Dull. Old. An odd yellow color. Most of all, ugly. Very, very, ugly. Irma bit her tongue spitefully, how could she ever had lived in a place like this?

She followed the exact address, read it twice over, in fact. It lead her to this hideous excuse of a house! But then again, most "Earth" houses looked like this, at least the ones she saw. The windows were lit yellow against the dark night, and she could see the silhouettes of the residents inside, seemingly arguing. She moved closer to hear.

"Leave the girl alone, Tom. For goodness sakes, she's a teenager, she's expected to act this way." A female voice, Irma could tell was around thirty to forty years old.

"I know, Anna! But, come on...she's acting detached. Like a different person, not Irma...not my daughter! I just wonder if its something on our part, or something happened to her that we don't know about." Responded a male voice, which she guessed was around the same age group.

"Tom, honey... I know you're worried, but that's no reason to ground her. Look, how about we have a little talk with her tomorrow?"

Their daughter? It suddenly occurred to Irma. If she was the missing guardian here, and this was her house, how could they be talking about her as if she's been here? Its impossible!

Their bickering continued. Annoyed with their constant whine, she decided to let her curiosity got the better of her, and she wondered how to get into the house. After all, if "Irma" need a talking too, then "Irma" must live here. She quickly found her way to the roof (the wall was easy to scale, its actually elementary) and to a window, which she opened silently and slipped in.

She couldn't tell what room she was in, but she saw a bed, and guessed that it was someone's bedroom. Downstairs, the parents hadn't stopped arguing, but kept their banter to a low inside voice. Irma scuffed lightly, how easy can breaking into Earth houses be?

"...Irma?"

She almost jumped out of her skin at the voice. She looked over to the bed, where a small boy now sat up, wide awake.

"Uh...hi." She answered. The boy have bright red hair, and wide blue eyes.

"What are you doing in here? Get out my room!" He suddenly barked. In a heartbeat, Irma was on him, covering his mouth. The parents stopped talking for a moment, but eventually continued. The boy bit her hand, and Irma took her hand off of him in silent pain.

"Whats your problem, Irmy?" He whispered, getting that he shouldn't be too loud.

"Don't be so loud," She answered. "You're gonna get me in trouble." She added as a second thought.

"Why are you dressed like that?" He said hushed, but it was loud anyway.

"Erm...Costume party."

"In the middle of July?"

"Yeah." She was getting impatient. "You ask too many questions. Go to bed already." It took several minutes to finally get him to leave the matter alone, but once he did, she left his room. The hallway was long, but there were only a few doors. The parents were now snuggling downstairs (that made her gag) so, she had to be quick. One door had a sign that read "Not allowed: Parents, strangers, annoying little brothers".This must be it.

She looked over her shoulder once before entering, making sure that the parents stayed unaware of her presence.

The room was a mess. Clothes were everywhere, as were wrappers, papers, and books. The walls were covered with posters, one made Irma raise her eyebrow (It was a very suggestive picture of VMJ). However was in the bed made a loud, grating sound, which the former assassin guessed was snoring.

Well...Its now or never.

She gently shook the sleeping figures shoulders.

"Whuh..." It groaned. "The house better be on fire, Chris, its too late too be -woah." Both Irmas stared at each other in shock. After a few confused moments, the fake Irma jumped up from her bed.

"What are you doing here?!" She whispered loudly, causing her voice to scrape. She rushed to the door and locked it, then turned the light on for a better look.

"You're...me." She uttered in amazement. "Except you're dressed funny."

Actually, Irma had been dressed in the standard assassin attire. It consisted of a tight black top, fitted with straps and pockets for various weapons (she only had a few – she used most of them on the last mission, and forgot to re-stock) and black pants that were slightly baggy, but still showed her figure.

"How can this be?" The real Irma absentmindedly said to herself. "Maybe some kind of magic, but... I didn't know the Guardians held power like that."

"Guardians...Yeah! They can fix this."

"Huh?"

"Will can, at least." The Altemere reached for the phone, but Irma stopped her.

"Don't!" She quipped. "I mean, I'm sure you'll be replaced when this is all said and done. Maybe we should wait."

The Altemere gave her a funny look, but didn't press the matter. " need normal people clothes. At least until we find out whats the dealio with you. We'll find out in the morning." It said, yawning. But then it snapped to attention, and rummaged through the closet. Irma watched in fascination. This "Will"... maybe she has more power then we thought.

"Here." Suddenly, clothes came flying Irma's way, she barely caught them without tumbling over.

"What do I do with this?" Irma asked, following the Altemere around the room.

"Wear it?" She retorted. "Where'd you come from, Mars?"

"No."

The fake Irma plopped on the bed with a sigh. "Humph. You don't act anything like "Irma" did."

"I don't remember "Irma". That is why I'm here." She answered, sitting on the floor Indian-style. "But I learned that I can remember through flashbacks, by something I see or hear."

"Fascinating," The Altemere drawled. "All this means is when you find out who you are and stuff, I'm gonna go back to Astral-Drop Hell."

"Oh...sorry."

"Hey! I have a idea." She suddenly announced. "Since you (and me) don't want to see Will and the others yet...how about I take you to Caleb in the morning. I mean, he'll keep this a secret for a considerable while. By then, I can go to Meridian and make a life for myself, or something."

"Caleb...I remember that name..."

"Of course you do, hes that annoying cocky boy who likes to fight. Now get dressed." The Altemere walked to the door, checked that it was locked again, and flicked the lights off. "You can sleep on the floor, it won't kill ya."

"Okay."

"I hope you remember your personality soon." She added, getting into bed. "Right now, you sound like someone's defective robot. Now, go to sleep!"

Oppositely, Irma sat until she heard the other breath steadily, signaling that she was sleep. It was then that she decided to lay down on the itchy floor and get rest.

After all, she had a long day tomorrow.

Another chapter, short I know, but a big ones coming up. Next chapter, Irma meets Caleb and learns what happened to her.. :0 RNR!