Chapter Five – Radiance

"Do I really have to wear this?" Lea asked, lifting a corner of the red and black leather cape attached to the back of his armour. He dropped it, then flicked at one of the metal plates.

"Yes. We need to get you used to it before we start travelling, 'cause this is what you'll be wearing in transit between worlds," I smirked. "And it can't possibly be heavy, 'cause it's made from orichalcum and mythril."

"It's kinda pokey, though," he said thoughtfully, "I mean, look at yours. You could spear someone's eye out on those elbow plates."

"That's the whole point," I grinned, kicking gently at my helmet, which was on the ground. "If you lose your weapons, you can just smash them with your armour!" I did a quick spin, my gold and black cape swishing out behind me. "You can't not love it!"

I summoned my crossbow, pulling a bolt from my quiver (which was now slung underneath the cape), and loaded it carefully.

"What are you doing with that?" Lea asked, sounding a little alarmed.

"Our next training exercise. Stealth attacks. We have to try to attack each other whilst staying hidden, and also make sure we're well enough concealed to avoid being seen," I explained. "You pick your own starting place. I've equipped the helmets with communication systems, so we know when to start and what not. I really put it there so we could talk easily over the drone of the glider, but it should work for this, too."

"Aah. So it's like hide and seek?"

"Sort of. More like hide and seek chasey, but you can move around more in this version."

"Okay, cool," Lea smirked. He picked up his helmet, and turned to walk off. "I guess I'd better go find a spot to start from then. When do we start?"

"Five minutes sound good?" I asked, an evil smirk slowly gracing my face.

"Not really, but okay."

With that, he walked off.

And I'm not sure why, but that fact disappointed me.

I pulled on my helmet, then tested the comms unit. "Lea, can you hear me?"

There came a crackling noise, and then Lea spoke. "Why, yes. Yes I can. And can you hear me, madam?"

I surpressed a laugh. "Why, but of course I can, good sir," I sniggered, playing along, "as clear as day!"

"You moving yet?"

I quickly scaled the side of the Command and Synthesis store, until I was running along rooftops. "I am now."

"Sweet. How long we got 'til we begin?"

"'Bout three minutes," I smirked, carrying my crossbow carefully as I ran, making sure not to fire the bolt by accident. "So, until then, Pyra out!"

"Right. Lea out."

I ran for a little longer, until I realised that I could see Lea from where I was. I crept behind a chimney, crouching as I peered around the side. I readied my crossbow.

"In position?" I asked, aiming for one of the plates on his shoulder, one that the bolt would bounce off of, without doing any harm to Lea.

"All set," he replied, turning so that his back was to me before summoning his chakrams. Perfect. "And you?"

"Ready to go," I mused, evil grin returning. "On three?"

"Sure."

"Okay. One," I began, adjusting my aim one last time. "Two… THREE!"

I fired the bolt, before darting back behind my chimney to reload. As soon as I'd done so, I bolted over the top of the roof, skittering down the other side. I leapt for a wall, flipped onto it, then ran quickly along it until I reached another row of rooftops.

"Damn you, Pyra!" Lea laughed.

"Come on, Lea, get your head in the game!" I sniggered, finding another vantage point. He was on the move now, running in the direction that the arrow had come from. I slinked around the edge of a second storey expansion, watching as he whizzed past. I snuck out from behind the wall, aimed for an elbow plate, then fired. Again, I darted for cover, reloaded, then moved. I should probably move first, then find cover and reload, but I didn't.

"AGAIN! Really?" Lea sounded exasperated.

I scaled the edge of the building. "Naturally," I laughed, flattening myself against the roof. "Come find me if you dare."

Of course, Lea ran right around the little second story expansion without even looking up. I propped myself up on my elbows, aimed for one of the plates that stuck up from the sides of his helmet, and released the bolt. I watched and listened as it bounced off of the armour, pinging loudly as it did.

I then leapt into a backwards spin, and my feet hit the ground running. There was silence from Lea this time, leading me to believe that I'd given away my position, and that he could see me. I darted around a corner, before shimmying up a trellis covered in plants. From there, all it took was a hop, step and a jump to get to the outer wall of the city again. I could see the Outer Gardens, just across the lake that the city seemed to be floating on.

Now, I'm not sure about you, but having grown up in a land where there are cliffs with lakes at the bottom, I love jumping into water from high up. And there's even a way to make your armour completely waterproof, so it becomes temporary scuba gear.

I tapped the base of my helmet twice, and I felt it meld to the rest of my armour. It made me a little dizzy, but I could deal with dizzy. I dived off of the edge of the wall, cape fluttering as I hit the water.

I looked around. There were fish here, big ones. I swam silently to the edge of the garden, grabbing the stone wall built around it. I took one last look at the fish. Some of them looked kind of like Unversed…

That was the exact moment I scrambled out of the water, and the exact moment that a piranha-like Unversed leapt at me, gnashing its little fangs. I drew my greatsword, and smacked it as hard as I could back into the water.

I didn't know that there were fish Unversed… Maybe they were a once off…

I quickly dashed to the fountain in the middle of the garden, and tapped at each side. When I went to tap on the wall of the side that faced the stairway to the main square, my hand fell through nothingness. It was the secret passage that Lea had been talking about.

I peered through the doorway, then made my way down the hidden staircase that I saw. It came out into a large, corridor like room, with a circular shaped balcony at the foot of the stairs. There was a large pipe, with some broken chains lying at the bottom, looped around it, and there was blood in the centre of the balcony. I quickly moved over to it, curious.

It was then that I realised that there was darkness lingering about here. According to my father, traces of darkness linger for a few days if it's been used to attack someone. Meaning that someone had used dark powers here recently.

I touched the blood with the tip of one of my fingers, then looked at my glove. It now had a slightly reddish tinge where I'd touched it, but the blood had felt sticky. So whatever had happened here had happened quite recently. The earliest it could have happened would have been just before I got here yesterday…

"Hey, are you okay?" Lea's voice came from the comms unit in my helmet. "You were mumbling something about blood…"

"I was mumbling?" I asked, quickly skirting away from the blood on the floor, and climbing up the pipe with the chains around it. "I didn't realise… Sorry!"

"So what's with the blood thing? Did you hurt yourself?" His voice was mocking. "You shouldn't have dived into the lake, you know-"

"I'm fine. I didn't hurt myself at all. But apparently someone did, quite recently, actually, within the past two days."

"What makes you think that?"

I realised that telling him could give away my location – the complete opposite of what I wanted from this hidden room. "Nothing…" I said forcefully, making it sound as if something had definitely happened. Oops. "Don't worry about it, it was just blood."

"Whatever you say…" He said in a sing-song voice.

I finally reached the top of the pipe, and chose to survey the room. I could just see the bottom of the corridor, which had a solid-looking stone floor. A man with long, dark blonde hair in a white lab coat was surveying something. He seemed to be being followed by a young child, also in a lab coat, who had dark blue hair which shimmered as if it were metallic. Standing a couple of metres away was another man in a lab coat, also blonde, but more so than the other, with something on his face which I could only guess was a beard, and a red scarf draped around his shoulders. He seemed to be observing the other two.

Suddenly, there were footsteps coming from the stairs. I pressed myself flat against the surface of the pipe, and loaded my crossbow. I waited.

It was Lea. He seemed to do the same thing I'd done: see the blood, walk over to it, look at it. He didn't linger as I had, he obviously couldn't sense the darkness hanging about, and he didn't touch it, either, but he must have known that this was what I'd meant by mumbling about the blood. He looked around, then over the edge of the balcony. He watched the people for a while.

And during that 'while', several Unversed sprung up behind him, and decided to try and ambush him from either side.

Not happening.

"Lea," I began quietly, "don't panic or anything, but there are Unversed trying to sneak up on you. On my mark, turn and run straight for the staircase, got it?"

I watched as he nodded slowly.

I readied my crossbow, aiming it for the patch of blood in the middle of the balcony. "Okay, then. NOW!" I said forcefully, still watching Lea as he sprinted past my point of aim ad up the stairs. "Mind your ears," I warned, before shouting at full volume. "FIRA!"

I released the bolt, watching as the tip burned dangerously. By the time it struck the ground and exploded, the Unversed had juuust reached the bloody patch on the floor. The slowpokes were caught in the blast, and most were sent flying. The others staggered forwards for a little way, then fell over and vanished, leaving Munny behind.

The people way down the bottom of the corridor looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the explosion. The child looked up, as most children have a habit of doing, and somehow, I'm not quite sure, saw me. I shimmied back quickly, as he pointed in my direction. They can't see me, they can't see me, they can't see me…

I heard a shout, before they all rushed towards an elevator-like contraption that seemed to be powered by water. Damn, they must have turned just before I hid, I thought, quickly scrambling over the edge of the pipe and sliding down. There were still little flames everywhere from the blast, and I had to jump to avoid some of them. I quickly sprinted up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

"Pyra," came Lea's voice, "you might want to run faster…"

"Why…?"

"The castle guards. They're running towards the fountain."

… Crap.

I had only just reached halfway up the stairs (where the stairway turned and went back up towards the fountain) when I saw two figures running towards me: one with long, black, dreadlocked hair (with sideburns) and purple eyes, carrying a blue and silver lance, and one with brown hair and dark eyes, carrying a tomahawk. Both wore matching uniforms.

I turned tail and ran back towards the balcony, only to be halted by the two men and the child. The man with the scarf looked significantly older than the one with no beard. And the child had dark, tormented-looking eyes.

I looked between the two groups of people. The scientists and the guards. The guards and the scientists. I was surrounded but for the side of the stairway with the railing.

I gathered up my cape in one hand.

"What is the meaning of causing chaos in my city?" asked the man with the beard.

"There were monsters-"

"A likely excuse," interrupted the man with the dreadlocks and purple eyes. "There are no monsters in the city of light."

"Look, I'd really love to argue with you, but now isn't the best ti-"

"Maybe we should take her in for experimentation, sir," said the long haired scientist. "She seems to be quite an… intriguing… character. And her armour could be interesting to test, too."

He seemed to be probing me with his icy blue eyes. Not a pleasant feeling, I tell you.

"Silence, Even," said the bearded man, "we will not be experimenting on humans."

"Do we take her into custody, instead?" Asked the brown-haired, tomahawk-wielding man.

"Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but I really gotta go," I sighed, jumping over the railing. I released my cape after a split second, once I was certain that nobody could grab a hold of it. From the railing, it looked to be around a seventy-metre drop. I was right.

I could take that.

"Dilan, after her!" came a young voice. I heard a few gasps of amazement. Maybe the child never spoke?

"Aero!" I smiled, casting the spell beneath me, performing my usual dive in, shoot out technique. I landed in a crouch. I spun around, then looked up to see the dreadlocked man screaming down towards me, lance in hand.

Okay, this was not supposed to happen.

I sprinted for the opposite end to the one I'd seen the bearded man, the scientist 'Even' and the child working at before, noting the positions of possible handholds in the wall. I saw a door at the end of the corridor. Brilliant. I looked over my shoulder.

Dilan, the dreadlocks guy, had used the same landing technique as I did.

… Oh, shit.

I summoned my lance as I approached the door, just in case it was locked. Which it was. "Damn… Fira!" I exclaimed, attempting to melt the old school padlock. I checked how close Dilan was again. Too close. I wouldn't have time.

I abandoned my attempt to melt the lock just in time to block his first lance swipe. I pushed him back, then attacked with all the force and concentration I could muster.

"Pyra!" came a voice, through the comms unit in my helmet. Lea. "Pyra, what's taking you so long?"

"They boxed me in. I'm currently fighting the dreadlocked one, Dilan."

"Shit."

"I know-"

"Mumbling to yourself is the first sign of madness, little girl," Dilan growled, lunging at me with his lance, "are you weakening already?"

"Oh, far from it, my good man, I'm just getting warmed up!" I laughed, thankful he couldn't see my scowl through the one-way transparent mythril helmet piece. "Fira!" I yelped, a fireball shooting from the tip of my lance. It hit him square in the chest, making a strange sounding thump noise. And his shirt… It didn't catch alight.

That didn't usually happen.

"Hah," he laughed, "did you really think you could stop one of the castle guards with a simple fireball? You have to do better than that, little girl."

"Sorry, but I was unaware that the castle guard wore fireproof uniforms. I'm not from around here, you see. But I can fight like hell!" I lunged madly at him, twirling and slashing and jabbing with my lance, dealing a flurry of blows to his torso. He stumbled backwards, but, strangely, wasn't winded.

Again, not normal.

"Again, you'll have to do better than that," he smiled sadistically, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

The last thing I saw was his lance moving towards my head, then I was out. Cold.

And, may I just say… I hate the cold.

...

I awoke in what looked to be a study, propped up in a seated position against a wall. Someone had deactivated my armour, and had somehow gotten the arm piece off of my arm without me coming to. Probably that 'Even' guy. Fudgedammit, now my scar was visible.

"I see you've woken up, child," came a kind voice. I looked up. The bearded man had blended right into the background before, probably due to the furnishings in the study. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad, considering I was hit in the head. Thank god for armour, hey?" I joked.

He nodded.

"Speaking of armour, where's my arm piece?"

"Even took it, he wanted to see how it worked. But it wasn't fully operational without the boots or the waist piece, and I figured that a girl of your age wouldn't want a strange man taking things from your body while you slept. So I told him not to bother, and I have the armour piece here," he explained, producing my armour from the top of a set of drawers. He passed it to me carefully. "Before you leave, however, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

I pulled my armour back on. It was cold from where it had been exposed to the air. "Go on," I answered, making sure it hadn't been tampered with.

"Were there really monsters? Was that really why you caused such a racket?" The man questioned, his expression serious. "I mean, there have been monster sightings reported recently, but nobody believed them."

"Yes. There were monsters. They were posing a threat to a friend, so I told him to run so that I could neutralise the problem," I explained.

"I see…" he mused, thoughtful. " Next question: where was that armour made?" He asked. "You said you aren't from around here, or so said Dilan, my lance guard. Yet everyone from this world would know of the strange, flame retardant uniforms the guards wear. Would you care to explain?"

I sighed. Here we go again. "It was made in a world known as The Land of Departure. It's where I was born, and it's where I lived up until two days ago. That's why I know nothing of your world's military uniforms."

"Ah," sighed the man, "I once knew a man from Departure. He was kind. He had a good sense of right and wrong. I never met his wife and child, but I assume they were good people. How old are you, may I ask?"

"Fifteen. I turn sixteen in October."

"Makes sense. Tell me, did your father have black hair and black eyes?"

"Why is it that everyone in this world knows my dad?" I smirked, standing up.

"Well, he certainly made an impression. That blade he carried… It saved us many a misfortune."

"The Keyblade?"

"That would be the one."

"My brother and I have Keyblades, too. So did our mother."

"A genetic inheritance?"

"Usually, but people can inherit the skill if they touch the blade as a child. Or so I've heard." I produced my Keyblade. "This is mine. I'm not too good with it, and I prefer to use other weapons, but when used correctly, they can pierce anything, unlock anything, and block any strike."

"Interesting. You may now leave, if you so wish. Wouldn't want to keep that boy waiting, would you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What boy?" I asked. Surely he couldn't mean Lea.

"The boy who was trying to talk to you through your helmet. He sounded worried. Especially when we explained you were unconscious."

"Huh. Well, no, no I wouldn't." I turned to leave, easily finding the door. "Wouldn't want to destroy a new friendship."

"One last question?"

"If it's quick…"

"What is your name, child?"

I hesitated. "Pyra," I answered, "And your name, sir?"

"Ansem. Ansem the Wise."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, then, Ansem the Wise."

"Mutual feelings, Pyra. I wish you well on whatever journey lays ahead of you."

"Thankyou. You too, sir."

And, with that, I left.

...

On my way out, I ran into the child with the bluey-purpley-metallic hair, and the scientist, Even. Both were carrying blue-coloured icecreams. Evan looked me up and down with his creepy eyes, before adressing me. "You have a curious burn on your arm, young lady. Maybe you could enlighten me as to how you sustained such an injury?"

"I'd really rather not go into it. I'm not one for recieving sympathy."

"Oh, but who said I'd be sympathetic, child? I was merely curious. I'm not fond of sympathy either, you see. My true passion lies in a wholly academic field."

"Your story is interesting, but I'd really rather not share."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged. "By the way, do you know any boys around your age with a heart of pure light? I thought you might be able to tell me."

I thought for a moment, then I realised. Ven. "Actually, I do know someone. Why's that?"

"No reason. But, next time you see him, could you possibly get him to come see me? I'm most interested as to how he became that way."

"Sure…" I agreed hesitantly, before continuing on my way out. "Nice talking to you," I said in a dry monotone.

"Likewise… Come along, now, Ienzo," he spoke to the child, continuing on his way back towards Ansem's study.

That man had the potential to become a nasty piece of work…

"PYRA!" Lea cried, running over to me as I exited the castle, "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Nothing, I just hit my head on…" I struggled to pick an appropriate cause for my unconsciousness. I gave up in the end. "I was trying to escape the guards, but Dilan got me in the side of the head with his lance. When I woke up, Ansem the Wise asked me some questions, and I left."

I didn't mention what I'd heard about him being worried. Didn't want to embarrass new friends.

"Oh, right… I'm sorry, I feel bad for leaving-"

"Don't. You weren't hurt. Shiloh will be thankful it was me who got in trouble instead of you. And she'll be even more thankful that I got in trouble trying to keep you out of it."

"I suppose…" He sighed.

For some reason, and I'm not sure why, a part of me felt happy that he was worried.

I snapped out of it quickly. "So, onto another subject, is Shiloh really the only family you have? Just wondering," I asked.

"Well, I'm the only family that she has, and she likes to think it's the same for me, but I do have a cousin and a grandmother on my father's side. My other aunt, Melinda, died during childbirth, and my uncle Joss, my dad's brother, was involved in the caving expedition that never came back, but my grandma does a good job looking after my little cousin," he explained.

"How old's your cousin?" I asked.

"She's six. She's really cute. Want to meet her?"

"Sure, I can't see why not!" I smiled.

"Okay. Their house is this way," Lea instructed, seting off, gesturing for me to follow him. Which I did.

It turns out that the house was just across the other side of the castle gardens, in a street near the main square. Lea led me to a small house with a white door, before saying, "this is where they live," and knocking three times on the door.

There was a little wait, before a small girl with dark, pinky-red hair and huge blue eyes opened the door. She looked at Lea, then past him to look at me, then back at Lea. She giggled, then yelled back into the house. "Grandma! Lea's here! And he brought a friend!" She turned to Lea. "Hiya!"

"Hey, Kairi," he grinned, picking her up and giving her a hug. "How are you?"

"Gooooood~!" She exclaimed, in a sing-song voice. She pointed over his shoulder at me. "Who's that?"

I blinked several times, amused.

"That's Pyra. And, let me just tell you a little secret," he whispered, loudly enough for me to hear, "she can do maaaaagic," he grinned, looking over his shoulder at me. He looked back at Kairi. "Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

Kairi looked at me, wide eyed. I waved.

"Kairi?" came a voice from within the house. "Aren't you going to invite our guests in?"

"Oh! Okay!" Kairi called, squirming out of Lea's grip. "Come inside!" She grinned. She looked at me. "Both of you!"

I nodded. "Okay, sure."

Kairi took us both by the hand and led us inside. She showed us into the living room, where an old woman with kind eyes and grey hair was sitting in an armchair, stiching a tapestry cushion. She looked up at all of us. "Hello, Lea. And who's this?" She gestured to me, smiling kindly.

"This is Pyra. She's a new friend of mine, and I thought it would be cool if she met you two," he explained.

"Oh! Well, that's nice of you, funnily enough, I've just made some shortbread-"

"SHORTBREAD!" Kairi yelped excitedly. "YOU MADE SHORTBREAD!"

"Yes," smiled Kairi and Lea's grandma, "didn't you smell it? I brought it out of the oven just fifteen minutes ago, you can go eat some if you want."

"THANKYOU, GRANDMA!" Kairi giggled, hugging the old woman, before running through to the kitchen.

I supressed a laugh.

"So, Pyra, what brought you to meet my grandson?" Asked their grandmother, setting her tapestry cushion aside.

"Umm… it's kind of a long story… It's difficult to explain… But it ended in both of us running for our lives from a psychopath in a mask," I mused, tapping my forehead with one finger.

"Really? Well, that certainly sounds exciting. Makes me remember when I was your age. Listening to wild stories was all we ever did. From our grandparents, of course, not our grandchildren or their friends, but stories all the same."

"What kind of stories?" I asked.

"Stories of the Keyblade War."

I gawked. "You know about the Keyblade War!" I questioned.

"Yes. It was a terrible war, because way back then, before my parents were even a thought, there were hundreds of warriors who carried the Keyblade. Thousands, even. The worlds were once all part of one, larger world, and it was a world filled with light. Everyone loved the light. But one day, some of the world's poulation decided they wanted it for themselves. Some fought to capture the light. Some fought to protect it. And some fought for the treasures of the world: A blade forged by equal powers of light and darkness, the X-Blade, and the heart of the world itself, Kingdom Hearts. Eventually, the world was plunged into darkness. The only surviving light was in the hearts of children."

I noticed that Kairi had crept up behind us with the plate of shortbread, and was listening intently.

"So," continued their grandma, "The children somehow managed to pull the world out of the darkness. Unfortunately, while doing so, the intensity of the darkness had split it into many pieces, which is why there are so many smaller worlds today. But there is still pure light in the hearts of children."

"Wow," I sighed, "I knew there was a war, but I've never heard that story before."

"Did you like it?" Kairi asked, tugging on my glove to offer me a biscuit. I took one, nodding a quick thankyou.

"Yeah… It was interesting. I learned more about two things I'd only heard my uncle speak of before. Two things that…"

I trailed off, not wanting to worry their grandmother.

"Two things that what?" Lea asked.

"I'll tell you another time," I replied.

"Umm, okay."

"Anyway, I need to go put this tapestry away if we're going to sit and talk, I'll be right back," the grandma smiled, getting up and walking into another room. "Feel free to take a seat!"

I sat down on the settee, and Lea took a seat next to me. Kairi wriggled down in the middle. "Can you really do magic?" she asked, eyes glittering.

I nodded, cupping my hands in front of me. "Watch this," I grinned.

She watched intently as I created a small flame in the cup of my hands. "Can you teach me to do that?" she giggled.

"Maybe when you're a little older," I smirked, extinguishing the flame. "Though, you might be able to talk Lea into it," I chuckled.

"You can do magic too!" she bubbled, looking up at Lea.

He nodded. "I might teach you for your eighth birthday, how does that sound?"

"But that's SO FAR AWAY!"

"Not really. You won't forget, and neither will I, I promise."

Kairi frowned, but then nodded.

One thing I noticed sitting next to her… Her heart was purer than the hearts of any other children I'd met. I thought back to the stories my father told me of the Princesses of Heart. Maybe this girl was to become a Princess of Heart?

That… and…

Someone had given her the power to inherit a Keyblade. It wasn't a genetic trait… She had been passed the skill by someone with a Keyblade. Maybe by accident, I wasn't sure, but the power was there. I could feel the radiance pouring out of her like lava from a volcano.

...

We talked with Kairi and Lea's grandmother for about an hour, before leaving. It was a good afternoon, all in all.

We went back to Shiloh's house to find leftover lasagna sitting out, and a note saying 'Gone to Mila's, probably going to be back late. Don't party too hard. Save me some lasagne.'

"Who's Mila?" I asked.

"An old family friend. She's having trouble getting over her divorce, so every now and then, Shiloh goes to visit her, and they talk for a good portion of the night."

"Ah, so I see. And she expects us to party?"

"Think about it. Two fifteen year olds, home alone, with a leftover lasagne, and a high definition soundsystem. And, let's face it, we have magic. I mean, mine's pretty basic, but we still have magic."

"Ah, okay, I get it. Does the sound system have an MP3 dock?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I have an MP3 player loaded with awesome stuff."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Muse party?"

"You officially have epic taste in music. BRING ON THE MUSE!"

"Okay, just let me get out my MP3!"

About an hour later, after blasting 'MK Ultra' through the speakers about 4 times, and several other songs as well, we ate some lasagna, and started belting out the words to every song that came on. Like 'Sunburn', for example. Lea started doing Michael Jackson dance impersonations, which were bloody hilarious, and then I turned on a Passion Pit / MGMT playlist. Techno and Electronica music for the win. I mean, if my life had a soundtrack, it would probably be a mix of Passion Pit, Dead Letter Circus, Muse, MGMT, Paul Dempsey, Bag Raiders, Little Dragon and Little Red. Essentially, most of what we listened to that night.

After a while, I zipped into the bathroom to exchange my armour for my jacket, changed the music to Paul Dempsey's album 'Everything Is True', and curled up on the couch with a book on mythical creatures. Lea came and sat next to me, reading over my shoulder.

"Interesting book," he stated thoughtfully. "What one's your favourite?"

"I don't know… Probably the dragon, the Pegasus or the phoenix," I mused, checking the time on my watch. 10:30 PM. Late. Ish. No wonder I was getting drowsy.

"Is that because you'd like to fly? Or because the dragon and the phoenix are directly in relation to fire?"

"Both… I mean, I sort of can fly, when I use my glider, but I want to be able to fly on my own… And, come on, who doesn't like fire?"

"Good point…" Lea yawned, wiping his eyes. "You're a pretty good singer, by the way…"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. You got skills…" He yawned again, stretching his legs out.

Then I yawned. Really, human empathy…

I hugged my book to my chest, still open to the page of the phoenix, as I slowly fell into the realm of sleep.

...

I arrived home at around 11:30 PM to see both Lea and Pyra asleep on the couch. Pyra was leaning on the arm of the couch, hugging a book about mythology, which was still open to where she'd been reading, and Lea, who looked as if he'd fallen asleep trying to read it himself, was leaning on her shoulder. An acoustic cover of 'Time To Pretend', originally by MGMT, was playing through the stereo, and the remote was on the floor by Lea's foot. I shook my head in amusement. Teenagers could be funny.

I wandered over to the couch, and gently pried the book out of Pyra's arms. It was open to a page explaining phoenixes, amongst a few other mythical beasts. I smirked, closing it, and placed it on the coffee table. I quickly took a glance at the lasagne dish, which had a fairly decent sized piece left in it. I smirked again, before going to turn off the music.

Pyra stirred a little, and I froze. She was just shifting a little. I relaxed.

I walked over to the linen press, and removed a knitted blanket my mother had made for me. I gently placed it over the two of them, before going to eat the piece of lasagne they'd saved me.

I wondered what they'd gotten up to. I could faintly hear a Muse song playing around two hours before. Maybe they were having a dance off. Or an air guitar competition. Or they could have been getting up to 'other stuff', but I doubted it, considering as they'd just met. Albeit for the second time, and neither seemed to remember the first time, but just met all the same.

I rinsed my plate, then watched them sleep for a moment.

I had a thought. I suppressed a laugh. Then I went to bed myself.

Ahh, teenagers.