"B-but, that's impossible! You said they were dead!" I shouted out in disbelief. Katherine gave me a look of sympathy.

"They are dead. For now, at least." She said. We all gave her a look of confusion as we all tried to digest what she was saying, but Aiden wasn't having any of it.

"Cut the shit, you and I both know that this isn't possible. So stop feeding us lies, and let's go home!" He said anger evident in his voice. I turned around to look at him just to see him staring right back at me. I felt my face, and I could feel tears coming down. I wiped them all off and stood up again.

"You don't have to believe me. You will in time. For now, we're going to sit here and wait for someone." Katherine said as she turned back to look towards the lake.

"Katherine, this is a new low even for you! I'm out of here!" Hunter yelled as he started walking back to the car. Aiden and Rose followed him shortly after, but I didn't move. Instead, I went over to sit next to her.

"Layla? Come on, let's go." Aiden said. I ignored him and looked over at Katherine.

"Swear to me this isn't something stupid. You know how I am with this, I wouldn't be able to take it if-"

"Layla, you know I would never do something like that to you. I don't have to tell you to believe me. I knew from the moment I woke up this morning that you would most likely be the only one to believe me. You have so much hope in everyone Layla, never let that go, ok?" she said, tears were starting to show in the corners of her eyes as she stared at me. Before I could even say anything, she brought me into a bone-crushing hug and started sobbing.

"Raising all of you has given me the chance to change my old ways. I owe that to you four, you all changed my life for the best. It has been such an honor to watch you guys grow into the strong people you have become today." She said. She let go of me, and all of a sudden, she started disappearing.

"K-Kat? W-What's going on? You're Glowing!" I screamed in disbelief. Everyone came running back over after hearing me scream and stared at her in shock. None of this is making any sense.

"I love you all so much. Never forget that." She said. Out of nowhere, a bright light came from her chest that took up the whole forest.

"KATHERINE NO! YOU CAN'T GO! STOP IT!" Hunter screamed as he ran over to her, trying to hug her one last time. Rose and Aiden just stood there and watched in disbelief. The light shun so bright all of us had to look away. All of a sudden, that bright light disappears—Katherine's nowhere in sight.

"N-No," Rose whispered to herself as she used the tree next to her to stop herself from collapsing to the floor. Hunter slumped to the ground and held his face in his hands as he started crying silently. How could this happen? How can someone disappear out of thin air? I heard someone sobbing loudly, and it just kept getting louder until I finally realized that person was me. I felt someone hug me from behind, and I just knew it was Aiden. He didn't say anything and kept comforting me as we all mourned her loss.

It had to have been at least an hour of silence. During that hour, Rose came over and sat next to Hunter, and we all looked over at the beautiful lake. Rose then stood up and wiped away her tears.

"We should head back and call the police-"

"No! We can't! Her last request was for us to wait here, I'm not going anywhere until someone shows up here!" I shouted, interrupting her mid-sentence. Rose stared at me in disbelief.

"You can't honestly believe-"

"How can you not?! Katherine just disappeared in thin air. Thin air! If that's not enough to make you believe, then I don't know what is. I don't care if it takes a thousand years. I'm not going anywhere." I said, looking away from her. I heard her sigh, and she sat down next to me.

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just difficult to believe, you know? Normal people would've called the police by now, but we're not, huh?" she said, laughing. I let out a chuckle.

"Far from it, but it's ok. That's how Katherine raised us to be, far from ordinary." I responded. Rose was about to say something else until Hunter screamed.

"Holy shit! Guys, look!" Hunter shouted, jumping to his feet and pointing towards something. We all turned around, and there was nothing there. I scoffed and looked back at him.

"Hunter, are you seriously cracking jokes right now? Idiot! Right now isn't the time to-"

"No! Look!" He shouted at me. I let out a sigh and turned back around to see a floating orb in front of my face. Looking at it reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it.

"Hello!"

"AHH! IT SPOKE!" Hunter yelled and hid behind Rose. We all immediately stood up in shock, and Aiden took a step in front of me. The voice was feminine, young, and so familiar!

"What are you?" Aiden said, staring at the orb in awe. The girl (I'm assuming) let out a cute little laugh.

"This is what you call in my world a communication lacrima! Katherine used that last of her magic to send it here to bring you back!" She said in a cheery voice. Communication Lacrima? I know what that is! How do I know that?

"Ok, so then if not what, then who are you?" Rose asked in suspicion.

"Oh, Rose! You're just like you're a mother! Always cautious of everything!" She responded, laughing. Rose looked at the lacrima in shock.

"How do you know about my-"

"Quick, we have to hurry! There isn't much time. You need to jump." She said. The lacrima floated away and centered itself in the middle of the lake. It hovered still for a second before plummeting down to the bottom. The water begins to spin counter-clockwise, and it just kept going faster. The ground started to shake because of the water. It was like that for a good minute, all of us were holding on to a tree to keep us steady. Finally, it stopped shaking, and the lacrima shot out of the water.

"Ok, let's go!" She said excitedly. We all looked at the orb as if it was joking.

"If you think I'm letting anyone jump-"

"GERONIMO!" Hunter shouted as he jumped in the water. When he landed, he disappeared.

"HUNTER YOU IDIOT!" Rose screamed as she jumped in the right after him. Aiden and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Idiots," he muttered to himself—all of a sudden, he grabbed on to my hand. I looked up at him in surprise.

"What are yo-"

I wasn't able to finish my sentence before Aiden pulled me close to him, and we jumped in.

"Oh Makarov, wait until you get a load of these kids!" I heard the communication lacrima say. I didn't have time to think about what she said before we were underwater.