We ended up at a beach. My eyelids jolted open once I submerged the unconsciousness of slumber, the distant calling of seagulls echoing against the sounds of the gentle waves lapping against the shore. The sand was wet with coldness against my palms as I sat up, my eyes studying my surroundings. It was a dreary day today, gray clouds hung in the skies, the sea a dark and cheerless green.

Adam was lying by my left side but he hadn't woken up quite yet, his dark hair blowing in the bitter breeze. There were a couple of feet in between us but I noticed that he was curled towards me. Goose bumps lined up his arms, making me wish that I had a coat to give to him. But I didn't bring one along with me, unfortunately. I wondered if I could will the sun to come out from behind the clouds.

Chandler was on the right side of me, still asleep. She looked somewhat better than she did when we were in Yuma, her pallor was brighter but she still had that shade of paleness. That's when I remembered what had happened. I guess the saloon's explosion was so big that it blasted us to a beach. I didn't know what beach it was but I'm just glad that we were all in one piece and that no one was missing.

I felt a bit better when I saw that Lacey had woken up too but she wasn't saying anything. I could see her breathing and blinking but it was like she had suddenly decided to take a vow of silence or something. I think it was the fact that she had experienced an explosion and came out of it alive, not to mention unhurt, unlike my motley crew.

As I sat back on my haunches, I saw two figures walking towards us in the distance. One figure, the tallest out of the two, was limping. The shortest one walked at a tired pace. I noticed them almost instantly; they were the boys that worked for Helios.

I stood up and felt that comforting pressure of the bow against my back as I squinted at them through the slight haze of fog. Since they were now closer, I got a better look at them. They had both been impacted by the explosion, that's for sure. The eldest boy had a line of blood that ran from his head down to his jaw, along with some cuts here and there on his arms and legs.

The youngest boy had a profoundly fresh cut that ran across his left cheek. Their wounds were my ultimately my fault. Once they got to me, they stood a good couple of feet away from me, Adam, Chandler and Lacey. I didn't mind, either way, the farther away the better.

I felt the eldest boy's eyes scan my face for any signs of danger but he could see that I wasn't going to attack, so he put his guard down, his posture falling ever so slightly. The youngest boy, I observed, moved closer to the eldest. They didn't look related, but apparently, some structure of a bond formed.

"What are you going to do with us now?" The youngest boy hesitantly asked. His gaze barely met mine. I sighed and bent down to him.

"First," I started and smiled comfortingly at him. "We're going to heal you both up."

"And then what? You're not going to hurt us, are you?" I shook my head, my eyes falling to his sliced cheek.

"No, I'm afraid I already have and I deeply regret that I did. But we're going to take you two with us, if that's all right." The youngest boy nodded, a small smile appearing in front of me.

"I'm Evan." He introduced. I nodded and offered my hand out to him.

"Althea," I took his hand in mine and shook it. "It's nice to finally meet you." Just then, Adam started to wake up, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking for me. Evan slightly pulled away from the eldest boy, peering over at Adam. After a couple of seconds, his eyes found mine again.

"Is that the boy with the really cool sword?" I nodded.

"Indeed it is."

"Can I go talk to him?"

"Sure." I said. "But just be careful, he might still be tired. It was a rough battle for all of us." Evan nodded and broke away from the eldest boy, walking over to Adam. I saw them exchange words and soon enough, Adam broke into a grin. It was a tired one, but it was there. I was thankful enough for that.

"I didn't join him, you know." I looked back at the eldest boy; his staff was still in his hand.

"Oh," I nodded. "So, he forced you, then?" The eldest boy nodded, his eyes filled with regret. And somehow, when he responded back to me, I finally noticed that he had a British accent.

"Yes, he kidnapped me from my home back in England. I don't know how, though. That's the thing that puzzles me the most in this situation." I only bit my lip.

"What's your name?" I finally managed to ask.

"It's Alexander." He put out his hand for me to shake but I looked at it. His eyebrows furrowed as he slowly pulled back his hand. "Um, is there something wrong with my hand?" I looked up at him, my eyebrows raised.

"Oh, sorry," I admitted. "There's nothing physically wrong with your hand, no. It's just, I can't touch it."

"And why not?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Because my hand will start to burn. It's quite painful, really."

"I see." He nodded, even though I could tell he was hurt by my statement.

"Look, I'm really sorry. It's nothing personal but it's just we're of the opposite elements and…" He shook his head.

"It's fine, Althea. I understand." I nodded, a meek look appearing on my face. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to face Adam.

"What is it?" I asked. I saw that Adam looked better; he just really needed some sleep, dark circles were under his eyes.

"It's Chandler." That was his only response. I rushed over to Chandler but I couldn't get very far because the waves had somehow made their way towards her, encasing her in a watery, clear coffin. I wasn't worried; I knew that it wasn't going to hurt her. I had a feeling her father knew that she was hurt and he was just lending a hand. I didn't mind, I was glad he was helping her.

I knelt by her side and watched as the water patched her up. It was really cool to watch actually, the peaceful water slowly flushed over her cut, wiping away the leftover blood and leaving her skin anew, like it was before this whole battle happened. It was a couple of minutes before Chandler had received enough energy to open her eyes. The water peeled back and washed away into the sea, leaving Chandler healed and back to normal. She hugged me once she was free and I hugged her back, my body flooding with relief.

"Chandler," I mumbled. She let out a big sigh.

"Althea," I pulled back.

"Do you feel all right?"

"Well, I do look a lot better now, don't I?" Chandler's tone was full of sarcasm and I rolled my eyes, but I smiled anyway.

"You definitely do. And I'm glad." She nodded and looked above my head, finally taking in the fact that there were others in our presence. Alexander and Evan were standing behind Adam and I, we were kneeling in front of Chandler. Lacey stood next to me, her hand on her hip, her lips still inactive.

"Why are they here?" She nodded to Alexander and Evan. I jumped up, walking over to them, standing in the middle of them.

"Chandler, I'd like you to meet Alexander," I gestured to Alexander. He managed a nod towards her. "And this is Evan." I showed her Evan. He smiled at her, waving. Chandler returned a smile and a wave back at Evan.

"It's nice to meet you two," Chandler bit her lip once her eyes floated back to Alexander. "Sorry about the whole trident spiel. That must've really hurt." Her hand idly rubbed her neck. Alexander shrugged her apology off.

"I'm not taking it personally." He simply responded. There was an awkward silence before Chandler broke it.

"Well, I see we have a lot of patients to heal up, Althy." Chandler stood up, brushing the sand off of her hands. I nodded and smiled.

"We sure do."