Sorry for the delay, my weeks have been busier than I thought they would be but I got all three chapters up!

Also, there won't be an actually update on 1/9, only because I am gonna go through what I've posted already and edit all of it. So the next real update will be on 2/9, most likely.

Thank you!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And Happy New Years!


-September 24th-

Dakota watched the last of the science club members leave the room as she packed up her stuff. It wasn't a large club, like the drama club, but all the students wanted to be there to better their knowledge of science, including Dakota. Not only did it look good on her college applications but it was also a way to kill the time she had so much of … before the whole Guardian thing.

"Miss. Scarlett," the posh voice of her science teacher, Mr. Smith, directed her attention to the front of the classroom where he stood. "You seem a little distracted as of late. Is everything alright?"

Dakota nodded her head, zipping up her backpack and meeting him up front. "Yes, everything is fine. Thank you asking."

Mr. Smith pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. "Okay, I just…"

Dakota screamed as Mr. Smith sailed back, crashing against the blackboard and falling into a heap on the ground.

"Mr. Smith!" Dakota ran to her teacher, cradling his head with one hand and checked his pulse with the other, quickly finding a steady beat and letting out the breathe she did not know she was holding. She gently placed his head on the ground so she could see what hit him by peaking over his desk, only to see a tall, slim form standing at the door covered in a black hooded cloak. The person was twirling what posed as some sort of gun on his boney pointer finger.

"I see you, Water Guardian!"

Dakota squealed, ducking back down behind the desk.

"I've been watching you," the man confirmed her thoughts, scaring her even more. "Does that answer your questions, Guardian?"

The Guardian shuttered but remained where she was. "Who are you?"

She felt the desk being bumped then a soft knock on top. Dakota slowly moved her head, coming face to face with the man's gear like irises as he looked down at her. His face was pale and lanky, no doubt like the rest of him.

"Tig. My name is Tig."

He moved off the desk, leaving the gun and striding around the room with a slight limp in his right leg. Dakota stood, watching as he picked at students' experiments, hood pushed back a tad, giving her a look at his ash colored hair sticking up in all directions.

"Why are you here?" Her eyes darted around, looking for something she could use as a weapon.

"I was given the order to kill you." Tig was blunt, almost like he was bored, his hand waving like he was brushing something aside.

Dakota's eyes froze on the fire hydrant then widen. At the reveal she had to steady herself by putting her hands flat on the desk and take deep breathes.

"Which is a shame," Tig said, making his way back up to the Guardian. "You really are kind-hearted girl, it's just terrible luck you got drugged into this world."

"Have you been watching the others too?" Dakota glanced up at Tig, who stopped at her desk which was front and center in the five rows.

He shook his head. "Not me personally but others have been watching the four remaining Guardians." He drew a golden pocket watch from under the cloak, flipping it open to look at the time. "And if my timing is correct, which it always is, than the other Guardians are in similar situations as you are."

"Wha…"

"Well, similar as in fighting for their lives and not having a civil conversation."

"Civil?" Dakota gestured to Mr. Smith's motionless body. "You called that civil?"

Tig shrugged. "I could have killed him but I didn't. I just needed him out of the way."

Dakota's mouth fell open but no words came out. She couldn't understand how someone could be so casual about something as extreme as murder; how terrible their life must have been to even think about something like that.

"Someone like you will never understand the motive behind my actions." Tig pulled the hood over his face completely, tone shifting to a more hostile one. "Always protected by your family or others close to you, never exposed to any hatred or…"

"Hatred?" Dakota snapped out of her trance, pushing her glass up and standing taller. "People in this world, including me, are exposed to that every day. Especially people like me. With the color of my skin, I have to fight to have equal rights as the ones who don't look like me. I have to deal with all the people, my so called peers and random people on the streets, bully me because of my skin tone. And you know what… all the negative that came with all that, and then some, made me stronger and more confident in myself and in the choices I have made and will make in the future. And that includes the one I'm about to make."

Tig cocked his head, not fast enough to see Dakota had grabbed his gun sometime during her speech and was pointing it right at him. He smirked. "Clever girl."

Dakota pulled the trigger. "Damn right I am!"

Tig was blown back, knocking into desks and slammed into the wall right next to the doorway, falling to his knees but still conscious. Dakota used his disorient state to escape, gun still in her hand and grabbed her bag with the other on her way out, booking it to her car, not looking back even when she heard footsteps running after her.

"Water Guardian!"

Dakota yelped but it only boosted her speed, bursting out the side doors leading to the student parking lot. She found her car in the same spot she parked it in every morning and placed the gun on the roof so she could dig through her bag for her car keys. However, she made the mistake of looking up, seeing Tig stalk towards her and causing her to nearly dump her belongings out in search of her keys.

"Dakota! Duck!"

Said girl whipped around finding Nyx behind her with her bow drawn before remembering the archer's order and following it. Once Dakota was down, Nyx released her arrow, striking Tig in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground.

"Get up and get through the portal!" Nyx drew another arrow from her quiver as she rushed to the Guardian. "Now!"

Dakota found the portal she was talking about on the opposite side of the lot and ran for it, looking back to see Nyx not far from her while keeping Tig at bay just in front of her car. But Tig made a split second decision to grab his gun off the roof, pointing it at Nyx and pulled the trigger the same time Nyx released her arrow.

Like Dakota predicted, the blast was stronger than Nyx's arrow, effortlessly shattering the wooden object and sending both herself and Nyx through the portal unwillingly.

Both girls groaned as they regained their footing and Tig stepped through the portal.

"Shit. Find Wynter."

Dakota didn't need farther instructions, knowing exactly what she meant by that. Her eyes whipped around seeing Izzy and CJ battling figures parallel to Tig with Wally and Grix, respectively, then found Wynter and Khloe across the room.

"Wynter!" Dakota waved her arms, getting both girls' attention. She saw Wynter hold up the Heart of Serine before her body was engulf in a purple glow.


Thank you for reading!

Is there anything I can improve or fix? Let me know!