Gemini carefully looked at the boy who crossed the threshold of P'Zee's office at NuNew's side.  The boy was slightly taller than New, but not by much, with straight, shiny black hair with only two blonde streaks, and oddly sad brown eyes.  He had a small note tattoo behind his left ear.  Gemini smiled at him, hoping his smile really showed his joy.  He smoothed his own hair, wanting to look his best in the stranger's eyes.

He was used to being called "My Stranger" by now, and now it was hard for him to just call him Fourth, which was his nickname. He studied his still slightly wet hair with interest.  He thought stupidly that it would be interesting to be the one to see Fourth right out of the shower, with tiny rivulets of water still running down his body in some places, it must have been an amazing sight indeed. Imagining it, Gem couldn't help but grin wide.

Meanwhile, Fourth looked confused.  He looked from Phuwin to Gemini and wondered which was Gemini and which was Phuwin, they looked almost identical and he could safely say they were twins.  He was a little amused by the fact that New revealed to him, namely that Gemini got his nickname precisely because his zodiac sign was Gemini.  His heart shuddered as he exchanged glances with the boy sitting at the desk.

He didn't know how he knew it, but he just knew that the boy sitting across from Zee was the one who had appeared in his dreams, who had asked him so many times to find him.  Fourth had never tried to find him, although the dreams had come about six months ago, and they were the reason why he skipped class one time and went to the theater where he met NuNew.  That night his dream was truly terrifying.  He first saw this boy walking towards him through the terrifyingly empty area of ​​Siam Paragon, where there was not a single living being around, and when the boy approached him, he saw that he was crying.  He tried to wipe his tears away, but as soon as he reached out his hand, he heard a gunshot and a rapidly growing red stain appeared on the stranger's chest, a terrifying contrast to the white Antisocial Social Club T-shirt.

“Help me, please, help me,” the boy begged, slowly sinking to the floor.  And Fourth wanted to help him, but he couldn't, there was an invisible wall between them, he could see him, hear him plead for help, and he wanted to do something for him, but something held him back.

He didn't know what the dream was about, he couldn't remember watching a movie in the last 24 hours that might have made him see it.  The memory of this boy haunted him for a long time, not giving him peace.  He felt he wouldn't be able to concentrate in class, and since they didn't have a quiz that day, he could afford to miss one day, especially since his attendance was exemplary.

And now that they had met, that the boy had been real, the memories had hit Fourth like a typhoon, almost knocking him off his feet.  His vision went dark, he staggered and would have fallen if Phuwin had not quite instinctively ran to him and held him up.  Phu led him to a black leather couch in the corner of the room.  Gemini immediately got up from his seat, approached Fourth and unconsciously touched his forehead with his hand, checking if he had a fever.  His skin was surprisingly cool.

“F-Fourth?  Everything... Is everything okay?”  He asked in a voice trembling with anxiety, stuttering slightly again.  He was so close to his love interest, the boy he had been looking for for three years, he looked into his eyes and he couldn't stop his heart from worrying about him.

“Mhm,” Fourth only muttered.

“New, tell me, has he always been like this?”  Now Phuwin was starting to worry.

“No, never really, and today he passed out before we got here”

“Not good, very bad, maybe Dr. Jimmy should examine him?”

“I'm fine!”  Fourth protested violently, feeling a surge of energy.  “I just haven't eaten anything since yesterday”.

“You haven't eaten anything?!”  Phuwin, Gemini and New screamed simultaneously.

“Are you even normal?”  Phuwin questioned his mental state.  “You must eat.  You don't want to starve yourself to death, do you?”

“Of course I don't, I'm not stupid,” Fourth replied calmly, not wanting to start an argument with someone he didn't know.  “I just forgot. I had a lot on my mind.”

“Boys, boys! Just don't argue.  Come on, let's go to the cafeteria, I'm sure there will be something tasty to eat there”  Zee suggested, rising from his seat.  He held the jacket in his hand for a moment, wondering if he should take it with him, but decided that it wasn't his work time and he didn't have to behave or dress formally, so he put it on the arm of the chair.  New out of habit wanted to help Fourth go, but before he could approach him, Gemini had already grabbed him by the waist, threw his arm over his back, making Fourth put his arm around him and lead him out of the room.

Phuwin smiled crookedly at the sight.

"Oh my dear little brother!  As soon as he saw his Prince Charming, we all ceased to exist to him, I should have expected that!" Phu thought amused and shook his head as he followed them, right in front of Zee.

At the end of this bizarre procession, New walked slowly with his head down, trying to not keep his eyes on Gemini and Fourth walking ahead.  But he couldn't escape what he felt.  He was torn between the joy and pride that he had fulfilled Gemini's dream, that he had helped the boys meet, and the despair that was tearing his soul apart like a sharp knife.

It was only when he lost it that he realized how great a treasure he had, but looking at Gemini, who from the first moment was ready to do anything for Fourth, he knew that he had to let go.  He knew a lot about twin souls, about parabatai and soulmates, and it was like salt poured over a fresh wound.  He had no right to separate them, they were meant for each other from the beginning.  New knew about the prophecies, knew that Gemini or Fourth would one day rule their entire magical world.  Until then, since the days of King Louis Tomlinson, who abdicated the crown, the magical world had remained divided, each country had its own Institute, its own Shadowhunter troops, and its chief ministers.  The crown belonged to no one, because so far no one had fulfilled the conditions of the prophecy.

Until today.

Until the day when a boy from a magical family met his destiny, the second boy, in whose soul the strongest particle of Ancient Magic was enchanted.

NuNew knew everything, but he wasn't going to share that knowledge with anyone.  He'd known the prophecy for a long time, but until now he wasn't sure who it was about.  And now, with Gemini and Fourth on front of him, he couldn't have any doubts.  It was nong Fourth who was the brother of the Marked One, it was  First who was the Marked One mentioned in the old history books, it was the Gemini who was the Hybrid with a capital H, it was their actions that would decide the fate of the world.

New didn't want to attend this dinner.  Unnoticed, he slipped back to his room to re-examine the notes he had made over the past five years, since Nat had inadvertently mentioned the Great Curse of the Non-Magical, which only the Righteous King could lift by giving his life for them.

New reached for a large pink box on the middle shelf of a bookcase near the drums.  He set the cardboard box on the bed and took out the notebooks brought from the Non-Magical world.  Each of them had its own handwritten title and year and month of creation.  New reached for the one marked Curses and Prophecies March 2565.

Looking through his notebooks, he came across a note that sounded very puzzling.

«And he will suffer, he who has the purest heart.  He will sacrifice his love. The Righteous Ruler, he will sacrifice his most precious gift from God to save the mundanes.  He will save the ignorant and blind to the Truth, sacrificing his life for them.  And death will not be an obstacle for him.  Fighting with the Darkness in his soul, he will meet the Son of the Angel, an innocent and pure boy, with a soul as white as snow.  And he'll love him, setting an example of true magic to the mundanes.  Before twenty summers have passed, he will fight, but it is up to him to return victorious.»

New rubbed his eyes in surprise.  He didn't remember writing it.  Moreover, the handwriting was completely different from his own.  Who wrote it and for what purpose?  What could it mean?  He wanted to talk to someone about it, but no one came to mind.  He looked up from his notes and noticed a picture of P'Zee hidden cleverly from prying eyes on the windowsill among the lush vegetation.

Yes, of course, P'Zee.  Only he could be trusted and only he could give him an answer.  Mr. Puttha seemed less suited to the role, and to be honest, New somehow didn't trust him.  He took his notebook, locked the room by drawing the appropriate rune on the door with a stele, and headed towards the cafeteria, where he expected to find Zee.

Meanwhile, Gemini took care of feeding Fourth.  He sat him on one of the chairs at the table set almost in the center of the room and quickly walked towards the buffet table, on which all the dishes available in the kitchen were placed.  Gemini put on a little bit of everything, not knowing what Fourth likes to eat and what he doesn't like.  He set all the plates on two trays, handed one to Phuwin standing behind him, who only raised both eyebrows but didn't comment on it in any way, and took the other himself.  He placed it all in front of Fourth, waiting for his reaction.

Fourth looked at the food with a critical eye and pushed aside the plate of meat and began eating the vegetables.

“Don't tell me you're a fan of vegetables!” Gemini exclaimed in surprise.

“Uhm, I like them, they are healthy and tasty.  What, you don't like them?”

Gemini hesitated.

On the one hand, he wanted to impress this boy, he wanted to make a good impression on him, but on the other hand... he didn't want to lie.  Fourth understood his silence.

“I see.”

“Well, ai Gem, now you will have someone who will be able to eat vegetables for you, mom will definitely love her son-in-law” Phuwin joked, at which both boys gave him a warning look.  Gemini raised his hand as if to hit him, to which Phu reacted by running away.  Gem ran after him, and they ran between the tables for several minutes.  Gemini tried to catch up with Phuwin and make him say sorry for what he said, afraid that with such statements of his brother, Fourth would take them for complete lunatics and wouldn't want anything to do with them.  He didn't want to reveal his feelings from the very first day, feeling that he was treading on thin ice, which with one false move could break down and drag him and his dreams to the very bottom, burying them in the depths of despair and loneliness.

“Don't worry, nong Fourth, it's normal for them, they're brothers.” Zee hurried to explain, who sat next to Nattawat.  “Enjoy your meal”.

“Thank you, P'Zee.” Fourth clasped his hands together and bowed slightly.

“If you have any questions, remember that you can always come to me, the door of my office is open for you”.

Fourth smiled gratefully, though it didn't escape Zee's notice that the smile was strangely sad.  The boy started eating his vegetables again.  He must have been extremely hungry because he ate almost everything Gemini had put on for him except meat.  He even ate some ice cream.  Zee, which was very unlike him, laughed softly as the young man licked the ice cream cup.  Fourth looked at him in bewilderment, and put the dish back on the tray, a little flustered.  Zee, seeing that Nattawat got his nose dirty, couldn't help himself, he reached for one of the paper handkerchiefs set on the table and wiped the boy's nose with it.

Gemini seeing this scene very clearly, stopped so abruptly that Phuwin running behind him for a change ran into him, knocking him to the floor.

New, who had just entered the room, saw it too, and almost simultaneously with the "Ai Gem!" exclaimed by Phuwin, he shouted:

“P'Zee!”

Zee immediately realized that he had done something he shouldn't have.  He immediately put both his hands up in a defensive gesture that said, “I didn't do anything.  What wrong is not me".

Fourth felt as if he had come to a real lunatic asylum.  No one was serious or normal here.  Everyone was talking about some kind of hybrids, wizards and magic, Zee, who had seemed arrogant, mean, selfish, narcissistic, harsh and too focused on work when Fourth first met him, now seemed soft and delicate as a teddy bear, his solemnity and dignity  disappeared somewhere, giving way to delicacy, openness and playfulness.  Fourth thought that apparently Zee was an excellent actor.

“Indeed, he deserved an Oscar.  He acted so inaccessible and unpleasant, but instead it's just a giant teddy bear!  No wonder he didn't want to show that side of himself to everyone, I don't think people would be thrilled to see someone so handsome and manly acting so carelessly and childishly”, thought Fourth.

He scratched his head absently, wondering what had actually happened here.  Phuwin got up from the floor and offered his hand to Gemini as if nothing had happened, helping him up and after that started chasing after his younger brother without any reason.  New was standing in the doorway, and just then he bent down to pick up the colored notebooks that had apparently fallen from his hands.  Zee looked at NuNew with a strange expression.  There was someone else in the cafeteria.

At the farthest table from all of them sat another young man, very thin and rather short, who calmly ate his cup of pistachio ice cream, as if what was happening around him was something so ordinary to him that he didn't even pay attention to it.  He had a lot of black markings on his body, which Fourth already knew were runes, and he was wearing a simple white T-shirt that strongly exposed his slim figure and rather skinny arms, and wide denim pants full of holes.  He had white slippers on his feet.  He seemed more interested in the ice cream than the fuss around him.

Zee noticed that Fourth was looking at the stranger and decided to introduce him.

“He's Gun Atthaphan, you probably know him because in your world he's an actor and he's been on shows like Not Me and Theory of Love. Gun is one of our best Light Knights.  His special gift is speed.  He can move very fast, although unfortunately not at the speed of light.  Apart from his friend Off Jumpol and your teacher Mr. Jakapan Puttha, he is one of the oldest members of our unit, over 350 years old and a hybrid son of a witch and a vampire”.

Fourth thought he had misheard.

The son of a witch and a vampire?  What?

“Relax, I know it seems hard to understand, but when Professor Puttha explains everything to you, you'll see right away that it was easy.”

Just then, the cafeteria door opened again and Fourth suddenly sat up straight, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in amazement.  Khaotung and First were standing side by side in the passage.  Khaotung still had a cast on his arm, though it was now covered with signatures from the other Formula 1 drivers, and First had his arm lightly around him.  It seemed that despite Khaotung's broken arm, they both radiated happiness.  Fourth, who had never seen his older brother so bright with happiness, was speechless.  It felt like it couldn't really happen.

Meanwhile, Khaotung spotted the table where Fourth and Zee were sitting and headed in that direction.  First, seeing his younger brother, waved his hand enthusiastically.  He didn't stop smiling for a moment.

“I don't know what you did to my brother but seeing him so happy makes me happy to have you in his life and please never leave him.  My brother deserves to be loved forever”, thought Fourth with a slight emotion.

“Oh, Khaotung, hello.” Zee smiled at the young man.  New eyed his boss critically, as if wondering if someone had accidentally replaced him, leaving the much more cheerful and friendly Zee Pruk with them, after all, Zee had been a mostly work-focused moron, how could he change so quickly and suddenly  and turned into its opposite?  Has Mr. Puttha been experimenting with potions again and given some quirk to the boss?  It was possible, after all, Mr. Puttha often used other Knights of the Light as subjects for his experiments, on whom he was free to test almost anything, knowing that P'Gun and Dr. Jimmy were always nearby and would administer the appropriate antidote if needed.

“Hello boss.  As promised, I brought him.  This is First Kanaphan, one of the two lost hybrids.  And as I see, the second hybrid is also with us”.

“Excellent.  You did great.  But I think you should show yourself to Dr. Jimmy now, have him give you a healing potion and take off that damn cast or you won't be able to train with us”.

“Oh boss, I know.  I was about to go there, just wanted to leave First somewhere along the way and thought he could stay at my place”.

“Ha!  No way”.  P'Zee wagged his finger at him.  “I know what you're up to, Khao, and I can't let you do it.  First will spend the night with Gemini and Fourth with Phuwin”.

Zee's statement made five pairs of eyes stare at him in disbelief.  Even Phuwin and Gemini, apparently bored of chasing each other between tables and curious about the commotion around p'Zee's table, stepped closer.  Gemini rested his hands freely on the back of the chair behind Fourth's back, and Phuwin sat across from Zee with his arms crossed on his chest and an offended expression.

“O, nong Zee” Gun Atthaphan, who had just finished eating his ice cream and approached them, joined the conversation.  He had to admit he was impressed with this year's selection of hybrids and Magicals.  He smiled, amused to see First's still blue hair, who hadn't dyed it back to blonde or the dark brown that was his natural hair color.  “You like scaring the young, don't you?”

“I don't scare them. I just think it's best for them to spend this one night in their new friends' rooms.” Zee's voice was strangely squeaky, as if he was hiding something.

  Gun, who had known him for so long, saw through his plan at once.  As the others began to confer, he pulled Zee aside and said.  “Great plan, boss.  We'll see if it works.”

“What plan?  I don't have any plan.”  Zee tried to deny, but he wasn't very good at it.

“Come on, nong Zee, you don't have to hide it from me.  You want to make it harder for them to get what they want so you can teach them to appreciate the true value of what they have.  Clever.  Come on, let's go back to the table, I wonder what they came up with”.

Zee took his seat again, and Gun stood behind him.

“We disagree,” Phuwin announced defiantly, and the others nodded their heads.

“Would you agree to two extra hours of history of the wizarding world and magical civilizations in the universe tomorrow morning at six?”

“No P'Zee.  I'm sorry.” Phuwin immediately changed the tone of his voice, all his courage evaporated.  He didn't like these classes at all, they were so boring and they didn't use steles or weapons.

“I thought so.  Nong Gemini, can you take First to your room?  Let them sleep a little until morning, and in the morning you will start preparing their rooms.  First, write on the tablet what you want to eat and I'll send our elves to bring it to your room.  You must be tired from the journey”.

First accepted the tablet the branch chief handed him, scribbled down the names of the dishes that came to mind first, put the device down on the table, and prepared to leave.

“Thank you, P'Zee.  And good night everyone”.  First bowed politely.

“Good night,” they replied.

Gun also followed them.  New, Fourth, Phuwin and Zee remained in the room for some time, talking.  It had been a long and eventful day for Fourth, and he was kind of grateful to Zee for not making him sleep in Gemini's room.  Nattawat didn't quite understand the reasons for this, but Norawit aroused conflicting feelings and emotions in him from the very beginning.  It annoyed him, but at the same time he could make Fourth feel really good.  Gemini's way of speaking annoyed him, his endless reserves of energy also got on his nerves, and yet when he disappeared from his sight, he felt a strange, incomprehensible emptiness, as if he had lost something important.

“Please, I didn't fall in love with him from the first moment or did I?!  Maybe they put something in my food?  Some kind of drug or something?” He thought in horror and decided to avoid him for as long as possible just in case.

“Oh, just watch out for the Unruly Triplets,” New warned him.

“For whom?”

“It's mostly Force, P'Earth has already been sent to a parallel universe on a mission, so the chances of you meeting him are slim, and Jimmy is a doctor now, so the position requires seriousness from him, but Force likes  tease the younger students, sometimes he disturbs them in their lessons, and his main task is to train the young Knights of the Light, he will take care of your physical condition and you will most often be able to find him in the gym or on the field at the back of the Institute just behind the gardens.  They're not real brothers, but when they first started studying here they were almost inseparable, which is why we called them triplets, and because they liked to mess up, they were nicknamed the Unruly Triplets.  There are also students from your assignment: Kaownah, Cooper, Fluke, Nanon, Book, Milk, Love, Ciize, Sea.  During the classes, you will sometimes be accompanied by already qualified Knights of the Light, such as Joong, Dunk, Ohm Thitiwat or Mix.  Each of you will also get a personal overseer, I think you will go to Tay Tawan.  And the official welcome ceremony won't take place until next Friday.  But Mr. Puttha, or possibly Max, will tell you all about it again tomorrow.

It seemed to Fourth that his brain was struggling to accept and understand what he was being told.  Seeing his sour expression, Zee laughed again.  He had to admit that Fourth kept him entertained, unlike Gemini, whom he found erratic and a little afraid of.  He surprised himself that he was afraid of a boy 12 years younger than himself, but he couldn't help but be disturbed by how easily Norawit came to various conclusions and discovered what should have remained a secret.

“I'm afraid I still don't understand P',” Fourth complained uncertainly.

“It's okay, you'll learn everything quickly. Remember that from now on the Institute serves as your home and school, the people who work here and all the magical and hybrid beings found here are your new friends, brothers and sisters.  For the next six months, you will participate in a training course in which more than thirty other people will take part, but after the exams, the basic twelve will be selected, who will move on to the Level II training group.  The highest level you can reach is Level XII, because twelve is a particularly important number for our squad.  Well, now it's time to sleep.  Nong Phuwin, take nong Fourth to your place.  Good night boys.  See you tomorrow.

NuNew waited until everyone had left, then grabbed Zee's elbow gently, stopping him from leaving the cafeteria.  Zee gave him a questioning look.

“What is it, Nong New?”

“There's something I wanted to talk to the boss about.”

“Alright, go ahead, tell me what's bothering you.”

“Hmmm... I don't know where to start”.

“Maybe from the beginning?”  Zee joked, but New scolded him with just a look.  “Sorry.  Tell me what happened?”

“I was going through my notes in the room and found something I definitely didn't write, look, boss,” he said and handed him the notebook open to the exact same page where the mysterious prophecy was written.  Zee read the text aloud.

“And he will suffer, he who has the purest heart.  He will sacrifice his love. The Righteous Ruler, he will sacrifice his most precious gift from God to save the mundanes.  He will save the ignorant and blind to the Truth, sacrificing his life for them.  And death will not be an obstacle for him.  Fighting with the Darkness in his soul, he will meet the Son of the Angel, an innocent and pure boy, with a soul as white as snow.  And he'll love him, setting an example of true magic to the mundanes.  Before his twenty summers are over, he will fight, but it depends only on him whether he will return victorious.  What is this?  Why are you showing this to me?”

“Because it seems suspicious.  I have been researching ancient legends, myths and old tales for some time and wrote down what caught my attention, but it was not written by me, it's not my handwriting!”

“Is not?”

“Definitely”.

“It's getting interesting.  Who do you think would write it and for what purpose?”

“I don't know, and that's what worries me. I think we may have an intruder at the Institute, someone who can't be trusted at all, but it may take a while to find out who it is.”

“It's good that you told me about it. I'll inform Max and Off, there may be an internal investigation to be launched immediately.  Have you told anyone else about this?”

“No, I went straight to the boss.”

“Good, very good,” Zee praised him, thoughtfully and completely unaware of what he was doing, patting New's hair clumsily.

“There's something else...”

“Ummm?  What?”

“I think Gemini may be a Hybrid with a capital "H". According to legends and parables, the coming of the Righteous Lord will be associated with the Marks of the Seven, and these Marks have already appeared: we had a sun symbol in the Temple of Eternal Fire, First is probably the Marked One of the prophecy , and this strongest of the hybrids is supposed to have the ability to control Death.”

“Signs of the Seven?” Zee was sure he'd heard the phrase somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.  New hurried to explain.

“Yes, these are signs from seven angels, the appearance of as many as two sons of the same angel is one of them”.

“And the others?”

“It's a symbol of the sun, a moth with a skull on its back, a hybrid that can control death, a fiery sword, rivers spawning in desert areas, and an increase in demonic activity among the Non-Magical. All this is happening right now, and Mike...”

“Wait... We've known for a long time that Mike is an angel, don't tell me that...”

Zee made a horrified face.

New felt his heart stop.

At the same moment, both of them realized something that had eluded them before.  They said the same thing at the same time.

“Mike is Archangel Michael... Fourth and First are the sons of Archangel Michael...”

It was enough to make Zee almost fall off his chair.

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From Author:

How is it?! Do you like it so far?

Because myself I'm really proud of this chapter! Let me know what you think!

I love you!

~Annie