A/N: Sorry I'm two days late, here's two chapters to try to make up for it.

2

Vivian

I had invited -Manasi- that's what he said his name was - to this secluded restaurant in the middle of nowhere. My heart was jumping up and down inside my chest. Oh my gosh, I'm finally going to see what magic really is! Okay, science, or abilities, or whatever he said it was. But still. Thinking back to fifth grade, I remembered that memory, and those girls, as plain as day.

"Hey, V," said Amira, my best friend.

"Hi!" I had replied energetically. "So... are you ready to start recruiting some others for that magic and powers club we talked about yesterday?"

She bit her lip."Well, uh, I told Sami and Maya about it, and they didn't think it was such a good idea."

My face fell. Lately, Ami had been hanging out with Sami, the 'popular girl', more and more.

"Yeah, we were thinking about magic in general… We're ten, Vivi. Don't you think we should be moving on by now?" I was stunned.

"But… when we were seven? We pledged to believe in magic forever!"

"We were seven. Get over it. We both know magic doesn't exist." With that, she sashayed away, something she had begun to do ever since she became friends with Sami, leaving me alone. Completely alone, as I had no other friends. Magic was what had bound us together, and I guess it was what tore us apart.

I snapped back to the present, my mind still fixated on the memory of the past. I had never stopped believing in magic. Never. To this day, I continued to try to reach my goal, and break the barrier surrounding human abilities. Now, it seems, I finally had.

The car behind me honked, and I realized I must have been standing in the middle of the road. Embarrassed, I parked as quickly as I could and ran into the restaurant, which had glowing letters spelling out The Spoon and Fork. Yeah, amazing name. My eyes naturally narrowed in the murky gray light, a sharp contrast to the blazing rays of sun outside. Why were these places always in gray? Methodically searching the large area, I saw Manasi slumped against one of the tables, twirling an Obscurer in between his hands. My heart started bouncing again. Magic, my brain coaxed. Real, true magic. Not able to hold my curiosity, I jumped into the seat across from him, sending the raised chair spinning.

"Ugh, finally," he mumbled. "You're late."

"Nope," I tapped my watch. "2:59. Now tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Everything! The truth about elves, about humans, about why we were kept in the dark and you were reduced to myths that are - looking at you - completely wrong." I was totally done with this guy. Acting like a teenager or not, I needed answers now. He sighed, the kind of long, drawn-out sigh that makes you feel like some great sacrifice is being made.

"Fine. I'll start from the beginning." His voice shifted to the quiet tone of a storyteller. "Elves have always existed on this planet, just as long and maybe longer than humans have. We have a winding, complicated history that I won't get into, but at one point we tried to make treaties with all the intelligent species. Ogres, trolls, gnomes, goblins, dwarves, and of course, humans," he said in reply to my questioning look. "Well, you humans accepted, but then decided you wanted to rule the world. That sort of thing can't happen. We have a Sanctuary for animals, where we place species that are endangered. One elvin group made a plan to create a similar one, but for humans this time, for their safety and ours. Unfortunately, our efforts were quenched." I glared at him. Unfortunately? Lock away all of humankind? Our? Who was this guy? Who exactly had I brought to a random building on a random street? He didn't notice, and I felt two things - first, this speech had been rehearsed, and he was also in his own world now.

"We are still striving to accomplish our goal. This is the duty of the Neverseen," he finished.

"Ok. So far, I know you're an elf, you belong to a certain group in the elvin world called the 'Neverseen'," I said, making air quotes with my fingers. "You basically want to destroy me and everybody I know. You need help. And I need to call the police and get as far away from you as possible." His eyes flew open, and he ran after me as I dashed to the door.

"Wait! Stop! I'm sorry!" I turned around.

"Okay. Tell me one thing. Were you involved with that fire?"

Manasi froze, terror etched onto his face.

"The one in the city?"

I didn't have to go any further. The look in his eyes told it all. I felt dizzy. Calm down, I told myself.

"Did the fire affect you?" he had the nerve to ask.

"That fire killed my brother!"

Manasi fell silent. When he looked up, I saw the guilt in his eyes as tears streamed down my cheeks.

"He's gone. You helped them do that?" I whispered. How could someone be so cruel?

His look said it all. I nodded and wiped my eyes on my sleeve as I headed for the door.

"Vivian, wait! Please! You have to listen to-"

"What? Hear some lame excuse about how it was an accident? Well, sorry. I didn't lose my brother to waste time with some weirdo murderer about excuses, okay? Let me go." I yanked on my wrist, and watched his face fall as I ran out the door, grabbing my coat. I didn't know if he was following, but I didn't care. I was running to my quiet place.

I hope he wasn't following me.

Luckily, I made it, and halted in front of a makeshift shed. My shed had a sort of beauty aura to it. Candles were lit on wooden platforms attached to the sticks of bark, the support for the magenta cloth hanging over. Pictures covered the fabric, pinned to it with thumbtacks and clothespins. But one picture particularly stood out, of a young man who seemed a bit older than me. He had beautiful eyes, just like mine, and his smile showed warmth. More candles surrounded the picture, giving it a memorial look.

"I see you didn't listen," I said, with my back still turned to him. Trying and failing to control the shudder in my voice, I walked into the shed and sat down in one of the chairs. My stare had a long gaze, like I was looking past this dimension, as I always did while trying to sense my brother.

"I'm sorry," he said after a long pause. My gaze didn't change, but I had to clench my lower lip to keep it from trembling.

"I think about him all the time," I whispered. My mind pictured him, the last time I had seen him alive.

Manasi glanced at me. "I'm so sorry," he repeated.

I buried my face in my arms, sobbing like I did at my brother's funeral. I usually didn't like people getting to my soft side so soon, but I didn't care. Tears blurred my vision, but it didn't matter since I couldn't see with my head down anyway. My breathing slowed and I thought I was ready to come back to reality. Sadly, I was wrong.

I sucked in a sharp breath and wiped my eyes, but new tears replaced old ones quickly.

Manasi put an arm around me and I tensed, not sure how to react. He seemed hesitant too, but then I rested my head on his shoulder. Almost against my will, I could feel my muscles calming down slowly, as well as my breathing.

"Is there anything I can do to help you? I just feel so guilty and…" his voice cracked. I had a feeling there was much more to him, his own past. Fire filled my irises once more.

"You can abandon the Neverseen, help me avenge my brother and repair the damage to this world!" I said a bit harshly, ruining a somewhat serene moment, but he deserved it. He seemed to deflate.

"Okay," he accepted in a determined voice. "I-It'll be hard, but I'll do it. For you," he whispered the last part, his tone warm and full of determination. Offering my hand to shake sealed the deal. He took it, and I decided to believe him this time. Closing my eyes to picture more of my brother's memories, I think I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I assumed it was the next day as sun rays hit my corneas. I noticed Manasi had left me a note near my elbow.

Meet me here at 4:00. I'm sorry.

It was short, but enough for me to get the message. He wanted to apologize. Again. And wanted to talk.

I stayed in my shed for the rest of the day, my face sunken into a pink pillow. When I assumed it was four, I heard the shuffling of feet outside the fabric of the shed, so I quickly scrambled to fix my hair and wipe the slight drool from my mouth because of sleeping.

Manasi walked in a second later, and we awkwardly stared at each other.

"Um… Hi," Manasi tried, but I hit him with a glare in response. I knew he was just trying to be nice and really felt guilty, but I wasn't ready to forgive him.

He walked over to me and sat down next to me. He made a fist with both his hands and brushed them across his knees.

"I'm really sorry for what happened to your brother," he started, his expressions softening as he spoke. "Now that I think of it, I was blinded by the Neverseen's vision of life and felt nothing about murdering innocent people. But now I realize how much damage it can really do."

I wanted to stay mad at him, but his sincerity surprised me. No one had been this truthful to me except. . . No. I will not burst into a sobbing mess again. I stopped myself from thinking any further. As he reached for my hand, I felt my frown soften, which is when I realized how much I was hurting myself by doing that.

"I understand if you don't forgive me," he sighed, and waited a moment, gazing at my face in the pillow. Then he got up, and I realized I actually might have forgiven him.

"I do," I blurted, raising my head.

Manasi halted midstep. He turned, and his face looked doubtful. But when I gave him a small smile, he smiled back, and asked if he could meet me here again tomorrow, same time, and I agreed. And that's when I began to realize… this friendship may have begun to morph into something else.