-Laelyn-

"Where are they?" I sighed, checking the time on my phone. We were in the alley, waiting for Alyrica, Mai and Mason. Beck looked up.

"Late," he shrugged. I laughed, kicking a rock at him. "Hey, like I'm supposed to know?" He laughed along with me. "How many people said they could make it, again?"

"Almost all of them... Let's see..." I pulled out my phone to see who responded positively to the message. I started reading off the names. "Daniella, Britta, Cowyn, Tayvis, Brent, Joshua, Treyden, Isaac, Chanson..." Beck's stance obviously changed when I said the last name, and I instantly knew why. They were not going to get along. "I think that's it. Nine is okay, right?"

"Assuming they all go with us."

"Right... But Alyrica and the others said they'd help us, right?"

"They don't know the circumstances yet. We have twelve potentials, but who knows how many we'll leave with tonight," Beck reminded me. I nodded, sadly.

"They're going to think we're insane, aren't they?" I asked, laughing emotionlessly.

"Honestly, I have no clue," he said back, scratching the back of his head.

"No clue about what?" Beck and I turn to the source of the voice and relax. Alyrica! I ran over to her and almost gave her a hug before I remembered- again- that she wasn't really my friend in this dimension. She flipped her dark curls over her shoulder and crossed her arms. "So, when is everyone getting here, so we can leave?"

"Um... We still have to explain everything and see if anyone will actually help us..." Beckham explained.

"We don't even know if they'll help us?!" Mai asked, incredulously.

"No..." I crossed my arms and leaned against the alley wall, feeling hopeless. Beckham placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey guys, we're doing the best we can! Maybe some of them will help us. And if they don't? We're still going to find Link," Beck said, "Everyone just needs to calm down and realize we're trying everything- either way, we are leaving tonight, and we will get Link back." Everyone turned and stared at him. "What?"

"That was strangely inspirational," Mason said. "I wasn't expecting that, to be honest. We're all freaking out, and even though you're probably the most in danger, you're the one who calmed us down. Weird." We all took a second to think, then I shook it off and checked my phone.

"It's five o'clock, they should be here pretty soon," I said.

"They're late," Alyrica said emotionlessly.

"And we weren't?" Mason replied sarcastically. They laughed then fell silent again, turning the attention back on me and Beck. "Listen, before they get here I'd like to know why Daeva is after you guys."

"Right!" I exclaimed. I forgot they didn't know anything about us. "Beck? Do you want to explain?"

"Sure. Well, where do I start? Daeva's history? Us being immune? The whole multi-dimensional thing?" he rambled.

"How about all of it?" Mai suggested rudely, rolling her eyes. Beck took a step back from her, nodded, and continued.

"Alright... Daeva is a demon, and her father created a curse on the dimensional portals, so no one could get through them. That way, the demons could control and rule every dimension with no resistance. But it didn't work very well- long story short, some people were immune to the curse, and Daeva killed her family because they weren't strong enough. So... Then she decided that her goal in life was to kill every immune throughout the dimensions. She was very successful to begin with, but then the immunes figured out what was going on, and banded together to become demon hunters, and-"

"I'm sorry, demon hunters?" Alyrica wondered.

"Yeah, I mean everyone has magic potential even though this is the only dimension that openly showcases and practices it," Beckham shrugged, "And if we work together, we actually stand a chance against the demons, especially Daeva." Alyrica just gave him a blank stare. Mason shrugged.

"Whatever, just keep talking," he said.

"Anyway, when Daeva heard that so many demon hunters were showing up on Earth, that's where she focused all of her efforts," Beckham continued. "There were a lot of demons coming to Earth, but since none of them were as strong as Daeva, the demon hunters got rid of them pretty easily. So Daeva personally came to Earth a few years ago. At that time, my dad was the leader of the hunters in our area, and soon enough Daeva attacked..." he trailed off, and I decided it was time for me to take over.

"So since then, Beck has been tracking down Daeva and other immunes," I said. "And that's when he found me, and we both got involved in this mess. And that's why Daeva is after us specifically. But why she came to this dimension, we have no idea."

"Maybe she has some bigger plan, we don't know," Beckham added, "Either way, she needs to be stopped. And now that she has Link, it needs to happen as soon as possible." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Who has Link?" Everyone turned to the voice at the front of the alley to see Isaac and Treyden.

"Isaac!" I yelled. "And Treyden! Did you see anyone else on your way here?"

"Yeah, they're right behind us!" Isaac replied happily, and continued walking with Treyden. "But seriously, who has Link?"

"I'll tell you when everyone is settled," I said. I brightened up when I saw everyone walk into the alley.

"I heard there was an emergency, are you okay?" Britta asked, walking in right behind Isaac. He grabbed her hand gently and held it.

"Yeah seriously, what happened?" Tayvis wondered. Cowyn and Daniella were right next to him, also looking worried. Soon after, Brent and Chanson arrived- though, they for some reason avoided each other. When I thought everyone was here, I sat down against the wall, and everyone sat down, too.

"So... What exactly did we come here for?" a cool voice said. I turned to see Joshua floating lazily through the wall, into the alley. I laughed lightly.

"We have a lot of explaining to do."

Author's Note!

Round of applause, lads and gents. I UPDATED ON TIME FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE!!! It's been a CRAZY month- I don't even know how I survived, tbh XD I'm so so sooo tired but I wrote another chapter anyway because Y'ALL DESERVE AN ON TIME UPDATE. Plus my writer's block is gone and I'm actually progressing the plot for once :P Anyways, I'm super excited for the coming chapters! You'll see a lot of new faces and new magic, which is going to be SO FREAKING COOL! 'Til next time! Love you!

Savy Pearson