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Chapter 3: Justin

I turned to Ana outside the room, shaking. She was looking down at the lump on the floor that was Maria, or Adelaide now. "I had no idea", she whispered. She sank into a chair, hand over her eyes.

I looked back at Maria. She looked like Adelaide had in my dreams; pointed ears, slightly glowing, and she'd even magically changed into the same floor-length green dress when her memories returned. But some characteristics were still the same, and I wondered how much of her mind was the same. She looked so frail, even though the display of her power had shocked and frightened me, though I wouldn't tell anyone. She needed to get to a comfortable place to rest.

"Go ahead." Ana said, as if reading my thoughts, which wasn't a bad guess. After all, she was fully trained. "Spare bedroom next to yours and across from Ace's."

I nodded and opened the door. Gently, I picked her up, surprised that although she was taller than me, she was very light. I carried her all the way to the room she would have, thankful no one was there to see us. I'd already had enough teasing from my mom about girls, so I didn't need one of my friends to start up too. Using the Force, I opened the door and laid her carefully down on the bed. I tiptoed quietly out of the room, and bumped straight into Ace.

"Wha-"

"Shh! She's sleeping!"

She dropped her voice down to a whisper. "Who? Oh, Princess Adelaide?"

"Yeah, and you'll never guess who she was."

"Just tell me." Ace rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed and very impatient.

I grinned at her exasperation. "Maria."

"No way", she breathed.

"Yes way, and I'll tell you the whole story after we get dinner."

Ace sat back in her chair, trying to make sense of it all. Finally she just shook her head. "I can't believe we never guessed. We've both known her for years, and yet…" She paused. "Ana had faked her death and became leader before I even met Maria. Her enchantment must have been really strong to keep us from seeing who Maria was, although she could barely keep it that way."

"You're right."

Ace and I both jumped as Ana walked over to us and sat down. "I usually ate lots of sugary food to give myself a sugar high and drank coffee so I was bouncing off the walls with energy. I got a dragon to come with me in the middle of the night, then used the combined energy of us both to redo the enchantment. I would immediately fall asleep, and the poor dragon had just enough energy to carry us both here."

"Wow", I managed.

Ace leaned forward. "Okay, that's really nice to know, but what's going to happen to Maria now? Is she…gone?"

I glanced at her. 'At least I'm not the only one wondering.'

Ana smiled. "Oh, she's perfectly fine. Could we take this conversation somewhere more… private?" she asked, looking warily around the crowded kitchen.

Ace looked at me. I shrugged and stood up. "All right, where should we go?"

"Follow me." With that, Ana stood and walked straight out of the room. She led us straight to my room, paused before entering, and asked me if it was okay.

"I don't mind" I said without hesitation.

"Thanks", she said, walking in. "It's just that we can keep an eye on her here while we talk. We'll be able to hear if she suddenly wakes up and goes out of her room."

We sat in a trio on the floor, since the temple rooms assigned to a Jedi-in-training like me only had a bed and nightstand. Ana's room was much more furnished since she was a permanent resident here. You just can't fake your death, then rent an apartment. It would be just a little suspicious.

Ana began. "As far as I know, Maria and Princess Adelaide are one and the same. They are both names to describe the same person. I believe that when I first took her into hiding, I accidentally split her spirit, leaving the magical piece trapped and the harmless personality free. So, all I did today was to take away the enchantment making her look human and joined the two pieces of her spirit together."

"So the Maria we all know and love is still here, she just looks different?" Ace asked.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure. We'll have to test it when she wakes up, which is in… oh, about ten minutes or so."

Ace and I both stared at her in shock. I heard myself say, "Only three hours of sleep?"

Ana smiled. "She is an elf, you know. They rejuvenate quickly compared to us, and the three hours of sleep she will get would be considered oversleeping in the elf islands." She laughed at our expressions. "Trust me, you get used to it. It's actually really nice to have someone always ready for guard duty." She looked at us meaningfully, then sighed. "You'll understand eventually…"

"What will she do when she wakes up, though? Will she go into training?" Ace asked.

"Yes, she will, and I'll use my position as leader to get her into a group with you two."

"She's not going to be ready to go into her knighthood training yet though, and we're leaving in two weeks! What will she do then?"

Ana smiled mischievously. "Oh, no worries about that, she'll be ready. I'll be her personal temporary master until she catches up with you."

"Basic training is a year long!" I protested.

Her smile grew wider. "You'll see, you'll see." Her face suddenly became serious. "But you both must promise me that you won't say anything about Maria being the princess. I will notify the elves and the major temple leaders, but not the temple Jedi-in-training. You three will be chosen as a group, and I expect you to keep her secret."

Both of us nodded, then cringed as a muffled shriek escaped from the other room.

"Hurry!" Ana called to us, already at the door. "She's awake!"

Ace and I ran out the door, just as a blur of green ran into me from the other room. I held her in a hug, but she didn't recognize me with her split second dash and struggled against me. "It's just me, Maria", I said, trying to get her to calm down.

Finally, she relaxed, and I let go of her. "Oh, hi.", she said as she noticed the two other girls standing a little awkwardly off to the side.

Ace huffed. "Sure, go hug Justin before you say hi to us", she said, faking annoyance. Maria blushed furiously before Ace rolled her eyes and said, "It's nice to see you though."

"Hey, I hate to break in on your reunion, but we have a lot to discuss still. Can we go into your room, Maria?", Ana asked.

"Oh, it's my room now? Okay, then, go right on ahead."

"Thank you. Everyone in!"

We all stood in a circle as Ana talked. She caught Maria up, and began outlining her training.

"Isn't that kind of an impossible schedule? I learned to look into people's minds in two months, not a couple of days." I interrupted.

Ana smiled annoyingly. "You can do it!" she said to a daunted Maria.

When she finished, she turned to the rest of the group. "Now that we've got that settled, I need to get into the prophecy about you."

"There is a prophecy…about me?" Maria couldn't seem to wrap her head around the whole thing. Just a few hours ago, she was a normal human girl, and now she was an elf princess with her own prophecy.

"Yeah, most elves have someone prophesy for them at the time of their birth. Yours was very special. It said you'd be away from home for a while, that you'd return with much knowledge and power. It also hints that you might be one of the most powerful elves of all time."

Maria just looked shocked. "But I'm really not anything special…"

"Uh, yeah you are", I argued, thinking back to her released memories. "You could do more as an infant than I can now. Well, magically speaking."

"He's right. It is in your prophecy, and the elf prophets rarely misinform. The only problem with you is that we need to make you into a capable ruler, while keeping that sense of humility you have. See my reasons for keeping your identity secret?"

She nodded. "So how will I disguise myself as a human the entire time?"

"Right to the point, huh? I'll keep disguising you as a human for the next couple of weeks until your knighthood training. After that you will be fine."

Maria nodded. Ana glanced at her watch. "I need to get going, I've got a leader's meeting soon. You guys can just talk, but the lights go off in an hour."

I fell on my bed as quietly as I could so I wouldn't disturb Maria in the next room. She'd fallen asleep when Ace and I had talked together for a minute too long. Maria must have been really tired to do such a thing; usually she covered her exhaustion well. Like this afternoon, I hadn't known she was tired until she outright told me.

I drifted off to sleep slowly and the only dream I had was the spirit of Adelaide. She looked the same, except now she bore more resemblance to Maria and seemed so much happier. She even greeted me with a smile, then bowed, thanked me, and left. It would hopefully be the last time I saw her.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please review with your thought because I have no idea what I'm doing right or wrong. Your comments might even influence the story! Thanks in advance and may the Force be with all of you!