Tobias was in a room. A very fine room, with a chandelier and a big, long, mahogany table, which he was sitting at. The sixteenth-century carpet beneath his feet was beautiful, with deep reds, blues, and greens. He looked at his hands, staring at them, pale and dry. He had been in this morph for much longer than his two hours, but The Heart said it didn't matter. His mind drifted back to their conversation.

She had taken the form of a beautiful woman, with long, wavy blonde hair, a petite figure, and a tan complexion. Her peach dress flowed behind her, along with her hair, and Tobias knew this was indeed the goddess of love.

"I decided to tweak the rules a little bit. Nothing major. Nevertheless, it will give you a head start. It is enough to make a difference, but little enough my brother will not notice it. The time limit is meaningless. You can stay in morph as long as you need to. Here we are," The Heart (although she had said to call her Enola) said, sweeping open the door to the room he was in now. "Have a seat. The others will join you."

"What others…" he yelled as she shut the door. And here he was now.

The door opened. A boy with short, curly hair and a very tan complexion walked in. His dark brown eyes and trusting expression gave the impression he could be trusted. But the set of those eyes, the hardness, showed he himself wouldn't trust easily.

He sat across from Tobias. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Tobias replied.

The boy stuck out his hand. "I'm Mike. You meet her?"

Tobias shook the hand. Mike pumped it once, firmly. "You mean The Heart or Aria or whatever?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah," Tobias said.

Mike grinned. "I got so used to her as a voice that her as a person is pretty weird. She's weird."

Tobias cracked a grin too. "Have you known her long?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I knew her as a voice when she saved me from drowning when I was about 5. I chalked it up to hallucinations until she talked to me again a couple days ago. What about you?"

Tobias grimaced. "It's… complicated. And, to be frank, I don't really trust you, so I'd rather not tell you as it could mean the end of our race. No pressure."

Mike nodded again. "Don't blame you, man. I have secrets myself that I never divulge. Of course, they can't bring…"

SLAM! The door whammed open. "Oops," a girl giggled. She had waist-length brown hair that was in pigtails, was about 5 foot 6, and stood tall. She had the air of Rachel- big, strong, and in your face. She 

also seemed goofier than Rachel, with her girlish giggle and pigtails. She plopped herself down next to Mike.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, Erin," Mike said. He did not seem particularly happy with this arrangement. It was obvious they knew each other, and also that Erin was much more interested in Mike than Mike was in Erin.

"Tobias… that is your name, right?... this is Erin. She goes to school with me," Mike said with a grimace.

Erin smiled. "Tobias? That's a cool name. Mine's Erin. Sooo… when's that whacko lady gonna tell us what the…"

The door creaked. A small girl peeked in, along with another boy. "This the right room?" said the girl.

"Should be. Who knows?" Mike said. Erin giggled again.

They walked in. The boy sat next to Mike, and the girl next to Tobias. "Hi, I'm Pixie," said the girl, hand out to Tobias. He shook it gently, as if afraid to break her hand, which, in fact, he was.

Pixie was a very small girl, probably only 4 feet tall. She did have a pixie-ish figure. She was very petite, and looked as though she was made of porcelain. She had platinum blonde hair, almost white, that framed her face, except for a few wisps over her eyes.

"It's seriously Pixie?" Tobias asked.

"No, actually it's Philadelphia," said Pixie. She smiled and laughed. Her laughed sounded beautiful- like bells, making you want to join in. "But people just call me Pixie. I'm short, and well, like a pixie. Never share a room with me- I like to short-sheet." Her eyes glinted mischievously.

Erin giggled again. Pixie flared up. "You have a problem with my name?" She snapped.

Erin stopped giggling. "Erin suffers from impulsive giggling. Just ignore it," Mike said. He sounded slightly disgusted. She started again. "Thank God no other girl from school is here," Tobias heard Mike whisper. If this is her on low, I agree with Mike. Tobias thought.

Mike turned to the other guy. "I'm Mike," he said.

"John. Nice to meet you," he mumbled. The door creaked open again. Another girl peeked in.

"Hi. I'm Aria. I sit here?" she said, pointing to the chair on the other side of Tobias. She sat anyway.

Aria was about Tobias's height. She had bright red hair that gave the impression her head was on fire, and her eyes glinted with a bright green.

As everyone introduced themselves, Tobias zoned out after he did. He thought of all of the people. If this was his new group, he was most definitely the odd one out again.



Mike seemed cool. He was a bit strange, but cool. He definitely respected Tobias's privacy. He knew Erin, which was an advantage (He knew someone) and a disadvantage (she was particularly annoying).

Erin was, well, high-pitched and giggly. She was Rachel but more annoying. And more girly.

Pixie seemed- well, cool. She was petite and smart and mischevious. Tobias thought of how Marco would have loved her- pretty, funny, and shorter than he was.

John- well, he had only said about one sentence so far, so he assumed he was pretty shy.

Aria- Aria was Rachel. Take charge, kick butt… Yep. She was almost Rachel.

The door opened again. This time, Enola/The Heart came in. She had the appearance she was floating. She came to the front of the room and stood.

"Now, I assume you all know each other, and have an idea why you're here. But, I think only Tobias," she pointed with her pointer at him, and he hung his head shyly, "and John," she pointed at him, and he turned bright red, "really know. Now here's the real reason. You are all Broken. You all deal with it in different ways."

Mike interrupted. "What do you mean, broken? I feel fine."

"Broken is when you are so hurt you cannot love or feel emotion in the normal ways. It's like an empty hole where your heart was. On occasion a Broken can love, but this is not often. There is also Temporarily Broken, which is what happens, say, during a divorce or after a break-up," John said. The room was quiet.

"Oh," Mike said, and Pixie giggled with Erin this time.

Enola began to talk again. "Thank you, John. You are all permanently Broken. There is no record of a permanent Broken becoming UnBroken. Now, I told you all my… my story. You must defeat The Killer. Only broken can do this, as they will unflinchingly destroy evil. And they also become a much stronger group.

"I chose you for your ability to work with other people. You each bring something to the group. You are all equals." She looked at Aria. "Equals," she repeated. Aria met her gaze unflinchingly.

Tobias put in, "But… well," he blushed, "Aren't I in love? I mean… you know… yeah."

Pixie, Erin, and Aria all shot him looks. Mike raised his eyebrows. John still looked down.

"Yes, you are. It is rare for a Broken to love, but you do. I've watched you carefully. Rachel is a good girl." Enola smiled.

"Now, you all need to go to bed. The rooms are upstairs- you all passed the staircase- and you all have a roommate. Two, actually. Girls on the right side, boys on the left. Meet here at noon tomorrow. Good night, everyone.



They all departed. "G'night!" everyone called.

Tobias opened the door to a new room- new friends- new life- and stepped inside.

"Woah."

Hahahahaha. I like this chapter. It's really just an intro to new characters, and I like the new characters. I like Mike, Pixie, Aria, Erin, John, and Enola. Enola is, FYI, alone backwards. I thought it fit.

Please review! Please tell me your fave new characters- I can really dig deep. heheheheheh