I look up at the slowly darkening sky. We spent the whole day at the festival and still didn't get to one thing I was really looking forward to.
~
The young girl looked up at her father with pleading eyes. They were at the Summer Festival and the girl had one thing in mind.

"Can we go visit Shahara, Daddy?" She asks the tall, skinny man that stood beside her. Shahada was the fortune teller that was never wrong. He takes a look down at his daughter and nods, smiling a sweet smile.

"Only if you promise Daddy something." He says. The girl tilts her head in questioning. "You have to always be my little girl." The girl giggles and makes the promise as they head for the green and purple tent set up near the center of the festival.
~

Kam pokes my cheek and I snap back to reality.

"Silly, did you hear what I said?" I shake my head. "We're here at the fortune teller's!" I look up at the large purple and green tent. The only thing that changed about Shahara's tent was the size. Instead of the normal sized entertainment tent it was eight years ago when I came with my father, it now was taller and covered more ground.

Scarlet, Izzy, Kam, and I all walk inside. I take a look around. We walked into a large sitting room decorated in a sort of Indian style, like the ones I see in pictures back in my history books. With long tapestries and exotic rugs.

"Alright, what order do we go in?" Scarlet asks us.

"How about you, me, Kam, then Emmy?" Izzy suggests. We all nod and wait for Shahara to come out of her room. After a few minutes of waiting, an elder woman wearing a bright colored dress walks out from a curtains of beads that hang in a doorway.

She smiles at us and says,"Who's first?"

One by one, we go inside the room Shahara tells our fortunes. Scarlet comes out excited and happier than ever, Izzy walks out casually but I can see she wasn't very happy, and Kam walked out with a smirk and his hands shoved in his pockets. Which means it's my turn.

Shahara walks out and motions me forward. I stand and walk up the few steps. The room was larger than I expected. Scarves and curtains of all colors hung all around the room. In the middle of the room was a small bonfire surrounded by the biggest pillows I have ever seen. All across the room are different ways of telling fortunes. In one corner a desk sat with a deck of cards on top, in another was a crystal orb that glowed despite the near dimness of the room. Different things I have rarely seen are scattered around the room as well. Each placed a good distance from each other.

"Follow me." the elder woman says as she leads me to a table up in the northern part of the tent. She motions for me to sit as she goes to the other side to sit in a throne-like seat.

"I have seen you here before, have I not?" I nod. "Good, good. So you're not very nervous I hope. You know how this works?"

"Yes I do. My father was interested into this sort of thing." I say. She stares into my eyes for a minute but she adverts her gaze to something in the room. I turn and look in the same direction. The shimmering lines zoom into my vision and form a transparent figure. Quickly, I turn my head back to Shahara. She's writing on a piece of paper. I had a feeling I knew what was coming. She flipped the paper to face me.

"What do you see in this picture?" she asks, her face emotionless.

"A swallowtail butterfly." I answer her. But that's not was really on the sheet of paper. Instead she had written: I see you have contacts in. What color are your real eyes?

"What color?" she asked, going along with what I had said to cover up the fact she meant my eyes. I knew it's okay to tell Shahara. Everyone told her everything and she would never tell a soul.

I pretend to look closely at the 'picture' and say,"Blue. An icey blue."

"Great. Follow me to the bones please." She leads me to the small bonfire in the middle of the room and picks up a small platter with four small bones placed on it. "Pick the one that calls to you, child."

My father told me how to do this. I close my eyes and place a hand a few inches above the first bone. There's no connection so I move my hand to the second. Again, no connection. I move to the third and feel my hand begin to radiate heat. Opening my eyes, I pick up the bone off the platter and hold it out to her. She smiles and takes it from me before tossing it into the fire, sparks shooting up as the tiny flames engulf the bone. Pure silence falls between us. Suddenly, crack! One crack after another until, once again, silence falls over us.

"What was said?" I look to Shahara.

"Emeline, your father wishes to warn you. Danger is in store for you and your friend who came here last. Keep him with you. He's more important to you than you think. Same with you to him. You're the key to each other's survival. Got it?" She looks me dead in the eyes. without warning, she reaches into the fire. When her hand comes out, I can see the chain of a necklace in her completely unharmed hand.

"This was from your father. Hold it close to you. No one else can have it." I hold out my hand and she places the necklace in my hand. When I look down at it, my head seems to spin. On the chain is a sapphire the height of a dime yet as an oval connected to a marble white framing with lines of black and grey that give the impression of it being shattered. I run my finger along it just to realize I have felt this before. It was made of the bone Shahara had tossed into the fire. I unhook the silver chain and rehook it in the back, allowing the charm to rest just under my collarbone.

I stand to leave but a hand catches my wrist and Shahara pulls me just to where she can whisper in my ear.

"Watch out. Eyes and ears are everywhere. You're in more danger than you think. But a few surprises wait in your future. I don't want to spoil it for you but let me just say, not all surprises lead to bad things for you Emeline." And with that she lets me go.

Scarlet, Izzy, and Kam all wait for me in the sitting room. Several other people have taken seats as well and I notice more than a few girls are admiring Kam. Not that he notices. He's too busy being lost in his own world. I wonder if he knows about our 'danger' as well. Scarlet looks up at me and stands with Izzy.

"Took about time! Come on, they're doing the fireworks soon!" Scarlet yanks Kam out of his chair and we all follow her outside. The sky has darkened even more now and I notice only a slip of the sun remains on the horizon.

Scarlet leads us to the old cherry blossom tree on the hill, just at the edge of the festival grounds. This is where we sit every year during the Summer Festival. We sit on the large, overgrown roots that pop out of the ground near the trunk of the tree. Most cherry blossom trees aren't this big but we like it more this way. It's like they somehow managed to cross a cherry blossom tree with an oak.

Silence falls over the entire festival as a single rocket shoots up into the air, followed by another and than another. And one by one they explode into glorious patterns of light and color. I stare up in awe. Beside me I hear Scarlet cheering and Izzy trying to get her to stay silent. Kam doesn't need to be told to be silent. I look at him to see he's off in his own world again. Sometimes I wonder what goes through his head.

~*~

Trapped. I'm trapped somewhere. But I don't know where because I can't see. Oh wait, my eyes are closed. I open them to see I'm in a glass box, surrounded by figures on the opposite side. I recognize them all. Izzy, Scarlet, Kam, and everyone else I met in my life. They all looked at me, curious as to what I was doing in that glass box. A sound fills my ears. Someone had lit a match. I turn all around and see a trail of gasoline at the feet of everyone. Please no. Please, God no! I try to scream at everyone to move. But they can't hear my screams. I see a single spark in the corner of my eye before the whole world around me is set ablaze. All the people I love, I see burning before me. I scream as loud as I can and I hear the sound of glass break.

"Emeline, did you have another bad dream?" I open my eyes to see my father sitting next to me. We're under the tree near the festival and I'm a young girl again. I nod and feel tears fall down my face. My father pats me on the head and sits me on his lap. I hug him as best as I can with my small, eight-year-old arms. He holds me close.

"You know, Daddy won't be here to hold you like this forever Emeline. You'll have to find someone else to comfort you." I look up at him in shock.

"Don't say that!" I nearly shout. He smiles sadly and laughs. He turns me around and we see the beautiful lights of the festival below.

"Emeline, protect the people you love. Guard them with your life." He tells me. The world goes black and Shahara's voice echoes through my head.

"You're the key to each other's survival."

I wake up with a gasp and frantically look around me. I'm back in my room. My father was never really here. Neither is anyone else. Mom and my siblings were at my mom's friend's house for the night while I insisted in staying home. I sit up in my bed and sigh deeply.

Before I get too comfortable I see something move in my vision. My bed sheet is slowly being dragged to the floor. But before I can see what the shimmering lights that have appeared in my vision outline, the covers above me fly off. I try to scream but I feel a hand over my mouth and some more holding my hands and feet. Shimmering lines fly everywhere and outline figures of people. I struggle against them. I manage to get my left foot free and kick the attacker at my feet away. As my feet fall to the ground, I kick them up and manage to flip up to kick my second attacker in the face. My hands are released and I run to my father's sword on its shelf in the entry hall.

Taking it in my hand, I'm glad I chose to join sword fighting instead of art. The lines outline the figures once again and I see them come closer. With a simple move, I cut into the smaller one's arm. It flinches away and I turn to cut into the second. The sword flies across it's chest and the figure lets out a scream before fading away.

I feel a sharp pain across my arm and turn to find the first figure had somehow cut into my arm with a dagger that was also transparent and simply outlined with shimmering lines. I make a quick move and slice into it. The first disappears as quickly as the second attacker I had already killed. I stand there for a moment and look at the sword. I know there are going to be more sent. I have to leave.

I rush out the door after packing a few things in my bag along with my Dad's sword. Running down the street, I look all around me to make sure I'm not being followed. I go up to Kam's house and knock on the door frantically. Knowing Kam, he's still awake at this hour. My theory is proven correct when Kam opens the door.

"Huh? Emmy, what is it? Why don't you have your contacts on in public?!" He stares at me like I'm making a death wish.

"Kam, pack anything you need. We have to run. And for Pete's sake, put on a shirt!"

&C& -A- ~M~ *D* :I: ~*S*~

What is this?! A surprise update?! Sorta.

Anyway I decided to update now due to the amazing news that Different is Action #156 and Adventure #219 (as of now)!! To me, this is amazing and I cannot thank you guys enough!

Also, I came across something in the comments of chapter 2. Apparently two fans of Different have made an official Ship between Kam and Emeline. Kemmy.

I don't know wether to laugh my head off or facepalm repeatedly.

Vote, comment, and follow me if you are not already! Love you all!!! <3

~Mkat