{Location: Crystal Pass' medal factory}(Seliel's POV)

I've never had such a taunting dream. My dream was mostly based on the fantasy I loved. I kicked the ninjas' butts. Jay totally thought I was one of the robotic ninja that just attacked. He even held a magnet to me. I halted a truck from coming in by stabbing the engine with my sword. The four ninja and I kicked some serious evil robot butt and freed some people then found out they were trying to use Nya as a hostage. It was the kind of dream you practice over and over in your head.

Until I got to the part I wasn't expecting. After I made my third getaway. Cole kept trying to unmask me. He was good, I was good, but no matter how hard I tried. Cole and I were even. In fact, his dream version taunted me with a smile. I want to hate him like I do with the rest of his pals. But I can't. And that cuts me deep. The way the moon shines on his raven black hair, how the darkness makes his deep brown eyes blend in or his golden weapon being the only source of light makes him handsome. And knowing he left me stings like salt in the eyes.

I wake up to the sound of a loud whistle.

I moan as Marci shakes me. "What time is it?"

Marci pulls me up to my feet, "7. Now hustle your hinny. Everyone else is gathering around something."

I haul the heavy of my soon to be armor as Marci holds up what will be my symbol in the rising sun. A lot of people are gathered in front of my home. Almost 200 feet closer to me, warning tapes are around four orange cones. What is going on?"

"I never thought I'd see the day where you were a morning bird S.Q." Victor smirks at me. His light green eyes taught me. I can't stand him. I hate him. He just.....Victor. "What's with the bag? Got a body in there?"

I stiffen my face and stand taller, "No. In the attack, we used a lot of medicine. I was just scavenging for more." I hold down the smirk that comes with this lie.

"Wow. Icy." He gets closer to me.

At least I have Marci, who steps in between us and folds her arms, "Let's not bring the mood down any further. You know why everyone is here, Vic?"

"Yeah." He puts a stick of gum in his mouth, "Look at your porch." He sidesteps.

Great, another round of tears. I let go of the bag and stare. My town members have brought everything and anything related to my Mom. Her pictures, receipts of their health care that she helped pay off, her favorite flowers. The midnight blue tulips that grow at the top of the mountain.

I'm at a wake.

I feel my face crumble as people murmur, 'Sorry. Your Mom was a wonderful person. She's in a better place. She will be missed.'

Eve, a girl who I was convinced for the longest time, that she was the girl version of Lloyd, she taps my shoulder, "Will you reopen the clinic, Seliel?" Her green eyes beg of me, "Please. It was such a nice place."

I shake my head.

Dad comes out from around back and helps carry my things inside while Marci pushes me. I passed by Victor. I rarely got to see his shocked face, why is it on now? He blows a bubble, "Miss your Mommy, Seliel?"

I freeze. Twist over and punch him, "I do. More than you know." I don't scream like I should. My voice is just above a whisper while my heart breaks. Some part of me will never accept that I won't see her again.

I let Marci guild me back as Dad hides my things in a hidden door on the wall. Marci takes me to my room, which still looks like it went through a tornado. A lot of everything is broken...kinda like me.

Marci pulls out a chair and has me sit, "Vic, is a jerk. He was rubbing salt in the wound. Don't listen to him." She waits for my next move. I really hope I gave that turd-head a black eye, "Um. Do you want to go down stairs? Get some ice on your knuckles?"

I shake my head. Thanks for ripping open my wounds, Victor. You're a real gentleman.

"Ok." Marci keeps smiling as I study the floor, "I should get home. My folks are probably worried about me." She stands up but doesn't go anywhere. "Are you alright by yourself?"

"I think I could actually use some space." I look up. I won't cry in front of anyone...even Marci Black. "Please close the door on your way out."

Marci leaves and gently closes my door as my hot tears hit the floor.

Those pictures, those flowers, everything downstairs is of her. I need something else, I need to hear her again. My fingers fumble and put in the next tape. Number five.

Mom starts out with a heavy sigh, "Tapes five and six are a bit more...out there. So before I start, I have something to confess. Magic is real. And it is really dangerous."

{Location: Chen's island}(Dawn's POV)[Time: 20 years ago]

I can't help but stare at my reflection. My tattoo is complete and has something different than the other students'. Mine has very visible fangs. But I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

"Dawn." Chen knocks on the door but comes in without permission, "We're getting ready to eat."

I pull down the back of my shirt, "Ok. Any news on my family?"

"Nothing of use. But my men have been slowly collecting driftwood. Other than small things like that, I know nothing."

I frown. It's been a year, how could he not know anything? Then again, he's been kind of busy taking care of me. "Oh." I sigh a little. Chen has been there for me, he taught me things. Like my dad did, "Chen."

He glares at me, I bite my lip but look higher.

"Master," I change my wording which makes him smile, "Do you love me?"

He bursts into laughter.

Did I make a joke? What is so funny about a child's question of love? "Did I say something?"

"It's..just...oh my." He keeps laughing like I made the world's funniest joke. "Dawn." He holds my shoulders, "Love is weak." Love is weak, what the heck does that mean, "Love will get you nothing. Power, manipulation, and money are what will make one succeed in life. "

"So," I don't get it. I obey him, I treat him with respect, he teaches me things I could never think of. Isn't that all love is, someone opens up someone else, "You don't love me?"

"No. Do I admire your dedication to my teachings? Yes. Do I adore how you listen to what I say and execute it quickly? Yes. Am I proud of how far you've come in such a short time? Yes. But love is an overused word. It's meaning has long since faded into a common word."

I feel something wet around my eyes. Have I misunderstanding the meaning of love or am I an idiot? "Oh. So you don't see my value."

He sighs, "I know you are valuable. But-"

A loud gong hits some things and a swarm of students response. I eat in quite as the Kabookie pass out food. Chen eats with Clouse and a few other higher students. I'm rattled. And everyone can see. At some point, we're finished as we run through the last lesson for the evening. After that, I make my way to bed but can't fall asleep. My thoughts were the main sources of the problem.

And the mens' snoring. I'm so taking earplugs as soon as I can.

Clover snores especially loud with his recent broken nose.

That's it. I slip out from under my covers and leave the main sleep center. Above me, I see Clouse retiring for the night as well. Didn't one of the students say that he did dark magic? Maybe I need a bit of tragic magic.

I tiptoe in the wide open doors. As to why it was left unlocked, I don't know. Inside was huge, dozens of books are surrounding a small desk and are open. I find a small light bulb above my head, pull the thread and flip through the old pages, "Page 122. Page. 90. How to make an Anacondrai. Why would anyone want that?" I pull to the table of contents. There we are, section 13.

It's an old page. Written in english, thank goodness, but there are some older runes that I have no idea about. But the page it self is tan, black letters, and a dark purple frame.

"Ok. Here we are." If Chen won't love me, then he should hate me. I'll make him feel something for me. I am not just another student. I am Dawn Janet Shadow and I won't be denied, "Let's see how you like this Chen. I, Dawn Janet Shadow, curse the next lover of Chen. If she leaves his island, they won't see anything like how he can't see my beauty." I'm guessing I said it right. I follow the next instruction, which is to clap loudly. I press my finger down onto the symbol on the page.

Something white shoots into the ground. My tattoo burns so bad, I see spots in my eyes. My hands knock to the next page. Now there's a warning page. 'Warning choose words carefully. Spells are quite literally.'

I shudder a little as the burning sensation goes away, "What did I do?"

I feel a hand on my shoulder, Clouse has some combination of angry and tired on his face. But it's hard to feel threatened by his stuffed teddy bear, "Who said you could touch my spells."

"I'm sorry." I cry. I hate crying, it makes my nose stuffy and eyes sting, "I was mad at Chen..and...and."

"Silents, girl." He growls at me. Close the book then yanks me out.

"Is there a way to remove it?" I feel my tears on my feet, "Is there a way to keep the curse from happening?"

"No." He pushes me faster, "Once a curse is made, there's no undoing it."

What did I do?

{Location: Crystal Pass}(Seliel's POV)[Present day]

Whoa. Just whoa. First I find out that magic is real, and the next thing I know, my Mom is cursing some poor girl out of jealousy? Mom sniffles on the tape, "I kept going back every night. I did everything I could to take back the curse. But Clouse was right, it was impossible."

She pauses.

I can't take this anymore.

I can't sit still. This anger needs to go somewhere.

I open the black bag as people mutter outside my door and Mom keeps talking, "I don't know why I wanted attention. Maybe I still carried the innocent girl that washed up on his beach disputed the hard years of training. Maybe I still do now. All I know is....that's where mistake number five happened." CLick.

I take the headphones off and lay them on my desk. My door creaks open and Dad folds his arms.

I really don't want to talk right now, "Can I help you?"

"I'm worried about you, Seliel." Dad lets a few tears slip down his face, "I know. This hurts. But your Mother wouldn't want you to close out all your friends."

"I'm not closing out my friends." I'm shaking. "I'm trying to deal with my grief."

"How?" Dad snaps as he turns on the lights, "By listening to her tapes? Sneaking around at night? Seliel, I know you want to do this. Be a Ninja. Be a hero. But I don't want you to lose yourself while you do it."

What's he saying? Does he think I'm a loner or something? Not true, I've hung out with Marci, sure I was asleep. I've talked with Victor....scratch that. I've...oh. I let tears slip, "I just don't want to be a bother to anyone." My nose is stuffy as Dad drops his arms and hugs me, "I know everyone is sad, grieving, and busy. I just don't want to get in the way of that."

"Seliel," Dad holds me tight, "You are not a bother. Do you understand? Yes, everyone is feeling Dawn's loss. But a death like that will either eat you up from the inside or will make you stronger. The second can only happen if you grief with people."

I think I mutter ok.

I hate this feeling. It's hurting me, it bugs me and it won't go away.

But it's there.

"Do you want to go down stairs?" Dad walks me to the door and opens it for me, "Eve brought a lot of tissue boxes."

"Yeah." I'm tempted to draw back and put on my armor, punch a criminal, save a life or just run around in my new stuff. But I need this. I need my friends, "I think I need people right now."

Dad lets me go and walks down stairs. I know some kids here, Tommy from college, Jean from chemistry, Ben from the newspaper stand. I've been to their homes, they survived in mine.

Then I break. I look down and mutter nonsense about everything in me.

And I get a hug because of it.

Marci helps me up, "We made something. It'll probably make you cry but it's important." She leaned me out side as Jacob from the in-town Starbucks opens the door.

I step onto my white porch to see a statue not for far. Marci leads me to the railing as heavy rain comes in. The statue is marble, clean cut, and take the shape of a woman bending down to listen to a heart beat. Mom has a kind smile on her face as the ground gets soaked.

Marci side hugs me as I turn into a blubbering mess, "We had it made over night. So everyone will remember her. Sure she's hard to forget, but a reminder is helpful."

Tommy rubs my back, "We have a funeral scheduled for tomorrow." His voice is cracking. My Mom helped out his family so much, "I think she would have wanted you to come."

I look at the statue of my Mom. "I'll be there." The Phantom Ninja can wait.

It's time to bury my hero.