'What the heck just happened?' Natalia yelped. She was leaning on one of the cold grey walls of the basement, looking around at her friends. Kara still held the heart as she closed off the portal and next to her Ashley, Cleo and Mei Lin stared at the light dying off. Ashley was first to recover.

'I don't know, but it was awesome – we're gonna be like superheroes or something!' she grinned. She snapped her fingers and a little flame propped up. Everyone stared at it until Ashley made it disappear. Natalia shook her head in disbelief.

'I remember all these stories grandma used to tell me. The passing of the job is a tradition. There's so much we need to learn!' Mei Lin started pacing around the basement and everyone else sat on whatever was available – maybe a stool, or a crate or a ledge.

'It's unbelievable. Everything we know about the world has changed in the span of a few minutes.' Cleo mused. She was most confused because she had only just moved to Heatherfield and this was one of the first things to happen, how amazing!

'Are we actually going to do this?' Natalia asked. Everyone looked at her sharply. She shrunk back a little bit.

'We have a responsibility now. We can't turn our backs on this, it's a lot bigger than us, guys.' Kara said. Ashley nodded.

'We totally need to know what we're doing though. Should we make up a practise schedule?' she suggested.

'Yeah, we can do it after school, that place grandma mentioned – I think that could work well.' Mei Lin bounced up and down with a smile. She was excited that her grandma was still with her in a sense. Something was connecting them even now when Hay Lin had moved on.

'What about your shift, Mei Lin?' Kara asked. 'You're gonna have to make something up. And I need to tell Mike I joined a club or something.'

'That's true, I hate lying to my parents though. What about you guys?' Mei Lin sat down finally next to Natalia on a ledge.

'I think my family will be relieved I actually leave the house.' Cleo laughed half-heartedly. Her little sister Lola always asked her why she never went out and it was hard to answer without sounding lonely. The girls joined in Cleo's laughter and it felt like they had been friends for a long time even though Cleo was a new addition to their group.

'I think we need to look at that cabinet.' Mei Lin started for the stairs. Each girl followed and they found themselves in the small room from before. They sat around the table whilst Mei Lin rummaged around the cabinet looking for the map and anything else. A few seconds later she pulled out a photo album with some pages sticking out and an old envelope which looked as if it hadn't been touched in many years. The girls waited eagerly as Mei Lin placed the items on the table. The plates from before lay discarded on the wooden chest's top and the flames of the candles swayed dangerously low as if they were going to be extinguished by some unseen force, the light of the room flickering as the guardians started to examine the evidence of a different age. There were many photos of the previous guardians – there was only a few where they were in their guardian form and the rest were all taken on Earth. In the photos were other people too; friends and allies of the five. Each photo was labelled on the back with a year and who's in it.

Each girl had a stack of photos to look at and process as well as some of the loose pages to read. It was quite a lot to take in at first but eventually they each got the hang of it. Kara mostly saw photos of the guardians' vacations – a sunny beach, a ski trip, some concerts and other fun fairs. One photo in particular caught her eye. It was of the red headed woman in Kandrakar when she was younger and presumably her boyfriend. What really interested Kara was that the boy in the photo reminded her of someone. It was irking her that she couldn't quite place the image on the paper with one from her own memories. The back of the photo read: 'Will and Matt, summer before senior year.' Kara placed it back in the pile, still annoyed that she was missing something.

Across the table Natalia had found a group photo of the guardians, Queen Elyon and another man who according to the back of the photo was called Caleb. He had his arm around a smiling Cornelia and in the other he held a sword. The photo made Natalia smile involuntarily and she nudged the others to look at it too.

In response Ashley showed the rest of the gang a photo she had found; it was from Hay Lin's wedding. She wore a traditional Chinese wedding dress and her hair was pulled up into two buns, a wolfish smile plastered on her face. She was holding hands with a dark haired man with dimples, who was grinning as if there was no tomorrow.

'That's my grandpa, Eric. He was a jazz musician. He married my grandma a few years after they graduated.' Mei Lin recalled. She had seen many photos of him as he travelled around playing music, and when she was little he would play the saxophone sometimes. He had passed away a few years before her grandmother.

'They look so happy there.' Ashley passed the photo to Mei Lin. She took it and smiled.

'They were, very.' She whispered.

'Guys look!' Cleo exclaimed. She passed a photo to the middle. It was old and tattered but it was clear. It was of Queen Elyon, Caleb and a short, green creature who resembled a frog. He wore a dull orange shirt and grey slacks and his feet were bare.

'Who's that?' Kara laughed. Cleo turned the photo and read it out loud.

'"Elyon, Caleb and Blunk." Well I guess that him then, Blunk.'

'Weird, grandma never mentioned him.' Mei Lin shrugged. The girls laughed at Mei Lin's puzzled face.

'Of course she didn't, what would she have said?' Kara grinned.

The five continued looking through photos and information until the map emerged from one of the stacks. Kara had found it using a little help from the Heart of Kandrakar. She hummed in appreciation of the jewel and put it around her neck once again. It stood out against her mostly dark attire in a most ironic fashion. The map was somewhat torn and faded but the Heart helped reinforce the lines which were there. The streets were strangely arranged – it almost didn't seem like Heatherfield in the first place. A red cross appeared on the page as Kara held the Heart to it.

'Woah, why did it do that?' Natalia asked. Mei Lin scrunched her brow in thought.

'I think that's where we are actually. If you think about it from this angle – here,' she pointed to a corner intersection. 'Then we can imagine this is the main road and the Silver Dragon is here.' She moved her finger along the line and to the red cross.

'Phew, I thought it was one of those portal thingies.' Ashley sighed.

'Well, let's hope that we don't have to worry about those. I'll keep an eye on the map and tell you guys if I see anything. I gotta get home; my dad's going to wonder where I am.' Kara folded the map and placed it into her bag.

'See you tomorrow.' She said and went out the door.

'I should probably go too guys, I need to pick up my Patty from basketball.' Ashley pulled on her jacket and waved to the remaining three girls.

'He's twelve now, you don't need to stress out so much, Ash.' Natalia rolled her eyes. She and Cleo gathered their things and said their thanks to Mei Lin and left, splitting up on the main road and heading home.