we parted ways. "I BAG THE BIG BED!" I screamed when I saw our room.

"NO FAIR YOU CHEATER!" Xavier screamed.

"Oh, Amy!" Yasmine poked her head through the door, "we got your elements back for you!"

"Oh, thank you!" I said as she placed her hands on my shoulders, within seconds I felt the presence of water and fire.

"It's okay. Dinner's in one hour." And she was gone.

"I still bag the bed!" I told Xavier, who was lounging on it.

"I was on it first!" He said and I tried to pull him off.

"IT'S NOT FAIR YOU'RE STRONGER THAN ME!" I wailed.

"So I can do this:" He pulled me into a kiss before I could even blink. I kissed him back as I pulled myself up onto the bed next to him. His hands positioned themselves around my waist as mine wrapped around his shoulders. He slanted his face so he could kiss me deeper, and I copied him. I felt a warm fuzzy feeling well up in my stomach, and I felt like I was where I belonged; with Xavier.

The kiss lasted for ages, and when we broke apart we were both breathless, so I just sat in his lap with my head berried against his neck. I felt his fresh breath against my cheek and I wondered how he managed to keep his breath fresh when we were locked up.

"Yes, so you can do that." I smiled. "But I still bag the big bed."

"You are so stubborn!"

"Nothing I haven't heard before." I muttered.

"Probably true."

We sat there for a while, listening to the sound of voices and the ship's engine. It was peaceful and happy, silent and mysterious, sweet and calm. "What do you think's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Amy. Hopefully she just gives up and leaves you alone."

"We both know that that won't happen." I scoffed.

"Good point," Xavier agreed, "but we can always hope."

Chapter 25

Dinner was so yummy! We had spaghetti, tuna, fish, sushi, pizza, noodles and all the other most delicious foods in the world!

I was so full, that now, lying on my bed, I could hardly move. I won the war over the big bed, so Xavier was sleeping on the slightly smaller one. Or, at least I thought he was sleeping until he talked.

"You okay?" He asked, making me jump slightly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Are you?" I answered, keeping my voice down.

"You're unusually quiet. Yeah, I'm okay." His voice was just as quiet as mine.

"I'm just tired, that's all."

"Then sleep, nothing's stopping you,"

"I'm too tired to sleep,"

"That doesn't make any sense,"

"Yes it does. I'm too tired to do anything, including falling asleep."

"Fine. Then I guess you're too tired to cuddle…"

"No! I didn't say that!"

He got out of bed and came to sit next to me, pulling me into his lap. I snuggled against him and closed my eyes, breathing in his smell, taking in his presence. I felt better when I was hugging him, he had that type of toll over me, and I liked it. I was comfortable with it. I felt his breath on my forehead and snuggled even closer to him. His arms twined themselves around me, holding me close to him. My arms copied him, and I rested my head on his chest. "Try to get some sleep, Amy." He whispered gently in my ear. I nodded softly and relaxed, eventually the events of the day caught up with me, sending me to sleep in Xavier's arms.