'kay kiddies, time to reveal the importance of the Aztec witchdoctor guy! Here's Chapter seven, hope you love it!

"I see you're not fighting any of this… unlike your vision." Her Nahuatl screams echoed quietly around them, her face paled at her own words thrown back at her. "I sense the worry and pain you feel for your sister, teoyohtica cihuapili(A/N: that means holy lady). You're humanity and emotions give you grace, hold onto them tightly; the darkness will do almost anything to rip them away from you. If ever they were to succeed in doing so… you would be left defenseless before them."

"Can I save Emily? I know its part of how all this comes to be, but… she's all I've got in the world; all these years, it was her alone that's kept me going." The grimly serious expression that the old man's kind face fell into caused her hope to slip and her grip on her composure to wane.

"I see that Emily is the core of your conviction, but the time is coming where your limits will pull back a substantial amount. She will no longer be the sole person you live for, and when the inevitable occurs, those left to you will ease her passing. In the end you will discover that she was not completely gone… a part of her remains hidden in the shadows." He said, catching and keeping the attention of her dark eyes, "Only time and your victory can uncover what she leaves behind."

She watched the man with uncertainty, trying to make sense of what he was saying. She never liked riddles or people teasing her with hints; she'd never reacted well to any of it in the past. But now, all she found herself doing was standing there waiting for the information sink in.

"Okay, but I'm curious… what does any of this have to do with the Aztecs?" the old man laughed heartily at the question, but he regained seriousness when he noticed that she really didn't know about what had happened between her ancestors and the Aztecs.

"I always thought they'd passed that story down like the tale of the weapon." He said befuddled.

"That was the only story they lived long enough to teach us, really."

"At the time of Hernan Cortez' conquering of my people, his policy was: convert or die. Most of us gave our lives willingly and honorably, but…"

Understanding dawned on her as she continued to stare wonderingly at the Aztec man, "But there were women and children…"

"Yes, we wanted them safe and alive. There was one Spaniard that helped my people, claimed they had converted so that they could keep their lives. He said it was because my daughter reminded him of his own, and her twin brother back in Spain." He spoke sadly with a glint of gratitude sparkling in his old eyes, deeply set in his weathered face twisted by a frown. "He took her and my three sons, took them in and 'taught them the way of Christ'. Years later his son married little Xochi, my daughter, she was a wild spirit but they were happy…"

"Who was the man?" She asked curiously as she began to understand where the story was going.

"A man named Alfonso Esperanza from the village of Arcos… even now, hundreds of years later, Xochi's wild and bright eyes can be seen so very clearly." He smiled warmly at Nadia, who couldn't help but blush and turn her own gaze elsewhere. "Your grandmother was from Arcos, yes?"

"I… I don't know, I just found out she was a Spaniard." According to what logic she could rely on in the strange place they were in, she really had no idea if it was true or not. But her heart had never lied to her, and could never be deterred from the things it knew to be the truth, it wasted no time in making the answer perfectly clear. "You're one of my ancestors…"

"Yes, and before Alfonso left our land with my children, I blessed my daughter; that one day her descendant would be tested by the loss of a loved one, confronted with the greatest challenge, one that most people would run from or disbelieve… and they would triumph, if they are strong enough. Teoyohtica conetl(A/N: holy child), the gods and goddesses of our people are on your side! They have faith that you are the descendent that will triumph over something so much more evil than what wiped out our people." Each word escalated a little bit more in his excitement that he'd finally found her and her sister; the lost daughters of the Aztec.

A powerful gust of wind came roaring into the cave where they spoke, whipping at Nadia's fragile body, while the old man's immortal spirit that stood before her did not flinch at the wind; hell, he didn't even seem to notice it. But there she stood, her arms covering her face, eyes squinted at the force of the wind, felt the sudden fear melt away with the strength of the madly surging air. When it ended, she found herself breathing heavily with the feeling of weightlessness and renewed energy, but still slightly confused.

"What the hell was that!" she cried incredulously.

His smile was enough to frighten her if she hadn't already known his motives, "Your birthright; the spiritual strength our people, aside from your abilities and the weapon… it is what you will need most to defeat this evil."

"Spiritual strength? Not that I'm ungrateful… But in the end, how much can spiritual strength do?" she said before taking one last deep breath in attempt to calm her raging nerves.

"Where would anyone be without it? So long as you have spiritual strength… the rest will catch up when it needs to." She eyed the man cautiously as doubt began to creep in from the corners of her mind.

"You mean… spiritual as in religious strength, right? Because, I'll be honest, I lost my religion and faith when…"

"Your parents were murdered, and you only pretended it was still there to humor your uncle… for your sister so she wouldn't end up as a 'wretched waste of life' like you always thought you were." Nadia stared with wide eyes, how? Catching her reaction, he laughed heartily, "No… not that kind of spirituality, you believe in yourself, no? Ah, you believe in your ability to watch over Emily more than anything else, your need for it… for her, that's where your spirituality lies… til now."

They looked at each other in silence for a while, it felt like an eternity to the young huntress; and then, as suddenly as he and this bizarre little place had appeared, she blinked and he was gone. She was alone in the mysterious caves. Straightening herself out, with all intentions of exploring the cave, she began to hear distant voices calling her name. Well shit, what's all that about? She thought just before being thrown back to where she was prior to the strange meeting.

"Wha…th—fuck…" she grumbled sleepily from the couch in Missouri's parlor; in the split second it took her to realize where she was, her eyes had snapped open wide and she tried to jump up off the couch, but unseen hands held her down causing her to panic and fight them.

"Child, stop fighting… and no cussing!" Missouri's voice rang clear in the huntresses ears and she froze. Instantaneously, the restraints of hands lifted from her. "Now what happened?"

Rubbing her head, Nadia stood and began walking out of the room, "…vision."

"Not like any vision I've ever seen you get." Her sister commented lowly; causing Nadia to stop cold in her tracks and turned furious eyes on the girl.

"And after however long you've been gone… how would you know, huh?" all three women stiffened by the ferocity and fire in her outburst, Nadia's face fell when she realized who she'd just snapped at; shaking her head she began to walk out again, "Sorry, I just… give me a minute alone…"

This time, no one said a thing, nor made any movements to stop her; relief washed over her as she traipsed down the hall towards the kitchen, only stopping when she heard a soft mewing at her feet. "Mitzi!" She exclaimed, picking up the dainty little black cat rubbing at her leg; petting her she cooed, "Mitzi you bitch. I was wondering where the hell you're little furry ass was, damn… you weren't young when we first got here, but if I didn't know any better… I'd say you were still a kitten."

To which the cat's only response was a whining meow.

Great, this smart ass feline figured out the secret of eternal youth way be-fucking-fore I can figure out a way to save my sister… goddamn flea-bag. "Yikes, Mitzi…FUCKER!" She yelped as she tossed the animal that had tried to take a bite out of her hand a split second prior. "That's right; you get to introduce your face to the wall! I have thumbs, I always win!" She grumbled as she grabbed the door to the back porch; now more than ever, she needed a cigarette.

"Well, that went well…" Emily huffed, still staring out the exit of the parlor room where Nadia had stormed out. Missouri let out a heavy sigh and Sarah just sat quietly, waiting for something to happen.

"Child, are you a friend of Nadia's?" Missouri inquired, finally turning her attention to the stranger sitting next to Emily on the couch.

"Something like that," she whispered, pausing a moment before elaborating, "She was helping me with something." it took her a second or two to realize that both women left in the room were still looking expectantly at her; her shoulders curled in a bit as a result of their stares.

"Well… what are you waiting for, go see what the girl can do for ya." The reader cried.

"But—you saw her, she's upset right now." Berating herself instantly, Sarah had been raised to be polite, to never whine… but at the moment she felt like a whiney 4 year old that was desperately trying to get out of doing her chores. She opened her mouth, trying to think of some sort of apology, Emily lightly clapped at her back; when she turned to the young medic Emily flashed a sympathetic smile.

"Nadia… well, when she's mad at someone in particular, she only takes it out on them… nobody else." The girl explained with a weak smile. "Besides, lately it seems she's bent on helping as many people as she can, whether they ask for assistance or not."

"Why would she be mad at you… if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, yea, that…" Emily bit her lip, shamefully forcing her eyes downcast, "My sister and I were raised… differently; I was too young to resent my parents for bringing us up the way they did. So when they died, I relied on Nadia, she'd become my protector; our uncle continued our bizarre," she emphasized bizarre by clearing her throat, "training. But I began to feel bitter towards her when she got her first vision; we ended up having to move again… here. This move wasn't all that bad, here normal seems fairly possible. I started volunteering as an EMT at the local hospital… by the time I was 16, I received notice that I was being offered a real job as a paramedic in Jefferson City. Against everyone's better judgment, I took the job and left…"

"Nine years ago… the night before her sister needed her most." Missouri cut in, "Poor girl's been going about her own way alone ever since; for a while she had shut everyone out completely. Eventually she came around and would come here often for sanctuary when it would get too hard for her to handle alone." Both girls looked at the old reader with angst in their eyes; Sarah for the sad, but true story being told to her, and Emily for hearing for the first time how her sister had really been doing since she'd left. A moment of somber silence cut through the room, Missouri smiled sadly and shook her head as she took note of Emily's guilt consumed glare at the coffee table.

"Now you stop thinking that way, Emily Elizabeth! Your sister still needs you; you've done the best thing you can do to fix whatever pain she was in… you came back. Don't sulk, it ain't attractive." She said matter-of-factly, the huntress smirked, eased by her guardians scolding. "And you, sweetie; go find the answers you came all this way for."

Sarah smiled as she sighed and got up from her spot of the couch; took one last look at the two women before her and walked down the long hallway to the kitchen. She knew Nadia probably went back for another cigarette and that's where she would find the girl.

It had always made the New Yorker smile a little wider to know when she was right, and emerging from the house to see Nadia sitting on the bench chain smoking brought her to beam at the surprised huntress.

"Sarah…" the huntress flinched as the sudden appearance of the younger girl startled her.

"Sorry about… what happened in there."

"Don't worry about it." She said, refusing to show the weak emotions of desperately needing to be needed, "Now… I believe you wanted to ask me some questions?" both girls smiled for their moment of silence prior to Sarah's questionnaire.

"Well, it's about my friend… the one I told you about?"

"…Sam…"

"Yea," She bit her lip, wondering how she would word her inquiry, "I've tried calling him numerous times in the past couple of months… he never answers, and never calls back; so, naturally, I'm worried. Would you be able to tell me if he's alright or possibly where he is?"

She waited tensely as Nadia focused harshly at the ground before her feet; the passing seconds felt like an eternity had stretched out and wrapped itself around them before she answered. It came slowly, beginning with a small hopeful smile and progressed positively from there.

Sighing the huntress spoke up, "The past few months have been…foggy for Sam. He's alright now—like I said, hunting's a hazardous job—though, danger for both him and… his brother still lurks in the shadows of their future. As far as where he is… I can't quite tell, it's… fuzzy." Confusion took an unusual hold on her as she tried to reach out to her fellow hunters. "Do you have a cell?"

"Yea." Sarah exclaimed as if she were being snapped from a daydream. Nadia pulled out her phone from one of the pockets of her cargo pants and handed it to her.

"Put your number in there; I'll try looking into it again later. It's getting late and you look pretty tired." She said, taking notice of how the light had turned golden orange from the dying sun, "And stick around town for a few days… it's a tad safer here than anywhere else at the moment. I'll be in touch the moment I get anything. It was nice meeting you Miss Blake."

Sarah smiled warmly, returning the compliment as she stood, handed the phone back to Nadia, and shook her hand. Moments later she was in the back yard alone once more, and the last few rays of the red sun sank beyond the houses lying rigidly on the horizon, Nadia watched it with bitterness, though she didn't know why. But as it had always been for her, if she didn't know the reason behind something, she only had to wait a few minutes before the answer inevitably came to her.

She was bitter because she saw how much Sarah loved the young man she was so worried about. She loved. Nadia had no idea what it felt like to love anyone aside from her long deceased family, surrogate mother, and sister… the annoying tug of wanting someone else, someone special pulled at her heartstrings. Resulting in the consent of allowing her body to produce a single tear, no less, no more; because for as doomed as she knew she was, hope would always linger just around the corner. When the tear finished traveling to her chin, the sun had gone, night had fallen, and the huntress retreated to the confines of the house where she knew she would be safe.

Mwahahaha... yep, chapter seven's over and done. Reviews will bring more, don't worry. I'm almost done with chapter eight and I've figured out some very interesting things for future chapters that will be very interesting... to say the least. Until then, adios!