Guardians: The Triplex Part 11

She extends her and Jay takes it. A blue spark ignites between their hands then Jay Glides. He comes back in a fraction of a second.

"Yo, that was crazy!" he announces.

"You went all the way around the world?" I ask.

"Six times," he says, too excited to stand still.

"I'm an Enhancer. I add to whatever powers you already have," she says dismissively.

"That's hot!" Jay says, clearly impressed.

"I wish I could have my own power and not just make other people stronger."

"Charity, don't be a downer," her sister scolds. She hunches her shoulders slightly and lowers her eyes.

"Charity, your power is like cash money. It's always useful," Jay says. She doesn't bring her eyes up from the floor all the way but she does perk up and smile.

"We need to go inside," Ameana says weakly as she doubles over in pain.

"What is it?" Marcus asks rushing to her side.

"I don't know."

"Does your power have some kind of side effect on the people you pull from?" Marcus asks.

"It makes them weak. I should have mentioned that," Choice says sweetly.

"Yes, you should have," Marcus warns her.

Rio makes Ameana lean on him as we all head back to the temple.

As soon as we enter, Chance is there to greet us.

"What do you think of our city?"

"Nice. But if we are going to get to Pyron, we should head back now," Marcus informs her.

"It's late. The Port can only take you as far as Terra. And you should not travel there at night."

"We can take our chances," he a.s.sures her.

"Your teammate looks unwell; recharge then leave in the morning. We have prepared rooms for all of you."

Marcus is about to object but then he looks at Ameana. She is trying to put up a brave front but she has yet to stand fully upright.

"Okay, but we will take off at first light."

"That sounds very wise Guardian."

Chance tells Charity to show us to our rooms.

"Before you go, I think it's only fair to warn you that Pyron will be extremely dangerous. Everyone always focuses on reaching Kairo but that's a mistake. You will need to focus on how to get past the terrain of Pyron first. Then focus on Kairo in the castle."

"You have any suggestions?" the Twins ask.

"You will need help from three beings. You need someone very familiar with Hun's Market as Kairo has used many items from there to protect his land."

"Would a Seller do?" I reply.

"That would be wise, yes."

"Do you know of one?" Charity asks.

We all exchange bemused looks.

"Yeah, we know one," Marcus says regretfully.

"Is he a friend?"

Is Tony-Tone a friend?

"He's...well-meaning" I say out loud.

"He will be important to your mission," Charity says, concerned.

"Next you will need someone who knows Kairo and how he thinks."

"I know a guy who is obsessed with all things Kairo. He's studied him for many Cycles. He'd love to go with us."

"Good. Lastly, you will need a Para," Chance concludes.

"Why?" Ameana asks incredulously.

"You will be invaded by darkness from all sides. The light of a Para will help to combat the ubiquitous evil around you."

"Do you know a Para?" Choice asks.

We all look at each other and then at Ameana. She sighs softly and nods "yes."

"One final matter: we would appreciate it if you would not tell anyone about us until after your mission."

"You want us to keep all of this a secret, why?" Jay asks.

"We would like to personally introduce ourselves. That will give us a chance to make a good impression on the Angel world. If word gets out about us before we're ready, we can imagine the misgivings and rumors that will follow. So we feel secrecy is best. Do you agree Marcus?"

He agrees to her condition.

"Then, by morning you and your team should be off. If you fail to recover the Amulet-"

"We. Won't. Fail." Marcus swears. Chance merely smiles and says that is her hope as well.

Charity shows us to our rooms. Marcus tells Jay to contact the guy he knows and orders us to get some rest. We are to meet back in his room in a few hours. We all follow instructions. I give Marcus a quick kiss and head to my room.

The minimalist decor makes the room an ideal place for meditation. I can't help but think how happy Wolf would be in here. I laugh to myself thinking what awful things Ameana would do to me if she knew I was even thinking

about Wolf. Even if it is an innocent thought.

I look at myself in the circular mirror before me. There is a smile on my face. Outside of being with Marcus, I have found little reason to smile of late. Now I think there is actually a chance that I may be saved right along with the world. I never allowed myself to entertain such thoughts before. Now, I'm thinking about what college I may go to and where I will be in five years...

We're going after Lucy's son and it's been predicted that not all of us will make it back. Maybe you should hold off the long-term planning, Emmy.

Given this kind of thinking, I know if I stay in this room I will drive myself crazy with worry. So I head over to Marcus's room. The team is supposed to be recharging but if I know my First Guardian, he's wide awake.

As I walk by Miku's room, I hear her and Ameana talking. I guess no one is recharging.

"I know we're good and we've gone up against a lot. But Kairo?" Miku says.

"I know," Ameana says, with a sense of dread.

"Kairo is a psychopath."

"Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure Lucy could kill him even if she wanted to."

"Going up against him is worse then the Hun. Do you remember what he did to Linden?"

"I heard that story in training and it gave me nightmares."

Who's Linden?

The two fall silent.

"We don't really have a choice do we?" Miku says a few moments later.

"No. Marcus is going to do this with or without us. And we can't let him do it alone."

"You guys think I'm crazy for not wanting to kill the Tics?" Miku asks.

"I get it. Redd hurt a lot of people. You're trying to undo some of what she did."

"Exactly, I put my hand through a man's chest and ripped his heart out from his body. And you know what is worse? How much I enjoyed it."

"That wasn't you."

"Redd is a part of me. So somewhere inside me I'm actually that dark and that twisted."

"I know it's difficult to look back on, but when you're in the heat of a battle, you can't take regret with you. It'll slow you down."

"I just can't believe how out of control I was. How could evil make a home so easily inside me?"

"It's not just you. Angel or not, it's easy to let evil in. Some days you keep it a bay and some days it comes up to your door and knocks."

"Have you ever...let it in?"

"Gotten very close."

"When Emmy kissed Marcus?" she asks carefully.

"Yeah..."

"At least you were strong enough not to do something crazy, unlike me."

"You don't know how many times I've separated Emmy's flesh from her bones in my head."

"Ameana!"

"What? I know it would be wrong but it would also be fun; so much fun," I can hear the smile in her voice.

"I thought Angels were supposed to be nice?" Miku teases.

"No, Pretty. We're supposed to be good and I am. Have I killed the human? No. But thinking about it is fun. And we are allowed to have some fun."

"I guess. So, how do you feel?" Miku asks her.

"Much better, the side effects of Choice's powers are wearing off."

"I don't mean that. I mean the fact that we're about to ask for Wolf's help."

"Pretty, there has to be someone else we can ask."

"Wolf may not kill but you can't deny he can handle himself. Or as Jay would say 'kid's got skillz,' " Miku says, imitating Jay's voice.

"I know but..."

"Ameana, its okay to like him."

"What if I don't want to?"

"I hate what you're letting the break up do to you," Miku says gently.

After a moment of reflection, Ameana admits, "Wolf is kind of s.e.xy when he fights. And his wing span is ma.s.sive