G'day everyone, I'm back for chapter 9! Now, I have screwed the timeline around a bit, since I know for it to be winter, Four should be John, and Three should be dead, but oh well! Assume three was killed way earlier than in the books.

NOTICE: Should I do Adelina x Sandor as a pairing? Please tell me in the reviews!

Disclaimer: LL isn't mine… *dies of sadness*


MARINA

Being grounded isn't a new sensation for me, but it obviously is for Nine, who spends hours on end sulking about the punishment. Adelina would occasionally ground me if I did something bad. Once, when I was about 14, I was invited to a party, which was a rare phenomenon in Santa Teresa. I had begged Adel to let me go, but no matter what I said, she had flatly refused, saying that if Mogs attacked we would be unable to do anything, and that even though I did have legacies then, that it was still too risky. I snuck out that night and went to the party, but was caught by Adelina when I crept back into my room. She grounded me for a month and doubled my training hours while I was grounded, so that I would be unable to do anything bad again.

And that was just the first time.

I was grounded several times after that, and after spending so many years in a convent, Adelina was crazy strict.

Nine should stop complaining.

The rules have been tightened, and our curfew has been changed from 10 pm to 9 pm. We spend lots of time at home.

I pass the time reading or training, which is actually possible now that the Cepans have installed training utilities. Nine and I don't have a schedule, something that annoys our Cepans, who believe we should have a stiff training timetable, though both of us disagree.

After Nine moans that he is bored the 57th time, Sandor snaps. He and Adelina set up a timetable for us to follow. The two Cepans also tell us we're going to be training much more, since neither of us are invincible anymore. Our training is pretty brutal though. We train from 5 in the morning until midday. After that we have about three hours of free time. Then from then until 7 we both have to take lessons. That comes about one day when the Cepans are trying to think of what to fill the remainder of our schedules with.

Adelina paces the room, deep in thought, while Sandor leans against the wall rubbing his temples.

They look at us watching them.

"Well?" Adelina demands, "Have you two got any ideas?"

"Uh," I start, "No, not really."

Nine seems to be thinking.

He looks at Adelina.

"You taught Marina Loric right?"

She raises an eyebrow and nods.

Nine shrugs. "Could you teach me?"

My Cepan grins.

"Sure, that's a great idea."

Sandor strokes his beard, a look of mock concentration on his face.

He stops, and a maniac grin appears on his face. He looks at me hopefully.

"You wanna learn how to hotwire a car?"

"Hell yes I do!" I say, grinning.

"Well," Sandor says, clapping his hands together, "That's settled."

And so our lessons begin.

They don't tell us when the schedule will be put into play, though.

I am having an odd dream, one that I remember nothing about, when I feel someone trying to shake me awake. The dream disappears, and I am in a warm darkness, one I don't want to leave. I am currently in the realm of half-sleep.

Then the water hits me.

I'm wide awake in an instant, sputtering and shivering. Sandor has thrown ice water at me. I stare at him, smiling broadly standing in the middle of my bedroom.

"Wha-, why are you in here?"

My eyes drift to the clock, which tells me that it is 4:43 am.

"And why so early?"

He beams at me.

"Training! Now come on, you have 15 minutes to get dressed and eat something, see you in the training room."

He leaves, and I am greatly tempted to go back to sleep, but I have a feeling something worse than ice water will be in store if I do. I drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom, where I dry myself off and get dressed into my training clothes, which is just a white singlet top and ¾ length black running pants with two neon green lines running down the sides. I'm barefoot, as always.

I splash some water on my face, yawning, and walk into the kitchen. I speed-eat an apple then walk down the hall to the training room, which Nine has begun to refer to as Lecture Hall 2.0.

The others are all gathered there already.

Sandor claps his hands together and grins.

"Come on guys! Don't look so grim."

Nine, only moans softly in response, looking as fatigued as I feel.

Training is brutal, but I find I throw myself into it more, hoping for a break. Only an hour after we've begun, both Nine and I are drenched in sweat. We both keel over, breathing heavily.

"Come on, are you that unfit?" Sandor says, mocking us.

We both give him fierce glares. I suck in a few more breaths and straighten up. We still have to endure this for another 6 hours, so I had better get it over and done with. Nine wipes sweat off his forehead and mutters something that I'm pretty sure is a death threat aimed at Sandor, and we continue. After about another 2 ½ hours of combat training, I'm just about collapsing from exhaustion.

Adelina checks her watch.

"Okay, I think we can have a break now." She says.

Nine and I both bend at the knees and collapse on the cool floor, our breathing laboured.

Sandor raises his eyebrows until they've disappeared into his hairline.

He looks over at Adel, and rubs the back of his head.

"Maybe we should lighten up on them."

"Yeah," she says, looking at us with a motherly concern, "I think so too."

It takes 10 minutes, lots of water and a pepperoni pizza to get both Nine and I off the floor. We sit up, looking at our Cepans wearily, still gulping down water like we're afraid it's going to run away.

Adel smiles at us.

"This is going to be much easier, we're going to practise legacies."

"Oh thank God." I say.

"Oh shit." Nine says.

I look at him, confused, until I remember that most of his legacies are physical, instead of mental.

"Don't worry, since you guys are so exhausted, we're just going to practise telekinesis with you Nine."

He smiles, looking relieved.

We practise the rest of the allocated time on our legacies.

I mainly focus on what Adelina calls "inveigling". It ties in with my Mind Manipulation legacy, and gives me the ability to control someone with my voice. I could tell someone to lick an old boot, and they would do it, no questions asked.

I practise using the legacy when talking normally, then Adelina decides I need to practise giving commands.

We use Nine as a test subject, something that he isn't too thrilled about.

He stands nervously.

"Uh, wha-"

"Shh!" Adelina interrupts, waving a hand at him in irritation.

Nine shuts his mouth, looking miffed.

"Don't worry Nine, I'll be gentle." I say.

He grimaces.

"Whenever people say that, it means they are most definitely not going to be gentle."

I grin wickedly, to which he replies by flipping me off. I laugh and position myself a distance of 3 metres from him.

I ready myself and look directly into his eyes. I imagine my voice almost like a river, with Nine trying to swim to the other side, not paying attention to the water. I envision him stopping, being buffeted and moved by the river. I concentrate as hard as I can, building up as much Inveigle as I can. I bring the image back to mind, and decide what I want to do.

I look directly at him, and throw the command as strongly as I can, putting as much force behind it as I can.

"Sleep!"

I expected Nine to just stand there, unaffected by my weak legacy. The outcome is very different to that.

His eyes roll up in his head and his knees crumple beneath him as he falls to the floor.

Sandor lets out a loud whoop and Adelina beams at me.

"Very good Marina!"

The three of us go over to inspect Nine, who is very clearly asleep. His face has even taken on the same expression he has when he's in a deep sleep.

I shake Nine's shoulder.

He doesn't stir. Panic fills me. What if I accidentally put him in a coma? Nine is the only true friend I've ever had, and I'm not quite ready to let go of him yet. I calm myself, even though the Cepans now look panicked and desperately shaking him.

I focus again, almost feeling my legacy in my throat. I imagine my voice emanating through his entire body, pushing away the darkness of sleep.

"Nine, wake up."

His eyes fly open and he sits up with a small gasp. He looks around, probably confused about why we're on the floor, and why the Cepans look so relieved.

"Uh," he raises an eyebrow questioningly, "why am I on the floor, exactly?"

I laugh and pick him up off the ground, explaining as I do. I expect him to be pissed off at me, but he looks delighted. He isn't angry, just happy that my legacy is so strong.


As I lie in bed that night, I can't help but think about the others. The charm is broken now, so any one of them could be next, but the Mogs don't know that. They'll continue to hunt Number Three, and Four after that. We need to meet up with the others. We're stronger together, Adelina has told me that since Day 1. I wish there was a way to locate the others. I sit up suddenly. There is a way to contact the others! I remember what Adel told me about our communications system, part of our inheritance. Some of us have the globe things that allow you to hear the others, and some of us have the red crystal that allows us to talk to the others.

I wonder if we could contact the others with it, but I then remember that the mogs have already killed One and Two, and probably have their chests, not to mention they could have captured other Garde, and be tracking us with our chests.

I deflate a little, but hope remains.

Both Adelina and I are all for going to find the others, and I might be able to convince Nine, but Sandor is firm in saying that wandering aimlessly looking for the others will be foolish. If I propose the idea to them tomorrow, of contacting the others in a different way, they might just agree with me.

I tell them the next morning. Nine is enthusiastic, but the Cepans are a little more dubious. Nine and I gang up on them, basically just infuriating them to the point they'll do anything to make us shut up.

I decide to try my telepathy again. Just because I don't remember them much at all, doesn't mean I can't try to contact them.

I sit with my legs crossed.

Adelina, Sandor and Nine sit on the couches around me, while I have occupied the floor in the centre of the room.

"Who should she try to contact?" Sandor says.

Adelina thinks for a moment, brow crinkling in concentration. She eventually makes up her mind and turns to me.

"Try Brandon, he was always the most level-headed of us all."

I raise an eyebrow at her and lean forward.

"Okay, who's his Garde?"

"Four."

I nod and settle back into my original position.

I concentrate. I focus on my memories of him, a rather shy boy only as old as his number. A shy boy who spent a lot of the earlier times on the ship hiding behind his Cepans leg. I focus until he is all I'm thinking about. I let my mind reach into the wide space of minds and think of him.

Four?

I feel a wave of shock resonate through my body.

A wave of shock that isn't mine.

Four? Are you number Four?

I wait, desperation sinking in.

Yes. Who are you?

I feel happiness rush through me, something that Four can probably feel.

Hi, I'm number Seven, but I also go by Marina. Sorry, I don't really know how to talk to someone I haven't seen in 10 years.

Who would?

I smile.

So, you're telepathic?

Among other things. I reply.

I can almost see Four smile.

Listen. I say. I don't know how much longer I can maintain this connection. You need to know, the charm is broken.

I feel his shock for the second time that day.

By you?

Yeah, I'm with Number Nine in a safehouse in Canada. Where are you?

I'm in Florida.

Okay, cool. The mogs don't know that the charm is broken, so they'll keep on hunting Three, then move to kill you after. Come and find us, we're stronger together.

You say that like you think I would hesitate.

Ha, sorry. We're in Quebec City. Be careful.

I will be.

And then he's gone. I open my eyes. The others are looking at me expectantly. I grin.

"You guys ready to meet Number Four?"


Yay! Next chapter will have Four's perspective and other stuff! Please review and answer the poll on my profile!

~DarkAnubis27