JADERS

by Ocelatte

Spoiler alert: Aujade dies.

Reality is an illusion.

I learned to believe that, a long time ago. Back when I thought, curiosity had killed the cat but I was wrong, dead wrong. It was just an illusion, a deception, for the world to stop pondering about the impossible.

Spencer

Spencer could feel the sun's scorching summer heat smoldering in the air; Summer time came just about a month ago and as expected, the outdoors are crawling with people, enjoying the blaze of summertime's fervor. It's the time of the year where pool parties and ice cold drinks trend and who wouldn't enjoy that? Well. I guess. If you're wearing matching orange shirt and pajamas with a state-of-the-art handcuffs attached to your wrists, I guess you and him wouldn't actually get to enjoy summer this year.

I'm in prison. He thought. Even though, the people around him that were wearing same matching orange get-ups, made that very clear that he was, indeed, in prison; still, he kept reminding himself of so. Earlier, he was kicked out of his cell and now, his mind seems to wander as he dragged himself towards an exit with guards heavily guarding his move. He assumed they weren't underestimating his capability, even when in chains; he might be still a threat. But he couldn't blame them for thinking that way; this isn't just a normal prison cell for criminals; t'was built for something else; something to keep at bay in an isolated chamber at the maximum security. A prison for monsters. No. not some generic mutated science project that had gone wrong; they're still human, their physical features don't change much and with that he speak for the most of them. Most of them. But that's another issue to discuss on a different summer. They still have their humanity and free will intact so by all means, they're still human but only with heighten gifts. Blessing or curse, either way you look at it, it's what makes them both, superior and a threat, to human kind.

Of course, some of them are forces of the light, namely, the heroes and monsters that are bound or pledged their will in serving and protecting the defenseless. To be precise, the humans. And there's the shadows of the darkness, in contrast with the light, the true bearers of the title 'monsters' itself. Some of them thirst for violence and bloodshed. Others want dominion and vengeance. Speaking in general, most of them, just want to rule the world and do things their own way, illegal or legal, safe or deadly, doesn't really matter to them as long as they can get their hands on what they came for.

Back to present, he wasn't really sure whether he would be attending his trial court about his punishment or to be deported to a more highly facilitated prison. Lately, rumors have been echoing down his silent solitary confinement that the constant clash between good and evil, that has been unending for millenniums, is about to reach its final turning point. The end is still blurry and the victors were still uncertain; the prophecy wasn't, never, too simple to decipher everything and of its untold remains was forgotten although out the ages. Now everything that, was lost in the past, might be a hint to what can stop, if not, tilt it in their favor, this anticipated aftermath. As expected from the forces of the light, theirintention wasn't primarily to vanquish darkness out of the picture but only to keep them at bay; to annihilate their shadows meant tipping the balance of good and evil. As civilized as modernity, they're afraid to commit to that decision that might be the mistake of the millennia in disguise.

As soon as the words slipped through enemy territory, the shadows were delighted. They knew the war is inevitable but the hesitation clouding the enemy's mind was a complete shock. Yes, kindness has been their weakness and several times it had been the cause of their defeat but it was also their infinite source of power. It made them decision not in haste. Perhaps, it was an excellent timing for the shadows to strike back and release their full power against the forces of light.

Even with the Great War growing in time, it didn't really linger too much in his thoughts. He's neutral. He works for nobody. He refuses to accept responsibility to protect the defenseless or cause mayhem for his own monarchy. But of course, they, the neutrals, are preys to either side; the light and the darkness, converting the neutrals into one of their own. Solely, most of them fell for it because if it comes to reasons and purpose, they are easily captivated.

About two months ago, he'd been wandering carelessly and been ambushed by the forces of the light. And until now, he has been held captive and in and out of his cell for guidance consultation a.k.a shit talks to be converted into their kind. Spencer wasn't an idiot; he could see right through their intentions and how thick their reasons are keeping it away for an idiot to overlook. He hesitated every time they tried to and every time he did that, he was thrown back to my cell.

So instead of trying over and over again, hoping he'd become a convert eventually, they decided the Light council to decide his retribution and right now, he's heading on his way.

The French doors that led to the court, where his penalty case was held, flinged abruptly as he made his way out of the courtroom, furious and muttering to himself loudly. He was being followed by a brunette and a tall guy.

"This is shit; there ain't no way I'm doing that goddamn penalty." Spencer muttered to himself, even though he was pretending to be talking himself, he intended his voice to be heard out loud.

"If you insist on neglecting direct orders from the council, you'll be blacklisted to all territories of the light and sentenced to banishment." The tall guy informed him. Spencer snorted and turned his back at him. He wanted to laugh and tell him to make me but that might trigger something, instead.

"Oh bullshit. I never said I'm neglecting the orders; I just don't care about it." He started to walk away from the crowd, slowly. They caught up with his pace, stopping him before he reached the exit to the hallways.

"So..You're agreeing to the council?" The brunette girl said.

"I never said that too. Stop putting words into my mouth." He replied calmly. Although it opened up an opportunity for a sarcastic reply; no one seemed to have grabbed it. Sighing at their lack of comprehensiveness, He turned at them and spoke naturally at eased:

"Y'all are forces of the light; that's what I'm not. So stop making me something I'm not, K?" Spencer turned back around and started walking to the exit. He had to walk slowly, he figured if they wanted him so bad; they might as well convince him. Even when his point made it very clear it's the end of the conversation, Period, the silences and lack of haste gave them time to think of something intriguing to halt him.

"B-but you're a kindred." The brunette said, almost a whisper. "You're a monster of kindness and hatred. Theorically speaking, you're half light and half-shadow."

Okay. That halted him. Although he was going to anyways, regardless, of what reply she would given him but he never really knew she'd know what he is and it baffles him to think that she does know what he is. The sudden jolt of realization continued to baffle him as the echoing silence filled the air. Spencer stood there, frozen in surprise and caught up by his own games. But enough with the details, pride and panic filled his thoughts and in a matter of seconds, jumbled words auto-arranged themselves and gave him an answer.

Slowly and elegantly, He turned back to them, again and his lips formed a wry smile. He ran his hands through his hair, pushing back strands that kept dangling in his eyesight.

"Listen up, you little shits. I ain't doing shits from your council just because some part of me is in your side. I don't want my actions to be held responsible for whatever happens. I'm not ready for that. Ironically, I'm not also good with the shadows; I don't have this crazy craving for world domination. They should get a fucking life. Either side, I don't belong; it's not home for me and never will it be. I enjoy being alone; casting my own shadow, creating my own light. That's what I love doing and that's what I am."

With that ever poetic ending, he left them, speechless. Spencer pushed the French doors gracefully and in an instant, the alarm went off. Jerking slightly, He stopped and listened as the stampeding footsteps started echoing from the hallway.

Aiming their energy guns at his goddamn face, Light guards came rushing to the scene.

"You can't leave until you do so." The tall guy spoke, with dead eyes locked into his. "You'll only be permitted to leave after the impending war. Neutral captives with penalties aren't allowed to be on free- roaming mode until then."

"Ah hell." Sighing in complete defeat.

Light's commanding H.Q. 0930 Hours August 4th 2024

Hoping to be working with the elites; Spencer silently followed them to their headquarters for further information about his punishment. While waiting outside of the Commanding-officer's office, He sat down to the farthest seat placed outside and hummed silently to avoid attention.

The brunette and the tall guy didn't really take long inside and before he knew it, they were already hovering beside him, talking as if he wasn't there. He heard the tall guy sigh in frustration and also his name and that pulled a trigger in his mind.

Spencer stood up and broke their make-up session, interrupting abruptly at the tall guy's response midsentence. "So who am I working with?"

The two didn't spoke for a moment but the brunette eventually replied. "Fortunately, you won't be facing head-on against the strong lines of the shadows.."'

"..Unfortunately, you're working with us." The tall guy continued, almost growling at the thought of working with him.

Ignoring his unknown hate for him, he asked the brunette 'So meaning you guys aren't anywhere close to the elite lead teams?" as soon as he figured it didn't come out as question, he added." You guys must be bad."

Triggering the tall guy's temper to burst, He almost slashed him in the face. Almost. Spencer's reflexes were fast enough to react with his sudden attack and with the brunette holding him back; He was safe to be at ease again. "Just…follow us."

The brunette, still wrestling, with the tall guy led the way slow but as soon as the guy promised not to kill anybody; she'd release him, and the pace increased. Now with a steady tempo, Spencer was able to catch up with them, siding with the brunette and positioning himself away from the tall guy, because it looked like he was going to murder him as soon as he could set five feet inside his territorial circle.

"So both of you are the team, I'm supposed to be teaming up with?" Spencer asked.

"There are three more and they're doing side missions while we're gone." The brunette replied. 'We haven't actually had a decent introduction."

"Hi. I'm Aujade. And that's Jade Ralf." He pointed at the tall guy who seems to be still mad at him.

Although, the punishment was just temporary and revealing his identity wasn't really a huge mistake to commit, He introduced himself as well. "I'm Spencer."

Hesitating but curious, He asked her. "So what are you?"

She raised an eyebrow at his question. "Pardon me, but can you be specific enough with your questions?"

He was glad she's cute because she wasn't definitely the brightest crayon in the Crayola box. Instead, of smirking at that thought like an idiot, He deciphered his question to the simplest form.

"I mean, I'm a kindred. And you guys know that already. So what are you?"

She almost laughed at his response. 'Why didn't you just ask what kind of monster I am?'

"Besides, being rude and disrespectful." He replied. "You look like one hundred percent human."

"That's because I'm a daughter of Athena." She said, smiling. "And Jade Ralf's a…"

"But aren't you supposed to be in camp half-blood?" Spencer interrupted curiously "Isn't it dangerous for a demigod to be here?"

"Well. I do visit camp half-blood a few times a year but after being to be out there, in the battlefield, it feels like this is where I belong. This is my new home." She said confidently as she continued to lead the way, dragging Jade Ralf by her side Spencer thought more about the team and now that, knowingly, one of his teammate is a demigod, a daughter of Athena, goddess of war and wisdom; she might not be strong and powerful in a brawl fight against the sons of Ares, the god of war but strength bows down to wisdom sometimes and honestly, that's a good thing.

While being caught adazed, she waved her hand at his face, checking if he was paying attention to what she was saying. He jolted as his senses came back. "You okay?"

"Well, yeah. So what kind of monster are you?" Spencer dropped down his thoughts and asked Jade Ralf.

His jaws clenched as soon as Spencer gestured his question to him. "Like I'd tell you." He scoffed at Spencer but Aujade elbowed him. Yelping in pain, He replied grimly."You'll eventually figure it out."

Aujade sighed at his pride but she ignored him anyway. Continuing deeper into headquarters, the hallways were now filled with doors that were almost twenty feet apart from the other. Both of them stopped at halfway across the corridor and Aujade turned to Spencer.

"We're here."

She didn't even knock before entering and it wasn't locked from the inside apparently either. Mutually, means that you can barge in like the hell we'd care. Following like a little puppy, the room inside was huge enough for five people; it had several doors, assuming they were rooms, a kitchen, balcony, it was like an apartment. Spencer entered inside, still gawking, and made his way to the table and sat at one of the chairs.

Aujade was knocking at most of the rooms, calling an "emergency" meeting while Jade Ralf sat at the opposite side of table. Waiting in patience, Spencer's attention was caught by the beautiful sunset at one of their huge glass windows. It made him feel warm and happy inside, the sunset always eases him out; it's one of good things of being a kindred; He gets to enjoy simple things in life. Well, A kindred, is a monster of both good and evil, kindness and hatred, a force of light and a shadow of darkness. They are represented by an apparition of a lamb and a wolf. They are his source of powers, both destructive and constructive. They can heal allies and devour enemies. But too much of the other, can cause him, insanity or clarity, depending of either which he gets to spend more time with.

"Hey." His imagination broke. "Spencer? You sure you're okay?"

Collecting his thoughts, Spencer sat up straight and was surprised to see three more faces, staring at him blankly. "Oh. Hell. Shit. I'm sorry for blacking out."

"It's okay." Aujade explained. "By the way, these are the twins. Dearle and Emmie." She introduced, pointing at the females sitting beside each other. Dearle, was the shorter one, black hair, beautiful while Emmie's, taller, slimmer and brunette. They didn't really look like twins and Spencer was skeptical that Aujade was even serious about the introduction. "Hi.' Both of them greeted simultaneously. Well, atleast they talk like twins.

"And this is Rolando." She pointed to the remaining stranger, to Spencer, of course, in the table.

With a smile and a shake, he said. "Hi, it's good to have one more annoying shit in the team."

It took a few moments before his mind registered it and the realization was too late to react that he had his hand down already. Instead, Spencer smiled back and replied. "Don't worry, nerd herd. I might save your asses someday."

Rolando snorted at his response but Aujade interrupted- continued – the meeting. "And you already know me and Jade Ralf."

Curiously, Spencer asked Dearle. "So what monster are you?"

Feeling disrespected by the question, she ignored his rudeness and sprouted flames that hover in her palm. "I'm a Fire Remnant, a few who have survived."

Not wanting to be stupid for more details, he diverted his attention to her twin, Emmie, who didn't show off her ability but answered calmly. "I'm an Ice-born."

Fire and Ice Twins, A daughter of Athena. Hmm. He was getting a good line up here.

"You are?" He asked Rolando.

Obviously not listening, He leaned to his chair and hands clamped at the back of his head. "Who are you to ask me that?"

Not wanting to back down; Spencer dared him to fucking figure it out while silently called the shadows of the wolf to bite a part of his ego, because it was overflowing. As the wolf charge, it went past through his chest. Confused as hell, he interrupted. "Sadly, you're one of us now and teammates cannot harm each other in their territory."

He turned at Aujade for further elaborated explanation. "It's basically a rule to minimize casualties since most of the new recruits don't get along with their seniors."

Enjoying Spencer's rage, he sat back and stared at him with interest. "So you're a Kindred." For a moment, Spencer saw him smiling in delight but was later replaced with amusement. "I'm the marksman who never misses."

"So your dad's James Stark?" I wanted to confirm. Legend says his arrows have this nasty habit of never missing its target even if it's across the world. Overpowered, right?

He didn't nod but his eyes said affirmative. With all the tension rising between the two of them, Aujade was happy to break it and turn it into something else. "So. Moving on. Before we left headquarters' main office, there is already a pending mission for us. So enough chit-chat, let's get down to business."

"Word has spread out that one of the lost inscriptions of the prophecy about the Great War has revealed its location. The headquarters will be sending out three teams; two for scouting and one for searching. Fortunately, we'll be searching."

"For you. I guess." Rolando coughed at her love for digging up lost treasures.

Ignoring Rolando's comment, she continued. "Prepare whatever you'll need for the mission. You've got four hours to pack until we'll be called back to the headquarters for regrouping and further instructions before we leave." With that she turns to leave the table.

"Oh. Spencer." She said. 'Before I forget, you'll be sharing rooms with Rolando."

Almost immediately, Spencer heard Rolando shriek and disgust at Aujade's proposition. 'Fucking bloody hell what?!'

She eyed him and all he could have done was to agree and sigh it all out. He turned to leave the table and dragged himself to his room, leaving the room's door open. Spencer guessed he couldn't have done anything besides agree to disagree with Aujade. He though, A Demigod, Ice and Fire twins, a Marked Changling, A kindred and an Unknown. Jade Ralf hasn't told me his ability yet and Aujade never seems to talk about it either. Probably he's the leader of this strike team. Figures. I guess that makes it two people who want to kill me for existing. Sighing in end, He followed Rolando to the room, in hopes; he gets a good rest before the mission starts.

Light's commanding H.Q. 1330 Hours August 4th 2024

While waiting for further orders, Aujade and Jade Ralf have been sent back to the Commander's office for briefing while the rest of them, hovered outside; trying their best not to slit each other's throats, for Spencer and Rolando, that is. The twins are cool with them trying to kill each other and having to ignore them wasn't really hard.

Sinking in their dense argument, Spencer failed to realize, again, Aujade and Jade Ralf had materialized in between their fight. "Okay. Stop. This is not a good time to be causing more problems." She sighed in frustration, walking away.

She gestured for the team to circle for a quick meeting; filling them in with information they were briefed by the Commander quickly; focusing on the important details and leaving the unimportant ones behind. She talked about what and how are they going to find a missing piece buried in deep in the Amazon jungle. Two teams will scout around the perimeter and inform us of an upcoming attack from darkness knowing they might have also this information, while they'll locate and obtain the missing piece. The piece is told, to have been last seen, on the misty part of the Amazon. So they'll be searching in pairs, for safety's sake of an ambush." She began pairing them into two with her and Jade Ralf, Twins, and unfortunately, Spencer and Rolando. Although they didn't get along most of the time, she knew that it's their source of strength, to be able to slit each other's throat once nobody's looking.

Without any verbal interruption, they lined up formally for their ride to pick them up via by air along with the two other strike teams. With the awkwardness brewing stronger inside the plane, they decided to position themselves away from each other. Their captains, of course, were discussing mutual plans and coordinations and the twins were practically flirting with the guys from the scout team. Rolando choose to sleep during the journey, away from Spencer.

Spencer didn't think too much about him and how he was going to deal with him later. Instead, He took out a book from his backpack and read in peace.

Hours flew like minutes and their journey was almost coming to its end. The daylight had already sunk along with the sun and the night skies covered the heavens when Spencer gazed at his plane window.

As the captains gathered, they informed them to have their parachutes readied, they began to prepare themselves for the mission, making sure, and everything is intact. Grabbing his parachute tight, Spencer sticked close to his team as they waited for the pilot's signal for the jump off. And once it was a go; all hell broke loose, for Spencer of course. It was his first time jumping that high and it scared the hell out of him.

Screaming at the wind, Aujade yelled, making sure all of them heard her. "Parachute in 3…2…Now.!"

And in response, Spencer's actions were almost automatic and his parachute abruptly stopped his free falling and his grip tightened immensely. Almost touching the highest tree's branch, he grabbed hold of it and making sure he doesn't bump into it. Descending slowly, Spencer set foot into the lowest branch as his parachute stucked into its highest. He cut the ropes and jump his way off the branch and began his search for the rest of his team.

They weren't really far from where he had landed and it only took them about less than five minutes to regroup.

Now moving as a pack, they began heading north, guided by a compass and a map. In the line, Jade Ralf was taking the lead, clearing the pathway with a knife. Followed by Dearle, had a torchlight flame that burned hover in the air and followed her; it shed some light into our path. Next in line was, Aujade, who was guiding us to our destination. The rest of us, were at the back of the pack, scouting for any enemies nearby.

"How far are we from the location?" Jade Ralf asked.

"About a kilometer away. But we have to stop and wait until daylight before we enter the misty place. The mist is strong during the night and we don't know what might be lurking there without good vision."

"Oh. Cool then. Are we camping for the night?" Rolando asked.

Aujade nodded in response.

Even in the Amazon jungle; Rolando never fails to get into Spencer's nerves. "So Spencer's going take first watch while we sleep?"

"Listen, here you little shit." He snarled at him. "Could you atleast pretend I'm not here for atleast the night?'

'Why?! So you could avoid first watch?" He was playing a dangerous game and they weren't in Light's territory. Spencer wanted to call the presence of the wolf and invite it to bite Rolando's arm off but instead he called the spirit of the lamb and asked to clear his thoughts and give him peace over Rolando's constant rambling. As he saw Spencer having companionship with the lamb, He coughed at his bad decision to turn down a settling argument and once he caught his attention, he smirked at him, showing off his victory.

Walking with the lamb, Spencer chose to ignore Rolando rambling and focused on being alert on the lookout. Seeing himself calming down, Spencer saw Aujade smile at him and said "good. It's about time you two get along."

"We didn't." They both replied.

"I'm just tired to be arguing with him right now." Spencer added, shooting Rolando an icy cold stare. The sight of him, rages his temper and the lamb was there to soothe it out. But He had to remember; too much of it might cause him to be converted with the light with intentions of chained kindness. With a slight pat onto its head, Spencer thanked for its company and ordered it to leave.

Dedicated, the lamb vanished into thin air, nodding respectfully as it slowly dispersed into the moonlight skies. Once it was gone, Rolando's rumbling seems to be also. Gladly, Spencer caught up with Aujade and asked her about something.

'Hey, are we close?"

She stopped and said. "Actually, we're here." Pointing at clearing nearby surrounded by thick trees and shrubs. It was definitely a great spot for camping and it was rather blind sighted from most angles afar so they won't be spotted immediately.

The team began to set up two huge tents; one for the girls and other for the guys. While Jade Ralf helped out Aujade setting up female's and so was Emmie helping Rolando with guy's tent, Spencer gathered some sticks and brushwood nearby and threw them in the middle of both tents. After gathering much, He began to look for huge stones to keep the firewood from spreading. Halfway through, Dearle lit the camp wood with her flames and helped him readjusting the stones so fire won't scatter outside of its boundary rock line. The cold night breeze turned warmed and it felt good under his skin.

Once the flames were good enough; Emmie took over and began boiling a pot of stew and prepared skewered meat to be grilled afterwards. Spencer was relieved that he was done with his chore and happily approached Aujade, who was nowhere out of side from the cold, inside of female's tent. Knocking imaginarily, she replied to come in, so he did. The huge space inside definitely had surprised him; from outside it wasn't more than eight feet tall and fifteen feet wide but from what he had witnessed inside, it's doubled. She was at a study table on one corner of the tent with a flashlight lit brightly. Staring at the table; it was trashed with a lot of books and paper works that were jumbled across the table.

"What are those?" Spencer asked.

"I love reading." She replied, not even looking to where he was.

"Ok. That's an overstatement. You call that reading? I call that term paper's deadline is tomorrow."

She chuckled once but shook it, saying. "Leave, you're distracting me."

Spencer apologizing instantly; He asked her seriously. "I didn't really come here to distract you with your reading but I have something to ask you about."

"What?"

"Well. Since you're a demigod, Emmie's an Ice-born, Dearle's a Fire remnant, and Rolando's a Marked Changeling. And you already know what I am."

"And you're asking what's Jade Ralf is?"

He nodded and said yes because he figured she didn't see him nod anyways.

"He's Tyr's firstborn." She said.

"Tyr? Sorry but I'm not really familiar with all the Greek mythology –'

"No. silly.' She interrupted. "It's Norse. You know Viking mythology, in your vocabulary."

Spencer had a baffled look into his face and this time she turned and saw it. Sighing, she continued. "Tyr. The embodiment of mankind's impossible deals. Man is a malleable creature, but a god is stone, shape only by the harsh weather or expectation. And none have a greater burden of expectation than Tyr, for he is Courage. He is honor. He is justice." Speaking with utmost respect and dedication with the details she had laid for me to understand, every single word.

"Then if he's the firstborn,, why is he of almost the same age as we are?''

"'He's ageless like an immortal but his heart can die in the battlefield."

''oh. Okay. Then what about his unknown rage towards me?" He asked, seeing her twitch in irritation but still Spencer pressed on. Instead of yelling at him to get the fuck out because he way too far from disturbing her studying, she spoke with calmness. "If I told you so, will you leave after then?"

"Oh. Sure." Paying attentively, Spencer listened to her story. "Fenrir, the mighty wolf, has escaped prison again. It had been turned in twice in heavy shackles but somehow, it escaped. Now that the beast is free, it isn't safe for the sons and daughters of Tyr's, for Fenrir holds a grudge against their father, same goes with his descendants. Well. Since you're a Kindred; you have an affinity with an apparition of the wolf. Jade Ralf seems hold a grudge to any wolf of any kind he sees."

"But. My wolf ain't Fenrir." He almost burst into yelling. "That's bullshit—"His cursing faded as soon as she laid dead lock eyes onto his mouth. He knew it was disrespectful to curse with her presence; she rarely does, so it's unfair to be throwing out shit talks when she's around.

"Oh Sorry."He apologized as he turned to depart. "Thanks for the information."

Leaving, Spencer felt misunderstood for Jade Ralf's grudge. Just because, one of his apparition's a wolf doesn't mean it's Fenrir and god forbids, it even looks like it. Sighing in frustration, he decided to sit by Emmie, over the campfire, and help her out with the roasting.

"Hey, Can I help?" Spencer asked.

"Sure. I'm not really used with heat and stuff, so thanks for helping me out." She said, offering him the brush. Spencer began painting the skewered meat with barbeque sauce, dipping once in a while, and flipped them; reapplying the same sauce onto the other side. He was getting a good rhythm with the strokes and obviously, Emmie saw that he was enjoying it. "Somebody seems to be enjoying the flames."

Smirking, Spencer replied. "Why are you doing this? Aren't you supposed to be, like, uncomfortable with heat and flames and stuffs that are not ice?" Giving her a skeptical look, it made her stop turning the meat and paused for a bit. "Well, abit. Just because I'm not used to it yet. But I kind of, like, the heat."

"Because, it's warm?" Spencer asked, figuring if she'd agree.

"Yeah." She returned to flipping the skewers and replacing cooked with new ones.

As she was placing them back in a huge plate on the table, Rolando walked by and grabbed a few sticks and left. Spencer eyed him, for being rude, of course. They were suppose to have them eaten together later when they are all done. Plus, He and Emmie were doing all the work. Rolando doesn't have the tiniest right to do so.

"Hey?! Who gave you the fucking permission to eat those?" Spencer shot him a hateful glare. He smiled back, crossing the boundary line; taking another piece off the table and left happily as if seeing him get mad made his night. Refusing to back down, Spencer got up and did something he should've gone a long time ago and probably might regret it in the near future.

"I call upon the predator of the night, the product of hatred and violence, wolf, bite his fucking arm off." Spencer commanded and in a instant; dark smoke began to materialize beside him, taking the form of a wolf; it's red eyes glittered under the moonlight and it seem like it nodded at his demand.

Swirling like a ghost draped in blackness, it charged directly at Rolando.

It was almost silent as any other night, the wolf moved swiftly in the air, making no sound at all. Surprisingly, a pierce shot of light came through the wolf's mouth and passed through its shroud. It only took Spencer a millisecond to realize it; an arrow. And in almost the same time, He easily dodged it because it wasn't meant for him. As soon as went past through, Spencer glared back to where he had last seen Rolando standing, hoping wolf could've bitten his arm off before he had shot the arrow.

As the black mist blur became clear, He could see Rolando's face expression went serious. He had an arrow ready in his bow for a second shot and at the same moment wolf materialized back into Spencer's side, growling in anger.

They both stood there, shooting hateful glares at each other, waiting for the other's move and counter it.

If he isn't going to break the ice, it's a go in 3..2..1.. Then all hell broke loose after Spencer took a step back and it triggered his shot. Recalling from a memory in the past, He's James Starks' son, the famous Changeling who was gifted with an accuracy that never misses its target and he might possess the same gift as well, Spencer called the lamb instantly, and ordered it to cast it's circle onto himself, the ground Spencer was standing in lit bright; the uneasy feeling almost vaporized as soon he felt the power rising from the ground. But Spencer knew if he stepped back out of the circle, he's dead meat. Going against somebody whose shots won't miss was definitely the worst decision he had made so far, but he's never going to admit it to him.

As expected, Rolando's shot went through Spencer's heart, but the immense pain wasn't there. As long as Spencer stood in the circle, he couldn't die, he couldn't feel the pain. His mind raced, He pulled the arrow off his chest and blood didn't surge out, instead, it healed immediately. Spencer knew he couldn't keep going defensive, so before Rolando could shot another arrow. Spencer called the wolf and commanded black mist, to fill the air. He stared at the lamb, knowing it couldn't do harm to anyone, it gave him an idea. While dark mist blocking sight, Spencer didn't move out of the circle; even without vision, Rolando's accuracy isn't going down even just a little bit. Instead, Spencer ordered to the wolf bite Rolando's arm again but this time the lamb was going to back it up.

Dashing coordinately, both, the wolf and the lamb charged into Rolando. Once, the lamb was close enough, it shot a binding light that interrupted his revving. Then followed by the wolf, biting his arm and hemorrhaged.

Sticking to his instinct, he tried to shake it off while yelling in pain but the wolf won't come off. This was Spencer's chance to smack off his overflowing confidence with his own hands. Dispersing the lamb off duty, He walked out of the circle, thinking there's no way he could shot an arrow at that situation.

But before Spencer could do so, Ice blocked his way and he could see flames had vaporized wolf off Rolando's arm. The twins. He thought. It's about time they step in and stop them; Spencer couldn't have thought they would actually care.

Rolling his eyes at Emmie, Spencer regained his balance. The ice went hitting his face hard and he almost lied flat into the ground covered in ice cold feeling. Looking around, He could see everybody was present and their argument might have brought the family together for a dinner outside, in the open. Spencer could see Aujade, not even happy to see him. Plus, the twins were rolling their eyes at him and Rolando.

Wolf had materialized, beside him, again Silently, Spencer ordered it to leave and it vaporizes along the wind.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Aujade yelled bursting into sudden rage.

"He started it!" Both, Spencer and Rolando, replied simultaneously, pointing at each other.

Spencer could see Rolando's arm still bleeding hard, and it was his grip that kept him from seeing the wound. Although, Spencer had never been bitten by the wolf but he could sense that it would hurt a lot especially with a wound bleeding that hard.

"I don't care who started it because I'm here to end it." She almost yelled again but something might've stopped her."Since both of you won't stop killing each other every time you come across each other, I suggest one of you take first watch and try to avoid the other before that"

Her statement had ended there and she went back to her tent, stomping hatefully.

The atmosphere was silent after then, none of them wanted to talk; it was the twins, who left the scene first and helped each other out, finish cooking the skewered meat. Jade Ralf, went back to the tent after them. And there they were; if they were left by themselves again, they could resume their unfinished business. But Rolando, walked away first, heading towards the tent, probably, getting a first aid kit to ease the pain off his arm.

Seeing him, walk in pain, made Spencer feel guilty but Rolando shot another hateful glare at him and it vanished instantly and vengeance poured back in.

'Hey, Spence!" Emmie called out, breaking their eye contact.

Spencer turned to join Emmie and Dearle in the camp fire circle, taking turns with the brush and passing the cooked meat around.

They didn't actually had dinner together that night, even without the incident, they couldn't; Aujade's busy with studying, Jade Ralf holds a grudge against his wolf, Rolando wants to kill him. So yeah, having every one of them together might not actually going to happen for a few more meetings. So the three of them just went on with random conversations on whatever they could think about while sipping on hot stew and chewing on skewered meat.

Time flew fast, Rolando came out of the tent with his arm attended and bandaged, followed by Jade Ralf. He sat at the opposite side of the fire, ignoring Spencer along the way as he passed by. Avoiding the potential tension growing, Spencer set to leave and grabbed a bowlful of stew and a pair of skewered meat.

"I think Aujade might not be aware with the night growing late." Spencer left the circle and walked carefully, not to spill the stew, to the Female's Tent. Without knocking this time, he, technically, barged in and called out. 'Hey, dinner's almost cold."

She didn't say anything. Spencer gave her share of stew and skewered meat and she practically, only, stared at it and went on with her studying.

Still ignoring him, he said. "Look. If you're still mad about the incident earlier, I'm sorry."

She still wasn't saying anything.

Spencer sighed and came closer. "I'll even go first watch if it helps."

He could see her roll her eyes at his offer but she hesitated to agree with it anyways.

"Look, I'm really really sorry about not able to hold my anger against Rolando. He was getting to my nerves, every single one of them." That was exaggerating. "I didn't know what I was thinking and yeah, it was stupid of me to be killing him."

Sneering at his apology, she replied."I could care less if, both of you, had attracted enemies nearby and we had to work our ass out for the night, fighting our cover back but you almost killed Rolando."

"He could've killed me, too. You know. Without the Lamb's protective circle; I would be dead right now."

"I don't know how to put this into your thick head but could you actually value life and stop and think before you act. You almost killed him. Yes. He almost killed you, too but you'll always have the lamb and that's something he won't have."

"Just because I could cheat death doesn't mean I would let Rolando abuse it." He snorted at his own reply, thinking probably she might say yes to it.

"You know what?! You wouldn't understand that."

Feeling insulted, Spencer shot back instantly. "Understand what?"

"Life, of course! Get this through your thick head, with the Great War brewing, killing one force of the light and I take the chance of the whole world under the dominion of the shadows. So please, grow up and stop toying with life as if we don't die as much as you do."

She sat back and didn't say anything after.

"You know what? You never really cared about me anyways. Not because I'm new here but because I'll never be a force of the light, I'll never be one of you guys." He sneered at her, leaving the tent.

Angrily, He tossed the front drape aside and went straight towards the outside perimeter of the camp, ignoring everybody as he passed by. Spencer was still muttering to himself as to why he had agreed to do this stupid bidding anyways. The regret he felt was too much for him to handle and all he could do was to send them off by kicking stones along the way and sending curses in the wind.

Sighing in distress, He came to a stop by a huge tree and climb onto its lowest branch. With all the pressure and constant tension, Spencer felt like sleeping but the hollowed trunk felt hard onto his back. Instead, he decided to cool off and thought of being back by first watch. The moon was full and high and it gave him a void of loneliness. Without doing too much effort, He called the presence of the lamb and the wolf to have their company be known to his lingering solitude. The wolf and the lamb played along with the silence of the night, like two kids in shades of white and black, chasing tails. He loved watching them; strangely, it filled the air with both, warmth and coldness that felt familiar to his skin.

Even though the both were entirely different, in every way, there is one thing they'll always have in common and that is their loyalty to him. To them, he was part of the circle. To him, they were his family.

The anger and frustration was replaced with happiness and warmth.

He knew, even with the Great War coming, his team against him, and this bullshit punishment he has to do, the wolf and the lamb will always be there for him. And it cheers him up to think that there're always some force that will believe in him in whatsoever bullshit he's up to.

Smirking like an idiot and feeling loved like a little kid again, He tried to hug the lamb and the wolf but failed as soon as his arm went flying inward bound to his face. He felt the pain rush to his face and he tried to rub it out, laughing like a total retard for forgetting that they were astral bodies.

Suddenly, He realized he has been out for quite some time now, and thought of Aujade fuming in frustration isn't really a good image to maintain in the mind. He leapt off the branch and wiped the dust off his jeans and set course back to base.

When he approached camp, Spencer saw Dearle outside the camp's perimeter, scouting the area.

"Hey." Spencer greeted.

She smiled in response.

"Why don't you rest for now; I'll take first watch. I'll wake you up two hours after midnight." She checked her watch; counting the hours of sleep she'd probably have until her shift. He watched her do so and it was almost safe to say that she wasn't really up for a conversation this time of the night. Having nothing to say but thanks, she left him.

Now being back to alone, Spencer found a spot nearby the camp's entrance where the breeze wasn't too cold and the place wasn't obviously open to be easily spotted. He made himself comfortable as he watched the time and promised himself, to do a perimeter check-out very ten minutes or so. Nodding convincingly at his plan, he relaxed onto one of the trees and made several glances around to make sure nobody interrupts his team's good night sleep.

As soon as he was convinced of so, his mind relaxed and his thoughts were at ease; he could've easily dosed off and fell asleep but the constant reminder of being alert stopped him.

Several times, he almost fell asleep and the same amount of times, he tried to shake off the drowsiness and focus but the night air felt like a lullaby and no matter how strong his will was to stay alert, his body wanted rest. Knowing it wouldn't end up great for him, he called the wolf and ordered it to scout the perimeter for him and when it left, it would almost take about five minutes before it could finish the cycle and by then, he could have fallen asleep.

With one blow of the night's gentle breeze, everything he thought of broke apart.

And the next thing he knew was supposedly to be a gentle tug in the shoulders. Spencer thought it was wolf who've gone back for a status report. He tried to ignore it but after a few nudge on the side, the tapping stopped.

Happily relieved, He thought it was his imagination but soon realized wrong when a strong force had kicked the shit out of him.

"What the hell?!" Spencer jumped and posed defensively.

"Are you sleeping?" His vision was still blurry and it took some time for his eyesight to readjust the dimness, and saw Aujade.

"Uh. No. I'm not...sleeping." Spencer replied, brushing dirt off his clothes. 'I was just, uhm, exploring the very power of my unconsciousness."

Skeptical, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Whatever you call it but why aren't you scouting the perimeter?"

"I just did. Wolf did it for me."

''mm-hmm.' Aujade didn't really look convinced but she could sense he was telling the truth. 'Well then.. Rest. I'll be taking next watch."

Curiously, he asked. "I thought Rolando was going to be next watch."

"He is. He's just on the other side."

"Oh. We're taking two persons per shift now? What happened?"

"Update, one of the scouting teams got ambushed by the shadows, we got radio call and the perimeter was checked where they were camping; there were no trace of anyone."

"Captured?"

"I guess it's safe to say so." She replied. "Now rest, I'll wake you up when trouble's near. Even though, darkness is just around the corner, we need to be alert but we also need every ounce of strength we could get."

Spencer nodded at her and slowly walked away back to camp. Before the rustling wind and his drowsiness could've swallowed all his attention, he mesmerize him back to sleep, he was able to walk himself back to tent, with no one else inside but himself. He didn't bother to ask where Jade Ralf was, his thoughts were already blurry and tired to be thinking anyway.

His vision slow slipped into darkness and so was his world, and with that he had already fallen asleep.

Rolando

Deep in the Amazon Jungle 0220 Hours August 5th 2024

After the news that one of the strike teams had gone missing, tension had filled the air. If only he was there when it all started; he could've wiped out the entire team of shadows that ambushed them. But he wasn't and it frustrates him to think just about it.

Circling the perimeter, he was about to finish the circle at the camp's entrance where he came across Emmie, carrying food.

When he came close, he greeted her and asked. "Anything wrong?"

Having to be shy and all, she nodded her head sideward and replied. "Nothing's wrong. I just thought you might be hungry, so I came here to give you this." She took out two tuna sandwiches neatly wrapped, out of her bag, and gave him one. When he took it out of her hand, she reached for something in her bag, a thermos with hot brewed coffee and poured him a cup.

He smiled at her effort, for bringing breakfast to him. He has been out for atleast three hours now, you could've just imagined how plain boring was it but seeing her, atleast, made him smile.

He took out a bite off his sandwich and roughly said. "You know what?" Emmie looked at him as she was pouring her own cup of coffee.

"I always love the taste of ice-cold coffee in the morning. Could you.." He shot a cocky smile at her.

From what Rolando was saying, she could've sworn what he was up to and it made her chuckle before he could even finish. "Okay. Sure."

She tapped his cup and in an instant, his coffee went icy, freezing a thin layer of the coffee at the top. He could've though she might have frozen the entire cup of coffee but soon figured when she handed it to him, that it was just thin ice.

Rolando was impressed at her, especially, at her gift. He took a sip at his icy-cold coffee and was surprise to feel warmth in his tongue. He knew very well where it came from but he didn't have admitted it to her. Instead, he asked her. "So how was your sleep?"

"Actually, I, uhm, didn't have a good night sleep." She said. "I was afraid that if we'd leave you and Spence alone, we'll have one less comrade by tomorrow."

Rolando hated Spencer, even just by mentioning his name, his temper boils. Emmie saw that in his eyes that it was a touchy subject for him to be talking about. "Oh, Sorry, I didn't mean to mention him"

He felt guilty for making her feel bad. She did nothing but to mention him unintentionally. It was a mere mistake to forget and Rolando was down-to-earth when it comes to that. "Oh. Don't worry. It's okay."

The silence filled them after; he chewed on his sandwich while she drank her coffee. Neither of them, really didn't connect after she misspoke but eventually Rolando had cleared his throat and thought of something else. Something that won't eventually come down to their Rivalry.

"So, Rumor has it, you've got this new crush. If I recall, he's with us in this mission, the guy from the scouting team, the one who-" He was spilling too much information and with each word, Emmie couldn't believe what he was saying and obviously, she couldn't handle it.

"Who told you that?" Blushing, she almost exploded in embarrassment and words came rushing out of her mouth.

"Figured it out." He told her. "You were making out with him during the flight."

"We weren't." She said defensively. "Dearle and I were just introducing ourselves."

Her cheeks were already pink from blushing and there was no point of denying it but before he could say anything again, she blurted. "You said you were sleeping!"

"Well, that's what I want you guys to think." He confessed. "But honestly, I had so much energy back then to be sleeping." He sighed and it baffled her.

Conveniently, He saw her with that expression and there was no telling for him to go on with the story. "Well, My dad is one of the first few Red Changeling that existed and they aren't actually allowed to be exposed to sunlight or they might burn, ."

'How about you? You never seem to be atleast uncomfortable when we do missions in the day?" She asked.

"Well, because, I'm not a Red Changeling. I'm a blue changeling. My mom is a Blue High priestess..so.." he didn't know how he could've ended the sentence but as soon as he saw her nodding knowingly, he stopped trying.

"But I inherited my dad's gift though, even though having affinities with all five elements could've been far better, I'd still stick with marksmanship." He added.

She chuckled and said. "Yeah, it actually, kinda, suites you."

But before anything could get any serious especially when compliments were already given, Dearle came running into the scene. And of course, Rolando and Emmie shook off their warm smiles and pretended to be eating in silences.

"TWWIIINNNNNN!" She only caught a glimpse of her twin and she came running in as fast as she could. "WHERE THE EFF WERE YOU?"

Rolando could see Emmie mouthing her reply but her twin continued anyway without her answering her first question "I was worried sick. I thought you were just going to give Rolando breakfast and head back?"

"I love that you worry but I'm actually fine. Sorry to have you worried."

Dearle sighed in relief and caught her breathe. Moments later, she literally collapsed beside Emmie from exhaustion but he could see that she was happy that her twin was rest assured from harm.

The strain and worry in her voice had faded away as soon as she saw her twin, still in one piece. In the past few missions, Emmie has this record of having to be lost, if not, abducted by enemies. And now, they could only be careful not let history repeat itself. Of course, being her twin, she couldn't afford to be away from her too much without knowing how is she doing.

Having the anxiety to be satisfied, Emmie set her up straight; she was leaning too long onto her and she was kind of heavy to be supporting her weight. "Here have a sandwich." Emmie offered to her twin.

"Nah. I'm already full." She neglected the offer but suggested it to Rolando. "Just give it to Rolando."

Without even saying anything at all, he kindly accepted the sandwich. He couldn't just make waste with a sandwich neatly made, but honestly, he was just hungry. While he was unwrapping it, Emmie had poured coffee for her twin. He saw that they had this unknowingly mutual bond that he'd never seem to understand; they weren't actually twins, they were two different people from two different kinds. Dearle was fire and her twin was ice and with that alone, are two opposite affinities. But that strange bond, that mutual understanding, constant bickering, they have, will always make twins no matter what odds are against it.

He couldn't help but smile and the twins saw it.

"Hey you.." Dearle called out. His dazed broke and his smile instantly disappeared. "Why are you smiling?" He ignored her and took out a bite off his sandwich instead.

She turned to her twin. "Is there dirt on my face? The mutt won't tell." She wiped her entire face, making sure no spot was left untouched. "Did I get it?"

Rolando and Emmie couldn't help but laugh at her attempt.

"You know what?" Dearle said. "Let's just get going. Aujade going to freak out if we don't come back soon."

She stood first and Emmie and Rolando hoped she would lead the way but she stood there waiting for her twin to get going. Emmie picked up her bag and took off first instead, having to leave the trail. When Rolando caught up with Dearle, she whispered something soft in her ear that only the two of them could've possibly heard it.

"Next time you insult me, mutt, and hellfire will consume you." Her voice sent a chilling touch into his spine. He stood there, terrified but Dearle kept on, skidding like a nine year old, smiling at him. He knew she was just obviously joking but sometimes, she could be scary as hell and he could've sworn she was serious about it. He followed them at the back as he kept his distance away from Dearle although out the entire trip back.

Campsite in the Amazon Jungle 0522 Hours August 5th 2024

Rolando, Emmie and Dearle had arrived back to camp safely and not a moment too soon. The tents were already down and packed up neatly in their bags, the fire was put out and the stones were dismantled He could see all of the remaining members were already up and going. All three of them actually, Jade Ralf, Aujade and Spencer, his glance turned into an icy stare at him but Spencer had ignored him, they were having breakfast when they came in.

Aujade was relief to have them all back, safe and sane. She turned around and happily greeted them each. The twin headed off to their backpacks, making sure everything was intact while he joined the rest of them at breakfast. He didn't really had to worry too much about his, all he packed was a few clothes, some personal necessities and his bow. And before he had left for the shift, he had already packed up and was set to leave.

"We'll be leaving in five minutes. But I need the circle now." Aujade said, circling her fingers in the air; gesturing for a meeting. She sat up straight as the twins joined the circle.

"Good. As you all know, we might encounter darkness ahead, so, stay alert." She took out her map and placed in the middle, for everybody to see.

"This is where we are now.' She pointed at the map. "And this is where we'll be searching for the missing piece. Base on the report about the missing team, they were scouting within the north side and had unknowingly vanished not far from there. We could only assume darkness is heading the same place as we are from there. If they're smart enough to know about the mist then they'll be also traveling by daytime. If we leave now, I bet we can get atleast a two-hour head start since they'll be traveling all the way from up here.' Her fingers glided across the map, away from the two previous points. "So we'll use it to locate the piece before they could arrive."

"Does the headquarters know about this?" Rolando asked.

She nodded grimly and said "Headquarters can't really send much backup or they'll leave the territory outnumbered. So it's up to us to deal with the situation."

All five of them nodded in understanding.

"I've contacted the remaining scout team to meet us at the rendezvous point after four hours. While we search for the piece, they will be scouting the area for any further traces of darkness and signal us via radio contact. We need to find it before darkness does and we only got four hours until then because our ride back home will only circle once to avoid enemy contact."

All five of them were silent all throughout her rambling and it gave her enough peace to keep every detail in place and every caution be known. "If we miss it, it'll be a long way home."

When she got up, they knew it was dismissal and the circle broke afterwards; getting themselves ready.

Campsite in the Amazon Jungle 0530 Hours August 5th 2024

Five minutes later, all of them were ready and set to leave.

And as usual, Jade Ralf was leading the pack, with his claymore tightly strapped on his back. It had been a gift from Tyr, a perfect replica of his dad's claymore; Lawbringer. Legends say the claymore itself is alive and serves for justice and only a descendant of Tyr or he, himself can yield it. Come to think of it, no one from their team has ever touched his claymore. Jade Ralf has told stories that it can literally burn you up if you tried to, so nobody bothered to do so.

Next in line was Aujade, who was clearly guiding us again with the trail. Her description can be boring sometimes; planning, navigating, deciphering and those other boring stuffs but there's actually more to it than just that. She's a daughter of Athena, one of the favorites. Her gift excels in intelligence and war. Just like her mom's. Even in battle, she would always ask her for honor, valor, and the wisdom to fight with dignity. She's ever cautious with lives, goes to battle without eagerness but solemn necessity, for Aujade knows honor is for the living. The dead have no need of it.

Rolando smiled, he knew he was in good hands. His team was his family and it felt like it was his responsibility to protect them even Spencer. He sighed when he thought about him but when Aujade blurted all of a sudden, that thought broke.

"Okay, we'll be splitting in teams from here on out. Jade Ralf and I will take the north side. The twins will take the east side while you two scout the west side." She pointed at him and Spencer.

Rolando knew, sooner or later, they'll be paired up one way or another and the sooner; the better. He couldn't have trusted him now but he would trust aujade's orders, even if it pains him to do so. She knew better than the rest of them and there's no point in arguing to it.

Sighing in distress, He turned and stood beside Spencer.

"Darkness won't be here until a few hours so do your best in searching. If ever you'll encounter them, don't fight… Here" Aujade tossed him and Dearle, while holding one, a two-way radio. "Radio call us, if something comes up and run and meet us up back here."

"How are we even going to be sure we're running straight back here if we don't have a map and compass to follow?" Emmie questioned.

Aujade sighed. "Your watches, that headquarters gave you, have a built-in compass. For the twins, use west to run back and you two." She gestured at him and Spencer. "..Follow east. If you keep running that way you'll eventually end up here."

While gawking at their wristwatches, all four of them nodded.

"Okay. Stay safe and keep each other alive." With that last motivational speech, she and Jade Ralf turned to leave northward bound. The twins exchanged goodbyes and waves at them before they turned and leave.

Now having the last to leave, Spencer had paced west slowly and he followed him. He didn't really wanted to walk next right to him, so he kept his distance from behind and made sure he doesn't go far ahead. The two walked in silence, of course, while keeping on the lookout for the missing piece. Even with that distance gap he was maintaining, he had this constant urge to have his bow ready. Stiffness filled his body as he kept eyeing Spencer's companion, the wolf, hovering beside him, acting as a sentry.

He brushed his left arm; he could still remember the pain that the wolf had caused him. The wound was still there, only neatly attended and bandaged and it serves a reminder for him that he couldn't be trusted.

And the quick thought that clouded his guard caused him almost his life; he felt a surge of heat at his back where he kept all of his stuffs and in a few moments, his backpack burst into flames. Immediately, he took it off and leapt out of ground, gliding right next to Spencer. He revved his bow, waiting for the enemy to reveal itself.

Spencer stood beside him, aware of the attack. "I thought darkness won't be here until a couple more hours?'

"I've even thought that myself but why do think I would set my backpack on fire?" He shot back sarcastically.

Spencer rolled his eyes and whispered. "Can't you just call back up while we run?"

Rolando eyed his backpack, what was now torn into piece and burnt in ashes, and it hit him. "Shit! I can't. It what caught the backpack to explode.'

"Should we run back?' Spencer asked.

"For what?'' His serious expression turned annoyed for a moment.

'I don't know. Probably because I just want to test if Aujade was right about the whole compass thingy.'

"Are you snacking on stupid?'

"I was obviously joking!"

'Can't you fucking see the radio's burnt into a crisp?!" Rolando almost yelled at him.

Having the bickering to overflow the silence, the enemy attack had been forgotten. Until a voice in the wind echoed laughter and it caught both of their attention. "You two seem to be a fun pair."

"Reveal your fucking self." Spencer provoked.

"I suggest you use your words wisely." Another voice called out; it was distinct from the first one.

"It's coming up there, one of the branches above." Rolando pointed.

Spencer nodded and whispered silently to his wolf. He saw it dispersed in the wind and moments later, screaming went loud from the top came crashing down to the ground. The wolf came swirling down, circling the place of impact. As soon as they heard a moan, they knew the enemy was conscious.

Smoke began to settle and a silhouette stood. Inspecting from the outline, above its shoulders had two heads and they almost shrieked in surprise. As a fact, monsters that've turned to the shadows of darkness had often experience being different and society rejected them and they succumb to the dark side. In this situation, it had two heads.

"You little shits." One voice cursed as the other complained "That fucking hurts."

As the smoke entire dispersed, the two-headed monster was completely visible; it wore a silky gold sleeveless robe that looked like texture was made out of metal. Its body was entire blue with red veinlike fluid, which looked like molten lava, erupting from its skin which was like cooled lava stone. Basically he was like a walking active volcano with two heads.

"You'll pay for that!" Flames appeared in his hands, just like Dearle's and threw it, aim fully, at us.

We couldn't have stopped it; we didn't have Jade Ralf to block it or Emmie to put it out so we did our best to dodge it instead. The fireball went blasting forward, digging its way down to earth until it entire burned out.

Rolando revved his bow and shot an arrow entirely made out of solid hard ice. The ice arrow didn't miss nor did it even hurt its target; the arrow melted, seconds after it landed. His skin was entirely made out of solid granite or whatever stone that ice couldn't have gotten through.

"Shit I can't pierce through its skin." Rolando told Spencer.

"Try metal." Spencer suggested.

"Are you fucking stupid? Metal would've even melted before it could pierce through."

Rolando rolled his eyes at him, Spencer was just as careless as he was and it seemed like he was fighting his own battle; they wouldn't stop bickering even when they could barely communicate well with their coordinations. Spencer charged forward as he used his lamb for his diversion and his wolf for his attack. It worked against him but as for the monster, he had a few tricks on his sleeves; erupting a pillar of flame infront of Spencer. He reacted immediately, dodging the flames and retreated back to Rolando as his companions reappeared next to him. The two-headed monster lifted one of its arm and suddenly, the air he was breathing felt different, as if clouds of noxious fumes came out of the ground.

And in a split second of realization, before he could've turned and run away from the ground he was standing it was the same time the monster yelled. "Burn in hell" as he summoned a wave of fire that came crawling insanely rapid at them

He couldn't have dodged that thing even if he tried. He knew it would ignite the fumes and it burn them up. It was hopeless for him but he had to try. His jump was abruptly stopped as a force came holding onto his shirt and it pulled him back. The wave of fire had ignited the fumes and his sight caught fire and he thought of yelling out the pain with both eyes closed. But the immense pain wasn't there and he opened his eyes, he was burning but he looked at his hand and it wasn't turning into ashes.

He looked at Spencer, who had the lamb beside him. "You know. I was expecting for you to be yelling.'

'How?" Was the only word that came out of his mouth.

'Remember when you shot an arrow at my heart. I just did the same thing and let the lamb cast its protective circle onto me." He shot him a wry sarcastic smile.

Standing up straight. He was beginning to think clear now; death isn't going to reap him this time. He revved his bow again. "Just don't leave the circle until the flames gone out." Spencer informed him.

Rolando nodded. "Here's the plan. I need you to distract him so I could get a close shot at him."

"What are you gonna do?" Spencer asked.

"I need to pierce through its skin at a close distance to let the shot penetrate and hit its heart."

Spencer nodded in agreement.

They waited for the flames to go out; the monster couldn't really see them through the thick fire, so it only assumes they were dead and it would've got his guard down. It was the perfect timing. Rolando thought.

Once the flames wore thin, they dove off away from the fire and ran towards the monster, who was already walking away. To its surprise, it had heard footsteps but was too late to comprehend with the counter attack. Black smoke had covered it vision, thanks to wolf, and in a split second, Spencer had Rolando take over with the attack, revving his bow with a solid shiny metallic arrow; he jumped at a close distance while gaining much force at his grip. Once he had let go of the arrow, he recoiled backwards and the arrow pierced through at almost at the speed of light leaving the air ripple in its departure.

The fire monster staggered as the arrow went through its volcanic skin.

Rolando came crashing down to the ground as he saw the monster fell into its knees. In slow motion, he could've sworn he saw it, smiling in the midst of pain and agony. For a moment, he thought the flames were just messing with his imagination but as soon as the monster stood again, he knew it wasn't over yet.

The monster bellowed in rage as the arrow that had gone through its heart melted along with its growing anger. Rolando knew he had hit its heart; there was no way he could've missed.

"It has two hearts.' Spencer said, reaching out an arm to help him get up on his feet.

"How did you know?" Rolando asked, pulling himself up.

"Well, uhm, it's only a guess; since your shot couldn't have missed then it's still running on one more..." they waited for its attack. Then Spencer continued. "And to prove my theory right, it also has two heads."

"Prepare to meet hell." The monster's voice was now dark and compelling. Its body was flaming and it could literally burn you up if you stand about ten feet near it. It gave them a thought of melee attacks and near shots won't work this time since having to get a close shot won't burn them to a crisp. Having to attack first, the monster dashed quickly at them leaving a trail of flames. All throughout the chase, the two kept dodging its punches and ran around, carefully avoiding the trails of flames that are now spreading. Eventually, Rolando had ended splitting up Spencer as he caught himself trapped in a circle of fire.

Obviously happy with having one of them trapped, it turned its attention to Rolando and raised his arm again and as expected, noxious fumes came out of the ground. Rolando knew what was going to happened next. "He's going to ignite the fumes again." Rolando yelled.

Spencer had heard him and when he saw the monster spews flames from its mouth, he knew he only had little time to think and immediately, he could see Spencer call the lamb and ordered it to cast its protective circle onto him.

Thankfully, the lamb was able to protect him before the flames could've burned him up but instead it had clouded his thoughts, he couldn't think straight with the situation he was now.

"Hey! What's the plan? I'm using wolf to talk to you via by the Lamb since it's with you. " Spencer's voice called out and it came from the lamb. He wanted to reply but hesitated; thinking that it might not work that way.

"Look, I'm kind of in trouble and if I keep dodging the monster's attack I might leave the Lamb's territorial circle." He said.

"What happens after then?" Rolando replied.

"The lamb will reappear right next to me, the protective circle will be destroyed by then and you'll eventually feel hellfire."

"So DON'T!" Rolando yelled back; his life was on the line and he couldn't afford to have him slip off the territorial circle.

"But how I'm I suppose to protect myself since the monster has its attention all onto me. I need to keep dodging but the flames are spreading again and I'm gonna run out of ground soon." He could hear worry and distress in his voice.

He tried to calm down and with the help of the lamb, he did but now he's out of ideas and out of the blue; death came into his thoughts. One way or another, he was going to die anyway and it was probably better that way, where nobody could've seen him in his last breathe. He was hopeless and he knows it.

"I think I've a plan." Spencer called out again.

With those simple five words, it gave him the smallest glimmer of hope and that was what he only needed.

"Whatever it is, tell me."

"Even with the flames covering your vision; you could still shoot an arrow clear enough, right?"

"I thought you know about that already?"

"I just want to make sure." Spencer chuckled. 'Anyways, I want you shoot the same metallic arrow you shot before, but this time, try to shoot it wolf."

Rolando was confused. He didn't have the slightest idea what Spencer was planning but he couldn't have done anything but to trust him and if god forbids, he hoped it would work. Sighing, he revved his bow and thought of his wolf, it had bitten him once already and never did he thought he could help Spencer by harming his apparitions. He had let go of the arrow and send prayers along that it would reach its target.

For a moment, everything was quiet but the constant crunch of the flames filled the silence. He just stood there, waiting for something to happen. He had this urge to help Spencer out, even if it bothers him to have by his side, let alone, save his ass.

But not a moment too soon, the flames began to thin and he could see the whole scenario, wreckage, burning. His sight caught the fight, Spencer had gotten himself to and he had the arrow completely shoved at the monster's back. But the heat was too much for him to have the arrow securely pierced into its second heart; wolf was there too; serving as a fire cloak for Spencer but when it couldn't handle the heat no more, it vaporized and Spencer backed off.

Spencer knew it wasn't enough but if tried to have it to go again it would burn him up.

Now with the flames dispersed, Rolando stepped out of the flames and revved his bow, while running towards the monster. Having it to the max velocity, he sent another metallic arrow flying, hitting the pierced arrow, Spencer had neatly shoved onto the monster back, giving it a boost and having it shoved deeper to its heart.

Growling in immense pain, the monster came flat onto its feet and had hit the ground face first, lying lifelessly and the same moment, Spencer went drop down to his knees.

Rolando came rushing in and helped him up. 'You're burnt like toast."

Spencer was too exhausted to mouth a reply and Rolando couldn't help but smile. 'Could you walk?"

He nodded sideward. So Rolando had helped him walked. "We can't look for the missing piece in this situation. We'll just head along to the rendezvous point to have you attended."

Aujade

North of the Misty area 0630 Hours August 5th 2024

'Found it?" Jade Ralf asked.

Aujade sighed as she slid down from the huge boulder, hoping to find the missing piece, and nodded sidewards. 'Not even close.'

She headed back to the trail, where Jade Ralf was waiting for her, as she kept rubbing dirt off her jeans. They have been looking for more than an hour now and still no sign of whether they're close to find it or not. They can only hope and pray that it won't eventually land on the hands of the darkness. So they kept on looking. It had been awhile since she had her nose on the map; they just kept on heading north and let instinct, lead their way that they hadn't notice that the jungle-like feature they've been moving around for the past hour was now replaced to a swamp-like one.

Having disgusted with the smell, Aujade coughed. "I don't like this place even one bit."

She turned to leave but Jade Ralf had grabbed her hand and dragged her into the swamp. Resisting control, she tried to pull her arm off. "Can't we just look somewhere else?"

"There's a huge chance the missing piece might be in there and we couldn't afford to waste that." He raised an eyebrow at her; he knew she would choose the probability over nothing.

"Fine but when something icky comes five meters near me, I'm running my way out of here, with or without you." She rolled her eyes at him for having her to agree to go with him in that disgusting area.

Jade Ralf smirked at her but it was ignored as she walked past him; the two continued passing through the swamp, still looking out for the piece, with her leading the way and Jade Ralf at her back. She always thought of Jade Ralf as her big brother as well as her guardian. They've known each other since before the team was even formed and they share this special bond of sibling-like feelings towards each other. He wasn't obviously her type and so was she's so their friendship couldn't go above from there but it was more than enough for them because it felt like ohana which meant family where nobody's lefts behind

"Hey, you alright?" Her dazed broke.

"Yeah, I just blacked out for a moment." She replied.

"Watcha thinkin'?" He asked, siding beside her.

"Stuffs you're not interested in." She shot back. They were already halfway cross the swamp; she could already see the end of it where swampy mangroves are replaced with old oak trees and California redwoods.

"Try me." He smiled and she saw it-admired it. Rarely does he do that; he's always this serious, strong, bulk guy whom you'd never see him in his soft side. She loved it when he does it, it makes her think he's human, who laughs, cries, smiles and grunts and that's his feature she'll never get bored with.

But that moment didn't really last long, his smile was gone and his face turned tensed. And it baffled her but before she could ask him; he took her by the waist and leapt forward, dragging her along with him. Then in the next split second. Some force had leapt out from the air and came crashing down to the ground. If it hadn't been for Jade Ralf, she would've been crushed with the extreme impact.

She looked at Jade Ralf, who had his claymore readied in his grip, and turned her attention to the silhouettes that stood behind the gloomy light of the swamp; as they walked away from the light, she immediately figured their identity and words just came out of her mouth. "Oh my goddess."

One shadow had multiple legs, eight legs and it scared the hell out of Aujade when her fears had suddenly became reality.

"We meet again, Daughter of Athena." The spiderlike monster said in warm but deadly voice. Aujade felt like it was a vision from the past where her Mom had challenged Arachne, who was once a beautiful and talented but prideful weaver, to a weaving contest. Even with Arachne winning the fight but she had lost the battle, for she was up against a goddess. It was an act of anger and pity, a lesson and a curse, for she was turned into the first spider. Still, within her twisted heart, Arachne never forgave Athena.

Aujade screamed.

Sadistically, the daughter of Arachne enjoyed the brunette's shrieking as she turned to her companion. "Nicole, you go after that guy while leave the daughter of Athena to me." The other monster, Nicole as the daughter of Arachne called her, rolled her eyes at her.

"Whatever, Bella.'' She replied as the air around her hand rippled as an outline of a rapier materialized in her grasp.

Jade Ralf didn't really have much of a plan so he had to stick with Aujade's protocol: run and regroup. While the two were obviously having a mere bickering; she took Aujade and tossed her over his shoulders and ran for their lives. He took off as fast as he could, even with aujade's weight slumped into his shoulders; his speed would've outrun them.

Without looking back, he ran for about half a mile without slowing down and when his legs couldn't take it anymore, he collapsed onto the forest floor, catching his breath.

'You okay?" He turned to her.

Aujade nodded weakly. Both of them hid in shadows, tucked into the thick shrubs and away from the trail. Jade Ralf saw how frightened she was; he knew the story about her mom and Bella's and it saddens him to think that he's helpless with those kinds of trouble.

'We should head back. Call the others to regroup." Aujade faintly ordered. She took a swift glance at Jade Ralf and saw the restraint and worries in his eyes. "What's the matter?"

She saw him hesitate for a second. "Nicole has the piece."

"WHHATTT!'" she exploded in utter shock."Are you sure?"

Jade Ralf nodded confidently. 'I'm a hundred percent sure she has it. That's why we never seem to find it here. They already have it."

But the weight of the situation was, grimly, not in their favor; they couldn't fight them head on and if they don't, they'll lose a missing piece of the prophecy. She bit her lips at the misfortune. Even with her expression that troubled, her eyes meant hope and with the time being she's silent, her thoughts are already figuring a plan for the situation.

Jade Ralf saw sadness in her eyes and it concerned him. "What's the matter?"

'As hopeless as we are now in this situation, this plan is too dire to be executed." She sadly confessed.

"Just tell me, what it is.' She felt faith in his voice, and she only hesitated for a moment but she couldn't resist him so she told him, even, if it pains her to be doing so. "Look, I really really want that piece, if I don't get it; I take the chance of having the darkness overcome the light but I don't want to put my comrades' life on the line."

She almost wanted to cry but that warm tap on her shoulder felt familiar under her skin. She looked up and saw the smile, she always admired, on Jade Ralf's face. "It's okay; it's going to be fine. I won't die on you. I promise. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it without dying. It's okay to be careful but just don't let fear overcome you."

Tears went sliding down to her cheeks; she hugged him. She can be hopeless sometimes but she'll always have Jade Ralf to reminder her to keep on fighting, even up until now. When her crying stopped, she told him about the plan. Even with her constant hiccupping, he understood it entirely and it was risky, alright, but if it was the only means of obtaining the piece while having the minimum casualty- no casualty then it's worth the shot. If his part was to hold off Bella and Nicole long enough while she'd ran back to get the team and regroup with them then he couldn't die on her, he had promised her to keep on fighting and that's what he's going to do.

He nodded in approval and stood."We better get going or we'll lose them."

She hugged him one more time. "Don't die on me, okay? Promise me that."

He hugged her back and answer. "I promise not to die on you. Now go"

With those few words that felt soft in her ears, she ran back south, sobbing with tears.

Jade Ralf

Aujade's sobbing was barely audible, she had gone far back by now. He hoped she's safe; he had prayed for protection from his dad for her but still, the lingering doubt of fear and worry never ceases to leave his thoughts.

He sighed. He believes in her, he always has been.

Anxiety had vanished was replaced with faith. He had his own problems but he couldn't stop worrying about the others and that was keeping him from solving his own. Completely confused with all the problems jumbled across his thoughts, he trailed back to the swampy place where they last seen Nicole and Bella and hoped they might still be there.

Aujade

"Pick the goddamn fucking Radio, Rolando." Her sobbing had already stopped, it has been awhile since she had been running, and was replaced with frustration and fear. Honestly, she didn't really cared about the piece anymore; she cared more about her comrades dying but that constant reminder as to never be too selfish with your actions kept jogging into her mind that the whole force of light could actually tilt because of her. She didn't want anyone to die because of her but she doesn't want to ruin everybody's future just because she cared too much.

"Focus." She told herself.

Exasperating, she attempted to call Rolando's radio over and over again until he would eventually answer up but all she's getting was radio static.

'Ugrrhh... of all of the dates...' she tried to contact Emmie instead. Still running back south, she waited for Emmie to speak up. It didn't take her long before she had the line connected to the twins.

'I need you twins, right now to backup point as fast as you could.' She ordered. Waiting for a reply, she bit her lips in impatience as the twins didn't respond immediately.

'We heading back now." The twins replied after a few moments.

Thank you. She whispered to herself as the heavy invisible weight on her back had suddenly disappeared, she could breathe calmly now; knowing back up is on the way.

"Just wait a little more, bro." She looked up, smiling. "Help is on its way."

Jade Ralf

North of the Misty area 0710 Hours August 5th 2024

He approached the swampy place in silence but that was all there is to it, silence. Except for the constant croaking of the frogs and rustling of the breeze against the leaves, it was silent. He walked back to the circle of impact where Nicole and Bella have stood before they ran.

Memories filled his thoughts, Bella, a daughter of Arachne who has eight spider legs, a body and face of a human but with skins of a spider. She was a sight for sore eyes and he could see why Aujade wouldn't stop screaming. But she had another companion, Nicole was her name, she had a Rapier driven out entirely from the air. He couldn't have done that, his grip on his claymore tightened; only a god or goddess's gift to his or her descendant could do that. Weapons from above are infused of celestial bodies that an owner could call in and out of battle. You could disperse it back into thin air and it could actually materialize from nothing itself. It's very convenient since you won't have to carry it with you all the way. Although, his dad wasn't a divine being; he was as human as he was, only gifted with immortality for serving justice but one of Bella's parents is.

He came to a halt as he stood in the circle of Darkness' impact and scanned the entire area. From left to right, his watchful gaze looked for any sudden movements but, unfortunately, found none.

He heaved a sigh; he was expecting to have them cornered here so they wouldn't chase after Aujade...

Then it hit him. Hard. The sudden realization gave him the urge of sprinting after her. He ran back, following Aujade's trail south, trying to breathe as he gave it his all into his legs. Bella, Arachne's daughter, holds a grudge at any child of Athena and she wouldn't miss out this chance to avenge her mom.

"How could I be so stupid?" He looked down in disappointment. If anything happens to her, he won't forgive himself. They have gone after her. He wasn't as smart as Aujade is but the gut feeling he had made him a hundred percent it's what they're planning to.

But suddenly, all so out of the blue, he tripped hard on the ground; it felt like gravity had suddenly went unusually heavy and his balanced had been messed up.

A familiar voices coming from behind shot a laughter and spoke "Bella, she all yours."

A shadow of eight legs hurdled above him. He could barely tilt his head up let alone stop her. The spider raced past him, following the obvious trail that Aujade had left her. The maniac laughter fainted quickly and he could only watch her disappear, into the jungle, heading south. He wanted to cry; he gave them the way back to her and she's doomed without his protection.

Suddenly, gravity's pull went back to normal; the hard push on his back had dispersed and the air was still again.

He stood up as fast as he could. His first priority is her safety and that's what he cared most, in the time being, He sprinted into a dash but a rapier came blocking his path, stopping his pursue.

Obeying his first instinct for self-defense, he pulled out his claymore and drew blades against the rapier. His gaze focused on the owner, no other than, Nicole. She had caught up with him. "I guess you're mistaken. I'm your opponent now. If you want Bella, you have to get through me."

Nicole pulled back her rapier and charged at him. Jade Ralf posed defensively; waiting for her strike first then reposition for a counter attack. When their blades hit, he swatted hers off his and swiped his claymore right to her chest. Unbelievably, Nicole's reflexes dodged his attack and once his swing caught him off guard. She thrusted forward, aiming for his face. His body automatically responded but the weight of his claymore hauled him back. Fortunately, the blade peeled off only a thin line of skin by his cheeks.

Blood dripped off the wound as he pulled himself away from her. She's fast, too fast. He could've keep up with her if he was using the same weapon as she has; but he wasn't. He had a claymore; speed and the weight of that thing placed him at a disadvantage. If he did a full swing, it could leave him vulnerable; you can't change directions once you swing and the force alone can literally rip your arm off if you tried to.

"You're good." Nicole said respectfully as she held her rapier upright, close to her face. For two seconds, she just stood there, motionless, with eyes closed. It inspired him; meditation was the key. He thought. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind and breathed in deeply and exhaled everything, doubt, worry and fear, out of his mouth.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was raging with anticipation.

He took his claymore by the handle and sprinted forward. His eyes met a deadly gaze with hers. Nicole had her rapier properly held defensively for his attack. But he knew she's up for a big surprise. Jade Ralf swung his claymore again, aiming at her waist, and as expected, Nicole reacted with her blade, diverting the attack away. Little did she expect as her eyes grew big when Jade Ralf had loosened his grip on his claymore; that thing, with enough force exerted, had swung contiously on its own. Still having her blade occupied with defending herself from the claymore's swing, Jade Ralf curled his hands into a fist and hurled a punch at her.

She staggered backwards as she dropped her rapier onto ground, seizing the immense pain that filled her chest.

Jade Ralf picked up his claymore as he walked in front of her, giving her a hint of ferociousness in his expression. Raising his sword for the final blow, he looked at her pitifully and it triggered something inside her.

One moment, He was swinging his sword. The next, his body suddenly felt weak as the force dragged him along, hitting the ground hard. There is it again, that weird gravity messing up his balance. He tried his best to look up and saw Nicole with her rapier one hand and a shiny scale, like the ones used back in the old age to weigh value, on the other. Suddenly all the pieces he had, fitted perfectly; celestial rapier, a scent of vengeance and a scale—the scale of balance.

"Your mom's Nemesis." He hardly spoke, as gravity pulled him down. "The goddess of Vengeance."

She didn't give him a reply but the sight of her evil crimson smirk told him everything he wanted to know.

Aujade

Heading south of the Misty area 0720 Hours August 5th 2024

Meanwhile, everything around her felt familiar and it was a good sign; she'd been here before.

She was walking; she'd been running for too long now and her heartbeat can't take it anymore. Her lack of physical requirements gave her speed that could've last not longer than five minutes of continuous sprinting and she had to rest for atleast a couple more minutes before she could have another shot.

Regulating her heartbeat, she kept following south at a slow pace. She hadn't realize they've been heading north for far too long now and the meeting point was pretty far back; having to search with Jade Ralf for the piece felt like minutes but running back alone felt like it would take her hours.

"It's close now." She told herself. That huge California redwood she saw up ahead was the starting line and she hoped the twins will be waiting for her there before she could arrive. Then that twisted guilt hit her again; she thought about Jade Ralf. The uneasy feeling invaded her heart and mind, and it gave her the will to run, even if it killed her. She forced her legs to speed up and the fatigue went ignored. She kept pushing herself to her limit.

Her strides were in rhythm now but it had abruptly stopped when something sticky came contact with her left foot, gluing it into the ground.

It made her trip and seconds before she had her face fall flat into the ground, she looked back and saw a silhouette with eight legs. Upon stumbling down, her vision went blurry and the shadowy figure haunted her thoughts; it could only belong to her worst fear, Bella.

She got a grip of reality and opened her eyes, looking up, seeing bright light from above and a figure hovering over her. It had picked her up like she weighted nothing and held her up in the air. She squirmed like a worm and threw punches in the air. But her attempt hadn't been hitting its target.

"Let go of Me." Aujade demanded. She glared at her but Bella's expression was way far from petrified; she was amused with her; that telltale smirk she saw meant obviously no.

'Let's get this over with, daughter of Athena. My mom told me not to play with my food." She shot out a silky strand of web upwards and hanged her there while she worked her way around her body; covering her with thick sticky web until she was completely trapped in her cocoon.

Fear and panic had paralyzed her entirely, Bella was already halfway done with her coffin and still, she just kept on struggling her way out. The silk web was too thick and the more she wiggled; the tighter it felt.

Bella was working on her shoulders when she told her, whispering coldly. "What is normal for spider; is chaos for a fly." Revealing her deadly poisonous fangs.

With just those words, death came into her thoughts and it scared the hell out of her. All the way down to her throat, she screamed so loud and so piercing that everybody in the Amazon Jungle heard her. For a few seconds, Bella had to cover her ears because the screech was shrillingly deafening.

Aujade couldn't keep up yelling like that; she was already weakened by all the running she did before she'd encountered Bella. Now with last bits of her strength, she caught sight of Bella's pouch, hanging on her waist, glimmer and its unusual shape tucked inside gave her the hint of what it is.

A missing piece of the prophecy. With that, she had fallen deeply unconscious.

Dearle

Regrouping point in the Amazon jungle 0720 Hours August 5th 2024

"Where is she?" Dearle complained.

"She could've been here by now." Emmie and her twin had just arrived but they could've sworn Aujade would be there when they'd get there

"I'm scared, twin." Dearle said nervously.

"Me too, twin. Aujade sounded pretty upset when she called us."

"I hope she's fine and is on her way."

Both of their minds were filled with worry and distress. They've been scouting the perimeter and saw no traces of her anywhere.

"Should we head north?" Emmie suggested as she saw the obviously trail Jade Ralf and Aujade had used.

Dearle thought for a while; if they leave, Aujade might come here and might get worried if she didn't find us but we couldn't just stand here. She called her twin and asked. "Have you tried radio contacting her?'

Her twin nodded and replied. "Yeah but she's not picking up the line.'

She looked up and heaved a sigh. If only she knew what to do.

And just for one moment, deep within the surrounding trees, as the breeze blew cold against her skin, she saw something glimmer. It had caught her attention; she staggered forward and scanned the area. In that breezeful instant, something moved and sunlight reflected something shiny.

In a flash, she realized what it was.

'TWIN! Darkness has the piece." She called after her twin as she pointed towards the glimmering object. Quickly, the shadow dashed away, moving west and before she could've said anything else to her twin, she followed it.

"Stay here and wait for Aujade. I'm going after it. We'll meet up at the rendezvous point later." She yelled back to her twin as she disappeared deep into the forest. Having no trail to follow, she just went straight, heading west and let her instinct guide her. She kept running aimlessly, in a straight line, for a few minutes until her sight spotted movement. Dashing with elegance, she caught up with the unknown person who had his sling bag left unfully zipped shut; revealing a portion missing piece glimmering under the sunlight.

She narrowed her vision as she examined the stranger; it was tall, obviously, not that she was short but it was towering between five feet six inches to five feet and eleven inches.

The towering figure stepped closer, relieving himself in the sunlight.

"Hello there, beautiful." Pale brown skin, messy undercut hair, athletic body and charming brown eyes greeted her. She just stood there, still gawking at him from head to toe, captivated of she saw. Speechlessly, she couldn't help but imagine him with her on a date. That perfectly hot body of his matched hers and even in first sight, she knew they were destined to meet by fate.

The stranger waved his hand at her open .but unseeing, eyes as she dazed but no reaction. He snapped his fingers and it shattered the black-haired beauty's fantasy.

"Hi there." She nervously flirted.

Her eyes met his and she couldn't turn away especially when he shot her a smile. Warmth and butterflies filled her stomach. She felt her voice hitch and it had left her speechless.

But a familiar screech, coming somewhere, broke her daze. Her mind recognized it immediately and her mouth automatically gave the answer.

"Aujade?!" Almost a yell, she turned to head back but the tread of footsteps stopped her.

She looked back and saw the stranger, nowhere near her, sprinting west.

Her thoughts confused her actions; she wanted to chase the piece back but Aujade was in trouble. She kept glancing back and forth, keeping an eye on the stranger and the trail back south. She bit her lips at mayhem she had gotten herself into.

Heaving a sigh, she whispered something in the air and turned west, with eyes locked at the faintly disappearing silhouette ahead, running on full velocity.

Rolando

Nearby the Rendezvous point 0724 Hours August 5th 2024

'god, you're heavy." He told Spencer as he placed him gently against an old oak tree's trunk. The rendezvous point was just a few more meters ahead but they have cross a stream before that so he decided to rest for a bit.

"I hope everybody's okay." Rolando said to himself. Spencer was still unconscious after their battle against the two-headed pyromaniac that almost burnt him to a crisp. Although, it bothered him that Spencer had saved his ass, he was glad to have him even barely breathing but alive.

He sat at the opposite side of the trunk, constantly checking Spencer if he wakes up. The breeze was cool and fresh and the scenery was too beautiful to be left unadmired. Nature has its ways to captivate people's attention and the Amazon jungle is full of it. His eyes went drowsy as his body felt comfort.

But in the midst of his trace, a distant shrilling scream woke him up.

He thought he was dreaming but even when he's already wide awake, he could still hear it. He turned to where it was coming from and in a jolt of realization; he got up on feet and tried to chase the sound to its location but an instant of hesitation stopped him and it made him look back.

He saw an unconscious comrade completely defendless at the moment and he couldn't just leave him there nor he has the time to haul him to the rendezvous point; they have to cross the stream and that might take awhile. But Aujade was in trouble. Honestly, he would've chosen to save Aujade over him but he had saved his life and a life debt dangerous thing to carry for too long.

He thought for moment, just a moment; he couldn't waste time to fancy for ideas. He did the first thing that came into his mind. Running back to Spencer, he dragged him to a nearby bush and tucked him completely behind the leaves. It wasn't the best idea but he made sure he had him completely hidden, blending with nature.

Striding east, he took one last look at his comrade and prayed to his goddess, Nyx, for protection and disappeared into the woods.

Emmie

Heading north of the misty place 0726 Hours August 5th 2024

"AUJADE!" Emmie called out.

She was a hundred and ten percent sure it was hers and it sounded like she's in trouble. Heading north, she followed a trail that Jade Ralf and Aujade had obvious went through looking for the missing piece.

Not long before she had arrive to the scene where a human size spider hanging upside-down, in its cobweb, spinning a huge cocoon. Suddenly, fear paralyzed her body; that huge icky disgusting spider could've swallowed her whole. She caught its attention and sight of its extra set of legs and eyes; she took a step back and swallowed hard.

The spider charged at her; skittering coordinately with its legs. She panicked and once that thing came five feet close to her; she screamed, crossing her arms defensively. Ice formed from her hands as it expanded forward; creating a thick wall of ice. The spider went flying into the dense barrier and banged itself hard. Emmie slowly opened her eyes as she felt something hurl into ground. She was surprise to the spider unconscious and a thick wall of ice infront of her but she didn't waste her time gawking at the spider; figuring out whether it was dead or just unconscious or how did the wall of ice formed by itself without her doing so, instead, she ran towards the cocoon dangling in the air.

She took out a jungle knife from one of her bag's pockets and swiftly but carefully sliced the cocoon open; revealing Aujade, with eyes closed, lifeless. She immediately pulled her out and checked her pulse; it was beating.

"'Thank the gods." She whispered as she carried her away before the spider could've regain consciousness.

Jade Ralf

Somewhere north of the Misty place 0724 Hours August 5th 2024

Nicole slowly lifted herself up. She was badly maimed with just two punches but they were infused with an immortal's strength, empowered by Tyr's bloodline. But she had him completely mobilized now and it was her turn to shear pain in his ageless but mortal body.

Jade Ralf helplessly lied on the ground as gravity pulled him down and even with strength he could muster, he couldn't fight it; it was something his strength couldn't compete with. He could see Nicole walking, unsteadily, towards him with her rapier tightly clutched in right hand and her scale wearily lifted high the air in her left; the balance was tilted.

She had a tint of vengeance and a dash of darkness in her eyes. She stood infront of him as she held her Rapier up high and shot him hateful glare. "The scale of balance is also known by another name that a few who've acknowledge and fear for its bearer's will decide its victim's fate."

His eyes caught her attention and copper red-haired curled him the last cruel smile he could've possible see in his life. She drew her rapier at him; aiming for his heart.

In that same moment, a shrilling scream, coming somewhere from the forest, impeded her blow. She immediately let go of her Rapier and scale as she had both of her hands cover her ears from the deafening sound. Jade Ralf was completely paralyzed with the gravity pouring in his back so he entirely heard the whole duration of the scream and the only thought that came into his mind was Aujade and she was in trouble. His blood boiled as if hearing her agonized scream fired his body with newborn strength. He felt the gravity pull disperse as soon as Nicole ducked for cover. Seeing the opportunity, he got up as humanly possible as he could and took his claymore and scanned the area for the scale of balance.

"She can't defy gravity without it." He told himself. That thing kept messing with him and brought him to his knees several times now and destroying it would be the only thing to keep her in his league.

He saw the scale slide beside Nicole, who was unaware of it. Charging forward, Nicole held her rapier defensively. Once he was close to hitting her, she moved out of the way and he could've ask for anything better to happen than her moving out of the way. He swinged his claymore, readjusting his grip to apply the maximum force he could fully muster, at the scale. That thing is infused with something divinely celestial and something earthly would just have gone right through it. But his claymore wasn't just a normal weapon; it was a perfect replica of his dad's, completely forged with something special. It wasn't something grand as a celestial coating but he had to try his luck.

His claymore went fully through the scale. For a second, he thought it didn't work but a mere split second told him wrong as the scale burst into a thousand pieces of stardust and sparkling glitters. He saw Nicole's expression, both, shocked and awe as the remains of her scale disperse into the heavens.

"How could you?" Sadness filled her voice as tears went down her cheeks but when he had look back at her, it was replaced with anger and vengeance. "HOW COULD YOU!" She yelled.

She picked up her rapier and carelessly charged at him. Jade Ralf held his claymore defensively as defended himself from her attack. When their blades met, Nicole pulled out first and swinged her rapier onto his waist. He lifted his claymore and swatted her blade off. She was attacking fast at an incredibly random rhythm. She dashed sidewards as she went for his side and took out a chunk of muscle off his waist. Jade Ralf staggered backwards as the pain filled his stomach. She attacked again and he could barely keep up with her; slicing open a broad wound by his left bicep.

Something had fired her up. He thought. Vengeance. Her loss made her powerful and despite of it, he thought things would be easier but he was dead wrong.

Her attacks continued in an untimely and random manner where Jade Ralf couldn't have kept up defending himself with all of them. He couldn't attack her since he had his claymore held defensively. Her raging reprisal became source of power and speed. She knew that claymore would've weighted a ton and that alone puts her in the upper hand. Her rapier danced along with her as she ravaged him; complete beating with speed and sheer vengeance. The physical wounds felt like his spirit would entirely depart from his body if it continues. Like a ragdoll being tossed several times against the wall, his body gave up and came collapsing into the ground.

"It ends here, Firstborn of Tyr."

Spencer

Near the rendezvous point 0730 Hours August 5th 2024

Darkness filled his world; he couldn't feel or touch anything. Last thing he remembered was that intense burning heat that almost killed him.

"Am I dead?" He flexed his fingers and scanned his body for anything usual or missing. But nothing was absolutely wrong with him but his world. He wandered aimlessly; he didn't know where he is or where was he going, it went on for while until he felt a cold tap on his cheek; his real cheek. His dark world began to fade as he could feel himself returning to his body. The tapping continued and it woke him up from his deep slumber.

He opened his eyes and felt the ground on his back. Direct sunlight didn't hit him as found himself careful tucked into coffin-like bush with leaves sprinkled across his body. He sat up, brushing the leaves off his clothes, and looked around. A dark familiar mist greeted him up-close; it was just wolf but something was wrong. He could see something in its eyes.

"What it is?" He asked. The dark shadowy mist turned its head towards one point, he looked at his compass built-in his watch, and it pointed north. Now it was whimpering, he got up weakly as he looked at the direction it had pointed and thought of something that might have upset it. Wolf hurled forward. He couldn't help but follow it as it frantically swirled north.

Rolando

Heading east of the Misty place 0735 Hours August 5th 2024

"I could've sworn the sound came this way." He told himself. The jungle looked like the same to him everywhere he went. The sound was his only guide and once it had been silent again, it felt like he had been wandering in circles. The compass built-in his watch hadn't been much use to him either.

"What am I gonna do." He heaved a sigh as he kicked a stone on the ground; it went flying forward into the air before it rolled further. As his sight followed it, he saw movement from a distant. His eyes narrowed as he examined the figure; it was running towards him.

If it was an enemy, it would've change course by now; assuming it could've spotted him too but it didn't. He tried to pick up something familiar with its features but none of his comrades were able to fit the description. Since it hadn't change course yet and it wasn't definitely one of his team, he figured it hadn't spotted him yet so he hid and waited until it came close.

Dearle

Heading west of the Misty place 0735 Hours August 5th 2024

"Get back here!" Dearle yelled after the runaway hottie.

She tried flames for persuasion but he had few tricks under his sleeves. Every time she threw a fireball at him, earth seems to automatically respond to protect him. The constant battle between the aggressive fire and protective earth continued as she chased him. That telltale frustration she had in her eyes made him smirk cockily as her attempts were apparently not working.

She thought of close combat; her powers in melee are as effective as her shooting in long range Even if she had no idea what the hottie's capable of, it's worth the shot and, plus, she's dangerous up close; a fact given by her comrades. She curled a wry smile at that thought as she sped up.

They had approached deeper into the west where it was crammed full of California redwoods and evergreen trees. It wasn't easy following him by then; trees with huge trunks and bushy tree tops blocked most of the vision ahead. If the hottie had gone through it minutes before she'd arrived; it wouldn't be safe for her to follow him; he would've gone hidden until she would show up and kill her.

It sent a cold chilling touch on her spine.

Shaking the uneasy feeling off, she diverted her thoughts to motivating herself. She needed to catch up. No. she had to catch up. The optimistic inspiration pushed her to her limits. Although, she was just a few meters behind, it wasn't enough for her. She wanted to catch up like literally catch him up. She might not have heard it from her teammates' mouths but the rest is up to her; to obtain the piece.

Slowly; inch by inch, she gained ground. The hottie looked back, surprised, as she was approaching him at an outrunning rate. His face turned annoyed as the persistent bug, he had compared her, kept up with him. Turning around abruptively; bringing his dash to a halt, he faced her as his expression turned bothered.

"Earth, I ask for your power to swallow that fucking bitch alive." He ordered and the ground trembled in his command.

Dearle's pursue sojourned as the ground she was standing on began to shake. It could only mean one thing; Earth hottie. She shot him a hateful glare as the ground where she stood rifted like an isolated island but instead of water, bottomless fissures separated it from the earth.

The hottie replied with cocky smirk and said. "Too bad. You may be beautiful but you're incredible annoying." As he spoke those words, the ground where she stood began to descend deep, plunging her into total darkness.

She tried to climb up but the sides were too steep. She called out for help but all the reply she's getting was absolute silence. She was hopeless. The last circle of daylight grew faint as the earth reformed the hole. Her eyes turned watery; she couldn't help but cry at the last moments of her life. Although it wasn't what she'd expected from her death, she'd hope this wouldn't be painful as cancer or being run over a truck or falling from the Eiffel tower.

Ifelltower. Her thoughts repeated.

Chuckling weakly at her own joke, she failed to notice a distant voice calling out for her. Moments later, an arrow went flying infront of her with its tail tied to a thick rope. Her gaze followed the ropes end where she had to look up as it continued up until the tiny hole above.

"Cut the rope and hold on tight." A familiar voice yelled again.

"Mutt, is that you?" she weakly replied, shielding her eyes as pieces of earth came falling down her face.

"CUT THE FUCKING ROPE AND HOLD ON TIGHT" The voice sounded angrily and it snapped her out. Responding immediately, she drew flames; cutting the rope from the arrow's tail and yelled. "I'm ready!"

She tightened her grip as the mutt hoisted her up. She hanged on for very life, careful not to slip and plunge into her death. It took him awhile; his consistency of pulling her up wasn't mannerly stable and sometimes the rope would slip through his sweaty grip. But eventually, she made it out alive.

Dearle felt relieved and overjoyed as she finally gotten herself out of the death hole and of course, with the help of the mutt/Rolando.

"I owe you one." She said.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't kill me whenever I get to your nerves." He nervously said.

The two met eyes and for an undying moment, she saw a feature of his that she never saw before; his cute heroic smile.

"You two seem to get along pretty well." That voice felt familiar to her ear; it was the same voice she'd heard before the earth had swallowed her. It was coming somewhere behind the tree. Rolando revved his bow while Dearle snapped her fingers and flames combusted hovering in her palms. Something crept out from shade. Dearle recognized it immediately; it was no doubt the earth hottie who've trapped her.

They poised defensively as the hottie's stride came to a halt.

"It's been awhile since I've last seen a blue Changeling." He shot a sinister smirk at Rolando." I thought I've annihilated them all. Oh well. I guess this won't take long."

"You liar." Rolando yelled back as he shot an arrow at him but it went consumed by earth as the hottie chanted something that made the soil shuffle defensively at his command.

"This would be easier than I thought." The hottie was baiting Rolando to commit into the fight. Dearle looked at Rolando and his eyes were locked at him. He's feeding his temper and it seems like it's working. She thought. There was something odd about the earth hottie that she could seem understand but, as the ground where they stood began to rumble, she had no time to figure it out. She grabbed Rolando by the arm and hauled him.

At first Rolando hesitated; he thought she was running away but she shot him an annoyed glare that made him reconsider. "We need to get somewhere high, away from the ground."

Rolando nodded as he followed her but taking one last glimpse at the earth guy before he left; his eyes narrowed at something red tattooed on its shoulder but it was mostly covered with his clothing.

A red changeling. He thought but Dearle's constant pull on his arm yanked him out of his thoughts.

Aujade

Somewhere in the Misty place 0738 Hours August 5th 2024

One moment, everything was pitch black; she couldn't see anything. She felt nothing but complete emptiness. But the next moment, a faint familiar voice called out her name and it had brought consciousness to her senses.

Slowly, her eyes flickered as it filtered enough daylight for her to see clearly.

"Where am I?" She asked weakly.

"Thank god. You're awake." Emmie hugged her tight as spoke. "Don't worry. We're safe."

"Safe from what?" She was completely confused; she couldn't recall anything before she'd passed out and she couldn't even figure out why.

Emmie cocked her head sideward."From that huge spider, of course. I'm surprised you didn't recall any—"

Before Emmie could've ended her statement, she screamed again; she remembered everything, now that Emmie brought it up, and it had haunted her thoughts again; that sight of its poisonous fangs, that sticky feeling of her coffin like cocoon. She felt death and it was something she never wanted to again.

Emmie reacted immediately; covering Aujade's mouth with her hand. "Quiet down. It might hear you."

Aujade nodded and she took off her hand of her mouth. It was silent again,, Emmie looked out to see if it had attracted nearby enemies' attention especially the humongous spider lurking close by. Aujade breathed deeply and sighed it out slowly; relaxing and finding spirit to be calm and clear.

"No movement." She sat back beside her. "But we can't stay here forever."

She looked at Aujade for an answer; she always has one. But the Brunette could only stare blankly at the ground with hopelessness stucked on her eyes. "I don't… know." She wanted to cry but a warm tap rested on her shoulder. It felt Déjà vu for her.; a reenactment of the past. Jerking slightly, she looked up and hoped to see Jade Ralf smiling at her with concern, telling her 'it's okay; it's going to be fine'. But he wasn't there and it wasn't Emmie's hand that had touched her shoulders; she just kept on gawking at her. She thought she was hallucinating stuffs; her mind had been overreacting eversince she had encountered Bella.

It's okay to be careful but just don't let fear overcome you. Jade Ralf's voice flooded her thoughts. She had missed him. It's been awhile since she left him and it sent a cold shivering feeling onto her spine. She wanted to help him out but she's trapped on her own battle. A moment of silence and a mere delusion and a shock of death was all she needed, when a plan came rushing along her train of thoughts. She turned and met Emmie's gaze. "Could you leave alone for just atleast a minute?"

She nodded and got up. "I'll just keep watch while you think. I'll warn you if something comes up." And left her alone; surrounded only by nature.

She sighed deeply. She had no idea what exactly is she doing or how is she going to exactly execute it. The only thing she could've started with was to ask and she did exactly that.

"Uhm..Athena... Mom... I-I don't know, uh, if you can hear me but I need your help."

Silence. Nothing came in response but she continued.

"A daughter of Arachne is hunting me down and I don't know what to do; so I turned to you for guidance and assistance to help me out. If you're not busy, of course."

Still nothing.

She sighed again. "Look I know, busy like all of the time." She rolled her eyes. "But rarely, I turn to you for help. Please help me out. My comrades are doing their best in fighting their battles. I couldn't just run away from my mine. So please, just this time. Help me out."

Mist curled infront of her then two objects came materializing from thin air. They hovered for awhile as their outlines and details became concrete real then, as if they weighted heavily, fell on the ground. She examined the fallen items; an iron spear with an owl emblem connecting the rod and the blade. She picked it up first. And touched it softly; admiring its beauty. Her gaze diverted onto the remaining object lying on the ground; a shield—stout shield with a gorgon's—medusa's face carved onto the center front with its slithering hair snakes expanding on all sides. She thought of a moment. Wait. Hold on. These are Athena's. Oh my goddess these are yours.

Words seem to fail her in expressing her gratitude and the only thing that came out of her mouth were: 'Thank you goddess—mom."

"Daughter." A voice strung out of heaven; sweet, motherly and kind. "Be ever cautious with lives; go to battle without eagerness, but solemn necessity. For we know honor is for the living.."

"The dead have no need of it." She and the angelic voice said altogether.

She looked up, smiling and in reply, she could see a warm face smiling back at her.

"Game on." She told herself.

Jade Ralf

Somewhere north of the Misty place 0739 Hours August 5th 2024

"Any last words..." Nicole's figure darkened as she raised her rapier up close to his heart but Jade Ralf could still see that evil sadistic grin on her face.

He didn't mouth a reply; it was irrelevant. No matter what he had said, his death will come afterwards. So there was no point of telling her his last testimonies. Even in his ominous state, his eyes had shown fearlessness at met her malevolent gaze.

She lifted her rapier up high as it silhouetted under the sun's bright light. And in an instance, the same moment Jade Ralf whispered his last prayer and his sincere apology to Aujade into the air, Nicole drew her Rapier down to his chest, aiming for his heart. Jade Ralf had his eyes closed as she was hoisting her blade and now he had waited for the utter pain to fill his body.

He felt nothing but the bearable pain from the previous cuts circling around his body. Temptingly, he slowly peeked, half expecting to be dead. But his eyes grew shocked as he saw ground; he collapsed on, lit in bright light. The illuminating beam circled around him like the northern lights. His gaze redirected to body; pain he felt was dispersing away from his body like vapor and familiar strength surged back in. but a sight of Nicole's Rapier thrusted into his right chest stunned him; the blade was buried deep into his heart, piercing through his skin but it wasn't bleeding or unbearably painful.

Nicole was shocked as he was; both couldn't explain the phenomenon.

"What's…going on…?" She loosened her grip onto her rapier as she felt the soothing air like balm healing her maimed chest.

From his point of view, Jade Ralf saw white mist curling between her legs. Nicole couldn't have noticed it as she was busy mesmerized with the occurrence. Then from the complete unawareness of both, something came of the bushes, running. It had caught Nicole and Jade Ralf's attention but as it went hurtling into Nicole, she failed to comprehend. Covered by black mist, Jade Ralf sensed danger and safety altogether as he laid there completely immobilized with the rapier pinning him onto the ground. Danger because the scent reeked like pack of wolves and whenever wolves came into his prospect; Fenrir comes first and that is something he should avoid. Safety because it felt familiar and protective as spread like it came for his aid

White mist, protective circle, blast mist; He knew one person that could have done all of those by himself: Spencer.

As the black mist faded away, Jade Ralf felt the rapier eradicate into nothingless but bright celestial lights scattering into the winds. He looked back at his wound and saw it slowly reconstructing; healing back into normal. Heaving a sigh, He was glad to be still alive. Slowly and carefully, he stood up, and picked up his claymore, with his gaze caught a glimpse of Spencer and Nicole. But she was on her knees now with a bite like wound printed on her shoulders. The last bit of pain and utter horror filled her eyes as she collapsed onto the ground, lifelessly.

Standing from a near distance, He scanned his comrade's state; burnt and heavily breathing. The poor thing could barely stand on his own. Inevitably; on that condition, he did gave up and went collapsing afterwards Nicole but Jade Ralf was there to help him out before he could've hit the ground. Smiling weakly, he thanked him.

"Could you stand on your own?" He asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Can you walk?"

"I think so." Spencer's tone was sore and wearily.

"Good. Let's look for Aujade. She might be still in trouble." He calmly said; not wanting to rush Spencer out but her thoughts yelled for time wasted might be death for her. Taking one last look at the lifeless daughter of Nemesis, He shrugged the grim feeling off his shoulder as a cold touch sent Goosebumps all over his body.

"It's finally over, daughter of Nemesis." He whispered to the winds and left.

Dearle

Somewhere west of the Misty place 0740 Hours August 5th 2024

"A red Changeling? What's that?" she asked.

The two hid silently high up; away from the earth, away from that dangerous hottie. They snuck into some bushy robust branch and stayed quietly silent.

"They are blue changelings, like me but who've died and reborn into a red changeling with uncertain humanity and sun-phobia." Rolando whispered back.

'Sun-phobia?" She raised her eyebrow at him; unsure of type of phobia he's referring.

"You know fear of the sun. It can literally burn them up if they experience direct contact with sunlight."

"Oh my fucking gawd. Mutt. That's it. You're a fucking genius. We'll lure Mr. Earth hottie into open area and watch him burn." She had a sadistic grin on her that made Rolando realize how crazy she is.

"Mr. Earth Hottie?" It was Rolando's turn to raise an eyebrow at her.

"That's doesn't matter. I don't know him, you don't know him. If you want to suggest a name, we'll take a vote."

'But that'll leave a tie."

"Whatever. So how do you suppose we'd catch the red Changeling?" Dearle diverted back the topic.

Rolando thought for awhile."If we lure him out in the open, he would suspect we're baiting him to the sunlight."

"Would artificial flames work? Like my fire?" She cocked her head at his gaze, raising her hands up open; showing him her flames.

"I don't know. But we need him to be out there, just to be sure."

"Then how do you suppose we do that?" She placed her arms on her waist and curved a question mark on her face.

His eyes went adazed as his thoughts took over his consciousness; he stared at her while completely looking through her.

"Helloooo?!" Dearle snapped her fingers.

"I've got it." His face lit as he spoke those words and Dearle couldn't wait to find out what. His glace caught her and what was a enlightened adazed expression was replaced with a devious smirk and that obvious expression meant only one thing for her.