I looked at my watch. I wasn't going to be late for Ain's date. Thank God. Clover wanted to come with me but I shooed him away.

At that point, I saw Nate wanting to come to me. Then, at the corner of my eye, I saw that Vera was watching Nate's movement.

Deep down, I knew that Nate had a crush on me... for whatever reason... but infatuation can be easily destroyed and replaced with real love.

"What's up, Ro?" Nate asked smoothly.

"Hey, Nate," I said casually.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Date with Ain," I said.

At that, the bravado faded away and he said, "Really?"

"Why not?" I asked.

"I really wanted to hang out with you," He said with a bit of determination in his voice but I could sense the pessimism.

Nate was a defeatist but due to personality disorder, he could be cocky and arrogant sometimes. Now, he was showing his true colours.

Meaning I was in deep trouble.

"You could hang out with other people," I said smoothly.

"Like who?" Nate's voice was hollow.

"Maybe... Vera?" I said and pointed to the girl who was watching our every movement. She quickly turned away when my eyes sought hers.

"Vera?" Nate asked quizzically.

"What? You don't know?" I asked with my brows up.

"Know what?" Nate asked curiously.

I sighed inwardly. Sometimes there are 90% dense people, including yourself, but you don't know that.

"Well... why don't you figure that out?" I said, and left, leaving Nate confused. Nevertheless, he headed to Vera.

Vera looked delighted and when she met my eyes, she mouthed a 'Thank you.'

Ms. Matchmaker has done it again.

Now, if you will excuse her (me), she's got a date to catch.

***

"Are you sure?" The Avenger asked. They had given all the info and the boss decided to do something drastic.

"Yes, I am. The goons would be here soon. Just keep an eye on her."

"Yes, sir," they said, and killed the call.

Right now, the Avenger was in the Jirachi Kingdom where they were just going to kick it with a cold one.

That Aurora Fate...

She was a thorn in the side, especially for the organisation's benefits, so the Avenger could understand the boss' decision.

Just hopefully... it wasn't too rash.

At least they know that Aurora Fate was ongoing with a date. Especially in the kingdom where they got beef.

Fingers crossed this goes well.

***

"Hey, Ain," I was in front of the castle where Ain was patiently waiting for me.

"Hey, Ro," Ain said casually, "Shall we go?"

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"If you are hungry, we can always go to this great cafe..." Ain said.

"Sure," I said and took his proffered arm.

The cafe was small and quaint, full of chattering fairies that hushed when we entered, like we were an important couple, and I guess we are.

We sat at a small table and a waitress dressed in a maid costume, appeared in front of us to give out the menus and left us time to choose.

I noticed that the other waiters and waitress were dressed in butler and maid costumes. Must be a rich place or something, but was proven wrong when I saw the prices quite reasonable and cheap.

The food was also delicious, as far as I could see, worthy of any rich restaurant. Ain and I, decided on our choices, have finally ordered, and then fell into chatting.

"So, how's your day?" Ain asked.

"Uneventful," I said. Even with the meeting, I still consider it so, mostly that I wasn't kidnapped or attacked was the cause of it.

"Really? Then, what got you so hung up in the morning that you wanted to hang out in the afternoon?" Ain asked.

"Meeting with friends. John's crazy about the kidnapping case that happened a week ago. He just wants to know who and why," I said.

"Of course, for a detective like him, he would be extremely frustrated about this. But if the fairies couldn't figure out the organisation that resides in their own kingdom, how's John going to do it?" Ain asked.

"Well, he's not going down without trying. He especially doesn't want history to repeat itself," I said.

"You mean, when you were kidnapped?" Ain asked, his voice lowered a notch that I could barely hear him.

"Yes, and Greg and Milan as well. Motives are seriously unknown, but I guess for me, it's the Pisces Bracelet," I said, gesturing to my bracelets.

"Huh? The Pisces Bracelets? I know they are powerful, but what's so special about them, if I may ask?" Ain asked.

"Truthfully, it could do many things, and I'm barely scratching the surface. It helps me with my powers, but otherwise, the rest is a mystery," I told Ain a half lie.

It's not that I don't trust Ain, but my true motives must forever remain secret and anything connecting to them.

"Well, I'm sure the organisation wouldn't want the Pisces Bracelets just for power. They are powerful enough, as far as we are aware of. Must be something else," Ain gave an opinion.

"Hmm..." I put my hand in chin in thought, "Well, for a criminal organisation, I guess... other than power... might be money or revenge?" I quipped.

Was it just me or Ain just stiffened at the word 'revenge'? Nevertheless, he just smiled on at me and said, "Someone is a mystery buff?"

"Mysteries are one of the stories that I come to love..." I said.

"Yes, me too..." Ain said, then chatted about books and the criminal organisation forgotten... for now.

"Anyway, quick question: Can you take them off?" Ain asked, referring to the bracelets.

"No, I can't. See?" I said, tugging hard at one of them, but they simply won't budge.

"Ah... I see... so next time, I guess that means I can't buy bracelets in the future for you," Ain said.

"What, you are going to buy me presents?" I asked, slightly flattered.

"Well, I'm your friend and 'lover', right? 'Course I have to," Ain said.

I giggled, and soon, our orders came in. The food was delicious and I will make sure to come here again from time to time when I come back to Kingdom Jirachi.

"Where are we going next?" I asked politely.

"Well-" Ain was going to say but was interrupted by the shout of his name.

I looked for the sound of the interruption and groaned inside at the sight of Venice running towards us.

Ain looked at the same direction and his expression was more forthcoming than mine, but per usual Venice was too blind to notice.

"Hello, Ain... Aurora," she said flirty to Ain and curt tension for me.

"What brings you here?" Ain asked. I remained silent, it was his job to deal with his fans, not mine.

"Well, just for a quick hang out. You want to join me?" Venice asked Ain, as if I didn't exist whatsoever.

"Nope, I'm on a date with Ro, so if you will excuse us..." Ain said casually but his eyes held irritation.

"C'mon, don't be like that..." Venice said, her eyes resting on me only to give her full power of hatred, as if this was my fault.

Venice was a bit loose, but Ain was her favourite and even when the engagement was a done deal, she still couldn't let go.

Thanks to this, I always thought of her as a parasite instead of a rival.

"I'm sorry. Let's go, Ro," Ain said, and he led me out of town and into the forest. I arched my eyebrows, and he said, "There's a nice view that I wanted you to see."

"If you say so..." I smiled at him.

"Ain!" Venice was still following us, whining, "Can't you at least hang out with me once in a while or is that bitch swallowing all your time?"

Ain was beyond irritated, and he was looking at me as if he wanted my help. Instead, I mouthed, 'You're on your own.'

"Ain!" Venice shouted.

At this point, Ain let go of me and rounded on Venice.

"Please leave us alone. We are on a date, and you are ruining it. So, can you please, for once in your life, leave us alone?!" Ain nearly roared, but his voice was the loudest that I ever heard since I met him.

Unfortunately, Ain's ranting fell on deaf ears. Instead Venice pushed me away and seized the chance to grab Ain and pull him closer to her.

Even then, I did nothing. Just crossed my arms as I watched the scene unfold.

Venice gave me a small look of triumph, then a flicker of rage when I did nothing but raised my eyebrow.

She ignored me and turned her full attention back to Ain.

"Well, Ain... isn't this better than whatever that bitch gave you. I give much more than her, and I love you much more than her. Why don't you just break a betrothal that isn't working?" Venice asked seductively, then cutely.

"But she, unlike you, at least, isn't a busybody," Ain muttered, unfazed by Venice's attitude.

"Don't be like that," Venice laughed lightly, and proceeded to drag Ain away from me. He looked at me with pleading eyes, but I shrug in a casual way that said 'You are still on your own.'

'Coz I'm not the type of heroine who butt in on others and impose them when it goes down.

"Don't look at her..." Venice said, near pouting, "Just look at me, spend some time with me for a while..."

And with a final drag, I was alone in the wilderness.

To all this, I just leaned on a tree and started playing a game on my mobile, silently praying for Ain.

That's when the unexpected usually pops out.

The earth suddenly rose up and trapped me in its hold while light powers were binding me to the tree.

"Well... well... well... who knew we would see the little bitch so helpless?" A voice resonated the clearing that Ain and Venice just left minutes ago.

"Yeah, it was a lot easier than I thought," another voice echoed.

"You know what the boss wants, let's just get her now..." a third voice said.

Then, throughout all the trees, three men appeared out of nowhere with masks, undoubtedly fairies.

The IHD organisation!

I immediately struggled through my bonds or use my magic to get out of this jam but it wasn't working.

"Don't bother," one of the men, the first voice, chuckled, "A magic canceler was put on you. You can't get out of this."

Magic canceler? Something that makes me as magicless as the wolf men. But how, how was it put on me? I had magic yesterday, I'm sure of it!

"Be a good girl and come with us," a man with the second voice said.

"And what's going to happen if I did that?" I snapped.

"Be honored," the man with the third voice barked, "The Shining Organisation would rarely care for humans like you. We have much better things to do, but..." he waved at the Pisces Bracelets, "somethings can't be helped."

The Shining Organisation? Is that what they call themselves?

...Nah, I still prefer the IHD Organisation.

But if I don't have any magic and can't get out, what can I do? I'm going to be kidnapped... again!

'What? Are you trying to attract trouble?'

Alex was right... again! I did jinx myself.

What to do... what to do... what to do?

'Do it,' a voice whispered in my head: Ezmia.

'What?' I thought although I knew where this was going.

'You know where this is going,' Ezmia whispered inside, feeling her rolling her eyes. 'It will be no trouble. We can wipe their minds off this later.'

'Yeah, I prefer that,' I said, then gold rings formed around my body. The men took a wary step back. The transformation took a second but changed me to a completely different person.

A tanned Maleficent is back, baby!

"What the-?" All the men said equally as I quickly turned intangible.

I was out of their trap before they could even blink!

And immediately, I took my staff out with a mischievous smile as my black hair floated through a non-existent breeze.

Indeed, I look malevolent. And no mercy. Infusing my ghost powers, I immediately thwack all three of them with the ghostly staff with all of them falling down immediately after I hit them.

Indeed, my ghost powers were the ultimate cheat code. I threw a dark loop and it tied them up, restricting their light powers. Courtesy of Alex.

Dark power, same as psychic powers, can also remove memories. I learned that through Black.

The black girl glowed darkly as I concentrated its dark powers on the loop and close my eyes to search their minds. Removing the certain memory was as easy as eating cookies.

"Ro!..." I heard a voice shut out and the patter of footsteps.

I immediately transformed back, and just in time to see Venice and Ain running toward me.

"What-What happened?" Venice asked, looking wide eyed at the three men tied up.

"Ambushed, but I'm lucky and quick, so I got out of the jam..."

"Good for you..." Venice said, obviously not sincerely, as if she wished I was ambushed after all.

"What are you going to do to them?" Ain asked.

"What any other normal person will do: call the authorities," I said, fishing for my phone.

And that, is how my normal day became eventful.

***

"Plan failed," the Avenger spoken into the speaker.

It was a few hours after the ambush and John Holmes whisking the good for nothing goons away.

"Really, nothing?" The voice on the other end groused.

"Nothing," they confirmed, but there was something. The Avenger was nothing without being careful, and that means tagging a droid in Aurora Fate.

That girl continued to be more of a problem than they originally thought... and more useful to their cause.

The person on the other end sighed, "I never expected the ambush to actually work anyway. The Pisces Bracelets have mythical powers, probably the reason she escaped."

"So, we go back to Plan B, and nonetheless, I need all the info you dredged out of Aurora Fate. Everything is needed to make sure we succeed and gain the ultimate step to our goal."

"Yes, sir," the Avenger said, and killed the call.

Unfortunately for that person, the Avenger had other things in their mind...