"We're done with this, boys," Mom said, her voice etched with a certain seriousness that forces you to obey what it said. "It's... It's getting out of hand and I don't want anything to happen to you two. No more Morphix."

I knew she wasn't kidding. What should I do, though? It's not as if I could just ignore what I am. It's not as if I could ignore Astlyr, myself. Ignore everyone I have met as a Morphix? Rogue? Ignore the fact that my memory might be taken away, but I'd never know when? Never. But my mom is my mom, and I should obey her. Though, I can't just turn away and keep going, acting as if there wasn't a road that led to another way.

I nodded slowly, not knowing if I was seriously going to do what she said...but I highly doubt it. Al was looking at me for a suggestion on how he should answer Mom, but I wasn't really much help. Instead, I found myself protesting.

"Mom, you can't just make us turn away! After all these years, I finally met my dad! I finally found out that the mark on my hand isn't just a burn! I finally know that I'm not Amus!"

"Stop. Just stop," she said in a hushed tone.

"Mom," I whined like a spoiled brat. "I'm Astlyr! I'm Astlyr and you know that!"

"I said stop!" she yelled. "I'm not going to risk it again! I'm not going to! No, just...no! I'm not going to risk letting you go! The last time I did, you were torn in two!" Her voice cracked and she began to tear-up.

"Mom," I said calmly, "that can never happen ever again."

"But your brother had been kidnapped, Amus. There's a possibility - God forbid - that it may happen again if you keep this up."

I hate admit that she's right. It can happen again. Unless he loses his ability to see ghosts or his ability to use cross-telepathy. Which I doubt. So, I gave in.

No...More...Morphix. But I probably won't last long. But I'll try. Maybe.

So, I did my best not to think about it until school started up again; until I saw the others. Zoelle and Lite were in the parking lot next to Emboli, yelling at someone. Only when I got closer did I see that it was Rogue.

"Hey," I greeted. "What's going on?"

Zoelle rested her hand on her hip and pointed her thumb towards Rogue. "This girl thinks that she can bring pets to school."

Taking a closer look, I saw that Rogue held Devae by a leash. "Why did you bring him?"

Rogue pouted, "He would've been lonely at home! I couldn't leave him there!"

It took about two minutes for a teacher to wave over at Rogue to give her a talk about pets at school. So, I talked to Lite and Zoelle about what happened to me at home.

"What?!" Z put her hands on my shoulders, shaking me aggressively. "We still have to do so much!"

Lite nodded. "What about your dad? And Rogue? And..." his tone grew quiet "...Astlyr?"

"Yeah, I know," I muttered.

Zoelle circled around slowly. "But...you can't help but wonder why people are hunting you and your brother even though Rogue is the one with the ring. Although, the people seem to underestimate Rogue a bit too much. We could use it to our advantage."

I wanted the answer to all of these questions including: "Where does Astlyr go when he's not possessing me?" or "Why did he possess Al that one time, and I had to take him to the hospital?" and "Why do the scientists want the Philosopher's Stone?"

But I can't answer these questions and pretend to not be a part of it all. It won't work. So, I decided that I won't listen to my mom. I don't know why it took me so long to choose this option, but I don't want her to worry too much.

"Well," Lite turned around and motioned towards us. "We should get through the school day first."

So, we did. I saw Sannel a lot and he kept whispering questions about Morphix to me. Our science teacher changed and it was now a man named "Kharis Fraut". He seemed a bit off, and he would mumble some things while looking at me and my classmates. Obviously, it was very uncomforting to the least.

After school, I rode my bike back home and found myself making a chart of possibilities and scenarios.

A) Sannel is working with the scientists. That's why he wants to know about Morphix.

B) Someone, somehow, implanted the name/word "Amus" into my mind.

C) Astlyr is trapped in my body and can't leave for too long.

D) The scientists want to revive someone with the Philosopher's Stone.

E) The Guild Matriarchs are watching me.

F) Allois is hiding something about why he has certain abilities even though he isn't a Morphix.

G) This is all a set-up.

H) None of my theories are correct.

If they aren't correct, then I hardly have anything to worry about. Although, something is wrong. Something has to be wrong. Otherwise, I wouldn't be making this list; duh...

...'Duh'? I'm starting to sound like a bratty teenage girl. Next, I'll be trying to leave the house as much as possible.

Wait.

I'm already doing that. But shouldn't discovering my past be a good excuse to leave? Right? Well, what do I know about life? Apparently, not much. I mean, I'm still trying to find out why my name is my name. That's sad. When I say sad, I mean sad.

And...the 'teenage-girl' side of me is coming out again. When did I even have that side? Why am I even thinking about this? What exactly was I thinking about before?

Oh, that's right. Scenarios.

"Amus?" Allois beckoned to me as I flinched at the name 'Amus'. He started to walk home with me after school because of the whole incident.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing... I thought something was wrong 'cause your face turned weird. It scrunches up when you think too much... and you hardly ever think," he said bluntly.

Wow. Thanks, Al. "I'm fine. I'm just..." I stopped at a loss for words. What do I say at this point? I can't say that I was thinking. I just protested against that. Instead, I trailed off, but we stayed quiet.

Once we reached our doorstep, Allois spoke again, "I don't think you should give up being a Morphix. It's too important."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I wasn't planning on doing so in the first place."

Al smiled and we walked inside.

"Yes, yes, yes," spoke an all-too-familiar voice. "It's fine, yes. No, no...I'll won't be long. Yes... Okay, bye now!"

Stepping into the kitchen, we witnessed Marybell perched up on a stool, hanging up a phone call. She turned to us, smiled, and waved as if everything was perfectly normal.

I subconsciously held up a lamp on the table beside me. "What are you doing in our house? Get out!"

"Eh? But I don't mean any harm, yes. Is this how you treat a house guest?"

"No," I replied. "This is how you treat an intruder!"

"Fine, fine. I see your point, yes..."

"Oh, you better freaking see my point! What the hell are you doing here?!" I shouted, lifting the lamp higher.

She sighed and reclined in a chair. "Calm down, yes. And stop yelling. You're so loud, yes."

I exhaled loudly and slammed the lamp back down.

"Good!" she exclaimed. "Now, sit back and I'll tell you what happened, yes!"