a/n: MR. SHABOWSKY IS THE BESTEST BAND DIRECTOR EVARR~! So here I am, with an update!

Me: Ceeee C B-flat~! C C C C B-Flat~! Ceeee B-Flat, G F G B-Flat~! C C C C B-Flat~!

Jane: Wassat?

Me: CHS Fight Song~!

Jane: Cool~!

Me: Yeah, it's one of the many things I don't own, like you guys.

Jane: What do you mean, you guys?

Me: You know, the characters of the 39 Clues?

Jane: Wait... WE'RE CHARACTERS?

Me: -backs away slowly-

Jane: NOOOOO!

Back to Basics, Back to Reality

By: Shawdee

"Wait what?"

"You... You're Cahills!" Katherine exclaimed.

"C-Cahills? I have absolutely no idea what those are!" Amy squealed frantically.

"Yeah? Are they like some kind of cookie or something? 'Cause I'm like one-hundred percent we're not cookies, let alone a part of a deceptive family bent on world domination and the retrival of the 39 Clues! No way!" Dan shrieked.

Amy narrowed her eyes and glared at her brother. Dan looked at her.

Nice going, idiot! Her eyes screamed.

What? My ninja training skills didn't go over high-pressure situations! Dan's eyes replied.

I can't believe I'm even related to you. She expressed before she looked away.

Luke looked stunned.

"You two know about the 39 Clues?" Luke whispered.

"Do you know about them?" Dan pressed.

"Well if I didn't know about them I wouldn't be asking you if you were Cahills." He replied, clearly exasperated.

"Who are you guys anyways? I'm Nellie Gomez and I would like it if you'd introduce yourselves to me because, quite frankly, this stupid Hunt has impaired my au pairees manners." Nellie snapped.

"Hey!" Dan and Amy protested.

"Luke, Luke Cahill, the most cunning of us Cahills." Luke replied with a haughty air about himself.

"Jane Cahill, obviously the most talented of us four." Jane sniffed.

"Thomas Cahill, the strongest one in the group." Thomas sneered.

"Katherine Cahill, the smartest of all." Katherine smiled.

Amy and Dan's eyes widened. It was there turn to be stunned. Were these the founders in the mural they saw earlier before Ian stole the green liquid? They couldn't be, though! The founders of the branches looked so much older than they did here! They couldn't be more than fourteen at the least. Dan and Amy studied the group carefully, seeing if they could find any similarities between the older founders and the maybe-they-are ones.

Amy sized up the self-proclaimed Luke Cahill, founder of the Lucian branch. Luke's black hair stopped at his ears and the top swivelled upward (So much like Ian's... Amy thought) and was slightly messy. His pale skin glowed nicely in the Paris sun and straight-jawed-no-funny-business face and thin pink lips frowned slightly. He was donned in a black bomber jacket, jeans, Nike's in red and black, and a red t-shirt with a snake on it. The one thing that startled Amy most was his bespectacled, big, scarlet red eyes. They glowed with such an intensity that screamed: LUCIAN. If Amy weren't looking at the Irish founder as a Lucian, she would say he was absolutely gorgeous. But there was no doubt that he HAD to be Luke Cahill.

Dan glared at Jane and started to determine whether she was THE Jane Cahill or not. Jane's red hair flowed loosely around her shoulders and down her back. Her skin was tan and her face was soft and round. She had an air of artful finesse about her features. She wore a green tank top with a white and green stripped, wolf designed jacket, a white pair of shorts (Dirtied by the catacombs I suspect, Dan thought stealthily) and white and green South Pole high-tops (Where exactly is there a shopping mall in the catacombs? Did these people fall out of a designer clothing store before they got here?, Dan thought, slightly confused). Jane's green doe eyes narrowed slightly and her full lips pouted. Somehow, Dan knew that this girl was Janus through and through. Question was: How did she get here?

Amy stared at Thomas and had no doubt he was a Tomas, THE Tomas. His brown hair fringed slightly across his forehead stopping at his neck. His skin was darkly tan and his muscles bulged underneath his blue bear designed shirt. He wore jeans and blue running shoes. His large physique was something to go by but what really gave him away was his passionate blue eyes, driven with a fire to do anything and to beat all odds. Thomas gave off this air of strength and of confidence, so much like the Holts, not wanting to be seen as the underdog or the stupid one. Amy somehow felt sorry for him. But if it was anything to go by, the Tomas were as ruthless as the rest so pity aside, he was just as bad.

Dan narrowed his eyes and took a good look at Katherine. Her blond hair was French braided back and was streaked ever-so-lightly with brown. She wore a grim expression on her pale face and her sharp features showed that she was a recluse, drawn into herself. She wore a long tan over-coat knee-high boots and above-the-knee high yellow-orange socks. She wore a tan mini-skirt, an orange shirt with a dragon on it, and an yellow-orange scarf. Her yellow-orange eyes were in thick rimmed glasses and her semi-full lips were frowning slightly. Something was troubling this girl seriously. Dan sensed this long standing need to know more. An Ekaterina need to know more. She was definitely who she said she was.

"So... Are you guys really the Branch Founders?" Nellie managed to choke out.

"Yeah, we are," Thomas replied.

"What branch are you in?" Jane asked.

"Oh, I'm just an au pair not a Cahill. These two don't have branches, at least I don't think. They haven't figured it out," Nellie said.

"Why aren't they answering?" Luke wondered.

"'Cause they're mannerless gawkers," Nellie growled.

"HEY!"

A/N: Phew. I love describing the founders~! They're so AWESOME! Katherine and Madeleine FTW!

Love ya lots~!

Izzy