Prt III: Destiny

Chapter III: The Third

Imy rolled over sluggishly as she reached to her nightstand to shut her alarm off.

"Ergh," She mumbled, wiping some drool off the corner of her mouth, "I hate Tuesdays."

To Imy, Tuesdays were easily the worst days of the week. Every time it came around, she either ended up getting sick, or receiving terrible news. For instance, the day her grandmother had died, was a Tuesday.

There was a quiet knock on the door, and Imy mumbled a, "Come in."

Catty Ormond gently eased open the door, "Just making sure you were up." Her voice was strained and tired, complete with bloodshot and baggy eyes.

"Going to bed?" Asked Imy.

Catty nodded. "I got two paintings finished for the show."

"That's great." Replied Imy.

Catty almost never painted during the day, she would break out the canvas and oils at dusk and work until the early morning. She had told Imy that something about the night inspired her. "Well, I made you some breakfast, pancakes downstairs."

Imy smiled and rolled out of bed, "Thanks."

Catty turned away down the hall, but stopped in her tracks, she retraced her steps to Imy's room, "Are you ok?" She asked carefully.

Imy arched an eyebrow, "Why wouldn't I be ok?"

Catty shrugged, "Its just that last night I got this eerie feeling, like the chills." She sighed, "Mother's intuition. You'll be careful, right?"

Imy nodded, "I'm always careful." She said with a smirk.

Catty laughed and went back to her room.

Imy slumped on her bed, toying with the trinket around her neck. Tonight was a dark moon, and she couldn't shake the fact that something terrible was coming.

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Later that morning, Imy walked up to the school. Being the terribly evil age that was 15, and without a car or license, Imy had to walk everywhere. Her mom was somewhat of a Neo Hippie, and insisted on saving the environment one molecule of gas at a time.

She walked up to the building and started toying with the silver hoop through the left side of her lip. Her eyes looked for Art or Riley, but when she didn't see either of them, she sighed and proceeded through the metal detectors.

The security guard dug through her backpack, as Imy walked across the metal detector. The alarm went off, so she was put to the side where the guard traced her with a smaller detector and said she was clear. She fidgeted with the cuffs on her worn denim jacket. Something about today didn't feel right, that was for sure.

She sighed and mentally told herself to quit being a worrywart. She glanced down the hall, where Riley's lockers were and was happy to see her standing there; carefully categorizing her textbooks for the day.

She rushed over, "Hey Riley." She greeted warmly.

Riley turned her attention away from her locker and at Imy, "Hi." She said in her ever-constant whisper, a tiny lift in her face that constituted as a smile.

"What's wrong?" Asked Imy, sensing the uneasiness about her. Lately, Riley had begun increasing her control over her powers. Now she could not only receive, but project emotions. Sometimes, though, she would slip up and about half the school would suddenly be depressed or happy.

Riley sighed, "I've been having weird dreams." She looked at Imy, "Troubled sleep."

Imy looked at Riley with curiosity, "About what?"

Riley looked around and saw that Art was heading in their direction, "Not now." She said, gesturing towards the advancing boyfriend.

Imy nodded and turned around, "Hey dork." She said a lot more cheerfully.

Art rolled his eyes and slipped his arms around Imy's waist, "Hey geek." He nodded at Riley, "Riley."

"Hi." She stated rather blandly, she gathered her books, "I'll see you in math." She called to Imy as she headed down the hall.

"Later Riley." Imy called after, she turned to face Art, "Have you noticed anything.....Unusual about her lately?"

Art seemed to mull this over, "Ya. Trysten's being the same way, but Riley's worse cuz whenever I'm around her I feel extremely worn out or paranoid." He shrugged, "I'm sure its just nerves or something."

Imy turned and Art grabbed her hand, she laughed, "Must be a guitarist thing."

Art smiled, "Must be."

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The first half of school flew by, Imy dozing through most of it. When math came around with Riley, she began to get unnerved by her constant paranoid demeanor. Imy studied her, and every five seconds, she would turn around suddenly, as if someone was watching her. Imy sighed, concern was growing in the pit of her stomach for her practically sister.

When lunch came, Riley seemed to have disappeared altogether. Imy slowly shook her head and joined Art at his table.

"Hi guys," She greeted Art and Lance, she seemed to study the table, "Where's the third Musketeer?"

Art shrugged, "I haven't seemed him around all day."

Lance also shook his head. He looked over Imy's shoulder, "Uh-oh, goon patrol."

Imy and Art both turned around to see Amanda heading over to the table, Aria and Yvette close behind her.

Art sighed and put his head in his hands, "When is she going to get the hint that Trysten does not want to go out with her?!"

Imy rose her pierced eyebrow, "Amanda wants to date Trysten?" She paused, "That's weird."

Lance nodded, "Tell me about it, everyday she bugs us constantly, trying to get clues out of us so he'll like her better."

When they approached the table, Art immediately responded, "He's not here."

Imy looked at Amanda, and one didn't need to be empathetic to discover her disappointment, Amanda sighed, "Don't be silly, I just wanted to sit here and hang out with you guys."

Imy rolled her eyes, if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was phonies, she stood up, "I've got to run, Biology paper due next hour." She said, shouldering her bag and collecting her stuff.

Art looked at her with extreme begging, but she slowly shook her head, "I'll see you after school." She said, getting up and leaving.

She heard footsteps from behind her, and assumed that Art had found a way to leave as well, "So you escaped?" She asked, turning around to be face to face with Aria. Her eyes widened in surprise, "What do you want?"

Aria stood there awkwardly, shifting her weight from foot to foot, "Where did you get your necklace?" She responded.

Imy's eyes widened, "Why do you ask?"

Aria sighed, "You and that Riley girl have the exact same one as me," She pulled out a chain, "The exact copy." She paused and looked around, "Can we talk?"

Imy was still flabbergasted, "Uhm, sure."

The two walked outside, towards the revered 'Smoker's Alley'. They were on the other side of the trees, so they had privacy to talk.

Aria inhaled, "Last night, something extremely weird happened, my brother got burned, and I think," She looked at Imy questionably, "I think I healed him or something. And before I knew it, I started spewing Latin and everything else." She paused, "Normally I don't go talking to people about stuff like this, but I need to know." Her eyes locked with Imy's, "Is there something special about these amulets?"

Imy smiled, "So you're the third one." She stated, "Weird. Considering who the other two are."

"What do you mean?" Demanded Aria sharply.

"The necklaces signify our powers as Daughters of the Moon," She turned and looked at Aria, "Goddesses."

"Godd-"stammered Aria.

Imy looked around, checking to see if anyone was near, "Look, I know someone who can explain all of this better." Her eyes leveled with Aria's, "But you're going to have to trust me."

There was a moment of silence between the pair, "Alright." Came Aria, a voice without fear or doubt.

Imy nodded, "Grab my arm."

"What?!" Exclaimed Aria.

Imy rolled her eyes, "Just do it." Aria slowly did, and Imy let the power from Selene build. The air seemed to crackle and her eyes dilated. She closed her eyes and focused on Jimena's apartment. "Hold on tight, it might be a bumpy landing."

"I think I changed my mind-"Started Aria, but she was cut off as the two disappeared with a flash of light.

Imy's landings had improved greatly, improved as in they no longer appeared 20 feet in the air, however, the two landed with a rather hard thud against Jimena's hardwood floors.

Aria let out a soft, "Oomph." And pushed herself up off of the ground. When she realized that her surroundings had greatly changed, a huge wave of panic spread over her. "What in the name of-"

"You must be Aria." Came a voice from the kitchen as Jimena entered, drying a dish with a towel. She looked at Imy with some humor, "Glad you decided to drop in."

Imy slowly pushed herself up off of the floor, "No problem at all."

Aria's eyes widened in fear, "Who are you? Where am I? How do you know my name?!" She asked, each question becoming more and more panicked.

"My name is Jimena Castillo, and this is my apartment." She smirked, "Off of Wilshire Blvd., you're still in Los Angeles." She turned and looked at Imy, "I'll take her from here, why don't you go talk to Riley? She's in her room."

Imy's eyes widened, "Why is she at home?"

Jimena's eyebrows raised, "You didn't hear?"

Imy slowly shook her head.

"Riley passed out right after her English class, I had to take her home." Jimena gave a wry smile, "She's in her room now, I'm sure she'd appreciate a visit."

Jimena walked over to Aria, "Why don't you come with me?"

Aria shook her head, "No way! Who are you?!" her eyes widened, "Oh Lord, am I in some sort of cult?! Is that what this is about?!"

Jimena laughed, "I already informed you, my name is Jimena Castillo. And I swear, you are in no sort of cult." She gently escorted the wide-eyed Aria into a side room.

Imy walked slowly over to Riley's room. The door was shut, but she heard music coming from the inside, so she gently eased open the door, "Riley?" she asked.

"Imy, what are you doing here?" Came a quiet voice, that nevertheless sounded happy.

"I was dropping off some," She grinned, entering the room, "Things." She paused and her mouth fell open, "Riley, what the heck happened to you?"

Riley was paler than saran wrap, and her eyes had dark circles under them. She sighed, "I passed out apparently."

"So I heard," Came Imy carefully, sitting at the foot of her bed, "What happened?"

Riley shook her head and put a hand to her temple, "It's fuzzy. I remember dozing off in Mr. Terrick's class, because I was tired and hadn't been sleeping well." She paused, "And I remember seeing something-"

"What was it?" Asked Imy, curiosity growing.

"Fire, Imy." Replied Riley, her eyes widening in fear of the memory, "Lots and lots of fire."

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That's it for today! Bwauwhawuhawuhawa. Bwa.

Next Up: Prt III: Destiny, Chapter IV: Nightmares

Reviewers:

Asch Nite: Yep! Riley's empathetic, Imy teleports, and Aria is a healer. The fourth Daughter's power will be harder to find though. I saw on your profile page that you're a drummer! Raises hand Guitarist! Lol I'm always so excited to find fellow musicians on FF !

CC: Pauses dude! I totally forgot about those parts, lol. I really don't think its Vanessa though, I keep telling myself its someone totally unobvious. Gasp! Wouldn't it be cool if one of the Daughter's moms was a Daughter who chose to stay on earth and forget? That would be awesome! Lol I keep hoping for a Cassandra or a Morgan Mater though, because that would be too much fun. I can see Morgan bossing around the other Daughters for stupid things and making them do it because 'She's the Mater." Lol. Anyways, thank you for reading.

Highlanderfanatic: I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really glad you did Thank you for reading

Toodles

!nym!