Mikaela woke up and almost jumped out of bed. She didn't remember falling asleep, she had laid down on the bed just to recover some of her strength, but she didn't intend to sleep. She must have been more tired than she'd first thought.

" Calm down, we're safe. " Thomas said with his calm and confident tone.

The boy was sitting on the bed next to her, looking like he had just woken up too. On another bed in the room, Daniel was still snoring. The rocker sounded worse than a crew of bricklayers in action at three in the morning on a Saturday.

Leaving Daniel aside, Mikaela turned her attention to Thomas. She stared at him for a few seconds as she tried to compose herself. How can he be so comfortable, considering everything we've been through?

"How long did I sleep?"

" I have no idea, I also fell asleep and woke up shortly before you, but it's still dark outside. " He pointed to one of the bedroom windows. Then, seeming to think about it, he added. " But if we really are at the North Pole, I don't think that means anything. I once read that the nights get longer here during the winter."

Mikaela didn't say anything, merely nodding in agreement. Thomas got to his feet and walked over to one of the windows. He sat on the sill and motioned with his hand for her to join him.

"You need to see this."

"See what?" she asked, sitting on the far side of the sill. When she looked out, she was speechless.

The night sky was full of stars. She couldn't even count, there must have been thousands of them out there. One in particular caught her eye because it out shined all of her sisters.

" I think that over there is Polaris. " Thomas said, pointing to the same star she was looking at.

" It's the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life. " She managed to say.

Then, without warning, all the stars disappeared from the sky.

" What... ? "

" It's happened before. " Thomas said. " Remember when we looked out when we got here, it was all dark? When I woke up and saw the stars, I got a chill. Then I got a bigger one when they disappeared, but they came back after a while. It's really, really weird."

"Weirder than anything that's happened to us so far?" She laughed.

The blonde laughed too.

"Yeah, I think ninja stars must be number five on the top 10 bizarre things I've seen since we found Noel in the woods."

"Ninja Stars? Is that the best name you could come up with for this phenomenon?"

" Wait for Daniel to wake up, he will think of something cooler."

When she realized she was smiling, Mikaela bit her lip. She had to remind herself why she didn't like the basketball player. But the person sitting in the window with her didn't look like the kind of asshole who would set off a shit bomb on someone's doorstep."

"What is your problem?" She asked before she could control herself.

He stopped looking at the stars to pay attention to her.

" My problem?"

Great, I've already opened my mouth, now I think it's better to go for it.

"You helped me save my mother, you risked your life for me and Daniel, you stay there looking all calm and controlled when everything went to hell and..."

She stopped to take a deep breath and collect her thoughts.

"What I want to know, I guess, is why the hell did you set off that shit bomb in my house. What's the matter with you? Things at home have been shit ever since we found out about my dad's cancer, and you haven't helped a bit to improve the situation!"

Thomas was very quiet. He couldn't even meet her eyes and that told her that all the questioning made him very uncomfortable. She nearly smacked herself realizing that she had blurted out more than she wanted to, mentioning her father's cancer diagnosis was not part of the plan.

" You know what? We were chased by monstrous snowmen, and we ran from a talking dire wolf. I think what I'm going to say can't sound worse than all that. " He said after a while.

It was the blonde's turn to take a deep breath, and Mikaela waited until he started to speak.

"I didn't do that. I didn't blow anything up on your doorstep, nor was I with the basketball team when they did that."

Mikaela felt like someone had slapped her.

" But when we took the case to the headmaster, you confessed."

Thomas lowered his head and started to stare at his feet.

"I had to take the blame." His voice was almost a whisper. " When the team realized that things were going to get ugly, they used me as a scapegoat."

"And why did you accept it?

"Because I'm the rookie on the team and if I hadn't been blamed, they would sabotage my game until the coach decided to kick me out. I can't let that happen, my brother loves to watch the games and I..."

The boy fell silent and Mikaela didn't think he would say anything more, but Thomas got to his feet and went back to talking.

" My brother was really excited when he heard I was selected for the lead team, and I like to see him happy. After everything we've been through, it's the least I can do for him. If it wasn't for me, he would still walk, and we would still have our parents."

Wait one moment. Why does he think that his parents' death is his fault?

Mikaela had no idea why Thomas took on such guilt. As far as she could remember, his parents had died in a traffic accident. At the time, it became Cleston's number one gossip. The sheriff and his wife passed away, one of the couple's children who was in the car had survived. Thomas missed school for almost a week after his parents died.

Not knowing what to say, Mikaela jumped to her feet and acted on pure instinct. She hugged the blonde, the boy's body tensed in her arms. After a few seconds, he relaxed, and she felt his tears trickle down the skin of her neck. Thomas cried and sobbed, making her a little uncomfortable, but still she hugged him tighter.

She might not understand his whole story, but one thing she did know. She'd hated him because of the shit bomb thing, a stupid "joke" on the basketball team that happened the very same week that her family was going through a crisis that still keeps her up at night. Thomas endured her anger, even though he was innocent, and if they weren't going through the craziest night of their lives would he ever have told her the truth?

" I'm sorry about your father, I had no idea. " Thomas managed to say after controlling the crying.

"I guess I owe you an apology too."

"No, I lied to you and your parents. There was no way for you to know..."

"Am I interrupting something?" Daniel asked, looking at them from his bed.

Mikaela let go of Thomas and the two pulled away from each other.

" I can go for a walk if you guys need to catch up, you know? " The rocker chuckled and got to his feet.

The bedroom door opened and Noelle walked in with Ylerio, the elf they'd met in the van during the dire wolf attack. Mikaela thanked God for the sudden arrival of the two and released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

" I'm glad to see that you managed to rest. Now, follow me. I imagine that you want to see your relatives, and we still have to finish our conversation from before. " The Valkyrie said, straight to the point.

Mikaela nearly ran out of the room, following Noelle down the hall, with Thomas and Daniel not far behind. The blonde warrior led them to an oval room where dozens of people were lying on beds, being watched closely by elves who were dressed in clothes as gaudy as Ylerio's.

" You couldn't wake them up? " Thomas asked when he saw his uncle and brother still passed out.

Mikaela stood next to her mother, who was lying on the bed next to the basketball player's uncle. Sheriff Stokes wasn't far away either, and Daniel walked over to him, looking worriedly at the sleepy man. The other people in the room were also from Cleston and still hadn't awakened from their supernatural slumber.

"I'm sorry, but as long as the sorceress of eternal winter is out there, her power will keep the world trapped under her spell." Noelle replied, her head down.

"The world?" Mikaela was surprised. "Are you telling us that the whole world is sleeping like our city?"

" The sorceress's magic feeds on despair and fear, things that are always present in the soul of humans. It is very easy for her to dominate the mind and soul of humanity. This is not the first time she has used the sleep spell in this way."

" And how did they stop her last time?" Daniel wanted to know. Noelle pointed at the bracelets on their arms.

"When someone like the sorceress rises, the magic of Hope chooses someone to stop her. Noel was the chosen one who faced her in the last battle, but that was hundreds of years ago. Now, a new choice has been made."

Thomas and Daniel were silent, Mikaela looked at her mother and noticed that the other two were also watching their family.

" The magic of Hope chose us to defeat an immortal sorceress and to save the world? How can anyone expect us to be able to be victorious? " She asked the warrior.

Noelle glared at her and Mikaela found it very difficult to hold her gaze, but she didn't look away.

" I'll be honest, I don't know why you were chosen. Maybe you were in the right place at the right time, or maybe it was fate. I have no way of knowing what led the magic of Hope to choose you, but I do know that the three of you were chosen. Her magic inhabits your souls, and now you need to master this gift to face the dangers that the future holds for you. " Noelle replied. "I've never seen Hope commit a mistake, she saw something in your souls, and that's why the three of you are here with these bracelets. I know it's not easy to accept such a responsibility, but you have a choice to make. You can accept the burden and prepare to fight in the name of humanity, or you can give up and hide. It's not an easy choice, but you have to decide your future here and now."

Looking from Thomas to Daniel, Mikaela wondered if any of them felt the same fear she did. She witnessed the sorceress' power and if Noel, with all his power, wasn't able to defeat her in the forest... What chance did they have? But then, taking a deep breath to control the tremor in her body, she also remembered how alive and unstoppable she'd felt when she'd awakened her powers to face the dire wolf.

When all seemed lost, she had turned the tables in her favor and landed her best blow on the creature. At that moment, she had the impression that there was nothing she couldn't do. Can I really do what Noelle says? Can I fight an immortal sorceress?

Putting her insecurities aside, Mikaela forced herself to think about her father's words. Eye on the ball, focus on the game.

It wasn't a choice, not really.

When her options were to turn her back on her family and hide or fight to save them. How could she choose not to fight? She only had one possible answer. She knew that in her place, her father would never think of running away. He always faced adversity, always did his best to win.

And she was just like him.

Before answering, Mikaela noticed a gleam of resolve and courage in Thomas and Daniel's eyes. Whatever their reasons, the decision they made was clear. Turning to face Noelle, it was she who answered on behalf of the three of them.

" I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are very much in the mood to kick this sorceress' ass. Where do we start?"

Things are going to get even worst from now on! What kind of "training" do you think Noelle has stored for those three?

Also, what do you think about the scene between Thomas and Mikaela? This is a revelation that will change their dynamic forever! Did you see it coming?

And what name would you give to the "Ninja stars"?

See you next weekend!