I have to bring Lily to my master today. She seems to trust me more now; I don't know if she'll be willing to join but, she at least needs to know. I think my master is more likely to convince her than I am. With Rivka I could play to her lust for power and her ego. I knew she wouldn't be afraid of the change coming like most people might be.

With Lily, that won't work. She already has an immense power that she can barely control, and she doesn't seem to care about political power. She seems like the type of person my master told me would resist us. He told me they would fear the change and want to fight it. He said that they would have a hard time learning that it was for the greater good.

I really hope I don't have to control her and force her to join us. I've been practicing controlling people without them knowing. I'm only doing it because my master said I had to. I only do small things like make them walk in certain directions or into certain rooms. They don't seem to totally realize that they're being controlled but; I think it's just because they don't know that I can do that.

My master arranged it so that I don't have to do power training at school. I think he made them think I had some kind of disability or something. So no one's seen me use my powers or knows about them except for Ayana and Rivka.

I really hate controlling people, but I am getting pretty good at it. They seem to react less and less when I do it. I've even controlled Rivka a few times without her noticing. As much as I hate it, it's still kind of gratifying to know that I can do it. Even if I hope I never have to make anyone do anything they don't want to do, or worse; be forced to steal their powers. Unless, maybe if I had to.

I stop Lily as she's leaving school. She walks out with that blonde girl. Ayana I think? It doesn't matter, she's only a blonde. She's not important. Rivka's probably already waiting for me behind the school. I have to hurry.

"H-hey Lily," I say, "Uh can you come over to my house today. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah sure," she says, "What is it?"

"You'll f-find out when w-we get there."

"Okay."

"Great, follow me."

She turns to Ayana.

"I'll see you tommorow, okay," she says.

"Okay, bye," Ayana says.

I take her behind the school. I was right. Rivka's already waiting for us. I quickly check to make sure no one can see us. I take out the button and hold it between my eyes.

"Home," I say, "All of us."

"Right away Castiel," says the female voice.

I always think it's sad. The button always calls out to an owner that's long dead. It can never know the difference. It's really a shame. It's kind of like if a person could no longer tell the difference between people and thought everyone was their best friend who had died long ago.

We're now standing in front of the entrance. I pull out the bookmark and trace the now familiar line that lets us in. I take just a bit longer than I need to so I can keep looking at the picture of the island. It's beautiful. As long as I can remember I've been with my master. When I was younger, I couldn't go outside much at all so I wouldn't get corrupted by the outside world.

That's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to the regime so much. I'll be able to travel and see islands like the one on this bookmark and not risk my life and sanity by doing so. I'll actually be able to be there. It's so beautiful. I bet it's even better in person. I wonder if this particular island even exists. I don't know the name of it so I can't look at it through the table. I really hope it is. Once I can travel whether this island is real or not, the first place I'll go is one just like it. I can't wait for that day.

I turn around to look at the girls. Rivka still looks weirded out by this but, she doesn't look nearly as shocked and confused as she did the first time. Lily on the other hand looks even more confused than Rivka did. I can't help but smile at her completely dumbfounded expression. I wonder how my master will convince her. I really hope he can. I don't want to control her or steal her powers.

The door opens and we enter. I lead them down the same hallway as before and Lily seems to recover from the shock for a minute.

"Is this really your house?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"So why did you want me to come here?"

We stop at the door and I knock.

"I've brought the girls," I say, "Lillyana is with me this time."

"You may enter," my master calls back.

I turn back to Lily.

"I'll let my master explain it to you."

We enter the room and my master looks at me and the girls and smiles. He seems so happy to see them. He never smiles like that when it's just me.

"Ah hello girls," he says, "Rivka would you mind going to the room to our left and practice hand to hand fighting for a bit. I need to speak to Lillyana alone."

"It's just Lily," says Lily.

"Yes sir," says Rivka turning to leave.

I start to follow her.

"Not you Vincent," he says, "I'd like you to stay here for the moment."

"Yes sir," I say stopping.

"Now Lily, if someone told you they could promise world peace would you help them?" he says.

"I guess so," she says.

"And if someone incredibly powerful who had been alive for centuries told you that it was your destiny to help this person accomplish this, would you listen?"

"Maybe."

"If this person also told you that you and your family would live in luxury for the rest of their lives and so would their descendants would you want to listen?"

"Yes, of course."

"And if this person told you that if you helped you would be one of three people who had the opportunity to become the ruler of this world, would you still want to?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what if I told you that I was that person? Would you believe me?"

"I, um-"

"Listen to me Lily. The way this world is. The way people are. The way your hair color dictates your status. Do you think it's right?"

"No."

"Well, if you help me, then you'll have the power to eliminate that system."

"Really?"

"Of course. Now will you join me?"

"What's really going on here?"

"We will own this world and make sure everyone is equal."

"How would this happen?"

"I can't let you know that unless you agree."

"People are gonna get hurt, aren't they? They'll get killed if they don't comply. Is that what this is?"

"Calm down child. That's not what this is. A few who resist the change may fight against us but, I assure you that once I am in power, my reign and that of my successor will be peaceful and safe. The throne was rightfully mine to begin with before the current system took over anyway. I could have ruled peacefully and brought about a perfect world. I promise you this is for the best Lily. Will you join me?"

She turns to me.

"V-Vincent, is all of this true? Is this really what he says it is?"

"It is Lily, I promise. Everything he's saying is true. The only people that will get hurt are bad people who would have tried to disrupt our plan that's going to unite the world. But, we need you on board for the plan to work. Please join us."

"No," she says, "I can't join and help with something like this."

"Vincent, would you care to leave the room for a few moments. Maybe go to your room and study or something,"

"Yes sir," I say.

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A new person, a new life

Lillyana

"Hmm," the man says, "Right then Lily, I didn't especially want to do this, but I feel it is necessary. You see I can't have you against me, you'll be far to powerful for that. I also can't let you leave now because you might tell people about what I plan to do. We can't have that  now can we."

"Are you going to kill me?!"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. There's no need for that. Come with me Lily."

He stands, gives me an expectant look, and walks out of the room. I follow him. I can't work with this guy. This is wrong. Would anyone believe me if I told them about this? No, probably not. Should I try to kill him right here and now? His back is turned. I might be able to get a few good shots in if I strike now.

Could I beat him in a fight? No, no. I can practically feel power radiating from him now. Not to mention he's much older than me. He's probably got tons of experience. He's probably already prepared if I try anything. Even if I did that, I probably couldn't get away from here. We teleported here. There's no way I could get home from here by myself. Still though, it must at least be worth trying. Especially if he doesn't want to kill me. Is it already to late though? I've been thinking to long. If I try now I might make it. It's getting worse I just need to either attack or don't. 

"Now Lily," he says, "I know what you're thinking of doing, and just know that it won't work. It can only end badly for you if you actually attempt to hurt me."

We come to a large closed door. He unlocks it and walks in. This is a dungeon. The cages line the walls. The light is much more dim in here, and it all smells faintly of mold. Suddenly he stops.

"Lillyana, I want you to see something. I think it will change your mind about what you want to do next. Do you see that cage a little ways down the hall," he says pointing to one of the cages.

"Yes."

"Go look into it."

"Why."

"Just do as I say Lillyana. You will understand why in a moment."

I slowly walk to the cage. 

IS THAT MY MOTHER??!!! NO! IT CAN'T! SHE CAN'T! NO! WHAT! NO!

"M-mom?!"

She looks me in the eyes. Why does she look so scared?! What happened to her?! Why is her hair white now?! What's wrong with her eyes? Why do they look so hollow?!

"Lily I'm so sorry"

"Mom!" I say tears streaming down my face, "What happenened to you?! What's going on?!"

"She's mine now," the man says, "She will be until I feel it's safe to let her out. Although if you choose not to comply with me I could harm her just a bit. I could also take your power in the same way I took hers. Then neither of you would be of mucch use to me, and then mother and daughter could experience their final moments together. Your poor father would be so sad to lose both his beautiful daughter and his beloved wife at the same time. That would be horrible wouldn't it?"

"What do you want from me?!"

"Well first of all, I would prefer you stop yelling at me. I find it a bit disrespectful."

I glare at him.

"And secondly," he continues, "I would like your help. You are to help me achieve my goals. At the end of it, your family will live in luxury for the rest of their lives, and you will have the chance to become the next queen of this world."

"You'll kill her if I don't help you?"

"Most likely."

"And me too?"

"After taking your powers, though I would really hate to do that. It would be very hard to hide how you died, and I can't just kidnap you. Unlike your mother it would look suspicious if you suddenly vanished. Though yes, I will kill you if you become a problem."

"Fine. I'll help you if you promise to let her go when this is over."

"I promise my dear," my master says.

"Will I have to hurt anyone?"

"Definitely."

"Will I have to kill anyone?"

"Maybe. It's depends on the situation. You most likely won't be doing any killing, at least not on purpose. With your powers it could easily happen by accident."

"Lily!" my mom says, "You can't do this! The fate of the world is more important than my life."

"Fiona," the man says, "Remember, if she doesn't help there's a good chance that she will die too. You don't want your pretty daughter to be killed do you?"

Mom is silent and looks down. This can't be happening.

"Now Lily," the man says, "If you're done with your little reunion, please come with me. I have something for you. It will make sure you don't tell anyone about this. Your mother is good incentive, but this is just an extra precaution, in case you get any ideas."

"I'm so sorry mom," I say, "I'll make things right, I promise."

I can't fix this. How? This can't be happening! I'm going to die. Mom's going to die! This can't be happening!

I follow the man out of the dungeon and back into his office. He pulls out a green bracelet. The door opens behind me and Vincent walks in. 

"Vincent come here," the man says, "I would like to make sure you've been keeping up with yoru studies. Lily has said that she will join us, although I would like to be extra sure that she won't tell anyone. I taught you to do this once. Now show me you can do it."

"Y-yes sir," he says.

He takes the bracelet in his hands and closes his eyes. It glows for a brief moment before returning to normal. Now it has a slightly blue color. Vincent hands it back to his master who examines it for a moment before nodding slightly.

"It's not perfect," he says, "But since you already have other incentive, it will do. Vincent you need to work on that later if you want it to be effective on someone who doesn't already have a reason to listen to you."

"Yes sir," Vincent says.

"Lily," the man continues, "You are to wear this bracelet at all times. It will not come off unless I decide to let you take it off. It will make sure that you won't tell anyone about anything that they don't need to know. You will be able to discuss the plan while you are here, but outside of these walls you won't be able to say a word until after the mission is over. Also, if you try to talk about anything I don't want you to, you will be very badly hurt and brought to me so that I can find a suitable punishment. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

He hands me the bracelet. I can't really be doing this! Can I? I guess I don't have much choice. I can't believe I'm doing this. I put the bracelet on. As soon as I do, I feel a slight electric shock. I try to pull it off, but it doesn't move. I guess there's no going back now. I can't believe I'm doing this.

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A new person, a new life

Vincent

My master does a few tests with Lily's powers just like he did with Rivka. From the first one on he gives me a significant look each time. He wants me to take some control over her without her knowing. I try to but, she's a lot harder than Rivka or Fiona.

With Rivka and Fiona I could reach into their minds without much resistance. Lily on the other hand feels like something is in the way. It's like something in her mind is resisting my power but, I know she isn't doing it consciously. She doesn't know about my powers. Whenever I reach into her mind, it's like trying to move through honey or molasses. I don't know why this is happening. What about her is making this so hard?

My master did warn me that Lily would be harder to control than the others. I wonder if this is what he meant. Even when I get to her mind and powers when I try to manipulate them they stay firmly the way they were. It almost feels impossible to move them.

Not that I'm complaining though. I still don't want to control anyone. It's just that I might have to at some point. As much as I don't want to force her to do anything, it would be even worse to let my master down. I mean, if I did that the whole world would be effected.

Ugh! Why can't I do it!

"Okay," my master says at last, "That's all I want for today. You will come here on weekends, Fridays, and Wednesdays. Vincent please go collect Rivka and send these girls home."

"Yes sir," I say.

I go to the first room on the left. Pausing for only a moment to look at the powder blue star inside a red triangle on the door. 

I open the door to find Rivka destroying several dummies and dodging quite a lot of fire and swords in the process. I didn't even know we had that. Oh look at that she's also got a battle axe. Wait! Where did she get a battle axe?! There shouldn't even be one in this room! Now I kind of wish I had come with her just to know what she's been doing this whole time.

"Rivka!" I call out, "It's time to go! Can you call off whatever it is you turned on?"

"Yeah," she says before looking up at the ceiling, "I'm done now!"

In a second everything is gone, and it looks like nothing was ever there. She walks to the door with a look of exhausted happiness on her face. We walk back to the entrance together.

"So," she says still slightly out of breath, "Did you convince Lily to join us?"

"Yeah, but she seemed a little uncertain of it."

"Well I was too at first before I knew what was really going on."

"That was a couple of days ago. And Lily acted that way even after she knew what this is."

"Huh, we might have to keep an eye on her. You can always control her can't you?" she says.

"Yeah," I say, "I guess so but, she's a lot harder to control than anyone else I've tried with. It feels like something in her mind or her powers is fighting it or something. It's okay though, as long as we have you it should still work."

"That's weird, but you'll probably figure it out, or you'll get better at controlling people until it doesn't matter anymore. I really wish I could do that too. It must be amazing to control people like that."

"Kinda, but I don't really like the idea of forcing someone to do something they don't want to do."

"Huh," she says and shrugs.

We get to the entrance and find Lily already waiting for us. We leave through the door, thankfully we don't need to use the bookmark to get out. I pulled the button out of my pocket and hold it between my eyes.

"Send each one to their own house," I say.

"Right away Castiel," the female voice says.

I feel the familar twinge of pity for the voice and in the next second both of them are gone. I walk back inside to find my master waiting for me in the entrance.

"Child, were you able to control anything Lillyana did today?" he asks.

"Well, um no. I-I tried b-but," I start.

"The stuttering Vincent, and I know you couldn't control her."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"I was worried that she would be harder to control. You'll have to keep practicing on her when she comes back."

"Why was she so hard to control?"

"I warned you about this Vincent. It's because of those eyes. They have a power in them greater than even she understands. They are the eyes of the triats. They're protecting her from being controlled. You must learn to break through it. If she ever learns to control it, it will be even harder to control her. And it will be impossible if you can't even break through when she's not trying to stop you."

I was right. She does have triat eyes. I didn't realize they could do that much when she wasn't even controlling them.

"I will keep practicing sir. I won't let you down."

"Yes, I know, I would like you to go to your room now. Read one of your books until I call you to eat."

"Yes sir." I turn to go.

I walk down the hallway with the dark blue carpet until I reach my door. A plain black one with no others near it. I walk into my small room containing a bed, a desk, and a bookshelf. I look through the few books I have. I choose one about controlling other people. My master didn't say it, but I know he wanted me to read this one.

I wonder if I could do the same thing I did with Rivka the other day. When I got mad at her I grabbed her power so easily. I wonder if it would help for me to reach in as aggressively as I did then. 

I skim through the book trying to find something about triat eyes that I don't already know. To find something about a power that can protect someone from this. I don't find anything. I'm probably just not looking hard enough. It's got to be here somewhere. I have to get better. I can't disappoint my master. There's got to be something in here.