Liz- glad you're still sticking around and I hope you keep enjoying how I continue this story!

Ray

The next day, I actually had the strength to get out of bed. Mom, Dad, and Grandpa had all been by to keep me company. Chavez also came by a lot, but never to check on me. He'd stay as long as he could, disappearing into Nadia's room to care for the exhausted woman.

Alakshmi did all she could to avoid me. Every once in a while, I would see her peek around a corner to see how I was doing, but that was all I ever saw of her other than quick visits to the kitchen. Maria entertained me as best she could when my family had to leave. She helped me to the living room where I met the Lobachevsky's pet. A green macaw called.

"Pickle was a hand-me-down from our grandfather. Dedushka bought him after his first year in America and was his second owner. He's like… seventy something years old now? His real name is General, but little me liked the name Pickle better and now he doesn't respond to anything else. Just don't touch him, or make eye contact, or run from him. But don't let him near you. He's become mean in his old age, especially to strangers."

When Wade came to check in on me, he was surprised how fast I was recovering and promised if I was still feeling well by the next morning, I could go home. I called Gabe and he told me everything about the light rebellion and Beowolf, and then about what happened to Allie. It made me sick with anger thinking about how scared she must have been.

The next day couldn't come quick enough. I was feeling fine and Wade gave me a perfect bill of health. I texted Allie and Gabe before hand, and we all agreed to meet up on Saturday, giving me all of Friday to stretch my legs and get used to being back awake and at home.

I woke up at my normal school day time and headed to the bus stop even though mom and dad said I could stay home. It had been almost two full weeks since I've seen or spoken to Raven, and based on the sudden lack of missed calls from her, I probably upset her from not answering. I had a good reason, but she doesn't know anything about it. Crossing my fingers, I turned the corner and saw a black and blonde haired girl waiting on the bench.

"Raven!" I called out to her and waved, picking up the pace and running to her. I couldn't even begin to describe how happy I was to see her.

She whipped around in surprise. When she recognized who had called out to her, I could see how upset I had truly made her. Standing quickly, she practically shouted at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to talk to you." I slowed down to a stop in front of her, suddenly becoming more interested in the ground. "I need to explain myself."

Raven's face turned from upset to slightly confused. After a moment, she sat down on the bench, giving me space to sit as well, but didn't offer it to me.

Still standing, I told her everything. She was rightly horrified when I got to the end. To the part where I unthinkingly almost killed myself. "I think that's the dumbest think I've ever heard anyone do!" She cried, standing quickly, her blue eye boring into me.

"I know, I know. Everyone's already chewed me out for that." I tried to turn the tone of the conversation, but it didn't work.

"I- I'm sorry." She stammered, sitting back down again and hugging herself tightly. "You hadn't called or answered my calls since the dance… I thought I might have scared you off with my story." Shaking her head, I could tell how terrible she felt. "I was being selfish. I didn't even think that you might have been dealing with Kaijudo stuff."

"Honestly, I would have thought the same thing." I sat down next to her, placing my hand over one of hers. "We've both been jerks to each other, even though we didn't mean it. How about I make it up to you for nearly getting myself killed and we call it even?"

She looked back to me, unsure for a few moments. "Okay, and I have the perfect idea." Her grin returned, and I could tell it was a real one. "My school is having an art exhibition tomorrow night. You'll come as my guest and we can never talk about this again." She reached out her right hand. "Deal?"

I gladly shook it. "Deal."

The bus came and she promised to text me the details later. Waving goodbye, I headed down town. It wasn't long before I reached Kadaver's Getaway. I spoke to the man outside, who once again directed me to the alleyway. It took all of two minutes for Mai to run out and greet me with a hug.

"Ray!" She wrapped her arms around me. "Are you alright? What happened? I know something happened so don't you dare lie to me."

Her tone turned from worried to accusing, like a mom who had lost her kid in the park for two hours. I was about to explain, but she shushed me and led me inside to a back room. Now in a more private place, she allowed me to explain everything.

She listened quietly to my story, staring hard at the floor with her fists folded together and her chin resting against them. To my surprise, she didn't say anything about me diving in after Master Nadia. Instead, she focused on something else.

"So the water elder advised you to find the others? To save us all…" She hummed, deep in thought.

In all honesty, I haven't even thought about that since it happened. I wouldn't even know where to begin with this request. The Masters already knew where the water elder was, but they might have no idea where the other four are.

"Something's changing, Ray." Mai sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"There is something in the air. Something that I can't figure out." Standing, she turned to look at a picture on the wall of five serpentine creatures twined around each other, each one a different color that stood for the five civilizations. "I think it might be time for me to return to the temple."

I was really taken back by her words. "Wait, really?"

She sighed. "The Guard may be gone, but I am still a duelist. I did what I could to help from the shadows the last two world ending events, but I will be able to help better alongside the masters… If they will have me."

"If they will have you? Did you do something wrong?"

She let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head slightly. "The order does not take well to deserters. They may choose to simply wipe my mind, or order me to a specialist outpost away from the action. I'm not going to lie to you, Ray. It will be rough. If they do try and send me away or erase my memories, I can't let it happen. And if things do go that way, they can't know I've been training you."

Mai refused to talk more about it, and instead we practiced some mana control techniques. She was surprised at how fast I recovered, but I still left exhausted anyways.

It was late when I made my way back home. The street light had come on, causing me to take off running for home. Mom rightfully chewed me out for disappearing without so much as a text or note, but then she began to question where I was.

"Where were you all day?!" She demanded. "I know you left early to talk to Raven, but she doesn't seem like the type to ditch. Where were you after she went to school?"

Trying to think up a lie, I began to just blurt out locations. "The Park, downtown, around the neighborhood… I just wanted to walk around after being in bed for so long."

"You went to the temple, didn't you?" Crossing her arms, she cast an angry glance towards dad.

"No, why?"

"Ray, don't you dare lie to me! You nearly died because of them and not even a week later you run back without telling me!" I have never seen mom so angry. Sure she was upset at the masters when she thought the Choten killed me, but this was far beyond that. Too shocked to respond, I sat quietly as she tore into me. Okami hid under the table, Ojisan became very interested in something outside, and dad stared at the floor as mom questioned the order and my involvement in it.

In the end, she ordered me to go to my room after grounding me from Kaijudo for a month, taking my gauntlet to prove her point. I was angry at first, but I couldn't hold it against her. I don't even want to think about how many times she almost lost me, and she really only knows of two events.

The next morning, I took Okami for a good walk, told mom exactly where I was going, and headed to Allie's.

Reaching the front door, I was greeted by Gabe. "Ray, you're okay!" He just about smothered me with a hug.

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't have been able to text you guys if I wasn't." I chuckled as he let me go. "Have you knocked yet?"

"Yeah, Allie's just taking her sweet ti-" He was cut off as the door swung open and Allie tackled me with a hug. The two of us fell silent as she buried her head in my jacket and held on tightly, as if reassuring herself that I was indeed there.

I would have let her hold on a little while longer, if it weren't for the fact that her dog began to growl. "Uhhh, Allie?" I stepped away, raising my hands in a show of peace.

"Hero- Haku. It's alright. They're friends." Allie backed away from me and knelt down to the animal, placing a hand on his shoulder. The dog still seemed unconvinced. "Dad's out at work, so we'll have the house to ourselves for a while."

Just in case, the three of us and the dog headed upstairs to Allie's room. "Okay," Gabe began. "Time to touch base. Ray, I think you need to go first, then Allie right after. My news is probably not as big as both of yours."

"Okay, here we go." I sighed before launching into my story. To my surprise, neither interrupted, sitting quietly and only visually reaction to all of the weird things I had learned about the Elder and the world.

"Woah… there was a time before the civilizations? And there are still living creatures that were alive back then? That's crazy." Gabe breathed, and I could see the excitement in his eyes as he chewed on this new bit of information. "I wonder if any of the masters knew about this. No one ever said anything."

"Well they also didn't tell us about the Guard," Allie huffed. "And their downfall was a heck of a lot more recent. Celeste couldn't be older than forty, and Kimora's own mother might have been one."

Biting my tongue, I just barely kept from mentioning Mai. I couldn't break my promise to her, even if she might rejoin the order anyways. Deciding to divert attention, I turned to Allie. "Now, your turn. You have some explaining to do." I glanced at the white faced dog, who was watching us from the corner of the room.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself before beginning her story. Gabe and I were staring at the dog- no, Kitsune in shock by the end. "Hakura, it's okay. You can show yourself."

The creature stayed still for a moment, silently judging us with his golden eyes before easily morphing into his true form.

"So one true Kitsune still exists." Gabe began excitedly. "It's an honor to meet you!"

Hakura's ear twitched slightly, then bowed his head. "It is an honor to meet the allies of Lady Allie."

The two of us turned to her in confusion. She simply shrugged. "He's very formal, I guess, and a few hundred years old, so old formal. He refuses to call me anything else. I actually got him to admit that he's the one who saved me at the dance. He heard the commotion and headed to the roof to watch us duel, then used his shadow sneak powers to save me. He doesn't know why I have the marks though."

"Well that sucks." I sighed. "Maybe there was another Kitsune survivor? Because he confirmed the marks are Kitsune right?"

Hakura nodded his head when I turned to him. "I know of no Kitsune living near here. If there was, I would have found them." His voice was cold and low, but I couldn't begin to imagine the feelings that I might have brought up by making such a suggestion.

Allie must have seen or heard something that I hadn't because she immediately cast me a warning look before quickly turning to Gabe for his story.

"Well, first off." He fished a golden ring on a silver chain from under his shirt, causing both Allie and I to gasp. He launched into his story of how Sasha had called for his help and how he met and bonded with Beowolf over history and defending the temple. All of that was interesting, but something else caught my attention.

"Wait, so Angelboy was meeting with Raja the Sky burner? Why would he do that? Light and Fire are enemies, so what would the two titans have to do with each other?" I looked between the two, and then to Hakura.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Gabe admitted, crossing his arms. "I didn't get the chance to ask about it. Sorry."

Allie turned to the Kitsune. "Hero- er, Hakura," It was difficult for Allie to keep his name straight while having to call him something else near her father. "You know what, You're hero from now on. Do you know anything about Raja or Angelboy meeting?"

The darkness creature was silent for a time, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as he thought. "Titans are not known to acknowledge borders. Many titans believed them to be senseless, though no one would challenge them if they wandered too far into a different territory. Many often formed alliances between each other… The Lady Ahri brokered a deal with the Fire Fox king during the old war in order to gain an upper hand against Megaria." He spat out the name. "She bore the king a son while he kept her people safe. The deal ended when that mad king got himself killed by Napalmeon along with over half of the fire fox population."

"Wait, what?" I gaped.

"So Kura's father was killed by Napalmeon the Conquering?" Allie asked carefully, seeing Hakura now visibly agitated by the story.

"And the prince got his revenge at the destruction of his Mother. Kura was immediately thrown into jail and the Fire Foxes were put in chains. Kura only stays because Skycrusher holds their lives in his claws, and without the Fire Foxes or the prince's strength, the Kitsune fell."

Seeing how upset the memories made him, Allie got down from her bed and gently hugged his neck. Hero made no move to hug her back, but his ears immediately flattened and his eyes watched her with surprise, completely unsure of what to do.

She called an end to that topic, and we spent the rest of the day catching up on homework with Gabe's help. My phone beeped, signaling it was time to head home and clean up before meeting Raven.

"Sorry guys, I've gotta go." I gathered up my things.

"Where to?" Gabe asked.

"Raven invited me to her school's art exhibition. I've gotta go get ready and meet her.

I didn't miss the change in Allie's mood, but the sudden death glare from Hero, who also noticed the difference, made me hurry out the door. I thought Raven and Allie were getting along now, but I guess not.

Running home, I was somewhat surprised at how easy I now found the run. When putting on some more appropriate clothes, I took a moment to actually check myself out and was surprised to find more muscle than I remembered.

Taking a few seconds for vanity, I flexed my arms. "Thank you, Mai!" Her intense training is paying off in more ways than one.

A text from Raven sends me running for the door with Okami hot on my heels. Dad held her back as I slipped out and met Raven on the porch.

"Hey, stranger." She greeted me.

"Hey, please ignore the terrible howling in three, two, one." My countdown was perfectly timed. Okami cried incessantly as we walked down to the bus stop. Noticing we were going alone, I turned to her. "Is your family not coming to see your art?"

"Dad's out of town and the triplets are all violently ill." She sighed, unable to hide a grin. "I'm kind of glad though. It's difficult to wrangle the three terrors when in public, especially around fragile things."

"I can imagine!" The two of us laughed, both remembering just prior to the dance.

We talked the entire way there, and all the way up to the door. After picking up a flier for a summer art class, the two of us began to wander around, looking at the art pieces.

"So, what kind of stuff do you have in here?" I asked as we examined a clay pineapple that somehow got a first place ribbon in ceramics.

"All pencil and charcoal drawings. I think you might immediately recognize one or two." She gave me a sly smile, turning away and continuing on to the next piece.

Finally reaching the 2d and not photography section, we admired a brightly colored painting when I noticed something on the far wall. Next to a sparkling blue ribbon, there was a black and white charcoal drawing of Guardian Sphinx Alexandria.

"Hey, you won something!" I cheered, and her face lit up as she saw it.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it won!" She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, which I happily returned after a strange second of hesitation.

Walking up to it, I began to admire the techniques she used and she just blushed while trying to play off her talent. We found a few more pieces from her, each one just as amazing as the last, but then Raven noticed someone in the crowd.

"Hey, Mrs. L, Mr. J!" She called into the crowd, she turned to me real fast though, and whispered, "Prep yourself".

The two adults turned, and I felt the color drain from my face. The Nadia clone was here, and no longer anything like her picture. Long, platinum blonde hair framed her burned face. Her left eye no longer a deep blue but a hazy silver, completely blind. As she turned, there was an obvious limp in her gait. Looking down, I noticed her dress pants were unusually saggy on the left leg, and two metal rods were barely visible where her ankles should have been.

"Ray, I'm glad you could make it!" The man, Mr. J greeted Raven. He was obviously an art teacher. He had the hairdo, the dark button down shirt, and lightly stained pants from paint that he obviously tried to scrub out. "Congrats on the win! Maybe you can make it off with the main prize?"

"Maybe. I dunno though, that pineapple might just beat us all." She said sarcastically.

"Why that thing won, I will never know." Mrs. L shook her head with a chuckle, then she seemed to notice my shocked stare. Raven noticed after a moment, and quickly intervened.
"Raiden, this is Mrs. Annushka Lobachevsky. She's Master Nadia's twin, but I'm sure you've realized that by now."

Understanding seemed to dawn on the two teachers. "Oh, you know my sestra? From the hospital or the dojo?"

"Dojo." I answered, still reeling from the strangeness of meeting a happier, more outgoing, and not pink haired Nadia.

"Ah," She nodded. "I hope she doesn't treat you all too terribly. Nad's always been more hardnosed than anyone I've ever known. She's always had a knack for teaching, but she's a bit too stiff for school life." The woman sighed, as if remembering something.

"She makes us work, but she's a good teacher." I responded.

"That's good. I'm sorry, but I have a meeting early tomorrow. Have a nice night everyone!" She waved before disappearing into the crowd.

"Okay," Mr. J suddenly turned to me. "So you're the Raiden I've heard so much about? Raven often talks about how good of an artist you are."

"Oh, uhh." Looking to Raven for help, I found a mock-innocent smile. "I guess?"

"Maybe you can join us this summer? We have an extensive art program that runs for three weeks. Raven's attended once before, so if you have any questions, you can ask her." He fixed his glasses before checking his watch. "Sorry, I have to run too. The exhibition will be ending soon and I need to beat the crowd if I want to keep my promise to May."

"May is Mr. J's daughter." Raven explained as he left. "His name is Joseph Jack. We call him JJ behind his back, but Mr. J any other time. He really liked the picture you gave me. There's even a financial aid program if your family can't fully afford it."
The two of us talked about the program until the grand winners were announced, and we were the first to storm out when the pineapple placed first. IT WASN"T EVEN REALISTIC. IT WAS JUST A SPIKY OVAL!

We caught the last buss home, and I walked Raven to her house so we could talk a little longer. "Thanks for coming tonight." She said as we reached her door.

"No problem! It was really fun." I replied.

She took my hand for a second, suddenly making my stomach tense up, and gave it a small squeeze. "I'll see you around?"

"Definitely." I nodded with a smile, and watched her head inside. Turning once the door shut behind her, I allowed myself to grin like an idiot all the way home.