Amaya's vision quickly faded to black. Within moments, she was standing next to Spade and Jasper again. "How did I fall asleep again?" She asked herself.

"You're not asleep genius," Jasper pointed out with a deadpan stare.

"Oh umm...of course. What was I thinking?" Amaya nervously laughed as she scratched the back of her neck.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure you read that sign correctly." A man with futuristic armor and an advanced weapon walked over."Hurry along now, only ten minutes left. And I'm sure you want to get to the bank before it closes." The man then closed his mouth as quick as it had opened and looked as if he wanted to punch himself.

"How did you kn-" Jasper started before he was interrupted by the mystery man.

"Don't ask, I don't have time to explain. The name's Riz by the way," he said flashing a smile that showed off his pearly white teeth. A few locks of blue hair stuck out from underneath his helmet.

Or I guess you could call it a helmet. It only covered his eyes and nose. If they had been uncovered, Riz would have been the type of guy that Amaya would fangirl over, and one spade would crush on silently.

He had a mysterious aura about him, it really made you think. Thinking was something they didn't have much time for at the moment.

"Catch ya later Riz," Jasper said grabbing both Spade and Amaya's hands and dragging them away. Apparently he was the only one able to form words. He had to admit, though. He was a good looking man.

But sheesh, Amaya and spade were practically foaming at the mouth.

As the children walked together to the bank, Riz went back to making his rounds. Every few minutes or so, he was seen pointing his him at random things as if he was going to shoot something...or someone.

She couldn't help but snicker.

They entered the bank. Their hands shook out of nervousness. The fact that every head whipped in their direction when they stepped in didn't help.

A few of the people in the overcrowded bank turned their noses up toward the ceiling. It was as if they weren't good enough to be in the bank.

"Jeez, the air clearer up there?" Spade muttered, her eyes turning into piercing slits.

People. You get absolutely filthy and for some reason, they think you're lower class. What's the world coming to?

Amaya felt like making a u-turn and leaving the uppity bank. She didn't like being the center of attention, especially when it was a bad thing. Contradicting popular belief, all publicity is not good publicity.

"Maybe we should leave..." she piped up.

"No way!" Jasper said frowning. "We've come all this way and I am not going home without some serious dough in my pockets."

Spade also had a reply, "Grow a pair and get in line. You're both embarrassing me." She said flatly.

As minutes passed, the sounds of change clinking together could be heard throughout the whole room. The smell of fresh Benjamin's wafted. Low muttering of transactions being discussed covered any silent moments.

The ambiance was a little too fancy for Amaya's liking. The crystal chandelier was overkill. Semi-nervous chill bumps made their way to Amaya's neck. The only bank she had ever been to was a nice cutesy one; she had gotten a scrumptious strawberry cupcake on the way out. But this one...was different.

The atmosphere was stiff. The whole place just had a snobby, stuffish feel to it.

And wouldn't you know it, Jasper just had to tick somebody off. Trying to crane his neck to see all the customers, he bumped into the short, surly man in front of them.

"Watch it, you ignorant twat! You're going to wrinkle my bloody suit jacket!" He said in a slight British accent. You could tell He wasn't from Britian, he just sounded like he lived there long enough to pick up an attitude.

"Whoa, sorry dude," Jasper said  trying unsuccessfully to smoother wrinkles in the man's jacket.

"Shoo off home!" The man spat. His lip snarled in a menacing way as he scowled down at the three children. He reeked of tuna for some reason. Ew. "Stupid kid."

Jasper stayed silent, as did Amaya and Spade. There really was no response. 'No', probably wouldn't have sufficed.

As the minutes ticked by, people left with bags of money varying in sizes. People came in to be greeted with the sweet torture of waiting in line.

Finally, the kids were up.

The teller looked at them with a strained smile. She looked quite young, but she had wrinkles in places women of her age shouldn't. She must be stressed, dealing with a steady flow of people day in day out, it must put a strain on a person.

"How can I be of service today?" She asked warmly, her voice was rather small. If you weren't listening with your full attention, you would miss it all together.

"We have some gemstones that we would like to exchange." Amaya said peeking from behind Jasper. She hated being shorter than him, but it wasn't anything she could change. Unless of course, she socked him and he doubled over.

Jasper, as if waiting for Amaya's cue, let the gemstones fall onto the counter with a clatter.

The teller leaned closer, they could now read that her name was Opal. It was etched on the small name plate stuck on her pinstriped jumpsuit.

"These look nice," Opal grabbed up one of the stones, she examined it closely. "A fine natural cut..." she continued, her pupils dilating.

The final test was up, Opal had to use a sharp implement (it didn't really matter what kind) to try and scratch the gemstone. If it was diamond, the tool wouldn't scratch it.

Unfortunately for our favorite trio, the long, slender knife cut straight through the 'gemstones'.

Opal, Amaya, Spade, and Jasper all stared wide eyed. "What the-" Amaya started. She was quickly interrupted by a shrill alarm blaring.

Apparently, in the children's confusion, Opal had sounded the banks alarm. She sent off an alert that guards all around would hear.

"No this is all a misunderstanding!" Amaya said raising her voice.

"Tell it to our ruler." Opal said scowling.

At that moment two guards bursted through the banks double doors. One of which, was Riz.

She awoke with a start. Her heart beating quickly. She was being jostled around.

"What's happening?" She mumbled. She looked around her room, there was various bottle of medicine on her nightstand. A bad of frozen peas lay next to her head.

"You fainted honey, just what I need right about now." Her mom replied, she had mumbled the last part so Amaya wouldn't hear it. Her mom's eyes were redder than when she had last seen them, her voice small and strained. A sorrowful, downtrodden look made it's home on her face.

Amaya heard it anyway and winced. Not in pain, but at the fact she was always a burden on her parents. It was most likely her fault that her dad left. He probably had a new family that was much better. One that didn't have a little freak girl that slept all hours of the day.

"I-I'm sorry," she started. She was tackled in a warm hug. It felt nice; It felt warm, and happy. But she knew, there was nothing but sorrow and despair to come.

In both of her homes.