A/N- Yes! Another chapter up! However, it gave me trouble so I feel this chapter is choppy and rushed. Just a little warning.

Thanks to all who reviewed and also to those silent readers!

Enjoy.

The Reluctance of Rising from the Ashes

Summary- Two years after Oban, Eva needs to get her life in order. When she is forced to go on the run thanks to a misunderstanding, Eva must help a disgraced prince break his curse and help him get his life together. What worries Eva is the fact that she only has a short amount of time to help the prince but also the fact that she may just have a thing for princes. Eva/oc

Chapter 3 – Seeing

Though Eva was eighteen and an adult, the fact still remained that she had to go to school until she graduated. While school would end for the graduating class today, that still meant no one should be late for class. Or else they would have to stay after school and clean the classroom.

Unfortunately for Eva, she was very late for class. She blamed Jordan because his postcard had come in and she was caught surprised by what it told her. It had been one of those museum postcards from France and had only one sentence. Not even a sentence! All it had was a date which Eva knew from the vague hints he conveyed throughout the short details he wrote about himself that it meant Jordan was being moved to the capital.

Quickly, she wove through the crowds expertly, as she has been late (or nearly) many times before. She pushed fiercely against those who dared to stand in the middle of the sidewalk chatting. She leaped over fire hydrants, trash cans, dogs, and darted around baby carriages.

She was glad she went with the boys' uniform which eliminated the worry of wondering if her underwear was showing during this run. With the natural speed of the racer she was, she managed to get in the crowded train that was supposed to take her to a half block away from the school.

Squeezing through the crowd of people, Eva cried, "Marco?"

Nothing except blank stares and the blaring of rap music from someone's headphones.

More loudly, she shouted, "Marco!"

"Polo!" responded two voices.

'Finally.' thought Eva as she pushed and excused her way in the direction of the voices.

After a couple of more "Marco? Polo!"s , Eva stood in front of her friends. Samara and Sarah were identical twins who loved to pretend to be one another and other people. They were Eva's best friends for two years now.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't we, Eva?" Samara asked as she made a 'give me' gesture to her sister.

Sarah sighed and took out a few eulars* from her delicate wristlet purse before handing it over to Samara.

"Dammit, why couldn't you have caught the bus or something?" grumbled Sarah.

At this, Eva just shook her head. The twins loved to bet on anything and everything. Eva was one of their favorites to bet on everyday besides teachers.

"So? I would've been more late and gotten detention! Then we wouldn't be able to go to that physic later on!" retorted Eva, slightly leaning on her right foot as the train screeched to a stop.

In no time, the train pulled up to the station Eva and her friends were supposed to get off at.

The twins both made 'duh' faces to one another before they got up from their seats. Together they pushed and shoved their way to the entrance and a second after their feet touched the platform of the station, they ran in the direction of the school.

Once in the courtyard, Eva waved goodbye to her friends and went straight for an open window on the first floor. Eva was lucky to have her class on the first floor and did not even hesitate as she placed her hands firmly on the windowsill before twisting her body to swing her legs up in the air.

With a soft tap on the floor as her feet touched it, Eva smoothed down any wrinkles on her uniform before sitting in her assigned seat. Her teacher just looked up, saw her, and went back to reading the paper. Since it was the last day of required school, he didn't give her the usual, "Just because the window is open doesn't mean…" lecture.

Before, he actually used to give her detention but since she kept on doing it, he gave up and starting lecturing.

Eva settled into her chair and closed her eyes while the rest of the class chatted and gossiped about the plans for the summer. She thought about what had happened when she got back to the house yesterday morning after running away basically.

Which was nothing. That morning she walked into the house like normal though her heart had been pounding and secretly she was already wincing from the lecture that was to come. Her father had been seated at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. He looked up when she entered the room, and like they didn't even had an arguement the night before, murmurred, "You're late for breakfast."

And went back to reading the newspaper. Eva had just stood there, dumbfounded with shock and disbelief. Combine that with the postcard from Jordan, no wonder she had been almost late.

When the bell rang, the teacher calmly folded his newspaper neatly before standing up authoritatively.

Immediately, the classroom quieted down and he began to speak.

"These are the last class announcements you will hear and listen very closely!"

Eva, along with the rest of her classmates, began to let her mind wonder.

And she wondered if that foreign homeless guy had been run over yet.

Served him right.

0o0o0

He stared at his reflection and smiled. He thought briefly of the red-haired girl from the alley and wondered what she would say or do if she should see him now. The thought of her reaction gave him pleasure and turned to the side.

"I shall like to buy this." He announced regally to the swooning saleswoman besides him.

To himself, he frown mentally. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the hang of the new language of earth even with a tiny amount of his magic. However, he had to admit he had progressed since last night where he barely understood anything.

The saleswoman nodded and cut the sales tags out gently. She was reminded of her favorite movie Aladdin, how the pauper got fancy clothes on and bam! Instant prince.

Just like this mysterious hottie next to her.

And to think when he had entered the store, dressed in rags like a homeless person, she had been ready to call security. As she rang the purchases up, she snuck looks at him and wondered how he came to be in that state.

For he stood up straight and tall like the politicians of the Earth Coalition, the way he gives off the vibe of being catered to all his life. She would have thought him a politician's son if it hadn't been for the almost broken, hesitant accent he had when he spoke the common language of earth.

That's when the saleswoman began to wonder if he was one of those people who refused to let go of the past and spoke in the old languages of before. Which reminded her…

"May I ask your name?" said the saleswoman curiously, looking up at him.

"I am Shane." He told her smoothly without blinking an eye. He was a royal and often occasions called for lying truths.

This was one of them unfortunately.

"How would you like to pay, Mr. Shane?" she asked staring into his eyes.

Tilting his head to the side, crystal earring dangling and catching light, he said confusingly, "I just did."

The crystal light dazzled the poor saleswoman before she blinked and said, "You're right, sorry for that."

He inclined his head to a bow before he turned and walked out the door, ignoring the swift turns and hungry looks of women entering the store.

Not only was he a disgraced prince turned homeless, he was now a thief.

Could his situation get any worse?

0o0o0

They watched the Avalonian prince from afar. Far enough not be detected by the prince's charm of protection. It had not taken them long to discover that there was only one other place His Highness would go and that was Earth. They had seen him with that girl and wondered if she was helping him. So far they hadn't caught them together again but it would do no good if they left loose ends for the prince to escape from.

After all, they had underestimated him once and had escaped. There wouldn't be a second time.

The earth girl must be eliminated in order for them to finish the job.

Silently, they left for Avalonia. They had things to finish there as well.

0o0o0

Her long white blond hair drifted softly in the water with the ripples. Her hands clutched tightly on the edge of the well before she resurfaced for breath. Now her hair was filled with water and the diadem had become crooked over her forehead.

"Where are you, my brother?" she asked out loud in the silence of the pavilion.

She dipped in a hand briefly to swish the water before walking down the bridge of the pavilion. The pavilion and the bridge was the only building on the isle if it could be called that. While there was land, the majority of it was water. Sacred water. This isle was one of the small ones that connected to the bigger island that was once known on earth as "Avalon."

As the eldest daughter of the Queen, she had been given the sacred isles to rule.

She is the Lady of the Lake.

Her hair plastered to her face, the diadem crooked, the Lady did not look like royalty. Her white robes dragged on the floor but she did not care as she gazed out toward the mainland, towards the High Palace. It was there that trouble and chaos reigned for now. Her Queen Mother had summoned her last night and formally requested that she cast her Sight around to see if she could find the lost prince.

"Why can't I see you?" she said softly, her golden eyes downcast as she bit her lips in worry.

The wrath of the Queen would have to be suffered as the Lady did not find her brother at all.

Which meant one thing-he was gone from this world.

Swans gathered on the bridge scattered into the water as she drew closer. In grief of her brother's unknown fate, she glanced at the ripples and splashes of the water as the swans dived.

And she saw the flowing fiery hair of a girl. The flash of a sly grin and the worried face of her brother.

Most important of all, she saw the trail of a rising star.

What does all this mean?

A/N- Getting there! Hopefully all of you liked this chapter. A small spoiler for next chapter- jordan! What do you think about this story- eh? good? What the hell? Let me know.

Til next time...

*- the name of the Earth Coalition currency. Its probably just my ignorance for which I apologize in advance but I figured euros and dollars are the strongest currency right now. Since euros are stronger than dollars, it comes first hence eulars.