It was hard to focus on my regular mentor cepan studies with everything that my Father told me was going to I could think about was the prophecy.

I stared blankly at my text books, the information appearing blurry on the pages, my brain unable to process anything except what my father and I had discussed the night before. I had barely slept, my mind racing with unanswered questions that no one but the Elders could answer. The day had passed quickly, as if time weren't a factor at all.

"Sukan?" Cimorene's annoyed tone snapped me out of my trance.

"Sorry," I mumbled, looking up at her. "What was that?"

"I asked if Rey had talked to you," she rolled her eyes. We were sitting on a bench outside; our usual hangout place after our studies were finished before we started the walk home. I hadn't even noticed that we had left the classroom.

"He did," I nodded. "Although none of it really makes sense."

"So then you know?" she sighed, I could sense the relief in her voice. "It's hard knowing this much and not having anyone to talk to about it."

"Yeah," I muttered.

"Why me?" Cimorene asked, although I suspected that she wasn't actually asking the question to me. "I haven't even mentored a garde before, and they assign me her?" she held her head in her hands, staring at the ground while she spoke. "Don't get me wrong, Thalia is a sweet little girl and I'm thrilled that I'll get to train her, but if what I've been told is correct, she's going to be one of the strongest Garde of her generation."

"That's a good thing," I assured her. "The Elders chose you because they knew that you could handle it. You're going to do great,"

"Thanks," she laughed. "You'll be a great mentor too,"

"If I live to be one," The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"You think it'll happen soon?" I hated the worried expression that was on her face, an expression that didn't used to exist before yesterday. Lorien used to be a peaceful place, but with the looming threat over the planet, it would never be the same. So many citizens are going about their day, making plans for the Quartermoon celebration without the faintest clue that something evil was coming.

"My father seems really troubled about it," I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. "I've never seen him like this before. I know that he knows more than what he told me."

"You should try and get him to tell you more," Cimorene insisted. "I was limited in what they would tell me, but I'm sure as a senior mentor cepan, he would have been given more information."

"I'll try," I nodded. We both stood and walked in silence the rest of the way home, each trapped in our separate thoughts. I barely noticed when we arrived at our homes and she went inside without saying anything.

"Hello, Sukan." My father smiled when I walked into the house. "How was your day?"

"Not bad," I shrugged, slumping into the chair next to him. "The Quartermoon starts tonight, want to go out and celebrate?" The Quartermoon was an annual celebration that occurred for two weeks, the time period in which our two moons hang on opposite sides of the horizon. It's during this period that the planet celebrates the time in which the Elders saved Lorien from destruction; before our planet knew peace, we were a lot like Earth.

"Sure," Rey smiled. "What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing too extreme," I winked. "How about just a couple of drinks?"

"I'm not much of a drinker," Rey chuckled. "But a few shouldn't be too bad."

"How about the Chimaera?" I suggested, mostly joking. It was a crazy nightclub that the younger citizens liked to visit, Cimorene and I had visited once or twice, but it definitely wasn't the kind of place Rey hung out in. The thought was amusing. "I hear Devektra's performing there tonight."

"Why not?" Rey shrugged, I almost choked on my spit in surprise.

"You're serious?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "You actually want to go?"

"Couldn't be bad," he smiled. "Devektra is a very talented Garde, I'm sure her show will be great."

"That's true," I nodded. Devektra was the buzzed about garde performer on Lorien. She was strikingly beautiful, and had an unusual legacy of creating dazzling, hypnotic light displays during her performances. Cimorene and I had been to see her once, and it was amazing. "So let's go then. Do you think Cimorene would want to come?"

"Go and ask," Rey winked. "I'll meet you outside." I nodded and went out the door, fiddling with my long sleeve as I crossed the street. I took a deep breath as I knocked on her door, listening for the soft thumping of her footsteps on the floorboards as she approached the door.

"Hey, Sukan," She greeted me with a warm smile. "What's up?"

"Rey and I are going to the Chimaera to celebrate," I told her. "Devektra is supposed to be there tonight. You want to come with us?"

"Sounds like fun, Sukan but I was actually just about to crawl into bed. I'm pretty tired. Thanks for the offer," she grinned. "I hope you and your father have fun. I'll join the celebrations tomorrow night, okay?"

"Oh," I nodded. "Okay. Thanks, you have fun too." I waved goodbye and walked back across the street to meet Rey.

"So will Miss Cimorene be joining us tonight?" Rey asked as I crossed the road.

"No," I shook my head. "She says she is going to sleep, but will join us for celebrations tomorrow."

"Alright," Rey nodded. "Let's go then," It was nice living so close to everything, it never took long to walk anywhere. As soon as we reached the same block as the Chimaera, we could hear the music pumping.

The building was bubbling with young cepans and garde, all buzzing with excitement, likely from the anticipation of Devektra's performance. It was supposed to be her best one yet. The line went by quickly and soon enough, we were inside. The club was a lot more packed than I had expected, and I could tell that Rey was definitely not comfortable. He kept covering his ears from the shouting as we made our way to the bar, frantically shifting his gaze towards the exit. It was a little amusing.

"Don't worry," I laughed, nudging his arm. "We don't have to stay long. Just a few drinks, like we said."

"Alright," Rey nodded. I ordered us some drinks and we enjoyed the music while we waited. We laughed, Rey pointing out different garde that he knew from the Lorien Defense Academy. From the corner of my eye, I think I see a young cepan named Sandor in the VIP section, and couldn't help but chuckle.

I had met Sandor a few times at the LDA, where he was an engineer apprentice. He was known for his tech skills, rumor was he was especially good at tampering with identity bands, which is likely how he got into the club tonight. I knew he was underage, and legally shouldn't be here, but I wasn't about to snitch on him. He wasn't hurting anyone, so why should I care that he was here? I give him a little wave, and see him visibly cringe as he tries to hide his face from anyone else who might recognise him.

We were onto our fourth drink when Rey dropped his glass, his face frozen in horror as it smashed onto the ground. I was about to tell him that it was okay and that it was just an accident when I noticed that he wasn't staring at the broken glass. He was staring at his vibrating, flashing red identity band.