Will:
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As Ash came at Will with a barrage of punches, he stopped grinning. Hands and fists became a blur as the fight went on—two weeks of training and Will was already under threat.

With a quick sweep to the back of her leg, Ash swayed back, but didn't fall. Will could have used that time to attack, but he retreated several steps, arms crossed. She let out a battle-cry, no doubt learned from those martial arts movies she was so fond of, then charged along the training mats and threw a roundhouse kick at his gut. Will launched backwards through the air, somersaulting twice before landing on his feet, only to be faced with Ash and her onslaught of punches and elbows at his body, assaults that Will barely deflected. When she threw a right jab towards his cheekbone and it almost connected, he ducked to the side and said, "And I think we are done for the day."

"What? No!" she puffed. "But I was so close to landing a proper hit on you!"

Too close, Will thought. "There's always tomorrow afternoon?"

"True." She smiled.

Tomorrow, he feared that she would make contact—painful contact. He would have preferred contact of a different variety, to hold her at the very least, but after their failed date a couple of weeks ago he couldn't bring himself to make a move. The brown-haired boy she'd been to the movies with was a distant memory, nameless and faceless. Now he was blond, but a shade lighter than before. Ash hadn't noticed. Again, Will hated his hair.

"We don't have to train tomorrow, if you don't want to," Ash said, turning away.

"Why would you say that?"

"You just look upset about something, and I thought that maybe I'd—"

"Ash, it's not you," he said, then realized she was veering close to the truth. She was the cause for his mood change, even though she had done nothing wrong now or during their date. It was simply the way of things. Every good moment they shared seemed to end up on the cutting room floor in Ash's mind, and it hurt.

"I should go. I've got a ton of homework."

As Ash walked from the matt and slipped on her shoes, she seemed nervous. Will followed her through the house, and by the time they had reached the front door he felt like he was losing her. "Ash. I know you don't have homework. You said so this morning."

She screwed up her nose in that funny way she often did, then smiled guiltily. "I did say that, didn't I?"

He nodded, sure he was winning her back. "Stay for dinner. Lücan won't mind."

"I don't know..."

He picked up her other hand and stepped closer. Alarm crossed her features, and he knew the time had come to lay it all on the line. "I like you, Ash. More than like you."

She stood there, blinking up at him. She was a beautiful mess, her hair tied in a clump, threads of ringlets floating around her face, and training clothes damp with sweat. "You do?"

"I do."

Seizing the moment, he leaned down to kiss her. At the last second, Ash dodged his lips and stepped back, colliding with the door. "You can't. We can't."

"Why?"

"I'm seeing someone."

"Who?" Will snapped, then regretted the question. He'd sounded so rude, so intrusive. Nevertheless, he was very tempted to intrude into her mind.

"It's new. I'd rather not say."

Will backed away, leaning against the hallway wall. He could feel his heart breaking one piece at a time. "How new?"

She winced. "A couple of weeks."

Damn, she must have met this guy just after our date! If Lücan hadn't blurred me from her mind that day I could have been the one she was seeing. Will ducked his head and ruffled his hair, hiding his pain. I don't understand. We have a bond. She should be as drawn to me as I am to her. I have to win her back! But first I have to destroy any feelings she has for this new guy. But how?

"Will," she said. "We're still friends, right?"

He made himself smile. "We are. Always."

"I'll see you tomorrow on the way to Jasper's café?"

He nodded. "And training?"

"Maybe." With a solemn wave, Ash slipped out the door. As she crossed the road, he could feel her spirit pulling in different directions. Her confusion gave him hope. He had put himself out there, told Ash his feelings. No one had erased the conversation. Now she would be thinking about him—hopefully more than the other guy.

Giving up on training for the day, Will wandered through the house. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he was met with the grim sight of Lücan slumped on a barstool, propped against the wall. The Head Sepheri's face was battered and bloody, with deep gashes along his cheeks and forehead. Actually, everywhere Will looked Lücan had sustained some sort of injury. Given his job description, there weren't many days when Lücan didn't look that way, but lately he seemed beyond tired, more like worn to the ground. It was in his eyes, as if the starlight inside them was starting to fade.

"Rough day?" Will asked.

Lücan squinted across the bench. "No more than usual. But I'll live."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah, and Lücan's telling us tall tales," Jasper said, walking into the room and opening the freezer. He pulled out five icepacks and rounded the bench, placing the icepacks on Lücan's arm and leg. Jasper then held an icepack to the patient's forehead. Lücan glared up at Jasper, but the singer hummed one of his Immortal Kiss songs as he pressed wads of cloth to the wound along Lücan's cheekbone.

"Now why would I need to lie?" Lücan said. "I am perfectly fine. A few scratches and bruises to speak of, but I've endured far worse." He pushed up one of his torn sleeves, revealing nasty cuts and bruises. Will tried not to stare as Lücan placed a small black vessel of medicine to the inside of his wrist, then fumbled to hold it in place.

Jasper laughed harshly, then turned to Will. "Our Head Sepheri is about to have his second dose of peoré. Does that sound fine to you?"

Will's eyes widened. "When did he have his first?"

"About ten minutes ago," Lücan said, resting his head against the wall. He tried to steady the vessel on his wrist again.

"Make that half-an-hour ago. And it's done nothing in that time." Jasper snatched the vessel from Lücan's hand. The Head Sepheri tried to grab it back, but gave up when his hand trembled. Jasper looked to Will. "Told you, the dude is telling us tall tales!"

Wow. Lücan is actually lying. I knew he could be deceptive with the mind adjustments on Ash, but Lücan is lying to me, to Jasper. How many other things must he lie about?

"I'd like to know the answer to that, too, Will," Jasper said, then turned his attention on Lücan. "Did you lie about my father? About the possibility of getting him back? Because if there is no hope, tell me now and put me out of my misery."

Lücan wriggled uncomfortably, his eyes flickering to Jasper and down again. "There's always hope, but it is not a certainty."

"Wonderful! Fricking wonderful!" Jasper rubbed his tattooed neck, his agitation building as he removed the icepacks from Lücan and tossed them onto the bench. "Thank you for being honest with me for the first time in who knows. Perhaps ever! Who cares about the feelings of a lowly palace guard?! Obviously, no one here. I cook. I clean. Work the longest shifts. And what do I get? Lies. Lots and lots of pretty f—"

"Jasper! That's enough!" yelled Will. He darted around the bench and grabbed Jasper by the shoulder—

Lücan quietened Will with a single look. Be calm, the Head Sepheri said.

Will felt every shred of anger dissipate, as if he'd never experienced anger in his life. He stared at the rise and fall of Jasper's shoulders. It was strange to see the singer so worked up.

Jasper peered back at Will. "Do we have a problem?"

"No."

"Awesome." Turning over Lücan's wrist, Jasper administered the vessel in seconds. As peoré serum filtered into Lücan's bloodstream, Will waited for the cuts and bruises to disappear. The gashes barely healed. Distantly, Will found this fact troubling, but he couldn't quite grasp the reason. Wandering back to the other side of the bench, he leaned against the fridge and stared at the men opposite. They were arguing telepathically through a private channel—Will could tell by the dark looks Jasper and Lücan were trading. Out of the loop, Will stood there, slowing his breath, slowing his thoughts, at one with the calmness within.

"Well, isn't this cheery," Alründ said, striding in from the back garden. He leaned against the large wooden table and studied Lücan. "Whilst the three of you have been bickering back and forth during Lücan's recovery, I have been considering a new plan to retrieve Jasper's father, and I think it just might work."

Lücan rubbed at his healing skin. "I know where you're going with this. Don't."

"No. I'd like to hear it," said Jasper.

Will would have agreed if he wasn't so calm.

Alründ leaned towards the Head Sepheri. "Lücan, look at you. Every time you return from a bout with the two reapers you take longer to heal, and there is no escaping the fact that it's the transition making you vulnerable. All of your attempts to gain access into The Realm of Shadows have failed. You need back up, a team behind you. The Elder Sepheri might be too fragile, but I am willing, as are Sasha and Theo. And I'm sure that if Will wasn't in a stupor of calm right now, he'd be on board, too."

Will raised his eyebrows, confused by Alründ's last comment.

"Perhaps, now would be the time to take him out of hypnosis?" Alründ whispered.

Lücan shrugged lightly, then said to Will in a soothing tone, Be yourself.

The calmness within Will ebbed away, replaced with a spike of annoyance at being hypnotized so publicly.  "Count me in," he said.

"Ah, and now we have a team," said Alründ. "Nice to have you back, Javü."

"Good to be back," Will replied, then sent Lücan a look of defiance.

"I think your team is one person short," Jasper said, chopping vegetables.

"You?" Alründ raised a brow. "No offence, Jasper, but you would be lucky to survive a second where we are going. Astaria is a hell-hole of epic proportions."

"I don't care if I have to trek through a mountain of shadows. My father is there."

"All the more reason for you to stay away. You're too attached."

Lücan stood gingerly, but his face was as commanding as ever. "I could say the same for you, Alründ. You and your sister have not set foot on your former planet since its downfall. It would break your heart. Sasha's, too."

"Have you ever considered that I want to see it, to witness what it has become with my own eyes?"

Will winced. "Al, I think Lücan's right. It's one thing to see Astaria through one of the globes in the galaxy room, but—"

"I disagree."

"As do I." Jasper leaned his elbows on the bench and began rubbing his tattoo sleeves, but Will doubted the singer really saw the artwork of angels and fire on his arms. Lately, Jasper was in a constant state of worry, a mood that dominated his once airy spirit. His voice cracked, as he said, "If Alründ and Sasha don't go on this mission there is no team, and my father is as good as dead."

"I will concede that I have failed," Lücan said, "but let it be known that no one has ever succeeded in rescuing anyone from a reaper's Realm of Shadows, and I have tried many times over the course of my life."

"But there have been survivors, people who have lived to tell the tale?" Will asked.

"Those survivors were released by a reaper, one not from my lifetime. If we were to go to Astaria, we'd be lucky to make it as far as the realm's entrance."

"When do we leave?" Alründ said, twirling a blade in his hand.

Lücan walked past the barstools, twirling the same blade Alründ had been twirling a second before. Will still didn't know how Lücan could disarm someone so quickly. Lücan cleared his throat. "In the morning. That should give you enough time to rethink this foolish quest. It will also coincide with the school's work experience week, which will work to our benefit. No one will notice Sasha and Will's absence, as they are working for me. Fortunately, Marianne convinced Ash to take her placement at Jasper's coffee shop, so she will be protected while we are away."

"Shite," Jasper said. "I forgot Ash is doing work experience. So I'm really not going?"

"Correct. You will be much more useful guarding Ash."

"At least Ash can cook," said Will. "You can have a break from baking."

"Ha. I don't think you're the best judge of that," Jasper said, stirring his casserole on the hotplate. "If someone peeled an onion they'd be a good cook in your eyes."

As Will had never peeled an onion it was probably true. "Hardly."

"Don't lie. You've never peeled an onion."

Alründ rolled his eyes, then looked to the Head Sepheri. "I assume that we will be leaving for the mission at dawn?"

Lücan paused, then nodded.

"Shall I fill Marianne in on the details?" Alründ asked.

"Yes. Speaking of which, nightshift at Marianne's starts in ten minutes. I hope you take better care of your weapons whilst you are guarding Ash, and when we are faced with the shadolins of Astaria." The blade flew from his fingers, twanging as it stabbed the table, millimeters from Alründ's hand. Will and Jasper jumped a little, but Alründ pulled his blade from the table and strode haughtily from the room—probably collecting more weapons for the impending nightshift.

Will was thankful not to have the nightshift. It was a shift created two weeks ago, after Alründ had reported an issue with Ash's reoccurring dream. Her dream was becoming more disturbing, more detailed, and Lücan had quickly agreed that a Sepheri with strong telepathy should be posted near her bedroom window. That Sepheri was Alründ, and he complained about it constantly. Supposedly, it was dull work, spending the course of the night checking the perimeters of her house. He was lucky to catch a glimpse of Ash's cat or a possum crawling across a powerline. Seeing an actual person was rare. Seeing shadolins in the shadows...that never happened. Being inside Ash's mind every night, Will never heard any complaints about that. In truth, Will was secretly jealous that he couldn't guard her by day and by night.