2 Secret Admirer

A constant ringing woke Solis up from his sleep, and he got up, begrudgingly, to shut off his alarm. He sat on the edge of his bed rubbing his eyes before getting up. He was on his way downstairs when he smelled something from the kitchen. Confused, he sped up his pace. There in the kitchen was his younger sister making breakfast.

"Oh? You're up early. Did something happen?" he said as he poked his sister in the side.

She retaliated by kicking him in the shin and said, "Yeah, I woke up earlier than I usually did and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to be productive."

"Well, I appreciate the help. So watcha making for us Fera?"

"Nothing too special just an omelet."

"Alright, well, I'll get to cooking myself."

Solis set down his bag and brought out a pan to start making sausages alongside his sister. Not much was said between them as they were focused on making their breakfast when they were interrupted by Ad's loud footsteps coming from the stairs.

Still sleepy he slowly moves toward the table and sits down. Taking in the scenery before him he sits quietly, waiting to eat. It didn't take long for Solis and Fera to finish, and soon they took the food and laid it out on the table. Cleaning themselves up, Solis and Fera take their seats and they all begin their usual routine.

After their thanks, Ad was the first to dig in but before he could his shin was kicked from across the table, "Ow! Why'd you kick me, Fera?"

"Because you didn't say thank you!"

"I DID!"

At the head of the table, Solis laughed slightly, "No, Ad that's not what she meant. Fera helped out with breakfast today and she wanted some thanks, that's all."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were helping out Solis haha."

"Well, I did, so?"

"Thanks, big sis," and Ad stretched out his arm out for a fist bump with his sister.

"That's better," she said, now satisfied.

"Enough chatting, let's finish so we can all head out," Solis said to his siblings.

A few minutes later all their dishes were cleaned and put away. They got out of the house and into the car. Ad was first to be dropped off then Solis and Fera. They split up as soon as they came through the doors and both went off to class.

Solis sat in his first class of the day on the verge of sleep and soon gave in. He wasn't given much time to sleep though as he started feeling a poking sensation on his left arm. He lifted his head up to witness his neighbor poking him. The person next to him noticed that he was awake and backs off

"I-I'm sorry I-I just didn't want you to get in trouble," she says meekly.

"It's fine I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyways," he replies.

He readjusted his posture and tried to stay awake to listen to his teacher's lecture. Like before, he failed to stay awake and went to sleep. This time he got to sleep a little longer. Soon images started to flood his mind, and it was him and his siblings up in the sky, above the clouds flying.

They all seemed to be having fun since all of them had smiles on their faces and were laughing hysterically. Suddenly, the sky turned deep red and the clouds turned black, Solis looked towards the earth and saw it engulfed in flames, and when he looked back up his siblings were nowhere to be seen. He scanned his surroundings in desperation trying to look for his siblings, and he saw them but this time they weren't flying. They were free-falling and looked to be unconscious. He nosedived in their direction and as he got closer he noticed his siblings were bleeding.

He sped himself up and when he was finally able to catch up to them, he checked to see what was wrong with them. In his arms, they felt cold and wouldn't move, he tried to speak but no words came out.

He decided to land on a patch of ground that wasn't in cinders and laid them down. He put a finger to their necks, but couldn't feel a pulse. His desperation grew as he shook his siblings violently to get them to wake up, but their eyes stayed closed. He tried one more time, but soon he knew what had happened. His siblings had died. Solis stood up and he stood for a long time. Tears ran down his face and he let out a mighty roar that was aimed towards the sky, then he fell onto his knees and let his tears flow. As he was crying he soon felt a presence behind him.

Choosing to see what was giving him an eerie feeling, he turned around. In front of him was a black silhouette that had the bodies of his siblings in its hands. He ran towards the figure to take his siblings back. Before he could reach them though, the figure swallowed his siblings. In a fit of rage, he lunged towards the figure, but the mysterious figure disappeared and he was left alone. On his knees, he let one last roar out.

When he opened up his eyes, he was back in his classroom, and it seemed only twenty minutes had gone by. He sat back up in his chair, he felt his neighbor tapping his arm again.

She asked him a question filled with concern, "A-are you okay Solis?"

Confused by her question he asked her, "What do you mean?"

"You look like you're crying."

Still confused he looked into the window across the classroom and in it, he saw himself. He had a single tear come down his right eye, so he quickly wiped it off. He turned back to face his neighbor and says, "Haha, it appears I was."

She asked him again, "Are you sure you're okay?"

To reassure her he firmly said, "I am."

"O-okay."

Just then, from the front of the classroom, the teacher yelled in Solis's direction, "Mr. Arcana!"

"Yes, Mr. Romes?"

"Were you talking during my lesson?"

"Yes, I was."

"Well how bold of you. I will not tolerate any disobedience today. Go step into the hall and I will be with you shortly."

"I understand Mr. Romes," taking his leave he got up from his seat and placed himself outside the classroom.

He laid up against the wall and waited for the teacher to finish the lecture. As he lay there, the hum of voices put Solis into a trance, and he fell back asleep. This time around, no dreams, just pitch black.

He was abruptly woken up by his teacher and he gave Solis another glare of disapproval.

Before talking he let out a sigh, "What am I going to do with you, Solis?"

"My apologies Mr. Romes. You know it usually doesn't happen in your class, I just don't know why today it had to occur."

"That's exactly my point, Solis. Is something going on at home?"

"No Mr. Romes, I was just feeling unusually sleepy. I promise it won't happen again."

"Are you sure?"

"You have my word."

Another sigh escaped his mouth then he told Solis, "Alright, I trust you, Solis. Now get back in there."

Solis simply nodded and did what he was told. He quickly took his seat and waited for Mr. Romes to give out further instructions to the class. Mr. Romes told them they have to be in groups of two for a small history project. Since Solis didn't know anyone in the class, he thought he would have trouble finding a partner, but as soon as Mr. Romes dismissed them to work, his neighbor asked to be his partner.

"U-um, Solis, y-you wouldn't mind if I was your partner do you?"

Surprised at first, but Solis knew that he had no reason to decline and besides it meant he didn't need to wait around to be assigned a partner so he tells her, "No, I don't."

With that, they got to work. The minutes passed as they got to work and they soon found themselves done with time to spare at the end of class. The project was supposed to be a diorama of a significant event that took place during the era of the Romans. They chose to do the invasion of Rome by General Hannibal, and Solis was the one to take the project up to Mr. Romes for scoring and approval. After Mr. Romes was done scoring and analyzing, he went back over to his seat where awkward silence fell upon him and his partner.

His neighbor frantically thought of ways to break the silence, while Solis, on the other hand, was enjoying it. Coming upon a solution she opened her mouth to start a conversation, but the bell rang to excuse them from class. Solis was quick to get up and leave and on the student's way out Mr. Romes gave them words of farewell.

For the next three hours, Solis tried to keep himself awake during his classes only narrowly escaping harsh punishment from his teachers. When lunch came around, instead of helping around like he usually did, he went to go eat. He went to the line and picked up a tray of food, found a place to sit alone, and ate his food quickly. Once he was done he planned on trying to find a place to sleep.

After going around the perimeter of the school, he found an area, behind the school, that was surrounded by shrubs that were waist-high, and thought it was good a place to sleep. He had himself situated and decided to use some of his Essence to place a barrier around him as he slept to protect him from any ill intent. Confident he was safe he let his eyes close and slept.

An hour had gone by and Solis had yet to be disturbed. It wasn't until another ten minutes passed when he felt a tingling sensation that ran down his back. He twisted his body to face his supposed aggressor, but instead, it was a girl who stood before him. She looked to be younger than him with chin-length bobbed brown hair. In her hair, were some accessories like a hairclip that had a tiger on it, and she had smooth, almost like glass, white skin.

Solis took the initiative and said hello to the girl.

Surprised to have been noticed, the girl awkwardly responded with, "O-oh, h-hello there."

"What might you be doing Miss?"

"I-I was asked by some of the teachers to go look for you."

"Oh, I see. What time is it now?"

"A little past one."

"It appears I overslept. Anyways, I apologize for having you look for me."

"I-it's no biggie."

Solis released his Essence and got up from his spot and he decided to do a little stretch to wake himself up. He hopped off his sleeping area and started heading to his last period of the day, he expected to be berated harshly, and he knew he deserved it. The girl who was sent to go find him followed closely behind.

Confused as to why the girl was following him he spoke up, "Do we perhaps have the same class?"

She lifted her head up from staring at the ground, and she looked at him and blurted out, "Huh?"

"I asked if you and I have the same fourth period."

"Y-yeah, we do!"

"Interesting."

"Actually, we share a lot of classes..."

Hit with a sudden fact he looked back down at her with more questions, "Oh? Which ones?"

"Um, first period on mental training days and third period on physical days," at Solis's highschool their curriculums were split into two days, one day where they strictly focus on training the mind and the other day where they keep themselves physically healthy.

"I didn't realize we did."

"Y-yeah, I know."

"Well, I'll formally introduce myself, but it seems you already know me. I'm Solis Arcana, nice to meet you..." he put his hand out for a handshake.

"...Quintessa. I'm Quintessa Domani, or you can call me Tessa for short" as she responded she reached out and shook Solis's hand.

"Nice to formally meet, Quintessa."

"Same here."

With proper introductions out of the way, they began walking back to class in silence. When they entered through the door, the teacher quickly pulled aside Solis. As he expected he was given harsh verbal punishment for supposedly skipping his last two periods. His verbal punishment was soon over and he was asked to go find his seat and listen to the rest of the lecture.

When the last bell of the day rang, Solis tried to get up from his seat but was asked to sit back down by his teacher.

She looked at him with a motherly gaze and asked, "Solis... this has never happened before, are you okay?"

"I am Mrs. Gaia. I'm just feeling off today, that's all."

"What do you mean by that Solis?"

"I took a nap somewhere on school grounds and I lost track of time."

"A nap? What for?"

"I was feeling unusually tired, so I decided to take a nap. I understand it was my fault for not waking up on time, and for taking a nap in the first place."

"Okay, thank you for elaborating. It appears it wasn't as serious as I made it seem. Next time though, I expect this behavior does not happen again from you, understand?"

"Of course, you have my word, Mrs. Gaia. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"I'm glad we could talk, you are excused now, Solis."

Taking her permission to leave, he does. He walked down the hall towards the front of the school when Quintessa began to walk alongside him. He decided to not pay her any mind, so he continued walking.

"Was she harsh on you?"

Not expecting any conversation to happen between them, Solis was taken by surprise. He decided to answer since it would be rude not to.

"No, not really."

"That makes sense, I mean you are a model student hehe."

"I would like to ask why you seem to know such much about me, Quintessa."

Hit with a sudden question she was left stunned, "W-what do you mean?"

"You talk to me without reservation and don't seem to mind my presence, but I haven't known you that long, why is that?"

"W-well because...I've...-atch...-ou."

Not picking up what she said he asks her, "Could you speak up? I couldn't hear you."

"I-I've been watching you..." she finally mustered up the courage to speak her mind, "b-but not in a creepy way! I just mean I've noticed the effort you put into helping out the faculty at school. Not many people do what you do, so it was hard for me not to notice."

"I see, I'm grateful for the compliment."

"You don't see me as creepy?" she asks in a worried tone.

"No, there's no reason to. You explained yourself, and what you said was in goodwill."

"Oh, okay, if you think so."

"Solis, if you don't mind me asking, you have a sibling here at school right?"

"I do."

"Any other siblings?"

"One, my brother, he's the youngest."

"I see, nice to know."

With no more questions from Quintessa, the two exited out the doors quietly. Off in the distance, Solis could see his sister's silhouette. As they got closer Quintessa spoke up again.

"You don't talk much do you?"

"I guess so."

"But you seem to be comfortable when teachers talk to you. Is it different when you talk to fellow students?"

"No. I just usually don't have much to talk about."

"Oh, I'm sorry for asking," she says feeling slightly guilty.

"No worries, you're curious and I don't mind answering your questions. I just usually won't have much to say besides answering questions."

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to end our conversation here," and he split off and went over to his sister.

She wasn't given the chance to say goodbye and was left alone to watch Solis go up to his sister. She watched as they greeted each other which made her slightly blush since she had never seen such intimacy between two siblings, but she chalked it up to being a tradition in their family so she decided not to judge them. They hopped into his car and drove off, leaving Quintessa by herself.

In the car, the siblings asked each other how their day went and Solis told Fera what happened with him. Upon hearing what happened to her brother, she asked if he knew why it happened to him.

"Sorry, Fera I don't have any idea why," in the back of his mind though, he had an eerie feeling that it may have something to do with the dream he had, but chose not to say it.

He was afraid it would worry his sister, so he kept it to himself. To reassure her he said, "I'm sure it's a one-time thing. It might just be me going through that stage again."

"Ohhh, that makes sense. Yeah! Maybe you are. I hate it when we have to do that."

"It's a pain isn't it," he added, and they both laugh.

They continued to talk as they pulled up to Ad's school and saw him waiting on a bench. He noticed his brother's car and got up to join them. His older siblings greeted him and asked him about his day. He told them all about the stuff he did during recess with his friends and a little 'accident' he had. They have a good laugh and talked more about other things as they drove home.

Eventually, they pulled onto their driveway and all of them hopped out and went into their house. Once they were all done cleaning themselves up, Solis asked them what they'd like for dinner later, since Solis didn't feel like cooking. Ad wanted something Chinese, while Fera wanted something Greek. They bickered about which would be better while Solis was left wondering which to go with.

Once he made up his mind he spoke up, "We're going to get seafood tonight."

They both looked towards their brother and neither of them said anything. Instead, they both went into their rooms and got ready to go out. A few minutes later, Solis saw his siblings dressed and ready to go. He took the lead, and they followed him closely. When they got into the car Solis asked them a question.

"You guys don't have any complaints as to why we're getting seafood?"

Fera was the first to respond, "No, there's no reason to. Ad and I know why you decided to get us seafood."

With no more to say he continued driving. The place they're headed to is called Sea King's Palace, it's a restaurant-like place, but for seafood. This place held a special place in their heart and since they were preparing for an upcoming event they decided to go there.

When they arrived, Solis gave his siblings a few words of advice, "Fera and Ad, make sure you guys go lightly today alright? Today is in preparation for it, and when it's time we'll go all out."

They nodded in agreement with his words.

"Good now let's head inside."

Ad was the first to hop out of the car and into the restaurant, with his brother and sister close behind. He went inside and up to the receptionist and said to her, "Hey hey miss! Table for three please!"

The receptionist asked the three of them, but looked in Solis's direction, "What menus will be needed tonight?"

Fera answered her instead, "No kid's menus that's all...actually I would like your desserts menu, but bring it only for me."

The receptionist nodded in response and pulled out the appropriate menus and asked them to follow her to their table. The establishment of Sea King's Palace was wide. The dining room that the front doors opened up to was big enough to fit four, ten-person tables. The receptionist led them to a room that was similar in layout but was smaller and had different tables. The tables in this dining room were set up in cubicle-like layouts but were each spaced evenly. She led them to one of the cubicles and they all took their seats.

After giving them their menus she left telling them to enjoy their time there. Once she left, they picked up their menus and started reading through them, looking for what they might like. Solis raised his head and told his siblings, "They'll ask us for our drinks, so make sure you decide now. We don't want to trouble our waiter/waitress."

They nodded in agreement and quickly picked out their drinks. Around the same time they finished selecting their drinks, their waitress came to their table.

It appeared to be a woman of average height and someone not much older than Solis, maybe even the same age. She had long black hair that she tied up in a ponytail with strands of dyed white hair scattered throughout. She also had soft eyes and thin-looking lips with slightly tanned skin. On her right hand was a strange looking symbol that Solis couldn't quite make out.

She introduced herself to the siblings, "Good evening everyone, I'm Elise and I'll be helping you guys out tonight."

Ad waved at Elise saying, "Hello Miss Elise!"

This caused her to chuckle and wave back at Ad. She looked towards Solis asking, "Is he your brother?"

"Yes he is, he's our social butterfly, so excuse him for being rowdy."

"You're fine, he's adorable so that makes up for it. Well, let me get you guys started, so what would you guys like to drink today?"

Ad started it off and told her, "I would like the sparkling apple cider please!"

Elise shook her head and jotted down his order. She looked back up waiting for someone else to order.

Next, was Fera and she told her, "I'll take your green tea, please."

She wrote down Fera's order and then looked up at Solis.

"I'll just have your mint lemonade please."

After writing down his order, she closed her notepad and told them, "Great! I'll be back with those shortly and to take your orders when you're ready."

"Thank you, Miss Elise," Ad said energetically as she walked off.

As she goes she gave Ad a little wave. When Ad looked back he saw that his brother was staring daggers at him.

"What'd I do?"

"Nothing, I would just like it if you could relax a little bit, that's all. It hurts my ears when you're too loud."

Ad took offense to this and tried to punch Solis in the arm, but his attempt was thwarted when Solis caught his fist.

"Hey, no fair Solis!"

As Ad was struggling, Solis broke out in a little laugh. This ticked off Ad more and he decided to use some of his Essence to assist his next punch. He poured a little bit of his essence into his left hand and he swung it at Solis. Solis ceased his laughter and looked at Ad's left hand coming towards him. Before it could reach him though it was stopped in mid-air by Soli's own Essence.

Struggling to get his fist through Ad yelled at Solis, "Solis stop it! That's unfair!"

Solis released his Essence and grabbed Ad's wrist and pulled him towards him. He brought Ad up to face level and asked, "What are you doing using your Essence?! You know what would've happened if that clashed with mine right?"

"Shut up, you were ticking me off."

They argued back and forth with each other and their sister decided to take matters into her own hands. She decided to use her Essence and smacked the back of both her brother's heads.

They rubbed the place where they got hit and Solis asked her, "What'd you do that for?"

"You know why! Stop acting like children!"

"...but-"

"No buts Ad."

"Fine, Fera," Ad yanked his hand out of Solis's grasp and made his Essence retreat.

"And you Solis!"

"What?" he looked at her in guilt.

"You're our eldest brother, so act like it!"

"Yeah, yeah fine. I got it," and he pulled back his Essence too.

People from the other tables looked over at them to see what the commotion was about, but Solis didn't think the attention was necessary. He inhaled and exhaled through his nose, and a white smoke seeped out and spread across the room. The people in there could not see it, but when they unknowingly inhaled the smoke it caused them to stop looking at them.

They all sat quietly and waited for the waitress to come back. When she did she brought them their drinks. Confused at the lack of conversation among the siblings she couldn't help but ask them a question.

"Um, if I may ask. Did something happen while I went to grab your drinks?"

All three of them looked up at her, but it was only Fera who answered, "My brothers were having an argument with each other and I chose to stop their childish behavior."

"Oh my my. You're a dependable sister aren't you?"

"Of course, someone has to stop these two idiots when they act stupid."

Her statement caused Elise to start laughing, but her enjoyment was cut short when she noticed Solis staring at her, "Ahem, excuse me. Moving on, I'm here to take your orders if you're ready.

Solis rose his hand indicating he was going to tell her his order, "I'll have your mahi-mahi over rice."

"Mmhmm," she mumbled and jotted down his order. She looked toward Ad and asked, "You sir?"

"The clam chowder please."

"Gotcha," and finally looked to Fera for her order.

"For me, I'd like the assortment of crab legs."

"Okay, is that all everyone?"

With one more thing to ask, Solis spoke up, "How big are your food sizes?"

When Elise heard Solis's question, she thought it was a weird one, but answered him anyway, "Umm, they're good for one person."

"...too small," he mumbled under his breath, then he looks back up at Elise and told her, "Make those portions good for three people please."

"Oh, will you be having other people eat with you?" she asked.

"No and make those adjustments for all of our orders," Solis said with a straight face.

Stunned with a hefty request she shakily says, "O-okay, I'll take note to enlarge your portions. Now if you don't mind, I'll take your menus."

Weaving in between them, she took all their menus and went into the kitchen to tell the staff their orders.

The three of them were left alone and yet again, no dialogue was exchanged between them. A good half hour had passed and then they all heard the kitchen doors open. They saw their orders come out on a big trolley, which made sense considering the size of the dishes Solis asked for. It was pulled by two people, one of them being Elise and, the other her, coworker. They stopped the trolley by their table and unloaded the dishes. When they finished Elise said, "Enjoy your meals," she gave a little bow and walked away.

This time before eating, they did not do their usual routine but instantly went for their food. Ad ate his clam chowder without reserve and disregarded the fact that it was piping hot. Fera tore apart the pieces of her crab legs, quickly getting to the meat and chowing down. She too ignored the fact that that the legs were hot and exuding steam. Solis was a bit more modest compared to his siblings, but he violently ate his food without disregard as well.

All the other tables noticed the incredible appetite the siblings displayed and all looked towards their table, watching them eat. Through the doors that led to the kitchen, Elise and some of her coworkers peered through also wanting to witness the odd spectacle. Solis wasn't too fond of being watched while eating so he decided to do something about it.

"Damn you, humans," like before, he inhaled and exhaled, and the white smoke came out of his nostrils and moved across the room. The same effect happened when he used it before.

"Sowis, wuu meed to shop uzing dat on em," Fera told her brother in between bites.

"Fera, don't talk to me while you're chewing you sound like an illiterate serpent when you speak."

Taking her time to swallow her food this time, she said, "Solis, you need to stop using that on them."

"Why? They keep staring, and I don't like it when we have spectators."

"You think they can help it? I mean look at the amount we're eating, of course, we'd garner attention!"

Solis took a second to look down at his plate then back up to his sister, "Yeah, you're right. I won't use it anymore then."

Then they both went back to eating. Five minutes later and the plates in front of each sibling was wiped clean. Ad let out a loud burp and wiped his face off with a napkin. Solis followed suit with his own burp and cleaned himself up as well.

"Ahhh, jeez, that was delicious," said Ad.

His brother and sister nod in agreement. They sat around for a few moments when Elise appeared at their table once again.

"Ahem, it seems you all enjoyed your meals," and picked up their plates to be brought back to the kitchen.

"We did," replied Solis.

Before she could head back to the kitchen Fera stopped her and asked, "Could I have some of your desserts please?"

She turned back around and faced Fera and asked, "Yes of course. What would you like?"

"Two servings of your tiramisu and two batches of mochi."

Elise couldn't get used to how big the portions of their food they liked to order, so she said, "O-of course, I'll be back with those soon."

"Thank you!" She shouted at Elise as she heads towards the kitchen.

When she was out of sight, Fera decided to pull her book out of her bag to pass the time. Unlike Fera, Solis and Ad didn't like reading nor did they like the notion of having phones so they leaned back in their chairs and closed their eyes instead.

Finally, after waiting for five minutes, Elise returned with Fera's desserts in hand. She plopped them down in front of her and she quickly began eating. Elise was not gone for long when she was called again to their table to pick up the plates that once held Fera's desserts. Once she took back the plates into the kitchen, she came back out and handed Solis their bill.

"Call me back over when you're ready to pay."

Solis nodded and picked his teeth with a toothpick. Through his lips, Elise caught a glimpse of what she thought was an unusually sharp canine tooth but decided she was hallucinating.

When Elise came back around to their table, she saw that a card was placed on top of their bill, so she decided to take it. As she walked back to the register she noticed something drop out of the book with the bill. She bent down to pick it up and saw a hundred dollar bill. Confused, she went back over to Solis and asked, "Are you using this to pay for your meal tonight?"

"No, that's your tip," he said nonchalantly.

"Hehe, you're joking," she responded anxiously.

Solis didn't say anything back, he just continued picking at his teeth.

"O-oh, I see. I'm grateful for your generosity!" Then she went back to the register.

Once she finished up, she went back to their table with Solis's card and told them, "We thank you for eating with us tonight! We hope to see you again soon."

They all got up from their seat and headed towards the door. Solis looked back at Elise and told her, "Thanks for helping us out tonight."

"Of course. Make sure you come to visit us again!" She told them as they exited through the doors.

Back in their car, they returned home for the night.

The very next day, all the siblings were at school and lunch had just started for Solis. Before lunch started that day, he was asked to meet behind the school by Quintessa. He didn't have a clue as to why she asked to meet up with him behind the school, but he wouldn't turn her down.

He walked to the back of the school after helping out a teacher with some things and Quintessa was there with her back turned.

"It seems you chose to come after all," she said to Solis without turning around.

"Of course," he responded in a flat tone.

Quintessa turned around and walked up towards Solis. She closed the distance between them ever so slowly until she came into such proximity that they could feel each other's breaths.

"Did you need me for something?" he asked her.

She didn't respond and instead went up to his ear and whispered, "I know what you are," then she backed down and stepped away.

Solis didn't know what the girl meant but her change in her usual attitude put him on edge, and he slowly let some of his Essence out.

"I don't know what you mean Quintessa, but if it's a threat you're making, I assure you, you threatened the wrong being..."