DISCLAIMER : I AM NOT LYNETTE NONI

Alex's friends searched frantically for her, ignoring the curious glances around the hall. Declan remained at their heels, though giving them space. While he was also looking for Alex and Kaiden, the latter was his first priority and the former his second.

The friends had been at Woodhaven for a break after what happened at Graevale. Students crowded the halls as they scurried around desperately trying to find a trace of their friends, making it difficult. Jordan and Bear remained silent, though D.C. was screaming at everyone to get out of their way. Declan respected her for that. They got to the Rec Room and considered giving up, though Bear remembered Gammy's words. Their sighs of defeat were interrupted by D.C., "She's got to be in the Library." it was almost a whisper, but it spoke volumes. "How did we miss that?"

As soon as she finished her sentence, everyone was up on their feet, rushing to the Library. It was only then, that they realised Alex's "chosen status" had advantages. Including getting into certain parts of the Library. Jordan remembered the first time all four friends had journeyed to Meya, and he decided to test his luck.

"Library?" He asked. "Do you think you could let us have a chosen status for just half an hour?" his fingers were crossed hoping for the best. Declan looked at him with an incredulous expression.

"What in the name of Medora are you say―" he was cut of by a quiet whisper that sounded as if it was travelling in the wind.

Yes.

That was all they needed to hear and they started with the paintings―Alex's well-known favourite place to go. After hours of searching, they really were going to give up this time. Until a voice broke their sullen silence. "You won't find them."

Someone stepped out from the shadows. Who? None of the friends could tell. He looked ancient though, that much everyone could agree on. Declan leaned over and hissed in Bear's ear. "Who is that? He looked familiar, but I swear I've never seen him in my life." Bear opened his mouth to respond, though it wasn't his words that came out.

"No one shall address me by name until further notice. And I will repeat myself. You won't find them here." They looked at the man with curious but confused expressions. D.C. and Declan could've groaned at Jordan's reply, though Bear chuckled quietly to himself.

"Well, what are we supposed to call you then?" He looked rather pleased with his comment. Why? None of the others knew. At least Jordan was able to joke about it. The other friends were still worrying about whether their friends were still alive or not. They were silent until the man held out something. It was shiny and dangling on a chain.

"What in Medora?" D.C. stared at the object in his hand. She remained silent, though the rest of the groups reactions were not so subtle. Jordan let out a loud gasp, Bear's jaw literally dropped to the floor and Declan, who was knew to most of this, widened his eyes and let out a breathy laugh, unbelieving. While their reactions may have been dramatic, it was accounted for, as the object in the man's hand was something they recognised―well most of them.

Because it was the Myrox necklace that belonged to Alex.

Jordan was the first to get over his shock and react. He lunged forward and almost yelled in the man's face. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER? DID YOU HURT HER?" To the others surprise, the mystery man remained calm. He spoke in the same authoritative tone as before.

"I did no such thing."

"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS―" Jordan was interrupted once again. This time by D.C. holding him back. She murmured into his ear. "Jordan…" she started, "I think Alex knows this person."

"You would do well to listen to her." the man spoke again. "As she is correct."

"So that's why she disappeared every night." D.C. murmured after the man had explained everything. Jordan and Bear also found the pieces coming together, though Declan looked like a lost sheep in the middle of a wolf-infested forest.

"And so, Alexandra left me this pendant to give to you, as she knew you would probably panic when you found out she was missing." The man continued, ignoring D.C.'s whisper of a comment. Alex and Kaiden had both known who this man was, and they both disappeared every night. Declan had only witnessed a flicker of Kaiden once, making this hard for him to believe everything. All four friends were pulled from their thoughts when the mystery man, as Alex had first called him―realisation washing over Jordan as he remembered her mutters that day, when she was extremely out of it at breakfast―spoke again. "And now that you know the story and have gained some of my respect, you may call me Athora. But do not question me at all." he paused and glanced around at all of them, his eyes boring into the 4 friends, "You may leave now."

"But what about―" Jordan said, about to argue that Alex needed help.

"What's my rule?" the man―Athora―interrupted. They all mumbled his golden rule under their breath. "Very good. But this time I will answer your question." Bear opened his mouth to ask how Athora had known the rest of Jordan's question, but he wasn't given the chance.

"Alexandra Jennings is in no condition of needing help. Neither is Kaiden James. They are both in good hands as Alexandra's Vaeliana is hidden." All of them opened their mouths at once, wondering what in the name of Medora, 'Vaeliana' was, though they were cut off again, before they could even muster up a single sound. "And as I said before, you may now leave." He stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. Jordan was known for being dramatic, but he actually disappeared.

"Wait, guys." Bear said, "What about Alex's early morning disappearances? Athora only said night lessons." D.C muttered something, but none of them heard it, so they asked her to speak up.

"I said, I did see some random guy in our dorm room once, and Alex seemed to know him. He almost looked like a Meyarin, dark hair and violet eyes. Alex was having a conversation though, so I left to the Library instead." Bear remembered the battle in Graevale. The dark haired Meyarin. He was a close friend. D.C continued talking, "He looked like that Niyx guy from Raelia, but that's a stupid thought, because Niyx was part of the Garseth." They dismissed the matter for now and discussed what they would do.

In the end, it turned out that none of them were content with Athora's conclusion so they decided to try and help Alex anyway. What they didn't know, was that they had absolutely no way to reach Alex or Kaiden, because they were somewhere no one would have expected.

"Guys this is pointless. We're never going to find them." Jordan reluctantly said, about to give up. Declan had already left to go back to his dorm for the rest of the day. D.C. frantically shook her head, unwilling to give up on her best friend. Bear found himself doing the same thing.

"I guess we're going to the Rec Room to do more planning, then." Jordan corrected himself to make the others happy. Neither of them even thought about giving up, but Jordan, on the other hand, had considered it.

Every.

Single.

Day.

He felt ashamed of it, but it was all he could do. He knew what it felt like to have no hope.

The three friends walked to the Recreational Room to create more plans. As they neared the door, something didn't feel right, but they continued onward, ignoring the foreign feeling.

They took their first step into the doorway and the entire scene changed.

"This better not be a prank." Bear muttered under his breath. D.C. had some colourful thoughts as well. Jordan's reaction was somewhat different. He had remained mute since they walked through the doorway. Either because the scene had changed, or because the place around them was completely white. The former and latter were both equally good reasons. They stopped when they saw something coming their way. Or rather someone.

It was Alex. And Kaiden. D.C. closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the figure of imagination. They were all desperate to get their friends back, but not this desperate.

"Guys! I haven't seen you in so long but there's no time to chat because I really really need you." said a voice. Alex's best friend pried her eyes open and nearly fainted. She let out a strangled sob and launched herself forward.

"Al-Al-Alex! Where have you been? You made me worried sick!" Alex stepped back, untangling herself from D.C..

"I'm fine." Is all she could come up with.

"Wait." Bear said, interrupting, "where are we? And where have you been?"

"Normally I would say we need chocolate, but we are nowhere near Akarnae, so we'll have to do without." Her friends looked at her for a longer explanation, but heir gaze shifted when Kaiden, who had remained silent, spoke.

"To be straight forward, we're in Tia Auras." He said is so matter-of-factly, that D.C. almost collapsed again.

"In sorry… Tia what?" Jordan didn't know whether to laugh or freak out. Alex certainly wasn't in a good mood so she summarised quickly.

"Long story short, you're not in Medora anymore and you are in a sacred-ish land of Tia Aurans. It's what Lady Mystique was." Bear nodded slowly, though he didn't have a single clue what Alex was talking about. His gaze, instead dropped to Alex's and Kaidens intertwined fingers. His lip quirked upward at the corner as he nudged Jordan, who also struggled to keep a straight face. Unable to hold back his comment, Jordan spoke again.

"Good to see you two became such good friends." He chuckled lightly. Despite there current predicament, he couldn't help but joke.

"Yeah, yeah," Alex said, her face turning a deeper shade of red by the second, "good to see you're still joking, but there's something I need to ask you.

"I don't even know what this is going to do. I mean seriously, why would she want us to talk to Fitzy?" D.C. mumbled, while Jordan and Bear tried to tell her. She hadn't taken Alex's request easily. As much as D.C. wanted to help her friend, she doubted their whacko chemistry professor would do much to help.

"I'm telling you." Bear tried, for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Fitzy has a weapon, and no doubt Alex was the one who came up with the idea―remember that meeting she held in Marselle's office?" Jordan chose that moment to cut in and continue reminding D.C. what Alex had requested.

"And, Dix, she just wanted to reassure Darrius. He's as worried as we are. But remember―no telling anyone where Alex and Kaiden actually are." D.C. slowly nodded in agreement, if not reluctantly. "I think I'm going to take a walk. You guys go on ahead and tell Darrius that Alex is ok."

As she walked out of the dorm room, Jordan called after her, "Don't take too long Dix! It's almost curfew." She laughed quietly, knowing very well that it wasn't the first time she would be out after curfew, but D.C. knew that she had to clear her mind of a few things.

Just as she was considering falling asleep under the tree next to the lake, D.C. heard the quiet footfalls that she had grown accustomed to hearing. "Hey," she said as Jordan sat down next to her.

"Hey yourself." he replied. "You know, Dix, I told you not to stay out after curfew."

When he was responded with a quiet laugh, the corner of his mouth quirked.

"We both know it would have been the first time." D.C. said, with a small smile on her face. She knew that Jordan didn't need to hear what she was thinking about. They both seemed to know what the other was thinking.

"I know you're worried about Alex," he said, draping an arm over her shoulder and drawing her closer to him. "And I know that worrying about her won't do anything. You have to trust her. Besides, she's the one in epsilon Combat, not to mention her classmate who is also in epsilon Combat." Not sure what to say, D.C. nodded―the only gesture she could manage. They both watched the lake in silence before Jordan spoke again. "Hey," he said, lifting D.C.'s chin up so she looked into his eyes.

"Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise." with his final words, he closed the distance between their faces and D.C. gladly melted into his embrace. When they parted, she spoke with more confidence than she thought she ever had.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to help Alex, no matter how big or small the task is."

Jordan flashed her a grin. "That's my girl."

And D.C. would stay true to her word.

Because Alex was her family.

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