A/N: I'm back!!! JC should be banned… Because of around fifty (or more) hours of forced study in the last week combined with a confiscated laptop, I haven't had any chance to update! Sorry I took so long to finally get this up. Thanks to my reviewers:

Angelmail: Just came to me :) I BLAME THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS! Lol, obviously they're good for something!

DustyG: Thank you :) I actually had that part planned since the beginning, lol!

Sparkleglitz01: Maybe it's because we're both Irish :) He's a lot of fun to portray!

365 Pages of Awesomeness: I think we both need to send seperate links, that's what I did with the stories I beta :) Btw, when are you going to update your story- I need to read more of it!

Air Gemini Star: You seem hyper. You should check out Angelmail's forum! We're all hyper there!

and especially Hugapug Puggywug, who reviewed EVERY CHAPTER!: As you know, you got the special review number- 96 :) Should Omar be good, evil or ignored?

Questions

Glad that the meeting was finally over, Nick stifled a yawn and began to inch towards the place where they had entered the cavern. Gard, noticing his companion's eagerness to leave, put a gentle hand on his shoulder and chuckled.

"Wait a moment, companion. I believe that Connie has something else to say." Nick made an attempt to restrain his obvious fatigue- he had not slept a wink since Aisling had been admitted to hospital. Gard made a minute gesture towards the centre of the room, barely noticeable by anyone who was not in the immediate vicinity. Nick slowly began to shuffle towards the centre of the room again. The moment he joined the other universals at the centre of the engraved compass, the balance felt right again. Connie noticed the two newest additions to her company's shared fatigue and sat down, encouraging Aisling and Nick to do the same. She waited until they had sat down, then pulled a newspaper from the pocket of her anorak. With a rueful smile, she handed the paper to Aisling.

On the page displayed, there was a clear picture of Aisling. She put her head in her hands in embarrassment- the picture had been taken three years beforehand, on her first day of secondary school. She was wearing a hideous maroon jumper two sizes too large for her and was completely swamped in a maroon skirt almost down to her ankles in length. The uniform was completed with a bottle-green shirt and a maroon and green striped tie that looked to be in danger of choking her.

The twelve-year-old smiled awkwardly at the camera, her mismatched eyes narrowed as she squinted to avoid the autumn sun's harsh glare that emphasised her metal braces, making them glint madly. Her brown hair was caught up in a neat plaited ponytail behind her.

Nick sneezed loudly, trying to cover up his rising laugh. Aisling glared furiously at him. He swallowed his laughter and looked from the picture to Aisling curiously. She looked so different now.

Noticing his intense gaze, she blushed and turned away, folding the newspaper over so that the picture was no longer visible. As her eyes skimmed over the article, her expression gradually changed. She looked up, frowning.

"You never told me that I was missing! Please, take me back home. My parents must be so worried!" She gestured to Nick, noticing his calm expression.

"What about Nick? Are his parents not worried as well?" Nick shook his head.

"My mum is a member of the Society. She knows where I am." This front of help failed, she looked at each of the Trustees with pleading eyes.

"I understand that Kulevro is a huge threat, and I know that I have to be trained to resist him, but could I at least phone my parents and let them know I'm safe?" Morjik answered her.

"We would not keep you here against your will, Universal. You are free to choose to do what you will. We made that mistake once- we will not do it again." Aisling suppressed her curiosity as to why the dragon had said this and did not interrupt to ask, eager for him to continue. However, he spoke no more on that subject, instead choosing to ask her a question.

"You seem a lot more accepting of this than I expected. What is your honest opinion of the Society?" Aisling scratched her head, unsure of how to answer. While she did not want to offend the creatures present, she did not want to lie either.

"Um. Can I ask you a question first before I give you my answer?" she asked hesitantly. Morjik inclined his head.

"Why wasn't I found before now? Loads of people have seen me since I went 'missing', why didn't they report me?" Morjik considered the question before answering, turning it over in his ancient mind.

"That is a fair question. While I am unable to read the minds of passing people," he smiled at Connie for some unknown reason, "We had an… incident with one of our Society members a few years ago with one of the more dangerous creatures that we protect, and there was nobody in the hospital who could help her, so we had to bring outside help to her. Because of this, we stationed one of our Society members in the hospital who was well trained in healing, and she kept your case completely confidential. Did you notice that only one doctor came in to see you?" Aisling in fact had not noticed this- she had been unconscious for most of her time at the hospital, but nodded in agreement regardless. She laughed nervously.

"Well, in that case, I suppose you seem a little bit like spies. I mean, you're really secretive, and you have people positioned everywhere- like Nick at my school, even though he's the same age as me, and then there was the nurse in the hospital. You just seem to have a few stalkerish tendencies." Rat snorted with laughter, and began to applaud her words.

"Brilliant! You have us in a nutshell!" Everybody seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face. She tried answering the question again, her face red in embarrassment.

"But then again, you also seem a little like a wildlife Society. Admittedly, the creatures you protect are a little more… unusual than most, but maybe that's where the secrecy is coming from." Morjik sighed in relief.

"Your second theory is a little closer to the mark. The Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures is an ancient society set up to protect all mythical creatures from the section of mankind that would exploit us mercilessly. For this reason, we are kept a secret, but 'stalkers' is a little harsh, don't you think?" Aisling agreed, but wondered why he had changed the subject of her contacting home. Strangely, Connie also seemed to realize this, and turned to Aisling.

"Don't worry about your family. It's safer for them if they aren't involved, so I've come up with a plan for you to stay nearby. How would you feel about some new relatives?"