Hey guys! I'm finally back!
Sorry I took so long, but I've been really busy. My exams are starting really soon, and my schedule has gone absolutely crazy. Until the end of March, my updates are going to be sporadic, erratic, and after seriously random intervals. They may be after two days or two weeks. No promises. But by March end, I will definitely start updating regularly again.
Haha, no, Six is not dead. I obviously wouldn't hold a poll to ask who she ends up with and kill her immediately after. She just got stabbed.
I can't believe how many reviewers I'm getting these days. You guys seriously make my day. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Reading through all of them seems to always get a smile on my face.
This chapter is dedicated to thesecondgarde (haven't you got a dedication already? :P), whose stories, by the way, you totally have to check out. 'The Second Chance' was one of the stories that inspired me to writing fanfics.
Okay, I'll stop blabbering now. Chapter 15!

Marina

It feels like the Everglades all over again.

The knife plunges into Six's back, and suddenly I'm back in the Everglades, watching Five's sword go through Eight's heart. I feel the same desperation, the same guilt I felt back there. I'm still the same. Useless. Pathetic. Weak. Helpless. Powerless to stop my friend from dying, powerless to do anything but watch.

Again.

And then there's the same rage that courses through me, fury which bursts free like a river breaking through a dam, consuming me until I am unstoppable.

I feel the temperature drop rapidly, my breath misting in front of me, the ice building up in my fingertips, and I let it out with a scream. The Mogodorian warriors don't stand a chance. The ice encases them instantly, freezing them to death right where they stand, leaving my friends untouched. I feel the rage still churning within me, the urge to hurt them, and I do, making a squeezing motion with my hands, until the ice shatters, leaving behind nothing but ash.

I can sense everyone staring at me with a mix of horror, admiration and shock, but I don't care. I run to Six's side, and gently press my hands to her back. The knife juts out from behind, and a gentle rise and fall indicates that she's still breathing, that I don't have a scar yet, but she's almost gone. I frantically myself to heal her, for her wound to close and the knife to be ejected out, but I can't. I can't even save my best friend.

Tears begin to form in my eyes, and before I can stop them, images, visions, memories of Eight start to flicker through my mind. His laugh, his goofy smile, his curls, his bright green eyes, glinting with amusement, somehow seeming to make everyone feel better. I miss him so much. Just because I don't want to die doesn't mean I don't want to see him again, just because I don't show it doesn't mean I don't need him by my side. If Six hadn't been there, guiding me through his death, I would have gone insane. And I know if I don't save her, that is exactly what will happen.

My heartbeat slows, my breathing eases, the cloud fades away from my mind. Calmly, carefully, I will the power out of me, and slowly, Six's wound begins to close.

I let out a sigh of relief. I have found my trigger, my trick for keeping my cool, keeping calm and relaxed. Thinking of Eight leaves me sad, sure, but it also expels my panic, leaves me feeling serene and peaceful. Like a pool of tears.

Even in death, he is my solace.

Nine

I can't breathe.

The temperature drops as Marina lets out an ear-splitting scream, and suddenly all the Mogodorians are frozen, crumbling, shattering, dead, which is probably good, because I still can't breathe.

'She isn't dead.' the small part of me that is not panicking whispers.

It's true. She isn't. I don't have a scar on my ankle yet. But she will be. And it will be my fault. My fault I didn't warn her on time. My fault I didn't figure out how they were tracking her. My fault I didn't sense it earlier. My fault.

It feels as though the weight of the entire world just came crashing down on me. Everything that has gone wrong, everyone that I have lost, has been my fault. And there's nothing I can do to undo it.

Sandor. I got myself captured, like the idiot I was. He got caught because he came after me. Came looking for me. Because he loved me. Now he's dead. My fault.

Eight. Just when he had convinced Five, when he had calmed him down, I riled him up again. When I had no way of defending myself. Eight sacrificed himself for me. My fault.

And Six. I didn't figure out what the Mogodorians had planned, didn't sense them until it was too late. When I did, I couldn't even warn her on time. Now she's dying. My fault.

I remember my arguments with Johnny back when it was just the two of us, when he asked me what I truly cared for, when he accused me of having no one that I would die for. I would die for anyone or anything Loric. That's what I told him.

Good job living up to that, Nine.

I watch as Marina frantically presses her hands to Six's back, but nothing happens. Nobody stirs. I doubt anyone can comprehend what's going on right now.

She has to heal, right? She can't die. She can't.

Marina tries again, and this time the wound begins to close. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Her face relaxes as her skin repairs itself, and the knife is expelled from her body.

Her eyes snap open, and I can already see the resolve in there, the determination to ignore and hide her pain. I'm suddenly struck by how similar we are, how much I understand her, and for the first time since Sandor's death, I feel the barriers I put up retract, for a little while at least.

'Nine?' she croaks. With a start, I realize that I'm kneeling next to her. I don't even remember walking towards her.

I look in her eyes again, and it's only now that I realize that I do care about her. Everything that has happened since the Everglades has brought us closer than I thought. I suddenly feel like the boy I was before Sandor's death, when I had first met Maddy. Like maybe I can have a life.

So I lean down, and press my lips to hers.

Five

'What are you doing?' I ask.

'The lights flicker back on momentarily, and in that instant, I see Devdan staring calmly at me. Then, with a buzz, they go off again.

He doesn't open his mouth, doesn't speak, but suddenly I feel his voice in my mind, clear as a bell. 'Setting up barriers in your mind.' his voice resonates. 'We wouldn't want Raylan to know what you are thinking now, would we? This barrier will hide your true emotions and send false signals to anyone who checks.'

'If you're trying to make me feel uncomfortable, then that's a pathetic attempt.' I say blandly. 'Thanks.' I add fervently in my mind, hoping that Raylan cannot hear me.

The lights flicker on again. 'As you wish, my boy.' Devdan says calmly, and I get the impression that he's giving me a mental wink. 'Down to business then.'

This is it. This is my chance. I find out this, and Raylan will give me whatever I want. I won't have to be part of his campaign anymore. This guilt that I have been feeling recently won't plague me.

Or will it? I remember my guilt when Marina hurled insults at me, the relief I felt when she told me she forgave me, the disgust I felt when I realized what Raylan has been doing, what I have been a part of. If I find out what the relic is, maybe I can do something to make up for everything wrong that I have done, everything bad that I have caused. Marina may have forgiven me, but maybe I will finally be able to forgive myself.

'I need to know what you know about the artefact that will be responsible for Raylan's demise.' I say bluntly.

Devdan smiles infuriatingly. 'That information is reserved for Naveen.' he says.

'You can't talk to Naveen.' I tell him, my voice almost cracking at the end. 'He's dead.'

Devdan smiles again. 'I know.' he says simply. 'But I only speak to Naveen.'

I have to stop myself from slamming the table with frustration. 'Don't you get it? You can't talk to him. He's dead.' My voice does crack now. 'I saw it. I killed him.' I lean back, exhale, my anger slowly draining away. 'I'm one of the Garde. You need to tell me.'

'I understand why you're disappointed.' Devdan says, with what I could have sworn was a smirk flickering across his face. 'Who wouldn't want the rewards that the Beloved Leader could give you?'

I freeze. I know that's not what he means. He knows what I've been thinking right now.

'You could do it, you know.' his voice echoes in my mind. 'You don't need this information to right your wrongs. You just need yourself.'

I could do it. I could escape, find the Garde again. I could fight.

But why would they trust me? I killed one of their own. Our own. I need something else, something to convince them that I'm telling them the truth, something important that I can use to gain their trust. I need this information.

I decide on reverse psychology. 'I think you're lying.' I say. 'Nothing can kill Raylan. I know. I've seen it. His Regeneration Legacy is too powerful.'

This, at least, is true. I have seen his Regeneration heal impossible wounds, fatal wounds. It's his theory that his Disruption Legacy not only allows him to disable others' legacies, it also allows him to control his own. Which means that even when he should be unconscious, even when he should be dead, his body still heals.

'His Regeneration is too powerful.' Devdan agrees, surprising me. 'Because of it, he can't die.'

'The how do you plan to kill him?' I ask, annoyed.

To my surprise, Devdan grins lazily. 'Just because he is always saved, does not mean he can never die.' He leans forward and smirks. 'And reverse psychology never works.' he whispers.

Adam

We all troop towards the minivan which Nine and the others had "borrowed" to find us. Luckily, the Mogodorians don't seem to be back yet. Even so, I know we don't have the time to hang around. My father will bring reinforcements, and the next time, I doubt we'll be as lucky as to escape him. I know him too well.

'Where are we going?' John asks, as we approach the edge of the forest.

'To find Ella.' Marina says fiercely. I look at her in surprise.

'How did you know?' Sam asks. 'Never mind, we can talk later in the van. Last we checked, she was in Washington D.C., but even if she's been moved, we have the tablet…..'

'No.' I interrupt, surprising everyone. 'We can't go there yet.'

'What do you mean?' Nine glares at me. 'We have to rescue her, she's just…'

'I didn't mean we don't rescue her.' I say hastily. 'I just meant that we pick up something on the way, something that will give us an advantage.' I pause to make sure I have all their attention. 'I know where the Chimaera are.'

Wow, this chapter is way too rushed. Sorry. This is the best I can put up, since exams are starting really soon. I'll try my best to update often, but no promises.
There. Nix. Hope you guys are happy now. I hope that I didn't make Nine too OOC, though. I needed him to be a bit emotional for this to work.
Okay, that's all. Thanks for reading! Please review!