Zoey didn't speak to Dren for an entire week, which was good for both of them after Wesley had thoroughly explained the detailed "facts of life" and sent a rivet of embarrassment through the Cyniclon. Another new emotion to him, although slightly unpleasant. His separation from her allowed them both to get their line of thinking straight. He had felt deeply embarrassed after it appeared he had broken the human social etiquette of behaviour. He had looked at her rather coyly at first but now had regaining a spark of mischief in his eyes. But if anything from getting over the situation, Zoey was now cornered in her own mind.

It was a vicious choice.

She was torn between undying love for Mark and at the fiery new relationship with Dren. One was the best disciple of kendo, he was the charming prince at her school who coincidentally happened to be the love of her life. He had a sweet face, soft eyes and a kind disposition to match a man of her dreams. The other was an alien, wielding great magic in his blood, fangs that nicked her skin, a beautiful face, repeatedly tried to murder her and now had lost the occasionally urge to destroy her. But he was so strong and primal...They were almost complete contrasts. "Is there any way out of this?" She thought to herself.

"So Zoey, seems like I finally caught up to you." Dren said breezily and laughed as she bolted away, suddenly aware of her surroundings, or rather who was around her. She attempted to bolt if he hadn't already grabbed onto her arms powerfully. She soon gave up trying to break his grip and faced him with a sigh, as he let go of her arm.

"So how have you been?" She asked tentatively, finally locking eyes with him after the incidence.

"Not so bad. I've been getting a slight case of boredom though. Being stuck in here for a week tends to do that." He said and swept some hair out of his face. "I was hoping we could go the park after work. It's getting pretty quiet now and I could use the fresh air."

"Elliot might get mad..." She mumbled and glanced over at the teen who was at his usual spot sipping tea with the newspaper held in one hand. Dren sniffled a little, that teenager always gave him an uneasy feeling, as if he were always watching.

"Oh come on..." Dren purred and leaned so she could stare directly into his eyes. "Why does he have to know anyway?" And he gave her a little wink. That was all that was needed to convince her. He was so subtly seductive. It was just a harmless little trip to the park, where they'd be alone...surely Mark and Elliot won't mind. Why did they have to know anyway? She hadn't said a word to Mark about Dren's advances...it'd only upset him. But she did have a few things to say to Dren now that she'd made her mind up and broken free of the choices.

"Hurry up." Dren hissed and tugged her hand impatiently.

"We're already here!" Zoey groaned, her aching limbs from work forcing her to a slow walk as they crossed the grassy field in the park. "Thank god there's no one..." She mumbled and hurriedly let go of Dren's hand. He had insisted that they "join forces" in a bid to escape Elliot's clutches without becoming separated. And she obliged.

"Alone at last." Dren sighed and flopped down on his back. He smelt the freshly cut grass and inhaled deeply.

"Yeah..." Zoey said quietly, almost unenthusiastically. "Dren..." Her words caught in her throat, and her heart pulled in all directions. It was painfully pulling as if it didn't want to be here, and didn't want to hear what she was about to say.

"Hmm?" The Cyniclon opened and eye and watched her lazily as she sat down beside him, with her knees drawn up close.

"I've been meaning to tell you that...we can't, you can't kiss me anymore. We can't kiss." She blurted out and felt her throat tighten as Dren sat up slightly. She didn't noticed his hands clench the life out of the grass he gripped next to him. The lush, green stalks had turned to a jet black.

"Why is that?" He asked her, feigning indifference. Of course he already knew. His superior intellect had already sifted through their situation and the various outcomes through the use of algorithms and pure common sense. He knew where he stood with Zoey, between her and Mark. An unfavourable position to be in, seeing as he was never the first in line for her.

"Because..." And she paused. Not daring to look at him. A cold silence fell over the pair. The blood in his ears were throbbing loudly but not loud enough to mask the sound of their hearts as they each pumped rhythmically with an increasing tempo. The sound of the valves, opening and closing as life flowed through them, but it was pointless now... she didn't want him. And his heart strings contracted with a stab of pain. Why did she have to cause him such pain?

Dren flicked his ears as a cackle of laugh broke the silence, birds fluttered into the air with squawks of alarm, he snapped his head up with a throaty growl and fangs protuding. He leapt to his feet, the hairs on his neck stood on end and bristled with caution. Zoey sat up with an angry look. "I know that laugh!" She said accusingly.

And within the next second, Sardon and Tarb had materialized in the air a distance away from them. The smaller cyniclon was squealing with laughter, hugging his stomach as he did whereas Sardon merely smirked smartly at Dren. "This is a rather amusing turn of events." He said slowly, his eyes darting all over the Cyniclon below them. Assessing the danger of him Dren realised.

"You can say that again!" Tarb burst out and wiped tears of laughter away from his eyes. "Look at him! In his adult form! BWHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS HYSTERICAL!"

"And just what is so funny!" Dren snarled at the small figure baring his elongated fangs aggressively. His hands were balled into fists and the magic in his blood was beginning to glow that same ethereal light as it had previously done on occasions. The sheer rudeness of this creature was grating on his nerves annoyingly.

"That you, Dren, have matured into a full magic weaver. And with markings too." Sardon commented dryly, raising an eyebrow as the Cyniclon began to glow brightly. "Most unusual and irregular."

"What do you want? You pretend to know me but why don't I know you?" He snapped back at them. He became vaguely aware of Zoey shifting nervously beside him but for now the smaller figured ceased his squealing and flew down closer to him. Dren growled lowly when Tarb sniffed lightly at him and recoiled with a hiss baring his own smaller fangs . Likewise Dren sniffed him lightly and caught the scent of power, that made him widen his eyes in amazement. Such a rich bank of power, infinite pools of magic and strength, if he were that powerful, anything could be possible if only he could tap into it...

"Sardon, he smells of tainted magic!" He shouted back to the larger alien above them. The alien's brow creased in concern and he drifted down to their level. "It's no wonder, he's acting so funny." Tarb added scathingly.

"You're right Tarb, he is stinking of it." He said wrinkling his nose up, "And of humans." He added witheringly looking at Zoey who scowled at him.

"Tainted magic? What? I don't understand." He said with a tone of defeat and sniffed lightly, he could smell nothing different. Just his own scent. These two individuals were stronger than him it appeared, especially as his grasp of magic was not strong and their knowledge may prove to be to his advantage. "Tell me what you mean." He asked lowly and pinned his ears down as a sign of submission.

"Pah. Such magics cannot be just told to you Dren. It takes discipline and a learning mind." Sardon told him flatly. The body language was not missed by the Cyniclon and smiled inwardly.

"Then I want to learn." He replied, he head Zoey give a little gasp and her heart rate increased a fraction, the pounding was so great it threatened to give him a headache.

"Ah hah! You want to learn! That's a joke!" Tarb giggled and did a somersault in the air. "And here I thought we'd find you in a bag as severed limbs after the humans had finished dissecting you!"

"Dissecting?" Dren repeated blankly and looked over at Zoey who was now chewing her lip in frustration. "What does he mean? I don't understand." He felt his inexperience of this world was crippling him dangerously. "I am virtually useless."

"What we mean is that these humans kept you as their pet, their slave...probably experimented on you gruesomely. And now they've turned your rightful inheritance of magic into your own enemy, warping your memory and body. Your tainted magic is acting as a plug to your channel of power." Sardon told him with a twisted smile.

"That's enough!" Zoey shouted and transformed into her Mew Mew form. "Shut up and leave us alone! Get back to the stinking library!" She shouted firing her strawberry bell attack at them warningly. "He's not going to listen to anymore of these lies!"

"Very well human." Sardon said with a hollow laugh as he batted away one of her attacks easily with his fan. "But just take a look at what he is now. It's as clear as day. You can't keep his mind caged forever." He told her menacingly and both Cyniclons faded from view. Dren's gaze lingered hungrily on the space where they were.

"They knew me, they were like me..." He breathed out and looked over at Zoey. She was looking incredibly worried at him, which he found odd. Normally her transformation fascinated him but right now, she did not interest him. "What did he mean caged? Is there something wrong?" He asked her, "Should I not have met them?"

"Err...I...no. They were bad Cyniclons. They want to take over my world and destroy it..." She muttered lowly and averted her gaze from him. "Everything they said was a lie." She told him firmly but he wrinkled up his nose slightly.

"You're not telling me everything Zoey." He said blandly and she gave a noise of frustration.

"Dren they're bad aliens! You shouldn't ever go back to them!" She told him sharply and he looked slightly taken aback.

"You mean I was part of them?" He asked her and looked down at his palms fading with light. They no longer ran with pure white magic but felt dirty, as if he was a criminal dusting his palms of murder and washing away the blood. "How could I have ever wanted to possess this world? A world full of life, beauty and brutal harmony between living entities. Not to mention this is Zoey's home planet and I am a guest. Guest's don't destroy hosts..." He thought to himself hollowly. "Only destructive parasites do that."

"No...I mean yes but no! I don't know what to tell you and what not to tell you!" She said exasperatedly and put her hands on her head in annoyance. "I wish Elliot was here, he'd make sure I didn't do anything stupid."

"You're not going to do anything stupid. Just tell me everything, the truth this time." He said to her with an edge to his voice.

"No I-I can't do it, Elliot would murder me..."

"Don't let him control you, just tell me what there is to know." Dren whispered softly, his eyes flickered slightly and he knew he was trying to twist her mind with minute specks of magic to loosen her tongue. But the Mew Mew's mind was impregnable and she shook her head rapidly to clear her mind. He scowled in disapproval at his failure, "It's alright." And he added as an afterthought, "I'll protect you." And put an arm around her. But she batted it away quickly with a low hiss,

"I can protect myself!" She yelled at him.

"But Zoey you can't." He said rather bluntly and this only stoked her annoyance.

"I can! And If I can't then Mark will – I don't need your constant protecting!" She snarled. It startled him to see her disposition switch like so but he said nothing and dropped his arm back down to his side. Female temperaments were rather unpredictable. "Let's go home..." She took him by the arm tentatively and led him back to the cafe where she said her goodbyes hurriedly. Without a hug.

Dren saw her hug herself as she walked off and heard her mutter from a distance, "Look at what he is now...Who does he think he is?...My Cyniclon guardian? No, that can't be right..."

"She does prove an adequate point. What exactly am I? And why am I here...perhaps she does not have these answers anymore. She certainly doesn't want my company anymore..." He said slowly and walked into the cafe. There he found Wesley and Elliot filtering through a mound of rubbish they'd pulled up from the lab.

"Hi there Dren." Wesley greeted him warmly and gave a little sneeze from the dust. Elliot merely glanced up at him before returning to rummage. He held up a pink fluffy thing and Wesley gave a snort of amusement.

"I'm really surprised he's still intact." He said poking the object curiously.

"Leave him under some light, it'll recharge his battery, assuming everything else is functioning." Elliot said passing the object to him. He then fished up a mound of paper coated in concrete dust.

"Dren if you're not doing anything I'd appreciate it if you didn't just stare at me, doing all the work." Elliot told the Cyniclon sharply and the alien approached him slowly.

"I met two more of my kind today." He told the human who snapped his attention towards him. Accompanied with a deep frown.

"Tarb and Sardon?" Dren could feel a snarl rising in his throat. This cocky human was an irritation with his sharp words and vast knowledge, over the weeks here the human had slowly grated along his nerves. How he longed to hear this creatures cries of helplessness, and the cocky intelligence drain from him...

"Yes, I suppose it must have been. One small, the other tall."

"Urgh I knew they'd seek you out eventually. And let me guess, bonehead Zoey thought it'd be a good idea to take you out without me watching over." Elliot sighed with a frown.

"She's not a bonehead." Dren replied sharply and bared his fangs at him slightly. The human stared evenly back at him and shrugged.

"Say what you want, as long as you came back then I'm fine with it." He told Dren sharply and the alien gave him a look of indifference. "Don't go looking for them, and if they approach you again, run. Run as fast as you can back here." Dren blinked once to acknowledge this and Elliot stared back with a steely gaze. Wesley watched this exchange with interest before a loud robotic squeak caught his attention.

"Hey you two, look over here! Mini Mews coming round now." The three of them crowded around the window ledge where the bionic creature was sat on.

"Danger...D...a...nger..." It cried out weakly, its eyes blinking slowly.

"Thank god it's alright." Wesley said gladly and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Here..." Elliot muttered and grabbed Mini Mew. He popped open the back of it and pulled out it's memory card before snapping it's fluffy lid back in. " We should be able to find out if it recorded anything. Take a long rest Mini Mew, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"And off he goes..." The chef said with a small groan and rubbed his neck, "Perhaps you should go to your room and rest Dren if you're not hungry, we've got another working day tomorrow."

"Yes Wesley." The Cyniclon replied. "This human is almost a contrast to the other blonde one..." he thought to himself, "the diversity of humans appears endless. Contrasts between me and them exist also, driving a deep rift between us...there is still so much I don't know..."

"Is something wrong?" Wesley prompted him seeing the alien stare into the distance.

"Well...Zoey said this to me..." He began quietly and shifted his footing slightly. A few minutes later he was standing outside his door, about to enter his room. Wesley had proved sympathetic to his confusion at the teenager's outburst but had remained tight lipped on any advice, whilst Dren failed to mention his desire for knowledge.

"Dren." The alien turned around. Behind him was the blonde human with a somewhat grim expression. "You don't look very happy."

"How very observant of you." Dren replied back dryly. The human's mouth twitched into a smirk.

"You're humour has definitely developed." He replied and walked a little closer. "I thought you'd be interested in seeing the museum tomorrow with me."

"Is that not the building of history and science in town?" He replied suspiciously. And Elliot nodded approvingly,

"Yes it is, I was thinking of taking Zoey with us." He said and the Cyniclon nodded softly, "Perhaps it'll pique your interest in humans. As opposed to an interest in Cyniclons." He turned back to his room when the alien did nothing but look at him with a blank expression.

"Perhaps it will. But I find that my own species is far more interesting..." He said lowly with a fanged smile and entered his own room. Rummaging through books donated by Elliot and Wesley he found one showing the map of the city, quickly pinpointing the library, that Zoey had accidentally told him, "Get back to the stinking library!", and he leapt out of his window with a curious mind.

"Now what am I meant to do?" Dren muttered as he pressed his nose against the door of the library. It was shut for the day and there wasn't even a guard on duty, how unprofessional of the council. "Unek." He hissed and the various locks shifted out of position allowing him to open the door and enter.

"So...you came back." Sardon commented and appeared in front of the startled alien, he was accompanied by the small Cyniclon.

"I did...but only to learn more about myself." Dren told them warily, he could feel his fear wavering into the air as the small one grew an even broader grin. And he knew these beings could smell it as easily as he could.

"Poor, poor Dren..." He snickered, "You don't know anything...come back to us as our servant and we'll teach you everything we know!" He was sorely tempted, these individuals seemed so sure...so sure of everything, from their place in the universe to their mission on Earth. Whereas he felt that he had no purpose or destiny right now. Not even Zoey really wanted him anymore.

"Tarb, don't tease him like that. He'll snap off your ears with his jaws when he gets his memory back." Sardon said with the faintest flicker of a smile. He pointed his fan straight at Dren's forehead.

"What are you going to do?" Dren hissed, his feet rooted to the floor though he leant back slightly.

"You'll thank me later." Was the flat reply and a burning sensation shot through his head, knocking all of his senses out. His fading vision showed only the silhouettes of the two Aliens but his mind thought of nothing but Zoey.