Hey again peeps! Wow, two chaps in a row, huh? Back-to-back! I must be REALLY bored right now. Weird. And normally I'm so entertaining! Haha! But seriously...

~Chase Young's Dream~

~Chase Young's POV~

All day today, I have felt the world shifting beneath my feet. The sky looked different when I sought it. The stones that make up my citadel have a different feel to them. My skin has even crawled, more than once. Something big has happened, I know it. Something that affects this whole world, including me. I'm wary, to say the least.

This dream, as I recognize it, is yet another reason why I am wary.

I wander the halls of my citadel, brooding. Strange snipets of images flash occasionally in my head. They seem to be linked with sight. My eyes would focus on seemingly random locations in the rooms, and the images start up again.

Most often appearing to me is a girl dressed in white. Sometimes she's happy and smiling at things in her thoughts. Most times, she's upset or serious.

In one of my larger rooms, I see her again. It was a rather strong trigger, sending me vivid colors and details, even sound! She was dressed in white, as usual. Like an ancient priestess. She was chained in a complicated manner; two tall, stone columns positioned on either side of her with a strong bolt of chain attaching them. Linked in a highly complex knot (one that only I would know), her wrists were bound tightly together and held up above her head. She was outright glaring at me! The desperation and hatred was obvious in her vivid, blue eyes. She had bruises and cuts, a little blood staining her skin, from a vicious fight.

Other images were connected to this picture. A dark-haired doppelganger of the girl, with red eyes, was defending her in a different situation. Four Xiaolin monks I've never met before, fighting for her, doing everything in their power to save her. And an angry teenaged boy, a young man by rights, glaring hatefully at me. His colors were exotic, with pale, snowy skin and luminescent ruby eyes and vibrant, fiery hair.

With each memory, for I had deduced this quite quickly, came a flood of information that I suddenly just knew. They were past memories, from a different dimension, an alternate universe of the one I was currently residing.

The girl in white was Melody, a potent young woman with extraordinary powers. Her father had been an alternate version of Grand Master Dashi, but she was born in a different world and sent here. Or there, I should say. I had kidnapped her in an effort to gain her abilities through a very complicated and difficult ritual. The raven-haired woman was Melody's sister, Morgan. She was a Shadow of the girl, her polar opposite, so the two weren't really family, but their bond was stronger than any I had ever seen before. She, too, had formidable abilities, and what's more, she was evil. But she was also trapped within Melody. Together, they were the living representation of Yin and Yang.

The red-haired, red-eyed, pale boy/man was Jack Spicer. Supposedly, he was a computers and robotics genius. His IQ was supposed to be through the roof. The me in that world held a deep loathing for the boy, though the data supplied to me gave me no answer as to why.

Vague memories said that I had come close to destroying Melody, but through the intervention of Jack, who was in love with her, she was rescued. He worked with the monks and saved her, but sacrificed himself in the process.

He was unable to escape my wrath.

While I was torturing him later, Melody returned, her wrath magnified ten-fold, and she rescued him! The boy was close to death at that point, and he'd suffer irreversible consequences if he lived from the ordeal. So Melody had to sacrifice the good in him to save him, making him entirely evil. More evil than he'd originally been, because Melody had fixed him so that there was no in-between for his chi, like before. He was a normal young man in general, but a genius turned purely evil; he was a formidable adversary. By some random twist, he also gained strength and power from Melody and Morgan both.

As I stated before, these were memories from a different world. These things had already happened, but they happened to alternate versions of ourselves. I didn't really like the me in that world from which these memories came, which put me in a morose mood.

Movement. I snapped back to reality with a jolt, (ironic, seeing as this is a dream), and scanned the room. There!

Something black darted at the edge of my vision. Giggling ensued. Glaring, I stalked after it.

It keeps flitting at the edge of my vision. I'm starting to feel a little nervous, which is highly unusual for me. A cold feeling has crept up my spine. I know I'm being watched.

I come to an open room. Nothing. There's nothing here. I try to sense something, anything, but I'm disappointed to find nothing, not even a single trace of the intruder. Until I see another slight movement from the corner of my eye.

I spin and I'm just barely in time to see a snatch of white disappearing around the corner, fleeing the room. I growl and give chase. It disappears and I find myself in another room.

It's one of my favorite rooms of the citadel. I spend the most time in here, not including time in my throne room, meditation room, and bedroom. There are many small pools along the outskirts of the room, many tall pillars and plants and flowers, and high vaulted ceilings. Skylights let in great beams of sunlight; perfect for my draconic half to bask in when I felt the urge. Expensive statues appear here and there among the exotic flora. The whole room is rather grandiose and I like to lounge here.

I was surprised to find someone lounging here now. The black shape and the white shape were darting all around the room, blurred even to my exceptional eyesight. In the center of the room, there lay another form, slumped over on the floor. The blurs circled it.

I began stalking forward towards the form on the floor. But as I was taking a step, I was gripped within the vise of a new set of memories and information. But they were different.

I had the distinct sense that these were memories-to-come, visions of the future, and that they took place here, in this world, in this dimension, as a result of whatever had happened today.

Ana looked at me from the floor and smiled. She was working on another painting, and she had decided to take a break as I walked into the room.

"Hey Chase," she said. I felt myself smile as I replied, "Slacking again, Ana? My, it's a wonder you get anything done!" I said it in jest, and Ana's smile grew into a full-blown grin.

"You say that all the time. Is that the best joke you can come up with?" she teased. I smirked and sat down in a nearby chair.

"So?" I prompted. "Any new stories from home?"

"You wouldn't find it very interesting," Ana replied.

"Oh?"

"Jared and I baked all day. Neither one of us felt up to doing real work, so we let out our inner girls and satisfied our sweettooths' cravings. Wanda was pissed!" I chuckled at this.

"No robots? No inventions?"

"Nope," Ana said, shaking her head. "No robots. No inventions. It was almost... normal."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The premonition was over. Momentum pushed me forward and I took another step towards the form on the floor. In the back of my mind, I silently screamed at the amount of information forcing itself into my head. I normally wouldn't act thusly with anyone, but the girl in the memory-to-be seemed too familiar with me, too comfortable, too casual. I didn't want this to happen. I was carried into the next memory with a flash...

Ana climbed out of the cockpit of a bulky jet. This, in itself, wasn't surprising. She arrived in the jet for every visit. What was surprising was the dress she was wearing.

The auto-information supplied to me the answer as to why this was so surprising. Why Ana wearing a dress was so wrong to me. Ana hated dresses, hated wearing dresses in front of a bunch of people who weren't wearing dresses. I "remembered" having a conversation concerning this, and Ana had said that dresses made her feel nervous and awkward.

The dress she wore was no slouch, either. It was long enough to brush the floor of my citadel, poofed from the knees down and outward. The rest of it clung tightly to her and revealed curves I hadn't noticed before. It was bright green, and the non-poofed part of the dress was striped black like a tiger's camouflage. Her hair, which was naturally straight, seemed to be straightened even more. The normal wildness of it was tamed, which was certainly new to me. She had done herself up beautifully.(1)

I stood up as she approached. On the outside, I knew I smirked and seemed nonchalant, but on the inside, I was truly impressed. I was awestruck as Ana shuffled cautiously forward.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it," I said as she came close. I had stepped down the stairway to meet her.

"I'm true to my word, Chase," she grimaced. "I lost the bet; whether or not you played fairly is not an issue."

The auto-information didn't inform me of what Ana was talking about. I was left in the dark for this, but the future me in the memory knew exactly what Ana spoke of.

I smiled. "What I find amusing is that you actually thought you stood a chance of beating me." I taunted. I held out my arm for Ana and she took it gladly. We started back up the stairs.(2)

"Whatever. I bet you couldn't do it again in a tight ass dress and high heels." I didn't rise to Ana's obvious challenge. Instead, I changed the subject.

"Speaking of which... What exactly are you wearing? When I said a dress, I meant something along the lines of what normal teenagers would wear outside in the streets, not this." I gestured to the gown.

"THIS... is a prom dress. I don't have any "normal" dresses, as you say, and Jared's mother is a little too enthusiastic when it comes to shopping for clothes. And I decided that I might as well go all out, since this would be the first and probably last time you'll get to see me in a dress, so—"

"You went with this."

"Yup."

I shook my head...

Another few steps towards the girl on the floor. From the memories, I guessed it would be Ana, but something wasn't quite right. She wasn't the same...

My EyeSpy Orb flickered to life. I peered into it's depths and saw darkness. And in the middle of that darkness, I saw Ana. I breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't come today, and I was lucky enough to catch her with her guard down. It didn't occur to me that that alone meant something was wrong.

She was on a cliff, sitting on her knees, looking outward towards the horizon. The sun was almost done setting and the world was darkened. I saw her face. It was blank, but I saw that it was wet. There were still tracks on her face… from… crying?

Ana didn't cry. Ana NEVER cried. No matter if she was injured during our spars, which was often, but not really serious, she never cried. I'd almost broken one of her bones and she still hadn't cried. She had screamed and bitched at me, but she didn't cry. But she had been crying recently. She was crying now. I saw barely perceptible shivers and fresh tears starting down her cheeks.

I ordered the EyeSpy Orb to go back and see how much time Ana had already spent there, sitting on the rocky ground and staring out across the land. I watched time flash back and fast-forward.

5 … 6 … 7 … 8 … 9? 9 hours? Ana had been sitting and crying on and off for about 9 hours. She hadn't attempted to get off the cliff she was on (actually, it was a plateau. She was in the middle of the Grand Canyon). I returned to the present.

Ana's eyes went abruptly wide and her head shot up. She looked directly at me, through the EyeSpy Orb, and I knew what she was about to do. I tried to activate my magic to portal myself to her before she could block me, but I was too late. I heard her suck in a deep breath and the image abruptly went blank. I cursed.

The data in my head informed me that Ana had gained a few abilities in her adventures prior to meeting me. She could prevent herself from being spied upon, seen, heard, reached, found, or affected through magical means. This meant that I couldn't spy on her, find her, or portal to her. I couldn't even portal to the Grand Canyon or anywhere near it to get to her, because I knew that's where she was. I couldn't portal anywhere near Ana if I knew where she was and planned to use that information. But this was only true if Ana willed it so; thus, when Ana was upset and forgot to engage her magical defenses, I was allowed to see her and get to her through magical means.

Fast forward a few hours. It was nighttime when I checked on Ana again. The image was fuzzy, which meant that at least a portion of her magic was in effect to keep her safe. I wouldn't be able to reach her, but I could still watch and listen.

The moon wasn't quite full; in a few days time, it would shine across the night sky and light up the world in cold, pale luminosity. Ana had moved to sit under the only tree existing on that small plateau. It was long since dead; petrified hundreds of years ago, sitting aways from the edge of the canyon. She leaned on it, sitting sideways along the rock in that peculiar way of hers. Her eyes were closed, her forehead resting against the dead stone bark of the tree, arms crossed at the wrists laying limply by her knees.

Her eyes opened slowly and looked up at the moon, despair so clearly writ upon her face that I found it hard to believe that this was the same girl that I previously knew. She hummed a few bars of a song in the back of her throat, mumbled words making their way through her slack lips every now and then. She sighed.

"I won't sleep," she stated groggily. "I need to stay up. He might change his mind and see the truth and come back for me. I need to watch for him, to let him know I'm still here… waiting…"(3)

The next day, Ana didn't bother with blocking me from spying. I still tested the limits of the restrictions, but I was unable to portal to her aid. She didn't notice. Or if she did, she gave no sign of it, and made no attempt to correct it. This worried me greatly. Ana was normally so attentive, and the few times I was actually able to get through her defenses were only because she wasn't paying attention and was unguarded. And those times, she noticed immediately what was going on and threw up her walls around herself again, stronger than before.

There was no such vigilance here.

I was able to view her, but unable to transport to her, for five more days. During this time, Ana had stopped crying on and off, and had instead adopted a thoughtful pose, contemplating the sky. Yet I found that her face was eternally blank, devoid of any and all emotions. I knew that she had to be thinking, but I had never seen this part of her before. Of what she thought about, I do not know.

She didn't eat; there was no food. She didn't drink; there was no water. She tried not to walk around much, though she would shift to different spots under the tree to stay under the meager shade, and moved occasionally to sit at the edge of the lip of jutting rock so that she would not fall asleep.

Contrary to what she said and wanted, Ana did fall asleep; she was terrible at trying to stay awake when she'd been crying. Her eyelids, puffy from her tears, were heavy and Ana didn't have the strength to fight them. She'd manage a nap or two in the morning and afternoon, succumbing to her growing fatigue, but come nightfall, she was wide awake, drinking in the sight of the nearly-full moon and the billions of stars overhead. They alone seemed to feed her enough to stay alive, but I knew that she would not last.

I've no idea what happened during that time with the monks, or anything else for that matter. My attention was focused solely on Ana. I had my jungle cats take care of my meals and watch over the Orb when I had to take care of personal business. Constantly, I pressed in upon Ana's defenses, hoping that I could for once break through or that Ana would let them down enough for me to go to her and bring her here.

I knew she must've been in pain, between hunger and thirst, and whatever injuries she had sustained before she had been left behind. I knew, of course, that her defenses prevented me from transporting myself to her, but I began testing whether or not I could send inanimate objects to her.

First it was notes, telling her to let down her walls so I could reach her. A failure, because it was an attempt to contact her through magical means, which she was defended against. Second, I tried to send her food and water. These failed to go to her as well, because I was attempting to affect her through magical means by feeding her thus.

Five days of no change, until the fifth nightfall. Ana had thrown her walls up completely around herself. This was good and bad: good because Ana had finally noticed and was doing something. Bad because she was doing something she didn't want me to see. I had gone away to vent my anger and frustration. A few priceless, irreplaceable artifacts later, I came back to check on Ana. I was met with a shocking sight.

Ana had a knife in her hand. While I hadn't been observing her, Ana had been busy. Carved into the dirt and rock around her was a highly complex circle of runes, lines, and symbols, each place so perfectly and meticulously and… I didn't know what it did.

I was a master of dark magic. Those runes should've been familiar to me, the complex network of lines and symbols should've alerted me to something. But this was something I had never seen before, something I didn't know and was surprised that Ana knew.(4)

Ana was sitting in the center of this large pentacle. She set the dulled knife aside and drew a new one, curved and wicked-looking and extra sharp. In the moonlight, I recognized it as an athame.(5)

"You know, in my old world, I was always too scared to open a vein. I thought it would be easy to do, but there's an incredible amount of skin and tissue and muscle you have to get through before you can even touch a vessel. I was too chicken to even scratch the surface. Too scared of the pain of a knife slashing through my wrist to use it as my method of suicide. I preferred pills. Sure, they made my stomach feel weird, but they'd take my pain away, numb me up with the knowledge or thought that I should die, so that I didn't care. Then by the time they wore away, I didn't want to kill myself anymore. But there are no pills here. And if he hasn't come for me yet, I doubt he ever will, which means that I'll just suffer anyway. No getting rid of it. It's not like anyone really cares how I feel, or what I think. Chase Young might tolerate me, but I don't want to be an apprentice. I don't want all the extra strife, all this… drama. I just want to be happy, that's all. Loved, liked, enjoyed, wanted, listened to…" Ana trailed off, talking to herself. I realized what she was planning on doing, and I pushed as hard as I could with my Heylin magic. Energy sparked around me in the strain.(6)

"What was I getting at again? Oh yeah, the knife." Ana held it up so she could see it clearly. "I find it funny that in this great world of opportunity I finally have the courage to cash in my life when it's my own again. He abandoned me. I'm on my own now. My life is my own, now. That's how it works. Now it's my decision what to do with it."

Ana paused. I listened intently, still straining to break through her defenses. Her words inspired me to believe that she was still trying to convince herself to do what she was doing. A tear rolled down Ana's cheek, the first in 5 days. As she wiped it away, she said, "Lair. If he wanted me, he wouldn't have left me here. If he would've ever listened to me, he would've believed me when I was telling him the truth. If he wanted me, he should've listened to me, his comrade, his partner, instead of the enemy." An imaginary voice seemed to be trying to talk Ana out of what she was doing. I silently begged her to listen to that voice, all the while testing Ana's walls so I could portal there and bring her home.

There was another pause, and then Ana exploded with, "GOD IS YOUR REASON FOR EVERYTHING! Well if God loves me so much, He'll understand and welcome me into his arms gladly." Ana said sarcastically. And then she slashed down with the athame, slicing through the skin of her wrist. She didn't hold back as she must've in her old world. Ribbons of red that looked black in the pale moonlight sluiced into the gouged earth, filling the cracks. She had cut through all the veins in her wrist all at once, spurting blood as she spoke in Latin and some other tongues, and feeding the athame her blood to increase the power of her spell.(7)

I paid no head to the words she was uttering. Vaguely, in the back of my head, I realized that she was transferring all her power and life to her partner and friend, the one who had left her behind, as a last gift to him. He would use her power however he wished, and live longer, through her sacrifice. But I paid no head to this insanity, as her attention was finally diverted to something else entirely. I had found my breach and I portaled instantly.

The athame was in its second downward stroke, targeting Ana's other arm, hungry for her lifeblood, when I tackled her out of the circle. Ana screamed instinctively, and then in pain as I forcibly knocked the knife out of her injured grasp and threw it towards the petrified tree. I clamped down on Ana's bleeding wrist with my hand, blood instantly soaking through the fabric of my gloves. I grasped her too hard and heard bones cracking under my pressure, but I didn't release her for fear that I would let her blood out.

I portaled directly after we were both out of the circle straight back to my lair. Ana was cradled in one arm while the other clenched her bleeding wrist.

"Chase?" Ana whispered.

The vision was over at last. I looked down at the girl on the floor and knew her to be Ana. Who else would I let in my citadel, to sit and stare or paint and whatever else she did? Who else would I neglect myself to save? Who else would I treat as a daughter, or anything close to resembling one? I was shocked and a little disgusted with myself for falling prey to that disease called affection. I didn't have family, I didn't need love, so why should I provide those things for someone else?

Ana was staring at an old photograph. In it, there was a tall, tanned man and two children, a boy and a girl. The man had a long, narrow face and a soft sweep of black hair. Hazel eyes squinted at the camera. He was crouched near the ground, strong arms encircling the two children. The boy child had light blonde hair that showed signs of changing color. His eyes were dark and he was naturally colored with Indian skin. The girl had golden hair, hazel eyes, and it was barely perceptable, but she had a slightly fairer complexion, though it was obvious that she was kin to the boy and the man clutching the both of them. They all squinted a little bit; the sun was bright. And they all smiled. The girl's lips were spread mid-laugh. It was a happy picture. A memory.(8)

I recognized Ana as the girl in the picture and something about her father struck me. Ana was different in so many ways, but she still looked like her father. My mind spun for some reason I didn't know, and though my inner self knew her, I heard myself demand, "Who are you?"

"Who she is is of no importance to you as of yet." The white blur materialized into Melody beside Ana. Shock rippled through me and I experienced a rare thrill of fear, a remnant of my alternate self in the world Melody fought in.

"And what she means to you is the same." Morgan materialized from the black blur. Both entities barred Ana from my view. I stepped back.

"Why, then, was I shown these things?" I asked.

"Because," one began. "As the Guardians of the Balance, it is our duty to Fate to preserve the integrity of all worlds" the other finished.

"As much as I hate what is destined to happen here, I have no choice in the matter," Melody stated. "It is all up to Ana."

"We showed you those things so that in the future, when the time comes, you may change the outcome. If all goes well, you may not need to ever save Ana from herself. Among other things that are unnecessary…"

"Such as what?" I asked, eyebrow raised. Morgan shook her head and crossed her arms.

"That is unimportant now. You will know when you need to know. You will be important to Ana's survival and development." She said.

"But until she reveals herself to you, there is nothing you can do. You cannot search for her or influence her before her time. In the meantime, think on these things. Prepare yourself for her eventual arrival. When that will be is up to her. But there is still much to be done." Melody stated solemnly.

As a test, I asked, "And what if I decided to save myself the trouble and just kill her?" Then I went further. "What if I decided to sabotage her and her mission?"

Morgan laughed outright. "She doesn't have a mission. But you would force us to right the wrong done against the world, the balance, and us. Ana isn't a tool that Fate can use however She wills. Ana is more than that. But should you choose to do so anyway, knowing the consequences of such foolish actions…"

I suddenly found myself being choked in a black hold, surrounded by a wicked darkness. No, Darkness. She tightened Her cold, hard grip around my throat. My heart sped rapidly, thrumming in my chest like a frail little bird. A deep, human, instinctual fear took hold of me, and I was frozen. I was aware of my physical body, the material beneath me and the sheets around me cold against my rigid skin. I tried to wake myself, to shake myself of the hold Morgan had on me, to move, do anything, but I failed. I was trapped within myself, ensnared in my own chest, compressed tightly into the little cavity home to my beating heart. Or worse yet, where my soul used to be…

"You feel its absence. Heheheh… you think you don't have one, do you? You think you're safe from the pain of that tortured I specialize in? Think again. You survive on your soul's shadow, and I can burn that one straight to Hell AND steal back your real soul and burn that one too. I can make you scream, Chase Young. You don't mess with the Gods and their pets and expect to remain safe and sane. This is your warning. The suffocating feeling will seem to last for an eternity as your body is tortured and mutilated, and then the burning, the ripping, the shredding of your shadow of a soul will be all you will feel until someone decides to be merciful on your sorry, repentant ass and put you out of your own wretchedness.

I was brought back to the light suddenly and harshly. I resisted the urge to gasp at the air and instead opted for breathing long and deep to restore my composed calm. But this wasn't so for my physical body. In the waking world, I gasped for air, my lungs clawing for it, gulping it down in raggedly, and forcing it coarsely down my throat. As calm as I appeared here, I knew it didn't matter. They both knew what I was really feeling. The girls that other me knew before had grown up into fully-fledged Guardians. They knew and they understood things. They were powerful, and higher than the Gods themselves. They would not show mercy to me if I crossed them.

Melody gazed at me, not warmly, and coldly, just… impassive. Her eyes told of her hardships. Her troubles. She had walked through the fires of Hell so many times she had learned to come away unscathed every time.

"You are correct in your observations, Young," she began coolly. "I've 'been through Hell'. I've come away a changed woman every time. My mission is over, for the most part. This girl is my second chance. Our second chance. We've staked everything on her; she's important. If she is destroyed," Melody narrowed her eyes dangerously. "we will have absolutely nothing left to lose. You won't just lose your life, Chase Young. Or your soul. You will be the death of all existing Chase Youngs in the multiverse. Chase Young will not exist. And reality will manipulate itself so it is as if he never did. Do I make. Myself. Clear?"

I nodded. "What exactly do you want me to do with the girl?" I asked.

"Time will eventually tell you. For now, you need not worry." She glanced down at Ana and found the girl leaning against her leg, eyes closed and sleeping. When she looked at me again, the coldness and indifference was gone. She waved her hand and true sleep finally claimed me.

(1): Don't worry, folks. There is absolutely NO ROMANCE between Ana and Chase. Blech. He's too manipulative for my tastes. Plus, I'd prefer someone goofy and my age. You know, one who'll have fun when we take turns pranking each other?

OH! And if you want to see the dress I'm talking about, go here: http:/ / . com /art/ Ana-s-Dress-277773109 only without the spaces, you know that.

(2): That doesn't prove anything. He's doing this out of courtesy. Ana's wearing heels.

(3): I'm not telling what happened. I give out too many spoilers as it is. It's horrible how lenient I am with you guys! But anyway, Ana can hear Melody and Morgan talking to her in her head. They've always been there and when Ana came into her power, they could speak more freely. ACK! STOP MAKING ME GIVE OUT INFORMATION! XC

(4): Did I ever mention anything about the demon lake? No? Okay, I won't then.

(5): In case you don't know, an athame is used for sacrificial rituals. Witches and warlocks use them regularly, as well as other people. Athames are mainly associated with magic; usually the darker stuff.

(6): In case it's not obvious, Ana is commiting suicide, and all the runes and lines of the pentacle are to trap all her demon energies and power and tranfer them all to Jack, so she'll still be of use to him, even in death. This is an idea I came up with for why she would orchestrate such an elaborate death for herself.

Yes, I am a suicidal person. Yes, I am going to therapy now. Yes, I have a psychiatrist. Why the hell do you think I write fanfiction for? Everyone here is at least a little bit psycho. so nyah, lemme alone.

(7): I have no idea what I'm doing here...

(8): This picture does not exist. I made it up. But the people are real.

As an added note for the end: It seems that all the best things and symultaniously all the worst things are represented by a woman. And I think that in this case, Chase would agree.