I followed behind Finn like a ghost, unable to speak or move anything except for my feet as he led me around the guardian fortress. Everything inside me was aching, and I was on the verge of breaking into tears.

Secta might kill me. Correction, he was most definitely going to kill me.

I shuddered, chills running up my spine. I'd been abducted and placed inside this prison so he could watch me in his palace on the hill; I was his test subject that he'd experiment with, recording my Meraki's development before deciding my death date.

That is, if I was the Prodigy.

Now I prayed more than ever to any being who could hear me that I wasn't the Prodigy from this prophecy. Maybe it was all a myth anyways. It sounded like a stupid story to begin with, and it might be fake.

I could just have some powers, and the whole balance of the world wouldn't be resting on my shoulders. I could be just like Secta, an above average Meraki user. That wouldn't be terrible because they'd let me go home and life would be back to normal. Maybe with my powers I could help my city and the people? That is, if they didn't think I was a monster.

But, could I really be so lucky? This prophecy was taken like law by the guardians; Cybele appeared to have dedicated her life to solving it and from her radiant joy, she believed in the Prodigy as much as any normal person believed in oxygen. Noxia did exist, and so did Secta; they were two main parts of the puzzle, so why wouldn't the last piece be spinning around in the universe too?

It just can't be me. I'm an ordinary girl from Viridis under Emperor Tron. I live in a little house on a dusty street in the bad sectors of a run-down city. I am like most girls in this universe, so why would I be the one out of all the souls to be chosen to be some potential Angel of Salvation or Death? It just couldn't be true! This wasn't real.

But, what if it was? I swallowed, my mouth dry.

I didn't want to become evil, but it seemed to Secta that I would have no other choice. Maybe it would be better if he just killed me now and got it all over with so I didn't have to sit and agonize over what I might become. Maybe I could see my family and get some peace while watching over Matilda from above?

I felt my eyes water as I rubbed them; I didn't want to die. The thought of leaving Matilda horrified me. No one would be there to protect her or make sure she was ok. Malaki counted as one person, but he wouldn't be in her life forever. At the rate it was going, he'd get irritated and leave her or she'd kick him out entirely. I couldn't leave her on my own free will.

I want to live a happy life, make good friends, have a good time, meet someone, fall in love, have kids, and grow old. I guess now I realize that it is never a guarantee.

I knew they couldn't just kill me either, because what if I did end up being the Prodigy for good? The chances still weighed greatly in that direction too, and the risk of killing me too early and losing the world's salvation was a choice Secta couldn't make. They needed me if I was good, and it would save them many years of fighting darkness if I could end it altogether.

Secta hadn't read my mind today as he noticed how flustered I was and called Finn to take me away for some rest. He should have realized how big of a deal this was, and he practically told me he would kill me if I turned out to be an entity of darkness. A great way to form trust and friendships really.

I shivered at the thought as Finn walked ahead of me, trying to point things out and get me interested. His kind efforts were hopeless and I didn't have the heart to tell him that nothing he could say or do would make me any happier.

"Let's go in this way." He pointed around the side of a massive stone building. I nodded without another word before slipping into the doorway after him.

Inside was a small training room with a little crowd of Guardians who all turned to look at me.

"Finn, who's the fresh meat?" a dark haired man said with a smile. I picked out Raphael behind him, leaned against the wall as if the world were to explode and he would hardly care.

"She's our special project, eh?" A woman with long dark curls like Matilda's took a step closer to us, raising an eyebrow at Finn.

"This is Kate." He glanced down to me. "That's Charlie and Anastasia."

"Annie!" She corrected Finn with a playful eyeroll.

"Annie will train you along with Raph and I in any discipline you want."

"I don't think I can do it." I said, my entire body feeling heavy as the only emotion I could register was sullenness.

"Ha! If Finn's training you, it shouldn't be too hard." Charlie laughed, smacking his leg as Annie gave him a firm punch in the arm.

"That's not the way I remember it when he had you crying for your mommy in the training field."

As they bickered, Finn glanced down to me with a soft smile. "You can do whatever you set your mind to. I know you can." He whispered under his breath before looking to his friends. "Raph, you know Kate."

"Unfortunately."

Annie elbowed him in the side with a sneer before pointing to me. "Be nice to the girl, you bastard. She's new! They all start out like this."

Raphael glared at her as she wrinkled her nose, Charlie racking his head to snap something in reply. "Remember when Raphael was new and he..."

"You weren't even born when I got here!" He snapped.

"Well, someone might have told me the stories..."

"Finnigan. Shay." Raphael snarled at his friend and I covered my mouth with my hand.

Finn rolled his eyes before he touched my wrist. "Want to go back to your room?"

I nodded, feeling my eyes begin to water as the image of this morning swirled through my head. Finn frowned before saying our goodbyes to the Guardian instructors and lead us out of the room. Raphael called out one last threat as we slipped out the door, and Finn ignored him without a single worry.

We walked in silence up the gravel pathway towards Secta's house, each step making me feel nauseous. It was his house, and I'd go back to my little room. My cell. He'd be watching me, analyzing my every move...

I stopped in my path, causing Finn to turn around and look at me. I avoided his gaze, staring down at my feet. "I don't want to go in there."

"Then you don't have to." He said, stepping closer to me. "We can go wherever you want. We can sit in the dining hall, the library, out on the field or in the woods. You can decide and I'll follow."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I sniffed. "I don't know where to go, and aren't you supposed to be restricting me from going all these places?" I wiped my eyes, taking a shaky breath.

Finn offered me a soft smile. "Then I'll take you to my spot, and everyone sometimes needs to cool down. I'm not here to order you around, and frankly you don't scare me either. I actually don't see any reason for anyone to be concerned about you at all."

I looked up at him, a warmness filling me as I gazed into his blue eyes. "You aren't scared of me?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I've fought bad people all my life, and I know the symptoms of darkness, Kate. I don't see any in you." A warm silence lingered between us before he shook his head and started to walk towards the sparring field along the dirt path as I hurried to keep up with him.

"Secta is afraid of me." I noted, the urge to talk to someone eating me away. I didn't have anyone close to talk to here, but Finn appeared to be the best candidate. He seemed very kind and a good guy in general, particularly even better since he wasn't terrified of me and actually seemed to like being around me. He didn't appear uncomfortable to be around me like the other guardians. I was just a normal girl, and finally, someone was treating me like it.

"He's not afraid of you," Finn replied over his shoulder, "he's terrified of actually finding the Prodigy because of the darkness that could come with it. He's scared of failing us the most, his Guardians that he's raised like children, and Cybele."

"She's his daughter." I replied softly.

Finn nodded. "She is, and he's terrified of what will happen to her if he isn't strong enough to hold the Prodigy back. That's what scares him: not being able to stop the worst from happening. It's not you, and he isn't the best with trust in general. He's had a hard life that has made trust and hope seem as solid as smoke. He doesn't want to get too excited because he's done that to himself many times before. It's sad, but he's really a good man underneath if you get to know him well."

I glanced up at Finn, the sun catching the blonde streaks in his hair to make them shine like gold. "He likes you."

He smiled with a soft chuckle. "I worked more than 60 years for that trust, and I had a head start in the beginning before I became a guardian."

"A head start?"

Finn bit his lip glancing at me. He looked conflicted on whether to answer my question or not, making my face flush.

"You don't have to explain it to me if you don't want to. Cybele told me some of these questions were sensitive, and I'm not even sure what I'm asking." I shook my head, shutting myself up.

Finn stopped in his tracks, making me pause as well as he stared at me. "I'll tell you. It doesn't bother me; it's the past. I met Cybele in my first life before she knew she was Secta's daughter. We didn't know each other long but we were friends in a sense. My head start was the fact that I saved her life once, and I died trying to protect her from..." he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before looking to me again, "That's how I earned my wings, and Secta has grown to trust me like a son from that beginning. If I could risk my life for her, I'd do just the same for other innocent people. That's what a Guardian is."

"When she wasn't Secta's daughter? You died for Cybele?" I breathed, watching him. Finn offered me a lopsided smile.

"Your first question is a very long story, and your second: I wasn't wise, but it felt right so I did it anyways."

I nodded as we began to walk again. "I understand... in a way. I'll save that long story for another day." Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I watched Finn scan the field, studying the edge of the tree line. "Matilda always kept me on my toes, and I've put myself in a lot of stupid situations for her sake. I didn't... die, but they weren't good either."

"Like that Jack Warren?" Finn said with a dangerous, lethal tone. It made me smile that he hated him too.

"Exactly. They're together but he's never been good to her. She just won't wake up and realize it. She's been a drunk ever since my parents never came home from the war and I've had to keep tabs on her. I made a lot of friends on the streets who'd update me if they saw her and Warren around. Usually they'd be at the pub getting drunk, and I'd lose my temper when I'd catch him push her around or when I'd notice new bruises on her wrists when she'd come home completely out of her senses. He made her walk home alone one night and I about lost my mind at how careless he was with her safety."

I pulled up the sleeve from the long black shirt I'd been given, tracing an old scar that ran along my upper arm. Finn watched me, listening with a calm attentiveness that I hadn't been gifted with in a long time.

"The dumbest thing I ever did. Jack hit my sister and I went after him seeing red. I don't remember much of what happened, but they told me he slit me with his knife and that he accidentally threw me out a window. Ground level so not too bad."

"How do you accidentally throw someone out a window?" Finn shook his head and I could see his anger brewing. We'd wandered into the forrest where a thick tree with long, sweeping branches nearly dusted the ground. Finn took a seat on the branch and I sat beside him.

"That's what he claimed. I was an idiot to try and challenge him, and we've been fighting like that ever since. We aren't really equal matches despite how much I try to hide it."

Finn bit his lip. "I'd have killed him." He looked down to me. "It appears we both get ourselves into some bad situations."

I offered a smile. "I mean, what was I thinking when I went to attack you with only a stick? Very, very stupid!"

He laughed, a real and warm kind of laugh that made me smile. His energy was infectious and I could stop myself from grinning wide from ear to ear. "You were brave, and you wanted to defend your sister. I commend you. Most of these Guardians I train hardly have the guts to challenge me even when I order them to."

"You're that good?"

"I told you I've worked very hard to build my reputation." He joked, offering me a wink. "They all would think they could overpower me if I told them a villager nearly knocked me unconscious with a pool stick."

"I hit you in the back, not the head." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"You were ready for the death blow. I'm no fool." Finn chuckled. "You'll find someone here to balance you out when it comes to those risky choices you make. Raphael is the one who keeps me from making less than practical decisions, and Cybele might just be that Guardian for you. She really seems to like you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Maybe she'll stop me the next time I get a little competitive playing pool." I nodded with a smile, leaning my head against the trunk of the tree as I looked at Finn. After a few moments of peaceful silence, I swallowed and opened my mouth. "Thank you."

"For what?" He tilted his head with a smirk.

"For being a friend. I haven't known you long, but you've really made such an effort to get to know me and try to make this whole situation better." I smiled. "You and Cybele are my only friends here, and I appreciate both of you more than you know."

Finn nodded, that lopsided smile only making me feel even better. "Of course. I told you that I'd prove myself to you, Kate, and that if you needed me, I'd be here for you. I don't take promises lightly."

My heart warmed as I stared at Finn. But the thought still nagged at me inside my head, making my smile fall as I stared at the ground. "You really think I'm not evil deep down? Maybe I'm not even the Prodigy at all?"

Finn stood up, standing in front of me as I looked up into his eyes. "You're not a bad person, and yes, you might not even be the Prodigy. Even if you are, I can sense not a single reason for you to become dark."

"No one knows my trigger, Finn. I could be acting out of fear."

He only smiled, looking down at me with his blue, kind eyes. "From what you've told me, I can tell fear isn't even in the question. People don't defend their family and friends out of fear, Kate. You wouldn't have tried to clobber me if you were terrified."

"But I never used it for Matilda." I bit my lip. "I used it only ever for me."