Meanwhile Douxie was looking around for Makayla. He needed to talk with her about what he found while looking through the library.

A few minutes before class, Douxie spotted Makayla walking to class with Jake and her new friends. That's when he made his move.

"There you are, Light-Bulb." Douxie said. "Can I speak with you?"

"Uh, sure Doux." Makayla said.

"Privately?" Douxie emphasized, giving Jake a dark glare.

"Oh, sure thing." Makayla said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Okay, see you around." Mars said with a smile, before walking off with the others.

But Jake stayed behind as he watched Douxie and Makayla walking off together. And something didn't sit right with him.

Feeling his own suspicions and curiosity taking over, Jake quietly followed the other two siblings to see what the boy wizard had to say to her.

______

The two magical siblings stopped when they were in an empty classroom. Douxie looked around, before shutting the door and turning his attention to his sister.

"Okay, what did you need to talk about?" Makayla asked.

"You might not like it, Nora." Douxie said.

"Just tell me." Makayla said, sounding impatient. "You know I can handle it."

"Okay then." Douxie said, before taking a deep breath. "It's about your. . . other brother."

"You mean Jake?" Makayla said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, your other brother." Douxie repeated.

Jake managed to catch-up with them just as he heard that. He gasped quietly as he was mentioned and decided to listen in more. He wanted to know what Douxie was thinking about him.

"Okay, what is it this time?" Makayla sighed.

"I found something that might be of use." Douxie said. "Better yet, I may have finally figured out what's up with him."

"You're too paranoid, Doux." Makayla said. "Jake is just another normal guy, as far as I can tell."

"Then you haven't been blessed with the monumental truth." Douxie said, as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the grinmoire he found. "And that truth. . . is in this book."

"What is that?" Makayla asked. "And where did you get it?"

"I got it from the library." Douxie said. "From the restricted section."

"There's a restricted section in the library?" Makayla said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I was surprised as well." Douxie said. "But enough of that. Check it out."

Douxie then handed the book to Makayla for her to read through. She took a moment to look through it. And when she finished, she closed the book and looked back at Douxie.

"Isn't that strange?" Douxie said. "A human marrying a vampire?"

"Well. . . that is pretty strange." Makayla said. "But it's nothing to be worried about, right? We've encountered stranger things before."

"But the vampire's last name is 'Moon'." Douxie said. "Kind of like another person we know."

"Jake?" Makayla asked in confusion. "His last name is-"

"And the name at the end." Douxie said. "It's 'Jakus Moon'. Pretty close to your other brother's name, if I do say so myself."

"Or maybe Jake has a secret twin brother with a similar name?" Makayla guessed. "This doesn't necessarily point to Jake being suspicious. Wait. . . why do you care anyway?"

"Cause I've had my eye on him for a while." Douxie admitted. "Why do you think I came to work at your school? So I can keep a close eye on Jake, that's why."

"Oh, not this again. . ." Makayla face-palmed. "This is because of your heightened magical senses, huh?"

"Trust me, I know dark magic when I sense it." Douxie said.

"Is it a side effect of the dark curse?" Makayla asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Cause all of that could still be messing with your head."

"No, it's not that." Douxie said. "I genuinely felt that something was wrong."

"You know that still could be anything, right?" Makayla said.

"Why are you always so quick to stand up for that guy?" Douxie asked angrily. "I'm telling you that there's a chance that he's a dangerous being and you're not taking it seriously!"

"No, you're the one who's not being serious." Makayla snapped. "You're too focused on finding the source of the 'dark magic', when you still don't even know of your senses are right."

"Well, they're never wrong." Douxie said.

"Since when?" Makayla asked. "You've had these abilities the whole time or something? And just now, it's picking something up? I'm not following your logic, Doux."

"You're just gonna have to trust me." Douxie said.

"How can I trust you when you have no real proof of anything?" Makayla asked. "That book is probably outdated anyway. There's no way that-"

"If it was outdated, then why have it in the library?" Douxie asked.

"It was in the restricted section, correct?" Makayla asked. "Clearly, no one was meant to see it."

"But. . ." Douxie tried to say something, but Makayla put her hand up.

"I'm done listening to your rambling." Makayla said. "Unless you have some solid proof of your claim, I don't want to hear anymore."

"Why do you insist so much on protecting Jake?" Douxie asked. "He's only an adopted brother that the big blue-headed alien found on the front porch."

"Well, I just feel like I've known him for a long time." Makayla said. "In my eyes, he was my *first* brother."

"Oh, cut the crap, Nora!" Douxie snapped. "You've already come to terms of me being your real brother. He just came out of nowhere!"

"Well, at least he didn't shut me out my whole life!" Makayla snapped.

Douxie was taken back by that statement. He didn't know how to respond to that.

Makayla had instantly realized what she said and sighed. "Doux. . . I didn't mean-"

"Save it." Douxie said. "Clearly, you don't realize the urgency of the situation."

"But I'm sorry." Makayla said. "I shouldn't have-"

"Forget it, Nora." Douxie said. "If you're not gonna help me, then I don't need you by my side anymore. I'll find the truth on my own."

Makayla was heartbroken by her wizard brother's words. But she couldn't do anything to convince him of otherwise. She just hung her head and walked away, trying not to cry.

Jake saw Makayla coming to the door and quickly sped away, as to not be seen eavesdropping.

Once she was out of sight, Douxie growled in frustration and began to walk back home.

Once he got back home, he went up to his room and slammed the door in frustration. He was really upset by how things turned out between them.

"Well, at least he didn't shut me out my whole life!"

Douxie growled again as he punched the wall in anger, not caring if he broke his hand. After a few seconds, he took some deep breaths and started to calm down.

At that moment, music began to play and Douxie began to sing:

Douxie: "I can't help it
If I'm a little protective
It's instinct!
Yeah, I'm her brother that's my job
Peep the name, I'm magnificent
I put the "I" in "omnipotent"
I'm passionate, I'm not petulant
Someone praise me for my benevolence!"

"Uh, just look." Douxie said with a nervous chuckle before continuing the song.

Douxie: "I'd give the clothes
off my own back
If you really needed that
I'd be the first one to volunteer
If your home were to crumble
Or if you werе in trouble
I live hеre with you for free
And I don't even pay you rent
I clean up all your messes
And I'm always there
when you need to vent
I give and give and give and give
You'd think they'd all be content
And all I really want
is just a little respect
And this is the thanks I get?
This is the thanks I get?
And this is the thanks I get?
And this is the thanks I get?

"Thank you, Doux."
Ah, that's the least you could say
There's more, admit it
"You're right, and I should've
Listened to you," thanks
See this life?
I built it up
And you still complain?
Ungrateful much?
Mm, are you sure that
you're not the prob?
I'd love to see you try
and do my job, oh-ho!
I helped win the
battle of killahead
Come on, that's a
high achievement
And now you're
questioning your bro?
The disrespect I just underwent
You know I always got your back
Yeah, really though, it's no sweat
Since the day you were born
and the day that we met

And this is the thanks I get?
This is the thanks I get?
And this is the thanks I get?
And this is the thanks I get?"

Douxie then went to his closet and pulled out a spell book and slammed it down on the table and flipped through the pages.

Douxie: "I didn't wanna do this
I swore I'd never do this
But I'm hypnotized
By how these pages flip
'Cause I refuse to have
my power stripped
A potion, a spell,
a summon, a curse?
Anything to make
that light reverse
To this book,
I don't wanna be tethered,
but desperate times call
For desperate measures"

"Brr, where was I?" Douxie asked himself, snapping back into reality. "Oh, yeah"

Douxie: "There's a
monster in this town
And still I remain unbent
Come out now, explain yourself
I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding
Well, whoever finds them first
Now, that's some time well spent
Honestly, keeping you
Safe should be worth every cent
And this is the thanks I get?
This is the thanks I get?
And this is the thanks I get?
This is the thanks I get?
Oh, this is the thanks I get?"

When the song was over, Douxie was breathing hard in anger. But he managed to calm down once again and sit down on his bed.

But little did he know, was that someone had been following him and was watching him through his window. It was the same hooded figure from the library, but already revealed as Natalie Heartstrings.

She chuckled to herself as she left the window and made her way back down the fire escape.

Song is a parody of "This is the thanks I get?!" from the Disney movie "Wish"

Makayla/Nora belongs to makaylaLight435

Tales of Arcadia belongs to DreamWorks

All rights reserved