Hey guys! I'm back with an update. Thanks to all those who reviewed the previous chapter. It was great to see the feedback from the readers.
Coming to an important matter- the name of Nine's new Legacy. Does 'Awareness' sound good, or should I change it? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for the new name? Or should I leave it as it is?
Chapter 7 is here below, and part of it is narrated by….. surprise, surprise….. Five! Don't kill me. Honestly, I felt that his POV was absolutely necessary to understand why he's done everything he has, and how he's necessary for the war.
Sorry for the long author's note. Back to the story. Enjoy!

Five

'You have Ella, don't you?' the girl asks.

She is slumped on her chair, with a huge bruise forming around her eye where the Beloved Leader struck her. Her hands and feet are cuffed to her chair, and her bonds are made of the same metal that is unbreakable and negates our Legacies. Her voice is hollow, and she stares at me with all the energy drained out of her. I nod slowly.

She drops her head, her shoulders drooping in resignation. Then she takes a deep breath and attempts to gather herself. Her shoulders tense once more, ready to fight, and even though her fear and pain are so pitifully obvious, I can't help admiring her resolve. She isn't arrogant, emotionless or cold like the rest of the Garde, but her willpower seems almost unfathomable.

She isn't fearless. She is brave.

Marina

I drop my gaze and stare at my feet, trying to hide the tears that are forming at the thought of Ella, scared and alone, captured by the Mogodorians. Then I square my shoulders and take a deep breath. Now is not the time for weakness.

I look up once again at Five, who is staring impassively at me, his face unreadable. 'The Beloved Leader will not harm her.' he assures me, sensing my distress. 'He wants his heir to be treated well.'

As if that makes me feel any better.

I brush away his words, trying to formulate a plan to escape. It is becoming more and more obvious by the second that Five is not going to help me. Eight must have been wrong. It's up to me to get out of here and rescue Ella.

Could Six and Nine have followed me here? It is possible, especially since they were nowhere to be found at the motel. I know they wouldn't have abandoned me here. Somehow, I need to keep Five distracted until they rescue me.

I stare at Five, his words from earlier echoing through my mind. My stomach twists as I recall his revelation about Raylan, the horrible truth behind this entire war. 'Why?' I ask. 'Why would Raylan want to destroy his own race? How sick is he to destroy millions of lives just because he was jealous that he wasn't included in the Elders' little group?'

'Oh, it wasn't just that.' Five assures me. 'Although you have no idea what it's like to be the last one to join some place, and realize that nobody wants you. That they're quite happy and content when you're not around. It's enough to make someone bitter.' He looks at me darkly, and I know he's referring to himself.

'You have to understand, Marina.' he continues. 'This was when Lorien was in its prime. Look at how strong the remaining Garde are. Hell, look at how powerful the Beloved Leader is. Imagine thousands of Loric, sure, comparatively less powerful, but powerful all the same. A great army. We could do anything that we wanted. And yet… We didn't.'

He snorts with derision. All thoughts of escape have disappeared from my mind now. I'm just listening to him with growing horror, realizing where this is going. Silently, I wonder if he's insane.

'We had unlimited power! We could have done anything with it. And yet, the Elders chose to lounge lazily in their thrones instead of using it.' Five pauses for breath. 'What's the point of having all that power if you let it go to waste? Well, I'm using it. And so is the Beloved Leader. The Great Expansion? It's begun. And we're finally doing something.'

I finally speak, my voice filled with revulsion. 'You think that justifies what you're doing?' I ask, my voice trembling. 'You think that your powers give you an excuse to kill?'

Five doesn't seem to notice my tone. 'At least I have a cause, Marina. You want an example of a disgrace to Lorien? Take your Cepan. She left you to fend for yourself against the greatest fighting force there is.'

I clench my fists. 'Adelina loved me.' I say through gritted teeth. 'She gave her life to save me.'

Once again, Five doesn't seem to notice. He's talking animatedly now, and it's all I can do to contain my disgust. 'It's not too late for you, though.' he says, waving excitedly with his hands. 'You can still join us. Imagine yourself, one of the last Loric alive, one of the last ones with unlimited power, ruling over the universe, doing as you please, answering to no one but the Beloved Leader.' His voice turns greedy, and I try not to shudder as he touches my shoulder. 'Imagine the power you could have.' He turns to face me. 'Think of it as a compensation for all you have lost in this war.' he says earnestly, referring to Eight.

I lose it.

All the pain, loss, guilt, and anger that I have hidden over the past couple of days comes pouring out. I barely realize what I am doing. I just let the rage take over me, and let it flow out, directing it at Five. He betrayed the Garde out of greed, he tried to kill us several times, he murdered Eight, and now he has the nerve to act as though he's my friend and convince me to do the same. If Eight hadn't warned me that he was necessary, if he hadn't begged me to forgive him, Five would probably be dead by now.

I lash out with telekinesis, and Five yelps in surprise as he is sent rocketing backwards at an astonishing speed. He shoves his hand in his pocket, and his body turns rubbery just before it slams into the wall. I don't slacken my grip, and he squirms as he tries to break out from where I've latched him against the wall.

I don't even have to think. My Legacy activates automatically, and ice begins to form on the wall, encasing Five and trapping him there. His eyes widen in surprise as he watches the ice creep up his torso and towards his neck.

'Impossible.' he gasps weakly, struggling to break free. 'Nobody can use Legacies with those cuffs on without experiencing intense pain.'

'You're disgusting.' I growl, ignoring the pain that is building up in my head. I feel like my skull's about to explode, but I'm still furious, and I can resist it for now. 'How can you even think that your Legacies give you the right to destroy lives for your own personal gain? You're a greedy, power-hungry, traitorous wretch, and a disgrace to the name of Lorien! How….. How can this make you happy? Don't you have even the slightest bit of regret? What if it were you who was murdered by someone who wanted to take over the universe? What if you were the one who suffered because someone destroyed everyone that you cared for?' My anger's draining away, replaced by an intense frustration. Tears are streaming from my eyes as I stare at Five, wincing at the insults I've thrown at him, looking more uncomfortable than scared. 'How can you live with yourself after all that you've done? Do you even care about anyone but yourself?'

Five looks at me with shock, and I can tell that he's genuinely surprised at thought of someone acting against their own interests. I ignore him. I just don't care anymore. I turn away from him, weeping bitterly, my anger spent. My telekinetic grip slackens, the ice forming around Five shatters, and he tumbles to the floor, his skin turning back to normal.

'You can go.' I tell him through my tears. 'I'm letting you go for Eight.'

I look away from him and sob, tears pouring silently down my face. It feels good to finally cry, to let out all the pressure, all the pain I have been carrying around. I don't even care that Five is watching. I doubt he'll ever think I'm weak after this little display.

I jolted out of my thoughts by something snaking around my wrist. I open my eyes and stare at Five's rubbery arm, which is squashing itself into the lock of my cuffs, jiggling furiously.

'What are you doing?' I ask.

'The cuffs may be resistant to Legacies,' he says through gritted teeth. 'But their locks can still be picked.'

With a click, my handcuffs snap open. Five's rubbery arm withdraws from my wrist and snakes downwards towards my legs, squeezing itself into the keyhole of my bonds.

'You're helping me?' I ask, amazed, as I extract my wrists from the cuffs and rub them, trying to get the blood flowing through them again.

'Don't get me wrong.' Five grunts, as the cuffs around my legs snap open, and I yank them off, sighing with relief. He straightens and rummages inside his pocket. 'I think you're an idiot for not taking this offer. But I still owe you one for Eight, and if you want to get yourself killed, then, well, now we're even.'

He looks at me coldly as he removes something from his pocket and offers it to me. It's a pale yellow stone, and I instantly know it's from one of our Chests. 'This is the Xitharis I stole from Six.' he says. 'I've already charged it with my flight Legacy. They won't think of looking for you in the air.'

'Five….' I begin, but he cuts me off.

'I'm giving you five minutes, then I raise the alarm. After you leave this cell, turn right. When you exit the passageway, you'll come to a large cavern. At the other end is the exit. You can escape from there.'

I hesitantly walk to the door, wondering if this is some elaborate trap. I open it warily, and the darkness of a tunnel greets me. I turn back to look at Five, who is still standing in the same position, watching my every move.

'Four minutes now.' he tells me.

I turn to leave when something occurs to me. Something Eight asked me to do. It probably won't make a difference, but I have to try anyway.

I turn to face Five again. 'One last thing.' I say. 'I… I guess I forgive you too.'

His expression doesn't change, but I think I see a glint of relief in his eye as I walk out into the passageway.

Five

I stand quietly in the cell, thinking about why I let her go.

It wasn't, as I had told her, because I was in her debt. I'm certain of that. It was something she said, when she pinned me to the wall, with her eyes burning with fury and an expression of disgust on her face.

Do you even care about anyone but yourself?

Why am I feeling this way? What am I even feeling? This isn't like the realization I felt when I read the Great Book, or the rush I experienced when I heard of the power the Beloved Leader promised me. It's more like emptiness… Like these emotions, which were constants in my life, are missing.

I try to distract myself with my dreams, my dreams of power, dreams the Beloved Leader promised me would come true if I served him, but even they fail to excite me now. There is something that is pulling me away from that, something very much like….. Guilt.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as my internal clock buzzes, telling me that it's been five minutes since I let Marina go. I have to raise the alarm now.

No. I'll give her two more minutes. She does need to escape, after all.

Besides, for some reason, the thought of reporting her escape to the Mogodorians suddenly fills me with revulsion.

Marina

I float nervously near the roof of the cavern, clutching the Xitharis that Five gave me. Below me, the gigantic cavern is swarming with Mogodorians. Even the bridge, connecting my exit to the tunnel I came from, is filled with Mogs traversing from one end to the other.

I curse softly as I search for a way to escape without being spotted. No one has seen me yet, but it'll take just one glance upwards before I'm discovered. I probably have just moments before Five raises the alarm, and even if they don't find me then, this thing still lasts only an hour. Lorien knows how long this place could be locked down. If all else fails, I'm going to have to make a break for it and risk being spotted.

The crowd thins a bit. The cavern is still filled, but there's no one at the exit anymore. I get ready to launch myself towards it…

'Marina?' a hoarse voice says in disbelief.

My head snaps upwards as I search frantically for the speaker. 'Six? Nine? Where are you?'

A hand grabs me by the arm, and I instantly feel the disorientating shift in gravity that comes with Nine's Legacy. It's a bit disconcerting to tumble to the ceiling and stand upside down, but I manage not to throw up.

Six grabs my other hand, and I turn invisible, hidden from the world by her Legacy. I slip the Xitharis in my pocket.

'How did you get here?' Six asks, stunned. 'And were you…. flying?'

'Long story.' I say. 'How did you find me?'

'I got a new Legacy.' Nine says excitedly. 'See….'

'Actually,' Six interrupts, 'maybe we should get out first.'

'Agreed.' I say. 'Five said I had just minutes before he raised the alarm. We should leave now.'

'Wait, Five helped you escape?' Nine asks, stunned.

'Later.' I say impatiently, yanking them towards the exit. 'We have to leave now or….'

Alarms begin to blare. Right before my eyes, a force-field activates near the exit, extending around it like a bubble.

'That'll happen.' Six finishes, drawing away from the exit.

We're trapped.

A question for all the Percy Jackson fans reading this story. Does anyone else think that Five is a lot like Ethan Nakamura? Both are introduced in the fourth book, both betray their own kind, both have lost an eye and wear an eyepatch, Ethan stabs Annabeth while trying to kill Percy and Five stabs Eight while trying to kill Nine, etc.
Coming back to the story, the next update will be tomorrow or Friday. Hope you enjoyed, and, as always, review!