Disclaimer: I'm here, aren't I?
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.
Where Ian once stood, a snake took his place. I couldn't take my eyes off the black snake. However, what surprised me the most were the eyes. They were breathtakingly amber. Everyone else in the room gaped at the serpent in front of us. Nobody dared to move or speak for that matter, except for Fiske.
"Now, Ian," He started, unfazed by the transformation. "I want you to get a picture of yourself in human form back in your mind. Please do not lose control of yourself," Fiske warned.
He took a step back from Ian and watched the scene play out. The snake's scales slowly began to tan and it began to grow. In a matter of minutes, Ian Kabra was brushing his suit off.
"Well, that was interesting…" He observed.
"Dude, how can you say that? You just morphed into a snake and that's all you can say?" Dan asked, dumbfounded.
Ian smoothed his hair and ignored Dan. I studied Ian's expression. How could he act so composed? He caught my eye and I turned to Fiske before Ian could see my blush.
"I think I should explain," Fiske suggested and Ian nodded.
"Wait, if he turned into a snake, does that mean we turn into bears?" Madison spoke up.
"Very good, but please let me explain…" Fiske complimented.
"That was probably the smartest thing she has ever said her whole life," Natalie mumbled.
"At first…"
"Whoa, does that mean that I turn into a wolf?" Jonah asked.
"We're dragons!" Ned and Ted said together.
"No fair!" Dan whined and I looked at Fiske. He looked miserable for being interrupted so many times.
"Guys, please let him talk!" I said coming to Fiske's aid.
Silence. "Thank you, Amy. As I was saying, Gideon created this shield many years ago. We believe that he used a concentrated form of each branch serum, but somehow he…changed it." Fiske said.
"So, you are not sure how it does what it does?" Natalie clarified.
"Yes, to this day, we haven't gotten very far on that research." Fiske told us.
"So, you want us to figure out why it works?' Ian assumed.
"Not exactly, what I want from you is to conquer the power and use it when it becomes most useful." Fiske explained.
"So, we each get to turn into our branch's icon," Sinead said and Fiske nodded.
"We're giant M's then?" Dan guessed. "That reeks!"
"No, not necessarily, this shield was created before Madeleine was born," Fiske said.
"So we don't even get awesome powers!" Dan cried.
"You do, the shield is designed for Cahills, which you are. The shield knows that you are a Cahill, just not what branch. However-"
"They may choose." Ian finished for Fiske. How did he understand this so easily?
"Awesome! I want to be a bear! No, a dragon!"Dan was bouncing up and down with excitement.
I looked at the shield. I can choose? I already knew that bear and snake were out of the picture. That left Ekat vs. Janus.
"Please wait your turn," Fiske said, trying to arrange the family into a line.
I watched Natalie place her shaking hand onto the Lucian crest. It turned blood red then faded. She looked at her hand and shook her head, disbelieving. Good, I wasn't alone. Hamilton slammed his hand on the Tomas crest and blue light shone through his hand. He smiled at his sisters. Alistair took a silk glove off and placed his hand on the dragon.
Everyone else had gone, I was the last one left in line. Dan had chosen bear after a lot of convincing not to choose dragon. I looked at the shield, trying to decide.
"Amy, have you decided?" Fiske asked.
"I think I have," I realized and placed my hand on the Janus crest.
A warm tingly feeling spread through my body as the green light shone off the silver wolf. After the light faded, I felt…free, unbelievably original. Was this how all the Janus felt? All I knew was that I liked the feeling.
"Now that everyone has decided, you may morph one by one. Think of the animal you chose, any color or shape, and keep that picture in your mind. How you picture your animal now is how it will stay. Natalie, you may go first." Fiske said, and Natalie nodded.
She closed her eyes and her eyebrows furrowed. Slowly, her transformation was complete. A dark violet snake lay on the ground. She was a bit smaller than Ian, but they shared the same eyes. Jonah morphed next. He was a dark chocolate wolf with matching eyes. Hamilton followed Jonah and turned into a large bear with sandy blonde fur.
Alistair went next. I was truly curious about this one. A dragon? This should be interesting. It was a good thing we had a large living room. He was a grey-blue dragon, who looked like he came out of a novel. He stretched his wings out and they touched the sides of the room.
"Are you sure I can't be a dragon?" Dan asked.
"No!" Everyone shouted at once.
"It makes sense that Ekats are the only branch that has the most deadly creature. Because we're the only ones that can handle it," Sinead bragged, and Alistair turned back to his human form.
Dan looked like he wanted to punch her in the face.
"I'm surprised you'll be able to morph with that big head of yours," Dan retorted.
The rest of the family laughed, even Ned and Ted.
"Well Sinead, Dragons are huge and can be seen from anywhere. So there are some disadvantages…" Fiske told her and she frowned.
"Whatever," she waved her hand, dismissing the conversation. I could tell she felt defeated. Dan smiled victoriously.
~unleash your inner animal~
Everyone had morphed…except me. I could feel their eyes on me as I stared at the ground.
"Amy? I believe it's your turn." Fiske said, and I nodded.
I had no idea what if would feel like. Would it hurt? I gulped. What if I got stuck as a wolf? I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder.
"It doesn't hurt." Ian said, reading my thoughts.
I looked at him. How did he know what I was thinking? I got my blush under control and got a picture of a silver wolf with sparkling jade eyes in my mind. At first, there was nothing. Then I felt myself shrink onto my hands and knees. My eyesight and hearing improved tremendously. I felt a lot warmer, too. Finally, my morph was complete. I felt nimble for once in my life. I trotted around the room and looked at the amused faces. Fiske nodded and I got a picture of my human form in my mind.
Slowly, the warmness left my body and the ground seemed to get farther and farther away. After that, I stood and stretched my back.
"Wow," I whispered.
"I'm glad you like it. Now that everyone has taken their turn, I have a few…warnings." Fiske said. "First of all, you can't stay in morphed form for more than an hour. You have to switch back before your time is up."
"And what happens if we go past the time?" Alistair asked.
"You can't go back to your human form." Silence. "Also-" Suddenly, the lights went out.
Some people screamed and I stepped on a person's foot.
"Bloody hell, what is going on?" Ian's voice rang out through the darkness.
"Everyone, calm down!" Fiske commanded. "I just have to-" He didn't finish the rest of his sentence, which worried me.
"Fiske! Are you alright?" I asked, trying to find my way to him.
"It's gone." He stated grimly. No one had to ask what he was talking about.
"What? How can it be gone? It was there a second a go!" Alistair said.
"It's not here. Someone has taken it," Fiske whispered.
Then the lights flickered back on. I gasped. The shield was gone. It was nowhere to be seen. I shot a panicked look at Fiske. His lips were set in a firm line.
"Look!" One of the Holt's said, pointing to the wall behind us.
Everyone who was not facing the wall whirled around faster than you could say Cahill. I covered my mouth in shock. There, painted on the wall, was a giant V in dripping black paint.
"Of course they were after it." Fiske said.
"Who? Who is it?" Madison asked.
"The Vespers have returned." Fiske stated, showing no emotion.
"What do we do now?" Ian asked.
"We have to get that shield back. Even if it's the last thing I'll ever do. We can't have that in the wrong hands for long." He said and everyone who had grasped the thought, shuddered.
"And that means…?" Dan gestured with his hands to have Fiske explain.
"It's time to train. We are getting that shield back."
A/N: Alright! I hoped you liked it. :) I don't really have anything else to say so… um.
Ted: Awkward!
Me: Shut it, Starling!
Ted: Feisty…
Me: Don't make me hit you.
Ted: Oh! I'm so scared!
Me: I don't need the sass!
Ted: Jeez…
Um, so I hope you liked it…yeah.
~Nataliya
P.S. Wow, that was a total waste of your time. I apologize! ; P