Na na na naaaahhh!!! And after this, this is caught up to Halfway There on the Di-Gata Defenders boards! -happy dance- And we have another character. Named Athela. She plays a smaller, yet crucial role in the trilogy which still has to be decided of a name...

Disclaimer: I don't own Di-Gata. This is the fifth chapter. Get it into your head already! XD

Chapter 5: Athela

From the midnight realm,

I came,

Leading a solid group of eight,

As you learned of another,

- - - - - - - -

"The Relics," Yeli explained, for the Defenders convenience, "Are objects spelled by eight Wizards. They each hold seperate powers." Erik nodded, slowly understanding what the Ethos was saying.

"Oh, and the objects together equal a way into the Dark Realm." He paused, pondering a single question. "How's that work?"

"The Great Dagger of Nega-La, will open the portal, new pathways. The Glasspiece will lead your way through the Dark Realms and the Sumosian Shield will protect you from some of the Ethos."

"Oh, sounds good." Seth nodded and crossed his arms. "Where do we find them?" The group turned to Yeili, all eyes on her. She responded truthfully.

"I don't know."

- - - - - - - -

Adam lay on his back, hands behind his head, humming along to a tune. Mel was feeling along the purple orb that held them in a prison, murmering the Sigils under her breath.

"Alright, the Sigil makeup is layered. It's a shield designed to keep people busy. They'll most likely renew it every couple days or so." Mel said, fingers still on the curved wall. It felt like slightly warm glass.

"I didn't understand a word you just said." Adam told her, gazing blankly at the ceiling. The Wizard sighed.

"It means I'll have a lot of work to do before we can get out of here." She pressed her palms against the violet wall, quietly saying the Sigils.

"Oh. Well, you do that then."

- - - - - - - -

Cameryn stood, arms crossed and a expressionless look on her face watching as the Defenders and Yeili prepared to leave for a monastary in Yantos. Thymene and Tarlin, two of her students stood behind her, taking turns shoving the other like immature children.

She turned to them, giving them careful instructions, speaking softly. "Find everything and come back here. Give the message to Lyra. She'll know what to do."

Cameryn turned back to the Defenders as the two teenagers ran back to the dojo. She walked over, a stony look on her face. "We're coming with you." She stated, glaring at them all, as if daring them to contridict her. "Thymene, Tarlin and I."

Rion glanced nervously at Seth. Their leader would definitely argue against this. And the Ethos girl was enough to complicate the matters. But the dark haired boy just shrugged and continued powering up his Stormer. Erik raised an eyebrow, exchanging a look with Kara as Thymene and Tarlin returned with supplies and loaded them onto the Stormers.

"So, Rion's with Kara, Yeili's with me," Seth started counting off the places. "Thymene can go with Erik and Cameryn and Tarlin share Mel's Stormer. That's everyone." He sat down, lifting a helmet and placing it over his dark hair and glancing back to make sure Yeili hadn't left them.

"Let's get going."

- - - - - - -

They stopped at dusk, in the middle of nowhere, on the border of Yantos and Nega-La. Kara and Rion where searching for firewood as the others rolled out sleeping bags and prepared to sleep.

Thymene tucked a losse strand of dark hair behind her ear as she rolled her sleeping bag out next to Seth's. "Do you actually trust that girl?" She was referring to Yeili.

"Not really." He answered truthfully. "I really just want to get Mel back. It kinda feels... like we're not a team without her." Seth paused. "And I suppose Adam. You kinda get used to him after a while."

"You're not really a huge fan of him, are you?" She lay down on her sleeping bag, hands behind her head as she gazed up at the tree's and dark sky above her.

"I wouldn't say that... well, actually, I would." Seth grinned at her as she laughed.

"Sounds like a nice guy." Thymene laughed.

"I guess he is. Just gets on your nerves sometimes."

"Seems like the person to do so." And after that, the camp fell strangely silemt.

- - - - - - -

Mel wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. The walls holding them in where difficult to actually decode. Decode, as in, find the basis of all the Sigil makeup and gradually break through it all. This wall, was in layers.

"You almost done?" Adam asked impaitently, from his particular favourite spot in the centre of the violet orb.

"No," She snapped. "Do something useful."

"Like what?" Not like there was much to actually do...

"Staying out of my way!" She said angrily.

"Jeez, cheerful much?"

- - - - - -

Cyrlin floated down one of the corridors of the Ethosian Citadel, glancing from under his black hood into the cells. These cells where for those of no special power, the ordinary people. He stopped outside one, shadows hiding its occupant

"Athela."

"My Lord," A low voice, female, sounding defeated; spoke softly from the corner

"The Lost One is here." Silence, aside from a scuffling noise of cloth against stone. "He needs training." Cyrlin raised a tentacle-like hand, motioning to unlock the door. The voice was hoarse and rough, possibly from either lack of use or water.

"Of course. You'll need me."

"Yes. That would be the key to your freedom, Athela. Don't you wish to see him again?" Another pause and more shifting

"He won' remember me…I haven't seen him for thirteen years." She said softly, remembering his small face and smile...

"Is that agreement?"

A navy cloaked figure, stepped foreward, out of the shadows. Pulling back her hood, Athela's black hair fell plainly past her shoulders and her grey eyes glared at the Ethos, faint lines of worry across her face

"Yes."

- - - - - - -

Inside the monastery, Yeili, Cameryn and Seth searched for any place of where the Relics could be within the history books. The others where lazing around the library, Erik snoring over somewhere in the mechanics area, while Kara and Rion where off somewhere. Tarlin was sleeping against one of the bookshelves and Thymene staring out the window a distance away.

"There's a knife in Dakor, in one of the dojo's in the mountains. It's supposed to have some powers, but this book isn't specific…" Cameryn trailed off, continuing to read. Even though she couldn't see casts, she could see all kinds of Sigils, including the ones on paper and walls.

"Nah, that place was destroyed half a decade ago." Seth crossed off the dojo on the map he was using. They where slowly eliminating places the Dagger of Nega-La could be.

"What about here?" Yeili asked dully. She wasn't all into the researching business, but Seth wouldn't let her leave his sight. Even then, he still had her stones.

"Here? Why here?"

"It is a museum." Yeili waved at one of many display cases about the library. A small instrument was sitting in the nearest, a plaque of a coppery color with an explaination of what it was, who discovered it and multiple dates. "There are many objects that could be of the Relics."

The other two looked at each other. Well, maybe Ethos Girl had a point. Why not check?

- - - -

Mel sighed from exhaustion, sitting down on the floor. The wall was halfway decoded, better than when she'd started. She had maybe half a day left before the shields where renewed.

Sighing tiredly, Mel turned back to the wall, murmuring the Sigils yet again

And the violet wall vanished

"You." An Ethos glided foreward, to Adam. The thief himself was lying on his back staring at the ceiling

"What?" He lifted his head, staring at the black cloaked Ethos. "Did I break more rules?" Adam smiled and lay back down, whistling happily.

"No. Not you. The Wizard will be leaving for several hours and your teacher will be here soon." The Ethos growled

Mel narrowed her eyes and sighed. The chances of them escaping this place were close to nil. Might as well stop trying and wait for Seth to come… And the other's, of course. Can't forget about them...

- - - -

"You're kidding?" Tarlin eyed the small dagger Cameryn was belting to her waist. "It was here the entire time? No fighting past monsters?"

"No evil Ethos blocking our way?" Erik added.

"No travelling across these completely abandoned and haunted plains until we all die of starvation?"

"Nice one, Tarlin..."

"You both have too much time on your hands." Seth grinned, shaking his head all the while. "But yes, we have the blade. The only agreement was that it has to come back after we're done with it." He explained

"Well, let's hope it's not destructible like the Pure Stones where…" Kara, smiling,

"Yeah... let's hope..."

- - - - -

Athela looked at Adam in front of her, eyeing him. He'd grown up rather well, aside from his adoptive father, Lord Brakus. That was possibly the worst part fo his history. She hadn't seen him since before Brakus had taken him. Looking away for a moment, she held back tears.

"You know of shifting?" She asked, setting her cloak aside, wearing long black robes, slightly tattered around the hem.

"Erm… a little." He shrugged. "I get the basics."

"Ah." Athela crossed her arms. "In history, there was a prophecy given to a Defender many thousands of years ago by a Wizard of Yan. Every generation, there would be a single person who could move freely between different worlds and realms, and they would be taught in turn by the previous generation. This person was called the Shifter."

Adam rolled his eyes. "What has this to do with me?" She ignored him and continued on, grey eyes never leaving his.

"In the prophecy, the Shifter was referred to as the Lost One, for they where raised in secret and away from their parents. This enters you for the role of the Shifter. From your adoptive father and parentage." Athela left out the fact that they also lost what was so dear to them, the person closest to their heart. He didn't need to know. Not yet.

"Oh," He fell silent. "How do you shift between worlds then?"

"I'll show you."

- - - - - - - -

A/N: Muahahaha! Cliffhanger. And if you do read this, please review. Adamizgr8, a wonderful reviewer and reader, is still the only one...