The crowd cheered when smoke filled the stage and the lights flickered. When the smoke was blown away, five guys in black clothes with their famous fiery lightning bolt logo. Their famous song instrumental started to play.

"Hey, peeps. It's been a while, huh? Who is ready for some crazy night?" The audience screamed, including Grace, Daniel and Rachael, who had been anticipating this moment for too long. 

"We'll start with our favourite, 'Awaiting Danger'!" Yelling and excited screaming intensified. Grace was so relieved when it died down. Her ears were growing more sensitive to the loud noises.

The lead singer started to sing, "Awaiting danger in a world of safety.. Seeking pain in a world of comfort.. Sleepless till the crack of dawn." The crowd sang with him. 

"Only you know the reason.. I am fighting the demon.. returning to peace.." Daniel and Grace looked excitedly at each other when the beat started to augment with their voices, "Awaiting danger when I am alone, the demon behind me turns me to stone, I try to fight them off my zone, but in the end, it's all gone.. oh, it's all gone." 

The audience quieted down to hear the most intense part, "I shattered my heart, my heart of gold, only to turn to the demon. I am bold, I am cold, I fight off my own race to seek my own peace.. my own peace.." 

The lyrics gave Grace an unexplainable feeling. She spent the other half, staring into the void as she thought about her responsibilities, and what she would do tomorrow. 

Daniel tapped on her shoulder, which broke her out of her reverie only to catch the last part of the song. 

"I fail, I free the beast in my head, oh the beast in my head. He manipulates me in my dreams, he tortures me, I redeem myself. I am awaiting safety." The crowd cheered. 

"I love this song!" Rachael screamed at her. Daniel and Grace laughed at her, happily bouncing and full of life. Grace was hit with the same wave of euphoria and they started waving their arms up holding the poster Grace drew. 

They were in the middle of an ocean of fans. The raised arms obstructed their vision as young teenagers, but they didn't seem to be affected. 

"Hopefully by the end, I could have them sign my drawing." Grace smiled.

"Oh, I will make sure of it." Rachael winked. Grace gave her a warm smile, which was something pleasant to witness after her many sleepless nights and fights.

For once in a few weeks, Grace felt young. Like she hadn't had the burden of the world upon her shoulders. 

She danced with Daniel and Rachael, sang with Daniel their favourite song, screamed uncontrollably with Rachael. 

"Dad is going to pick us up at about eleven. He doesn't want us staying out very late." Grace informed her friends. Daniel took a glance at his watch. 

"It is still nine. Live the moment, Grace." Daniel said. Grace nodded. 

"Yeah, you are right." She said, her eyes not making an effort to look at the singers. Instead, they were right into Daniel's. They both started to smile. 

"Come on, lovebirds, you can stare at each other some time later." Rachael said, pulling Grace from her arm and standing between them. They both chuckled nervously. 

"We are not lovebirds."

"We are definitely not lovebirds." Daniel pressed. 

God, you didn't have to say it so aggressively.

"We were just friends." Grace said. 

"Yeah." Something about Daniel's expression and tone was off, like he had something to say, but trying his hardest to conceal it. 

The night went smoothly until it was ten o'clock. That's when Grace got the same buzz in her ear, and the goosebumps all over her body. She felt her hands tremble more than usual. Something told her it wasn't one harmless fairy.

It was horrible timing. She was standing at the exit of the concert to be able to sign her drawing and take a selfie. 

She sighed heavily at her bad luck. 

"Rachael, I have to go." Grace handed her the marker and the drawing. Rachael and Daniel looked at her in confusion and surprise. "I am sorry, something happened." Rachael understood, but Daniel didn't. 

"Not again. Grace, I am pretty sure it can wait an hour. We are going home." Grace shook her head. 

"Sorry, Dan, I can't. If you could have them sign my picture, that would be awesome." She made her way through the crowd and eventually made it out of the concert. 

She spotted hundreds, if not thousands of fairy silhouettes in the sky. They seemed to be fighting each other. 

Grace summoned her sword and her wings, and as she was about to hop in the air, a hand wrapped its fingers around her, restricting her from flying. 

Grace was about to scream when she found Sam and Luna. All she managed to do was gasp.

"Sorry for the scare," Sam mumbled, "It started. The invasion." Grace's face went numb with shock. 

"Now?" 

"Now." Luna confirmed. 

"What's the plan?" 

"We don't have one. We are just trying not to have the invasion spread out in the human world." Sam said, looking around. 

"Did it spread in Aneroma?" Grace asked. 

"No. Just Syndioma. We have extra soldiers and magic barriers to stop the spread." Luna said, standing up and helping Grace on her feet. 

"Why can't we do that here?"

"George didn't act fast enough when he spotted them on patrol." Grace pursed her lips, grimacing. 

"No, no, no, no," Sam placed a hand on her shoulder, "Not your fault, okay?" Grace couldn't agree. Maybe things could have been different if she were on patrol today.

"There is no use in taking the blame, Guardian. The guilt will not make you solve the problem quite easily, it will just lay upon your shoulders and weigh you down." Sam nodded and pointed at Luna.

"What she said." He said lamely when he failed to copy what she had said, "The plan is to get to Queen Elena and receive orders. Mostly, it will be an evacuation plan to all surrounding humans until we can bring the magical barriers here." Sam unclipped a golden pen from his armour. It was similar to what Grace had been given, but she didn't know how to use it. 

Sam drew a circle in the mud with the golden pen. The ink, that was squirted out of the pen, gleamed a bright shade of sunshine yellow. The ink seeped deeper into the circular area and swirled with other colours of blue, purple, pink and red. When the tornado of colours died down, they saw a distorted image of Aneroma and heard a series of distant battle cries and screams. 

Grace's stomach churned with worry. With one decisive look, she jumped in. 

The magical world was in chaos. Wingmarket was piles of debris from what used to be shops and stalls. 

There was a lot of fighting in the skies and on the ground. Grace's ear was buzzing erratically at the presence of the dangerous fairies. 

"Let's make it to the castle before you get sensed." Luna whispered. On their way, they would help merchants and lead them to the castle, so they could hide in the emergency bunker. They were usually bombed by enemies, which made Grace furious at hearing so. 

Grace thought she wouldn't make it to Queen Elena without a fight, and her thoughts were correct. The dark fairies spotted her, but Grace handled it well with the help of Sam and Luna. As soon as Queen Elena saw her, she demanded immediate evacuation of any areas near the main portal in the human world. Grace could tell, from Queen Elena's even harsher tone, that she was mad at her. Grace tried apologizing but she got a reaction she had expected to get: 

"If you want to be of use, stop apologizing and start carrying on with my orders!" Queen Elena's yells made Grace flinch visibly. On her way back, Grace was met with more dark fairies to which she fought mercilessly as a way to vent her anger at herself. 

Sam and Luna had to stay as they received new orders to protect Syndioma's gates. Grace felt alone, and she had no idea how to make stubborn humans listen to a fifteen year old kid. She could only hope that the battle in the skies could provoke them enough to flee with their lives. 

Grace made it into the human world with little to no scratches and bruises, thankfully. 

Is it me, or were those things more vicious than normal?

She made sure that the school, which was the closest place to the portal, was empty. It was a Sunday night on spring break, it was a no-brainer. 

The streets were empty. There were multiple abandoned cars blocking the way. There was a car that hit a street light, which fell on three other cars. Grace let out a shaky breath. 

Turns out, evacuating Los Angeles wasn't so hard. 

Grace figured that Queen Elena was getting her away from Aneroma. 

But why? 

Grace remembered she had abandoned her friends at the concert. She called Rachael, flying in the sky to spot anybody around. 

"Grace! What is going on?" Rachael asked, panicked. Grace immediately guessed from her freaked out voice that she saw the news, "Those things you fought are everywhere! Your dad didn't come. I had to call Jeff to get us to our homes." Grace felt the news pour on her like icy cold water. 

"Okay, let me get this straight: Dad didn't come and Daniel is at his home alone?" Grace questioned. 

"Yes." Rachael said. Grace facepalmed, whispering an "Oh, dear."

"Listen, Rae. Stay safe and away from the portal. I am going to go to Daniel, since his house is really close to the portal and I will make sure Dad is okay. I am going to pick you up and I will try to get you somewhere safe, whatever it is." 

"Grace, my safety is not your responsibility. You have a ton on your plate and you are getting really full. Just trust me on this one, I am with my parents, Emily and my security guards." Rachael said. Grace sighed. 

"Please, be careful." 

"Will do. You, be safe." She then hung up. 

Grace called her dad several times, but he wasn't picking up. To say Grace was worried, was an understatement. 

Grace found many dark fairies coming closer to Daniel's house. Grace immediately hid her wings and snapped her fingers, making her sword disappear. 

Now, I just have to do this with my secret intact. 

Definitely easier said than done.

She knocked at the door. 

"Who the hell is it?" A familiar voice asked. 

Very unfriendly of you, Dan.

"I have a gun!" He threatened.

"Relax, Daniel. It's me."

Daniel opened, revealing a pissed face. His fingers were tightened on a semi-automatic pistol.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed at her. 

"Look, you have every right to be mad at me, but right now, we need to go." Grace said. 

"Why? So you could leave me again?" Grace sighed. 

Should I tell him?

"I promise, I am not going anywhere." Daniel scoffed. 

"Right. I am not going anywhere either, Grace." 

"Daniel," Grace pressed, "This is not something to discuss, there is literally an army of dark fairies coming in our way. We have to leave before—" A window crashed inside. Grace immediately went in. "Do you know how to use the gun?" Grace asked. 

"I mean, it is my first time—"

"Well, let's put you to the test." Grace said. A dark fairy immediately jumped at Grace and Daniel yelped and immediately put his hands up, the gun in front of his face. "Don't shoot!" Grace said, struggling in the grasp of the fairy. 

"What do I do?" Daniel yelled. 

"I got this." Grace gritted her teeth as she reached out behind her back to grab a vase. She broke it on its head. The fairy screeched, staggering backwards. Daniel internally screamed, knowing full well the consequences of breaking his mom's vase, but he could always blame it on the stupid fairies.

Dismissing his thoughts, which were inappropriately timed, he tried to shoot but the gun wasn't working. Grace snatched it from his hand, unlocking its safety and shooting the fairy in the shoulder. 

"Ugh, I am not good with aim." Grace said, frustrated. Daniel took back the gun and adopted a sturdy stance.

"Aim for the center of the chest!" Daniel hit it where Grace said and the dark fairy poofed, leaving red dust and a bullet. 

"How did you know that?" Daniel asked, fascinated. 

"Just shoot, Robinson!" He shot more, reloading his gun every once in a while. 

"What are you going to do?" Grace pursed her lips and ran until she was out of Daniel's sight. "Hey, don't leave me here!" Grace came back with a sharp kitchen knife. She tackled a fairy to the ground and stabbed it in its core. She stood up and pinned another to the wall and stabbed it, staining the wallpaper with violet blood. 

Daniel had never seen this violent side of Grace. She seemed to know what she was doing, because she was expertly throwing the knife around and mercilessly ending those creature's lives. He didn't even have to shoot anymore, still, he was standing guard, sweeping the area with his eyes and perhaps, watching Grace wipe the kitchen knife with her fingers then give Daniel a cute reassuring smile. 

After she was done, she was covered in sticky violet-crimson liquid and dust. She sighed in relief then stared steadily at his wide eyes. 

"I know, this seems crazy." Grace chuckled, wiping the blood on her chin with her hands, only to smear it more. Daniel didn't know what to say. 

"Have.. you fought these things before?" Daniel asked. Grace shrugged. 

"Let's move it quickly." She took a look at her hands, "Right after I washed my hands." She bolted to the bathroom. Daniel ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the damage that had happened to his house. Aside from a broken vase, blood stains and dust everywhere, the house wasn't severed. 

Grace came out clean, except for the stains on her clothes. 

"Let's go?" She pointed at the door with her thumb. 

"You didn't answer my question." Daniel stated. 

"I am not deaf, Daniel," Grace said, "We'll have this talk later, okay?" Daniel pursed his lips. 

"So you have a connection to these things, somehow?" 

"Not exactly." Grace said, "We are going to Rachael's house. It is safer there." Daniel didn't bother questioning Grace's decision. 

"I will have my guns on me. Just in case." Daniel said, flexing his twig-like arms, one of them holding the pistol. "Get it?" Grace smirked disapprovingly and shook her head. 

"Do you have your bike?" 

***

Grace sat behind Daniel as he pedalled through the empty dark streets, dodging cars which were left on the roads chaotically. She awkwardly wrapped her arms around his waist, which made their faces warm and flushed with red. Grace had his spare helmet on, which was a bit tight on her head, since it was his old one. 

But, hey, desperate times call for desperate measures..

Grace suddenly felt her ear buzz uncontrollably. When she looked behind her, she found a mob of dark fairies soaring at incredible speed. 

"Don't look behind you. Go as fast as you can, now!" Grace said, panicking. 

"What is going on?" Daniel asked, trying to take a peek behind him. Grace grabbed his cheeks with his palms and directed his eyes on the road. 

"Eyes on the road!" She yelled. She grabbed tightly to his shirt and twisted herself to meet the mob, planting her foot on the seat and the other on the metal sticking out of the bike. 

"Grace, what on earth?" Daniel yelled. Grace summoned her sword. 

"Just trust me, I won't fall." Grace blocked swords and exchanged strikes, but she was getting tired very soon from using her power too much to fight off an entire army. She could feel Daniel trying to take a peek. Her moves were getting sloppy and unfocused. A dark fairy pushed them off the bike. Grace held Daniel and they both rolled like a sphere, except, they were actually in a blue sphere. It had a pattern similar to that in the pendant. 

They both screamed as they hugged each other through the sphere jumping on cars and bouncing against lampposts. They finally landed on the ground and the sphere popped, leaving them both vulnerable against the mob. 

Before Grace could process the fact that she had been hugging Daniel, she stood up and countered an attack from a fairy. Daniel immediately noticed her wings and sword. 

"Grace—" Grace took his hand and they both went inside an alley. She jumped on the garbage can and she grabbed onto the wall. Daniel did the same, but he missed the wall. Thankfully Grace caught his hand before he could plunge to the ground. She strained as she got him up with one hand. Grace grabbed him and took off.

Grace's arms hurt from fighting and carrying Daniel. She tangled her fingers together under Daniel's waist so she could hold him. 

"Grace.. Am I in a dream?" Grace shook her head. 

"No," Grace said, "Have been meaning to tell you about this for a while." She let out a shaky breath. 

"Rachael knows, huh?" 

"Yep," She said, popping the 'p', "She is the first one to know about that. You are the second." Daniel went silent for a while then broke out laughing. 

"Grace, this might have been the craziest thing to have happened to me, like, ever!" Daniel said excitedly. Grace smiled. 

"Can't believe I am saying this, but, welcome to team Guardians."