It was getting late and, as much as Mahad hated to admit it, he was getting tired. He rubbed the back of his hand against itchy eyes as he stifled a yawn. Party or no, he needed to get some sleep. "Lena," he called sleepily around the pavilion, but didn't see her anywhere. There was Cheng, asleep on the bench; Wayan sat in a chair with his arms crossed and his head down, obviously asleep. The party had thinned considerably, though there were several people who hadn't made it to their homes and lay with their heads on the tables or leaning against their neighbors. But nowhere could he find Lena.

"She went back home a couple hours ago to go to bed," a familiar voice said from behind Mahad, and he turned to see Dahlia once again standing behind him, several paces away with her arms crossed. "She tried to find you, but you'd managed to get yourself lost in the crowd."

"Ah, well, a party in my honor – who am I to not join in the fun?" He attempted to grin in a nonchalant kind of way, but all that came out was a yawn.

She smiled. "Which is why she told me to tell you instead." She took a tentative step closer to Mahad, not looking directly at him. "Good party, don't you think? We should try to have a few more once in a while." Her arms uncrossed, one falling to her side while the other clasped the hem of her shirt in a tight fist. "It lets everyone loosen up a bit, let out a bit of built-up tension."

Mahad eyed her suspiciously. It might have just been him, but if he wasn't mistaken, Dahlia was acting…nervous. Which wasn't something he'd seen very often in her. "Are you okay?"

"Look, it's your birthday, and…and I didn't get you anything."

He stared at her for a long moment before breaking out in laughter. "That's it? You're upset because you didn't get me anything? Don't worry, Dahlia," he said, patting her lightly on the shoulder, "I don't need anything."

A small smirk took over the nervous quiver of her lip. "Well, you're getting something anyway." Before Mahad could even so much as blink, Dahlia had gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled herself up to his level, pressing her lips against his in the briefest of kisses. "Happy eighteenth, Mahad," she said as she started walking away, leaving a stunned Mahad behind.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her retreating figure once he'd managed to get his senses back, "does this mean we're dating now?"

She laughed and waved over her shoulder. "Don't read too much into it. It was a birthday present."

A birthday present. Well, that was okay by him. "Don't read too much into it," he repeated as he absentmindedly ran a finger over his bottom lip. "Yeah, okay." His face broke out into a huge grin as he practically skipped back home. He wished tomorrow was his birthday, too.

Puerto Angel shook down to its very foundations as a giant sphere ship docked at the edge the block. It was a brief tremor, but loud and strong enough that it would obviously wake everyone who wasn't dead. Loud entrance, surprises around each corner, ensuing chaos - everything was going according to plan.

Mahad's eyes snapped open, his mind barely registering the numbers of the clock that read 3:30. He'd only gone to bed three hours ago, so his body protested against his actions of getting out of bed, but he needed to know what that crash was. He'd heard of Earthquakes from the stories told by people in the pub, but those didn't happen anymore. Nothing could shake an entire block like this, and a glance out his window told him nothing good. It was too dark to tell, but it looked as though a black and green-clad young woman left nothing but destruction in her wake throughout the pavilion below him, where his party had been taking place just hours before.

His mind raced. Was she part of the Sphere? She sure looked the part, but how did she find them here? And why? The sphere hadn't come after them in so long he'd almost forgotten what it was like, but he didn't have time to ponder such trivial things now. He needed to make sure his sister was alright. If the sphere was involved, it was probably them they were after.

"Lena!" he shouted, running from his room and pulling a shirt on over his head. "Lena, get up!" He ran into her room to see her rubbing sleepily at her eyes.

"What is it, Mahad? It's the middle of the night."

"Get up, you have to hide."

Lena stared uncomprehendingly at him. "It's 3:30 in the morning."

"And you have to hide. Come on." He tried to be patient with her, but his nerves were on end. The safety of his little sister came first and foremost to him, and he wanted to know she was hidden and safe before trying to figure out what was going on.

"What's going on?" she asked, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her eyes and tugging the drawstring on her white pajama pants tighter.

"I don't know yet, but I need you to hide, go somewhere safe. Take the path in the cellar and hide until I come get you, okay?" He nudged her lower back incessantly to get her to hurry despite her protestations that she could walk on her own, thanks.

"Is it the Sphere?"

"Maybe, now go-"

"I want to help. I'm going to help you." She pressed her feet into the floor and pushed back against his hands. "I can help more than you can."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, now get down there and I'll come get you when-"

"I want to go with you!"

"Not a chance! I will not risk your safety! Now go hide!"

"Lena," a firm voice said from the stairs, and they saw their mother rushing to Mahad's side, "Mahad is right. If it is the Sphere, they probably want you. Now, do as your brother asks."

Lena puffed her cheeks angrily and pouted her lower lip. "Fine, but I don't like this."

"I know," she said with as much consolation as she could. "But it won't be long." They watched long enough to know she was concealed in the cellar before Mahad grabbed his boomerang and ran to the front door just behind their mother. Cautiously she opened the door and peered out. He could hear a voice echoing just around the corner, and he inched closer, looking over his mom's shoulder to be able to hear better.

"-and I know she's here somewhere! I suggest you hand her over unless you don't want to see this boy again!"

Mahad ducked under his mothers arm and crept to the edge of the building, sneaking a glance around the corner to see what she Sphere woman was talking about. He saw a ring of Brigs surrounded the edge of the open area and guarded the doors to houses, their gun-arms raised and ready to shoot. There were at least two dozen of them, an awful lot for a rogue Guardian, or so Mahad thought. As for the woman, her back was to him, but he could see a second pair of legs with hers, and her hand glowed menacingly with power. He wondered who it was she was holding hostage, but it honestly didn't matter to him. Everyone here was his family, and he wouldn't stand for anything happening to any of them. Thoughts raced a thousand miles a second in his brain as he tried to come up with a plan. Whoever she was, she wasn't very smart leaving her back completely exposed like this. He could easily throw his boomerang at her and she'd never even know what happened.

"How can she be using her powers?" his mom's soft voice whispered behind him.

A smirk lifted his lips as he stepped out of the shadow and readied his boomerang. "Doesn't matter now." Several other people were peeking out windows or scrambling out of the way when they realized the newcomer wasn't a left over from the party, but it wouldn't be too difficult to avoid them. "No one tries to use my friends as a bargaining tool for my sister," he said between gritted teeth. "Not even the Sphere." He closed one eye to sight her properly, pulled his hand back, and was ready to let his boomerang fly through the air, when she spoke again.

"I demand the Guardian Alice! I know she's here, and I won't leave without her!"

Alice? Mahad's brain stalled for long seconds. Why would they think she was here? She still worked for the Sphere on the other side of Skyland, not hiding out on Puerto Angel. Maybe it was a trick! That had to be it! A trick to make them think they were looking for Alice when they were still actually looking for Lena! Well, it wouldn't work.

"I'm telling you," she shouted angrily, raising her hand and firing a bolt of energy into one of the houses, immediately setting it aflame, "to give me the Guardian! I will not tolerate insolence!" She turned and held her hand threateningly towards another house, arm glowing brightly as her energy gathered again. In the light, Mahad could see that Cheng was the one held in her arm. He struggled against her grip, but it never slackened.

"She's not here," a Scottish accented voice, obviously Cortes, came from behind the girl. A laser pistol was held in his right hand and poised to shoot her heart in a moment's notice. "We haven't even heard the name Alice in months."

She whipped around to see the first person who dared to show their face. "Liar. You're nothing but a liar. Hand her over now, and you can have the boy back!"

Cortes shook his long auburn ponytail off his shoulder, scoffing slightly. "I'm not lying. We're not harboring anyone from the Sphere, especially not a Guardian."

"Liar!"

"You're free to look around if you like, but you'll not find her here."

A tense silence settled over them, the woman's face twisting in anger. A snarl escaped her throat. "You're a filthy liar! I can sense her here!" She spat on the ground and concentrated, her arm glowing blue once again.

Mahad couldn't sit back and wait any longer. With a small grunt, he threw his boomerang at her hand that was outstretched in front of her, not aiming to maim, just to injure. The thin weapon sailed through the air with only a soft whisper of sound, hitting his target perfectly. The boomerang collided with her wrist with a loud metallic ringing, and as she yelled in surprise and the weapon came flying back to his hand, he realized he'd hit a bracelet she was wearing. It was now hanging loosely from her hand, ready to fall with the slightest provocation.

"What was that?!" the woman screamed, looking desperately over her shoulder. The power flow to her hand reduced considerably in her loss of concentration, and Mahad wasn't the only one that took advantage of the momentary distraction. Just as he loosed his boomerang for a second time, Cortes ran at her, knocking her backwards several steps and grabbing Cheng from her arms. Her bracelet clattered to the ground with an audible clinking sound.

"No!" she yelled, not knowing whether to go after her hostage or her lost jewelry. Mahad supposed it was a family heirloom of some kind to mean that much to her. "Brigs, get them! Kill them all! No one disobeys my orders!" She fell to the ground and held her injured wrist in her hand, still looking around the ground for the bracelet.

Mahad's heart nearly stopped when he heard her words. Cortes and Cheng were still in the middle of the plaza, Cortes doing his best to shield the young boy from possible harm with his body, but it was no use; several Brigs had pointed their guns at whatever civilians they could find, some pointed at houses, but most of them were aimed at the captain of the St. Nazaire and the child behind his back. He felt his mother's hand in his, felt her desperation, the need to do something but knowing there was nothing either of them could do. Any other time, Mahad was quick to pull his weapon out and strike at a line of brigs, but it was too late, there were too many. There was no way he could do it.

"Cortes," he whispered, wondering if he was about to witness the death of two of his closest family members, lifting his boomerang in one last futile attempt to save them. It was all he could think to do. He squeezed his mother's hand tighter.

"She's not here!" another voice called from the doorway to one of the houses, loud, deep, and commanding, and it seemingly caught the girl's attention. She looked up sharply and called for the Brigs to stand down.

"C-c…"

A blonde man stepped into the open and walked straight to her. Darius. "She's not here."

"C-com…" She stared at him as though in a trance, as though he was all she could see.

"She's not here. Now take your men and go home.' He stood with hands on hips and glared down at her. "You're disturbing the peace."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, and Mahad was only given a brief moment to wonder if they knew each other before she got suddenly angry. "You're not him." She stood up and stared hard at him. "I don't take orders from you! I take orders from him, not you! How dare you try to-"

"I said," he shouted, raising his voice threateningly and grabbing her arm, "she's not here! You take your Brigs home and stop disturbing us!" They stared in each others eyes as though daring the other to speak, to say anything against them. She looked as though she were about to say something when he cut her off. "Now!"

The Sphere woman looked startled and blinked several times, looking at him as though something had just clicked in her head. Abruptly, she saluted him. "Sir." With a sharp flick of her not-injured wrist, she motioned for the Brigs to get back on the ship, following minutes later once the pavilion was empty. "Sir."

"See? It wasn't even me they were after!" Lena complained, swinging her feet under the long desk she sat on. "I could have helped you out!"

"Not even mom could help, what makes you think you could?" Mahad retorted, hitting her foot with his hand. He grinned when she just puffed her cheeks in irritation.

"Oh, but you helped, right?" she asked sarcastically, kicking his hand.

"Damn right I did!" He rested his elbows behind him on the desk, hands hanging off the edge. "I was a ton of help last night. You should've seen-"

"What I'd like to see, Mahad," Cortes' voice said from the stairs, "is you helping to rebuild the houses that were destroyed instead of disrupting the Vector from his work." A stern glare was turned his way, but Mahad just rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on! It's my birthday, don't I deserve a break?"

"Your birthday was yesterday, if I remember correctly, and you spent the entire day 'taking a break.' Now, I'd suggest you get in some old clothes and get started helping those men down there."

"Ah, man!" He knew there was no arguing with Cortes, so with an overly dramatic sigh, he got up and set off for his room. If he walked slow enough, maybe he could shave a few hours off his workload.

"It's okay to go easy on him every now and then," Vector said from his seat on the other side of the room once the boy had left. One eye appeared enlarged because of the magnifying glass positioned under it, and his hands held a small, inconspicuous silver bracelet.

"He's never going to learn any of that responsibility he claims to have if he doesn't earn it. Now tell me, what's going on with that?" He gestured to the silver band in his hand.

"A bracelet."

It was Cortes' turn to roll his eyes. "I'm not blind. What's so special about it? Why was she so concerned over it?"

He shook his white head. "Nothing. As far as I can tell, it's just a bracelet. A nondescript, silver bracelet." He shrugged, turning it over in his withered hand. "I'm inclined to follow Mahad's thinking that it's just an heirloom."

"Heirlooms in the Sphere?" he scoffed. "They don't have family to have heirlooms. But, if that's what you say, I'll have to believe you." He walked to the top of the stairs and motioned for Lena to follow him. "Come on, best to leave wise men to their work. We can go help Mahad."

"Aw, man!" she said, sounding considerably like her brother. She jumped off the table and followed him downstairs. "I thought only Mahad needed to learn responsibility."

Cortes stifled a small laugh, his shoulders shaking ever so slightly. "He is. You already know more about it than he could hope for."

"She's what?"

"Mentally unstable, sir. Based on her actions and words, and the fact that she believed Darius to be you…" The white-coated man lifted the top paper in the small stack on his clipboard, eyes scanning the lines of words scribbled on it. "She is unpredictable at best, is composed next to none of the time, and-"

"Mentally unstable."

"Yes, sir."

"Believed that Darius' words were mine."

"Based on the account of the event she gave the doctors, yes."

Oslo stared through the glass at the girl who had been sent to find Alice, watching her pace the room in a white gown that nearly matched her skin. He couldn't hear anything, but by the way her mouth was moving and she was gesturing in the air, it looked as though she were explaining something to herself. Or the wall.

"Should we release her?"

Her eyes darted to the window that Oslo looked through, catching his gaze. She smiled at him, then snapped a perfect salute.

"No," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Kill her."