This story is dedicated to 4 wonderful people I've had the pleasure of encountering on this website:

Lele-the-greek-geek: for being a wonderful friend and giving me the courage to write this story.

TwistedFate108: for being awesome in general ;)

SWIRL3Y: for being a brilliant writer deserving of much commendation that her adoring fans would gladly give.

Soccerstar: for being a constant source of entertainment.

So please read on!

"!" the school bell rang. Well, at least it started to ring. "Looks like Frosty's been slacking off," Meridian whispered to Will, who was sitting next to her.

"Frosty the snowman?" he teased, knowing it would irritate the girl to end.

And true to his expectations the girl glared at him sharply and snapped, "Frosty; Mr. Frost. Uh, sometimes you are such a nerd!"

Meridian was his sister by the way, the two were fraternal twins and as of a couple of days ago, they were 15 years of age, as of a few weeks ago. Will was the smart one in the family and strangely enough he liked P.E. and was good at it. Meridian liked to describe him as a mix between a nerd and a jock. She said he got his cool side from her. She was 3 minutes older after all.

"Hey! The bell rang; schools over!" some kid yelled.

And indeed it had, but everyone was reluctant to go as it was earlier than usual. If they left then there was a slight chance that they'd end up in trouble. So Meridian looked around, in fact everyone looked around, it was almost like they were wondering if it was just a dream or was it reality. She studied their faces and saw that some were scared; some were just waiting for a leader to follow; and some were just goody two shoes who couldn't break the rules. Well, if they wanted someone to follow, well then she was their woman.

Meridian got up and marched herself out of there, and behind her was an army of clueless lemmings; well actually it was just a classroom of students, but what was the difference anyway? High school was like lemming central. Everyone followed someone else in whatever they did. Whether it was fashion trends, behavior, or the way they worked and how much they did. So she walked down the corridors, she noticed that everyone in the other classes was still behind their wooden desks, slaving away.

"Just a sec guys, gotta go to the bathroom," she told her followers even though she didn't actually need to go. To tell you the truth she just liked to admire herself and gaze upon her infinite beauty in the mirrors.

"Not so fast!"A familiar voice came. "You're coming with me; Missy!" It was Ms. Ursine; the key-stage coordinator. She was standing there with her arms crossed, in her red attire, with her big flowing black hair. Meridian was amazed at what some woman would do to look so young. That outfit screamed: 'Midlife Crisis'

"What can I do for you Miss?" She asked flatly, expressing her disinterest.

"Oh quit the routine," she spat. "Why can't you be like your brother and do something good for once? Anyway, the principal wants to see you."

"Oh boy." Meridian deadpanned. What was it now? Was it the smoke bomb? No, that wasn't set to go off until another 3 days. Maybe it was the blue cheese. No, the air conditioning system was currently busted. What was it? As she entered the lair of boredom Meridian felt anticipation creep up inside her. The principal was known for her strict ways but it wouldn't be hard for someone with Meridian's influence to make her run around in circles trying to catch her badly groomed tail.

"Meridian, it's nice to see you," she said. "Let's get to business shall we? Are you the one who sabotaged the school bell?"

"No."

"Come on now Miss Meridian, tell the truth."

"Are you implying that I'm a liar?" The smirking girl replied coolly.

"Of course not!" The principal stammered. Meridian smiled, as strict as the woman was, she wouldn't dare insult the daughter of one the richest men in the US. But all good things had to come to an end, the school day was over and she had to go home, normally she waited for Will, but today he had lost all respect from her so he could take care of himself. Meridian was just getting into the limo when her cell phone started to ring. She answered; "Hello?"

"Hi son! It's dad," came a voice. Meridian recognized it instantly, it was her father!

"Dad it's me Meridian! Aw, who cares? I missed you so much! How are things in Egypt?"

"Ridia! I missed you too! Oh, you know another day; another artifact to be discovered. Anyway I called to tell you I'm coming back this Friday! I'll call you later with the details but I'm afraid I have to go now. Bye!"

Merdian smiled at how happy her father sounded. She was just about to hang up when she heard some noises.

"When are you going to tell them baby?" A feminine voice asked.

"Later, later! Now where were we?" came her dad's reply.

"Rawr!"

Meridian hung up. Who was that woman? Did her dad get a girlfriend? She needed to talk to Will and so she dialed Will's number. Soon enough a reply came; "Hello? Ridia?"

"Yes, it's me. We have to talk." She said quietly.

"What's wrong?"he asked seemingly concerned.

"Dad's coming back," she said. "I think he found a girlfriend."

"He's coming back?" Will asked in excitement and Merdian found herself seeing him jumping up and down like a child on Christmas morning. "Then what's wro… oh!"

"Yeah, 'oh."

"Meridian… you always knew he would find someone else eventually. He can't stay alone forever."

"He isn't alone! He has us!"

"Well maybe we're not enough. Maybe he wants something else, like someone to cuddle up to at night, or someone to give flowers to on Valentines Day," he replied softly, as if he feared that she would break if he was too loud in his explanation.

"Ugh!" she screamed in frustration. "Our father is getting together with some witch and you're not even the least bit upset?"

"Merid-" he started saying but she hung up on him.

As she put away her phone Meridian glanced in the direction of Kirkwall's shopping district, just north of the school which was on the outskirts of the City. Like a moth attracted to light she felt her feet move towards the one place she knew she could call sanctuary.

ȸ

When Merdian hung up Will decided to look for her at her hiding spot in town; she stayed there sometimes; when she was upset, which was usually when dad called. He called every few weeks to check up on the twins and to comfort Meridian. She'd always been a bit of a Daddy's girl but when mom died she became very attached to our remaining parent. Dad thought he was helping but he actually did more harm. Every time she got him out of her head he came back and brought with him a cloud of depression. Poor Meridian, she was strong, almost impenetrable but one call from dad and that barrier crumbled. It's been especially hard for her since mum died. Not just her but all of us. Dad became distant and buried himself in his work. Meridian seemed to have drifted off into her own world trying to hide the pain.

"Will! Snap out of it!" his friend exclaimed as he shook me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have dozed off." he apologized. Apparently he was telling him about how he saved his mother's life. If only I'd been able to save mine, he thought to himself.

"Don't worry about it!"He said cheerfully. "We're here!"

Will sighed. He knew he had a rough time ahead of him. Meridian was an expert on blending in. Will got off the bus and started walking; looking at the sights. The kites in the sky, the statues, city hall, he could even see the stadium in the distance. There were bright lights coming out of it. There must have been either a football match or a concert, Meridian on the other hand would have thought they were unveiling a tribute to her.

Will walked on. His mind was racing and he was worried about Meridians' safety there was no knowing what she was capable of when she was in this state of mind. He loved his sister dearly but she was such a pain in the neck. Will's legs stopped moving, they turned, it was almost as if they sensed her presence. Twin telepathy, he loved it.

There it was; 'M-E-S-T', which stood for Meridian's emporium of style and taste. It was a failed project, and it should have been closed down by now if Will didn't stop here often to sneak a few thousand in the cash register. That's how he discovered this place. While entering the store he thought he saw a black cloaked figure standing in the corner, it disappeared as soon as he tried to take a second glimpse of it. Will felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up like those of a mad cat. The boy then scanned the room for Meridian still feeling very tense, and suddenly he heard a door slam. Will almost had a heart attack! He quickly looked at the source of the sound and was surprised to see that it was only Nora the shop manager. Will asked her if she'd seen Meridian today. She nodded towards the stairs. He thanked her and made his way into the plain, dark backroom and he made his way through it very slowly until he reached the threatening stairway, leading into the basement.

As he struggled down the steep stairway and walked down the small dark narrow corridor. Apparently our beloved decorator Meridian never got around to turning the place into a copy of Barbie's dream house, yet. There were two doors, one was the stockroom and the other was Meridians' hideout. The boy walked straight ahead ignoring the first door and opened the second one slowly, knowing what was next. He closed my eyes as the blinding blaze of white light escaped from the room and was momentarily stunned by its intensity. As Will kept pushing the door further, more light seeped out and left him struggling to see.

By the time the door was fully open, his eyes were slowly becoming accustomed to the seemingly never ending waves of light. Will stepped inside and said; "Meridian!"

ȸ

"Mom? Will you tell me a story?" asked a child-like voice

"Of course Meridian!" answered an older voice.

Meridian opened her eyes at the mention of her voice and looked for the source of the voice; and what she saw left her frozen, unable to move or think. She saw her mother tucking in to bed a little girl who she took to be herself; at the age of 8 perhaps. Looked away quickly, in fear that they would see her; she caught sight of her own reflection in the bed room mirror. Meridian gasped! She still looked as gorgeous as ever, but for whatever reason she seemed to be floating! Meridian looked down and realised that she really was floating.

The shocked teenager didn't have time to think about it for at that very moment, her mother and little her resumed their conversation. And in her rush to turn back to the occurring conversation, she dropped her bracelet.

"Once upon a time there lived a boy, who was kind hearted, strong and nobler than any Prince or King. Now one-"

At that moment the smaller Meridian interrupted. "Sounds like a Mary Sue if you ask me!"

Mother laughed lightly, her voice airy and beautiful. "And who told you about Mary Sues?"

"Auntie Angela! She was complaining about the indipentance of women!"

"I think you mean independence, sweat heart."

"Close enough! Now, on with the story!" Little Meridian demanded.

"Fine you whiny little brat," her mother muttered. Little Meridian just smirked and stuck her tongue out causing the two to break out in giggles. "As I was saying; one day the darkness appeared and engulfed his world, making him lose his home, friends and family. So with the help of some new friends he set out on the journey of his life to save all the worlds and get his friends back. Among one of his friends was a smart, pretty and powerful girl. She was the boy's guardian and she held an unimaginable power. And at the of their journey, during the final battle the boy got hurt and the girl was furious at the darkness for hurting him. She started glowing and recited a powerful spell to defeat the darkness. The spell was;

I am light; I am one too strong to fight,

Let the cage inside be broken,

Let the power within be awoken,

Unleash it now and with all its might,

Take away this endless night."

ȸ

"Meridian?" a voice came, "You passed out."

Meridian turned around, temple throbbing lightly as she felt a headache. "Will?"

"Yeah, are you okay? You fell down pretty hard."

Meridian frowned. She fell down? Was it just a dream or an old memory? She looked at my wrist and noticed that my bracelet was gone;

"Do you know where my bracelet is?"

"Bracelet?"

"Yes, the one that Mom gave me the day she died."

"Weren't you just wearing it?"

"I was! It's weird I was wearing it but I dropped it in my dream."

"In your dream?" he asked, sounding a bit shaky. "What was it about?"

"Well, I was floating in my room; watching mom tell me a story."

"That's it … well, what was the story?"

I told him about it. I told him about the kingdom, about the darkness, about the two siblings and I told him about the spell.

"-the dream ended as soon as she said the last word."

"That story seems familiar."

By this point Meridian was spinning around the room simply because she had nothing better to do. "Meridian , stop!"

Will grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to stop his sister but her hands, being as loose as they were, made a strange swinging motion. Suddenly, all the CDs on the stereo rack flew across the room. "What the hell!" she exclaimed.

Will just stood there like a mannequin racking his brain trying to figure out what just happened. He stayed still for what seemed like ages, until he finally said; "I think we both need a good night's sleep."

"Will, no!" Meridian interrupted. "Something strange just happened and you know it."

"She's right you know," said a dark – yet strangely squeaky – voice.

"Huh!"

Will and Meridian turned around instantly, towards the source of the voice and there they found an abnormally short figure dressed in a black coat full of zips with and adjustable hood – with rounded ears? "It's about time I found you," he told them. "Yen Sid has had me running around like some sort of fool trying to find you, Meridian. And since you're her brother I suppose you have to tag along too."

"What? Why!"

"This world is coming to an end," he said moving forward to touch Meridian. "And, you are needed elsewhere."

"What, no! You won't take my sister!" Will exclaimed kicking the man – or woman; his voice was rather squeaky – and grabbing his sister and pulling her away.

The cloaked man growled, "This world is seconds from disappearing, there isn't anywhere else for you to go!"

The mysterious figure stretched out his arm summoning a pale yellow and white portal, emitting waves of painfully bright light. He then lunged forward trying to push Will and Meridian into it but at the last second Meridian pushed Will away right before he was engulfed by the portal.

"Meridian!" she heard him scream before the last traces of her secret hideout disappeared.

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