It was raining.

Dark rain clouds had developed a few days ago, when Mr. Torsson had found that his son was dead yet again.

The Flames could not revive the two. Tancred was not able to revive because of the power of the shot: it was dark magic, the kind of magic that was impossible to break. Emma, because of her form she had taken on when the shot that took her life. No one really understood that, and they probably will never understand.

Charlie sulkily made his way up the slope, holding an umbrella . He wore a black suit and a blue tie, because Emma and Tancred's eyes were blue.

His mother, Amy Bone was on his left, clutching to his aching arm. They were in bandages, yes, but he didn't say anything about it. He knew that his mother would cling to him after this. She had a black dress on, and several tears sliding down her cheek.

His father, Lyell Bone, was on his right, silently walking through the wet ground with his hands in his pockets and his face bowed. He and Charlie matched, that is, if they were the same height.

Charlie glanced over at Olivia and her mom. Olivia was clinging to Mrs. Vertigo, a handkerchief in hand. She would blow her nose between cries of anguish. Olivia Vertigo, known for her colorful attires, was only dressed in black. Very simple, very plain.

Gabriel and Lysander were on Charlie's right, just a couple of paces ahead. Their families, The Sages and the Silks, were close to the Torssons, for they lived in the same area. Gabriel had his head bowed, just like Mr. Bone, and his three sisters followed him, exchanging sad glances.

Lysander was broody all of the sudden: He never seemed to smile. He never laughed, nor joke, or even look up. His family were devastated when they found out what had happened. They were even more inconsolable when they found out that Emma Tolly had too died.

And it didn't make it better that they found that Tancred was the reason for her death. But they knew the whole story.

Billy was with Charlie, and he was crying, like Olivia. Charlie, feeling sad, reached out and grabbed the small boy's hand.

Uncle Paton was with Miss Ingledew, who was one of the loudest. "I lost her once and I lost her again..." she was wailing.

Mrs. Torsson was also like Miss Ingledew. The two women were next to each other and they held on to each other, because they were the female figures in Emma and Tancred's lives, Mrs. Torsson as a mother and Miss Ingledew as a guardian.

Mr. Torsson was walking gloomily by her. The Flames paced behind him because they were trying to keep his endowment from getting out of hand. Charlie thought that was smart, but it must be frustrating not to let out all of your anger.

Fidelio and his large family came as well. The Gunns, a very happy family, weren't very happy now. No singing, no instruments, no music=no joy.

They arrived at the top of the hill where a cypress tree was rooted at with two headstones at the base.

Emma Tolly

Birthday: June 20 1992

Deathday: October 11 2004

A wonderful friend, superb

artist, and an amazing tolroc.

Tancred Torsson

Birthday: March 26 1991

Deathday: October 11 2004

A fun loving person, a wonderful

joker, and a creator of the breeze.

Charlie almost uttered a cry when he finished reading it. It was too much.

The adults left their children and rounded up around the graves, talking about memories. The children found it too endearing and mournful so they wandered off, thinking, talking with a few friends, crying.

Charlie went over to Lysander, who was standing by himself, looking out towards the city. The cemetery overlooked it, being high on the hills.

Charlie sighed and said, "Life changing, huh?"

Lysander didn't answer. He turned his head at Charlie to look at him. "Very," he finally said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Charlie said, "What ever happened to Elijah?"

Lysander frowned. "I don't know. The day they...left, that was the last time I saw him."

Charlie sighed. "You think he left the city? Maybe he fled. Can't blame him. I heard him say once that everywhere he went, he causes pain and grief to everyone there."

Lysander bowed his head. "Poor guy..."

"I feel bad for him. He was used as a puppet. And he's a good guy, you know, if his mind doesn't take over him."

Lysander grimaced. "That's kinda creepy."

"Yeah. I didn't know the Red King had that."

There was a small silence before Lysander said, "You think the king ever lost his mind?"

"Dunno..."

Thunder rolled and the two looked up. Charlie held his umbrella higher so Lysander wouldn't get wet anymore. The rain was awfully calm now. But then again everyone made crazy assumptions; no one trusted their eyes or ears anymore, at least, not yet.

"Do you know what I found in Emma's trash can?" Lysander said suddenly, hands in his pockets.

Charlie shook his head. "No. What did you find?"

Lysander glanced down at his pockets and pulled out a crumpled up piece of notebook paper and smoothed it out. He offered it to Charlie, who took it and made sure that the paper wouldn't get wet.

It was a piece of paper with a heart on it with an 'E' on the left and a 'T' on the right. And in the middle where a + sign should be was scribbled out and a question mark was jotted down above the scribble.

"This was in the trash?" Charlie inquired.

"Miss Ingledew actually found it." said Lysander. "She found it in Emma's trashcan in her room. She gave it to me..."

"Oh." Charlie took another look at the drawing and folded it up nicely and handed it back to Lysander, who pocketed it.

"Remember Sarah Hayden?" Lysander asked tonelessly.

"Yeah, she sits behind me in class." said Cahrlie.

"Remember what she asked you about the initials?"

"Er...if I know a boy whose initials are 'E.T''" said Charlie, tilting his head curiously. "Why?"

"I asked her why she was asking, and she told me she saw Em drawing that." said Lysander.

"The picture?"

"Yea..."

Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "Go on..."

"She asked almost everyone she knew and then rumors started to spread. She said that she told her friends that Emma was drawing it specifically, and one of them must have spilled. The whole school was trying to find out who had her initials."

"Yeah, I remember that." said Charlie. He remembered how they were asking everyone randomly about it, and Charlie found it annoying. "Rumors...look where rumors led us to."

"Well, when Elijah arrived at school, everyone was thinking that maybe that Emma knew him before, that she liked him. Everyone asked everyone."

Charlie nodded.

"That's when I realized that Tancred..." Lysander's voice trailed off. He cleared it as Charlie kindly waited patiently. "He was moodier. I knew he was jealous, but I..." He shook his head mournfully. "I didn't know he was that jealous. I asked Sarah why she was asking around. She said, well...she just wanted to know."

"And then it got out of hand and Elijah, or the Bloors, whatever, took advantage of that..." Lysander gulped.

Charlie nodded dumbly. Out of all of their plans, this was the worst.

The two were silent. The rain stopped slowly and the sky cleared. Either the Flames are doing a better job about containing Mr. Torsson's endowment in line or Emma and Tancred were looking down on them.

Charlie prefer to believe in the second one.

Birds chirped and a warm welcoming wind breezed through them. A few rays of light penetrated through the fluffy clouds. They seemed whiter than they were a few minutes ago.

"I think they're saying that everything's okay." a voice said softly from behind.

The two turned around and Olivia, and the rest of the endowed and Fidelio, stood behind them. Olivia looked a little better. At least she can finally put away her handkerchief. She stepped up next to Charlie, who lowered his umbrella, and slipped her hand into his, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"That should be backwards Liv," Charlie said softly, but he smiled at her, returning the squeeze. Gabriel and Fidelio stepped next to Lysander, Gabriel offering a hand to Lysander. Lysander looked hesitant but he smiled and grabbed his hand, and grabbed Charlie's hand as well.

One by one, they were all linked together, friend to friend. The sun finally showed itself, shining brightly on them. The grass glistened with dew and the clouds near the sun were a nice cream and peach color. For some reason, the bird chirps were louder and the wind whipped around them, as if it was toying with them.

"That's them alright..." Charlie said softly as Olivia laid her head on his shoulder. "That's them."