**Okay, this will be the shortest chapter in the entire story, probably, so don't expect much. =p However, this part of the story is necessary, and each chapter switches back and forth from Venidi to Terrearth, so this has to be a lone chapter.**

**I'll keep posting this story until I have to stop.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**Kree**

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Venn's head perked up as two familiar boys suddenly appeared in front of him, dissolving slowly from apparition. The boy on his left had dark brown hair, fluttering gently with the wind. His big, blue eyes were solemn and filled with a grief similar to that of Venn's. Venn stood up as the shorter of the two boys before him held his hand out in front of him. He had locks of gold and a pair of glasses to aid his vision. As he played with the side of his beige khaki pants, Venn placed his hand in his, and shook.

"Hey man, what's up?" he said in a friendly voice, his greenish gray eyes twinkling.

"Nothing really," Venn shrugged as they dropped hands. "The new teacher is here," he tilted his head in direction of the two adults and a young boy talking further into the woods.

His facial expression dropped. "Is he really?" He shook his head in disappointment. "I wish Julius could still be our teacher."

"So do I," Venn nodded miserably. He and his sister, Nay, who was talking to Gary on the log across from them, had been introduced to the new teacher, Demetrius. They did not think much of him, and certainly preferred Julius to him.

Their regularly scheduled sorcery lessons took place every morning, deep into a forest in Port Jefferson. The clearing in the forest appeared to be some sort of old campsite, for there were logs positioned in a circle. The logs provided them with a perfect place to sit after their trip from their homes to the forest. It was not far from their residences, but it still took a lot of valuable time from their intervals of sleep. After the Iterasor learned how to fly and become invisible, they were able to get to the lessons spot in the wood at a more efficient and comfortable speed, and were able to wake up a little later.

"What's he like?" the dark-haired boy questioned, crossing his arms.

"I guess he's not horrible. Obviously, he could never live up to Julius, but he's not really bad, or anything," Venn replied with a sigh. "Face it, we were spoiled. Julius is a professional and this guy's just started. We can't expect that much from an amateur. Anyway," he paused, looking to the blonde boy, "what do you plan on doing for the rest of this summer, Henry?"

"Nothing really, I guess. I don't think I'm going away until the end of August for just a week. Other than that, I guess I'm just playing tennis. We'll probably play basketball too, right?" Henry asked.

"Probably," Venn nodded. "Play basketball and swim."

"Feeling a bit better about." Henry's voice trailed off; he didn't know how to finish the question.

"Yeah, whatever," Venn slowly looked away. He knew Henry was talking about Rika. He figured Henry probably knew that Venn was lying, but that's the way it worked. Rika was on his mind every second of the day and everybody knew it.

"Is everybody here?" Julius called out to the kids in the clearing.

"Yeah, we're all here," Henry answered back, looking at the four other kids with him. It was hard to get used to seeing five other kids, total, instead of seven.

"Okay, then let's start," Julius began walking towards them.

On Julius' left was the new teacher, dressed in foreign garments, probably from Venidi. He did not look up towards the Iterasor in his shyness as his eyes were focused on the ground. In his hand was a large, clear sheet of glass and a brown bag was slung around his shoulder. On Julius's right was a boy with dark brown hair and blank eyes. His name was Durakai, he and was a Venisor, a Venidian sorcerer. He was three years older than them, but he looked like he was barely fourteen. He was Julius's personal assistant and had studied in Dekessary for many years. Although people found him to be extremely sarcastic, Durakai was Venn's best friend.

"This guy better be good," Venn heard Nay's voice say in Bravillian, "because we have to spend the next four years with him every single morning."

"This is Demetrius Adair," Julius began, motioning with his hands to Demetrius. "He will continue your studies sorcery from now on." Everyone was trying hard not to groan. "Demetrius, why don't you tell them a little bit about your background?" The Iterasor could slightly tell that Julius was not pleased with the new teacher, either.

" right," he nodded timidly, and looked towards the teenagers. "My name is Demetrius. As a child, I've been tutored in Venidi and in Bestiary. I've trained at the Vendriga Academy in becoming a tutor. I've tutored a group of four teenagers as my last job. I've tutored students from age five to seventeen. I have been to Bestiary and Dekessary numerous times, but this is my first time in Terrearth," he then cleared his throat. "I hope that you will bear with me until I am adjusted to your Terrearth world and I hope that I will be able to do somewhat as good of a job as Julius."

"All right, Demetrius," Julius started. "I'll introduce you to your new students." Julius walked over to the closest teenager, the boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "This is Alain Spencer. Over there, is Henry Lawson, the two Mayer twins, Venn and Nay, and you already know Gary and Durakai," he turned towards Demetrius quickly, and then looked back to the teenagers. "I have to explain your curriculum to Demetrius, and that might take a little while--"

"I have something for them to do while they're waiting," Demetrius interrupted, holding the thin, rectangular sheet of glass in front of him. "I was hoping that we might have a little time in the end to get to know each other, so I brought something for you to do in the mean time."

"What is it?" Alain asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"It's a Venidian newsboard," Demetrius explained, waving a hand over it. All of a sudden, myriads of words and a few great pictures scurried from the edge of the glass to the center, creating the front page of a newspaper. It was a marvel of great technology, and the teenagers were amazed to see an instrument such as this.

"You idiot!" Julius hissed, grabbing the newsboard out of his hands. He began scolding him in a hushed tone, pointing to the center picture on the glass. He waved one hand over the glass and all the pictures were gone. Shaking his head, he handed the newsboard back to Demetrius.

Demetrius walked towards Venn and handed him the newsboard. "When you're done reading, command it to "turn the page". There might be some interesting things you might find in the world of Venidi," he instructed, and then walked back towards Julius.

"What's the headline?" Nay asked, approaching her brother with the others.

"Princess of Venidi Returns," Venn's lips trembled as he spoke, unable to say anything more.

"She was found?" Henry's eyes widened.

"Yeah, Julius found her not more than a week ago in Setauket," Durakai lied. "She's one of the reasons why he has to spend more time in Venidi now."

"Come on! Read what it says, already!" Nay exclaimed, urging her brother.

Venn glanced at the glass board and hesitantly began to read. "Every man, young and all the children in Venidi, know the tale of Princess Ricolette Kaori, the princess who was given the throne over her older brother, Prince Edmund Keaton, and disappeared not long after. Yesterday at noon, Julius Cael, her old mentor, officially announced that she was indeed, alive, and ready to regain the throne. Today, she will be publicly presented to the people of Venidi."

"So Julius was wrong? The princess wasn't in Port Jefferson?" Alain stared at the newsboard.

"What else does the article talk about?" Henry crossed his arms.

"They talk .and Prince Varen and his , they're just complaining about the change of power, claiming that the throne should go to Edmund or Varen," Venn skimmed through quickly. He handed it over to Henry. "Here you go. You guys can look it over," he said quietly, walking over to one of the logs and sitting down. Alain and Nay crowded around Henry to read the news about the Venidian princess in disbelief.

Nay finished reading the article fairly quickly and she turned her head to see where Venn went. He was alone again, isolating himself from his closest friends. She sighed as she sadly stared at her miserable brother, wishing with all her heart that she could do something to truly comfort him. So many times she had tried and so many times she had failed.

At the same time, Gary gazed towards Nay with a pair of amber eyes in a state not far from sadness. Things hadn't been the same since the night of Rika's night Ayeka died, and the night his secret was revealed to many of his friends. It was a terrible secret that caused a lot of tension between him and the rest of his Terrsor friends. It was a terrible secret that changed everything that had been going on between him and Nay.

She wouldn't even talk to him or even look at him for the matter. He couldn't blame her, though. It would be hard for anyone to accept someone like rather, something like him.

But he had to least one more time, anyway. Exhaling deeply, he slowly walked to where she stood and lightly put his hand on her shoulder.

"You all right, Nay?" He felt her shudder as his hand touched her shoulder. Her russet eyes failed to hide her fear and uneasiness, though he could tell that she was trying to keep a straight face. She was afraid of the beast that ran through the blood in his veins.

"Yes," she barely nodded. "I'm all right. I wish I could say the same for my brother, though."

Gary winced. As if that was something he didn't know. Venn was completely killed by Rika's death and it seemed that things haven't changed since that terrible day. Everyone worried about Venn, Gary worried about Nay, and a few of them worried about Alain too. Basically, everyone was worrying, and nobody seemed to be in a state of mind that was the slightest bit close to happiness.

"So what about you? How have you been?" Nay changed the subject.

"I've been okay." Heh, what a lie. Of course he wasn't okay, but he took one deep breath and sputtered, "actually I was wondering if you wanted to go downtown for breakfast or something."

Nay slowly looked towards the ground, refusing to lock her eyes with his. His heart fell when he saw her expression drop with anxiety and discomfort. Of course she didn't want to go with him. Who would want to go out with some thing like him?

"I've got some stuff to do this morning." He knew she was lying but he couldn't blame her.

"That's all right," he replied hesitantly. " can go see a movie later? Or take a walk to the--"

"Listen, tell you the truth, you're gonna have to give me some time for me to get used being a werewolf and all," Nay hung her head.

"Oh." That was all he could manage in reply. There was an awkward silence between them as they both kept their glances to the cold, dirt ground.

"I'm really sorry, Gary." He could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"It's all right, I understand," he stammered, clasping his sweaty fingers and ignoring the frigid chill running down his veins. No, he couldn't blame her for feeling that way about him. After all, he was a werewolf...

Meanwhile, Durakai took the empty seat beside Venn. It was not an unfamiliar situation, but it certainly did not remove the uncertainty of the situation. Durakai felt like every attempt he made to comfort his best friend was a failure. Maybe it was partly because Venn wouldn't let him or maybe it was because Durakai wasn't too great with handling other people and their anxieties, but whatever it was, it made Durakai ineffective in reaching Venn. However, this time, Venn started the conversation.

"I.I can't believe they found the Princess of Venidi." Venn said softly, shaking his head repeatedly. "I can't believe they found Princess Ricolette."

This topic wasn't any easier for Durakai to talk about. He and Gary were the only teenagers that knew the truth about Rika, and they had to lie to the rest of their mourning friends about her. "Yeah, me neither. Julius rarely makes mistakes in finding someone, but I guess there's always a first for everything. He was surprised that the princess was in Setauket, rather in Port Jefferson where the Terrsors were."

"No, Durakai, Rika was the one. Rika was the princess. She had to be. I know she was Princess Venidi. It was so obvious that she was the princess, I don't get why nobody else could see it! How could they find the Princess Venidi if Rika is."

"Listen, Rika was not the princess, Venn," Durakai stated firmly. "But she's more important than some princess, anyway, and I know that you were really important to her. I know for a fact that she wouldn't like to see you moping around and living in the past--"

"Hey," Alain interrupted as he walked in front of them. "Do you guys wanna come over later this afternoon to swim, or something? Nay said that she was pretty sure the both of you could come--"

"No thanks," Venn responded bluntly. Durakai glared at his best friend disapprovingly but Venn took no notice.

"You know, I think I got stuff to do in the afternoon," Durakai lied quickly.

"Maybe some other time then," Alain nodded emotionlessly and then walked over towards Gary and Nay.

"Venn," Durakai hissed in a low voice. "You should accept his invitation! You should have a little fun."

"That jerk slapped and yelled at Rika," Venn reminded him in recrimination.

"After his girlfriend and one of his best friends died! He just handled his emotions in the wrong way at the time and let it all out of Rika! Right now, he's mourning two of the most important people in his life: Ayeka and Rika. He's taking it pretty calmly for losing such a big part of his life. Venn, you have to forgive him for whatever he did to Rika in his rage and grief. She would want you to."

"I know that's what she wants me to do, but I'm sorry, I can't! I'm just not capable of doing it! Maybe she should have gotten herself a better boyfriend who could be strong for her, but I'm not, dammit!" He exclaimed in anger, jerking his eyes to the trees. "Durakai, she was alive one one moment and then one the next." his voice croaked and Durakai sensed that tears were forming Venn's eyes, even though he could not see them.

"Venn," Durakai started softly. It was getting harder and harder to lie about this miserable topic. "Have you played the guitar? I know how playing the guitar used to make you feel better."

"Are you kidding? I don't have the heart to play anymore.I can't hold that thing anymore or so much as look at it."

"Maybe you should start playing again," he suggested. "Sing some Subterfuge, or write a song--"

"Listen Durakai, you gotta know that I really appreciate what you, Henry, Gary, and everyone else are trying to do for I really gotta do this by myself." he paused. "I don't it's even possible for heal completely, but I'll try, okay?"

"Well," Durakai crossed his arms with a smile. "I think I've made more progress in five minutes than I've had in weeks."

"Nah," a small smile crept across Venn's face. "It was all a process. It just took me some time to open up."

"So does that mean you'll go over to Alain's house this afternoon?"

Venn's smile disappeared as quickly as it came. "No, I have opened up that much."

"But you'll try, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Venn shrugged, and then looking at his watch. It's 5:30, think we should go?"

"Just call over to Julius and let him know you're going," Durakai answered. "I don't think anyone wants to know what kind of teacher Demetrius is this exact morning."

"I don't ever want to know what kind of teacher he is," Venn groaned. "Why can't Julius stay and teach us?"

"Because." Durakai hesitated. "He has to teach the Princess in Venidi again."

"Oh yeah." Venn grimaced and then shouted, "Julius, it's 5:30, we're gonna go now!" He slowly dissolved into the air, changing to his invisible state so he could prepare to fly home. "Durakai, I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, see ya," Durakai sighed as he kicked a pebble into the woods. If only he could tell Venn that Rika was , and missing him as much as he missed her. If only he could tell Venn that Rika was safe and that maybe someday, they might see each other again. If only he could tell couldn't say that things would be for the best if Venn didn't know the truth but things couldn't be much better if he did.

Durakai certainly hoped that by the time he saw Rika again, he would have some good news about Venn to tell.

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"Back so soon?" the woman mused with a taunt. "We are not scheduled to talk until at least another few nights."

"She's back," he scowled. "Rika is back in Venidi. I knew something was up when the natives in Terrearth were saying Rika was dead and I was sure Julius was hiding ther somewhere. I've finally seen her in the palace, strutting around like she's never left."

"So, the little princess is back." she chuckled from her chair in the darkness. "What of her intentions?"

"Clearly, she is taking back the throne from Kyleen," he began with malice in his voice. "But I do not know why she has come last time we talked about such a topic, she was stubbornly opposed to the idea of even coming back to Venidi."

"Well this certainly complicates some matters."

"Some matters? Nearly all of them! To take the throne from Kyleen would be of little difficulty but from throne was promised to her and although the Jivanif would not want her to rule, they cannot disobey the wishes of our parents."

She laughed again. How dare she! Who did she think she was to laugh at him in that superior way? "You silly, silly boy. Have you not read or heard the prophecy? In order to succeed over dear, little Ricolette and in must take over Terrearth initially."

"Terrearth?" he frowned, crossing his arms. "That garbage of a place? Why should I have to take over the least magical and the weakest world in order to take over Venidi"

"Do not question the prophecy, Edmund Keaton," her voice grew faint. "It was written in the Book of Fate. The Grey Fortress is never wrong."

"If I capture is mine?"

"Find the Castle in the is great the Castle in the Sky and you will succeed." Her voice grew softer as her image slowly blended in with the darkness, disappearing in the shadows.

"Blast that woman," he murmured to himself. He would have her killed when he was stood as ruler and King of all Goria.

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**Reviews would be nice =} **

**Plz review!**

**Kree**