As Tyrell looked around the court, he tried to discern what he was doing here on a hot Saturday morning when he could be working on STRYFE’s new song for the concert. Instead he was sweating atop a scorching blacktop, with the sun directly above him and nearly smothering him with its heat. Of all the days it had to be sunny, why today? He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, smearing the sticky sweat all over his droopy bangs.

Turning his head, he observed Maren who appeared just as angry with the situation as he was. He kept glancing at his watch and kicking at the pole holding up the basketball hoop. Apparently, the powerful heat didn’t agree with him either. The raven-haired youth moaned and made an attempt to straighten his shocking red spikes, which had become plastered to the sides of his head.

"Damn it! Doesn’t that guy know it’s tacky to be late for a challenge?" Maren hissed, staring at Tyrell as if the other boy could provide him some explanation for his friend’s behavior.

Tyrell ran his hand through the back of his hair, which was doing its best to glue itself to his neck. "You don’t know Dominic, Ren. He’s probably throwing some big fit about coming here in the first place. I’m sure Lucian is trying to get here as soon as possible."

"Well, if he really wants to do this, then he should tell his partner to get himself into gear and get over here. Or are you forgetting we have another practice today? Cye says the gig’s been switched to tomorrow though. Probably because of you zoning out the past few days. He doesn’t trust you to perform adequately on the stage yet."

"Hey! I’ve been working on that! Why don’t you try spending your afternoons escaping from pyromaniac freaks and then you can tell me how I should manage to stay focused?" snapped Tyrell, bothered that Maren was digging up old complaints. They weren’t here to talk about the band, they were here to play basketball and that’s what Maren should be focused on.

"Like I said, you could always drop the band for a while," the older boy suggested with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"No! I’ll be fine. Just give me a chance."

"If you say so."

Maren looked up as he saw a pair of figures racing down the path to the court, one dragging the other by the wrist while growling; "You just had to finish that chapter, didn’t you? Now I look like an idiot coming late."

"You always look like an idiot," the one being forced down the path replied.

Smirking, Maren turned toward Lucian and held up a basketball on his forefinger, spinning it in a show-off professional style. He tossed the ball back to Tyrell and stepped away from the pole he had been leaning on. "Well, it’s good to know that the amazing Lucian has finally decided to grace us with his presence."

"It wasn’t my fault I was late. Someone was being a jerk and refused to cooperate," contested Lucian, shooting an incriminating glance toward Dominic.

"You know, I always could walk away right now. That would end your little game awfully quick," Dominic threatened, then shifted his eyes to take in his challengers.

Lucian flinched at this comment and gave his companion a pacifying smile. "Oh Nicky, you know I was just kidding about the jerk thing. You take everything way too seriously."

"All right! Are we done bitching at one another yet? ‘Cause I want to play ball," Maren broke through the banter. "Okay, here’s the way it works. We play to twenty. Arteme, you throw in the jump ball."

Tyrell nodded and stepped to the side as Dominic mirrored his action on the other side of the court. Maren and Lucian stared each other down for a moment before moving up to the center circle. Tyrell counted backwards from ten and then threw the ball in the air. Both boys leapt into the air as Maren smacked the ball on the other side, right to his waiting partner. Lucian swore and took off after the pair, motioning Dominic to wait in the back for his signal.

Part way down the half-court, Tyrell spun around and delivered the ball to Maren, who dribbled it up to the basket, weaving past Lucian’s attempts to steal. Flustered that this youth was causing so much trouble for him, the red-haired boy made a misjudged dive for the ball. Maren deftly dodged it and shot the ball back to Tyrell who was standing adjacent to the net. Surprised, Tyrell recalled the technique that Lucian had been teaching him and sent the ball toward the basket in a graceful arc. As before, the ball sank through the mesh perfectly as Maren gave the younger boy a thumbs up.

"Great play Ambrose. I’m so happy I decided to come today," jeered Dominic, sarcasm flowing through every word.

"I’m just getting started," panted Lucian, walking behind the line to clear the ball. He tossed it to Dominic who started down the court, narrowly avoiding the run-by steal of Maren. Tyrell ran up to support his player, forcing Dominic to switch the ball to his other hand as Tyrell struggled to box him out. Realizing that the ball was in jeopardy, Lucian ran over behind Maren and called for the ball.

With a sudden shift of his arm, Dominic lifted the ball and lofted it over Maren’s head. It slammed into Lucian’s palms as he whirled around to the basket and made a jump shot from where he stood. Much to Maren’s chagrin, the ball swished right through the hoop, even though the shot had been made inches from half court. His eyes widened at the skill of his challenger as he pushed Tyrell toward the end to start the next play.

"Looks like we got ourselves a game, Maren," the red-haired youth shouted with triumph, returning to his guarding position.

The game proceeded in this fashion for a while, with both contestants scoring several long-range shots mixed in with a couple easy ones. Dominic contributed a few assists, though he preferred to let Lucian do most of the actual scoring. Maren began to gun for Dominic when he discovered that Lucian let him do the majority of the work of getting the ball far enough down the court for him to make a decent shot. Without a doubt, the older boy possessed far more skill in the dodging and dribbling technique than his red-eyed partner did. To compensate for his handicap, Lucian worked out a few plays that involved Dominic intercepting the ball during Tyrell’s frequent passes to Maren, and then launching it back to him. After receiving the ball, Lucian would then bounce-pass it back to Dominic who dealt with guarding it until Lucian had chosen an ideal position for his shot.

On the other hand, Maren’s technique consisted of sending Tyrell to steal the ball from Dominic while he kept a steadfast vigil over Lucian to insure that he wasn’t available to bail the older boy out. This plan seemed to work ever so often, allowing Tyrell to throw the ball overhead to him so that he could make his way back down the court. Unlike his opponent though, Maren insisted that both he and Tyrell undertake the task of scoring the baskets. During the course of the game, Tyrell had discovered that he had acquired a talent for side shots due to his daily practices with Lucian. This left the three-pointer and long shots to Maren. It was a technique that suited both players well and made for a very challenging game for their opponents.

After a while, both pairs were drenched in sweat and finding it increasingly hard to pursue an opponent down the court. This resulted in a quite a few botched shots and some outright refusals to make an attempt for the ball. By the time, the score had reached a tying 19:19, none of the players could barely stand straight from the combination of the extreme heat and the prolonged strain on their bodies.

Dominic was becoming irritable and lashing out at Lucian for every mess-up while Lucian had resolved himself to sulking under the criticism, too exhausted to fight back.

On the other side, Maren and Tyrell were having similar problems as Tyrell was no longer making a significant attempt to steal and forcing Maren to do all the work for him. Maren had taken the opposite approach to the situation. Instead of tearing into his partner for the poor support, Maren had decided to take on all the effort for himself, refusing to even acknowledge Tyrell’s presence anymore. He hogged the ball to himself, ignoring all of the younger boy’s shouts that he was open, and attempted one sloppy shot after another. When one of his wild shots knocked a wailing Tyrell on the shoulder, the green-eyed boy became determined to remain in the defensive side of the court and would do little else but block his opponent’s shots.

Finally, fed up with waiting for Lucian to make a halfway decent shot, Dominic swooped down and snatched the ball from Maren. Maren snarled and chased after him, almost tripping over his own feet as he clawed at the basketball, leaving all of his old strategy behind in his weariness. Dominic slid the ball under his reaching arms and approached the basket from a bad angle, ignoring the shouts of his partner. He tossed the ball toward the hoop only to have it crash against the rim with a loud bang. The ball skewered off to the side, landing in Lucian’s unsuspecting hands. Without thinking, the red-haired boy sprung into the air and forced the ball toward the net with all his might.

The ball slapped against the backboard and tottered to the edge of the rim. For a few still moments, the group watched it circle around the perimeter of the rusted rim, losing speed as it made each revolution. Lucian held his breath as the ball came to a rocky stop perched on the far end of the rim. Then it rolled to the side and plummeted through the net, hitting the ground with a heavy thud as it spun toward the fence.

All of the players stared at it, too drained and stunned to react. Then, Lucian let out a harsh whoop and ran over to pick up the ball. Maren lowered his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets, trying to comprehend just how he had lost. Meanwhile, Tyrell disappeared from his side and rushed over to Lucian.

"That was great Lucian! I can’t wait to play again!" he congratulated, lifting his hand to give the other boy a high-five. "I can’t believe I actually enjoyed that."

Lucian tucked the ball in his arm and motioned over to Maren, who was looking quite forlorn as he moved his gray eyes over the pair. "What about Maren? He doesn’t look too happy."

Tyrell turned to face Maren and then smiled in a musing fashion. "Don’t worry about him Lucian. He’s just not used to competing against someone who could actually rival his skill. Even though he probably won’t admit it, I bet he had a blast."

Maren noticed the look on his friend’s face and slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets. He used one to straighten the chain collar around his neck and then made his way over to the other two boys. Straightening, he offered Lucian his hand with a humble drop of his eyes. "Arteme’s right. I haven’t had such a good game in quite a while. The others are so pathetic; they usually quit after ten minutes. It was fun playing you Lucian Ambrose. Congratulations on that swift shot at the end," Maren spoke in a hesitant tone, as if not sure if he was acting appropriately for his character.

Lucian gazed at the outstretched hand for a moment before taking it and giving it a hale shake. "Thanks Maren. I guess your boast wasn’t that far-fetched after all. You’re really good."

The other boy shifted his eyes and turned to the side, sighing morosely. "About Kat, if she really likes you, I guess I can accept that for now. She usually changes her mind in about a week or so."

"Don’t fret. Kathy and me aren’t guaranteed yet. We’re just testing that waters at the moment," Lucian quipped, catching a frown cross Tyrell’s face as the boy stood beside him.

"Well, just as long as you two stop fawning over each other during class," Maren teased, laughing darkly.

"Yeah, I’ll have to talk to her about that."

Eager to get away from this topic, Tyrell looked back to Dominic who was leaning against the fence, regarding the trio with somber eyes. It was interesting to note that even when he wasn’t using them to bore into someone’s soul, his eyes still retained their glacial amethystine shine. For a moment, Tyrell tried to ponder how such powerful eyes could belong to such a distant person. Shaking his head to clear his mind before Dominic accused him of staring again, Tyrell tapped on Lucian’s back and pointed toward the silent youth.

"Dominic doesn’t appear to be having a good time. You’d think he’d be a bit perkier after having just set up the shot that won the game," Tyrell said in a concerned voice as Lucian leaned his head to the side to take a look at his dark-haired companion.

"You’re right Tye. He should. I’ll go have a word with him and see what’s up," Lucian responded, trotting over to speak with Dominic. He was looking forward to pestering a reaction out of the older boy. Approaching Dominic, he was suddenly met with a vicious glance.

"You’re not following the conditions of our deal," charged Dominic as Lucian recoiled in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your promise. I fulfilled my part and now it’s your turn," continued the other youth, glaring at the look of bewilderment on the redhead’s face. "Or did you conveniently forget about the last part?"

Lucian bristled and gave Dominic a slight push backward. "Stop looking at me that way! I don’t know what you’re talking about. Not keeping my pro...." he trailed off, as the final condition of their earlier deal became clear. It wasn’t fair! Dominic actually expected him to go through with that bargain? It was such a cold and insensitive demand. Then again, those two traits fit Dominic to a tee. Besides, Dominic had done his part and it was only right that Lucian comply with his. He wasn’t one to welch.

Dominic shot him an expectant glance as Lucian backed away from him and offered him a bitter smile. He bit his lip and turned from Dominic with as much control as he could manage despite his crushing feeling of defeat. This little move had placed Dominic in the lead of their battle of wits and Lucian was not pleased. Dominic obviously not only intended to win but also he wanted to fight dirty as well. If this was the case, he was just going to have to find a new method of approach. In the meantime, it would probably be a good idea to take his leave before Tyrell noticed any suspicious behavior.

He rolled the ball back to Tyrell and gave a short wave, mentally cursing Dominic for preventing him from savoring his victory. Then he left the court and started to walk toward his car, which was parked right outside the main gate. As he left, he could almost sense Dominic’s eyes following him with a sort of amusement. Dominic was enjoying seeing him in this meek position. He would have to find a way to get back at him later. All he needed now was a plan.

Noticing his friend’s abrupt departure, Tyrell made an attempt to follow him, but the sudden fling of an arm around his shoulders reminded him that he and Maren had a practice to get to and it wouldn’t be wise to make Cyrus wait. He allowed himself to be lead off by his older friend as he glanced back at the content expression on Dominic’s face. "He’s got something to do with this," the youngest boy thought to himself as Maren drew him away from the court. "Dominic, what are you up to now?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tyrell rummaged through the cupboard, trying to locate chocolate to appease his nagging sweet tooth. As usual, Kat, Gayle, and Nadia had cleared the house out of junk food, leaving him with the choice of oatmeal cookies or granola bars. Whimpering, he closed the door and crawled onto one of the kitchen chairs to mope. How was he supposed to have enough energy to go through with tonight’s gig if he didn’t even have some chocolate? He rested his chin on the wooden surface of the table and traced on of the knots with his finger.

A sudden noise from the other end of the room made him jump. Angelique crept in from the family room, clutching something in her hand. Tyrell waited in silence as she walked over to the table and sat across from him, switching the mysterious object from hand to hand. Her silver hair was knotty and tangled from sleep and she looked like she had been wearing the same clothes for the past few days. Even her docile lilac eyes had bright rings of red around them, evidence to the fact that she hadn’t gotten much sleep over the time. She scraped the object she was holding across the table in a gentle motion as Tyrell eyed her with worry.

"Angie, are you feeling okay? You look terrible," he told her as he reached for her hand.

Angelique jerked it away from him, still grasping onto whatever item was held within her fingers. She raised her eyes and set him with an unusually malevolent glare. "No, I’m not. The person I trust refuses to tell me the truth," she replied in a rueful tone.

"About what, Angie?" Tyrell asked, hoping that his cousin wouldn’t bring up the other night. He doubted that she actually believed that the whole situation with Fang had been nothing more than a horrible dream, but he still was forcing himself to hold onto the belief that she was willing to accept it as that. Her silence over the past few days had been sobering, as it was strange for Angelique to refuse to come out of her room and sleep all day. For this reason, she had missed classes, which Angelique hated to make up since it meant staying after school and not being able to walk home with Tyrell and Kat.

"Why can’t you just be honest with me? Have I ever lied to you, Tye?" Angelique continued, tightening her grip on the object.

"I don’t understand. What is this about?"

"Why? Why must you jerk me around like this? You never did it before. You were the only person who I knew would always tell me the truth. Why do you deny me now?" the girl accused, her voice sounding as if it was on the verge of cracking.

Tyrell just shook his head and spoke to his cousin in a dull whisper. "I don’t know what you’re talking about Angie. I haven’t denied you anything. I’m not hiding anything from you."

"Liar!" Angelique spat, using a tone that Tyrell had only seen her use that one time with Kat. "Liar! I want to know where you have been going during the afternoons. And I know it’s not Maren’s because I’ve seen the way you come home, bleeding and injured half the time. Other times, you’re always whispering things to Kathryn when you don’t think I can see you. You are keeping something from me, Tyrell!"

"Angie. About the injuries, you know I’ve been playing basketball with Lucian. I guess I fell against the pavement a few times," Tyrell tried to lie, fearing the rising anger in Angelique’s voice.

"You don’t get singed playing basketball. You don’t mess up your arm either. If you’re going to just lie to me, I don’t want to hear any more of your explanations."

"Seriously Angie, what’s this about? Why are you suddenly accusing me like this?" the boy inquired, his eyes traveling to the fisted object in Angelique’s palm.

Angelique opened her hand and let the hidden object fall to the table, creating a faint cracking noise. It was a small crystal broach shaped like a bird’s wing except that it had bright purple ribbons draping around the sparkling feathers. Though they were carved out of a jewel, each feather was meticulously detailed and had every single bone and downing drawn in a most life-like style. Another odd thing was that each of the shimmering feathers were outlined with a tinge of soft maroon, the color bleeding into the edges so that it looked like they had been dipped in dye even though the color was actually inside the stone. At the very bottom of the broach, a simple E was inscribed in flowing gold script.

Tyrell reached for the broach and cupped it in his hands, gasping in awe at the sheer elegance of the trinket. He looked back at Angelique with wide frightened eyes. "Where did you get this?"

The girl carefully lifted the broach from his fingers and fastened it over her black blouse. "It was given to me from a man...a man who supposedly exists only in my dreams as I’ve been told."

"What did he look like?" Tyrell gulped, feeling a light-headed sensation rushing through him as he grasped at the true meaning of his cousin’s response.

Angelique trailed her fingernail down the broach and tapped the golden E at the bottom. Then, she closed her eyes with a soft tilt of her head. "He had bright orange red hair and a pair of swirling blue eyes, the same shade of the petals on a cornflower. I first saw him when I was looking for you after school. He was sitting on the sidewalk by the school gate, looking so sad. I wanted to leave him alone, but he suddenly got up and began to walk away. As he did, he dropped that broach on the street. Curious, I picked it up and saw how brilliant it looked. Such an item had to be worth a great deal of money. So, against my better judgment, I followed him and called out him.

"When he turned to me, I went up to him and handed him back the broach. That’s when he said he had seen me around before. Around you, Tye. He told me to keep the broach since it didn’t belong to him anyway. It belonged to a friend of his, who he didn’t care too much about anyway. When I asked him where his friend had gotten the broach, he replied that the friend had found it attached to the front of some old book he had.

"I will admit I was happy to receive the broach, but I still did not trust the man. He seemed to possess an ominous aura. I tried to leave but he snatched my hand and sent this burning sensation slithering up my arm that filled my entire body. It clouded my head and made me feel sick and weary. Before I knew it, I had collapsed on the ground. Nobody came to my aid because to anyone else it would have appeared that I had fainted and some concerned individual was taking me to get some help. Just before everything faded, I heard him mention something about you and this thing called the Cruce. After that, everything is a blur before awakening to find myself back in my bed, with you telling me that I had been having a nightmare."

Turning her head, Angelique stared at Tyrell with demanding lilac eyes as she scraped her nails across the table. "So tell me the truth Tye, how much of it was a dream? Or was any of it a dream at all? What did that man have to do with you? And what is this broach? I know you know Tye. Just tell me the truth."

Tyrell leaned back against the chair to ease the spinning in his head. He lowered his eyes from Angelique and tried to ease away from the table. Angelique grabbed his hand and pressed it down against the wood, applying enough force to hurt Tyrell. The boy looked at her with a horrified expression of betrayal as he tried to pull away.

"Tye, please!" she urged again, still keeping his hand flattened to the table.

"Angie, I don’t know who you met! I don’t know what that broach is! I don’t know anything you’re talking about! Now please let go, you’re hurting me!" Tyrell shouted as Angelique lifted her hand, allowing him to escape from the table.

"I’m sorry," she whispered, drawing away from the table as well and hurrying to the other room. Just before she crossed the threshold, she turned around and gave Tyrell one last dismal look. "But, if you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to find out for myself. I’m not going to continue to watch you come back hurt."

"Angie..."

"And as for what you don’t know Tye. Let me just tell you what I don’t know. I don’t know you anymore Tyrell. I don’t know who you are, but I swear to you I will find out." With that, she brought her hand to her face, covering her trembling eyes and ran from the room. As anxious as he was, Tyrell made no attempt to go after her. He fell to his knees, running his hand down the edge of the doorway as he felt the sobs rising in his throat. He dipped his head down to his chest as his fingers clawed at the plaster, causing chips of paint to become stuck in the nails. A disconsolate tear meandered down his face as his hand slipped from the wall.

"How can I tell you who I am when I don’t even know anymore?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You are the most reckless person I know," growled Dominic as he hauled Lucian up from the fountain he had fallen into while chasing a squirrel.

"Ah, but Dominic, that’s just part of his charm," argued Tashira as she smoothed her brother’s sopping hair.

Lucian shook his head, splattering Dominic with the water and messing up his hair once more. Tashira waggled a reprimanding finger at him and grabbed at the ponytail, wringing it out with her hand. Lucian pulled away and held the damp clump of hair in his hands, rolling it back and forth to squeeze out as much water as he could. Dominic watched the procedure with disdain, wiping the wetness of his face with the side of his thumb.

"I just can’t fathom how you can be a Guardian with as ditzy as you are," the older boy chided as Tashira shot him an incensed look.

"I didn’t see that branch," protested Lucian, still struggling to wring out his tangling hair.

"You're lucky that your sister is pushy enough to force me into letting you talk. I guess I can't blame you for her interference. But why were you chasing that thing in the first place?"

"Bored," the red-haired youth responded flipping his hair to his back. "I don’t know why you even dragged us out here Shira. There’s no Chimera, no Guardian, and no Tye. I could be watching TV right now."

"Or bothering Dominic," Tashira prompted as she poked the older youth in the arm.

Lucian snickered at his sister’s remark and glanced back at Dominic, who didn’t look impressed. "Oh there’s always time for that," he corrected her as a sharp glare from Dominic dissuaded him from continuing.

"Don’t make me hurt you Ambrose."

"Now now Nicky, it’s not very nice to beat up your host."

Dominic snarled and threw up his hands. "I don’t know why I subject myself to this. It’s not as if you’re a real help anyway. I was doing better on my own. You never take anything seriously. You’re a complete basket case. You force me to mingle with Tyrell and his cronies. And you have no idea what you’re doing half the time," he snapped as Lucian pulled back and gawked at him in fury.

"I’ll have you know I can be just as dedicated as you. I just see no reason to act so serious all the time," he retorted as Tashira shot out one hand to bring him away from Dominic.

"You’re just giving him what he wants. Quit letting him get to you," she advised as Lucian shrugged.

"Well, since I usually start the majority of these debates. I guess Nicky is entitled to one."

Dominic sat upon the edge of the fountain, staring off into the distance of the park. It was getting late, which was usually when the Chimera made their appearance. If they could just get to one while Tyrell was out of the picture, it would make it a whole lot easier to fight. Then, the problem of getting Lucian to focus came back to him. He changed his observation point to gaze at Lucian with cold distaste. "I am not starting a fight. I simply wanted to point out that you make a very lousy choice for a Guardian."

"Somehow that comment seems to ring of instigating," Lucian replied as Tashira nodded.

"No, if I was going for instigation, I would have mentioned how you looked after your date with Kathryn this afternoon."

"I was hot! I hadn’t been feeling well when we left and I got this strange fever during the movie. It made me feel like I was on fire. So yeah my shirt was a little screwed up from my attempt to pry it from sticking to me."

"Must have really enjoyed the movie, coming back hair all mussed and shirt half-buttoned. By the way Ambrose, do you even recall what the movie was about?" Dominic mocked, enjoying the fact that he was getting to Lucian, instead of the other way around.

"Shut up! I said I was hot. And no I don’t know what the movie was about because we had to leave so I didn’t pass out," Lucian tried to explain, but his efforts only seemed to urge Dominic on.

"And that sounds tame."

"Look I didn’t touch her. I didn’t kiss her. Hell, I didn’t even hug her. I felt so damn sick the entire time I couldn’t do anything. And believe me, that's a big change for me. You can ask Shira how I usually spend my dates. But something about Kathy just makes me feel so weird and faint-like, almost like I’m in a trance. And being that close to her and trying not to react since I fear my control over my emotions when I’m around her just made me ill. The ill as in fever and dizziness. That’s why I came back early."

Realizing all that he had just admitted to Dominic, Lucian felt stupid. He had practically spilled his whole anxiety of the situation with Kat, something that just didn’t make any sense to him. He was reluctant to even explain it to Tashira, yet here he was detailing the entire scenario to Dominic, who could care less. To anyone else but him, his feelings around Kat seemed bizarre and unheard of. How could he want to be with her so much yet feel so powerless when he was around her? It was so much deeper than simple lusting. Why did Kat do this to him? What was so special about her?

"That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard," Dominic concluded with a shallow flicker of his eyes.

His red-haired companion was livid. After all he had just admitted to him, Dominic still had the nerve to criticize him this way. He truly was heartless. Before he knew what he was doing, he whirled upon the older boy and shoved him as hard as he could, forcing him into the pool of water surrounding the fountain. Dominic looked too shocked to say a word as he sat in the water, rage filling his violet eyes. Caught up in the tension of the moment, Lucian glared back at Dominic and retorted with the first thing that came to mind.

"If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous." Unfortunately, his words seemed to convey to Dominic a much different meaning than Lucian had intended.

"Why would I be jealous of her?" the older boy sneered as a brief glimmer of surprise passed Lucian’s eyes.

"Who said I thought you were jealous of Kathy? I meant that you were jealous of me having a girlfriend."

Before Dominic could respond, a high-pitched shriek from Tashira’s direction spun both boys around. They turned to see her calling forth her sword and swinging it as some unseen enemy, eyes wide with alarm. Lucian yanked off his garnet globule, producing his own sword from the gem, as he ran up to meet his sister. He called out to her and Tashira turned to him, silver eyes gazing at him in disbelief. As he approached her, she began to back away in a frantic pace. Lucian frowned at her actions and continued to get closer, holding out his hand to calm her.

"Shira, come on, tell me what’s wrong," he requested as the girl tightened her grip on her blade and stared at him with glazed eyes.

She held the sword out to her side and whispered some reverent words as a silver mist began to encircle her weapon. Then she reared it back violently, fixing her cloudy vision on her twin. "Stay away from me, Chimera!" she roared as she brought the sword down in a clean slice. The rush of bright white energy tore through the air.

Dazed by what was transpiring, Lucian managed to bring his weapon in front off him to attempt to block the attack. But his move was delayed and the surge of power slammed into him, throwing him to his knees. Feeling the aftershock of the attack, Lucian half-leaned against his sword, struggling to see through the pain that fogged his vision. His eyes cleared enough for him to see Tashira bringing back the sword for another strike. The red-haired youth fought to crawl to his feet, trying to tap into his own power source to ease the biting agony of his twin’s attack. "Shira stop!"

Tashira cut her sword in a jagged arch, sending another blast of scorching luminous energy. Lucian closed his eyes as he made a weak attempt to block it with his blade, knowing he would never be able to ward off enough of it. "Shira what’s wrong with you?" he screamed, pain robbing his voice of volume. He felt the wave of his sister’s attack hurtling toward him, the heat so fierce that it singed the tip of his blade.

But aside from the heat, Lucian did not sense any other sort of pain that usually accompanied being swallowed by celestial energy. He cracked open an eye to see a powerful stream of orange light pushing against the silver force of his sister.

Tashira’s source of power came from the heavens and the energy it emitted was a like cleansing wash of pure white fire. For this reason, she was known as the Heaven Guardian. His own power came as if sent from the fiery caves of Hell, blood red energy that sapped all of one’s strength while overpowering them with incinerating heat. His power had earned him the name of the Hell Guardian. Yet this other force was different from any he had seen before, it was like the flames released from the rays of the sun, flames that seeped through everywhere, kissing the ground with its deadly incandescence. Suddenly his mind recalled the amulet that Dominic always wore draped over his neck. A sun amulet. Dominic was the Sun Guardian.

Opening his other eye, he lifted his head to see Dominic, dripping wet, and holding his sword out toward Tashira. His hands trembled against the sword as he forced the Heaven Guardian’s energy back at her. Tashira, realizing that she was fighting a losing battle, recalled her attack, causing the gray energy to fade into nothing. She dodged the firey gust of the Sun Guardian and rolled to the side, breathing heavily and readying her weapon for another conjuration.

"Shira!" Lucian yelled, pushing up from his feet to scramble toward his sister when a tiny blast from Dominic’s weapon stopped him from going any further.

"Stay away from her Ambrose. She’s not in her right mind. I think she’s under a spell," the older boy warned, rushing over and pointing his sword at Tashira.

Lucian freaked and pushed the sword to the side, looking at his companion with hard, determined eyes. "She’s fine! Don’t touch her!" He broke away from Dominic’s side and ran to his sister, ignoring the ticking in his brain that urged him to stay back. "Shira," he whispered, stepping toward her.

"Luce?" she asked in a feeble voice. Her head was down and her eyes were lost from his view, hidden behind her endless waves of white-silver hair. He took another step, bridging the distance between them. As he did, Tashira lunged at him with her sword, stabbing him in the upper shoulder and forcing him to the ground.

"Thought you could fool me by pretending to be my brother. Well, I’m much smarter than that, you pathetic Chimera," she sneered as she drove the blade even further into his skin. Lucian screamed in anguish, fighting to force Tashira’s hand away from the sword. He could see her eyes clearly now. They were hazy and unfocused, making him well aware of the fact that she couldn’t recognize him.

"Shira! Stop! It’s me! It’s Lucian!"

Seeing the younger boy in such agony struck a nerve in Dominic. Even if the boy was an everlasting pain, he was still a Guardian. With a loud roar, he tackled Tashira, wrenching her off the howling Hell Guardian and tearing the sword from his shoulder with a sickening slurp. He slammed her against the ground and clawed at the hilt in her hand, desperately trying to keep her from bringing the sword down on his back. Using his other hand to seize her wrist, he pried the weapon from her clenching fingers and held her to the ground with one hand on her neck.

Putting a hand on his shoulder to stop the coursing blood, Lucian lurched to his knees and crawled toward his sister, who was struggling with Dominic. Dominic noticed the injured boy and jerked his head at Tashira, showing Lucian how she was scratching at his arm in a hysterical manner. "Still believe she is fine?" he asked as Lucian lowered his head in shame and placed a shaking hand on his sister’s forehead.

"What are you doing?" snarled Dominic as Lucian closed his eyes and pushed Tashira’s bangs from her skin.

Tashira stopped resisting as her eyes became dilated and her whole body grew limp save the rising and falling of her chest. Dominic gazed in puzzlement for a couple of tense moments, as both of the youths seemed to fall into a sort of meditating state. Then, Lucian jerked awake, panting in excitement as he looked at Dominic, fear etched across his face.

"She is under a spell. There’s a Chimera nearby who hexed her. Now she thinks that we are the enemy. If we find the Chimera, we can stop this," Lucian gasped as Tashira’s eyes sprung open and she resumed her struggle against Dominic.

"How do you know that?" questioned the dark-haired youth.

"I’m a telepath like Tyrell. I read her mind," Lucian replied as Dominic opened his mouth to say that he had forgotten that. Then, Dominic remembered that he only knew that from encountering Lucian as Wolf. Lucian had no idea that he and that creature were the same and obviously Tyrell hadn’t told him either. It was best to keep him in the dark until he knew if he could really trust him.

"So where is this Chimera?"

"I can answer that," announced a voice from far off, as another figure stepped into view. This personage had on a dark blue blazer and a pair of simple black pants. From the distance, the pair by Tashira noticed the dark golden hair of the figure that reached down to its neck and the fearsome sheen in the chestnut eyes.

"Erik!" hissed Dominic as the blonde girl sneered and withdrew a jade amulet from her pocket in the shape of a pruned rose complete with a silver thorned stem.

"How cute, you missed me," Erik laughed as she saw the baffled expressions on both of the boys’ faces. "Oh and don’t call me Erik. The name I go by in this line of work is Rose, Guardian of the Earth."

"What are you doing here?" demanded the older boy as he whirled around on Erik, keeping her at bay with his sword.

"The same thing you are, Solanis. I’m seeking out the Chimera before they can make another attack on the Keys. After all, you are not the only Guardians. I am the last Guardian, sent by an old friend of the Alistars to protect the Keys."

Alistar. The name sounded so familiar to Lucian’s ears as he recalled Dominic’s attention to keeping a tight hold on Tashira who had almost worked her way free during Dominic’s verbal exchange with Erik. Danae Alistar. That was the name that was always evoked whenever he was around Kat. Perhaps, Erik could give him more clues to discovering what it all meant.

"Stop bothering her Nicky. She says she knows where the Chimera is hiding. We need her right now," Lucian ordered the violet-eyed boy as he returned his gaze to Erik.

"Nicky? Just what is the deal with that?" the blonde scoffed, making Dominic go red in the face.

"Never mind! Tell us where the Chimera is! If you’re a Guardian, you’re obliged to help us despite our past quarrels," Dominic argued, butting into the girl’s jest.

Erik placed her hands over her chest and gave a harsh laugh. "You two are Guardians. You figure it out. I must warn you though, things are not what they seem."

The pair of boys searched the area with their eyes, finding nothing to indicate of another being’s presence. All that lay before them was the empty park and the coming darkness of the night. Angered with these games, Dominic swore under his breath and shot a hate-filled glare toward Erik. "There’s nothing here!"

"Oh isn’t there?"

"Wait Nicky," Lucian cautioned placing a hand on Dominic’s shoulder as he stood up and glanced around the park, "Think of what she said. Things may not be what they seem."

"What are you babbling about?"

"It’s an illusion Nicky. A trick. We’re in some sort of reverie," the red-haired boy declared, turning from his companion to face Erik. "If you’re in here too. How come you can still tell where the Chimera is? Why aren’t you affected?"

Erik held up her rose amulet, allowing Lucian to see how it was glowing a faint dark green just as his had glowed red when he had run into the she-wolf. The girl was using the homing power of the relic to track where the Chimera was. Apparently, the amulets lost this ability once they had taken on their sword forms for they no longer glowed with light, but instead glistened with sparks of power. Since Erik was the only one who didn’t seem affected by the illusion, they would have to rely on her to find the Chimera for them.

"Show us where the Chimera is," pleaded Lucian, worried at what effects the spell was having on his sister’s mind.

"So you boys want my help? The help of a girl?" Erik taunted in a caustic tone as she fastened the rose necklace around her throat.

"Forget about that! This is serious! Shira might be in real danger!"

Erik looked at the boy, bemused, and then uncrossed her arms and swung them behind her back. "Alright Ambrose. I’ll tell you, but you’re going to have to do me a little favor first."

"What?"

"The illusion needs to be broken and that can only be done one way. One must use his power against it," she replied in a grave voice.

"That’s crazy! It would take a great deal of power to overcome the illusion and in the meantime, the energy would rebound and strike the user," Dominic pointed out as Erik nodded her head slowly.

"I never said it wasn’t dangerous. But if you want to save your friend, it’s your only chance. Shatter the illusion and you shatter the constraints among her senses. She will return to normal. The center of the illusion lies at the fountain in the center of the park. That's where my amulet seemed to glow the brightest. The fountain is the one solid piece of this area that isn't real."

"It’s suicide!" the older boy shouted. He noticed Lucian bending down to recover his sword as he stared at Tashira and then at the illusion surrounding them. Choking up on the hilt, he made his choice.

"I’ll do it!" he cried as he ran from the group and returned to the fountain. Summoning up all the power left in his weapon, Lucian focused it on the fountain. He mumbled a few words in an inaudible whisper and raised the sword to the sky as dark red flames burst from the blade, swallowing half of the weapon in their wake. Then, he slowly brought down the sword in a perfect slice. The hellfire raced toward the fountain and engulfed it for a second before sizzling upwards and crashing back into its summoner. Lucian hissed in pain and tried again, this time managing to keep part of the attack focused on the fountain as the rest lashed out at him again and again.

"You’re insane! You’re not strong enough!" Dominic yelled at him, watching the younger boy crumple to his knees, still keeping the energy trained on the fountain. Lucian's power recoiled upon him again and again, filling his entire body with the mind-numbing heat and excruciating pain. Unable to hold back his shouts any more, Lucian shrieked in misery, feeling his hold on his energy weakening with every passing second. His cries soon turned to hoarse whimpers as his voice abandoned him, having been strained too much from prolonged use.

"Stop Ambrose! You’ll kill yourself!"

Dominic lifted his hand from Tashira and ran over to the semi-conscious Lucian, leaving Erik to deal with the possessed Heaven Guardian. He grabbed the lethargic youth by his arm and lifted him to his feet as he brought out his own weapon. Still supporting the Hell Guardian, Dominic waved his sword in a small arc, creating his own wave of bright orange energy. It swirled through the air, combining with that of the Hell Guardian’s attack. As one, both of the blasts struck the fountain, splitting it right down the middle as a deafening crack sang out.

Erik left Tashira and raced over to the edge of the park, seeking out the Chimera. But as she searched through the area, she soon discovered that she was too late and the person who had formed the illusion and placed the spell over Tashira’s mind had vanished without a trace. She turned her head to see Tashira stumbling to her feet and looking around herself, confused at to what had been going on. Knowing that sulking about the Chimera wasn’t going to do any good, Erik returned to the other girl and helped steady her on her feet.

"What happened?" Tashira asked in a trembling voice as she stared at the strange youth that was assisting her. "Who are you?"

"Rose," Erik responded as Tashira leaned back her head to look for her twin and gasped as she saw him slumped in Dominic’s hold.

"Lucian!" she screamed as she tore away from the Earth Guardian and ran to the other pair.

Dominic was struggling to keep the younger boy on his feet as Lucian swooned in his grip, suffering from the damage that had been done on his psyche as well as his physical form. No longer able to support his weight, Lucian’s feet gave out from under him, pulling him and Dominic to the ground. Dominic shifted his position to hold the other boy upright by placing a hand against his back. Near blacking-out, Lucian winced in pain as he began to relax against Dominic’s arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You should know better than pulling that crap when you’re already injured?" rebuked Dominic as he shook the boy roughly.

Lucian laughed weakly and leaned back his head to gaze at Dominic with glassy garnet eyes, which seemed to dance with a twisted satisfaction. "I know, but it was for Shira," he murmured in a choked voice. "Still think I’m unfit to be a Guardian...Nicky?" His head rolled to the side as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Dominic held the motionless boy in his arms until Tashira came and gathered up her brother herself. Erik gave the group a humble look before turning from them and making her way from the park. Dominic’s eyes followed her as she left, but he made no attempt to pursue her as his attention drifted back to the youth cradled in Tashira’s arms. She would never be able to carry Lucian back to the car alone. Climbing to his feet, he helped the silver-haired girl reposition her brother against her chest and began to support her as they started for the car.

As they walked, strange thoughts danced inside Dominic’s head. He had taken Lucian at face value, as a boy who may have possessed a penchant for danger, but had no concept of responsibility and always rushed into everything without thinking. He had never figured him as one who was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of another. This was a whole new side to the youth and made him seem oddly familiar to Dominic. It reminded him of something he had lost a long time ago and had he hoped to have had forgotten about it. Yet, Lucian did appear to have a talent for reopening old wounds. The scary thing was that for the first time in a long while, Dominic was grateful to be reminded of his past. It was quite a strong effect the younger boy had on him and he hoped to learn more about it very soon.

*~*~*~*~*~*