Ahaz arrived first thing in the morning. Roman was the only one awake to greet him and it made him slightly uneasy to be with the man alone. He had to tell him about Cheri and Ellie using the anger defense. He had to tell him about their brief time outside when Silos tried to attack Alexia. He had to tell him about the message from Amarantos. Most unfortunately, he alone had to tell him how Alexia had snuck off with her friends while they questioned her almost-attacker. Ahaz seemed very interested in the fact that the girls were able to fight off two full grown Immortal men, but so far, he was not giving any clues as to why Ellie and Cheri were able to use the defenses.

They were in the living room, with Roman sitting and Ahaz pacing back and forth in front of the two huge windows. Glancing outside now and then seemed to help him think. Once and a while he would stop pacing and run his fingers through his hair, attempting to keep it out of his face. They had been alone for over an hour now and Roman was getting anxious. He wanted answers but knew that Ahaz wanted to hear from Alexia, Cheri, and Ellie first.

"Should I go wake them?" Roman asked. "I am sure you don't have all the time in the world to wait for them."

"Perhaps that is a wise idea." Ahaz glanced at his watch. "I have a Union meeting at two." He turned and faced the window without another word. Roman marched up the stairs, eager to get a moment away from Ahaz. He truly hated being alone with the guy. He had heard stories of what he did to people who crossed him. Roman didn't know if they were true and wasn't willing to find out. When he reached the long hallway, he debated for a moment who to wake first, his brother or their guests. Hoping to steal a moment alone with Alexia, he knocked lightly on the door. When there was no answer, he turned the knob and walked in.

They were all fast asleep. Cheri was cuddling Alexia and Alexia was cuddling Ellie. A white socked foot hung halfway out of the blanket and Roman got the urge to tickle it. The blanket was wrapped mostly around Cheri leaving Alexia and Ellie to freeze. No wonder they're cuddling up to each other, he thought. He wished he had a camera, as it would have made for a good blackmail photo if he ever needed one. Everything about the way they were sleeping made him want to burst into laughter.

For no apparent reason, he couldn't help staring at Cheri for a moment. The way she was wrapped in the blanket with her hair spilling out over the pillow made him get slight butterflies. Then he turned his gaze to Alexia. Her head was sunken into a soft pillow, and he could make out a slight puddle of drool on it. Even while she slept she was beautiful, and he wanted to wake her with a light kiss on the forehead, but he didn't know what her reaction would be. They hadn't had very many personal moments yet and he didn't want to offend her by being so forward.

"Alexia," he called softly.

Clearly still asleep, she muttered, "Of course Demetri, climb in the bed with us."

Roman's heart plummeted into his stomach. She was dreaming of Demetri. Why Demetri? He knew they had not spent enough time together yet but once the danger was over he had big plans to win her over for good. But was it too late? Had Demetri beat him to it? After all these years, the time had finally come where he could be honest with her, be with her forever, and she was dreaming of Demetri! But could he really be honest with her? Or would the truth chase her right into Demetri's bed? No, he couldn't think like that, he couldn't let those kinds of thoughts pollute his brain.

He backed away from her, slowly hoping to get out of the room without waking anyone up but as he turned to leave he tripped over one of their open suitcases and fell flat on his back. All three girls bolted upright, hair all over the place, tired eyes glancing around for the source of the noise. When they realized it was only Roman and not another attacker, they laid back down in unison with a grumble of annoyance.

"I am so sorry." He got off the ground slowly and awkwardly, stumbling over his words in embarrassment. "I came to wake you guys. Ahaz is here – he has been for a while – and I don't think we should keep him waiting too much longer." As if they had been electrocuted, they shot out of bed. Roman felt slightly intrusive watching them all scurry around the room in their night clothes.

"Why didn't you wake us earlier?" Alexia started digging in her suitcase for something comfortable with a hood to hide her bed head.

"I'll give you all a minute to put some sweaters on or whatever." He backed out of the room awkwardly and stood for a moment trying to catch his breath. That had been heart-breaking. His confidence was near extinction. He had to make a new plan of action to win her over.

"Are they coming down?" Ahaz was still facing the huge window with his hands behind his back.

"Yeah, they just need a minute. I'll wake Demetri." He didn't even want to look at his brother right now; it would just make him feel a billion times worse. He banged hard on his door and yelled, "Ahaz is here, get up." He waited a moment and then knocked again until he heard the creaking of the closet door opening. Then he made his way down the stairs and took his spot back on the squishy armchair. Roman could sense Ahaz was impatient, and he didn't blame him, as it seemed forever before Demetri and the girls descended the staircase.

"Alright, we are all here. Do you have an explanation for what happened with Cheri and Ellie?" Tiredness lingered in Demetri's voice, showing that he had not had nearly enough sleep. Finally, Ahaz turned away from the window to face them. Alexia thought he looked almost sleepier than Demetri did but of course he was the leader of The Union. In some way he was sort of like the President of the Immortals, which would be a big job.

"There is no way for a human to use the defenses, which means they are either Tera's or full-fledged Immortals. Tell me this, before the night that Astropos and the boys brought you here, had you ever experienced rage like that?"

"No," the girls said together.

"You're sure?"

"Yes," they spoke in unison again.

"Is there any possible way that you could be related to somebody who is Immortal or a Tera?"

"Not that I know of," Cheri said through a yawn.

"Yeah, me neither," Ellie added.

"Something must have happened for you both to become Immortal... but what could that something be?" The room was silent. Just like that, it had been decided that Cheri and Ellie were now Immortal.

"Is it possible for somebody to become Immortal without ever being a Tera?" Alexia had assumed that it was necessary to be a Tera before turning Immortal.

"It's not common. Every hundred years or so there is the rare case."

"I wonder what caused it?" Alexia questioned

"Maybe it's because we are so close? We have always been more like family then friends." Ellie sounded a little shy when she said this, as if she already knew that it wasn't the right answer.

"Or somehow you guys are connected, related or something?" Demetri suggested.

"You think that somehow the three of them are related?" Ahaz asked. "Even if that were the case, that doesn't explain why as soon as Alexia changed they did too..."

Connected. The memory came to Alexia and played like a private movie in her mind. Alexia, Cheri, and Ellie were sitting on the floor of Alexia's room. They were younger, probably about eight years old. The young trio were just as close then as they were in the present. Young Alexia, Cheri, and Ellie all had their hair pulled back into long ponytails, and they all wore pink princess dresses with ballet shoes on their small feet. Until seeing this, Alexia had forgotten how they used to dress alike all the time. If she would have been able to pause the moment in her mind, she would have, just to laugh at how silly they had been. Each of the girls had a small sewing needle in each hand, she watched as the young version of herself pricked both of her index fingers and squeezed a little blood out, and her friends had done the same.

"Best friends forever," Alexia had said. "No matter what happens, we will always be connected to each other." Then they pressed their fingers together and rubbed, mixing their blood together.

"Blood sisters forever!" Ellie had said in a high-pitched voice before they all broke out in a fit of giggles. The image faded from her mind and she came back to reality. This must be why her friends were Immortal, too. They were connected; they had her blood running in their veins and vice versa. It was hard to believe that something they had done when they were eight years old had caused their entire life path to change.

"Alexia? Hello in there?" Roman was waving a hand in front of her face.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "We are related, we're blood sisters." Roman, Demetri, and Ahaz gave her a strange look, while a light bulb went off in Cheri and Ellie's head.

"Do you really think that's it?" Ellie asked. "I mean, that was so long ago, Alexia, you think we all still have each other's blood pumping through us?"

"Why not, Ellie, I mean, what other explanation is there?"

"Does anybody care to clue us in? What do you mean, you're blood sisters?" Roman was getting annoyed.

"When we were eight years old we pricked our fingers until we bled and then rubbed our fingers together, mixing the blood. That could be it, couldn't it?" She turned to Ahaz, who seemed to be considering the idea.

After a moment, he faced Alexia and smiled. "Immortal blood is very powerful. They became part of you that day and you became part of them."

"Exactly!" Alexia swelled with pride. For once, she knew the answer to what was going on. She was beaming, looking at everybody else's expression. None seemed to be quite as thrilled that they had figured it out. "What? Why do you all look unhappy to know what caused this?" Nobody spoke for a long time. "Come on, you guys." She looked at her friends. "Think about it." She got up and walked toward them. "We never have to deal with one of us dying, and we never have to worry about losing one another! Why are you not more excited about this? You thought a trip to Greece would be fun, we now have all the time in the world to see every inch of the universe!"

"It's not that they aren't excited, Alexia." Ahaz placed a hand on her shoulder and his touch made her jump. "They are in shock." She recalled how she had felt when she realized it was true that she was Immortal, and how she had thrown up in the kitchen sink. Her friends probably felt similar, and she felt like a bad friend.

"Are you going to be sick? Should I help you to the bathroom?" Her joy had been washed away and replaced by guilt. Maybe they didn't want to be Immortal, or maybe they were mad at her for causing this problem. Perhaps they regretted ever being such good friends with her. Alexia started thinking the most horrible thoughts.

She imagined her friends leaving the house in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. Then she imagined them yelling at her when they finally snapped out of their trances. They would say something like, "You caused this, Alexia. If it wasn't for you, we would be able to grow old and die." She knew her mind was running wild, but she couldn't stop it.

"We're fine, Alexia, I'm just amazed that something we did as little kids... turned into this." Ellie seemed distant. Even though they were sitting right in front of her, their minds were a trillion miles away. Alexia didn't know what to do. She felt like crying and running. She felt like throwing something or smashing something. She felt like shaking her friends to make them realize how many good things would come from them all being Immortal together.

"Maybe we should stop this little gathering," Ahaz wisely suggested. "I know you have many other questions, but they can wait until a better time."

"No!" The words had barely left Ahaz's mouth before Cheri protested. "Why are we in danger? This is our second day here and we still don't know much about why we are in danger. Silos told Alexia that Amarantos, or whoever the hell it is you replaced in The Union, wouldn't stop until Alexia was dead. He wanted them," she pointed at Demetri and Roman, "to suffer the 'ultimate punishment'." At the mention of what Silos had said, Alexia remembered she still hadn't filled in her friends about what else he told her, that which she wanted to keep a secret from Demetri and Roman, about how the man told her they were lying to her about how she became Immortal.

"Amar never wanted the Punishment Games to end," Ahaz clarified, "and that's why he wishes to kill Alexia." Roman froze and his face went white. Demetri clutched the edge of the chair and looked to the roof while mouthing the word 'why?'

"The what?" Alexia looked around in confusion.

"The Punishment Games... the fight for your love..." Ahaz was speaking to her as if this was the most common piece of knowledge in the world. It didn't make sense to her at all, but then again, nothing seemed to make too much sense in her new life as an Immortal.

"The fight for my love?" she looked over at Demetri who had sunk low in his chair and wouldn't look at her. His bed head hair that she may have thought was cute didn't even distract her for a second. Roman was beet red and looked like he was about to burst into explanation, but Ahaz spoke before Roman even had the chance.

"Didn't you wonder how you became Immortal, Alexia? When they told you, you never thought to ask how you died?" She backtracked to the moment where she had been told she was Immortal. She hadn't believed it at first but then right after she realized she was Immortal, she threw up in the stainless-steel kitchen sink. Then Cheri couldn't find a glass to get her water and she got super angry. That was when they realized that Cheri and Ellie were able to use the anger defense too. No wonder she hadn't thought to ask, as she was too focused on her friends.

"Right after I was told was when we realized Ellie and Cheri might be Immortal too, so it was driven from my mind... What happened to me all those years ago? All you told me was that something 'went wrong' and I was put into reincarnation... is there more to it than that?"

Ahaz turned his gaze on Demetri and Roman, and he looked angry. The colors of his tired eyes had darkened slightly, a warning of rage. If the chair Alexia was sitting in hadn't been so heavy she probably would have inched away from him. The longer he glared at them, the darker his eyes got. Maybe he was just trying to scare them, but it looked like he was about to lose all control.

"I am afraid my time is being wasted here," he said to Demetri and Roman. "If you don't wish to be honest with the girl, then perhaps you do deserve to be punished until the end of time. How do you expect her to understand why she is in danger if you are keeping her in the dark? You're lying to her about everything, aren't you?"

Before turning to leave, he looked back at Alexia. "You deserve a fair chance against the dangers that are coming for you. If they continue to lie to you about your past, you won't stand a chance against Amarantos." He threw Demetri and Roman one last disgusted look before spitting out, "Ask them to be completely honest to you about how you died three hundred and fifty years ago, and they will tell you how they caused your death." With the snap of his fingers Ahaz was gone, leaving the remaining eyes to fall on Demetri and Roman.