There is a house (which some say from the outside looks very much like a church, though on the inside it is definitely a house) in Vinton which is almost big enough to be called a mansion, but not quite, for though it was three stories and it had many rooms, it was nowhere near the size of the three true mansions in Vinton (one of which was owned by Roan’s family, another of which was owned by Kiera’s, and the third, located on the edge of town, which was presumed to be owned by recluses).  It was the oldest house in Vinton, and, save for the library, the oldest building as well.  The architecture was of a slightly Gothic design, with cobblestone walls and an ornate metal fence running around the length of the house’s perimeter.  It had an arched entrance with two large wooden double doors, and the windows were made of beautiful multicolored (though admittedly grimy with neglect) stained glass.

And though the path leading up to the house was overgrown with weeds, all in all it was still a rather nice house.  However, it was plagued by a rather unfortunate problem, a problem that it shared with many of the other houses of its ancient, spooky-looking type—everyone that chose to take residence in there wound up dead within a few weeks.  The latest victim had been found essentially torn apart in his bed, lying in his own blood.  The officers that were dispatched to investigate observed two unusual details of this case, which they scribbled thoughts about on their legal pads as they wandered the house.  The first of these was that the man was lacking his heart—apparently the killer had torn it right from the victim’s chest.  The second was that two trails of blood leading to two different areas of the house spattered the floor beneath the man’s bed.  The officers discovered these places to be the basement and the attic, which was troublesome, since the doors to these rooms were locked and (strangely enough) made of a tough, thick metal (the officers were in disagreement about exactly what type of metal it was, although the general consensus was that it was titanium) .

Rather than waste the time and energy necessary to open such doors, the officers set ladders against the house and peered in through the windows of the attic.  They could see nothing of interest inside, in fact, it looked as though the contents of the small area had not been disturbed for years—the contents being a great multitude of childrens’ toys covered in a thick blanket of dust and cobwebs.  Satisfied that there was nothing there, the officers peered in through the small windows that peeked into the basement, and found even less there to speak of than the attic.  Puzzled, the officers left, frowning and scribbling in their legal pads.  A few days later it was ordered that the old house be demolished—it was obviously in a state of disrepair, and no one was really too keen on buying it, so the decision to destroy it wasn’t met with much dissent.  So the wrecking crews came and prepared to do away with the evil place, but just as equipment had been set up and the men were about to commence their operation, the sky darkened and thunder rumbled and it began to storm. The men said several extremely bad words, but before they could do much more than that, they each felt a painful jolt of electricity shock their bodies and they fell—many of them face first into the mud, others slumping in their vehicles.

The next day the police officers came again, and found all the men there, their bodies torn apart and their hearts ripped from their chests.  After that, the building was condemned and a sign was placed on the fence that had the words ‘KEEP OUT’ printed on it, the gate was locked and it was left alone.  If this had been any other town, they probably would have pushed the matter—tried to blow it up, or hire another crew, or something.  But the people of Vinton were quite used to supernatural oddities, and when they discovered one, they tended to back off.
 

So what exactly was in that house, anyway?  Well, nothing.  But there were several nasty fellows living beneath it.  Had the officers been a little more observant they would have noticed a door inside the basement.  Beyond the door was a set of stairs going down, and beyond that was where Riordan and his men kept their quarters.

"I wish Sikari hadn’t done that," Xin thought as he carried Rose up to the attic, where she stayed most of the time.  He stroked Rose’s hair nervously as he walked up the creaking wood steps. "My lightning was enough.  They would have woken up and run away and never bothered us again.  "And feeding their hearts to that pet of his…"

"Are you okay, Uncle Xin?" Rose asked, patting the top of Xin’s hair.

"Um?  Oh, yeah… you just shouldn’t be playing around outside of your room, you know it bothers your dad," Xin said gently, hugging her.

"I’m sorry… but I thot I heard someone yelling in that room a few days ago even tho Uncle Sikari said it was nothing and that I should go to bed before he had to come in there…" Rose said, clinging to Xin. "Uncle Sikari is kinna scary…"

"Yeah… he is," Xin said, kissing the top of Rose’s head as he eased open the enormous attic door.   Rose actually had a rather nice room, though there was a glamour spell placed on it so that anyone looking at it through the attic windows would see only ancient toys covered in filth.  The walls were painted lavender (which Xin rather liked since it reminded him of his friend Lani’s hair) and the room was littered with expensive dolls and children’s books.  Xin padded across the carpeted floor and set Rose on her twin white bed, kissing her cheek.  He turned on her lamp and drew down the shades of her round windows, and then he pulled up a chair and settled himself.

"Uncle Xin?" Rose asked, as the young man began tidying the bureau next to Rose’s bed.

"Hmm?" he said, looking up.

"I… I heard lots of yelling, too, yesterday.  Was that nothing?" she said, folding her hands in her lap.

"Oh… Rose…" Xin bit his lip. "Yes… yes, it was nothing.  It was probably just the wind." He said lamely, looking down.

"Okay," Rose said quietly, crawling beneath her covers.  Xin stroked her hair back.

"Your dad will be up in a minute to say goodnight, okay?"

"Mmm.. ‘kay… goodnight Uncle Xin…" she murmured, already forgetting the talk of screams in the night.

"Goodnight, Rose…" Xin said, walking out of the room and closing heavy door.  He walked back down the old stairs, and then he walked to the basement and through the door inside, descending another flight of old stairs.  He walked past Riordan’s room and told him Rose was waiting and goodnight.  Then he walked past Aegis’ room, where  he saw the blue-haired man examining his mirror.

"Are you alright, Aegis?" Xin asked, poking  his head through the door.

"I’m fine, Xin.  Goodnight." Aegis answered after a moment, not looking away from his mirror.  Xin nodded a little and went on his way.

Actually, Aegis was a long way from fine.  The face he saw in the mirror was not his own, but that which had plagued his mind since attacking those girls in the alley.  He opened the top drawer of the dresser beneath the mirror, pulling out a small, oval-shaped pendant.  Clutching it in his hand, he returned his gaze to the mirror and the girl’s face that smiled back at him from within it. She had creamy white skin and half-closed eyes that shone like an ocean being touched by the rays of the sun.  Ringlets of dark green hair framed the heart shaped face, and a necklace of emeralds encircled her slender neck.  Crystal earrings dangled from her ears, glinting in time with the green jewel embedded into her forehead.  He closed his eyes, taking a picture from his memory of an exact duplicate of that face, though this picture lacked the embedded jewel.  But those were the same warm eyes, the same green ringlets, the same cream skin.  Aegis held the pendant up by its chain, watching it swing back and forth in front of him.

"Priestess… I’ve finally found you."

"Eenie meenie miny mo…" Sikari muttered as he pondered which girl to murder first.  "Roan?  No, best save her for last…Kaitlyn?  Heh… too easy… mm… Lani?  Even easier than Kaitlyn…Kiera, Jada, Azura… so many people to kill and so little time…"

Xin pressed against the wall next to Sikari’s door, listening as his comrade tried to select a victim.  Sikari paused and looked up, seeing a stray wisp of Xin’s long pale green hair.  Smirking, Sikari stood up and walked closer to his door, speaking loudly.

"Actually, I think it would be best to dispose of Lani first.  Always good to start with the weakest link."

"No!" Xin whispered loudly, clapping his hands over his mouth when he realized his mistake.

"Yesss…" Sikari hissed, stepping out of  his room and grabbing Xin by the wrist. "Eavesdropping, really, Xin.   You disappoint me so."

"You can’t… please, can’t you just leave Lani alone?  I mean, she’s like me, she’d… she’d never tell anyone about us." Xin squeaked, trembling.

"So you mean she’s a simpering coward?" Sikari jeered, pushing Xin against the wall violently. "You really need to stop having these moral dilemmas, Xin.  There’s nothing to think about here.  They saw us.  They can’t be allowed to live.  I’m going to kill them, and your little friend is going to be the first to go.  End of story." He paused and then put more pressure on the smaller man’s body, holding his head rigid and causing Xin to wince in pain. "And if I catch you loitering out here again…" he hissed, digging his nails into Xin’s scalp.  Xin whimpered.

"I.. I understand," he managed, his voice thick with pain.  Sikari let him go, smirking.

"There’s a good boy."

Xin sat on the edge of his bed, nibbling on a strand of his hair.  He considered going directly to Lani and telling her everything, but he knew that wouldn’t do much except make them both targets.

"I can’t just let her die," he said aloud.  He paced around the floor of his room for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do.  Perhaps he could somehow warn Lani’s friends?  He tried to recall who else was there that night, finding the first image to enter his mind to be that of a tall girl with green hair.

"Kaitlyn," he said, standing up and casting his glamour spell so as to make himself appear younger. "I’ll talk to her."

It didn’t take long for Xin to realize that he had no idea as to where Kaitlyn lived, so he decided to follow her home the next day after school.

"Hey, Nikolas," Kaitlyn said, stopping and facing the bush he was trying to hide behind. "You can come out from behind that bush now."

Xin face-faulted and stumbled out of the foliage, his hair falling over his eyes.

"Uhm, hi, Kaitlyn." he said awkwardly, picking at his hands.

"Is there any particular reason you’re following me home?" Kaitlyn asked, sounding slightly amused.

"Er, well, yes, you see, I.. I need to talk to you about something, but… but not here." Xin said nervously, expecting Sikari  or Aegis to turn the corner at any minute.

"Where are your friends?  Egan and.. who’s the other one?" Kaitlyn started walking again.

"Damarius," Xin said quickly, continuing to steal nervous glances as he followed behind Kaitlyn.  "They’re, um… I don’t know where they are."

"O-kay," Kaitlyn said, stopping in front of her apartment building. "Nikolas, you can relax, you know."

"R-relax?" he stammered as she held the door open for him.  "I’m p-perfectly re-relaxed."

"Then why are you stuttering?" she said gently, stepping into the elevator.

"I…" Xin faltered, trying to think of an excuse.

"Well, we’re here, so you can tell me in a minute, can’t you?"

The elevators opened with a  high chiming sound and they entered the carpeted hallway.

"This is a pretty nice b-building," Xin said, looking around at the freshly painted walls and the ornate light fixtures adorning them.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn said, digging in her pocket for her keys.  "If it weren’t for what my parents left me I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it."

"Oh.. are your parents dead?" Xin asked, frowning when  he received a nod in response. "I’m sorry…"

"S’okay.  I’m still here, right?"  she said cheerfully, though Xin could see the hurt in her eyes.  Kaitlyn noticed his sympathetic gaze and she cleared her throat, opening the door.

"But anyway… you had something to talk to me about?"

"Oh… y-yes, I—"

"Hey, Kaitlyn." Xin stopped, blushing a little when the rich voice reached his ears.  A tall man with dark eyes and long black hair appeared in Kaitlyn’s doorway, holding a rose and smiling broadly.

"I was guarding your apartment for you… you left it unlocked." He said, bowing and proffering the rose to Kaitlyn.  She blushed, taking it from his outstretched fingers.

"Etienne…"

"Um… m-maybe I sh-should come back some other time," Xin murmured, stepping back.  The tall man glanced at Xin, obviously just  now noticing that he was even there.

"Who’s that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, he’s, um, a guy I know at school.  His name’s Nikolas." Kaitlyn said. "He wanted to talk to me about something… hey, wait!" Kaitlyn called after Xin’s retreating form.  Xin looked back, his face bright red and his fingers trembling.  Kaitlyn took him by the arm, gently pulling him into her apartment.

"Come on, Nikolas, calm down.  Do you want Etienne to leave?"

Xin blushed deeper as he was pulled by Etienne’s handsome face.

"Oh, no." he said, with possibly a little too much emphasis. "He.. he can hear this too."

"Alright, then," Kaitlyn pulled out a chair for him and then sat down herself, placing her chin in her hands and facing him. "So what’s up?"

"I.. It’s just, I’m a little worried about Lani." Xin began.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Kaitlyn asked, suddenly sitting up.

"No.. it’s.. well, you know the other day when you guys were following us… Egan, he… he was really mad about that and he tends to sort of lose control sometimes and he usually takes out his anger on whatever weak person he can find and—" Xin faltered again for a moment, his fingers clenching. "…and he thinks Lani is weak, so…"

"So?" Kaitlyn said.

"So… I… I just thought you should know and all, since you’re her friend… right?" Xin said, biting his lower lip and wondering if he had gone to the wrong person.

"I only just met her, but I’d say I’m her friend." Kaitlyn pushed her chair back and moved to where Xin sat.

"Don’t worry," Kaitlyn said, patting his shoulder. "I’ll keep an eye on her, okay?"

"O.. okay," Xin said, also pushing his chair back, reddening when he realized that Etienne had been looking at him intensely during the whole of the conversation.

"Th-thanks for listening to me," Xin said meekly, starting to patter down the hall.

"Anytime!" Kaitlyn called after him brightly, closing the door behind her.

"Well.  That was decidedly odd." Kaitlyn said.

"Yes… there’s something strange about that boy," Etienne said slowly, resting his head on his hands and closing his eyes.

"Nikolas?  Yeah, he is kind of a nervous kid…" Kaitlyn said, laughing a little.

"That’s not what I meant," Etienne’s voice was hard.  Kaitlyn blinked.

"Kaitlyn, he’s wearing a glamour spell.  He’s hiding something."

"Do you think he’s the enemy?" Kaitlyn asked, slightly taken aback by Etienne’s cold tone.

"I don’t know.  But I do think we should take his warning seriously."

"So what, do I get everyone to stake out Lani’s house?" Kaitlyn asked, face-faulting as she pictured herself and the others crouching in the bushes outside Lani’s house.

"Um, I suppose so," Etienne said, relaxing a little. "I wonder why your fish friend doesn’t have anything to say about this…"

Kaitlyn glanced over at Umi’s bowl, sighing when she saw the small silver fish floating, motionless, in the clear water.

"He’s sleeping," she muttered.  Etienne rolled his eyes.

"Some guardian," he said gruffly, looking as though he very much wished he could flush Umi down the nearest toilet.

"Well… it seems like he’s new at this, so…" Kaitlyn said lamely, avoiding Etienne’s gaze.  Etienne pushed his chair back and stood up, shrugging a little.

"Whatever…I’m going to go now, okay?  See you later."

Kaitlyn blinked.

"Oh… all right… Goodbye…"

"Wonder what’s eating him all of a sudden," Umi said a few minutes later.

"Umi!"  Kaitlyn got up, carrying his bowl into her  bowl and setting him down, rapping on the glass of his bowl.  "Of course you wake up right when the discussion is over!"

Umi jerked back. "Jesus!  What the hell is your problem?  What happened?!"

"The enemy is going after Lani tonight!" Kaitlyn stopped suddenly as she realized what those words meant. "Oh my God, that means I’m going to have to battle!" she bit her lip and sat down on her bed.

"I can’t do this," she said, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Uh, you’re not going to have a nervous breakdown, are you?" Umi said nervously.

"Umi, I’ve never been in a physical fight my whole life!  What if I die or something?" Kaitlyn fretted.

"Relax, man,  if you die you’ll just be resurrected at the end of the episode."

"Oh."  Kaitlyn paused for a minute and then panicked again. "But what if I hurt someone?"

"Well, that’s kind of the point…" Umi struggled to fight off his exasperation.

"But.. but I can’t do that!  I can’t just hurt living creatures!  I can’t!" Kaitlyn buried her face in her hands, her fingers shaking slightly.

"Kaitlyn…" Umi spoke as if he were addressing an errant child.

"Umi, I’m afraid.  Can’t you understand that?  I mean, around here in reality, we don’t have magic powers, we can’t transform, and we sure don’t fight villains from other universes or dimensions or wherever the hell these people are from."

"Kaitlyn, this is your reality now.  This is what you have to do.  This is your destiny." Umi said forcefully.

"I can’t even believe this conversation.  You’re a telepathic fish, for God’s sake.  It doesn’t get much more absurd than that, Umi!" Kaitlyn said, ignoring his previous remark. "You know, maybe if I just go to sleep right now I’ll wake up and find out this was all just a dream caused by some stale cheese I ate or something…"

"I think you already tried that at the beginning." Umi said.  Kaitlyn sighed, curling up on her comforter.

"I can’t deal with this."

"Can’t deal with what?" Etienne stood in the doorway of her bedroom, holding a set of keys. "Forgot these."

Kaitlyn sat up, drawing her knees to her chest.

"Nothing…"

"Mrm…" Etienne dropped the keys in his pocket and settled on the edge of Kaitlyn’s bed, drawing her into his arms. "I’m sorry I was curt with you, Kaitlyn… it’s just…" he paused, looking up and noticing Umi swimming around quietly in his bowl. "I can’t stand how you put up with the way he treats you."  Etienne thought, hugging Kaitlyn close.

"Just what?" she asked.

"Nothing… I’m sorry.  Forgive me?" he smiled a little, stroking her hair back.

"It’s alright… I’m just a little nervous about having to fight…" Kaitlyn said, pressing against him.  Etienne stroked her hair gently.

"You’ll be fine… and you’ll have Jada and Kiera there with you."

"You’re right," she said, hugging him. "I’m probably just worrying for nothing."

"Have you called them yet?  It’s almost six… probably a good idea to get them together now." Etienne said, looking over Kaitlyn’s head at the clock  next to Umi’s bowl.

"Eheh.. that’d probably be a good idea, wouldn’t it." Kaitlyn said.  She pulled away from Etienne gently and plucked the receiver from her phone.  Etienne stood.

"I’ll head on out now." He said, more to himself than anyone else, as Kaitlyn was already talking to Jada.  He smiled a little as she raised a hand, waving at him with a sign of good-natured dismissal.

"Deep healing breaths, Kaitlyn.  Deep healing breaths." Umi said, unable to mask the sarcasm in his tone.

Kaitlyn made a face and was about to reply when she noticed a set of keys next to Umi’s bowl that looked very much like the ones Etienne had forgotten.  She picked them up, and after careful examination discovered that they were her keys.  She blinked.

"Why would Etienne have a copy of my keys?"

"Um, possibly because he’s obsessed?" Umi offered.  The doorbell rang and Kaitlyn shook her head, dropping the pen into her pocket.

"I don’t have time for this," she said, opening the door.

"Have time for what?" Jada asked, peering over Kaitlyn’s shoulder. "Is the fish acting up?"

"No," Kaitlyn said curtly. "I’ll tell you about it later.  Let’s go."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.  Lani stood at her window, smiling as she looked up at the black bellied clouds.  Her parents were out for dinner and a movie, and her brother was out with friends. She’d been allowed to order pizza for dinner, and now it was about to storm.  A perfect Sunday evening.  Lani trotted into her rec room and flopped down on her soft couch, reaching over and turning on her Playstation.  She relaxed as she stretched out on the blue and white striped cushions, clutching the controller in her hands as she let her mind wander into a dangerous world that only she had the power to save.  Lani lost herself in her fantasy, her mind completely focused on the images running across the screen in front of her, her reflexes devoted to pushing the buttons.  But she wasn’t just pushing a button—she was swinging a sword, defeating a monster, casting a spell.

At least, that’s what it was like for her.

Outside, the sky darkened and another peal of thunder rocked the sky.  Rain began to fall, slowly at first and then in sheets, pounding against Lani’s roof.  Lightning flashed, its reflection glimmering in the pupils of Lani’s eyes.  She didn’t notice.  The people crouching in the bushes outside her window did.

"Why the hell are we doing this again?" Jada grumbled, getting up and standing beneath a tree.

"Because we’ve got to protect Lani," Kaitlyn said insistently.

"Kaitlyn… did it ever occur to you for the briefest moment that perhaps Nikolas was fabricating his warning?" Kiera asked, joining Jada under the tree.

"Well.. I.. I mean…Nikolas wouldn’t… you don’t think he lied to me?" Kaitlyn nibbled her lip.  She stood there in the warm rain, lightning cracking around her. She looked down at the soaked shirt which clung to her pale skin, feeling naïve and slightly stupid.

"Clearly you didn’t…" Kiera sighed.

"Man, this sucks…" Jada said, looking up at the stormy purple sky. "You guys can stay here and get hit by lightning if you want, but I’m going home."

"Ah, wait!" Kaitlyn grabbed Jada’s arm. "Just wait a little while longer, please?  If nothing happens in the next twenty minutes, you can go, okay?"

Jada hesitated.

"Please?" Kaitlyn’s voice was strained.

"Oh, fine," Jada sighed. "Damn conscience… always getting the way of things."

Xin lay in his bed, feeling secure in the notion that Kaitlyn would do just as she said and Lani would be safe and Sikari would possibly even be captured.  He knew the latter was probably wishful thinking, seeing as how Sikari would never let himself be taken by anybody, but he could still entertain the thought.  He considered it for a few moments more before his mind drifted to the image of Etienne, and he felt his cheeks grow warm as he wondered why the beautiful man had scrutinized him so intensely.

"Hee, maybe he likes me," Xin said to himself, giggling a little.  He knew this was another impossible notion; besides, Etienne belonged to Kaitlyn, he was sure of it.  Xin played with a lock of his pale green hair, daydreaming about Etienne’s black tresses and soft dark eyes.  He was so enthralled that he failed to notice Sikari’s footsteps walking past his door.

Sikari rolled his eyes as he overhead Xin muttering and giggling to himself.

"Worthless," he hissed through clenched teeth, stalking upstairs and out into the rain.  Sikari considered re-entering the house and forcing Xin to make the storm stop, but then decided that it added good dramatic effect and continued on to Lani’s house.  It was going to be a fun night.

Lani’s house trembled as another roll of thunderclaps beat against its brick walls.  Rain dripped from the window panes, spattering onto the translucent glass.  Lani continued to take very little notice.  The controller was clutched in a vise-like grip in her hands, and her knuckles whitened whenever there was a particularly tense moment.  Suddenly, a brilliant crack of lightning illuminated Lani’s dark house.  The images in front of her shuddered and then disappeared.  Lani cried out, the controller falling from her hands and landing with a soft thump on the carpet.  She looked around, realizing that now the entire house was without electricity.

"Damn it," Lani grumbled. "I just lost all my work." She began to search for a flashlight. "And I thought this was going to be a good night, too."

She was rummaging around the pantry for a flashlight and muttering in this way when the phone rang.  Lani tumbled out of the pantry and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" she coughed, clutching the flashlight in her other hand.

"Do you like scary movies?" a throaty, guttural voice spoke.

"Roan!" Lani growled. "That is SO not funny.  Where the hell are you?"

"Look out the window."

Lani sighed.

"Roan, I’m really not in the mood for this…" she said, walking to her kitchen window and peering out into the darkness.

"There’s nothing there, Roan." She said, standing there, clutching the phone and flashlight.

"Isn’t there?" the same raspy voice spoke again, but Lani trembled slightly, feeling warm breath on her neck.  A strong arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back roughly.  She screamed, dropping the phone and squirming to free herself. Her assailant pushed her violently to the floor, causing her to drop the flashlight as well.  She scrabbled for it, but found her arms pinned.  Terror surged through her body as she continued to thrash about, crying.

"Heh, feisty," her attacker leaned over her, grinning widely.  She looked up into the wild face, barely able to discern the features under the cover of darkness.

"Aww, you don’t remember me?" he dug his knee in her chest and she gasped, her eyes widening with pain.  He snatched the flashlight, turning it on and holding it beneath his face.

"Heeheeehee…"

"S…Sikari," she breathed in sudden recognition.  He set the flashlight down, extinguishing its light.  Lani heard the click of a switchblade being opened.

"So you do remember me.  Lovely," he said, running the knife’s tip along her arm.  She winced, tears springing to her eyes.

"Unh… what are you doing?" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the thin line of blood forming on her skin.

"Well, eventually, I’m going to kill you…but we don’t have to get to that right away… I mean, we’ve got all night, haven't we?"

"M…my parents will be home…a-any minute!" Lani cried out as Sikari jammed the blade into her upper arm.

"Don’t lie to me, Lani.  I saw your parents’ car as I was coming over here… they’re not driving this way."

Pain screamed through Lani’s arm and she cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks.  Hot red blood spilled from the wound, forming a small puddle on the floor.

"Oh, what a lovely, shrill cry of pain you have," Sikari said dreamily, raising his now red knife. "I want to hear it again."

"Stop right there, evildoer!" a tall girl with long white hair stepped into the room, flicking on the light switch.  Sikari covered his eyes, dropping the switchblade and loosening his grip on Lani.

"Damn you!" he hissed, fumbling for the knife.

"I’m Sailor Lumina, the beautiful sailor-suited soldier of light, and in the name of Lumina…" she made a V with her fingers, "You’re punished!" Lumina paused, and then leaned out of the room, whispering to some unknown party. "Psst!  Did I do that right?"

Lani groaned.

"Losers," Sikari said, standing up. "Come on out, all of you.  I’ll turn this house into a morgue with your bloody corpses…"

"Uh, I don’t think my parents would appreciate that.." Lani said weakly, struggling to her feet.  Two other girls, similarly attired in short skirted sailor suits, appeared behind Lumina.

"I am Sailor Shade…"  one of them, a girl with black hair pulled back into a long ponytail, spoke softly, bowing her head.

"And I’m their leader, Sailor Mana," the tallest girl said brightly, brushing a ringlet of green hair from her heart-shaped face.

"Don’t you people know how to knock?" Sikari said, grabbing Lani’s good arm and preventing her from fetching a compress for her wound.

"Let go!" she struggled, fresh jolts of pain shooting up her arm with every movement.

"Let’s see… no." Sikari said, pulling her against him.  Sailor Mana gaped at the bleeding gash, paling slightly.

"Did… did you do that to her?" she asked, her voice small.

"Oh, yess… and I’m going to do a lot worse to the rest of you!" he hissed, fire sparking at his fingertips.  Lumina glared, raising her hands.

"Lumina…"

"No!" Lani cried.  "You guys… you guys can’t fight here!  You’ll destroy my house!"

"Then let’s take it outside, as they say," Sikari growled, dragging Lani out the front door and tossing her onto the slick, wet grass.  Lani stood up, fighting back more tears.

"Don’t worry." Sikari kicked Lani in the side, causing her to fall to knees.  Her body shook with pain as she sat there, tears rolling down her face; her glasses were smudged with rainwater and blood. "I haven’t forgotten you…I just need to take care of these annoyances first.  You understand, I’m sure."

"This was supposed to be a good night…" she whispered to herself, watching Sikari turn to the three girls.  Her vision blurred as more rain coated her glasses, and she found herself feeling dizzy from blood loss.

"This is all so surreal," she continued whispering as Sikari tossed a fire spell at the one called Lumina, who dodged, sending beams of shimmering light back at him. "It’s like… I’m still playing a video game.." she murmured, feeling faint.  Her knees buckled, and she fell forward, blinking when she touched something made of metal.  Grasping it in her wet, bloodstained fingers, she held it up, taking her glasses off.  She found it to be an exquisitely crafted purple pen with a lavender thunderbolt inscribed on it.  Lani drew in a sharp intake of breath as the metal began to heat in her hands.  A phrase that she had never thought of before sprang to her lips, and she called it out, thrusting the pen into the air.

"Sylphid Storm Power!"

"Huh?!" Sailor Mana stopped, watching as Lani transformed into a Sailor Senshi.

"Oh my God…" Lani blinked, looking down at her purple-themed uniform. "I’m..a..Sailor..person…" she said, falling back to her knees.

"Damn," Sikari said. "I suppose now I really do need to finish you, don’t I?"

"Sylphid!" Sailor Mana cried. "We’ve got to heal her…"

"Sylphid?  Is that my name…?  Oh, yeah… it is.. how lovely.." Sylphid muttered, her eyelids closing.  Sikari grinned, pulling her up and raising the knife.

"Buh-bye…"

"NO!" Sailor Mana yelled. "Stop it!"

Lumina and Shade exchanged glances, wondering what Sailor Mana was intending upon doing.

"You can’t do this!  You can’t treat people this way!  I won’t let you!" she cried out, tears forming in her eyes. "I won’t!" Her blood boiled in her veins, her rain soaked fingers trembled as she stood, the storm raging around her.  She saw the blood drip from the edge of Sikari’s knife, the look of terror in Sylphid’s eyes, and the weary expressions of exhaustion on her friends’ faces.  She felt something awaken inside her, and she raised her arms high as a gnarled wooden staff formed in her hands.

"Great tree of life from which this staff was wrought, lend me your power!" she closed her eyes, lowering the staff and calling out,

"Radical Healing!"

An iridescent beam burst forth from the emeralds embedded on the staff, enveloping Sylphid and healing her wounds.  Shocked, Sikari dropped Lani and stepped back, clutching his knife tightly.

"Now, Sylphid!" Sailor Mana shouted, her voice piercing the stormy darkness with a strange clarity.

"Sylphid Air Blast!" the lavender-haired girl yelled, as golden shurikens of wind surrounded Sikari, screaming and tearing at his body.  Sikari fell, his clothes and skin shredded, his blood seeping into the grass beneath him.

"W-wow," Sylphid said, looking at her hands. "D…did I just do that?" she knelt down, picking up her glasses and returning them to her face.  Lani swallowed thickly when she saw Sikari stand up, glaring at the four.  He must have realized that he was decidedly outnumbered, however, because he growled something typically villainous about them paying for this before running off into the rainy night.

"Well, Lani," Jada said, patting her on the back, "welcome to the ranks."

"The ranks?  Wh.. What do you mean?" Lani asked nervously.  The four were back inside Lani’s house, drying off inside the kitchen.

"You’re one of us now," Kaitlyn said brightly, hugging her.  Lani pulled away.

"Um, you know what, thanks, but no thanks."

Kiera raised an eyebrow.

"This is not a choice situation, Lani…"

"Look, I can’t, okay?  I’m not good at fighting and the mere thought of another battle makes me want to curl up in the fetal position on the floor." She closed her eyes. "This is like some sick, freaky video game, except there’s no restart button…and I don’t want to be a part of it." She shuddered violently at the remembrance of the knife’s steel blade biting into her flesh.

"I hate to break it to you, Lani, but it really doesn’t matter what you want," Jada said, looking the smaller girl in the eyes. "Fate, for some obscure reason, has thrown you into this and you’re a part of it, whether you like it or not."

"Well, I don’t like it.." Lani muttered bitterly. "I don’t like it at all."

Kaitlyn hugged her again.

"Sleep on it, okay?  We’ll talk more in the morning." she said gently.  Lani bit her lip, and then nodded.  She sat there in the kitchen for a few minutes, watching as the three girls filed out of the room and left the house.  Upon hearing her front door shut, she dragged herself upstairs and crawled into her bed, pressing her face into her pillow.  The night’s events played back in her mind, and as she thought of what was in the near future, she clung to her pillow and started to cry.

It was morning when Xin heard Sikari’s footsteps again.  His breath caught in his throat.

"Lani…" he whispered, wondering frantically if Sikari had succeeded.

"Come on, Xin, time for our act," Sikari jeered, already wearing his glamour.

"Oh… oh, right," Xin said faintly, casting the simple spell.  He fought back tears as he trailed behind Aegis and Sikari, hunching over and wrapping his arms around his thin body. "You’re such a selfish coward." He thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut.  He should have done more.  He should have been there.

They entered the high school and parted ways, heading off to their separate homerooms.  Xin slumped in his chair, laying his head in his arms when he saw that the desk in front of him, Lani’s desk, was empty.  His body shuddered as he cried, his face hidden by his long green hair.

"Hey, Nik, what’s wrong?"

Xin sucked up his tears, feeling his heart stop for a moment as the voice registered in his mind.  Raising his head slowly, he jumped from his seat when he saw Lani standing before him.

"Lani!" he cried, wrapping his arms around her and clinging to her, as though he were a lost child that has just found its mother.

"Umm, it’s nice to see you, too, Nikolas," Lani said, blushing a little.  Xin rubbed his eyes, smiling at her broadly and sitting back down. Lani settled in her desk as well, still blushing.  Xin leaned back.  He’d been given another chance.

"From now on, Lani… I swear I’ll protect you."