Kairi: Well, then, now that everyone knows that I'm back… Go read last chapter! There's lots of information in it, and it introduces a bit of a comic relief character… Then, once you've done that, come back and read this chapter. (Everything else is at the bottom.)

Lillith: Kairi doesn't own anything other than her OC's.

As the wall disappeared, three new vampires and two more demons appeared, all five of them female. Jack blanched as he realized that one of the demons was Carly.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the little runt that lost her runt," the other demon hissed, her black hair falling over venomous violet eyes. Kiara stared at her sadly.

"Hello, big sister."

The demon scoffed. "Big sister? You're as naïve as your brother," she hissed. Kiara sighed.

"At least Marik didn't let the darkness control him," she replied evenly. "You, on the other hand, have embraced it, Heylii. Kairi won't be able to let you back now. You know the rules."

Heylii crossed her arms. "Tch, what rules? Kairi is a weakling. Mark my words, Kiara, the Guardians will fall apart under her," she stated. Then she smirked. "Or perhaps don't. You won't live long enough to watch anyway… Will she, Carly?"

Carly smirked, her blood-red eyes locking onto Kiara's throat. The woman glared back at her before her eyes opened in slight surprise. She turned her shocked gaze onto Heylii, who smirked.

"You know why that magic is forbidden!" Kiara yelled, her shock being replaced by anger. Heylii just laughed.

"Forbidden, yes, but difficult? Only for the weak-minded," she replied. Then the mirth faded from her face as the three vampires turned to face her. The four of them seemed to converse silently before glancing back at the group behind them.

"Kill the witch, turn the humans, and bring the rest to us," the tallest of the three vampires ordered. Carly settled into an almost defensive stance as the rest of the supernatural creatures did the same. Heylii and the three vampires disappeared, literally melting into the shadows, as the crowd rushed forward.

They didn't make it far, as a slightly blinding shower of light collapsed around them, trapping all but one.

Carly was headed straight for Kiara's throat, obviously having no intention of letting her go alive. Kiara shifted, but someone else beat her to it. A small bit of golden-colored dust appeared as a girl in her teens grabbed Carly and knocked her to the ground, managing to smack her head on the pavement and knock her out.

Off to the side a ways was a familiar face, except that this one was framed in gold and copper hair rather than black and violet. Kairi smiled at them and flicked her hand at the dome of light, and they watched as the vampires, demons, and weres disappeared.

Yusei had no idea what exactly was going on, but Kalin seemed to have figured out part of it.

"What are we going to do with Carly? If Heylii really did do that ritual, she'll still be under her control when she wakes up," he said. Kairi nodded and walked over to them.

"That's why we find Sora," she said quite simply. Meanwhile, Kiara was staring in shock at the girl in front of her, and she wasn't the only one. The girl's short, blonde hair spiked out in random directions, and her violet eyes met Jack's cautiously.

And then Kiara's shocked expression faded into one of… well, motherly anger. "Kanan Avella Atlas, where the hell have you been?!"

Leo and Luna burst out laughing as Kanan cringed. Kairi flinched as well and subconsciously took a step back. "Kiara, don't kill your daughter," she called. "You're very welcome to kill me instead," she added, hinting to Kiara that Kanan's disappearance had actually been her fault. Kiara glared at her as she disappeared, leaving behind what Yusei was beginning to think of as the trademark golden dust.

Kiara rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of Kanan's jacket before the blonde teenager could escape. "You're still not out of trouble kiddo," the others heard her mutter. Kiara looked over at Kalin. "I'll send Sora your way," she added before teleporting out with her daughter. They all stood there shocked for a moment.

"I'm confused," Leo stated. Luna sighed.

"For once, Leo, so am I," she informed him. Halldor chuckled as he checked Carly's pulse. He was about to pull her onto his shoulder when Sora appeared, her black hair a stark contrast to the white dress she wore. Her electric blue eyes shone out from under the white hat on her head as she walked over.

"I am so glad that Sera's specialty is foresight," she mumbled, kneeling by Carly and placing a hand on her forehead. A light blue glow encased her hand.

Behind her, Jack turned to Kalin. "What the hell did that woman do to her?" he asked. Kalin sighed and glanced at his twin, and Odin shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I've only seen it once," he said simply. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"So have I, idiot," he replied. If Odin was offended, he did a poor job of showing it. Sora sighed.

"Let me finish this and I'll explain it," she told them. "Besides… there's more than just this that I should probably explain to you guys."

Sora hadn't trusted that house after the attack, so she led the group to Lillith's cave home under the cliff. Yusei sighed as they made their way to the living room, something that caught Breo's attention.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Yusei glanced over at him, then shook his head.

"Not really…" he muttered. Jack and Kalin exchanged glances.

"The cliff we're under… it's where you were dueling, isn't it?" Kalin asked. Yusei nodded, and the blue-haired man dropped it, understanding that Yusei likely didn't want to talk about the events that resulted in him being turned. No one blamed him for not wanting to talk.

Finally, with Carly safely deposited on the couch and assurances from Sora that she would be sane once she woke, the small girl turned to face them.

"What the hell did that woman do to her?" Jack demanded. Sora sighed.

"Heylii used an ancient form of demon magic. Blood magic is forbidden, but that's exactly what this is," she started. Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"Blood magic? Isn't that elven?" he asked. Sora nodded.

"Some forms are. This one is demonic," she replied before turning back to the rest of the group. "Heylii used her blood to influence Carly's mind… It's a form of mind control, and it's not easily broken."

"You mean to tell us that this Heylii woman was controlling Carly's mind through blood?" Lolliette asked. Sora frowned.

"Let's put it this way… You know how humans can only be turned by younger vampires if they drink the vampire's blood? That's pretty much how the whole blood magic thing goes. Demons feed on blood like vampires, so Heylii probably tricked Carly into drinking her blood while she was still disoriented from the transformation," Sora explained. Akiza crossed her arms.

"Why do I have a feeling that there's more to this?" she muttered. Sora sighed.

"There is… Demonic blood magic works on anyone, regardless of species, age, whatever," she told them. "And I've got a bad feeling that someone else in this room is going to find out what Carly's already learned about being under someone else's influence when blood magic is involved."

Kalin sighed. "Let's hope that's just a bad feeling and not your ability of foresight kicking in again," he muttered. Sora's electric blue eyes locked with his, and he resisted the urge to sigh again.

'Too late,' Sora told him telepathically. 'It's already been seen.'

Kairi: Oho… Any guesses as to who's gonna get brainwashed? We've got… oh, let's see… Carly waking up… Akiza meeting someone unexpected… the someone unexpected kidnapping her… Yusei chasing after them… An already-introduced character finally giving us his name… Jack nearly getting killed… Halldor has an ability… Crow actually managing to throw magic at something other than a stationary target without missing… hm…

Lillith: Oh wow, you've actually written some of the plot out now?

Kiara: Instead of just having it in your head…?

Kairi: What? No, it's still only in my head, I've just got the next couple chapters really planned out, because it involves killing one character (Finally! Time to start killing people! There are too many characters in this freaking story…), turning another two, finding out exactly who did something early on in the story, and Crow hitting another milestone. (Right behind 'not running into things while flying'.)

Lillith: O_O

Kiara: So… You want to give them a hint as to who's gonna get brainwashed?

Kairi: Well, here are your choices:

Halldor, Crow, Akiza, Yusei, or Carly (again)

Kairi: Good luck guessing who it will be. You've got a couple of chapters before then… And by that, I mean we've got next chapter, the chapter after it, and then the chapter that ends with us figuring out exactly who's been brainwashed. –grins- Halldor!

Halldor: Let me guess, preview?

Kairi: Nope, already done that… kinda all author's note, actually. Try again.

Halldor: …Oh. –turns to readers- Please don't forget to drop a review on your way out. We'll be back on the fourteenth.

Kairi: That's it! See ya next week, folks! –poofs-