It was February seventh and the big day had finally come. We would get our shot at rescuing our family and friends. It was surreal...

We were in the front room right now making sure we all knew what the plan of attack was supposed to be.

"Okay, so we're all going this time," I said.

Duke put his hand up. "Does that mean we're going to pick up Ai then?"

I shook my head. "She won't really be able to help us this time. Her job last time was to take care of Eni, and she can't really fight, so it wouldn't make sense to bring her."

"I guess so..." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Would it really make sense for us to all go then?"

"You and Eni have weapons if you need them. As does Marshall. Not to mention that he fought in our first battle." I smiled. "Lie has to come, because she deserves to see her parents at the first opportunity."

"Okay then. That makes sense." He folded his arms. "Are we sure we have everything we need?"

I cracked a smile and set a pair of cases on the table.

They exchanged glances before looking at me expectantly.

"Open them!"

They each took a case and opened it.

Their eyes got big. "Our knives!"

"That's right." I folded arms. "No clue when, but apparently we gave them back to Leon for safe keeping."

Everyone else stared for a minute before T shook her head.

"This should be everything, right?"

I nodded. "We'll split up if we need to after the battle's over."

T put her hands on her hips and got into a regal stance. "Then we'll go fight and we'll win."

We got into a circle and stacked our hands. "Right!"

I used the front door to form the gateway since it was already a gate of sorts, and we didn't feel like going into the garden like we usually did. That might have sounded like a security risk, but it wasn't an issue as the door didn't need to be open for this to work. I could have used something small like a window if I wanted to. It just wasn't something I liked doing.

Duke and Marshall held Lie's hands and the trio went through first. T took Eni's hand and followed them. Recah held my hand and we went last as usual to be sure the gate would stay open long enough for us to all get through.

We landed at a point T and I decided on last night that was a short distance away from our coordinates. We had decided to do that to limit the risk of getting into a battle upon arrival.

Once we were through, Duke and Marshall made sure to have their knives at the ready. T's eyes were equal parts pink and silver, but it was clear she too was ready. Red took dominance in Eni's eyes, and I thought he might have had flecks of blue in there also. My excited flames were ready.

"Everything feels real now..." Duke said. "I didn't realize that everything seemed so far away."

T smiled. "It does."

Marshall tightened his grip on the handle of his knife. "But we still have to be on guard or risk being overwhelmed."

"Right," T said.

"It's time to get those we came here for." I gritted my teeth. "I couldn't be more ready."

***

If I remembered correctly, we would reach Vanny's coordinates first as they were closer.

Things were quiet when we got into the search zone.

"Should we be worried that this place seems so quiet?" Duke asked.

"It doesn't solve anything to panic," Marshall replied. "We have to keep level heads."

T looked to me. "Can you sense anyone?"

"I can. There are a few families living in this area. They're still a little ways from us, though." I glanced back at Lie. "Can you feel them, too, or is your range not there yet?"

"I dunno how many you can count, but I can count some. I don't think they're bad."

I smiled. "I think we're safe for now then. Between Lie and I, I think we'd know if anything to worry about was approaching."

"You think we should try to talk to the locals?" Marshall asked.

"It might be best not to, so we can avoid getting them caught in the crossfire," I replied.

T added, "But we should be friendly if they try to approach us."

"Understood." Duke cracked a smile. "We would look suspect to the locals otherwise."

Things went fairly smoothly as the locals seemed to not pay us much mind. there was a point where the houses thinned out again. That was when Lie perked up.

"I don't believe it. I don't believe it... I don't believe it...!" She looked straight at me. "Do you feel it, too? Can you feel it, too?"

"Lie. I have no idea what you just said."

Marshall had to pick Lie up because she looked like she was about to bolt off.

"Marshall, put me down!"

Recah let go of my hand and went over to them. "Sweetie, you need to calm down."

"You can't go running off on your own, Lie." Duke got in front of them. "You could get hurt if you do that."

Once she settled down, Marshall set Lie down.

"Sorry..."

I came over and ruffled her hair. "I dunno what you were sensing, but we'll probably see it soon. I know there's a few people up ahead."

We walked a bit more before Lie got excited again. The boys weren't able to grab hold of her before she ran off this time.

"It's you, isn't it? Zane! Zane!"

Zane? Where had I heard that name before? Wait. Wasn't that the name of her big brother? Why would he have been here?

We soon came across a boy I thought was around the same age as me, Eni, and Marshall. He was wearing a mask that was green and orange. The inner portion was orange with thick streaks of black while the eye slits were green.

"Zane?" The guy turned his back to Lie. "I have no idea who that is, little girl. My name is Ezan. You must have me confused with someone else."

Ezan? What kind of name was that? If he really was Lie's Zane, that was probably the worst name for him to use if he was trying to hide his identity. If somebody told him to use that name, I world not hire them to pick an alias for me.

Lie just turned absolutely red. "You big fat liar!" The poor kid had tears in her eyes. "I know it's you, Zane!" Her voice cracked. "If you think you can fool me then you're kidding yourself!"

"Ezan" let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't have time for you, little girl." He turned to me. "You're the one who wants to rescue the Earth girl, right? My job is to make sure that you don't."

"We have to fight then?" I asked.

"If you want to rescue your friend, anyway." He pulled out a sword. If I remembered correctly from the books I've read, he was using an Estoc. "Which I'm sure you do."

I looked at Eni. "Take care of Lie and Recah for us, okay?"

Lie grabbed onto him. She might have started crying, but it was hard to tell since she buried her face in his shirt. It was crazy how much they'd grown over the past year or so. They were about the same size now.

"Know I don't want to hurt you," "Ezan" said. "I'm just doing my job."

"The same goes for the four of us," Marshall said.

He and Duke pulled out their knives.

"Are you sure you don't recognize Lie at all?" Duke asked.

It was hard to tell with the sword in his hands, but I was pretty sure "Ezan" shrugged. "Never seen her before in my life."

I wasn't sure how, but I heard Lie squeak.

"Be quiet!" "Ezan" put his hands on the sides of his head. "I've had a headache since you got here, and it gets worse every time you talk!"

Lie gave him a headache? How did that make any sense? He had to be exaggerating or something. It was certainly odd.

He should not have said that in front of Duke.

A switch flipped in the kid. He went in for the first strike. "How dare you say that to sweet little Lie!"

The masked guy parried the attack like it was nothing. Duke went back and forth with him for a while but eventually was able to strike his lower leg.

While he was busy with Duke, Marshall's gaze was fixed on his mask. He must've wanted to unmask him. T and I exchanged glances. We were in agreement with him. That'd reveal if Lie was right.

He tried to stabilize himself with his sword but fell after Duke landed his hit.

T used that opening to crack his mask with a blade of wind.

That was when it split in two and fell off...

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!