Chapter 1: Anne's Point Of View

My surroundings are begrimed, my body is insensible. My ability to hear is non-existent. My vision is partially above average. Where is everybody? What happened? The eerie ringing is coming to an end, I am capable of locating some people around me, Samuel is currently crying. What is he thinking?

'My nails!' Samuel yells inside his head. 'My beautiful nails, where's my lion? Where's Nemean?' A mixture of his appearance and his companion, understandable.

I catch a sight of Bryan in my view, he's pushing the rubble off him, 'Where's Anne? I need to find Anne?' He looks over and sees me buried below the rubble and comes running. "Anne!" Good to see he is alright, I grin.

"Anne, can you move?" He asks, pulling the fallen home off of me. "Can you hear me?"

I nod, "I'm alright, where's Orthrus?"

"Right here," Bryan directs me to Orthrus chasing his tail. "Looks like he wasn't bothered."

"Let's go look for everyone else," I instruct and secure Orthrus. "I'll look for Lexus, you go help Samuel and Alec." Bryan salutes and sprints over to assist Samuel, who is still actively weeping about his nails.

The only thing that is leading me towards Lexus is the audio of Cerberus barking and whimpering. I catch a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye, she is patting Cerberus while he attempts to get all of the debris off of her. What is she thinking?

'This is all my fault, if only I was never born,' Lexus ponders. How dare she consider thoughts as that; I am so vexed at this moment! 'I hope everyone is okay, although I wouldn't blame them for never talking to me again.' Her eyes go wide like she just remembered something, 'Where's mom and dad? They were covering me!'

"Lexus, I'm coming!" I yell as I sprint over to her. "Don't worry, we'll find them." I look down to Cerberus who is still scratching rocks off of her, "Good boy, Cerberus."

"Who else has been found?" Lexus asks me as I help her up. She grabs hold of Cerberus and hugs him tight.

"Bryan is taking care of Samuel and Alec," I catch her up. "Your parents shouldn't be too far away."

"Anybody out there?" Troy's voice calls out for assistance. "Des is crushed, and I think I found mom!'

"Let's go," Lexus grabs me, and we run over to Troy, Bryan, Samuel and Alec join us.

"I found Shi and Hakai a few minutes ago," Alec updates us. "They went to go get help."

"Good job," I reply to him. "Help us get Des out of there and see if you can find Lexus's parents as well."

"On it," Alec runs to the center of the rubble and summons his angels, as well as directing his shadows throughout the crevices of the debris. He directs us to another section of rock beside Des, "Their father is under there and the mother is beside him."

"Are you able to know their condition?" I question him.

He avoids eye contact with Lexus and Troy, "I don't want to say it until we know for sure."

"Understandable," I agree and direct Samuel in front of one of the rocks. "Change into a Sholo or Moyky and help them out."

"Everyone stand back," Samuel orders us, we all scurry to the other side of the blown-up house and Samuel changes form. He wraps his hands under the foundation and flips it up into the sky, grabbing Des, the parents and joining back with us, the boulder crashing to the ground beyond him.

"Hold back Lexus and Troy," Samuel requests and sets down Des and the parents. "Des is fine but-."

"Don't say it!" Lexus screams, tears rolling down her face. "I refuse to believe it, Des, Troy, revive them, someone do something!"

Troy takes hold of Lexus's hand, "I've got some bad news for you."

"What are you talking about?" Samuel queries him.

Des disagrees, "It's best for us to play the video for her instead. She'll need to wait just a little longer."

"What video?" Roars Lexus.

Hakai and Shi teleport in with doctors, Hakai explains everything they understand so far, "We've taken Lernaean, Nemean and Mishipeshu to the vets, they were injured but they will make a full recovery."

We all glance at each other, "Where's Lukas?" I question.

"In the hospital," Shi replies and catches a glimpse of Lexus's parents. "He managed to cover himself with a shield of water, but he's still badly hurt." I read Shi's mind, 'What happened to them? They're dead! Poor Lexus, this all happened on her birthday, I have no doubt in my mind that she's blaming herself right now.'

The doctors cover up Mercedes and Richard, and Hakai and Shi teleport us to the vet. Lexus is refusing to communicate, and I feel as though I should stay out of her head, she is highly likely to be distressed.

"Hey, Anne," Hakai taps me on the shoulder. "Some people from the government may have some details on who did this, if I teleport you, can you please read their minds?"

I nod in agreement, "Let's make this quick, before anyone notices we're gone."

We teleport inside of the office of magical and mechanical violence. Nobody acts as though we are out of the ordinary, we crouch and creep past the sight of everyone and into the more private sector. I peek around a corner and catch a sight of Darren and Daria Mungsion, I can not make out what they are saying but I signal Hakai and we tail them.

They stop in front of a water fountain and I decide to read Daria's mind first.

'I can't believe Anthony Carcasco is still wandering around our city so casually,' Daria thinks to herself. 'He also got that giant bomber, where did he even get his hands on something like that? Anne, there's your information, now get out before someone catches you.' Daria looks over to me from the corner of her eye. I signal her with a thumbs up and turn to Hakai, signaling her to teleport us back.

Hakai teleports us back to the veterinarian's office, Shi is waiting outside for us.

"Did you tell him about this?" I question her.

She shakes her head, "No, I only told you."

"So, what did you guys find out?" Shi asks us with his arms crossed.

They both stare at me and I hesitate to share for a moment, "Anthony Carcasco got his hands on a bomber plane, he did this."

"What was the thumbs up earlier for?" Hakai asks me.

"Daria was purposely telling me the information," I explain. "I'm guessing that she saw us following them."

"So, Anthony did this huh?" Bryan walks out from behind a wall. "Just wait until Des finds out about this, we may not be able to calm him down."

"I actually think Troy will snap far before Des," I rebuttal him. "He lost his parents, his home and his girlfriend cheated on and broke up with him."

"Seriously? You guys are worried about what Des and Troy will do?" Alec shouts and comes out of one of his shadows below us. "Lexus is the most dangerous! Have you even read her mind yet?"

I nod, "I have when I first found her in the destruction, she's blaming herself for all of this happening."

"I think we should try to get into contact with Jowangsin," Shi suggests. Considering what happened during the movie night I am appalled that he is even willing to think of her name.

"I'm confident that she is already aware of what has taken place and is probably preparing to assist Lexus however she can," I assure everyone.

We all end the conversation as is and go back inside of the veterinarian's office, how are we going to break it to her? How will she react? What is Jowangsin going to do to assist her?

The auditory sound of barking and laughter interrupts my contemplation. It sounds like Lexus has calmed down a bit and is finally capable of smiling. It also sounds like Cerberus is thriving just fine. I walk into the room she is in and she is trying to toss a tennis ball, but Cerberus keeps catching it the second it leaves her hand.

"Cerberus at least let me throw it," Lexus laughs and goes silent, staring at the ground. Cerberus drops the ball in her lap and lays his head on her shoulder. Lexus starts to cry and wrap her arms around Cerberus, it seems that her parents put Cerberus through a quick emotional support training course.

I slowly sit next to her and put my arm around her shoulder, "Everything will be alright, you have so many people by your side, willing to help you with anything."

She rolls her eyes, "That's not what I want to hear." I read her mind, 'I want my parents back, I want my birthday to go back to being happy and upbeat, I want to go back to opening gifts and acting embarrassed whenever my parents do something stupid, I want to kill whoever did this.'

"I know," I comfort her. "I know."

Our pets are shortly discharged, we have been given medication to give our pets for the next week for the trauma, but I know that none of them remember a thing, except for Cerberus. He has faced the most trauma out of any of the other pets, especially since Lexus is the only one of us that has shed tears. We are promptly teleported to the hospital to get our wounds and injuries checked out. Lukas is in bad condition, his breathing and heart rate are unstable, but his injuries are almost completely restored. I wonder what Des was talking about earlier, about a video.

"Hey, Anne," Lexus turns to me while the doctor checks her breathing. "After I watch whatever video Des was talking about, please promise that nobody will leave my side."

"I promise," I smile. She is scared, I do not have to read her mind to know that she is scared. Knowing how she normally thinks, she probably thinks that the video is her parents telling her how much of a disappointment she is, but it is positively not. Her parents loved her; this video is probably just a will. She is probably also concerned as to why they are not supposed to be revived, and I am curious as to why as well.

Shi comes bursting into the room, "Guys, are you done yet? It's time to watch the video."

Lexus and I look at each for a moment and I smile at her comfortingly, "Let's go."

We all walk into a dimly lit room with several chairs placed in front of a hologram screen, Lexus and her two brothers sit beside each other closest to the screen. The lights turn completely off and the video starts.

It is a video of her mom and dad sitting on a sofa and smiling at the camera, you can hear baby Des, Troy and Lexus in the background. I look over at them and they are already crying, Cerberus still has not left her side, not once.

"Des, Troy, Lexus," Her mother starts. "I love you all, both I and your father do, and we will always love you."

"If you're watching this, then we have passed away," Her father continues. "You are all probably very upset by our choice to not be revived after our death." Baby Troy laughing in the background.

"We chose to not be revived because that was our time and we know that we will forever accept our end no matter what happens," Her mother explains. "Now it is time for you all to spread your wings and conquer anyone who dares to doubt you and your powers."

"Conquer our little angels and princess," Her father laughs. "Conquer past your fears, sadness, doubts and prove that you are the strongest, most kind, and the smartest out of anyone who dares to come across you." Baby Lexus and baby Troy jump onto their parents' laps.

"We put Des in the giant toilet," Lexus babbles.

Her parents look at each other with terror, "What?"

"The pool," Troy giggles. "Lexus you're so silly." Lexus pulls Troy off the couch and they run out of frame.

Both of her parents sit there silent and confused for a few seconds, "Can Des swim yet?" Her father asks.

"No!" Her mother runs out of frame.

"Uh, we love you," Her father panics and struggles to end the video, "And you will make it through this, we will always love you guys."

The video ends and the lights turn back on, I think I heard Lexus laugh for a second when she said they put Des in the toilet, but now we are all silent.

"So, we're orphans now, huh?" Lexus mumbles to herself. Cerberus starts pawing at her chest. I read her mind, 'Where are we going to live now? Will I have to drop out of school? How will we eat? None of this would've happened if I had run away or even died that night when I was fighting Anthony, everyone would've been much happier without me.'

Samuel runs up and hugs her, "Everything will be okay."

Darren, Daria and a detective walk into the room, Daria points to Lexus to ask me if I had told her yet, I shake my head. She prepares a fihi behind her pocket.

"We've figured out who caused the event," Darren Mungsion.

The detective opens a notepad, "The person who bombed your home was Anthony Carcasco."

Lexus's eyes go wide, she flies to her feet and I grab onto her, Daria grabs her wrist and puts the Fihi onto her, Darren doing the same to Troy and Des.

The detective hesitates to continue reading the report, but Darren insists, "He has made a lot of progress throughout the last few months. He got his hands on a bomber and it is suspected that his army has grown by fifty times,"

I read Lexus's mind, 'All of those innocent souls, there all being corrupted and abused only for the benefit of that villain Anthony. Anthony, I will kill you and I will save all of those poor souls.'

"We've prepared a temporary hotel while your home gets rebuilt," Daria adds. "Lexus, since you have gotten your powers back, you will also be attending Central Powers High School again and since you're the one that's supposed to kill Anthony, you will be given a private gym membership for training." Fyre appears on Lexus's shoulder, he looks hyped, they talk for a few seconds and then he calmly takes a seat on her shoulder, Cerberus is staring at him like he is a fly.

"Alright," Lexus mumbles.

"Also, since you all have pets now, you will be transferred into the 'Learning With Companions Course,' Darren adds. "Effective immediately."

"This should be fun," Shi smirks. "Seeing as how I have a dragon that grows two more heads for every one that's cut off."

Hakai smacks him, "Don't go cutting your dragon now!"

"I won't don't worry!" Shi rubs his head. Lexus giggles at that.

"Hey, Shi," I obtain his attention. "Come over here for a second." He does so and I swat him upside the head, the laugh was not as loud although it was still genuine.

"What was that for?" Shi squawks.

"Don't worry about it," I beam. His jaw drops, he looks so vexed.

"What about Hakai?" Alec raises. "Since she doesn't have a pet and all." I notice Hakai clench something in her pocket.

"Since her and Shi's powers are connected, she will also be transferred into the same class," Daria elucidates.

The meeting is soon brought to a halt, all our contusions and abrasions are completely mended. Everyone else decides to head back home in order to reassure their parents that all is adequate, yet I refuse to abandon Lexus's side, so I request Samuel to assure my family that I am unscathed. I will not leave her side, even if she were to bawl or hurl items toward me in an attempt to get rid of me, I will refuse to abandon her.