Junior watched his mother sleep silently… peacefully. He didn't like upsetting his mother and he knew that his mother was going to worry about him, but he couldn't just sit here and do nothing while the twins and his father were all currently in danger. He knew his mother (and father) were going to be furious with him for leaving but he had to do something. Quietly he slipped out of the cave and padded outside. Junior had to be quick. He stretched his wings out and got ready to take off. Before he could get up in the air he heard Silverstorm suddenly call him.

"Wait! Junior!" Silverstorm came racing over to him her voice hushed as she got closer to Maia's cave. "I want to come with you."

Junior perked his ears up and watched her for a few seconds. "Are you sure? Won't your father be…furious?"

"Yes. Yes he would, but… someone's gotta watch you so you don't get yourself killed and clearly that person has to be me." She explained, poorly, to Junior like it was obvious. Junior just couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Whatever you say, Silverstorm." Junior booped his nose against hers. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with you wanting to know what this creature is just as much as I do." He joked with her before unfolding his wings once again. "You ready?"

Silverstorm stretched herself out, neck and all, and then she shook herself before outstretching her wings."As ready as I'll ever be."

Junior looked around and made sure that nobody was watching. Once safe he flew up with ease and within seconds Silverstorm was up and next to him. Together they flew amongst the clouds and Junior felt safe just being up in the sky.

Still, a fear loomed over him. Not just for the twins and their problems but just what this creature may be.

Sicily silently twirled the end of her pigtail between her fingers. She was released an hour ago and back home with her sister. Together they got changed and and were now sitting in the living room neither one of them saying anything. All the while their aunt was currently having an absolute fit over the phone. Screaming and ranting at the FBI for taking the two of them into questioning without her knowledge. Yui was in the kitchen but could be heard all the way in the living room.

"She's loud," Ludwig spoke up from up top the fan.

"As she should be!" Kyo suddenly yelled in her own rage. "How could they think we did this! How could they think three teenagers blew up a town so bad that it was nothing more than cinders!? Idiots!" Sicily crossed her arms and gave out a low sigh. Upon doing this Kyoto looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You disagree?"

"No. They are idiots… but it's not that… It's Agent O'Neil…" She grumbled weakly. "He almost got to me... I almost let Ludwig slip."

"Ludwig slip what?" Ludwig tilted his head and then suddenly jumped from the ceiling fan to the TV so he could get a better look at Sicily. Sicily sat up and leaned forward so she was looking directly at Ludwig.

"I almost told them about you, Sweetie."

"And? Would that have been so bad?" Ludwig challenged rather quickly before jumping on to the couch so he was now next to Sicily.

"Yes, it would have been a disaster-" Kyo silently plopped down next to Ludwig on the other side of the couch. Her legs spread out ('man-spread' as some people might put it.) "-She would have been put straight into the looney bin if she told detective O'Neil about you or that creature…" Kyo muttered and then crossed her arms. "What are we going to do now?"

"... I haven't heard much from Ben. I don't even know if he's still coming."

"Oh trust me, that man is coming. I'm sure that second attack got his attention."

"Yeah, but if he comes-"

"What? Do you think O'Neil is going to do something to him upon arrival? As far as I'm concerned he won't even know Ben is here. It's not like he's arriving by plane." For the first time, that day both of them let out weak chuckles at the lame attempt of a joke. Maybe it was a pity chuckle that made the two of them feel better or maybe they both just found it somewhat funny. Either way, they laughed.

That was when the knock at the door sounded. Instantly the twins looked at each other. "Ludwig, go hide," Sicily ordered not taking any chances.

"On it!" Ludwig quickly slipped into the hallway, probably to hide in a wall crack or something similar.

"It could be Ben," Kyo informed her sister as they both made their way to the front door.

"It could be O'Neil again." Sicily shot back just as quickly. She made it to the front door first. Yui was still in the kitchen making a fuss, she didn't even hear the knocking. Sicily peeked through the peephole quickly and instantly relaxed. "False alarm! It's Amadeus!" She called out to Ludwig and then opened the door.

"Amadeus-"

"This is insane!" Amadeus just barged on it; pushing passed Sicily. "I did not sign up for this! I'm being treated like a criminal!" He lashed out.

"Whoa, whoa! Look, I'm sorry we dragged you into this, but it's not our fault this happened!" Kyo was quick to snap back at him. "We didn't know this happen! Do you think we wanted to be dragged into that police station?!" Sicily just silently shut the door as Kyo continued. "Besides, our names are basically cleared with the second attack."

"I don't exactly see that TV on." Amadeus took notice of the black screen.

"I can't watch it…" Sicily was the one to admit. She grabbed her stomach and looked at the ground. "It makes me sick to look at." Amadeus almost looked ready to snap again, but he held his tongue with a small 'tsk' leaving his mouth. Amadeus simply placed his hands on the back of the couch and exhaled through his nose. A long and low exhale that normally reads like someone trying to blow off their anger.

"I'm sorry… I know it's not your fault… it's just that they've taken everyone in my family for questioning. Ma, Dad, and Alice… and the people of the town aren't making things better- someone slashed my tires for god sake! They think I did it!" He threw his arms up.

Neither twin knew what to say, so they said nothing. Amadeus's nose scrunched up for a moment before he suddenly noticed Ludwig now sitting on the TV. "I say we bag up to him and just tell them the truth!" Amadeus pointed at Ludwig accusingly.

"Touch Ludwig, lose a hand!" Ludwig threatened.

"We can't tell them the truth. If they learn that dragons are real then they might try and capture them!" Sicily was the first one to stand between Amadeus and Ludwig.

"People are dead, Sicily. I need you to understand that. People are dead. About twenty of them are FBI agents. This thing isn't going to stop! And… Sicily did you see where the latest attack was?"

"... No."

"Yeah, neither did I," Kyo admitted.

"Two miles from here. Think about that. Your village was five miles away. This attack was two miles away, guys… I fear this thing is coming here next. If that's the case then we need the airforce! The marines! Something! Do you guys think Ben is just going to talk this thing down?"

"No talking! Can't talk!" Ludwig piped up before anyone else could. "All frozen! Humans freeze on sight! Ludwig saw it with his own eyes!"

"Guys…" Amadeus's shoulders slumped.

Sicily clasped her hands together and silently looked down at the ground. The more she thought about it the more Amadeus was starting to make sense about this.

"Well… we can't just-" Kyo was trying to find a better alternative, but it seemed, like Sicily, she wasn't finding anything better. "I mean… we can't just give the dragons away-"

"I think he's right… I think we should just come clean about the dragons." Sicily almost whispered. Silently she started to wring her hands against the hem of her shirt.

"Yeah, but… we… Sicily."

"I don't want to! But I do feel it's something we have to do, otherwise, our whole town could be destroyed with us in it!"

"We…" Kyo gritted her teeth before turning her head away from Sicily and for a moment nobody said anything.

Until Amadeus said something that caused a lightbulb to go off. "I don't see any other options. Besides, it's not like there's anybody alive to ask about this … trance we seem to go through when this thing shows up."

"Except… there is…" Kyo gasped lightly. "Our dad."

"You aren't actually suggesting we talk to him… are you?" Sicily inquired with a raised eyebrow. "He isn't going to want to see us!"

"Besides, it's not like you can see him anyways." Yui suddenly spoke from the doorway. She had her arms crossed and was leaning against the doorframe leading into the kitchen. "I placed a restraining order on his ass, Not just that but I'm sure the FBI is questioning him up and down, and he lied to the FBI and said you two were involved with their town being blown to kingdom come! Nope. I'm not allowing it." Yui swiftly put her foot down on the idea.

"Boom! Out of ideas again!" Amadeus threw his arms up. He looked ready to say something else, but another knock at the door. Sicily looked through the peephole.

"Thank god!" She yelled out and threw the door open. In an instant, she attached herself to Ben.

"Oof!" Ben laughed a little and lightly patted her back. "It's good to see you too, Sicily." He patted her back and she let go of him. Ben looked through the doorway and nodded at Kyo and Yui. "Kyo, Yui. Pleasure." Ben smiled and simply gave them both a handshake. He then stopped at Amadeus.

"He's… an older British man?" Amadeus raised his eyebrow as he sized Ben up and down.

"Au contraire. I'm German actually."

"You sound British."

"Yes, but when one is raised by a British family for almost twenty years the dialect tends to stick." Ben gave Amadeus a little smile before coming into the house.

"Adopted? I'm presuming?"

"Yes, very much so. Oh!" Ben gave just a small jump when Twigleg popped up from his shirt pocket. Twigleg looked rather tired as he yawned and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "I'm sorry did I wake you?" Ben questioned as he held his palm out so Twigleg could climb up and out of his pocket.

"Yes, but that doesn't really matter…" Twigleg gave a soft grumble.

"Whoa! What. is. That?!" Amadeus leaned in to get a better look at Twigleg.

Twigleg gave a soft scoff before proudly putting a hand on his chest. "I, good sir, and a homunculus!"

It was at that moment that Ludwig decided to make himself noticed as he now jumped to the back of the couch. Giving Twigleg quite the freight. "Tiny human! Tiny human!" Ludwig crackled. "Tiny humans are fun! Tiny humans easier to prank!"

"Ben!" Twigleg squeaked suddenly and made a climb for the safety of Ben's pocket.

"Ludwig! You leave Twigleg alone-" Yui had tried but nope, Ludwig had suddenly grabbed Twigleg, however; as soon as he had Ben had acted just as fast. It was a swift grab of Ludwig's wrist. Ben managed to hold Ludwig's hand still and didn't seem to be letting up.

"Lass ihn fallen" Ben ordered never once taking his eyes away from Ludwig's eyes. There were no more pleasantries in his voice as he ordered it either. He sounded stone cold. Ludwig struggled for only a moment before giving up and dropping Twigleg into Ben's open palm. "Thank you."

Ludwig huffed before jumping to Kyo's shoulder and rubbing his sore wrist.

"Whoa… what did you say to him?" Amadeus asked Ben.

"Thank you." Twigleg sighed as he dusted himself off.

"Your welcome and I just told him to drop Twigleg, in German, of course, you gotta be stern with imps. They get a rise out of seeing your anger and frustration, not your sternness. A lot of them aren't used to having a good scolding." Ben crossed his arms and threw a well-placed glare Ludwig's way.

Yui had been the first one to ask the obvious question. "Do you regularly work with imps?"

"Oh, imps, nymphs, fairies, elves, you name it. Little mushroom people-"

"Those exist?" Amadeus sounded more surprised than anything.

"Oh yes-"

"Guys!" Sicily threw her hands up finally. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This is great catching up and all, but Ben. People are dead. This thing attacked again-"

"I know. I saw on the news. We came straight here upon hearing it. They say it was a terrorist attack on the FBI. Do you guys have those pictures of the first attack?" Ben suddenly asked.

Sicily nodded. "Yeah, they're still on my phone. I can go and get it."

"Please."

With that Sicily walked away to go and do as instructed. Ben silently walked over to the couch and sat down. Amadeus stayed close beside him but didn't sit down. Upon realizing this, Ben suddenly jumped. "My manners! I am so sorry! I'm Benjamin Greenbloom. Just call me Ben!" Ben brought his hand out for a handshake.

"Amadeus Mcathy." Amadeus gave Ben a strong handshake.

"Any relation to Alice?"

"Older brother."

"Ah! Amadeus. That's a nice name." Ben muttered rather thoughtfully before suddenly pulling out his vibrating phone. He then stood up upon seeing the caller. "Excuse me, I have to take this." Out of politeness, Ben walked away to answer his phone. Kyo only heard him answer "Yes, Winston?"

"Who's Winston?" Yui asked Kyo in a soft whisper.

Kyo shrugged in response. "Beats me."

"He's interesting. It's almost funny, you almost can't really since the 'Alpha' vibes coming off him." Amadeus crossed his arms.

"Ben is definitely not the 'alpha male' type." Kyo scoffed at Amadeus's ridiculous notion

Amadeus shook his head. "Did you not see how with just eye contact he managed to get Ludwig to let go of his friend? He's an alpha alright, he's just hiding it."

"Ludwig doesn't care for the older dragon rider," Ludwig grumbled bitterly as he crossed his arms child-like.

Sicily came back before Ben did and plopped down on the couch while going through her phone. It was only a matter of minutes before Ben came back and he looked a mixture of worried and rather pissed. "We… have a bit of a problem." Ben looked at Twigleg, who only shook his head. "That was Winston. He's another dragon rider. He popped by the rim today… Junior's gone. Not just Junior but Shimmertail's daughter as well. He managed to sneak off."

"Oh man…" Sicily whispered softly.

"Look, I have to go. I'll be back in like-" Ben paused and looked at his watch. "Forty minutes? Maybe a little longer? I don't know I gotta tell Firedrake and then help Sorrel calm him down. I'll be back." With a little hop, Ben was out of the door. Both Sicily and Kyo just looked at each before they both smiled a little.

"Junior hasn't changed a bit in the last year has he?" Kyo was the one to question.

"Not in the slightest."