"Wake up, that's enough sleep," I yelled rather loudly, causing everyone to moan and groan in protest. Sorry guys but if I can't get more sleep, you shouldn't either.

Edward, punctual as usual, got up quickly as he didn't need to be told twice. He walked by me, probably heading to the nearby pond for a drink but not before I grabbed his arm, stopping him in his path.

"So it was too dangerous to show up in my life but you had no problem being there for Esat?" I shot at him, unable to bite my tongue any longer. My tone was low enough that the conversation stayed between us.

"The situations were different, Saron. You know if I could, I would have-"

"Really? The way I see it, both of us were in danger yet I was the only one who was forced to grow up alone and unwanted, with no parent by my side," I hissed back at him, making sure to emphasize the "alone" and "unwanted" so he got the picture.

"What are you two talking about?" Jeremy asked, rubbing the last lick of sleep from his eyes as he peered at us.

"Nothing. Edward was just saying how we should get moving soon," I said cooly, releasing my grip on his arm.

"We can talk about this lat-" he said quietly.

"No Edward, this conversation is over," I snarled back at him. He hung his head in resignation before climbing out of the hole.

I looked over at Esat, giggling with my friends and wondered what made her different. As much as I wanted to act like it didn't matter to me, it was eating me alive. She grew up with a Mother and Father, who both loved her dearly. I lost my Mother. My Father never came to see me. In fact, unless Bay had brought me to him that day, would he have ever come to see me? Likely not.

Was he here because he really cared or because he felt guilty?

Esat caught me looking at her, smiling back. I felt nothing but warmth for my new half sister. She was the only one innocent in all this. It wasn't her fault she was loved and I wasn't.

"You okay?" Tom asked, startling me. I had been so lost in my thoughts I didn't even see him walk up.

"Yeah, you?"

He squinted his eyes, letting me know he didn't buy it. Tom was always able to see through me better than the others which made it incredible difficult to lie to him. I plastered a fake smile before walking over to the rest of them.

"Let's go. I don't know about you guys but tonight I'm trying to sleep in my bed," I called out.

The image of us sleeping in our cozy beds at the Academy motivated them to stop dilly dallying and they all climbed out of the hole, one by one. Edward was waiting outside, prepared to go. I avoided his gaze as I walked right past him. Thankfully, I saw Star catching up to me so there goes his opening to try to explain to me how misunderstood I am. By explaining I mean give me some bs excuse and not take responsibility for being a shitty father.

"I really hope we don't get attacked today," Star whined, looping her arms through mine.

"Me too," I said, smiling down at her despite my lack of faith that we'd even go an hour without everything going to shit.

"So, your sister..."

"What about her?"

"She's nice."

"Spit it out, Star," I said, sensing from her brief choice of words on Esat, she was holding back a lot more.

"That's just it. She's super nice and sweet. She's almost too good to be true. I don't know if I buy it."

"Really?" I asked, arching my eyebrows at her. I hadn't even considered that it might all be an act. Great, now I had to be suspicious of Edward and Esat's motives. I snorted at the irony. Like father like daughter.

"What's funny?"

"Oh nothing. You're probably right though," I quickly added.

"Don't worry though, I got your back. We all do," she promised.

"I know you guys do. I'd never doubt that."

"Alright, everyone listen up. We're getting closer now. That means we need to be more careful. Nobody goes off alone."

Esat pranced over to us happily, causing Star to shoot me a look of suspicion. I bit back a grin as we welcomed her into our fold. Don't get me wrong, I liked Esat. But I barely knew her. And if Star didn't trust her, she definitely had a reason.

"Where's Crexus?" She asked, drawing my attention to the fact that Crexus was missing once again.

Crexus, where are you? We're about to leave

I'm fine. I know where to find you.

I frowned at the vagueness of his reply. I guess I should be used to it by now. Crexus had disappeared and reappeared more times than I could count. He was gone so often, I barely noticed when he returned.

"He'll be back soon."

"How do you know?"

I looked to Star, not wanting to explain being mindlinked to Crexus one more time.

"He's bonded to her magic so they can communicate in each other's minds."

"No way! That's so cool. Wait, why do you need a body guard again?"

I looked to Star, letting her know I didn't want to disclose that information to her yet.

Understanding, she said, "A lot of people have been trying to kill her lately. Our headmaster thought she could use the extra protection."

"Why are people trying to kill you?" She asked, getting even more confused.

"I don't have the best personality," I joked, not willing to explain it all to her. I was surprised to know that she was just as in the dark as I was. I almost felt bad for her. Then I remembered her perfect life and that feeling faded just as quickly as it had come.

"Wait so, what can you do? Besides fly and turn into a dog that is."

"A dog?" I asked incredulously, looking to Star who was cackling in laughter.

"You mean a- a werewolf?" Star struggled to ask, between giggles.

"Oh. What's the difference?" I gave up trying after that point. It was clear Edward's form of protecting was keeping secrets. I mean, how is that good for anyone? Especially seeing how little she did know. 

I decided to start off simple, bending down and touching the stem of a plant. The plant quickly began to sprout, blossoming as the petals grew a richer, more vibrant color.

"Oh my gosh, that's so beautiful," Esat whispered in awe.

"You haven't even seen the half of it," Jeremy said, walking up to us before slinging his arm over my shoulders.

"Hey Jer, why don't you show her what we can do to objects?"

He smiled mischievously before splitting a large rock, not too far ahead of us clean down the middle easily.

She gawked at him, her eyes twinkling.

Taking it further, he looked back at the stone, putting it back together without any mark it had been split.

"You guys are so cool," she exclaimed, clasping her hands together in excitement.

With a crash, Crexus landed in front of us scaring us all half to death.

"Damn Crexus," Jeremy said, dusting off his shirt which was now covered in dirt from his violent arrival.

"There's trouble ahead."

"What kind of trouble?" I asked, focusing my eyesight ahead.

"Fairies."

"How many?" Joel called out, walking over quickly with Tom.

"100, maybe more."

"A HUNDRED?" Star repeated in disbelief.

"I've never fought a fairy before, have you?" I asked, turning to the boys.

"They're not that hard to beat but that many of them might be a problem," Tom replied.

"Couldn't we just freeze time and run far enough away that they won't catch us?" Jeremy offered.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Edward roared.

"Why not?" Esat asked, perplexed by his loud rejection of the idea.

"You know what happens when you use your power for a long time. We aren't risking your safety. Besides, fairies are fast. A one or two minute head start won't get rid of them."

"Then what's the plan?" Zion asked.

"We need to think of one fast," I said, eyes locked ahead where I was starting to sense a large pack of small creatures flying towards us quickly.

"What's a fairy's weakness?" Jeremy asked, looking to me for whatever reason.

"How should I know? He's the adult here," I said, turning the attention to Edward.

After an extended moment of silence, Edward said, "I have a plan."

"We may not have time," Tom said, staring at the fairies that were beginning to surround us as they closed in from every angle.

"Saron, can you make a boundary?"

Nodding, I dropped to the ground feeling magic pulse within me as the Earth helped me to create a boundary. I saw the dirt rise up, hardening as it surrounded us making a globe around us. I started to hear loud pounding coming from outside of the boundary as the fairies fought to tear down the boundary.

"It's not going to hold much longer. What's the plan?" I demanded, watching cracks start to form in our protective bubble.

"I have two gas bombs left. In theory, it could knock them all out but we need to make sure they're all close to one another."

"Okay how do we do that?" Joel asked.

"We need two people to act as bait, running in opposite directions. That'll force the fairies to choose one person to attack, causing them all to go full force in either direction. Once they're close enough, you'll release the gas bomb, knocking them all out before they have time to flee."

"I'll go," Tom said.

"Me too," Jer said, stepping forward to take the gas bomb.

I opened my mouth to protest but judging from their looks, they would crucify me if I argued back.

"Ready?" I asked, looking at them both.

I touched the boundary, allowing small cracks on the left and right side that opened wide enough for them to escape. According to plan, they went charging in opposite directions like their life depended on it. The boundary closed right after, knocking the fairies who tried to enter back out. I could hear excited shrieks as the fairies screams got quieter. They took the bait.

We waited in silence for what seemed like years, my fingers tapping against my leg as my anxiety started to creep in.

Zion grabbed my hand, squeezing it to reassure me. I forced a smile, not feeling any better.

"It's too quiet," I said, pressing my ear to the boundary and not hearing a thing.

"The fairies are down." Crexus stated.

"How do you know?" Edward asked.

"I can sense it."

That was all the reassurance I needed before I kicked down the boundary, running out. I looked both ways, focusing my vision to find both Jeremy and Tom passed out with fairies all around them.

"Whooooo," Joel cheered.

"They did it!!!" Esat yelled, excitedly.

"Alright now grab them before the fairies wake up. We need to get out of here," Edward ordered.