Cypress's POV:

I followed Iolite and Isara out of Chrysoberyl. I had to jog to keep up with their quick stride, and I quickly became tired, but I was in no position to argue or to ask for them to slow down. I was lucky enough that they were helping me, after all.

"Should we alert Safire?" Isara asked Iolite. I saw her gripping the guard's gun at her side, and I eyed it nervously. I wanted it back, not to attack either of them, but in case we were attacked. I wanted some protection, some way to fight back. I didn't want to die without a good fight. 

"Safire?" Iolite snorted. "And have her diving right back into Galena because she thinks she's invincible? No way. She almost died once today, it's not about to happen again."

Isara let out a long sigh. "I'd feel safer if she was here."

"Safire?" I echoed, confused. "Why would she make you feel safe? She kidnapped two people from Ruxomar."

Isara spun around, her glittering eyes staring at me with shock. "Would their names happen to be Andor and Alyssa?"

"Yes!" I picked up my pace, desperate to hear more from them. "Where are they? Are they okay?"

"They're fine," Iolite snapped. "Safire took them to Zincite. And she didn't kidnap them, by the way. They came with her willingly. They realized that what she was doing was for the good of all of them."

"You're going to have a bit more trouble convincing everyone else," I muttered.

"I can handle it, thanks." Iolite approached the doors to the train station and shoved them open. She and Isara spilled into the room, then immediately stopped short. 

I pushed past them to see why they had stopped, and came face-to-face with my sister. She was incredibly pale, and holding onto her golden necklace. Her short brown hair was in her face, but it didn't cover up her open mouth or the look of pure terror in her eyes. She screamed, a long shrill noise that made Isara flinch. 

"Shh!" Iolite hissed. "You're going to alert the workers. Why are you..."

Before she could reply, Ambrosia dashed forward and threw her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. "I... I thought you were..."

"I got away," I told her, knowing I didn't have much time. "But why are you here?"

"I came to find Iolite, actually," she answered, flinching at the goddess's harsh gaze. "I needed help with... with someone from Ruxomar who's in danger."

"That's why I came to get her," I said breathlessly. Isara was speechless, glancing at Iolite to see what her reaction to this would be.

"Then it seems like we can't wait another second, can we?" Iolite said, clearing her throat. "Let's go."

We entered the train station, but before we could get very far, a Chrysoberyl guard ran up to us and began gesturing for us to clear the station. "You can't leave! Not now!"

"General Rorik," Iolite said, her voice dangerously firm, "Step out of the way. Now. We have something very important to do, and you..."

"They're coming, Iolite!" Rorik hissed, pushing us through the doors. "Someone left Galena, and left the doors to the visitation center open. They think it's a man named Spark, who's apparently a criminal, so they're coming to look for him. If they find you, they're going to take away your powers, Iolite, and kill the rest of you. For your own safety, please stay."

"Spark got away?" I cried, brightening. 

"Apparently so, but he wasn't the one who escaped," Rorik said with a sigh. "I checked to see who's boarded the train in the past few hours, and it's only been people named Ambrosia and Cypress. Wherever he is, it isn't Chrysoberyl or Zincite."

Behind us, sirens began to sound, a warning that Galena officials were making their way into the city. 

Safire's POV:

The alarms in my laboratory began to go off. Alyssa and Andor freaked out,  but I stayed completely calm. They weren't alarms that signaled danger, but ones that told me there was someone important who wanted to see me. It could be Molybdenite, one of Zincite's leaders, or a friend of mine. 

"What's going on?" Alyssa cried. 

"Someone wants to meet me," I answered, turning off a few machines and walking toward the door. "Something urgent. You two better come with me."

Andor looked hesitant, but followed me once Alyssa had calmed down and began to follow me. It was incredibly late, so I didn't know why anyone would want to see me, but it had been a bit of a crazy night. Anything could happen. 

However, when I arrived in the center of Zincite to see who was calling me, I was slightly taken aback.

A short boy with pale skin and rosy cheeks was smiling at me, his pastel blue hair messy as always. Everyone around him seemed to be panicking, but he had a... special... talent of always remaining calm and happy. He waved when he saw me. 

"Echo?" I demanded, approaching the boy. "What's going on?"

A long time ago, when Gaines and I were both working here, there was a very intelligent teenage boy named Jon who had assisted us in many of our projects. Even though Gaines, who he had been very close with, had long left, Jon and I were still very good friends. He was usually the one who sounded the alarm in my laboratory, to tell me about something happening in Galena. 

Jon also had a younger brother, Echo, who wasn't any older than 14 or 15. Echo wasn't quite as bright as his brother, and tended to just stick with Jon wherever he went. That's why I was so surprised to find that it was Echo who had pulled the alarm, with Jon nowhere to be found. 

"Something happened in Galena," he answered, sounding cheerful. "Some guard was shot... someone escaped from the laboratory... a bunch of stuff."

"Why did you pull the alarm?" I demanded. "It's 2am!"

He frowned at me. "It doesn't look like you were sleeping."

I let out a sigh of frustration. "Why did you alert me? Is someone in danger?"

Echo shrugged. "Someone escaped from Galena through the visitation center, and they think the person headed to Chrysoberyl on a train. There are guards coming, and they're probably going to be looking for you too."

I cursed loudly, trying to think of what I should do next. "Echo, where's Jon?"

He rolled his eyes. "Does my brother need to be here?" I glared at him until he slumped over to the nearest shop and yelled through a window. "Jon, Safire's here! She wants to talk to you!"

Immediately, Jon burst through the shop door. He looked identical to his little brother, except for the fact that his hair was dark brown, and that he was incredibly tall. "You're here!"

"What do we do?" I demanded, glancing behind me at Andor and Alyssa, who were staring worriedly at each other. 

"We prepare the defenses," he answered with a long sigh. "Get the leaders. Prepare the army. And, most importantly," he added, folding his arms, "we get you into hiding."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Echo interrupted me. "So, you didn't get to tell me. Who's with you?"

I let out a long, impatient sigh. "Echo, these are Andor and Alyssa. They're from Ruxomar, I brought them here from Galena."

Echo nodded slowly, then frowned at Alyssa. "Why does the girl have red eyes. She looks like a demon You sure you made the right choice bringing her here?"

Jon's eyes widened with fury, and he gave his younger brother a shove. "Echo!" He smiled apologetically at Alyssa. "Don't mind him. He has absolutely no filter, and has something rude to say about everyone."

Alyssa looked angry, but Andor seemed to find it funny. "I wouldn't be criticizing the appearances of others, if I were you," he told Echo. 

The boy raised his eyebrows. "People from Galena think they can just come here and boss us around." Rolling his eyes, he added, "You and your girlfriend creep me out."

Alyssa seemed to take offense to Echo calling her Andor's girlfriend, but Andor didn't care. "Is that your hair? Or did someone make you a wig out of cotton candy?"

"DO ANY OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT OUR LIVES ARE AT RISK RIGHT NOW?" Alyssa screamed, making all of jump. "Are you guys going to take this seriously, or what?"

The look of embarrassment on Andor's face made me laugh. "You're right, Alyssa," I said once I had calmed down. "Jon, take Echo back to the house, and stay there. I've got this under control."

Jon glared at me. "Do you promise that you're not going to get yourself into any more danger?" he snapped as he led his little brother away. 

I waved him away. "Yeah, yeah. Now go to safety. I'll alert Molybdenite."

Sorry for the lack of chapters lately :P I'll do my best to get one up tomorrow and Sunday.

ALSO, shoutout to Clockwise_The_Wizard for giving me the characters of Echo and Jon! I think they'll make the story a lot funnier :)