May 26th, 2013

" I've always wanted to listen to songs, but I have a hard time reading lips in some of the music videos on MTV. Could you sing a song for me, Yan? " Jessica asked, sitting on a sofa, while Yan rested himself on a quaint, wooden chair, right in front of her.

Her father was right, there must have been something bothering her. From since when the morning started, she had been talking about things she didn't really seem to care about, as if distracting herself from something larger, something that she was afraid of. " I...don't know any songs, I really only know the basics of life right now. "

Yan expected for her to be a little more saddened, however, her expression was quite neutral. " It's fine. I don't really think I'd experience music the way it is meant to anyways...I'm going to go grab some leftover Cou-cou from the other day, you want some? "

Yan raised an eyebrow at her. " What's Cou-cou? "

" It's a dish that mom used to make for us...she came from somewhere in the Caribbean and brought a lot of culinary skill from there. I'm sure you'll like it. " Jessica replied, getting up from her seat and walking over to the kitchen, where the fridge lay.

She grasped the handle of the fridge, feeling a large weight against the door. " I swear if dad shoved another ham in here..."

As Jessica creaked the fridge door open slowly, she received the unsettling feeling that there was no ill-placed ham behind the door. Upon opening it enough, she felt something push back from inside. A hand grasped the door, and with a great force, pushed into Jessica, sending her falling to the ground.

Emerging from the fridge was a woman with long, black hair that stretched to the ends of her back, clearly of North Asian origin. She adorned herself in light fitting yellow armor, dressed similarly to a Qing Bannerman, however, the material seemed to be far less heavy, and she also seemed to be without a helmet, more than likely to better fit into the fridge. She got up from her crunched up position, placing a hand over the sheath of a blade she was carrying.

" Who the hell are you! "

The woman smirked, hearing Yan rush towards the kitchen. " I am Yahui Mo. I have come to reclaim something that you filthy miscreants have stolen! " She shouted, unsheathing her sword, and seeing Yan stretch his hands out to stop her, she swung her blade with one stroke.

Yan grit his teeth, moving to evade the attack, and succeeding. However, he suddenly felt a strong pain across his chest, an X-shaped tear formed in his top, followed by a tear in his skin. He stumbled back, running in to the kitchen counter. " She only struck once...I'm sure of it...and yet...she struck him twice...three times if he didn't evade...does this person...have abilities like myself? " Jessica thought to herself, her hands firmly placed upon the ground.

The mansion was a large estate, and all security was stationed at only the gate, there were no cameras either. All to preserve the idealistic family views of Declan Wilson. He had even went through extensive measures to destroy any wiretaps or hidden cameras on the third floor, which he found none.

Yan's eyes drifted in and out of focus of the attire of the woman. His eyes continued to shift towards a man. Peach skin. A black cap with red accents. Robes of gold.

" This house possesses one of the Five Gems within it. I will stop at nothing to recover my birthright from you invaders! "

Yahui kept close to Yan as they fought, ignoring the girl for the time being. Without much distance, his energy projectiles would prove useless in a situation like this.

- - -

Wen looked around her room, thinking about what had occurred. Why didn't Declan want her near his house. Her initial aim was to coordinate with Yan in order to find out his identity together, but now, that seemed like an impossibility. She had to figure out what the hell was going on. Her inquisitive mind longed for answers.

Going into the Akihito household was already a risk. One that nearly cost her life. She gripped her arm for a bit, death was something she was very much afraid of. But within her mind, there was a desire to learn more and uncover the mysteries of the Earth. She would unravel that which the town hid, that was her goal. Lying about in her own house all day wasn't going to fulfill her by any means.

She walked through the door, and then towards her car, aiming to get to the Wilson estate...

However, as she approached the door, she began to hesitate. Reaching the house was an impossibility with all of the security Declan could have probably afforded. She would need to approach this carefully. Wen would travel back to her house, carefully contemplating what to do.

- - -

Jessica stared towards the conflict that was going on at the moment, scared half to death by the arrival of the attacker and her strange words. Her father kept his affairs to himself, and yet she was determined to kill every last one of them for something he probably did.

She felt a nagging in her body, almost like instinct telling her to fight, and yet, she repressed that feeling, as if afraid of it, afraid of herself. Her gaze was brought upon Yan as even as he tried his best to evade the attacks, cut after cut placed him further and further into dire straights, until he could not dodge any longer, collapsing onto the ground. " Leave him alone! " Jessica shouted, feeling a stinging pain as something hard began to seep from her skin, a pair of bony blades that possessed green tips.

The invader turned around, glancing over at the woman. " Unlike you, unlike him. I do not fear...death. I will gladly sacrifice my life if it means that others come closer to regaining their birthright. The rings were never meant to fall into American hands..." She said, proceeding to swing her sword towards Jessica, to which she promptly blocked.

Although, even though she blocked, Jessica still felt two distinct cuts enter her body. " It seems that all she needs to do is swing...and her opponents get cut even if they don't make contact. " She thought to herself.

Yahui began to press her blade harder against the elongated protrusions that had formed in, finding that they cracked rather easily under pressure. " Whatever these things are, they sure aren't sword or blades...I don't intend on figuring out what they are either..." The invader mentally noted, feeling the protrusions begin to break completely.

- - -

April 3rd, 2013

Jessica stood by a fence near the ends of the Wilson estate, her boyfriend, David Cole, a man from a respectable family that his father approved of, was visiting. Her pet dog, Proteus, a canine of the smaller variety, was feeling quite ecstatic to have him over. She felt like everything should have been fine.

Her forehead had been sweaty for a long while, a migraine had developed, and overall her entire body felt like a mess out of the blue. It was not a gradual change, however, but an instantaneous one. One that caught her off guard, and left her leaning on a fence by a pool during a holiday from school.

Her boyfriend had tried to feel her up to make her feel better, but this only proved to annoy her. Touch, little sensations gave her an amplified pain that she could not easily describe. " Listen, doll...I don't care if you're deaf. Jess, you're my girl, and my girl always...you could be a cripple come next morning and I'd still be there for you..."

Jessica shooed him away instinctively, her face turning into a grimace as she felt a great deal of pain wash over her once again. " Just please...leave me alone...for today..."

Jess' boyfriend was a bit taken back by her words, but gradually nodded, proceeding to go off and leave the girl alone as she wanted. When he left the picture, Jessica slouched onto her knees, feeling the pain only get worse. She reached out her hands as Proteus approached to console her, she held him in close, feeling him lick up her face with his beady eyed smile.

A new pain suddenly came over her now, one that became localized within her hands. She felt a pushing within them and quickly tried to push Proteus off of her, but he just kept coming back. " Stupid dog...shoo! "

She felt a protrusion shoot out of her hands painfully. Jessica looked in awe of this ability, and let out a sigh of relief that she had merely pricked her dog. She didn't care about anything else in that moment other than returning to her life. She gripped the protrusions, and tore them off and squashed them, scattering the remains against the lawn and being done with it all. The status quo could resume on schedule now.

Jessica felt the initial sickening pain subside a bit. She tried to just block out the memory of what she just saw, passing it off as a fever dream. In her mind, she had already planned to apologize to her boyfriend. Nothing else mattered other than the fact she could return to normalcy, that was of the only importance.

Confronting her dad or anyone really seemed like a struggle for Jessica. When it came to small things people seemed to like to inflate them into bigger deals than what they were, and when she was passionate about something, others would just judge her tastes, especially Miccaela, the most blunt of the family.

Normalcy was anything but close though. Her dog was dead in a few hours. The vet had said that a scorpion must have stung him while he was going on a walk, as some poison had quickly made its way into his body, slowly killing him.

Ever since that day, Jessica realized that normalcy was gone, something she could not return to. A gate that had been forever closed by circumstances outside of her own understanding of control. She did not embrace her power, but instead feared it...and by extension, herself.

- - -

The protrusion broke, breaking the bony blades that Jessica had possessed, falling to the floor and scattering into several pieces, like they did many months ago. " This is a pretty big house...I wonder when they'll notice you're dead..."

Yahui suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back as a stream of energy spheres had struck her from behind, however, her armor had protected her from the attack. She smirked at the display of Yan's ability, a grin forming on her face as she got ready to swing her blade, only to feel a stinging pain from behind her, washing over her body.

Jessica had grabbed the tips of the blades she possessed, and drove them straight into the exposed neck of her foe. " These aren't swords...these are stingers..." Yahui muttered, gripping her chest firmly as she dropped her sword.

Yan proceeded to ready another volley of energy spheres to launch at Yahui, but she promptly raised a hand. " You...don't belong in their world...Wilson Yan..."

She quickly collapsed to the ground, and Yan promptly fired the volley at Yahui, finishing her off. However, he was just as exhausted as she was, leaving him to promptly collapse from bleeding out, falling unconscious.

- - -

" He defended my daughter..." Declan remarked, scratching his chin with the bottom of a pen.

" Yes, sir. He would have nearly bled out if your daughter didn't inform Maid Xia, who nursed him back to health. The attacker had snuck onto one of our food trucks, and must have entered her room proper during the dead of night. Furthermore, the invader spoke of some kind of gem she was after...any comments? " Declan's attendant elaborated, nodding soon after.

Declan gave his pen a glance, looking at a reflection of himself through it. " A rambling deluded psychopath...there's more than enough of those in California to fit a whole book series worth of names...I want you to investigate the family of this girl, monitor them closely. I don't want anybody near this bastion again. "

The attendant nodded once more, smiling slightly before exiting the room. He truly was a man who commanded respect and gave affection in turn.

- - -
May 28th, 2013

The morning began like many other mornings. With breakfast in mind. The Wilson family sat at a table, eating breakfast together as a unit. Declan gave Yan a bit of a glance, he and his younger sister seemed to be getting along rather swimmingly after their encounter with Yahui.

He also seemed to be in a much better mood, not looking so much like a deer in headlights now. Declan smiled, it was good to know that Yan was casting into his mold rather well, he would have deeply regretted taking the kid in if he proved to be some kind of screaming rebellious type.

He couldn't help but be a bit mystified at how naturally he fit into the family scene, chowing down on some fried flying fish with a side of plantain, a favorite dish of his wife. Even as she was away, Declan felt the need to preserve her presence in the kitchen, taking her recipes and applying them to make her meals for his kids.

Declan remembered having a similar feeling when his daughter in law, Yakeiva had entered the household and moved in. Although, she, along with his eldest son were so inseparable that they practically seemed to be one package. He hadn't expected Yan to find his place so quickly, but was all the more glad for it.

- - -

May 27th, 2013

Yan had heard Yahui's words and listened to them well, while Jessica had been deaf to them. The notion that he did not belong in this family was something that deeply resonated with him. There was more for him to learn about himself, more to discover.

He had a brief window of time where Declan was outside talking to the security guards stationed at the gates to his house, probably throwing in some pop culture allegory in such a conversation.

Yan entered Declan's private chambers, proceeding to take a glance at a paper that was already on his desk. It was a document that revealed that Akihito had a wife that was absent for his murder, by the name of Joan. Joan Akihito. Much like her husband, she was a learned individual, although, much more of a biologist than a researcher of ancient texts. Knowing that time was limited and having no way of measuring when he would be back, Yan promptly exited the third floor and made his way back to his room.

He would proceed to do some research on this Joan Akihito, knowing that he could get some much valuable information from her. Moreover, it appeared there was far more to Declan than it had initially appeared, something he would have to find out in due time.

- - -

May 28th, 2013

Yan had begun to fold his new clothes in his room, just one thing among the new things he had received, the most prominent of his new gifts being an smartphone, the latest in the new line, courtesy of Declan. While they did have a maid, Declan insisted his children fold their own clothes among other tasks, as it built character. Upon nearly putting away all his new clothes, he was approached by Joshua. " You wouldn't be in this family if I never told father about our little incident earlier. "

Yan glanced on over to Joshua, glancing over at him blankly. " Just know, that without me...you wouldn't be leeching off the luxuries of my father right now. "

He continued to just stare blankly, not really knowing what to say. It was interesting to note that Declan has acted so casually when talking about the situation that his son endured. Joshua was right about everything here being by chance, he did not belong in this house. He needed to find out for what purpose he had truly been brought here, and was determined to go figure it out in due time. " I understand. "

Joshua got mad at his simplistic response, forming a bit of a grimace on his face before walking away, expecting a bit more of a fight in him than a meek attitude. However, upon seeing Yan exit his room and approach him, he got ready to prepare to completely demolish him in an argument. It was going to be a one sided slaughter of words, with Yan as the victim. However, his new brother didn't give any fighting words. " I'm going out, be sure to tell someone while I'm gone. "

Yan would exit the facility on foot, and told the security guards that he was taking a walk. Having no drivers license and no phone contacts outside of his family, getting to his destination would prove to be quite a long walk. He began to think about things a bit, and realized that if he could get to Wen's house, he would be able to get her contact information, and by extension, be able to get around a lot faster with her ride.

- - -

While Yan had no memory of his past, he did have good, detailed memories of things that had already happened, perhaps a direct consequence of having to remember less than the average person. He remembered all the landmarks that led to Wen's house, and before he knew it, found himself on her doorstep, knocking on it.

Wen was a bit surprised to see Yan, however, she had to admit it was much easier for her to come to him than the other way around. " What is it, Yan? I know you haven't come here just to see me. "

Yan was a bit caught off guard by what she said to him, and had to admit he was hurt by it. He bit his lip slightly. Wen observed that she made a bit of a misstep in her words, but didn't make any comment about it. " I...I've found another lead as to who could help figure out my past, Akihito's wife, Joan. She works at the same hospital that you brought me to. I want...you to be there for me on this journey...you helped me from the start..." Yan said, with great sincerity in his voice, something that somewhat enamored Wen, but something she ultimately kept to herself.

" Alright. "

Wen nodded, and let Yan inside. She immediately brought out her phone to call the hospital, which reminded Yan. " I'll also need your number once we're done...so we can coordinate better..." He said, rubbing his back against his head nervously.

He didn't know why, but talking to Wen proved to be a task. He felt so anxious every time he spoke to her, and couldn't put his finger on it as to why. " Alright. I'll give it to you before we leave. " Wen replied, smiling softly at the bashful Yan.

She dialed a number, and quickly got a response. " Hello, this is Riverstone General Hospital, what can I do for you? "

" Hello, I was hoping if I could arrange an appointment with Dr. Joan Akihito. "

There was a brief silence, as the person on the other end stopped for a moment, as if to ask something from a coworker. " I regret to inform you, but Dr. Akihito has been hospitalized for several weeks now. We can arrange a visit if you'd like. "