Rowan tossed one of her various weapons at the targets that lined her bedroom walls. She usually practiced throwing her knives in here, in her home away from home. The fairy girl was extremely bored. She was practicing for when she would become a Guardian and be assigned as a human's protector. She would be chosen very soon for this since she was almost fifteen. The Fairy Council always chose Guardians during the summer, and her birthday would be during those short, warm months of the year. Rowan wasn't sure why fairies became Guardians in the first place, but she did know that until the said Flightless became able to protect themself, their fairy warrior would watch over them. Rowan tossed another knife. It missed the red and black target and hit the wall. She cursed and got up to retrieve it, but as she did so, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A picture was on her bedside table. At one time, the little table had been covered by a pile of clothes, but Mrs. Fern had come in to clean yesterday, so the pile had been moved. Rowan knew this room had used to belong to someone else before her. Reena's older sister, Sarah, had been here once, but that was before she had been attacked and killed by a horde of demise beasts. The room had been empty for a long while as the family mourned, but when Rowan had needed a place to go, they had taken her in. She wasn't a direct relative of theirs, but Mrs. Fern was a close friend of her mother, so they had let her stay here when disaster struck. Rowan laid down on her bed and gazed up at the ceiling. She remembered what happened as if it had occurred yesterday. The event was her fault. Her house had burned down, and it had been because of a spell. Even at a young age, Rowan had been particularly fond of using magic, but she hadn't understood that it could be dangerous until her room burst into flames from a spell she had cast incorrectly. Her house had burned quickly, the wood blazing and breaking apart. Her parents had ushered her out of the house first. She never understood why. Her brother Terence and little sister Olivia were still inside, so her father ran back to get them. Rowan remembered him kissing her forehead and then hurrying back into their forsaken house. That was the last she'd ever see of him.
Her mom had almost escaped with her, but a flaming part of a wall fell down between them just as they were nearing the front door. Her mother had cried and told her to keep going. Fire was a weakness of fairies, so her mom's powers were useless here. She couldn't be saved. Rowan would never forget the faint smile that her mom had given her before she had stayed behind to die. Her dark russet hair had broken out into frizzy curls from the intense heat. "Go!" she cried. "Go, please! I love you!" Blinded by agonizing sorrow and rage, Rowan picked up the picture at the table. It was a portrait of her family, made months before they were killed. Rowan's hands shook. Mrs. Fern had put it there, probably as a gift. She hadn't meant to hurt her, but it still felt like she was burning in that fire, burning and turning into cinders. Rowan tightened her grip on the picture's frame, then threw it at the wall. The front of it was encased in glass, so it shattered, sending glittering shards onto the floor and her bed covers. Some bits cut her legs, but Rowan hardly noticed or cared. She punched her pillow, then buried her face in it, crying bitter tears.

Kara woke from a restless nightmare. She had seen a figure with horns crouched over her, muttering something about her gift and how he would take it from her. He held her with one arm, his otherworldly strength threatening to break her arm. She felt like she was being slowly torn apart, like the medieval torture she had learned about once in a history lesson. Something was being taken from her, something important, and the shadowy figure's eyes glowed red. That was where the horrible dream ended. Kara awoke then, practically in tears. The details were slipping away, but it had still been terrifying. Her door opened, and Toby stepped inside, concerned. The blond fairy sat beside her on her bed and looked at her questioningly. "Kara, are you okay?" "I had a nightmare," she murmured, wiping her tears away with one hand. "It's nothing."
"Nightmares aren't always nothing. What happened?" "I don't really want to talk about it."
Kara sat up and sniffled a little. Toby's worry for her was sweet, but she was fine and didn't feel the need to be helped. "Why are you here? I thought you went back home with your mom."
"Well, I was going to, but I decided to stay here. My mom can be overbearing sometimes, but she knew I didn't want to leave just yet, so I get to stay here for a couple more days." Toby yawned. "You were kind of loud, and since I was in the room next to this one, I had to see what was wrong. Kara, are you sure you're alright?" "Yes. It was just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less." Kara yawned and stood up, kicking her covers off of her. She still wore the clothes from the other day when she had met Flit for the first time. She definitely would need to find new ones today. "Where's Kyle? Is he here?" "No. Just before everyone went to bed, he left the house. Said he had something to do." Kara was curious now. "Did he say where he was going or what he had to do, exactly?" Toby shook his head, looking worried again. "No. I would've pressed him for answers, but it was pretty late at night, and I didn't have it in me at the time." Kara's eyes widened, and she looked at him with confusion. "Toby, you really should've asked about stuff like that. Don't you think he might be in trouble?" Toby sighed, looking at his feet. He had socks on now, worn black ones that went up to his ankles. "Well, yeah, but he used a Gateway to leave, and I don't know how to make one to find him. That's pretty advanced magic, after all." Kara wanted to say that she knew how to do that, but the chance of it taking them to the right place was slim. "Oh." Toby moved away from the bed. His wings glittered from the sunlight that streamed in from the windows. "Come on, Kara. Let's go get breakfast. We'll have to stay inside since it's probably going to rain soon." The boy left then, closing the door behind him. Kara moved to follow him, heading out into the kitchen.

Breakfast consisted of pancakes with blueberries in them. They were delicious, and Kara made sure to tell Mrs. Fern that when she passed by her spot at the table. There was enough for each of them to have seconds, so they did. April put powdered sugar onto her pancakes, careful not to put on too much. Kara looked over at Reena's little sister in fascination. "Does that taste good?" April grabbed a fork and took a piece of the one of the sugar coated pancakes, stuffing it into her mouth. "Yep," the little girl replied as she ate. "Try some!" Kara smiled and did as she had wanted, putting sugar onto them. The pancakes tasted even better now, and she ate them even faster than before. Suddenly, the front door of the house swung open rather fast. A person came inside, a fairy that Kara hadn't expected to see. Kyle.

He didn't look like his usual self. His skin was pale, nearly white, and his ginger hair was messy. His flannel shirt was torn, and his brown eyes were wide and glassy, as if he had seen something that could never be spoken about. He had dark circles under his eyes too, as if he hadn't slept in a month. He walked in slowly, trying to go unnoticed, but Mrs. Fern spotted him. "Kyle! Oh my goodness, are you alright?" The boy nodded wearily, a slow and kind of sluggish nod. "Yeah. Y-yes. I was just...helping someone out, th-that's all." Toby got up from his chair, abandoning his food and facing his brother. "Kyle, you're not alright. Your shirt' s torn up. Did something attack you?" Kyle shook his head. It seemed to be hard for him to speak. "No. T-Toby, I'm fine." Toby moved forward, stepping in front of the older boy. "No, you're not fine. Kyle-" Kyle saw him, and his eyes narrowed. They seemed to change color for a moment, flickering briefly to something else. Kara thought she glimpsed a flash of yellow, or maybe even red. Kyle's next few words were loud, so much so that they seemed to fill the whole room. "Stay away from me!" Toby was thrown backwards by an unseen force, hitting the opposing wall hard. One of his wings bent back, and his expression revealed the pain he was in. Kyle took this opportunity to leave, running off and leaving Toby there, offering no explanation as to why he had done what he did. Kara turned to look at Reena, thinking that she might understand what had happened, but she didn't seem to. Before Kara could say a word, her mind was filled with the harsh cacophony of sound and noise that accompanied a vision. She saw fire, a crackling wall of it that seemed to spread around Kyle and cover him. She heard screams and saw glowing yellow eyes. The arrow from before hurtled across a cloudy sky, and then everything vanished. Kara could see the real world again, and she gasped for air. Reena spoke up first. "Kara, whoa, what's wrong?" "A vision." Kara's words were shaky. "I saw another one." Rowan got up from her chair. The russet haired girl hadn't said much all morning, but now she seemed ready to talk. "What did you see?" Kara tried to remember. Like her dream from this morning, the details were all blurring together and becoming incomprehensible. "There was a fire, a big one. There was a arrow in the air, and Kyle was...Kyle w-was.." Toby seemed bewildered, but when he heard his brother's name, he spoke up. "What, Kyle was what?" Kara shook her head. Her thoughts were too far gone now. "I don't know. I'm sorry, the vision went away. I can't remember."

Kyle rushed into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. He crawled onto his bed and sat there, shaking and struggling to breathe. He felt feverish and dizzy, so much so that he nearly fell down. He'd hurt Toby...he hadn't meant to. Pain erupted through his whole body, and he gritted his teeth. He had to stop the process...No, he couldn't. This was irreversible. He had to put up with the agony and the new powers he couldn't quite control, for if he did, he'd gain something that he'd wanted for the longest time, something that he'd wanted his entire life. Kyle chuckled. Not only would he have what he'd always wanted, he'd be strong, stronger than even a Gifted fairy. He winced as the pain worsened. Was this really worth it? Yes, it had to be. Even if it wasn't, it was already too late to change his mind. Kyle shook his head, relieved as his pain subsided a little. He could handle this. Besides, he would be allowed to live when this world fell apart, so even if he disliked what he'd become, he'd be alive, and that was much better than being killed because you never saw a threat until it was too late.