A/N: This story was not looked on by any of my betas. So the grammar and all...yeah, you'll see what I mean. By the way, this is my second entry for the Madrigal Prompt Challenges. Go and see my first, Walking to the Light, if you'd like! ;)
Summary: Five Cahills, different branches. Small thoughts on how light battled darkness in their views.
Dedication: To Karmi, because she supported this, and Rage, for suggesting the fourth Cahill. Thanks and I love you both. *stillthinksRagerocks*
Disclaimer: The 39 Clues is not mine to own.
Amy Cahill thought she had always lived in the dark. Ever since her parents died a few years ago, she felt like there was no light in her life.
But there was Grace, her beloved grandmother.
Grace was always there for her and Dan. Or at least on weekends and holidays she was. Grace was the light in Amy's oh so dark life since her parents' deaths.
She wished those times would last forever. Sadly, it's not possible right?
But sometimes, darkness consumes the light. Death defeated Grace. And darkness took over Amy's life. Dan's as well.
The Clue Hunt. She thought it was controlled by a light switch. With plenty of black-outs. There were dark times, like almost dying in that explosion in the Franklin Institute, almost getting trapped in a cave forever in Pukhnasan, almost getting fed to sharks by Isabel Kabra in Australia, almost losing Dan completely in China, finding out her parents were murderers, and finding out Nellie was lying to them.
She felt like crying, shrinking into nothingness, trying to escape her life altogether. She had almost died too many times. It was pretty scary.
But hey, there were times the light was switched on. When Nellie agreed to accompany them when they didn't expect her to, when she didn't die after the many times that she could, when she found out her parents weren't really murderers, when she defeated Isabel Kabra, reunited the five Cahill branches, won the Clue Hunt, and destroyed the serum.
And she was rich now too. The light was blinding then.
Looking back at all that, Amy realized that even though she was living in the dark for such a long time, there was still a small light present, even if Grace was there.
Dan may be annoying to her, but sometimes he's the reason she keeps going.
Living in the limelight didn't mean singer/actor Jonah Wizard didn't feel entrapped by the cold darkness.
He used to have such a big ego. He used to feel so cocky. But that was before the Clue Hunt started.
The contest changed him. The Clue Hunt showed him lots of things. Reality. Fear. Truth. Darkness. Sometimes, you feel like letting darkness control. He let his mother's fierceness control him, and he almost became like her.
Ruthless. Afraid of nothing.
No wonder he loved singing. His fans shouted, screamed, and gave him all their love. They were calling out for him. They were calling him out of the darkness to join them in the light.
The fans were his shining light in the dark nights of those concerts.
But now, Jonah has changed. He's an independent, friendly, but still talented teenager. And he had a family who loved and cared for him.
Dan and Amy Cahill, Hamilton Holt, all those in that Gauntlet except crazy Isabel Kabra, and Nellie Gomez.
They were most definitely unlike his mother Cora, who refused to speak to him.
He realized being a Cahill showed you your dark and light side. Even if you've got a power-hungry mom and a Blackberry-obsessed dad.
Ted Starling was a genius, blind or not. He was an Ekaterina, each of his ancestors were the genii of the world for five centuries.
Stupid Clue Hunt. Stupid Cahills. His own family was the reason he now suffered this cruel fate. He was blind, a handicap, almost useless to his branch.
But there was still a light of hope.
With Reagan Holt's help, he had been able to create a solution, something that could not only help him and his brother-who was suffering from a continuous row of headaches-but others sharing his and his brother's fate.
Lives saved, families rejoicing, that always made Ted smile.
Sometimes, people ask him what he sees in his dreams. An insult most likely, but he could always give an answer.
There's a difference between "blind since birth" and "blinded by an unfortunate accident". He was the second one. He's seen stuff before. He could imagine them in his own special way, a secret he would like to keep only to himself.
Ned and Sinead. They were the light of his life. Sometimes, they're the ones who help him keep on going.
But most of the time, his fellow blind men's happiness are the light in his sad, dark world. Most of the time, they keep him going, whether they realize it or not.
Isabel Kabra craved the spotlight.
She always thought she was the star if the Clue Hunt. She always thought she made a wonderful surprise entrance.
But she was wrong. The light wasn't hers; it wasn't directed at her, but at those despicable orphans Amy and Dan Cahill.
Was fate taking revenge for when she mercilessly killed their parents?
No. Isabel Kabra didn't believe in fate. Fate believed in Isabel Kabra.
Yes there were times she was the one shining the brightest. Surprise in the Gauntlet, pinning murders on rivals, ruining peasants' lives. Ah, good times.
But somehow, the spotlight always returned to those stupid kids.
Mad, driven with rage, she tried killing them more than once. And not just them, but even including Alistair Oh, Sinead and Ned Starling, Jonah Wizard, Hamilton Holt, and even her own children Ian and Natalie.
Anyone who tried to stop her from being the star had to be eliminated.
If she just didn't let darkness control her, she would have probably not been like this.
She felt the light in her before. Riches, fame, power, were hers. Darkness promised twice more than that.
But no. Darkness tricked her once. She refused to let it happen again.
Light was hers once. She would keep going to get it again.
Madison thought it was unfair her siblings got more of the popularity than her.
Hamilton and Reagan became friendlier, nicer, and funnier. Almost un-Holt-like.
But not Madison. She'd always lived in the darkness. It wasn't obvious, but she wished that at least once light would notice her.
She kept waiting. Light would grant her request soon. But light gave empty wishes.
Darkness, at least, was nicer.
Calmer, cooler, and always there, Madison was pretty used to the dark/ Where in the Clue Hunt did she ever shine?
Nowhere.
She was the least popular of the Holt siblings. She was now the least nice as well.
Stupid Reagan. Ballet was making her a wimp.
Shocking Hamilton. A computer geek? It made him sound like an Ekat. Gross.
No, Madison realized. Light was shining at her. She was the only one who hadn't changed. She was a true Tomas. She was under the spotlight for that.
But sometimes, she craved for more light.
She'll just have to wait.
Five different Cahills. One from each branch.
Light versus darkness. Who will win that fight?
Don't expect anything to be played the way you want it. "The future changes not by who they are, but by the choices they will make."
Anything can happen now. Let the fighting begin.
~~FINIS~~
A/N: There goes my second entry! Wait for a hopeful two more, dear sweets! In the meantime! See the review button? Yeah that button down there? CLICK!
A/N: On another note, the quote near the end was by Albus Dumbledore, in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Non-Potterheads, that's Book/Movie 2. :D