I know things have gotten out of hand when George walks in, followed by Midnight. "What is that guy doing here?" I demand. "He and his friends nearly killed Destiny."

"He's joining us. We have no choice, so get over it," Midnight answers.

"This boy harmed Destiny. Do you think it wise to allow him to stay with your group?" Flare asked. "He could very well try again."

George frowns. "Guys, I have no idea what you're talking about. Last time I remember seeing you, the two of you had beat up a couple of guys I don't know and you," he points at me as he says this, "were busy holding me up against a wall and threatening me."

"So you conveniently forgot why I was threatening you?" I demand.

"Raiden, take it easy," Destiny protests. "He says he forgot. Anyway, he doesn't look like he remembers, does he?"

"People lie, Destiny," Hailey points out.

"Why would he lie?" Destiny frowns at George, as if the idea that he could possibly be lying was incomprehensible to her.

"Because Raiden and Flare just might kill him," Ayame suggests.

"Either way, it doesn't matter," Midnight cuts in. "Either he remembers or he doesn't. He's still a part of the team."

There's a long silence. Flare is the first to speak. "Initiation is over, so it seems my time here has come to an end." He turns to Destiny. "Good luck." Then he walks out, leaving us with a team of eight, including Lexi.

I sit down on a piece of broken wall and glare at George. He shifts uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact and moving further away. Destiny gives me a look, but I don't care. The guy hurt her and I don't plan on forgiving him anytime soon.

"Let's head back to KITT," Midnight suggests.

"KITT had better be a bus," a familiar voice says. Jenny- one of our Dauntless instructors- walks into the room, followed by a dark-skinned girl with surprising white hair. "Because we have more coming."

"Who are you?" Midnight demands. "And what are you doing here?"

"My name is Jenny and I'm here to help you. The Unseelie King wants me to help mentor these kids."

Jenny holds up a thick file and Midnight takes it. She flips through it and groans. "Twelve more? Twelve? They could have at least given us more than names here." She drops the file on a half-ruined table. "And no, KITT is not a bus. We aren't all going to fit."

"I could go with Kyoka," Kanaye suggests. "They have some sort of wardrobe. Apparently you can just walk through it to your destination. If we split up into two groups, we can meet up later, once we've gotten to where we're going."

"Great, sounds good. Midnight, you can take one group, I'll take the other. And where are the other twelve? If we have to take them with us, they could at least arrive in a timely manner."

And just like that, Jenny takes charge. Honestly, I think Midnight is a little relieved. Having twenty people to keep track of has got to be exhausting. She was getting annoyed with just the eight of us. If she had to handle us alone, she would probably have gone crazy. This way, she can relax a little. Jenny seems used to leading anyway, which gives her an advantage when it comes to the role she's been given.

"So do we just wait here for them?" Destiny asks. "Or should we split up and start asking around?"

***

Kaylee and Gavin left Erudite HQ together, heading for the building where the Choosing Ceremony had taken place. Before splitting up, they had all agreed to meet back there as soon as initiation was over. Kaylee just hoped they were okay.

Most of the squad had naturally gravitated toward Dauntless. Apparently, out of all the factions, Dauntless had the most dangerous initiation. Of course, there had been a guy who drank poison during the Erudite initiation, but she couldn't imagine that happened often. Erudite just wanted to weed out the stupid people, not kill them.

"How long do you think they'll be?" Gavin asked.

He already had his hand-held game out, but Kaylee couldn't really fault him for it. She'd been on her phone since that morning, hacking through some of the firewalls in Erudite to figure out where there were. What she'd found wasn't encouraging.

These people had some pretty incredible technology, but they hadn't mastered teleportation yet, which made the squad's chances of getting home slim. But maybe when the teleport malfuctioned, it sent us to the same place it sent Lyssa.

Long after the others had lost all hope of finding their missing squad-mate and friend, Kaylee had kept at it. She used all of her technological gifts to try and find Lyssa, but none of it helped. Once, she had even attempted to cause the teleport to malfuction again, hoping it would take her to Lyssa. Instead, she ended up in them middle of the Dark Realm and had to find another teleport to get back. Not exactly her best moment.

"Hey guys! How was initiation in Erudite?" Gage yelled across several rows of seats, a huge grin on his face. He was eating a chocolate bar. Who knows where he'd gotten it from. Kaylee swore the guy could conjure junk food from thin air. It was a miracle he wasn't fat.

"Kaylee did great," Gavin said, glancing up from his game.

"You didn't hack the answers, did you?" Gage crossed his arms and gave Kaylee one of his "dad" stares. "Cheating isn't ethical."

"Please, Gage. I didn't cheat. You want to talk about cheating, look at Gavin. The guy lives and breathes cheat codes. Anyway, where are Keith, Rika, and Aurora?"

"They're getting tattoos."

"What? Oh, I gotta see this!" Gavin finally shut off his game and shoved it into his back pocket. "You think they'd let me pick their tattoos?"

"He's kidding, Gavin. And no, I would not let you choose my tattoo," Aurora said, rounding the corner. Keith and Rika followed close behind.

"Should we look around and see if they have a teleport somewhere?" Keith asks.

Kaylee typed a few final lines of code and smiled as the Dauntless records popped up. Her victory secure, she looked up. "Don't bother. They haven't invented teleportation here," she told them. "They've got lots of other great tech, but no teleportation."

"So we're stuck?" Aurora shook her head. "I refuse to accept that. There has to be something here that we can use to get home."

Kaylee shut them out again and flipped through the folders she'd unlocked. If Lyssa ended up here, she would have gone to Dauntless. They have to have her on record somewhere. She checked the initiation records from the year Lyssa disappeared.

She didn't expect to actually find anything. After years of one disappointment after another, she anticipated yet another dead end. Instead, Lyssa's name came up near the top. A cry burst out of her before she could herself. "Lyssa!"

Everyone's eyes turned to her. "Guys she's here!"

"Where?" Keith demanded, attempting to steal the phone. "Let's find her!"

Kaylee holds it away from him and turns it so everyone can see. "She joined Dauntless."

"We didn't see her," Aurora muses. "She must have been elsewhere."

She sounded as if she was trying to think through things logically, but Kaylee could see the excitement and relief in Aurora's eyes. Their leader had probably worried even more than everyone else. They all knew Aurora blamed herself for Lyssa's loss. Maybe finding her would ease some of Aurora's worries.

"Let's go find her at Dauntless headquarters," Gavin suggested. "It shouldn't be too hard. Kaylee, you can hack their security feed, right?"

Kaylee nodded and went to work as they moved out. The attempts ended up being unnecessary, however, when halfway to Dauntless HQ, they spotted her moving across a road with someone else. Her chocolate skin and pearly white hair stood out from the rest of the crowd.

Keith looked like a leashed dog, just waiting to be released. When he saw her, he became even more tense and his pace increased. All of us sped up, weaving through the crowds of Abnegation and Factionless to catch her before she disappeared again.

"Why didn't she find us?" Rika asked. "She must 'ave seen us durin' initiation."

"She wasn't there. She was out guarding the wall," Kaylee told her.

She was still swiping through the records, trying to find out more about what had happened to Lyssa. Apparently, she visited Erudite pretty often the first year or two she was there. Then she just stopped. She gave up. Have years of being stranded in the wrong universe destroyed Lyssa's trust in us?

Lyssa and her companion turned down a dark alley and into a half-destroyed building. Aurora put up a hand. "Not yet," she whispered. "We don't know who she's with."

"I'm sure whoever it is doesn't plan to hurt us," Gage protested. "I can't imagine Lyssa would lay a trap for us."

"You have chocolate on your face," Kaylee told him. "But you're right. Anyway, she probably doesn't even realize we're here."

"Let's just go in," Gavin said.

"I agree." Keith poked his head around the corner. "If it's a trap, we should just spring it. There are only about ten of them in there. We could take them."

"If they 'ave weapons, I could take 'em," Rika put in.

Aurora looked undecided, but Kaylee didn't think their leader was really worried about a trap. She put a hand on Aurora's shoulder. "Lyssa won't blame you," she whispered.

"Alright, but..." Keith, Gage, Rika, and Gavin were gone before Aurora could finish her sentence.

***

Rather than being sent home, Flare had been given a human child. A child does not belong on the battlefield. She will not be able to defend herself. He could not think of a way to send the girl back to her home, though. Even he could not return to his realm. When he had gone to find a portal, he had instead discovered the girl. She had given him a piece of paper that instructed him to take her to Midnight and remain with the group.

He did not think any of this would turn out well, but he appreciated the chance to see more of the world. Perhaps he would play it off as though he had decided to stay. They might be more accepting of him if they thought that he had volunteered to join them. He dismissed the thought, however, when the little girl slipped her hand into his. She might give him away.

"What are you called?" he asked the girl.

Her brown eyes fixated on his face. The way she scrutinized him made him slightly uncomfortable. She seemed to see everything. "My name's Crystal," she answered, a wide smile lighting up her face. "They said I could go home after the game is over. When does it start?"

"Follow me, child. I will take you where you need to go."

***

Sheng had thought it was over. It should have been over, really. The state alchemists have been this close to catching him. Then he appeared in the middle of a run-down city. It was probably the closest thing to good luck he'd ever experienced. He decided not to judge too quickly, though. Given his track record, he'd probably been deposited in a city where his doppelganger had caused the apocalypse.

I suppose I should figure out where exactly this is. It didn't seem like a great environment, considering the ruined buildings all around him. For a while, there was no one around and Sheng wandered aimlessly.

As he was walking past an alley, he heard voices. Don't check it out, Sheng. You know how this goes. Every time. Dark alleys are bad news.

"Who took my bullet?" The voice of an angry girl echoes through the alley.

And that's my cue to leave. Someone looking for bullets was definitely not a good sign. Sheng didn't plan to stick around to see whatever was about to happen. The universe seemed to have other plans, however, because when he turned around, he came face-to-face with another guy.

"What's going on in the alley?" the guy asked. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Sheng's hand and dragged him in. "Let's find out!"

***

The last thing Raven remembered, she was fighting an inhuman. He knocked her out, but didn't kill her. She rubbed the back of her head and looked around the room the was in. It was less of a room and more of a destroyed building.

So he took me to a ruined town and left me? That didn't make sense. He hadn't had any problem killing the others on her team. She'd been helpless at the time. Why didn't he just kill her? I suppose I should be grateful.

She didn't feel grateful. All she could see were the bodies of her friends. Her allies. And Obsidian promising that it hadn't been her. But she knew she'd lost it in that darkened room. There had been so much hatred- she couldn't control it. It took over, and she had killed everything in her path. She'd nearly killed Obsidian, too, when he tried to stop her.

The look he'd given her- one of both fear and pity- it told her more than words ever could. Even though she couldn't remember, she knew, without a doubt, that she had been the one to kill them.

She buried her head in her hands. There was no going back from something like that. She had thought she would be okay, working with a team. But that wasn't the case. Instead she stabbed them in the back. He was too powerful. I couldn't... Tears formed in her eyes and she wiped them away. Crying wouldn't bring them back. It wouldn't fix her mistakes either and she had to live with that.

There was no one around when she exited the house. It was some relief, at least. No one else's emotions would be messing with her head. Just my own. Whether that was good or bad, she had yet to decide. Either way, it was better than letting someone else's anger or hatred consume her.

I should have stayed at home. I knew what could happen if I faced villains like Horde. Being alone would have been better. She wove through alleys, hoping to avoid anyone who might be around. You were lonely. It's okay to be lonely- to want friends.

Excitement bubbled up inside her. Someone else's excitement. Several people, actually. It was faint, though. Not too close by. It might be okay to be lonely, but that doesn't mean I should risk the lives of others. I was selfish and they paid the price. But she knew, now. She couldn't repeat her mistakes. Not ever again. If that meant being alone all her life then she would endure it.

The excitement grew closer, so she turned to go the other way. There, she was met with worry and unease. A new emotion popped up in each direction. Nothing she wanted to face, but she couldn't see a way around it. Hiding never did her any good. The feelings wouldn't go away. None of them were hostile, so she wasn't at risk. Not yet. She could manage walking past a few people.

***

I suppose things might have been kept under control if three guys hadn't burst in, immediately followed by three girls. The guys practically tackle Lyssa- the white haired girl. She doesn't seem to mind, though, because her whole face lights up when she sees them.

There's a moment where the seven new people are hugging and laughing and all talking at once. I'm not the only confused person in the room. No one else seems to understand what's happening either. Hailey breaks up the excitement though.

"Where's my bullet?" Her voice easily rises above that of the others.

Everyone pauses. Six of the new people look over at a girl with brown hair and dark skin. She bites her lip and holds out her hand. Hailey snatches the bullet and puts it in her pocket.

"Why'd ya 'ave a bullet anyhow? It ain't paired with a gun. I'd 'ave noticed a gun." The theif seems wholly unrepentant.

The white haired girl crosses her arms. "Rika, don't steal from these guys. They're on our side! Give it back."

Rika scuffs her shoe along the floor. "I did."

"She means the other stuff you took," a tall brunette huffs. "We've been doing this for years, Rika. Come on."

"Okay, okay. You can 'ave yer things back," Rika mumbles, pulling several other objects out of her pocket.

Kyoka steps forward and grabs a mirror out of Rika's hand. Jenny picks a carved, wooden sword out of the pile, and Kanaye quickly retrieves his brown sketchbook. "Sorry I took yer stuff."

They all glare at her, but I find the situation amusing. Rika has an impressive skill. Not a very ethical one, but impressive none-the-less.

"You guys haven't changed a bit," the white-haired girl says. "I'm glad you're here. I wanted to get back, but..."

"We know." A blonde girl steps around several of the new people and wraps her arms around her friend. "We tried to find you. I just... I wasn't good enough. I'm sorry, Lyssa. We should have been here years ago."

Lyssa hugs her back. "It's not your fault."

"Okay, reunions are nice, but we don't have time for this," Midnight cuts in. "Introduce yourselves, please, or I'll assign numbers and that can be your name."

"Oh, right! Sorry. This is Kaylee," Lyssa says, pointing to the blonde girl. "And Aurora." She gestures to the brunette. "Gavin, Gage, Rika, and Keith." She points to each person as she speaks.

Gavin is a thin guy with messy red hair and a wide grin. Gage bears surprising resemblance to Kaylee- both have blonde hair and gray eyes. Keith has lighter brown hair and somehow manages to blend into the background quite well.

"Lyssa, are these the guys you told me about?" Hailey asks, scrutinizing the team. "Your squad? I thought..."

"You didn't believe me. But yeah, they're here. From another dimension. How did you guys manage that, by the way?" Lyssa turns to Kaylee for answers.

"Gavin and I still trying to figure that out, but I couldn't get signals from the area we showed up in. My phone's not powerful enough. Currently all we know is that the teleport malfunctioned again. But we're here, which means we can get back too. We just have to figure out how." Kaylee grins. "Should be fun, right?"

There's a bark and Lexi jumps onto my back. "There's a dog!"

Sure enough, a tiny gray wolf has appeared. It runs straight to George, who picks it up. "Grey! I thought you'd left me."

The wolf barks again and licks his cheek. "You brought a wolf with you when you traveled through dimensions?" I ask. "Really?"

"Keep that beast away from me!" Lexi yells.

"Grey won't hurt anyone," George promises. "He's tame!"

Midnight and Jenny both look irritated now. "Keep Lexi and Grey away from each other," Midnight snaps. "For that matter, just stay away from Raiden altogether, George. It'll be one less headache for all of us." She flips open the folder. "We're still missing people," she groans.

"Missing who?"

Two guys appear in the doorway. One of them dragging the other. The guy who spoke is in front. "I don't suppose you could use two more?"

"Depends," Jenny answers. "What's your name?"

"Ace."

Midnight gives a sigh of relief. "He's not on here." She looks up from the file. "Get out."

"Excuse me?" Ace releases the other guy's hand and stalks up to her. "Check again, lady. I'm on it."

"I've got Sheng, and Flare, and Maverick. No Ace." Midnight stares him down. "Now get out. Unless they have to, no one else is joining this team. Got that?"

Ace sighs. "I'm Maverick. Ace is the name I go by."

Midnight's face falls. "Oh." She looks at Jenny. "He's going with your team."

***

Kanaye observed the room, letting the details sink in so he could sketch it later. He noted the annoyance on Midnight's face and the excitement that Lyssa and the rest of her friends hadn't bothered to hide. His eyes flicked to Rika, who was slipping her hand into Raiden's pocket.

She was interesting. Her bright green eyes were bright and full of life. They told of a happy, outgoing girl. But the way she hunched slightly and slipped between people was more like someone who preferred to stay in the background. It was a contradiction that he suspected had been born from her thievery. After all, what thief wants to be noticed?

Raiden caught her hand as she pulled it out of his pocket, but he didn't look angry. He was the forgiving type, Kanaye had learned. At least, when it came to what people did to him. He protected his friends, but he didn't seem to be the kind of person who would take revenge.

Kanaye leaned back against the wall and fingered his sketchbook. Jenny pushed a lock of blonde hair out of her face and seemed to be surveying the situation the same way he was. A thin, blonde girl with gray eyes stared down at a small, rectangular screen. Her fingers tapped on it ceaselessly, even when she wasn't looking.

Ace, Kanaye decided, was bad news. He walked with his head held high, looking down on everyone as if he was better than them. There was a look in his ice blue eyes- a look of defiance and envy.

George had been similar. Kanaye remembered catching a glance of him passing at Dauntless HQ. But the look in George's eyes hadn't been envy, it had been pure, undiluted hatred. Malice had practically poured from the guy. Now he was just a kid in the corner, confused and looking to his pet wolf for support. A dramatic change, certainly.

The happiest person in the room, though, from what Kanaye could see, was Keith. He stood next to Lyssa, trying to hide his excitement. It was a bit more than that, though. The guy was in love and it showed. He hadn't budged from Lyssa's side since he arrived. It was probably his brooding presence that had made Ace think twice about approaching her.

Kanaye liked the outfits that the six who had arrived together wore. On each of their shoulders was a logo- and 'O' and an 'S', woven into each other. Then, on the front of their suits, was the letter A, capitalized, with three white stars under it. The stars and the logo provided a stark contrast on the black fabric. Each of them wore a silver belt with various supplies on it and they didn't look

Kanaye glanced at Kyoka. Her hand was in her pocket- probably to make sure Rika didn't steal her mirror again. "How many more do you think will join?" Kyoka asked.

"Midnight said twelve. Eight of them just arrived, so probably just four now. It's a big city, though. I hope they got dropped off nearby," he answered.

She shrugged. "Hey, if they don't show up, that's on them. I won't mind."

"Maybe not now, but you might wish there were more of us later," Kanaye pointed out. "If there are more battles like the one at the castle, having more people on our side wouldn't hurt."

"And what if they aren't on our side? Ace doesn't seem to be and there's something not quite right about George. Who knows what the others are hiding."

She had a point. If everyone turned on them, they would be in trouble. "We're in this together," Kanaye decided. "They want to live just as much as we do. I don't think they would hurt us."

"People do a lot of irrational things when they're scared."

***

Lyssa was still in shock. She had gone with Jenny hoping that she would be able to get back home. She hadn't expected home to come to her. But it had and now she was surrounded by her squad for the first time in years.

They all looked the same, too. Gavin still sported a head of messy red hair. His blue eyes were fixed on the screen of his handheld game, just like always. He'd gotten taller, though, and looked like he'd been working out more since she last saw him.

Aurora still pushed the sleeves of her combat suit up, revealing the snake tattoo that wound around her arm. She looked more comfortable in her own skin too, as if she had truly gotten used to her leadership role.

Rika was still stealing things. Her brown hair was up in a short ponytail and she made her way around the room almost completely unnoticed by the others. She didn't actually take things though. She pulled them out, examined them, and then put them back. It showed restraint she hadn't had when Lyssa last saw her. Before, she would have kept it until she was forced to give it back. If she wasn't caught, the item was hers to keep. Lyssa was glad to see the others had made some progress with her, at least.

"What do we do now?" Aurora asked. "We don't have a way of getting back."

"You aren't going back," Midnight replied. "Not until the Unseelie King's game is over. Not until we win."

Aurora crossed her arms. "We are not here to play games. We're here for Lyssa and that's it."

"Hang on," Hailey interrupted. "You're leaving, Lyssa?"

Lyssa's fingers wove together and she bit her lip. Hailey was a friend- Lyssa didn't want to hurt her. But she couldn't stay in Chicago. It wasn't where she belonged. "I have to go home. They're my squad, Hailey. The best friends I ever made, other than you. But we can't leave yet. Who knows what might happen before then."

"It seems I am stranded here as well," someone said from behind them.

"Flare?" Destiny frowned. "The Unseelie King won't let you go back?"

"I have been instructed to remain with you. This child will be joining us as well," Flare replied.

Midnight's jaw dropped. "A girl? A little girl? She can't be older than eight!"

"A child doesn't belong here, Flare. Can't you take her back?" Jenny interceded, pulling Flare aside. "She'll be killed."

"That is what I thought, but the King will not allow her to return home. I am sorry, Jennifer. I will protect the child as best I can."

Jenny nodded. "Good. I expect all of us will."

Destiny was already kneeling next to the girl, a smile on her face. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Crystal," the girl answered, smiling back. "What's yours?"

"My name's Destiny. Do you know why you're here, Crystal?

"I'm here to play a game."

"So are we," Destiny told her. "And we're going to win, right? We're going to win and then we'll all go home."

"Yeah."

Lyssa noticed a small stuffed animal in Crystal's hands. She hugged it tightly against her chest as she spoke, but she didn't look scared. Her brown hair was in a short braid and she looked up at Destiny with big, brown eyes. She looked happy- oddly so, since she'd just been stolen from her home and dropped into another realm. She should have been crying on the floor.

"What kind of game is it," Crystal asked. "How do we play?"

"It's..." Destiny paused. She didn't seem to know how to answer that.

Gavin put his game away and bent down to face Crystal. "There are teams. We're one team, but there are others out there. So the teams go through levels and complete certain tasks. Each team collects points from the tasks they complete. If they don't finish the task or they don't have enough points, then they lose. Whoever has the most points wins."

"What happens if we lose?" Crystal fingered her stuffed animal's ear, rubbing her thumb back and forth against the fur.

"The better question," Gavin said, "is what do we win?"

"What do we win?" She smiled again, grinning up at him with this excited look in her eyes. So innocent and young. Too young.

"We get to go home and maybe, if we're good enough, there will even be a special surprise. Do you like surprises, Crystal?"

She nodded enthusiastically, practically bouncing up and down. "What kind of surprise?"

"The best kind," Kaylee cut in. "The kind that gives you this overwhelming feeling of happiness and you don't know what to do with yourself anymore."

"Can we have it now?"

"Not yet," Destiny laughed. "We have to earn it, remember?"

They're trying to shield her. They don't want her to know that people will die, Lyssa realized. The surprise was a lie, surely. This Unseelie King had sent a young child into a life and death battle. He didn't seem to be the kind of person who would hand out surprises.

"Right. We're just waiting on a few more people," Midnight said. "We should figure out who's going with who."

"I'm going with my squad." Lyssa crossed her arms, daring anyone to tell her no. They'd been separated long enough. She saw no reason to split up again. They worked best together anyway.

"Fine," Jenny answered. "Then you can come with me."

"You're taking Ace too," Midnight said. "And Raiden is coming with me."

"Then so am I." Ayame stepped up next to Raiden.

"I'm going with Kyoka," Kanaye cut in.

"Crystal is coming with me," Destiny said, taking Crystal's hand.

Flare nodded. "I will stay with Destiny."

"I've got plenty on my end," Jenny said. "You can take them, Midnight."

"Someone's coming," Raiden warned.

Everyone faced the doorway, just in time for someone to enter. Not just anyone, either. A girl with tan skin, black eyes, and pearly white hair. Hair like Lyssa's, actually. And she knows this face.

"Raven?"

***

She hadn't been planning to go inside. In fact, Raven had planned to just walk by. It would have been easier, certainly. But she felt such camaraderie. It was almost as if she were being compelled to go inside. Like there were people in there that she needed to meet.

You'll only hurt them, Raven. She couldn't stop herself, though. So she walked straight through the front door and found herself face-to-face with someone who shouldn't have existed.

"But you..." You can't be here. They said you weren't real! There was no record of you... nothing. I searched and searched. You don't exist!

Yet there she was. Lyssa. The girl with chocolate skin, white hair, and eyes of the lightest blue. Raven's sister.

Lyssa's arms are around Raven before she can fully comprehend what is happening. "I thought I'd never see you again! You've grown so much since I saw you last..."

Raven pushed her away. "They said you weren't real. Mom and Dad... they both swore you were just a figment of my imagination. That the men who took you away were just a nightmare."

"This is... a lot of reunions in one day," a red-headed guy commented. "What are the odds?"

"Obviously they set this up, Gavin" a blond girl replied, rolling her eyes.

"It's not a reunion," Raven protested. "I can't... I'm not staying. I just wanted to see who was in here, that's all."

Lyssa frowned. "You're just going to leave?"

"I've worked with people before. It didn't go well then, it won't go well now. Just leave it, Lyssa. Anyway, it's been years. We're related by blood. That's it." Raven turned to leave.

"What are you so afraid of?" Someone demanded.

Raven looked to see who had spoken. A girl with violet eyes stepped forward. "She's your sister. Maybe you haven't seen each other for a long time, but isn't that more of a reason to stay?"

"I can't."

"You're name is Raven?" A woman with blue hair asked.

"Yeah."

"Well you're on our list, so obviously you're meant to be here. If you try to leave now, I'm sure you'll just end up right back with us. The people running these games seem to be good at that kind of thing. I suggest you stick around," the woman told her.

"I don't work with people. Not anymore. I'll just get you hurt." This can't be happening again. At least last time I got a proper choice. That made it worse, though.

Lyssa frowned. "We can handle ourselves, Raven. I promise."

Do it, Raven. Just give in. The blue lady is right- whoever brought you here could easily make sure you keep running into them. Stay with your sister. Maybe it'll turn out differently. Raven sighed. Wishful thinking. "If I go crazy, you stay away from me, got it?"

"You'll be fine," the girl with violet eyes smiled. "You're a good person."

Maybe. I hope so.

***

There were so many people in the room. Crystal wasn't sure how to react to it. Then the Raven lady showed up and joined them too. She could tell that most of these people didn't seem to know each other, though, and decided to fix that.

"We should do introductions," she suggested. "So everyone knows each other."

"That's a good idea," the sword lady said. Crystal liked her. She was nice- not like the teachers at school, who either ignored her when the other mocked her or openly mocked her themselves.

"Well first of all, my name is Jenny. Midnight and I will be leading you," a blonde, older woman announced.

"My name is Midnight," the lady next to Jenny said. The introduction was a bit half-hearted and the lady looked a bit distracted, but at least she had given a name. Usually when Crystal suggested things, people laughed it off or ignored her.

"I'm Destiny," the sword lady spoke next.

The list of names went on. The girl with pretty purple eyes was Ayame. The girl with white hair and dark skin- Lyssa. The tall, skinny red-head with pale skin- George. The boy who had explained the games to her was Gavin and the girl with gray eyes was Kaylee. The boy who looked like Kaylee was Gage, and the girl with the tattoo on her arm called herself Aurora.

Then there was Raiden, who had green eyes and sat next to an orange cat with red and yellow spots. The boy with long hair was Kanaye and the girl he stood next to, Kyoka. Raven was the new girl and Ace was the boy who reminded Crystal of the bullies at home. She didn't like Ace.

She did like Sheng, though. He had pretty brown hair, glasses that made him look smart, and a nervous smile. Keith was the scary guy who stood behind Lyssa. His presence was made Crystal nervous and she clutched Tiger tighter. A girl named Hailey introduced herself followed by Flare and Rika.

"I'm Lexi," the cat announced, after everyone else was finished.

Crystal's jaw dropped. She ran over to the cat. "You can talk?"

"Of course I can talk," Lexi huffed.

"She's an Exceed," Raiden explained. "She can fly too. Usually... Our magic doesn't work here, though."

She can fly and talk! Crystal reached out hesitantly. "Can I..."

Lexi relaxed a little. "Alright," she agreed.

Her fur was soft when Crystal pet her. She didn't seem to like it a whole lot, though, so Crystal didn't do it for long.

"Crystal, do you have any idea why you were brought here?" Destiny asked. "There must have been a reason."

"I..." Crystal paused. What if she told them she was inhuman and they hurt her, just like everyone else? No. These people are kind. They'll take care of me. She made herself smile wider. Just keep smiling and everything will be okay. "I'm an inhuman," she announced. "Maybe they brought me because they thought I could help. I can't control it very much, though..."

"Cool!" Gavin grinned at her. "What do you do, then?"

"I can move things. With my mind."

"Like telekinesis?" Kaylee asked. "That's amazing!"

Crystal relaxed a little and her smile came easier. They had accepted it- accepted her. Maybe not everyone hated inhumans after all.