•Azure•

I stood across from The Grind Cafe. From what I'd gathered it seemed like a regular school hang out. The parking lot was filled with teenagers loitering. There was the occasional family going into the restaurant, but the majority of the people were loud, carefree high schoolers.

I closed my eyes, blocking out the noise. My brain was relaying my mission and all the new elements I needed to account for. Specifically, this new development of a temporary truce was complicated. I didn't trust Cerise, but this was a way for me to keep an eye on her while completing my objective.

I would like to think that Cerise trying to kill Blaine, would absolutely ensure that he would never align with her. But Cerise was smart, and I would be a fool to underestimate her.

I was standing by a large, gnarly tree. It provided cool shade from the warm California sun. I was waiting for Cerise to show up so we could discuss how we would explain things to Blaine.

Cerise and I were forced to be somewhat civil now- but we were on thin ice. I couldn't say that I despised being civil with her, but I also knew that this wouldn't last.

"I could've killed you just now."

I jumped slightly at the almost regretful voice, my eyes shooting open.

I looked sharply to my right to see Cerise walking up to me. Her pink lips were pulled down into a disapproving frown as she shook her head.

"You didn't even notice someone approaching," she stopped at my side, amber irises swirling. "You could at least make it more of a challenge. I'm clearly not taking steps to kill you- have the decency to put some sort of defense up! Might as well write my intentions on my forehead."

She muttered the last statement to herself, almost as if she was wrestling with her decision to keep me alive.

"Is that not what we agreed on?" I pressed. Truthfully, I had no doubt she went back and forth on her decision to align with me.

"It is," she confirmed looking distant, "But this would've been too easy."

My mind seemed to go blank as the situation began to process. She really could have taken me out for good. I was surprised that I didn't sense her presence prior. I must have been really lost in thought. To be honest though, I was more surprised that she didn't kill me.

"I'm going to regret not severing your head from your body the next time I meet you on the battlefield," she sighed.

I straightened, not letting her see the realization running through me.

"Cerise, you never fail to charm me."

"Hmph," she hummed.

"So why didn't you kill me?" I couldn't help but ask.

She glanced up at me with a quirked brow.

"I mean it was a prime opportunity to take me out," I continued. "It would have offered you a multitude of advantages."

She stared at me for a second, the frown she wore deepened. Her amber irises seemed to flicker in something like discontent, before her mental shield flew up making her look dangerously aloof.

"I made a deal with you. I honor my word." Her voice was stern and at the same time it was vicious, like she was threatening me not to question her honor.

I furrowed my brows in interest. My assumption seemed to actually matter to her. When I found her, she was trying to murder Blaine. The side she fought for was tied to various controversial actions. How much honor could they actually have over there?

"Intriguing, they have honor on your side?"

Cerise's amber eyes darkened, "As surely as your side falsifies it."

I tensed, feeling a certain defensiveness bloom in my chest. "There is no faking honor. You can't turn it on and off."

She scoffed, "There is if you fool yourself into thinking you have honor. Delusion is the most dangerous type of corruption."

"I'd have to disagree."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Her fists were clenched at her side, and her jaw was locked. I glared down at her as she glared up at me. The tension crackling between us was almost tangible.

We seemed to realize at the same time that we were about to fight. We both looked away from each other to avoid the near conflict. We couldn't afford to fight now, best behaviors were required for our meeting with Blaine.

We had been close to fighting this entire day. When all you knew what to do with someone was fight, it was hard to suddenly get along.

A truce with the brunette was very odd to say the least. I never never knew if she was going to try and stab me in one moment or cooperate in the next. She would no doubt be trying to kill me after this meeting, but we made a deal to do this together. We both wanted a fair chance to talk with Blaine and until that happened we had a peace agreement...and all things considered it seemed she was keeping her word.

"Have you seen any Umbra?" Cerise questioned suddenly.

Umbra. The thought of the grotesque creatures sent my senses on high alert. They were beastly and lethal and not something I wanted to deal with, but there absence was leaving me disquieted.

"No, I haven't. You?"

Cerise shook her head. "They must be close though. I mean with both of us in the same area for a whole day..."

I nodded in agreement, "They should be attacking soon."

The silence that followed my statement was contemplative. We both knew it was strange that neither of us had sensed or seen any Umbra, but no one wanted to state the obvious quite yet.

At that moment I felt a familiar tingle in my spine. I exchanged a glance with Cerise.

Blaine was here.

Now that his signature wasn't being covered by his crystal, it was transforming to function like ours. For us not to sense Blaine, he'd have to learn how to cover it.

I searched outside the cafe, and saw Blaine walking along the cobblestone sidewalk that led to the restaurant door. He ran a hand through his blonde hair as he glanced around. I could tell he was nervous- he was fidgeting as he looked for us.

"Umbra will have to wait," I muttered to Cerise. "So how do we want to do this?"

Cerise shrugged, her eyes following Blaine. "He's going to have questions, I say we just let him ask and we answer."

"Ok." It seemed like a good enough place to start. I did have one suggestion though. "But can we try not to down talk each other's sides? I think it'll help us avoid arguments."

Cerise's lips pulled up in a smirk. Her eyes flashed in wicked satisfaction.

"What?" She goaded. "Are you worried I might reveal too much truth about your side?"

I bit back a response.

We couldn't fight right now.

Instead I gave her a long look. She stubbornly glared up at me for a few more seconds, before she looked away and sighed in resignation.

"Fine."

I let my shoulders relax, "Alright. Let's do this."

•••

The restaurant was what I would describe as quirky. It had random artwork on the walls and dim lighting coming from antique like chandeliers. The furniture was old and hipster looking, but gave the room a warm vibe.

Our server glanced at us after setting down three drinks. Cerise and I just got water while Blaine ordered some brown drink I'd never heard of. I didn't pay much attention to the menu, my mind was focused on the task at hand.

"Can I get you guys anything else?"

There was a small spell of silence with no one replying. It took me a moment to realize the server was waiting for a verbal response.

Cerise was paying no attention to the server, while Blaine seemed overwhelmed by the looming conversation.

"I think we're good, thank you," I smiled politely.

She nodded and turned around leaving us to our awkward confrontation. If she noticed the weird tension around us, she didn't show it.

We got a booth in the far corner of the restaurant for some privacy, but also where people could see us. Cerise and I were on one side of the booth facing a conflicted looking Blaine. His brown eyes shifted from left to right, and he kept running a hand through his blonde locks.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," I began. It felt backwards to do introductions now, but it still felt necessary to me or at least it was a place to start.

"My name is Azure and this is-

"Cerise," Cerise said shortly. Her tone indicated that she thought an introduction was in fact unnecessary. I shot her a glance before turning back to Blaine.

"-We come from a place called Akai and have been sent to find well you."

"We know you have questions," Cerise continued. "Now is your time to ask and we promise to answer." She then took a long sip of her water and sat back in the booth chair.

Blaine looked at us skeptically. I couldn't really blame him for being tense. His brown orbs were carefully cautious and I could see him weighing his options in his head. There was part of him that seemed to accept the reality before him, but another part seemed to be fighting against it.

"So you were both sent to find me..." he repeated slowly, "To kill me? But now you both don't want to?" His eyes flickered to me in question.

"We were sent to obtain the Fifth Crystal," Cerise cleared her throat, drawing Blaine's attention. "Which is you. There were different ways to go about that, but now that you've awakened your crystal things are different."

"I don't understand what that means," Blaine crossed his arms. "Fifth Crystal? How is that- what does that even..."

He trailed off, as uncertainty seemed to flood through him. This was a hard truth to accept of himself. I was starting to understand what part of him was fighting against all that he'd witnessed. It was the part of Blaine that had to realize, he wasn't human. In fact this human reality wasn't his.

"Maybe it would help if we explained a little more about where we come from," I offered, hoping to add some clarity to the situation.

Blaine frowned as his brows furrowed, "You said...Akai. You guys come from Akai." He paused in thought. "Where the hell is that?"

This was kinda hard to explain. Especially to someone who's only knowledge of the universe was Earth. I looked to Cerise for some help. She was already looking at me though, and just shrugged as if to say: good luck explaining this one. I didn't know why I expected different.

I turned back to Blaine. "Well it's...going to sound strange, but it's not exactly a place anyone can go to."

"What do you mean?"

I folded my hands on the table, trying to think of the best way to explain Akai. "It's another realm, almost like a reflection of Earth. It has a lot of the same elements like provinces, businesses, leaders."

Blaine nodded slowly his eyes glancing between us curiously, "If you're from the same...realm, why are you two fighting against one another?"

I shrugged, "Well like the world you know, our realm is filled with different zones and regions. We're just from different parts."

Cerise laughed, "Yea if I had to guess, Azure's probably from some pompous, prestigious rich province. Where everyone sounds like a snob."

"Right," I scoffed, "And Cerise is probably from the criminal underworld where lying, cheating, and stealing are rights of passage."

I turned to glower at her and she met my stare tenfold. It always felt like we were constantly on the edge of boiling over into an argument.

Not yet I reminded myself.

"There are just a few differences between our worlds," I said wrenching my gaze away from Cerise. At the same time she went back to fidgeting with her paper straw.

Blaine pursed his lips in thought, "Like the fact that you two can wield those crystal things?"

"We're actually some of the few that can," Cerise noted. She stopped playing with the paper straw in her drink, her eyes lifting to his. "You're one of the few too."

"So what are you implying?" His orbs narrowed, "You're saying that I'm from this realm?"

"I am," Cerise nodded, "And you are."

Blaine shook his head as his earlier defenses fell back into place. I could see the moment his brain rejected the information.

"This is...insane and ridiculous. I'm not from some magical realm. I've grown up here my whole life and always lived a normal average existence-"

"You never met your father correct?" Cerise interrupted.

Blaine's eyes widened as they shifted to her- suspicion falling over his features.

"How did you know-"

"Ever met a grandparent? Heard of them? Seen pictures?"

"Cerise," I interjected, noting the panic starting to grow in Blaine's expression.

"What about just another relative?" She continued, ignoring me completely.

"I-" Blaine stammered, "It's always just been my mom and I. So what? Lots of people have small families."

"What hospital were you born in?"

"Coastal," he stated firmly.

"Ever seen a picture of your mom in that hospital? Surely someone had to be there. Friend, boyfriend, father." She pressed, "What about documentation of your birth here? Ever seen that?"

"You're proving nothing," Blaine shot back as he sat forward. "My mother is bad at keeping track of those types of things. And she works a lot, so she doesn't really make time for friends. She didn't have any siblings and she never knew her parents."

Even though Blaine was standing firm on what he knew, I could see doubt begin to cripple in as he spoke.

"You're proving nothing," he stated again, but it almost seemed like he was saying it more to himself.

"Maybe not," Cerise allowed, but there was a certain preconceived look in her eyes. I recognized it from battles I'd had with her. It was the look she got when her opponent had fallen right into her trap.

"But are you going to blatantly ignore the fact that you summoned yellow crystals the other night? That you experienced the power within you?" Cerise rose a knowing brow, "That's not something someone from Earth can do."

Blaine went quiet.

His chocolate irises seemed to dim as his focus stuck on Cerise. He swallowed hard before slumping back against the booth while his gaze fell away to the table in front of him.

I was sure there was nothing short of a war waging in his mind. This would be a lot for anyone to take.

I looked to Cerise pointedly and sighed, "Maybe you could handle this with a little more gentleness."

"He's not a baby," she looked to me sharply, "I'm not here to pull punches. Sometimes the best way to give someone the truth, is to hit them with it."

"How about showing a little compassion?"

"I thought I had you for that," she commented snidely.

I sighed, "I'm just saying you could be more understanding."

"Are you telling me what to do?" Cerise glowered.

I gave her a wolfish grin, "What does that bother you?"

"Hell of a lot," she spat through gritted teeth.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you weren't so volatile."

"What and waste more time?" She scowled, "I'm just practicing efficiency- not that I'd expect you to know anything about that."

"Efficiency?" I challenged, "Does that pretty much just translate to murder for you?"

Cerise opened her mouth to retort when our server popped up again at our table.

"How are we doing over here?"

I'm pretty sure Cerise literally bit her tongue to keep quiet as she crossed her arms and faced forward in the booth.

When I glanced at Blaine he just looked wide eyed and unsure.

"We're good," I nodded at the server, "Thank you."

She gave us a smile and walked off quickly. I was glad she wasn't interested in our business, I was almost positive it was clear that things were the opposite of good.

Silence fell over us once again after the server left. I took a moment to refocus on my objective before speaking.

I shifted my attention to Blaine, noting that his eyes now held a murky turmoil.

"Look I know this is a lot to digest," I started, "Your perception of life is changing and that needs time to settle. We're willing to give you any information you might want."

Blaine kept his eyes downcast, but it was as if a shade was over them as his brain processed. There must be thousands of questions rampaging through him.

"Does this mean my mother would know about all of...this?" He asked suddenly.

His gaze flickered back up to us, a certain trepidation on his face.

I glanced at Cerise for the answer. From what Vienna told me, and the reports I'd seen, nothing indicated Blaine's mother had knowledge of their true origin. For whatever reason, both Blaine and his mother ended up on Earth with zero awareness of where they came from.

The leading conclusion was that somebody from our world placed them here, wiping any memory they had of Akai. However the evidence was slim.

Cerise was the only one out of the two of us that really got to observe Blaine's mother here. She'd have the most accurate picture.

She shook her head though, "No. From what I've gathered your mother has no clue."

Blaine breathed out a sigh of relief leaning back against his seat. The relief was short lived however, as his eyes were quick to dart back up to us curiously.

"So how did we end up here?"

"We're not sure," I admitted, "Celestials are powerful and because of that can be targeted by those with ulterior motives."

Blaine rose a brow, "Celestials?"

"That's what they call us," Cerise explained, "Celestials are beings that were born with a gift. We have a Crystal at the center of our hearts, that grants us the ability to summon and wield crystal in the physical world."

Blaine's hand rose to his chest, absentmindedly placing it over his heart.

"How many others have this gift?"

"Six."

As soon as I said it Blaine's eyes grew tenfold in surprise.

"Six?" He repeated, "That's it?"

"Yes, but only five have been discovered. You're the fifth, hence being the Fifth Crystal."

Blaine ran a hand through his hair once more- his messy beach waves were throughly tousled on his head.

"You said you were sent to find me. Why? Why now?"

Cerise shifted next to me. We glanced at each other evenly. It was time to reveal our whole purpose for being here. This was what we had both been waiting for. What we were sent here to do.

Now was the time to convince Blaine to join my side of the conflict.

"Because we're at war."

Blaine looked at Cerise and I. His brown irises flickered between us as understanding settled on his face.

"You two are at war," he gestured to us.

I nodded in confirmation, "We are on opposing sides of the war. There's the Solar side which I represent, and is led by a woman called Vienna."

"And I represent the Lunar side, led by a man by the name of Onyx," Cerise said, "We will answer any questions you have about our respective sides, but it will be up to you to choose which side to align with."

"And," I cut in sharply, my gaze shooting to her, "We will respect that choice. Whatever it is."

She rolled her eyes but didn't verbally contradict me. She could be annoyed all she wanted, but I wanted to be clear that this choice was Blaine's and that it was a choice not a coerced decision.

"Wait a minute," Blaine interjected. "You want me to join one of your sides, help fight a war in this realm of yours, and basically just pick up my life and leave?"

"This realm is also your home," I reiterated, "And this life was never really where you were supposed to be."

Blaine blinked, now looking bewildered by what was expected of him.

"I'm not leaving here," he shook his head, a disbelieving chuckle escaped him. "I like my life here, and maybe it wasn't where I was born but it's where I belong. This is home now."

"You would turn away an entire world that needs you?" Cerise questioned, her tone disapproving. "Just to be content in a world that isn't yours?"

Blaine grimaced, "Well there's no war here is there?"

"This isn't a joke," I stated my eyes narrowing at him. "Real lives are in danger and this war needs to come to an end."

Blaine, who was no longer looking at us, glanced back our way. He seemed like he was about to retort something that would actually make us mad, but then he saw the seriousness on both our faces.

"The war can only end when all six Celestials have joined the fight," I explained, "We're asking for your help in ending a war that is destroying our home. We need you Blaine."

"If I'm the fifth why can't you just look for the sixth one?" He asked.

"It's like Azure said," Cerise stated, "Until all six Celestials are in, the war will continue to fester, and people will continue to die. Besides we have no clue where the sixth Celestial is, but we do know where you are."

Blaine sighed, his chocolate eyes held conflict. He seemed to be at war with himself. He avoided looking at Cerise and I, his gaze trailing the restaurant.

He then shook his head for a final time.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this." Blaine stood up. "This isn't my fight or where my life is headed. I'm sorry."

He then got out of the booth and made a beeline for the cafe door. He was clearly in a hurry to get away from us. He almost bulldozed over a girl passing by. He mumbled a quick 'excuse me' and continued on towards the door. The ring of the bell sounded as the door opened and closed behind him.