There is a prophecy. It revolves around two persons, ones who will come. They will come to heal the world, not save it. Regardless of what you may think, it is different. Healing is putting it back the way it was; saving is correcting it to perfection.

When in darkened pieces

The earth lies

The two in one will come

Bound with unseen ties

To heal the earth, she comes

Borne on eagle's wings

To repair what was broken

A song he sings

--XX XX--

Yet if into the darkness

One of the two slips

The connected mind,

The delicate soul rips

The Fallen returns

Evil plan in mind

The serpent wears a

Guise, outwardly kind

--XX XX--

One shall fight with

Ancient spear

The other comes

Riding clouds of fear

As they fight

The world dies

Given to Beelzebub

Lord of the Flies

--XX XX--

Whence comes he,

The life bringer.

But also bears death's

Stony finger.

And so the human mind,

Like an open book

He reads the deepest soul

With one look.

--XX XX--

Hope shall vanish

Lost to Time

Armageddon comes

Unless they combine

But can parts so different

Fit back together?

Or must they perish

Brother and sister?

--XX XX--

Will the end come close,

Unbidden?

Seek the source of love,

Finding what is hidden.

Behind the mask

An evil resides

And on anger

Despair rides

--XX XX--

To see the light,

Look yonder

Wait not to fix

The blunder

Ware the evil

Within

Lest a new battle

Begin

--XX XX--

Know thy friend

Now enemy

And forgive thy enemy

Now friend

A puzzle remains

Waiting to be found

For thousand years it lay

Buried in the ground

--XX XX--

Use the key

And do not fear

For it's light will

Always be near

Dust to dust

Ashes to ashes

Soul to soul

Heart to heart

And ever forward march

--XX XX--

Chapter 1: The Two in One

Mara was running away from the spreading darkness. "Come back, Mara!" her brother shouted. She kept running. Her long white hair streamed out behind her, as she fought to escape the invisible bonds that kept her from leaving. "Mara, you must heal them!" Michael shouted at her.

"No! I'll just kill them, like I did last time!" she cried, falling to the ground. Though she closed her eyes, the terrible images that she had seen filled her mind. To keep herself from seeing them, her eyes flew open.

Mara blinked. She was staring at a white roof, not the darkening landscape of her apparent dream. Michael was snoring lightly in the bed next to hers, mumbling something indistinct every so often. Her white hair was cut shoulder length now, and she was about seven years older. Mara sat up and slowly got out of bed. Today was the day that they were going to visit their Uncle Fung's temple. She walked over to the dresser which was covered in many multi-colored hair dye bottles. Randomly picking one of them up, she proceeded to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Mara checked to see what color she had. It was a neon purple-blue color. She placed a drop onto her finger and touched it to one strand of hair. Instantly, all of her hair was that same color. She returned to the bedroom. Once there, she rifled through the clothes in their closet, wondering what she was going to wear today. There wasn't much selection, seeing as most of their clothes had been packed.

As she tried and discarded several outfits, her twin brother woke up. "So, Mara, what color is it today?"

"Purple-blue. I'll throw the rest of them into the suitcase." she responded without looking up.

Finally, she decided on pale blue camo cargo pants and her favorite black tank, the one with a dragon on it.

As she finished tying her combat boots, her brother came back from his shower. His porcupine hair perpetually leaned to his left, no matter what he did and there was one bunch of it that would never stand up, constantly falling across his face. Instead of his whole head turing color, just the right half of the spikes were streaked with purple-blue. He went over to the closet and examined what was left.

Mara stood up and walked back over to the dresser. With one sweep of her arm, she dumped the rest of the dye bottles into the open bag beneath. Then, she picked up a knife that was left sitting on the dresser and slipped it into her pocket.

Michael came over and zipped up the bag. "So, how long are we staying at this temple place?" he asked. He had black baggy jeans and a black t-shirt that read "Duct tape is like the force: It had a dark side, a light side, and it holds the universe together."

"However long it takes for our parents to work out the divorce shit." Mara replied, spitting "out parents" as though is was a foul piece of food.

"I wonder how it will be in China? Will it be hot, like in Phoenix, or friken cold, like in Juneau? Will it be a dry as Cali, or wet as here, in DC?" he spoke the questions that had been flooding his head since they had first found out about the trip.

"Relax, we've got an extremely long and boring flight first. Now we can't even watch DVDs or listen to music on our iPods. Stupid airport rules. Not to mention that once we get into Shanghai, I have no idea what to do. I suppose Uncle Fung will come get us."

Michael glanced down at his watch. "Oh crap. We better leave, or we'll miss our flight." He grabbed the bulging bag and walked through the door, casually grabbing his backpack on the way. In there was his life: photos, skateboard, numerous balls, and his notebook. From the covering flap, hung a pendant on a leather tie. It was an obsidian dragon that formed an sÓ over a circle of blood red, partially see-through stone.

Mara picked her matching black backpack as well and followed him out. On her flap was a key chain that had the words ÓMess with me andÉÓ and showed a red dragon flaming. From her neck hung, on a thin silver chain, a silver dragon, sÓ shaped and laying over a circle of jade.

Without a word to their parents, who were glowering at each other across the table, they grabbed their matching black and gray sweatshirts and exited the house into the drizzle outside.

The two of them walked a block to the nearest metro stop and planned a route to the airport. No one on the metro paid them any mind, and they took the last seats in the last car. Mara stared out the window as the dark walls rushed by. She pondered how it had come to this. Her father was a big business man and he had dragged them all over the country to places that his work took him, the latest being Washington DC. It was here that their mother had fallen in love with the city and they were due to move again. Their mother had put her foot down and refused to move again. Thus, the divorce papers in the works.

Michael was considering how he was going to spend the long flight with no form of entertainment. All their books were in storage in another state because they were too bulky to transport. - -I could always sleep, but for that long?- - He counted the money he had and determined he could spend about thirty dollars on books, with plenty left over for emergencies: he had his own credit card his father had given him. Mara had one too, but she didn't usually buy anything. He was jolted from his thoughts when the driver announced their arrival at Washington National Airport.

The two of them left the metro stop. They went to their terminal, B-25 and set their stuff down. "Mara, ya think ya can watch our stuff? I'm gonna go get some reading material."

She nodded, not looking up from the 3D puzzle in her hand. She had a ton of them in her backpack, but this one was one of her favorites. There were several interlocking rings that formed one whole ring. It was one that seemed to have a different solution every time.

Mara was still working on it when Michael came back, five books tucked under his arm. They were hardbacks and at least three inches thick each. "They're not going to be happy when you come back with those." she said as he sat next to her.

"'They' won't care. It'll be one or the other." he reminded her.

She flashed him a darkly angry look and her deep brown eyes made it all the more piercing. "I know. Either way, whoever it is won't like it."

"Well they don't have to like it." he countered, rolling his gray eyes.

Twenty minutes later, they were settled into their seats in first class. Mara continued to fiddle with the ring puzzle. Michael pulled out his notebook and black gel pen he always used. Then he selected a book and began to read, making notes in tiny scribbles in his notebook.

After a while, Mara solved the puzzle and slipped the ring onto her finger. She pulled out another one of her puzzles that seemed to have a different solution every time. All the ones like that were presents from their Uncle Fung. As she worked the pieces, the plane bumped and it fell from her hands. It fell behind her seat, to the person behind her. She shifted in her seat and looked over the top of her seat.

"Is this puzzle yours?" a boy about their age asked, holding it up. He was wearing a green sweatshirt and ordinary baggy jeans.

"Umm, yeah."

The boy smiled. "I love these kind of puzzles. I brought some of my own. You want to work on them together?"

Mara looked at her brother. She started to ask her brother, but stopped herself. - -I'm 16, why am I asking for my brother's permission. I can do whatever I want, he's not the boss of me.- - She stepped out into the aisle and sat in the empty seat next to the boy.

"I'm Teran by the way."

"Mara. Now, let's see those puzzles of yours." she said with a smile.

MANY MILES AWAY

The Xiaolin warriors were in a face off against Jack Spicer. Jack was holding on to one edge of a round disk. It was molded into the shape of a sleeping face. Omi was tugging on the other side. "Omi I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! My Mantis Flip Coin against your Fancy Feet."

"Name your challenge, Jack Spicer."

"Hide and Seek. The Oracle's Mouth will hide and we'll have to find it."

The mountain that they stood upon split into many uneven chunks. The Oracle's Mouth ended up in the middle of the slowly rotating pieces. It disappeared. "Gon Yi Tampai!"

Omi jumped from piece to piece, ever looking for the Shen Gong Wu. Jack put his hover-pack to use and flew around. "If I were a Shen Gong Wu, where would I hide?" Omi questioned himself. Realizing that the wu would probably be embedded in the bits of rock, he decided to look closer at each lump.

"Omi doesn't stand a chance. But, it can't hurt to cheat." Jack dove down at Omi and knocked him off the piece of mountain he was on. Omi grabbed the edge with his fingers. As he did, he turned to his right and saw the Oracle's Mouth, it's dull clay masked by the shadows. He dug it out and held it up.

"Jack Spicer, you have lost." Omi told Jack as the mountain rearranged itself. And so, Jack trailed away, the ghostly Wuya following after giving both Jack and the Xiaolin warriors a dirty look.

BACK AT THE TEMPLE

"I know ya said it would give a prophecy, but how do we get this durned thing to work, Master Fung?" Clay asked later when they had returned to the temple.

"Use it the way you would any Shen Gong Wu. It will give two verses of a prophecy at a time. Until the next two verses become relevant. It is very unpredictable. The only down side is that once you hear the two verses, it will become impossible to repeat them in any way. Oracle's Mouth."

The eyes on the carving opened and the mouth began to move. It spoke in a rich, warm, deep voice.

When in darkened pieces

The earth lies

The two in one will come

Bound with unseen ties

To heal the earth, she comes

Borne on eagle's wings

To repair what was broken

A song he sings

Silence followed its words. "Why does everything have to be in riddles?" Raimundo complained.

"That was more direct than I recall it being. When Dashi used it, it was always very vague." Dojo puzzled.

"Well, we know that it won't come true anytime soon." Kimiko reassured them.

BUT WHAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW IS...

But what they didn't know is that at that exact moment the plane landed and the twins plus their new friend got off, war started all over the world. Chase Young had found a new way to work his world domination using the evil that exists in all humanity's hearts. So, the world was broken into sections, all fighting all the other countries.

ANYWAY, BACK WITH THE IGNORANT AND BLISSFUL MONKS

Kimiko tried to get on the Internet to contact Keiko. No even her WiFi could get her on and it had yet to fail her. "That's strange. I wonder why it's all screwed up."

"Young monks, there are some people I wish you to meet." Master Fung called the monks to the main hall. Standing there, bright light filtering in through the door behind, was a boy, backpack in hand. Outside were two more people, another boy and a girl. The girl was finishing unloading the last bag from the "Eagle Coaches" taxi. Briefly as she stood up and walked away from the van, the painted eagle wings on the side matched up perfectly with her shoulders. By the time the four dragons arrived, Master Fung was already in conversation with the new arrivals.

"Hey, Uncle Fung. How've you been?" said one of the boys. He had black hair that stuck up in such a way, it reminded them of a porcupine. One side was dyed a neon purple-blue color. His gray eyes glanced around the room. He embraced Master Fung.

"Ah Michael. I have been very well, thank you. How is my sister?"

"Mom's not doing to well. She fell in love with DC and Dad's got to move again. She filed for divorce and we had to come here until it gets resolved."

A girl that looked exactly like the boy except her shoulder length hair was all dyed the purple-blue color and her deep brown eyes darted around the room. She had pale blue camo cargo pants. Behind her was a boy who looked like he was definitely not from the same family.

"Yo, Uncle Fung." the girl said as she gave Master Fung a huge hug.

"And how's my little dark angel?" he asked.

"Fine. I love the puzzles you send." she smacked her forehead. "Oh, where are my manners. Uncle Fung, this is my friend Teran. Can he stay here with us?"

"Of course Mara. But under one condition. Tell me why he has no other place to stay."

"I ran away from my foster home. They were really lousy parents. So I ran to China. I have enough money to spend on an apartment and know enough to get a job." Teran answered.

"You may train with the monks if you would like. It has other rewards besides that of money. More valuable and mystical rewards. We do not live richly, but we do not starve."

"Sure. I could use a little martial arts know how."

"Oh Uncle Fung, you're so nice!" Mara said, giving the old monk another huge hug.

"And I too have forgotten my manners. May I present my young monks: Omi, the dragon of water, Kimiko, the dragon of fire, Raimundo, the dragon of wind, and Clay, the dragon of earth." He pointed to each of them in turn. "Young monks, this is my niece and nephew, Mara and Michael. They're twins. And that is Teran, Mara's friend." They all shook hands, greeting each other. The monks led the three newcomers to where they would sleep.

Mara was to stay with Kimiko, Michael with Raimundo, and Teran with Omi. (He would have stayed with Clay, but Clay takes up too much space in his room.) As Michael pushed through the curtain doorway, his bag slipped from his shoulder. His soccer ball, which had been hurriedly crammed on top, rolled out. Raimundo stopped it and dribbled it for a couple minutes.

"So, Miguel, you play futbol?" he asked using the Spanish pronunciation of Michael's name and of soccer. "You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

"Naw. It's okay. I've been called stranger variations on my name than that. And yes, I play soccer. And just about every other sport, too. Video-games included." Michael responded.

"You wanna go one on one later?"

"You're on."

In Kimiko's room, Mara was trying to help Kimiko with her WiFi problem. After a few minutes, Mara's confused frown turned into a smile. "Got it. I can't connect to any legal network, but I can get you a pirate signal. Actually, I already did. Let's see what's going on."

The two of them scanned the news site Mara had pulled up. Mara's frown came back. "What does this mean?" Kimiko asked, unable to catch the reason behind many of the statements.

"This is all propagandistic crap. But, reading between the lines will give you a view of what's actually going on. Let's see." She scanned the page again. "Methinks that we are in the midst of another world war, each country for itself. Bloody brilliant. Oh, hell no." Mara blew a strand of hair that had strayed across her face, out of her eyes. "They've decided to use nuclear weapons."

Kimiko understood the implications instantly, having heard the prophecy. She opened her mouth to tell Mara, but no sound came out. She remembered that she would not be able to tell. So, instead she said, "What do you think happened?"

Mara snorted. "How do you think all the other wars got started? There's been a misunderstanding between two countries, as they consequently try to invade each other, they pull other countries in. Think of the a bunch of people in a box. Two of them start fighting and accidentally one of them hits a bystander. Then the bystander joins in and accidentally hits someone else, et cetera."

"How did you get so good a reading between the lines?"

"Years of practice. Nothin more than that." she shrugged the question off with a relatively vague answer. "You wanna go spar? I won't go easy on you cause you're a girl."

Kimiko smiled. "Let's go. I swear, it gets so annoying to fight the boys when they won't even hit me. It'll be good to have a challenge for once." Then, laughing and talking, they headed out to the practice grounds.

Teran was talking with Clay in the kitchen. It seemed that Teran was a skinny Clay; he ate everything in sight. As he shoveled down Clay's fiery chili, Omi stared at him. "Where does all the food go?" he asked extremely confused, seeing as Teran didn't gain any weight or get bigger around. Soon the kitchen was empty.

"So, Teran, whacha wanna do?" Clay asked the strange newcomer.

"Do you have anywhere I could practice bull-riding?"

"I'm sure we cood fin' some place to practice." he said as he led Teran out to find a good place. Omi was left standing there, still terribly confused. As Teran passed through the doorway, he waved his hand over the dying little fruit tree just there. It seemed to stand a little straighter and turn a healthier shade of green. Omi blinked and rubbed his eyes. He determined that is was just a trick of the sunlight.

By this time, the practice ground was getting a little full. Raimundo and Michael were playing soccer, Kimiko and Mara were sparring, and Clay and Teran were both taking turns riding the bull. The two girls decided to take a break and watch the bull-riders. It was Teran's turn and he was bouncing up and down as the bull tried to toss him off. He caught Mara's eye and smiled, but the slight move of attention caused him to unseat and go flying over the bull's long horns. The bull stopped bucking and stood, waiting for Clay.

Mara noticed that Teran was bleeding. With a gasp, she ran over and turned him face up. He had a huge gash from the horns across his stomach. Mara held her hands over the wound and Kimiko and Clay watched, curious. Concentrating, she scrunched up her face and bit her lip. Soft white light came from her fingertips and began to knit the flesh back together. "Whoa." the two Xiaolin dragons muttered in an awed tone. When Mara was done, she removed her hands and watched as Teran sat up. He patted the area where he had been hurt.

"I'm alive!"

The burst of humor caused everyone to wind down, collapsing into fits of laughter, after the suspenseful moment.