Erik

While we waited for Zoey and the others, I found myself doing random stuff on Thanatos' laptop. Completely bored, I plugged in the earbuds sitting nearby, went on YouTube, and typed something in while looked at Apollo. Yes, I was one of those people.

Music started playing. A faint look of discomfort appeared on Apollo's face; I turned my attention to the screen when the chorus started playing, making my stomach turn. "Lost" by Within Temptation was playing. It fit the situation perfectly.

Oh, Starr… I thought, hearing a quiet strumming of guitar just on the edge of audibility. You don't know how much I miss you.

The others were starting to show up. I closed the laptop as soon as the song was over, feeling a sharp pain in my chest. I thought I had been broken. Maybe I was wrong.

There was only one way to find out.

Unknown

I slung the guitar over my back, hearing notes run through my head but not having the heart to play. There was no reason to patrol, anyway, but nobody believed me. How did I know such things when I didn't even know my own name? It made zero sense.

What happened to me? I wondered, not for the first time. I wanted to know who I was, what I was born for; for whatever reason, I had no faith in Neferet.

Ahead of me, the undergrowth moved. I halted. Unsheathing my swords, I called out "Who's there?" in a voice that clearly had not been used in a while.

Moonstone eyes peered out of the gloom. "A friend," the mystery creature said, and was gone.

Erik

"Zoey?" When I saw how excited she was, I understood why Stark had been unnerved. Apollo stood at my back, sticking with leaning on the wall rather than sitting with the rest of us. "What happened?"

"I had a brilliant idea!"

Damien tilted his head a bit. "Would this have anything to do with your five Dark Daughters lessons from Nyx?"

"When did that happen?" I exclaimed.

"Really?" Stark chimed in at the same time. We glanced at each other. So both of us were on the same page.

Zoey shifted in her seat. "When you were at the Shakespeare comp, Erik, and when you were still in Chicago, Stark."

Quickly averting his eyes, he muttered, "I was in NYC. My sister was in it." He looked up, straight at me. Recognition flooded through me. She had gotten second and was good enough to beat me – if she didn't have a concert on one of the mandatory practice days. "Now do you get why I seemed to hate you? You broke Zoey's heart, true, but…" I could the darkness of the depths now hid a thousand stories. I wondered how many of them I was involved in indirectly.

"Back to the matter at hand," Apollo interjected, sending some of that calming heat toward the two of us. "Zoey, what did you think of?"

Aurox burst in, moonstone eyes wild. His words came out in a rush: "She sent me into the Dark Realm to check in on things. Neferet is still alive, and she's gotten stronger. I think she stole power from… when she was nearly killed." He took a deep breath, having talked a little too swiftly.

Zoey perked up. "Anything?" she demanded.

The Vessel shook his head. I narrowed my eyes and willed myself into his place. Liar! I mused. He held allegiance to her, too, and he knew more than he was letting on. He squirmed under my scrutiny. I jerked back into my own body, silently thanking Apollo for teaching me the soul-jump.

"Oh." Her face fell. "Damn."

"What else were you thinkin' 'bout, Z?" inquired Stevie Rae.

"Right." She resumed the mask of no emotions. Ha, good luck with that. "If I had five lessons to learn about each of the elements and what they truly represent, maybe Erik has to learn some things, too. Maybe we can get Starr back." She rested her gaze on Aurox. "She can't be dead if our old Priestess is drawing magick from her. The power would die off along with her. Not to mention the Sacred Runes would be gone, and all of our strength with them."

Kramisha held up a folded piece of paper. Zoey's eyes flickered with surprise, but she took it. Apollo went rigid behind me and suddenly leapt forward. "No!" Fire shot out of nowhere, as blinding as the sun yet not deadly to the red vamps and fledglings. The paper was gone in the next instant when we could all see. "Are you crazy?" the god snapped. "The Otherworld is sealed off from all of us! We might still have our powers, but any poems that you might get, Poet Laureate, I suggest you ignore them. The Dark army is rising. Their… goddess" – he coughed before continuing, as if saying so choked him – "wants to gain the upper hand. She will fake anything and everything to get what she wants." I turned when I felt his omniscient eyes on my back. If this had been Zoey's idea in the first place, it scared me to the point of hope that both of them had thought of this. "Including…"

"Starr's death," I breathed.