The next morning, was, for a lack of better words, a shit show. Dra woke Dani up early, much earlier than he was used to, even for Mexico. The sun was just touching the horizon, sending red fingers of daylight splitting the dark sky.

"What time is it?" Dani complained groggily, rubbing his eyes with his hands. There was no way that he could be expected to leave this early in the day.

"Four in the morning." Dra informed him, flicking her hand and the wall light turned on.

"Did you just use magic to turn on the lights?" Dani asked. "I didn't know you can do that. Or that Zammi even let you do that."

"No. she doesn't need to know." Dra muttered sullenly. Dani blinked, the annoyance in her voice bitter. "Here," She threw him the cloak as he squinted into the light.

"Why are we getting up so early?" He complained, propping himself up on his elbows.

"The Silver King isn't coming to our house, Dani. We have to go to him." Dra said, and she pulled him up. "Did that not comprehend with you?"

It hadn't, but Dani didn't admit that. "I just thought we were going later, like after breakfast. That's what Zaza said."

"Zaza just said after we ate and got ready." Dra corrected him. "Plus, I need you to help me." She grabbed a tee-shirt and dark jeans from Dani's side of the closet and tossed them too him. "Put these on, and meet me in the bathroom." She hurried out of the room.

Dani groaned, but did as he was told. He combed his fingers through his hair, and went to meet Dra.

When Dani arrived, Dra was staring into the mirror while running the glittering powder through her hair. Drawers where flung open and pallets of makeup lay scattered all across the top of the vanity. To Dani's surprise, the makeup was mostly skin toned and simple. This was plain compared to the extravagant feats that girls at school had worn, like Vivian, who's smoky eye had corresponded to the seasonal trend.

"I would have expected more... bold colors from you." Dani commented.

"That is my pallet for going to into the city." Dra pointed at the ones in the . "This is for official business."

"Do I have to wear any?" Dani teased.

"No. You don't." Dra held up a large brush to her cheeks, and brushed something across her cheekbones. She paused, and smirked at him from the mirror. "Unless you want to."

"I think I'll pass." Dani decided. Dra gave a fake pout, and then grabbed a large brush. A fan brush, Dani remembered from many mornings spent hunting down the right one for Marble. Before Dani could ask what she was doing, she began brushing copious amounts of tanned powder over her neck and chest, covering her vitiligo.

Dani frowned, confused. Dra had never covered her skin before, even when she'd been in Mexico City. She'd always worn her skin proudly. "Why are you trying to blend yourself?" He inquired. "You've never been self-conscious before."

"You haven't known me for very long, Dani." Dra said, picking up a smaller, contour brush. "Don't make judgements just yet."

"It's just, you've never seemed to be so affecting by what you look like before. You've always been so..." Confident is what he wanted to say, because it was true. She'd always had a sort of confidence that Dani had never seen in other girls.

"This isn't the outside world. That's progressive. This is the Silver Court. Not progressive." Dra said, blending the powder with her skin tone.

"So? Maybe you should start making it progressive." Dani suggested. Dra gave a humorless laugh.

"I wish. They'll never accept change without a fight." She looked at Dani's reflection in the mirror. "You'll see."

"Okay. I guess I will." Dani said. "But personally, I think you look better without the powder."

Dani turned and walked back to the bedroom, passing Zammi's on the way. Her door was closed for privacy, but a light glowed from under her door. Once he got to the bedroom, he combed his hair with his fingers again, checking in the mirror. He froze at the person looking back at him. Over the course of a week, Dani's features had sharpened, his cheeks becoming even more accented against his angular face.

"Shit." Dani whispered in shock. He turned, trying to see his profile, a smooth slope with a small nose. "I do look feminine."

***

When Dani went downstairs, careful not to trip over his cloak, Dra was already down there. To Dani's shock, she'd taken off all of the power, and was patiently waiting for him with Zammi.

"You look good Dani." Dra teased as he rolled his eyes. They'd eaten already, judging from the amount of crumbs on the table.

"I think you look better." Dani said, honestly. Dra shrugged causally.

"Why not give the world what they want to see." She said, sounding unconcerned. Dani looks at Zammi, who is wearing the same style clothes as Dra. She rolled her eyes behind her daughter's back, and Dani tried to stifle a smile.

"If you two are done with the banter, we might want to get going." Zammi interrupted, smiling at them fondly.

"Why do we have to go so early in the morning?" Dani asked. "Will anyone be there?"

"Think about the time difference, Dani." Zammi replied.

"What time difference?" Dani inquired. "There's a time difference?"

"Yeah." Dra told him, like it was a simple fact. "There's kinda a large one."

"You didn't tell me that!" Dani hissed in horror.

"Don't worry too much. Only a few hours." Dra said, effectively not calming Dani down.

"Sure." Dani muttered, a little peeved about this.

"Let's get going, then." Zammi said, amused. Then: "Dani, you're wearing the armband." Dani looked down at his arm, when the gold band rested on his left bicep.

"Yeah. I thought it would look good with everything else."

"Well then, I am very happy that you decided to wear it." Zammi said, smiling. "Anyway, we should get to the portal. Before the sun comes fully." She walked out the door, followed by Dra and Dani.

Once they got to the small portal, a village one that everyone used, in the middle of the village, the sun was halfway up the horizon. Zammi ran her fingers over the stones, and Dani suddenly saw white, opalescent scales appear on her skin. Feeling for his own power, Dani teased out a bit of power, just enough for his partial-origin to form.

His scales looked menacingly scarlet in the morning light, like blood or spilled wine. Dra put a hand on his shoulder, a light pressure, as if to keep him grounded. He looked over to her, her skin scattered with gold scales, and gave a small smile.

"We're all in this together." She whispered to him. "No matter how long it took, we're together now."

"And that's all that matters." Dani muttered back to her. Zammi glanced back at him, and smiled.

"Of course that's all that matters. Dani, you first, noconetzin. Don't worry, it knows where you're going." Zammi soothed, gesturing to the portal.

Striding forward, Dani stepped confidently into the dark split of the portal. Only when he folded in the portal, as black as the space between the stars, he felt a flash of panic. But he could trust them.

He could trust them.

***

Dani blinked, the bright afternoon of the grey pillars that stacked in front of him stark in contrast to the darkness of the Silver Jungle at dawn. His eyes, coatl sharp, focused on the many cracks and shades of the individual pillar, and Dani had to blink a few times before he regained him bearings. He leaned a hand, half covered in scales from his partial transformation, against a pillar, and rubbed it, feeling where the basalt hit his scales, making a rasping sound.

"Wait, I know where we are." Dani said. Zammi smiled, appearing from the portal behind him, her own partial-origin form just as powerful and imperial as ever.

"You should. You played in the ocean here as a child. This," She announced, spreading her arms wide. "Is the Giant's Causeway, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland."

"Such," Panted Dra, the last one to arrive. "fun we had here." she sucked in a breath. "This place is huge though. Each breed gets a representative for their kind."

"Then why are we here?" Dani asked. "More than one representative."

"Representative doesn't include the entourage, Dani." Dra chuckled

The great pillars of basalt were close to forty feet high, and cast odd shadows on the pathway the three Coatl's traced. A bellow came from around corner, and Dani flinched. Zammi chuckled, and lengthened her stride. Dra, her golden scales glinting brightly in and out of shadows, had to jog to keep up with the two taller family members.

Dani stopped short, his jaw dropping.

In front of him, hundreds of impossible sights met his eyes, encased in a cove, Dra told him, was enchanted to keep the humans away. It was obvious why.

A woman with arms that morphed into paws at her wrists, glanced at Dani with huge, luminescent eyes. Feline ears on her head twitched in his direction. She smiled at him, slowly.

"A Bast, an Egyptian cat-person." Zammi whispered to Dani. "They are mostly 'outside' the loop. That is why the scavenge on the fringes."

The Bast hissed at Zammi, who just hissed back, but with long fangs that dripped venom. The Bast fled. "Cowards." she muttered.

A howl went up, and Dani looked ahead, maybe fifty feet, his eyes automatically focused on the scene.

A wolf was fighting a lion, both animals looking dangerous and ready to pounce. The wolf lunged first, ripping into the large cat's ruff, and shaking it like a toy. The creature yowled in agony while it pitifully scratched at the wolf's strong shoulders.

"Werewolves, and a Dawon, a lion shifter. Both outsiders, as they prefer their packs and prides to the whole of Silver Mages." Zammi sniffed. Dani was a little unnerved by Zammi. She seemed to have changed once they got there, becoming high and mighty. Imperialistic. Rude. "Not as bad as Basts, however."

It seemed like they were enemies as the two ripped into each other, but Dra assured him that it was all in good fun, and Dani did notice that the whole thing was a bit like a carnival, strange and exciting. Almost like a festival.

A bloody one.

However, Zammi didn't seem to think so. "They should be focused on making a good impression, not tarnishing what little reputation they have left." She snapped. "They'd be closer to the King if they really tried."

Through many more of these comments, Dani figure something about the setup of this meeting. The Silver King was in the far end of the cove, with the more 'imperial' Silver Mages around him.

Like a power bottleneck, a voice in his head whispered. Dani shivered, even though it wasn't cold. Where had that come from?

"What does it take to be an 'imperial' Silver Mage?" Dani asked his sister. Dra flinched, looking around.

"I'll tell you when we get closer. Too many things are listening." she hissed. She sounded nervous, as if Dra didn't like it here. Dani looked around, scanning for anything threatening.

What he saw was a female werewolf, now in her partial origin, her hands on her knees, breathing hard. There was a triumphant smile on her face and the blood from the lion( no, Dawon, Dani reminded himself) mixed with saliva, dripped off her chin. No matter what she looked like, she'd been victorious.

That was all that seemed to matter to her.

Dani tried not to feel disgusted, but it was hard.

Zammi's gaze halted at the werewolf, looking mixed parts displeased and annoyed. The bloody smile turned into a She gave a 'tsk', and moved on. The werewolf's gaze followed Zammi, but Dani felt the burn of them as they landed on him.

There was hate in her eyes. Pure, undiluted hate. The only problem was, Dani didn't know who it was for.

I'm supposed to be doing homework.

So, fun fact, I have all these unedited bits and just to make sure I find them, I put the most random word I can think of next to it. Then, I search the word when I'm editing.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be doing homework right now. Haha.

QOTD: What other Silver Mages do you think are going to be here?

REMEMBER: Vote and comment! Don't be a Silent Reader! 82% of my readers don't vote!

C.J out!