Marnaya woke up after she'd gotten some fresh air into her system. Her eyes flew open to find Matsye and Max hanging over her.

"What?" she asked. "How bad am I?"

Matsye said, "Not bad. It could've been worse."

Marnaya wasn't so sure; she felt her burnt flesh throb even when she was completely still. The Nourasian woman came over with some ointment. "This will help with the burns." she stated quietly. Marnaya took it from her carefully and began applying it to her burns. It soothed immediately, and she sighed in relief. "Thank you." she said to her. The woman nodded and went away silently. Marnaya frowned.

"What did I do?" she asked, worried.

"Nothing." Matsye replied. "That's just how she is. Shy and timid."

"How do you know?"

"She happens to be my father's sister."

"Oh." That was all Marnaya replied. Then the flickering of a cape in the wind caught her attention. She looked up to see a cloaked and masked figure standing on top of the large cliff near the village. Even though he was a good distance away, she could see his eyes.

They were a glowing violet.

Marnaya shuddered violently, for a reason she didn't know. She could sense she'd encountered him before, but where she couldn't recall. Then suddenly she realized HE had caused the fire, almost killing those people...

"You there!" Marnaya yelled. "Who are you?!"

The figure chuckled darkly. "Why don't you find out, Keeper?"

Marnaya took that as a challenge. She stood up quickly ignoring her pain. The figure jumped down and landed gracefully on his feet. Then he took off for the forest.

Marnaya darted off after him, paying no heed to Matsye or Max's yells to wait.

'Where's that beast?' Marnaya thought to herself.

She reanalyzed all his words. He'd called her a Keeper. She knew she was called a Keeper, she just didn't know what that exactly meant.

Hearing the snapping of a twig, she spun around to see the man standing a few yards from her. She held her sword up, ready for an attack from him. He merely spoke.

"So you know that it was me?" he said. "Are you sure it wasn't someone else?"

Marnaya gave a snort. "Please. I KNOW it was you. Your mogur was all over the scene."

"Hmmm. You can sense mogur?"

"Yep. That's how I'm a Keeper."

The figure slowly walked toward her. She braced herself. He stopped just a foot from her.

"You don't fully understand what a Keeper does, do you?"

Marnaya glared at him, wondering what he was getting at as he continued.

"You see, Blue Flash. A Keeper protects the galaxy. He...or she contains the Wolf. Literally. You've seen your 'tattoo'. You know it's a seal. Of course you never had to worry about being a social outcast, unlike your poor mother..."

When he said this, Marnaya tried to remain calm as she demanded, "You know my mother? Well, where is she?"

"I cannot let you know that yet. The Creators won't allow it. Besides, you need to worry about your seal now. You appear very cross." He disappeared after that.

Marnaya stood there for a long while, pondering his words. She completely understood that he knew that the Wolf was inside her. She knew that she should be upset, but she'd experienced so many things on a weirder level than this. She knew though that controlling her temper was the key to control.

Those eyes though...she shivered.

"MA-FLASH!" she heard Max's voice yell. Marnaya ran toward him.

"Hey!" she called when she'd found him. Max ran toward her, and she was surprised to see Matsye with him. They both seemed relieved. Max was quick to ask where that arson was.

"I..." Marnaya started. She hesitated to talk about him; she couldn't understand why she felt scared near him since she'd never met him in her life...

But how did he know about her?

"I don't know." Marnaya said. "He escaped."

Max sighed in frustration. "But how?! I've never known ONE adversary that escaped by OUTRUNNING you."

Marnaya shrugged. "He's just a bit faster, this one."

Max stared at her, but didn't push it. 'Smart kid.' Marnaya thought.

Epsilon:

Jordan and Kezi walked along the Epsilonian streets, just to get some air. Though Kezi was very good at hiding her tension and anxiety under a cool and calm reserve, Jordan had been with her long enough to feel it building in her. Finally, Kezi blurted out, "I'm really worried, ya know?!"

Jordan looked down at her, concerned too but not wanting to let Kezi see how badly. "Marnaya will be fine."

"But...Jordan...she could get hurt...and what if that masked Nourasian finds her and knows who she is. That'd be bad, ya know?"

"Yeah. It would. But Kez, this galaxy is huge. What are the chances of Marnaya going to Nourasia?"

Kezi relaxed a little. "Yeah. Ya know, I guess you're...right...It's just..."

"I know. She's our only baby."

"Yeah...I...wonder what she'll say...when she knows who I really am?" Kezi's voice grew to a whisper. Jordan took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"I think..." Jordan replied. "That she'll be pissed you never told her."

"No...I'm worried about her...opinion of me in general."

"What do you mean? Marnaya loves you."

"Well, she doesn't understand a lot of my...problems. Because I wanted to protect her. I swore that if I ever had a child, they would not hear what happened to me. But...she must wonder...about why I have flashbacks...why I wake up screaming..."

"Kez...she may not understand. But she still loves you. And as for not telling her...she's going to ask eventually. You going to lie to her?"

Kezi was quiet for a few moments before answering, "...No...But I really don't think she WILL ask...so..."

"Kezi...Tell her when she finds out who you are."

"But-"

Jordan looked up and Kezi followed his gaze; Keni was approaching with an Epsilonian man who appeared to be a shuttle guard. Keni introduced him to Jordan and Kezi before saying, "He says he saw Marnaya leave."

"When exactly?" Jordan asked.

"It was around two o' clock." the guard said. "She had a Nourasian...I believe."

Kezi felt her stomach do a back flip. She merely repeated, "A...Nourasian?"

"Yes. What is it? What's wrong with her?"

Jordan put an arm around Kezi and said, "You'll have to excuse her. A Nourasian attacked her when our daughter was born."

"I'm sorry, ma'am."

Kezi merely nodded, but she seemed very distant. Jordan nodded for Keni to get her. After Keni had taken Kezi away, Jordan asked, "What did he look like? You acted as if you weren't sure what race he was."

The guard pondered for a moment before answering, "He was young, I'd say her age at least. His hair was black, not generally a Nourasian hair color. His ears were not as pointy as a true Nourasian's..."

"You're suggesting he's...mixed with another race?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, sir."

'That has to be Aikka and Eva's son, then.' Jordan said to himself. 'At least we don't have to worry...'

Something else bothered Jordan.

"If he was her age, then neither of them were old enough to travel on the shuttle alone." Jordan said. "So...how did they get on?"

The guard expressed guilt. "Forgive me, sir." he said. "They told me that they were eloping because you disapproved. The boy seemed sincere...so I let them...go."

Jordan just stared at him. He wasn't angry with him at all; Marnaya had played stunts like that. But he was really pissed at the boy...

What did the boy want with his daughter?

Marnaya walked silently with Matsye and Max back to the burnt village. She couldn't help but think about all the new information...

A Keeper had the Wolf inside of them? Her birth mother had been a Keeper until...

Matsye's aunt approached them when she was out of the woods. She spoke to Matsye.

"What happened?"

Matsye sighed. "The culprit escaped. He outran the Flash."

"What? Well...he'll catch that arson. No one ever really gets away from a flash, do they?" She directed her eyes to Marnaya. She gave a grin, considering that was really the only part of her face you could see.

After a while, the trio went back to Matsye's home. Marnaya went straight to her room to take off the disguise. She inspected the damage on it; the cape was absolutely unsalvageable. Her mask and wig were a little singed, but easily repaired. She'd also have to replace her outer coat and boots. She sighed.

'Well, it could've been worse.' she thought to herself.

Marnaya had to gently peel her pants off because of the massive burn on her thigh. Her hands were burnt badly as well. She poured some cold water and drove her hands into it, flinching as the temperature change shocked her. She held it still for a while before she heard a knock on the door.

Natsuri was standing there with a small container. She handed it out toward her.

"This is healing cream." she said. "Use it and it'll make your burns feel better."

"Thank you." Marnaya said, taking the container from her; she opened it up and could smell the medicine. She carefully applied it to her burns which seemed to disappear instantly.

"Wow, this stuff works great!" Marnaya gasped. Natsuri simply stared at Marnaya in shock.

"I've..." Natsuri stuttered. "...never seen it...work that fast."

Marnaya blinked her eyes in bewilderment before deciding to change the topic. "So...What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"You look like something is wrong."

"Oh. Well, I'm certain the Blue Flash wouldn't want to hear it." Natsuri retorted.

"You underestimate the Flash." Marnaya replied with a grin.

Matsye's voice was heard a shot distance down. "Natsuri, Marnaya needs to come with me."

Marnaya poked her head out. "Why?"

"He's ready to ask you those questions."