This is by far the longest chapter I've ever written. Nearly 8,000 words! Let me know if it's too long or if you want me to write this length all of the time.

The girls shared another glance and the white-haired girl looked at Gabriel.

"Alright, so. The beginning..."

A couple hours earlier.

"Hey, Harmony!" Clear called, waving to her step-sister. Harmony ran over to her beloved step-sister, long dark hair flowing behind her and her sword bumping against her hip. Harmony threw her arms around Clear with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, sis!" Harmony said with obvious joy in her voice.

"It's been too long! Has everything been alright back at the fortress?"

"Hold on hold on, you live in a what?" Connor asked incredulously. Harmony sighed and explained that yes, she did in fact live in a fortress. With her own guards and everything. Connor seemed to be a bit humbled by this revelation and realized that his small apartment was probably the size of this girl's closet.

"Nevermind him, continue." Said Gabriel, folding his hands together and leaning forward a bit, eager to hear the rest.

"It's been alright, had a bit of trouble with the neighbors which is why we haven't been able to come visit for a while," Harmony explained. Harmony's father left the girls to see Clear's mother, his wife. As the couple went inside the girls began to walk, catching up on what was happening in their two separate worlds.

"We had a bit of a bug problem here but thankfully the guards made them shove off our land," Clear said.

"Good, I know how you feel about spiders. Same here, too many eyes for my taste."

"Yeah, how about you? What's the deal with the neighbors?"

"Hm? Oh, they just kept wandering into our land. It was just at the perimeter at first but they are getting bolder, wandering deeper and deeper into our territory. We push them back but every day more and more find their way in. It's annoying." Harmony said with a small exasperated sigh. She looked at her half sister and smiled.

"I miss this, just us talking. Walking at night," she said dreamily.

"Yeah, the rain's a nice change of pace too," Clear said, holding her hand out to collect some rain droplets. When a small puddle of rain had gathered in her hand she smirked and gave Harmony a sideways glance.

Harmony was still smiling, looking straight ahead, but when her sister remained quiet she frowned and looked at her.

Just in time to get a face full of water.

Not that she wasn't already wet but it was still quite a surprise. Clear laughed and ran ahead, leaving her sister spluttering and laughing behind her. Harmony, determined to get revenge, sprinted to catch up with her sister. Clear looked over her shoulder to see Harmony catching up quickly. She pulled her bow off her back and fitted an arrow with a string attached to it into the notch. Without breaking stride she pulled back the bow and let the arrow fly up into the thick branches of a nearby tree. She ran up to the tree and jumped, landing her feet solidly on the trunk before running up the tree into the branches, using the string to help keep her from falling.

Harmony smiled at the challenge and pulled out her sword. She swung the dark gray short sword in her hand and threw it at a nearby tree. The sword thunked into the trunk and she sprinted up to and jumped on top off the sword. She crouched on the sword and grabbed the handle with one hand while reaching for the closest branch with the other. She yanked herself and her sword up into the tree and began to climb up it. When she reached the top she looked around, trying to get a clear line of sight to spot Clear. It only took a second to spot the long white hair flying out from behind some branches on the cold wind. She smiled and ran, hopping from branch to branch to clear the trees between her and her target.

The flowing white hair leapt up out of the branches and started to hop over the trees in a similar fashion to Harmony, albeit a bit more practiced and smooth. Clear paused and looked back at Harmony, a smile on her face and hair whipping this way and that. When Harmony got a little closer Clear jumped down back onto the ground. Harmony hopped over to where Clear had left the treetops and followed her down.

Once her feet hit the ground she looked around and tried to find Clear. Unbeknownst to Harmony, Clear was hiding behind a thick tree behind her just off to her right. Harmony ran forward while Clear followed behind, keeping to the shadows and making as little noise as possible. Like a practiced hunter Clear withdrew an arrow from her quiver and swept it up onto her bow, sweeping just ahead of Harmony's moving figure. The second Harmony stopped moving Clear let the arrow loose.

Harmony let out a surprised yelp as the arrow thudded into a tree five inches from her face. Before she could regain her composure Clear tackled her to the wet ground and wrestled with her in the mud. Clear may have had an upper hand in the forests but in close quarters that hand went to Harmony. Harmony swept her arm around Clear's neck and pushed with her legs and back, flipping them over. With Harmony on bottom and Clear struggling to get out of Harmony's choke hold the two girls struggled for only a few more seconds before Clear gave up. Harmony let Clear up and they brushed mud out of their faces and off their shoulders and arms before once again bursting into laughter and walked back out into the clearing between the forest and the mountain.

Harmony and Clear walked by a small pond, with the forest to their right and a cliff face to their left. They wandered over to a large rock that sat next to the pond. Harmony hopped up and sat down on the rock, swinging her leg over the edge, her bare toes skimming the crystal clear waters. Clear leaned on the rock and stared up at the sky. The girls remained that way for a few minutes, trying to decide what to talk about and what they should do.

Harmony gazed into the clear waters below her and counted the fish, wondering if this simple life was all she was ever going to have. Clear looked up to the sky and wondered at the clouds, at the rain, and at the very existence of herself. It was a good long hour before one of them spoke.

"Hey," said Harmony.

"Yeah?" Said Clear.

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

The girls gazed at Connor in confusion as he doubled over in laughter.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Asked Gabe, who was also a bit confused by his friend's sudden behavior.

Connor tried to speak but was interrupted by another fit of his own laughter.

"Seriously dude, shut up," said Gabriel. Connor began to calm down a bit and leaned back in his seat but realized he was sitting in his chair backwards and fell onto the floor.

"Ow," Connor groaned.

Harmony put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughing while Clear just looked down at the fallen boy in contempt and disdain.

What a fool, she thought.

Connor lay on the ground, eagle-spread, and showed no intention of getting back up.

"Uh, Connor?"

"Yeah man?"

"..."

"..."

"You gonna get back up?"

Connor didn't respond as he took this in extreme consideration, scrunching his eyes together until he came to a conclusion.

"Nope."

Gabriel sighed and looked back over to the girls.

"Please continue," he said.

"Yeah, don't mind me. Just keep talking, Grif." Connor said, mumbling the last bit.

"What was that?" Harmony asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing. Simmons." He mumbled again.

Gabriel pondered for a bit, then thought back to when Connor introduced him to an online web series and thought of the first episode.

"Oh you little!" Gabriel finished his sentence with a thrown pillow. Connor kicked it away with his feet and continued to lay on the carpet, chuckling lightly.

"Oooookaaay...ahem, anyway," continued Clear.

"Yeah, sometimes. Why? Do you think you have an answer?" Clear responded. Harmony gazed at the sky and considered her answer before presenting it.

"I guess we're here because there's nowhere else we can be. If you think about it, our Souls could have gone anywhere after their bodies have died. They could have traveled anywhere, could've been anything, but something pulled our Souls here, to this world. For what reason I don't know. But maybe the answer to that isn't ever supposed to be found. Maybe we are just supposed to go with it. Live the life we were given. I suppose...there isn't a good answer to be found here, tonight. Not by us. But someone else has the answer. I know it. I just hope I don't ever meet that person." Harmony said.

"Why?" Asked Clear. A fog started to roll in, misting over the waters of the pond and slightly obscuring the moon.

"Because anyone who knows the answer to that question must know the answer to others like it. Like what is the meaning of life? Anyone who knows the answers to those questions can't be anything less, than a god."

"A god? Hm, I never thought of myself as a god."

The girls spun around and saw a tall dark figure standing behind them. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was shrouded by the fog. Only his eyes were visible, bright white and piercing through the fog like a beacon. Clear drew her bow and Harmony her sword. The man, if he was a man at all, chuckled at the two young girls before him.

"So menacing. Put away your toys, children. They will not do you any good against me."

The man looked at the girls and twitched his finger. The girls suddenly had piercing headaches but found that they couldn't move. But then their bodies began to move without their brains telling them to do so. The girls put away their weapons and stood stock still, facing the man before them. The walked a little closer to them, hands still behind his back.

"You both have so many questions. I can hear them now, even with your mouths being in this...state."

He stood in front of Clear and looked her in the eyes. Clear tried to squint from the bright light that was being shown directly to her eyes but still couldn't move. She tried to look away but her eyes refused to move. She had no choice but to return his stare, her eyes burning all the while.

"You want to know who, or rather what, I am. The answer to that is simple you see. Your step-sister has already answered it, in her own way. I, little one, am a god."

When he said god a burst of wind blew through the valley, seeming to have come directly from the figure himself. He walked away and began to slowly pace in front of the girls, much to Clear's relief.

"You see, I have everything I could ever want. Knowledge, skill, power, I even have a daughter who is more ruthless than I am. But even with all these things I do lack one very important thing. The most important."

He stopped pacing and looked at Harmony.

"Entertainment."

Harmony felt a shiver go through her spine.

"So you see, I am so very bored. While my...other half...is busy with his own assorted entertainment I thought I might try something that I learned from him not too long ago."

He walked up closer to Harmony and looked into her eyes. Harmony too, found her eyes frozen when locked into the man's stare.

"Haven't you ever wondered if you could have been born into another world? A different world? What would it be like? Would you be happy there? Well young child, I am here to answer all of these questions and more. But I will do it slowly, I will let you discover the answers yourself. I may give you a little push from time to time, to speed things along. But ultimately child, the answers to these questions are up to you."

Thunder rolled overhead as a storm appeared. Lightning flashed within the clouds. One bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck a nearby tree. The girl's hair stood on end at the sudden voltage and were surprised to find the tree to be simply gone. Roots and all. Harmony tried to yell, to scream, to do anything that would let her dad realize something was wrong. But she could do nothing but watch the man walk away slowly, his eyes still burrowing away into her skull.

"Before you go I want to answer at least one of your questions directly,"

The girls found their bodies begin to loosen, slowly but surely, they were being released from this man's mental grip.

"Why are you both here? Well, the answer to that one is simple as well. You see..."

He raised his hand above his head and the lightning became frenzied, lancing through the clouds with tremendous speeds. The girls began to feel their bodies again and got ready to move. The man looked at them both with those burning white eyes.

"You're both here,"

Time seemed to slow as the girls moved, dashing forwards at the man, hands going for their weapons. The man lowered his hand and pointed at them as more lightning flashed overhead. Two bolts of lightning streaked down from the sky and struck Clear and Harmony with a thunderous boom. But they didn't hear the lightning. All they heard were the last words of the man with the white eyes. And what they heard turned their hearts to ice even as the lightning arced through their bodies and burned them up from the inside out, eliciting screams from them both.

"For my amusement."

"Hey."

Clear shook her head groggily, trying to make the voice go away to let her sleep.

"Hey."

It said again, a bit louder this time. She groaned and wiggled uncomfortably.

"B****!" The voice now shouted. Clear yelped and awoke in a hurry. She looked around her and saw that she was no longer in the forest. She was in a room of some kind, there was very little light and there were clothes and what looked like very thin books scattered all over the floor along with other bits of junk. She looked to her right and yelped again to find a man's face right next to hers. She shrunk back and studied his face.

Upon closer inspection it wasn't a man's face, it was a teenager. His skin was tanned, much like Harmony's. He had on a strange looking hat on his head. It looked like a cap with a very flat part sticking out of one side. He seemed to be wearing it crooked. He also had what looked like very heavy gold strung on a necklace in what she assumed was his clan's insignia. It looked like a snake with two branches piercing it like a kabob. His tanned face smiled to reveal too-white teeth.

"Well, well, chica! If you wanted me in you all you needed to do was ask!" He said with a big smirk on his face.

"E-excuse me?" Clear said, confusion plain on her face as she shrunk back even more from him. He leaned in more and kept that stupid grin on his face.

"You heard me puta. Turn around!" He reached up and rubbed the exposed part of her thigh between her stockings and her shorts.

"Hey!" She said angrily and punched him square in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Gah! B****! Come here!" He lunged at her and met the heel of her foot with his left eye. He hollered and fell back again, hand holding his now black eye. Clear stood up and looked around again. She spotted her bow and quiver leaning against the far wall and she strode over to it, stepping on the teen's crotch as she went. She ignored his hollering and walked out the door with her bow on her back and quiver on her side. She opened the door and walked down the stairs. There was a woman standing over a small pot that was steaming on a large white box with rectangular doors in front of it. There was a young girl drawing on a small book at the table. A large mustached man was slumped in a chair in front of a box with people singing in it.

How do they fit in there? I've never seen people so small! She thought. The woman turned around and saw her and she yelped, taking a small jump back with her hand over her heart. The man turned around and his eyes widened. The girl looked up with clear indifference and went back to coloring.

"Who are you?" The woman asked. Clear ignored her and walked down into the main room. She looked around and spotted the door pretty quickly due to the small size of the room. She walked over to it and put her hand on the knob. She was about to leave when she felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder.

"Little girl, my wife asked you a question. Seeing as how you are in our home you should answer her."

Clear sighed and turned around huffily.

"My name is Clear. I woke up in a bed upstairs and found a boy staring over me. I think he made a move on me so I reacted appropriately. May I go now?" Clear said, folding her arms in apparent impatience. The man and the woman, his wife, shared a look. The woman turned to the little girl.

"Catalina, sweet pea, go to your room for a little bit will you my love? The grown ups need to talk," she said gently.

"About Jose having sex with girls?" The girl, Catalina, said, obviously disinterested.

"What?" The woman said confusedly.

"Jose having sex with girls. He watches videos and talks to girls about it." Said Catalina.

"What?!" The man boomed. Clear wasn't sure who he was angry at, Catalina or Jose, maybe both.

"Hold on papa, maybe she is the first! Maybe he hasn't..." The woman started.

"She's not the first." Said Catalina.

"WHAT?!" Both of the adults said at once. Clear started to slowly back out the door as Catalina started to list off all of the girls that Jose came home with after they went to work. Once she made it outside she quietly closed the door and turned around. She almost immediately gagged on the foul air. She coughed a few times and tried to find out where she was.

She seemed to be on a stairway of some kind, the third floor. There was a small courtyard in the center of the complex with a large broken fountain. Clear looked at the sky and saw it dark with rainclouds and some kind of dirty looking fog.

"This place is disgusting," Clear mumbled to herself. She felt dirty just breathing this air.

"Clear!"

Clear looked up to see Harmony on the other side of the courtyard, on the fourth floor waving her arms. Clear smiled and waved back. Harmony motioned to the courtyard, not wanting to disturb the other occupants of the building with more shouting. Clear nodded and withdrew her rope-arrow. She notched the arrow into the bow and leaned back against the railing. She shot the arrow straight up into a part of the roof that extended outwards like a balcony. She grabbed the rope and repelled down to the ground. She put away her weapons and walked over to the fountain to wait for Harmony, who simply took the stairs.

Harmony came down and ran to Clear, hugging her sister tightly. When they separated they took another look around. There were four buildings in all, each opposite the other surrounding the square courtyard they were in. Harmony turned back to Clear, worry apparent in her expression.

"Clear, where are we?"

Clear took her time answering, as she had no idea either. It was obvious that the White-Eyed-Man had sent them off to another place, but where they had been sent exactly was unknown. Harmony tapped Clear's shoulder and pointed to an opening under one of the buildings. The girls walked to the opening and saw a long slab of dark stone with white lines marked in a pattern down its center. Before they could wonder over the strange stone a very large object shot past them with a loud roar. The girls yelped and leapt back, taking cover behind a wall on each side of the entrance.

"What was that?" Asked Harmony in a small voice.

"I don't know!" Said Clear back, in an equally quiet voice. Clear peeked around the corner but didn't see anything. She slowly crept out from behind the wall, arrow at the ready. She walked until she was standing on top of one of the white lines in the middle of the black slab. Then she felt the ground tremble lightly as she whipped her head to the right, where a low thrumming sound was coming from. A large yellow creature, with four black feet that propelled it by unknown means (seeing as how they weren't moving) and two yellow eyes, even brighter eyes than the White-Eyed-Man. As it came closer the thrumming became louder, and Clear drew back her bow. She aimed for its right eye, she was going to blind the beast then have Harmony finish it off with her sword. It drew nearer, and nearer, until finally it was within range and Clear let the arrow fly. Much to Clear's surprise there was no loud cry of pain, just the shattering sound glass would make if broken. The eye she had shot had closed, leaving the one unblinking eye on its left side. The beast slowed and came to a stop just a few meters away from her. Clear got another arrow ready and Harmony, who had watched everything unfold, silently unsheathed her sword. Clear was surprised that the beast showed no sign of pain, it simply seemed to be asleep. She was even more surprised however when four people emerged from inside it. Slightly taken aback Clear's aim faltered. The men seemed to be confused and were poking around the beast, apparently looking for something. Then one of them looked at the beast's face and shouted to the rest, showing them Clear's arrow still protruding from the beast's eye socket. The men's confused voices became angry as they looked around for the bowman. Instead they saw Clear, bow in hand and arrow at the ready. A few of them flinched at the sight of the arrow but one of them stared Clear down with hatred. He began to walk towards her menacingly, stride powerful and full of dangerous intent.

"What, the hell, do you think you're doing? You just shot out the light on my Hummer!" He shouted at her.

"Hummer, so that's what you call it. I'm sorry but it was large, intimidating, and was charging straight at me. So I acted accordingly." Clear said, voice calm and tempered.

"Then maybe you shouldn't stand in the middle of the road!" He shouted again. He seemed very fond of shouting.

"If you don't stop shouting at me I might shoot you next," Clear warned.

"Yeah? You gonna shoot me girl? Go ahead! Shoo-GAH!" He cried out as Clear fired an arrow into his thigh. He fell to the ground with tears tracking down his face.

"I warned you," Clear said. The other men with him saw this and took a step back in shock. Then it registered that she just shot their friend, and it was time for some payback. All at once they ran at her, yelling and cursing, while her arrows took two more down. The last one got to Clear before she could draw another arrow. He tackled her to the ground and knocked her bow away. Clear put up her arms to shield herself from his punches but quickly realized that none came. She peeked out from behind her arms and saw Harmony pushing him off her sword with her foot. Harmony flicked the blood off her sword and sheathed it, offering her hand to her sister. Clear took it and heard a hushed voice whispering nearby.

She drew her bow and aimed in the direction the voice came from and saw one of the men she had shot talking into a small box. She drew back the string and fired an arrow at him. The arrow hit the box and sent it clattering out of his hand. He yelped and clutched his hand. Harmony picked him up by his shirt collar and threw him against a wall.

"What were you doing?" She yelled at him. The man grimaced as the arrow that was still stuck in his leg moved a bit, then he bit down on the pain and looked her square in the eyes.

"You have no idea who you just messed with girl."

Clear stiffened as she heard a noise, sounded like another one of those big creatures. Sure enough, another creature came speeding around a corner. This one was smaller but was still very fast and it was accompanied by several other beasts similar to it. All of the beasts came to a stop on the black slab and more men exited the beasts insides. The men all wore odd clothing, some had their pants down at their ankles for some reason. A few produced wooden clubs and others small knives. Harmony and Clear knew they were outnumbered, the best thing to do was to retreat. The sisters backpedaled slowly as the men pushed forward. Clear let her arrows fly at the men, each arrow taking down one man. Harmony used her sword to fend off the knife-wielders. Clear sent an arrow at a rather large man and it hit him in the shoulder. They tried to avoid killing them, as they didn't want to attract the attention of those higher than them. The last thing they needed was for the king of these ruffians to send more men against them. After only a minute of fighting Clear and Harmony started to sprint away, the men kept coming in those beasts. One of the beasts barreled down the black slab and slowed to keep pace with them. A man leaned out of the side of the beast, which Clear now saw was made out of a metallic material.

Are these some form of minecart? Clear thought as she fired at the man. He screamed in pain and dropped what he was in the process of pointing at her. It clinked to the ground behind her. Clear almost stopped to retrieve it as it was surely a weapon of some kind and would be useful in their escape. But as she paused she realized that more men had gathered and were sprinting at her. She left the weapon and ran to catch up with her sister. They ran and ran, fighting off the men as they went. Clear ran out of arrows and started beating them out of her way if they got near her. Harmony was tiring quickly, despite her impressive stamina. Her sword was getting heavier and heavier, and her legs started to feel like jelly. After what felt like hours of running and fighting they managed to lose the men around a corner just as rain started to fall.

They turned and Harmony yanked Clear off of the slabs and into a narrow alley between two large buildings. A dying glowstone lamp hung from the wall and cast very little light. The girls hunkered down behind a very smelly bin made of metal. After a few seconds they heard heavy footfalls passing by. Clear leaned over and peeked out from behind the bin. The men were breathing heavily and were jogging slowly. Most of them went past them but a few lagged behind and stopped in front of the entrance of the alley to catch their breath. After the men had gone Clear could only see a handful of men from the alley, and they seemed to have given up the chase. They started to talk amongst themselves and Clear strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

"...are we chasing these broads huh? Tell me that. Ugh, god. They sure can run," said one.

"We're chasing em' to make an example of them. No one messes with the Shuma and gets away with it with their limbs intact!" Said another.

"Heh, nor their virginities!" Said another. The men laughed.

"Hold on a sec, the Shuma?!" Connor exclaimed, his eyes wide and mouth open.

"Yeah, they said Shuma. Who are they? Some kind of large clan?" Harmony asked.

"Pfft, that's putting it mildly," Gabriel said, he leaned back and crossed his arms, resting the back of his head on the cushions. The girls looked at him in confusion, waiting for him to continue. Gabriel sighed and continued.

"The Shuma are the single largest gang in the whole state. They probably own most of these streets actually. Well, they don't own them legally, but this is their territory."

"How can it be their territory but not their land? Did they take it illegitimately or something?" Harmony asked.

"Somethin' like that," Connor said. "The government owns the land and lets us live on it, but the Shuma work in the shadows, evading the police until their business is done. At least, that's how they used to be. Suddenly they got a huge influx of members so now they work openly because they outnumber the police and are getting more weapons every day. We've actually considered moving out of this place to get away from it all."

"That explains why there were so many, will our involvement with them put us in any danger?" Clear asked. Gabriel shook his head slowly.

"Gah, you really don't get it do you? As long as you're here you two aren't safe. They know what you look like and are actively searching for you. You need to leave this place fast."

Connor sat up and rested his head in his hands.

"The Shuma? Jeez, as if life here wasn't hard enough. You know I actually thought you were pulling our legs for awhile there, I mean, guys with powers and glowing eyes? Teleporting? I find that hard to believe. Lucky for you I'm pretty trusting so I'll believe you for now, and adding the Shuma to the story seems to make it a bit more believable. They've been involved in some strange stuff lately. Look girls you can stay here for now but we need to find you someplace more permanent. More secure. From now on don't leave the house alright? Don't even look out the windows. I'll try to find someplace for you two to go. I already have a place in mind actually, just need to check it out. See if it is still up and running."

The girls sat and thought about their situation. Clear was worried about how they would get home if they couldn't even leave the house. Harmony was worried about the boys, they have helped them so much and all she and Clear did was make their lives harder, how could she ever repay that? Gabriel interrupted their thoughts.

"Anyway, it seems that we are nearing the part where we come in, lets finish it out."

Clear nodded and continued.

Clear couldn't hear the rest of what they were saying so she leaned further out. However she forgot that she left her bow leaning against the bin and her back, so when she leaned forward the bow slid off the back and clattered to the ground. Clear leapt back behind the bin.

"Hey, what was that?" One of the men asked. There was a sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. Clear saw her bow, it was partly sticking out from the shadow of the bin. Harmony tightened her grip on her sword. Clear waited until the footsteps got closer. Once they were near the bin she made her move.

She leapt out from behind the bin, grabbing the bow as she went. She charged the man closest to her and swung hard at his face, crying out as she did so. It connected with a wet THACK and sent him spinning to the ground. The man cried out loudly as he held his cheek where Clear had smacked him. There was a swishing sound and Clear leapt back just in time to avoid the knife. She looked at her bow and saw the string was cut. Now it was just a stick. Harmony struggled to her feet, using the sword as a crutch to pull herself up. Once upright she hastened to her sister's side. The man Clear had hit had gotten back up and was now very angry. The men had cornered them, and it didn't look like the odds were in Clear and Harmony's favor. Clear felt anger and rage fill her, how could this happen? She has never allowed herself to be cornered like an animal. How could this have happened?

The men ground their teeth and started forward. One man charged Harmony, who lifted her sword weakly to swipe at him but he easily slapped the weapon out of her exhausted hands. He wrapped a hand around her throat and squeezed, turning her face red. Clear lashed at him with her bow and knocked him back. She swung the bow at them several times to show that one of them could still fight. The men took a step back, gathering themselves for another charge.

"Go!"

The call came not from the men, but from behind them. The men turned and one found himself knocked to the ground with a giant red welt on his face. The men drew weapons and practically snarled at the stranger, who was wearing very odd clothing. His jacket was blood red and the top half of his face was enshrouded by shadow cast by his silver and white hood. The stranger was in a sort of crouch, with one hand to the ground and the other clutching a black stick. One of the men with a knife stepped forward to engage him but fell back screaming and clutching his eye. Clear looked over the men's shoulders and saw the outline of a figure behind a dumpster, just at the entrance to the alley. There was a low spitting sound and another man fell, he too was clutching his face in pain. At this time the silver-hooded stranger was engaging the black-hooded men. He moved fast, blocking then charging one of the men. On his way to the ground the stranger slammed the tip of the stick into the man's throat. He stood up straight and smoothly pulled a large knife from a sheath on his leg. He stared at the remaining men with a frown, which suddenly curved upwards into a smile that seemed to be ear to ear. Clear shivered. That smile was the smile of a madman.

One of the men had charged the stranger at the end of the alley. When he got close there was a quiet spitting sound as the man fell on his back. The stranger was holding an odd looking weapon up in the air, near where the man's face had been. He dropped the weapon and drew another smaller one from his pocket. He ran over to join his companion, who was staring down the last man. Clear suddenly became aware of movement to her right. She turned to see Harmony charge the man, sword in hand. Her blade met his side and he fell screaming to the ground.

"And the rest you already know." Clear said, her hands folded over each other in her lap.

"Hey what did you mean by, 'madman'? I might get excited and adrenaline rushed, but mad? I'm not THAT far gone." Connor said, obviously hurt from the comment.

"You do tend to get carried away man, you punched a dude in the face today at airsoft and yelled 'YOU'RE OUT' quite loudly in his face." Gabriel said calmly.

"He was out and you know it! Freaking cheater," Connor grumbled.

"Anyway, it's probably best for us to hit the hay, I'm beat. Want to stay over till things settle down Gabe?" Connor asked. Gabriel shook his head.

"Nah I have to grab something from my apartment. I'll see ya tomorrow. Besides, I'm only one floor up."

"All right. Hey, since you two are sisters and all are you comfortable sharing a bed? All I got is the one and I'm willing to bet you don't want to split up between my place and Gabe's right now." Connor said.

"No please we couldn't take your bed! You've done so much for us already! We can sleep on the floor it's no problem at all!" Harmony said, but Connor was already shaking his head.

"If you don't take the bed I will wait till you're asleep and put you there myself. I mean it! No guest of mine will sleep on the floor!"

"You do realize how creepy that sounded right?" Clear asked.

"Who asked you Clear? What kind of a name is Clear anyway?" Connor said, attempting to defend his dignity.

"My dad named me Clear because it had been raining for a whole month and stopped on the day I was born. I was named after the clear skies on the day of my birth." Clear explained.

"My dad named me Harmony because he liked how it sounded." Harmony said with a small smile. "What about you? I haven't heard of the names Connor or Gabriel before. They are odd. Do they mean anything?"

Gabriel nodded and was about to explain when Connor spoke up.

"Yeah, my name is Irish for, "Lover of Hounds" and Gabriel was the name of an archangel in Catholic and Christian lore."

Clear smirked amusedly.

"Lover of Hounds and archangel huh? The beast and the angel." Connor furrowed his eyebrows when he heard Clear say that.

"What is it with you and derogatory remarks at me? First madman now I'm a beast? I don't know if I should be insulted or proud." Connor folded his arms and stared at her with mock anger.

"I don't mind being called an angel," Gabriel remarked with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet YOU would." Connor said cheekily. Gabriel kept his smile as he grabbed Connor's white and black hair and pushed him into a wall roughly. Connor started laughing and moved to the door, unlocking it for Gabriel. Gabriel moved to the door but pauses just before opening it.

"You know the name Clear is quite odd here. Maybe we should give you a different name while you're here, to help you fit in." Gabriel suggested. Clear crossed her arms, mulling over the idea of taking a new name.

"What about Harmony? Won't she need a new name too?" She asked. Connor rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Harmony could pass as normal here. I guess she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."

"Thanks Connor. I like my name." Harmony said gratefully.

"Well what should my name be then?" Asked Clear, obviously not too happy with taking a new name. They all thought about it carefully, then Connor spoke up.

"Clarus is Latin for clear, how about that?" He asked. Gabriel looked up at him exasperated.

"Dude that's a word, not a name, besides it sounds like it would be a guys name."

"Fair enough. Hmmm... Well Clarissa is a German name derived from the word clarus so how about that?" Gabriel looked at him, his expression blank.

"How the hell do you know that off the top of your head?" He asked.

"What? You don't get bored?" Connor said, causing Gabriel to facepalm.

"Yes, I get bored. What I don't do when I'm bored is look up the meanings of random names!" Gabriel said through his hand. Connor just shrugged.

"No shame," he said simply.

"Clarissa, I guess I like it. Fine. Call me Clarissa for now. But I am Clear once we get out of here." She said firmly. Gabriel nodded and opened the door to leave. Gabriel left to go to his apartment, leaving Connor and the girls alone. Connor turned and clapped his hands together, a smile on his face.

"Alright! Harm, do you remember where the bedroom is?" He asked. Harmony blushed at the thought that she had already been in his bed.

"Uh, yeah. Come on Cle...uh, Clarissa. And don't call me Harm." She said.

"Sure thing Harm, show Clary to her room while I get some of this gear off of me. I've been wearing it all day." The girls sighed and nodded, both realizing that arguing with him on their nicknames wouldn't get them anywhere.

Harmony lead Clary over to the bedroom while Connor took off his gear. His vest was still in the car along with his guns. Gabriel's guns were in there too now that he thought about it. He'd get them later. Connor took off his crimson leather jacket and hung it on the back of a chair to dry. He took off his knee pads and the rest of his gear, leaving him standing there in a black sports tank top, black cargo pants, and a silver and black sleeveless hoodie. As an afterthought he took off the black neck gater he had wrapped around his neck. He walked into his kitchen area and got a cup with and words, "Greatest Sniper Ever" on it.

The cup was a joke since in that game a sniper on the other team was constantly dying from Connor's shotgun. They laughed over a sniper dying by a shotgun over and over and the sniper gave Connor his cup out of goodwill. Connor went to the fridge and filled the cup halfway with Root Beer and half with Dr. Pepper. Then he went to a cupboard and got out some pepper, shaking a bit into the drink. As a final touch he reached into the fridge and got out a small bottle of whiskey. He put a very tiny bit of the whiskey into his drink and swirled it around with a spoon. He took a big swill and gasped as the drink burned its way down his parched throat. He shook his head to clear away the dots that swam into his vision and went back into the living room.

Better give the girls some time to adjust. He thought. He slouched back in the chair and arched his back, very audible cracks came from it.

I really need to get this looked at, he thought with a grimace. He got up and started stretching his muscles, some bones and joints cracking every now and then.

"Hey Connor? Do you happen to have anything that we could change int-uh..." Harmony stuttered. Connor was standing and was stretching his arms above his head. His muscles had been hidden underneath his gear, which actually gave her the first impression that he was pretty chubby. Seeing someone that she had thought to be overweight stretching muscles that she had seen on warrior trainees was a bit of a shock at first, she hadn't prepared herself for it. Connor looked at her sideways and stopped stretching, which disappointed Harmony a bit.

"Do I have what?" He asked.

"Uh, do you have any six pa-uh I mean clothes! That we could change into?" Harmony stuttered, a blush rising on her cheeks. Connor thought for a moment, trying to think if he had any clothes for them to use.

"I don't get girls in this apartment too often, might have to ask Gabe," he said.

"Why would Gabriel have clothes for us?" Harmony asked.

"Oh, the woman who gave him the apartment left some of her clothes there. Gabriel is known to forget about throwing out junk. Heh, I found a soda sitting on a shelf that had expired over 4 years ago once at his old house."

"Oh," Harmony said.

"I'll be right back, don't answer the door and don't leave!" Connor said as he jogged over to the door. After he left Harmony let out a breathe she didn't know she had been holding. She put a hand on her forehead and walked back into the room with Clary. Clary was laying on a bed with her hands behind her head. She glanced over to Harmony and saw that she was a little out of breath.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"I-I don't know! I don't feel too well," she said, sweat beginning to fall down her forehead. Harmony seized up suddenly and then sneezed into her arm. Clarissa got up and went over to her sister. She threw a blanket around Harmony, who was now shivering. Once Clarissa got Harmony into the bed and tucked in tight she went in to the living room to wait for Connor to return. She sat on the couch and sank deep into the cushions.

Wow, she thought. This is the most comfortable thing I've ever sat on!

She lay her head back, exhausted still from the events of that night. Outside the window the sun was beginning to rise. Clarissa watched the sky turn from dark to a light peach color and felt her eyelids getting heavy. She didn't fight it. She let the sleep envelope her like a blanket, ending a very, very long night.