Prt V: Battle

Chapter V: A Meeting

Riley and Aria's eyes both snapped open from sudden shock.

"What?" Demanded Riley, her fear and panic set aside for disbelief.

Tymmie let out a bitter laugh, "Aw, you didn't know what Trysten was?" His eyes gathered a sinister look, "How sweet."

Trysten clenched his teeth together and slowly bit out, "Why don't you just let the four of them go, Tymmie?"

Tymmie scoffed, "Yes, why don't I release all of the Daughters of the Moon when I have them in my grasp." His face darkened, "I'm not going to go easy on you if you get in my way."

"I didn't plan on you doing so," Trysten said through gritted teeth.

Riley turned her attention to Art, "Art, what's going on?" She demanded.

Art sighed and scratched the back of his neck, "You see, er,-"

"We were once Invitus." Lance finished for him.

"Invitus?" Aria asked, not fully understanding.

Riley's eyes remained on Trysten, who had locked gazes with Tymmie. It was obvious that the two were having some kind of discussion.

"We were taken to the Atrox against our will," Art said, spitting the word Atrox like it was some kind of curse.

"And then years ago, a Daughter freed us." Finished Lance.

"Who? Why?" Aria asked again, confusion plastered on her face.

Art sighed sadly, and Aria noticed how his eyes floated over towards Trysten, "It was a Daughter who had gone to the Dark that released us from our bounds." He paused, "We regained our hope, but we're still able to have these...." He carefully chose his next word, "Gifts the Atrox so kindly bestowed on us."

Riley ignored the conversation and gently tried to make her way over towards Imy, but she was soon stopped by yet another Follower, a girl this time.

"I don't think so honey," She said, her voice had a somewhat perky tone that resembled a cheerleader.

Riley's mind raced, panicking to try and find a way out, she stood on her tiptoes and looked over to where Imy and Tessa were. She felt a huge swell of relief when she discovered Imy was no longer lying on the ground unconscious. She had deducted that she had somehow woken up and had teleported to safety.

Suddenly, a huge crack filled the air, and Aria and Riley's heads both immediately jerked over to where Trysten and Tymmie were standing.

Tymmie lay crumpled on the ground, a dumbfounded look plastered on his face. Riley stretched her feelings out, and discovered he was unconscious. Trysten stood above him for a moment, his eyes were shut and his jaw was clenched. A few drops of sweat from his forehead glistened in the reflected streetlight.

"Trysten?" Riley asked hesitantly.

He kept his back toward her, and remained motionless.

The feelings of panic and anger threatened to overwhelm Riley as the crowd of Follower bystanders saw their fallen leader. Riley clutched her head, trying to breath deeply. She knelt down, and placed her hands over her ears, as if to shut out the feelings that way. She had ragged, uneven breaths, and she somehow knew that if she didn't get this under control, she'd become raving and furious.

Suddenly, her thoughts drifted back to what Jimena had told them before they left. She had the ability to cast emotions on others.

Serene. She pleaded, focusing on that thought, Joy.

She could feel a hum buzzing through the night air, weak, but somehow gaining power. Her eyes sealed themselves shut and she tried to think of every happy memory she had ever had.

Her thoughts drifted between playing guitar at shows, to hanging out with Imy, and to the one time, that her mother had wanted to spend time with her. She tried to bottle that emotion inside. She swore that someone was aiding her in finding the memories; an outside party seemed to be pushing her in the right direction.

And then it almost felt as if a fuse had blown out. The memories were quickly fading, and Riley found herself loosing her grip on her power. She had over-exerted herself, she realized. The images flickered and faded, and Riley found her residual self lost in some kind of gray tunnel.

"Filia Lunae." Came a whisper from the recesses of her mind.

"Yes?" She asked, her voice sounding fuzzy.

"Nox noctis citius venit cum tu es filia peccatore."

Riley tried to translate as quickly as she could, "Dangerous nights come quickly when you're a daughter of sin?" She swallowed, "I don't understand."

"Primus apud peccatores, primus apud afflictos." Came the whispered voice once again.

Riley stood there confused, but when a sudden burst of power burst through her, re-vamping her gifts, she suddenly felt overwhelmed with joy. "Thank you." She muttered as she once again focused her gifts, and was propelled out of the gray field.

When she opened her eyes again, she noticed a distinct, but hazy, gray colored glow hovering over the Follower's heads. They all had dazed expressions etched on their faces, and seemed frozen, like they themselves were stuck in a happy memory.

She shakily stood up, as if not fully trusting her abilities. "Did I...." She trailed off, and looked at Trysten who was now staring at her with interest, and something else, awe. "Did I do that?"

He nodded solemnly, his eyes never breaking contact with hers.

Aria slowly pulled herself away from the grasp of Murray, and she felt a newfound respect for Riley, "Wow. I didn't know you could do that." She muttered.

Riley swallowed hard, "I didn't either."

Her thoughts drifted to the conversation in the field, should she tell them? She looked over at Aria and then at Trysten and silently decided against it. Something in her gut told her it was meant for her alone.

Aria opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was cut off by a slow flicker of light. The light seemed to grow slowly, as if whoever was casting it was forcing it to do so. Once it got to a certain height, a figure toppled out of it.

Imy managed a weak smile as she pushed herself off of the road, "Can we go home now?" She mumbled.

Art immediately rushed to her side, but Riley couldn't find herself able to move. It was in that instant that all uncertain feelings of her not being useful or able were banished. She had created the effect.

She had power.

Her thoughts were interrupted, when she felt a hand close on her shoulder, she looked up into the face of Trysten.

"We should go." He spoke softly.

Riley dumbly nodded, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

He sighed and ran a few fingers through his hair, "I know."

Lance had maneuvered his way around the frozen figures to Tessa, and he gently scooped her up and acted like a crutch for her, "She's out cold." Was all he said, not really one for words.

Imy was casually leaning against her boyfriend, and she looked up at Riley, "Crazy night, huh?" she mumbled.

Riley slowly shook her head and fought the urge to chuckle, "You have no idea."

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The end!

Of the chapter

I'm so sneaky, huh?

Lol anyways, this chap was kind of short (sry) but it had some....key plot developments..... the line Primus apud peccatores, primus apud afflictos is taken from Book 5: The Sacrifice. It was just such a cool line I had to through it in. oh, my apologies if the Latin isn't 100% correct, but I tried my best with it.

Anyways

Next Up: Epilog, Part One: Answers.

Reviewers: (BTW You guys are so damn awesome! Almost 50 reviews! Hands out packets of Ramen Noodles)

TroubleMakerQueen: Lol suspicions, eh? Hehe he's not exactly a Follower..... cue it shall be revealed in time music It shall be revealed in time ;) lol im very glad you haven't stopped drinking coffee

CC: Lol you suspected as well! Oy. I didn't really have a fixed opinion on Jimena, I didn't love her, but I didn't hate her either. I like Tianna too now though. Sigh, I guess its just back to disliking Vanessa for me....ty for RnRing

SwtCandyMO3: Thank you for reading! Oooo (is impressed) you used the cool word....wicked!

Wolfgrl1880: I'm glad you liked it : ) I like your name, are you also obsessed with werewolves?

Lover of Rain: Another person with a cool sn! Sigh mine's so lame. Lol thanks for reading and reviewing again! I hope you like it

Toodles

!nym!