Epilogue

Epilogue

It felt weird being back in town, Neeko realized. For the first time ever, he had a secret that he wouldn't be able to share, even if he wanted to. He had to make sure he didn't slip. The normal people wouldn't understand, even if Neeko tried to make it sound normal. And apparently, his mother had been telling people that he had been admitted into a great boarding school. And Neeko also heard from his mother that a lot of people were mixing the story from boarding to drug rehab. There were more stories, but Neeko heard enough with that one.

But during those few hours alone, Neeko and his mother both agreed that it would be okay if Neeko used his wish to bring back Neeko's dad. They both missed him terribly, and they were anxious to see him. But when Neeko wished for his father to come back, writing it on the paper, there was a whirlwind, but he wasn't there. He hadn't been around at all.

But with brighter news, the day after he got home from Heroics, he called his best friend, Michael. It had been months since they had just talked. They hung out and Michael had told that something about Neeko had changed. He didn't know what it was at the time, but there was something different about Neeko.

A week later, they were hanging out again, and Michael had looked at Neeko strangely while they were in the diner downtown, getting a mid-morning brunch. Neeko had felt like waffles and bacon, and Michael was just talking to Neeko. But it was when Neeko was shoving his face like Cody with waffles that Michael looked at Neeko.

"That's it!" he shouted, almost stopping Neeko eating.

"What is?" Neeko asked with a slightly full mouth

"I know how you've changed!" Michael said.

"How...?" Neeko asked cautiously. There could be no way that Michael had known about Neeko's change and find out of Neeko really being a werecat.

"You're more confident." Michael said.

Neeko sighed with relief slightly.

"Is that what you think it is?" Neeko asked, resuming to eating again.

"What, you don't think that you've grown up at all? I mean, you're walk is even more confident than before."

"You really think so?" Neeko asked.

"Hell yeah, I do!"

"Hey, Neeko?" a voice came from the side of the two, and when they looked, it was Melissa, one of the prettiest girls at Neeko's old school. Not as cute or smart as Zoe, but she was still a knockout.

"Hey, Melissa, how's it going?" Neeko asked casually. The casual tone had thrown Michael off. Usually, Neeko would go into stutter mode and blab on like an idiot. But now he was talking to one of the hottest chicks in town like she was any other girl.

"Pretty good. Long time no see, huh?"

"Yeah, well, I've been hard at work at that boarding school." Neeko smiled. The words boarding school were almost too hard for him to say without smiling. It seemed like such a lame excuse compared to what he had been through.

"Boarding school, huh?" Melissa looked at Neeko straight in the eyes to see if he was lying. "I've heard different stories."

"Yeah, so have I." Neeko smiled. "There's the one where I went into the insane asylum. Then there's the one that says I had a drug overdose and had to go to a special drug rehab place. Then there's one that says I'm really a werecat demon hunter who went to a special school of magic and became one of the top five freshman to break a bunch of records by defeating a vampire..." Neeko smiled, knowing nobody would believe that story. He winked at her. "But you can choose which ever story you want to believe."

Melissa laughed. A girl, not to mention a hot girl, had actually laughed at something Neeko said. It was amazing. Neeko had never been this good with girls. And now he was just going at it like a pro. Eventually, Melissa had sat down and started to get into deep conversation with Neeko. By the end of the conversation, Neeko had Melissa listening, hanging almost, to his every word. And Michael noticed that Neeko had been talking while eating, something every guy thought not to do. But he was pulling it off.

When all was said to be said, Melissa sighed happily and looked at Neeko.

"What are your plans this weekend?" she asked.

"Depends..." Neeko said, he looked over at Michael, who was sitting more behind her than next to her, and was waving signals to accept whatever invitation she was about to hand out. "I think I'm free."

"Great. Me and a couple of friends were going to see a movie. Think you’d be interested?"

"Well, I was going to hang out with Mike, here." Neeko pointed at Michael, but when he saw Michael's hectic face, he started to change his words. "But sure."

"Oh, well Mike can come, too. I'm sure I have a friend or two who wouldn't mind being graced with your boys' presence."

Mike grinned at him, and Melissa started to take out a piece of paper and write on it. When she was finished, she handed Neeko the paper.

"This is my phone number and my e-mail address. Call me or write me, it doesn't matter. Just give us the final analysis."

"Alright." And Neeko nodded as she walked off with one last smile. When she was gone, Michael looked at Neeko.

"What the hell!" he shouted happily. "How did you do that!?"
"Do what?"

"You just got Melissa's phone number! How the hell did you manage to do that!? You're crazy!"
"I dunno," Neeko shrugged while pulling out a couple of five dollar bills. "I guess she thinks I'm a nice guy."

"Nice is only one of the things." Michael shook his head. "Jeez, what did they teach you in that school over there? You're almost a totally different person. The only thing that's the same is that you don't really like to fight. Honestly, you're a brand new you. Neeko 2.0!"

"I don't know. Maybe it's about time that I grew up and gave life a chance." Neeko said as he started to stand. "C'mon, I've got some things I want to do before we head home for me to kick your butt in a couple of video games."

"Well, that's something that will never change, Neeko. I'll still own you with video games. Always."

"Whatever you say, Mike." Neeko grinned, knowing that Neeko had improved on his game play. "Whatever you say."

XXX

Sage was sitting on a cliff, thinking deeply while waiting for Thyme and Bark to get there to meet him. There had been a letter saying that they had something to tell Sage. But Sage couldn't guess what it would be about. Thyme had already told Sage a lot of things after the tournament via telephone.

"I've found the location of Savory." were the first words Thyme had said. No, "hello" or anything.

"What?" Sage questioned.

"I've finally found her."

Sage had gone stone cold. He was glad she had been found, but by the wrong guy. By the guy who wanted to kill her and Sage both. The guy who had wanted to end the nightmare they lived it in the worst way possible. Death wasn't the way to do it, and Sage knew it.

"So, that's it? You're just going to kill her when you get to her."

There was a small pause.

"No." Thyme sighed.

"Really?" Sage didn’t hide the surprise in his voice.

"Yes, really. You've shown me that with our powers we can do good. You've shown me it doesn't have to be the worst thing possible. You've proven to me that we can possibly pick up our lives and navigate with these newly found... gifts." Thyme struggled with the word.

"Well... I'm glad I settled that for you." Sage said, not sure quite what to say.

"Sage?" Thyme questioned.

"Yeah?"

"Are you still playing the piano?"

Sage couldn't help but smile at that question. He postured himself in a calm state, even if Thyme couldn't see him.

"Well, I try whenever I see one, which isn't too often."

"Well, keep it up. You were a pro at it."

"I was?" Sage asked.

"Still don't remember, do you?" Thyme questioned. "Okay, I'll tell you what. We'll meet sometime after I find Savory, and I can refresh both of your minds, you got that?"

"Sure thing." Sage stated.

"Well... I guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah, I guess so." Sage said.

He heard the click of the phone line going dead. It had been two weeks ago, and he guessed Thyme had gotten Savory and was going to refresh their memory now. But why in the random Rocky mountains of Colorado? It had been an odd location, but Sage guessed it was near where Savory was found.

As Sage had sat there, thinking, he wondered what he was going to wish for, now that he had that wish. He hadn't used it, and he didn't know what he could use it for. His brother and the girl he loved was going to be reunited. What else could he wish for? He supposed he could wish to be fully human again, to be a mortal. But Sage had realized he had grown attached with his vampire skills, especially the stuff Zyria taught him. He could be human whenever he wanted, and vampire when he wanted. It was a fair trade. So what could he possibly want?

Sage heard footsteps and turned around to see Bark coming up the hill. But that was the problem. It was only Bark. No Savory, no Thyme even. Sage stood and looked at Bark with concern.

"Where's my brother?" Sage demanded.

"Thyme had..." Bark was weak. It sounded like Bark was badly wounded. "We met with an unfortunate accident."

"What happened?"

"We had crossed paths with a highly skilled demon hunter, and he had managed to cut me down with only non-fatal injuries. But, Master Thyme on the other hand..."

"What happened to my brother?" Sage demanded harsher.

"He was killed..."

The words hadn't felt the way Sage thought they would. They felt empty, unreal. They felt like what Sage heard was imagining. But when the realization had sunk in, it still didn't feel bad. It was unfortunate, but Sage was more mad than sad. Mad that Thyme had died when Sage needed him most. He was suppose to lead Sage to Savory, or vice versa. But instead, he just went on and died.

Sage was taken back with his anger. It was irrational. He thought, and should have, had least felt some sort of remorse. He wanted to. He tried to force it, but it wouldn't come. There was just that disappointment. Sage looked up at Bark.

"Can you give me the name of this person?"

"No." Bark said. "I don't know it myself. Otherwise, I would have gone after him and slain him myself."

"So, it was an assassination job on Thyme?" Sage asked.

"No. Thyme provoked the fight himself. He ended up dying because of it." Thyme stated.

"The bastard..." Sage muttered. He brushed his hair with his hand and then sighed. He looked at the sky. It was cloudy. That was a reason Bark could be out here.

"Did he ever tell you the location of Savory?"

"I'm afraid not." bark shook his head slowly.

"Well," Sage continued. "I guess I know what I'm going to wish for." he sounded irritated, like giving your younger sibling your last dollar to help him buy something.

"You're wishing Thyme back?"

"What else can I do?" Sage asked. "He was going to bring back Savory, and I need to meet her."

Bark didn't say anything, but rather nodded. He understood, and Sage didn't have to explain anymore. Sage took out his paper from his back pocket and started to write on it.

"The sooner the better. I want to have as much time as possible with Savory." Sage explained as he finished. He let the paper go, and a massive whirlwind had come, but after it came for a few seconds, nothing happened. There was no Thyme. There wasn't anything. There wasn't even his remains. It seemed like a waste of a wish.

"Seems there must be something wrong with the wishing paper..." Bark attempted to joke dryly.

"Yeah..." Sage agreed. "Dammit..." Sage stated as he started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Master Sage?"
"Find more vamps to kill." Sage stated without stopping or turning around. He kept walking.

"But, Master Sage, I thought that you had found pride in your vampire blood."

"I have." Sage agreed. "But I need to find something strong enough to train with. Plus, those bastards still killed my family. I'm after full breeds, not half-breeds."

Bark sighed. The boy didn't make much sense, but at the same time, he did. Bark wasn't sure if he should follow him to make sure he would cause much trouble or if he should just let him be. But before Bark could decide, Sage had vanished. Bark looked around, not sensing anything.

"The boy's becoming like his brother..." Bark muttered under his breath. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad..."

XXX

"God... I haven't been in this much trouble in a while." Rai half laughed at himself as he looked around. There were twelve men encircling him, all of them with machine guns pointed in his direction.

Rai had been placed in another job from his guild. Since he had won the tournament, he had been quite the popular one with assassinations or dangerous missions of the like. And he got them all done, making him even more successful.

But this mission had been a set up. Somebody had ordered him so they could take him out once and for all. All alone in a warehouse in the ghetto parts of Tokyo with twelve men pointing guns at him in every direction. Rai sighed as he looked around for escape opportunities.

"I guess you guys leave me with no choice." Rai said with a bored look. The men had their fingers gently pressed against the triggers. All they need to do was press down and the kid was dead. But they needed orders to fire first. Unless the kid made one wrong move, then they were ordered to kill on the spot. Their boss had wanted to see Rai die himself, but if he needed to be killed earlier...

But Rai wouldn't give them that chance. Rai quickly grabbed something in his pocket, and ducked. One man pulled his trigger, the bullet going right over the ducking Rai and hit one of his partners. Rai jumped to the left as more men started to fire at the wrong spot. Rai he suddenly threw down a smokescreen, the object that he grabbed in the first place.

The men started to cough and one man ordered them men to spread out and look for the boy. As the men carefully walked around, they couldn't find Rai. Even when the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be found.

"What's the meaning of this!?" a voice boomed. The men turned and saw their boss, the man who wanted Rai dead, standing at the door of the warehouse. "You boys promised me a dead ninja, and I'm not seeing it!"

"Sir," one of the men said. "We don't know where to search for him. We know he's somewhere in this warehouse."

"Who's the leader of this operation?" The boss demanded.

"I am." the same man who was speaking raised his hand.

The boss took out a pistol and shot the man in the head without a second thought.

"Now, the rest of you! Find that boy and kill him now!"

The men saluted and started to search in double time. They searched as far as they could, but there was still no trace of Rai anywhere. After a few minutes, the Boss had pointed out a man.

"You! C'mere."

The soldier ran to the Boss and saluted.

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm heading back to my helicopter. I need some guidance to make sure that Rai boy isn't anywhere near me."

"Yes, sir." the soldier was grinning.

The Boss and the soldier walked over to the helicopter that had a pilot and a co-pilot. The copter started to hum as the propeller started to twirl. The Boss got in the back and the soldier walked over to the Pilot's side of the helicopter.

"Having trouble finding the bastard?" the Pilot asked.

"Not really." the soldier said, stabbing the Pilot in the heart, and taking out the twitching corpse out of the seat. The solider put himself in the Pilot's seat and took the Pilot's helmet, setting it on his own head.

"That was a little overkill, wasn't it?" the Co-pilot asked, and when the co-pilot took off his helmet, it was Rai underneath. "I mean, seriously, Lee. You could have just pointed that gun and made him surrender."

"You know our motto. We have to make sure every single one of those bastards who oppose us are dead." Lee, Rai's co-worker shrugged and started to lift off the helicopter.

"You boys did great." the Boss said, who really turned out to be their boss in disguise.

"You got rid of their leader, didn't you boss?" Rai asked as he looked behind him.

"You doubting my killing abilities, boy? His body and the body of his guards are in the back room."

"Aren't the guards going to find the corpse?" Lee asked as they started to fly over the coast.

"What does it matter?" Rai asked as a massive explosion came from the warehouse they were in. "They're all dead anyway."

"And you said what I did was overkill..." Lee rolled his eyes.

Rai sighed as he finally was able to relax. Another mission done, another pile of money to count. Rai had accumulated over 70,000 dollars in just the last couple of weeks. He had been working almost none stop. His average hours of sleep went about three hours a night.

But with all the money he had gotten, he had been able to pay off for a lot of things he'd been wanting. New clothes, food, new video games, food, new weapons, food, and of course traveling expenses. The only thing he could actually think of to use his wish for was Zoe's heart. But after thinking about it for a while, he wouldn't want a girl to fall in love with him because he wished for it and not used his wit or charm. That would be too easy.

So, Rai figured he could use the wish to bring back his father and mother back. The wish didn't say how many people he could bring back. He was trying to take full advantage of it. But when he wished for his mother and father to come back, there was only a whirlwind and lights and then nothing. They weren't there. There was no traces of them.

So, Rai had been working and waiting for them to come to him at some point. But he finally gave up after waiting for a week. It was obvious that they weren't here. Rai figured that the paper form of wishing didn’t work out the way he had wanted, or that the two people wish-back wasn't effective. It must have been-

"We got another job coming through." Boss had spoke after looking at a text message on his phone. "It's over in Kyoto."

"All right." Lee grinned. "It's not too far. At least we're in the country two times in a row."

"Yeah..." Rai agreed emptily. Luck enough to get to work for the next twelve hours...

XXX

"We've got another!" Zoe shouted as she looked behind her. "We gotta make it fast."

"I'm on it!" Reid said as she sped away into a back room. But a moment later, she was out again with a confused look on her face. "Did you say vente or Grande?"

"Vente!" Zoe said in a hurry.

The two girls, both trying to live in normalcy in Southern California, they had both taken interest in a job in a thing they both loved most: Starbucks. The two had been drinking coffee for a couple of weeks and thought they should try out for the job. The manager of the store had seen the two a lot lately and knew their love for coffee and gave them a job the moment they turned in an application.

Even though it wasn't packed (especially not for nine at night), they were rushing as if it were. They knew how much people hated to wait. They got things done and got people out as soon as possible. It was almost closing time, after all.

When the last two people had left the store, Zoe sighed and leaned against the counter, and Reid wiped her brow, both sighing with the satisfaction of a hard day's work.

"You ladies did a good job." their manager told them. "I think in a matter of days, we're going to have two new assistant managers with the way you two are working."

"Beginning luck." Zoe said modestly. "It's just because of the 'I-just-got-a-job-' phase."

"No, you ladies work like no other worker I've ever had before. You're fast and you're motivated. Good job."

"Thank you." Reid stated politely.

"No prob." the manager smiled. "Well, I'm going to count all the money in this first drawer so we can start closing. Make sure that drawer is kept safe." he joked.

The two smiled, and grabbed wet rags and started to wipe down the surfaces of everything. As they were wiping, they heard the door open, and they looked up.

"Sorry, sir, but we're closed right-" Reid started to say.

The man took out a pistol and pointed it to her face as he threw a ski mask over his face.

"Give me all the money in the drawer!" the man demanded.

Zoe was still for a second. They were being held up? A Starbucks was being held up? It was the least likely of places to be held gun point, not to mention in the nicer parts of Orange County. Zoe thought she should yell for help from the manager, but that would make the guy fire his weapon, and the boss wouldn't hear anyway. He always counted the drawer with headphones that drown out everything else in the world.

"I said put all the money in the drawer!" the man shouted.

Reid looked at him in confusion, and then she looked over to Zoe.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"What?" Zoe asked flatly.

"Well, we're suppose to give the customers what they want, but I don’t think the manager will be happy to give away all this money. He even asked us to keep it safe."

It was just then that Zoe remembered who they were. A vampire and the Mistress of Death. Zoe smiled.

"Do what the manager says to do."

Reid nodded and turned back to the man.

"I'm sorry, sir. But we're under orders to keep the money in the drawer.

"Are you crazy!?" the man shouted. "I've got a freakin' gun in my hand, and you're not going to give me the cash?"

"I'm sorry, sir." Reid apologized, hoping that this visit wouldn't make him hate Starbucks.

"Give me the goddamn cash!" he shouted louder.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but no matter how many times you ask, I cannot-" the man pulled the trigger, and Reid's head shot back and she fell to the floor. The man hopped over the counter and started to find a way to open up the register. But when he Reid moan and started to sit up, he looked at her in shock and fear. He pointed his gun at her again as she started to stand.

"You okay, Reid?" Zoe asked casually.

"So that is what a gun bullet feels like." Reid said as she rubbed her head like she simply bumped it onto a wall.

"Well, maybe he knows that we can't give him the money now."

The man turned to Zoe and pointed the gun at her face. He looked over at Reid with a grin.

"You may be a freak, but if you don't give me the money, your little friend's face won't exist any longer."

The moment the man said those words, he felt his gun turn into pieces of metal in his hand. When he looked, that's exactly what they were, and Zoe wasn't smiling.

"You know, it's not polite to point."

The man looked at Zoe in fear, and then looked at Reid, who joined Zoe side by side.

"W...what are you two!?"

"Just your normal teenage girls." Reid said sweetly.

And that's when Reid pinched his collar, knocking him out. Zoe looked at the unconscious body and then looked at the only camera in the store. She summoned shadows to break it.

"We don't need any witnesses." Zoe explained. Then she looked at the body on the ground and sighed. "Well, we're going to have to explain this to the manager..."

XXX

Cal was in a isolated jungle somewhere in Maui, Hawaii. There was one of every single type of element that he could control there, and that's exactly what he was training for. He was focusing deeply on everything around him, putting in all his energy. When he released it, everything started going crazy. Vines and plants were shooting up every direction, hills started to shift while rocks were flying, water danced around Cal and turned into ice, fire from a nearby volcano opening had shot out around Cal, and electricity came out of the cloudless sky. They all surrounded him and he had control of every single bit of it.

Well, he did until one of his vines had turned on him and Cal was forced to dodge it. What happened? Cal's first element had turned on him. Cal was forced to stop using everything else, but his vines still attacked him. They weren't out of control, Cal realized. Somebody else was controlling them. Cal dodged a few more vines as he looked for the person. It took a few seconds, but Cal finally go the sense of the person throwing out Cal's element. Alright, if this person wanted to play hardball, then Cal would play hardball.

Cal had started to summon his own plants, but rocks had suddenly flown at Cal. Cal had stomped his foot, and a giant slate of rocks protected Cal. Then vines shot out of the wall towards Cal's opponent. But the person dodged, and shot water in the form of spikes towards Cal. Cal had simply used fire to evaporate the small amount of water and sent out the fire towards his foe. But the person had used a massive amount of water, extinguishing the fire and also knocking Cal off his feet. But the person was quick and caught Cal.

But when they caught him, they also held a knife to his throat. And when Cal tried to move, he found that he was tied up by vines. There was no escaping whoever had him in their grasp.

"Well, you certainly have gotten good since the last time I watched you." the voice said. It belonged to a guy. But Cal couldn't see the guy's face. The sun was in his sight too much to see his foe.

"Well, I'm glad I've improved in your eyes. Now that you've got me, are you going to finish me off?"

"Finish you off?" the voice asked with a laughing scoff. "And kill my own son?"

Cal's ears perked and his heart skipped several beats. The vines had released Cal, and the person let him go, putting their knife away. Cal quickly got up and looked at the person. Surely, it was his father. He had the exact appearance Cal had. The same brown hair, the same eyes, the same cheek bone, everything. It was an older version of Cal.

"D...Dad?" Cal repeated.

"Yep." Zephyrus stretched as if it was nothing. "I see that you still have that staff I made you a few years make." he pointed to the staff that was in miniature mode and strapped to Cal's belt loop.

"Of course." Cal stated. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno. Maybe you were pissed off at me or something." his dad shrugged. For being Cal's dad, he sure was a lot more relaxed then Cal imagined. Cal imagined this warrior who hardly spoke, who killed to save his love ones, who had heavy burdens to carry through out his life. But he seemed just like an overly easy guy who knew how to control the elements. And pretty damn well at that.

"Well, I have been looking for you for years." Cal stated.

"Yeah, I know." his dad said indifferently.

"And you didn't contact me? You just let me hope, just let me cry myself to sleep, to think you didn't care for me?"

"Cal..." Zephyrus sighed. "It's not like at all, and I hope you realize that."

"Then why didn't you contact me?"

"Because..." Zephyrus started to say, but he paused. "My existence is dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Cal repeated.

"That's the reason I planned on leaving your mother."

"I thought it was because she drank when I was in the womb..." Cal stated.

"Who told you that?" Zephyrus gave Cal a funny look. "You're mother wanted to do nothing more than take care of you. The dangerous part was the only reason I wanted to leave her. But I couldn't bring myself to do that."

"Wait... what?" Cal asked. "You didn't leave mom because she was an alcoholic?"

"Hell no. Sure, she did some partying back in high school and some college, but once she was pregnant, she swore that she would stop all of that."

"Than why did you leave her and me?" Cal demanded.

Zephyrus sighed. His eyes had suddenly become really solemn, like he had a whole new story for Cal to believe.

"Alright Cal, your whole younger childhood is a lie." Zephyrus spoke.

"What?" Cal questioned.

"That woman who you called your mother, who hurt you... she wasn't your mom."

"What do you mean she wasn't my-"

"Lindsey Hernandez was not your real mother." Zephyrus looked at Cal straight in the eyes. "Your mother was killed after birthing you."

"You mean..." Cal started horrified. "I killed Mom?"

"No, actually. She was murdered."

"Murdered?" Cal questioned.

"Somebody poisoned her IV. And in all honesty, it's all because of me. So, I set you up with a friend of hers that I thought was responsible enough to take care of you. However, Lindsey was unstable, and was, as I later found out, in love with me in high school. She's always hated your mother."

"Than... who... what's my mom's name?"

"Her name was Iris. Iris Cunningham. Whatever stories that Lindsey told you of me and her were some distorted fantasy that she thought was believable for you. Me and your mother were very much in love, married right out of school, and had you in the middle of college. When you were born and your mother was killed, I had to leave."

"W...why, though? Why did you have to leave me? Especially with that deranged psychopath!?"

"It really wasn't something I wanted to do, Cal." Zephyrus sighed.

"Than why did you do it?"

"Because being an Elementalist like us is dangerous." Zephyrus spoke with slight malice in his voice. "There are certain people who want us dead. They fear us, Cal. You and me... we're one of the last of our kind. They'd do anything to get rid of us. And that's why I couldn't speak to you until I knew for a fact whether or not you were a Elementalist."

"To warn me?"

"The whole world's nothing as it seems. No government, no country, no anything is the way people think it is. It's all an illusion..." Zephyrus's voice was growing with more spite. But then he sighed again. "I suppose I'm saying too much for now."

Cal didn't know what to say. First off, the woman he lived with for years was never really his mother? And then his real mother was killed because Zephyrus was an Elementalist. And now Cal had to watch his back? There was too much information going on in his mind.

"So, you've been following me all my life?" Cal questioned.

"Yeah. The headmaster of your orphanage is an old professor of mine. He kept me updated and let me watch you from a distance every once in a while. And I gave you that staff on your birthday."

"And it's worked out pretty nicely..." Cal smiled.

"Yeah. It took me a few years to layer it just right so it wouldn't break."

"What kind of wood."

"That's an Aurion secret. You'll find out when your older." his father winked.

Cal smiled.

"So..." Zephyrus stated as he stretched. "What are you going to do about this Zoe girl, huh?"

"What?" Cal's voice was full of alarm. He had no idea his father had known that much about Cal.

"C'mon, you look at her the way I looked at your mom back in the day. You've obviously got a thing for her. Why haven't you made your move."

"She's already got a boyfriend." Cal replied.

"So did your mom." his father grinned darkly.

"I dunno..." Cal said. "I just don't feel like I have much of a chance."

"And that's where you're wrong." Zephyrus stated. "Let me give you some tips." He looked at his watched. "I only have a minute, so this is going to have to happen fast."

"Where do you have to go?"

"Meetings to attend to, fighting to save some more of the world, normal stuff, like you."

"Maybe we can partner up sometime." Cal smiled.

"Maybe. Now do you want those tips or not."

"Yes, sir." Cal nodded.

"Well, first off, from what I've seen by watching you is this: you're way too uptight."

"Uptight?"

"Relax, enjoy life, don't care about others so much. Throw yourself in a group, don't be such a loner."

Those words coming from his father, his hero, were hard, yet insightful. He had been right.

"How is that going to help me win over Zoe?"

"Well..." an alarm went off, and Zephyrus looked at his cell phone. "Well, I gotta go. I've got a flight over to Brazil in a few hours, so I need to head to the airport."

"When will I see you again?" Cal asked as the two started to stand up.

"Oh, trust me." Zephyrus grinned. "We'll see each other soon."

Zephyrus had started to walk off, and Cal had watched him go. Cal felt for some reason in his heart, he was going to see his father again. He didn't know when or how, but soon. Really soon.

Later that evening, while Cal was watching TV, he heard a plane that was heading towards Brazil from Maui crashed in the ocean, leaving nobody alive.

XXX

The Dean of Clearwood was in his office, grumbling at himself. It had been two months since the tournament, half way through the summer. He still couldn't understand how those Heroics children had been able to defeat his most prized fighters. Not to mention they were freshman. They had no experience, no training, no anything. From what he heard, all they had was "each other", and the Dean didn't think that was a good form of offense at all.

His fighters were the perfect matches for the Heroics kids. They were the fighters that had been strengthen in the very areas the Heroics kids had weaknesses. How they lost was beyond anybody's belief. But he had to get back at them somehow. Some... American school had shut down Clearwood? Not to mention the worst school for almost two decades! How had that looked for Clearwood!?

Had his Clearwood kids won, he could have stolen one of their wishes. He could have wished for the trillions of Euros he would need to live happily and make his school even more invincible than what it was. But those stupid kids... Neeko, Sage, Rai and Cal had all wished for a family member or two to come back. All those wishes for something so stupid. The dead were dead for a reason.

The Dean was almost literally pulling out his hair in anger. He was smart enough to just punch his desk several times. He was going to get back at those kids if it was the last thing he would ever do. It was just a matter of how and when...

"Sir?" the Dean's secretary walked in.

"What is it Jodi?"

"There seems to be trouble at the plant up in Northern England."

"What kind of trouble?" the Dean arched a brow.

"There seems to be a young man there who is destroying the entire plantation of our magic resources."

"Does this young man have reason? A protester of some sort?"

"No, sir. But the soldiers there would like you to show up and see for yourself."

The Dean muttered to himself, and started to get ready. He flew out there, and was there within an hour. When he got there, he saw several dozen bloodied bodies of soldiers, several of them dead, others either dying or screaming in pain. The surrounding area was destroyed, trees moved everywhere, and the ground in disarray, random hills and broken earth. Things were on fire, and electric surged through puddles of water that didn't belong.

"What the hell happened?" the Dean demanded to a guard who was holding the young man in magic-draining handcuffs.

"We ordered him to stop from coming closer to our property, or we would shoot, but he just kept walking. We opened fire, but it didn't do anything."

"Didn't do anything?" the Dean repeated. "Is he a vampire?"
"I dunno." the guard said. "He also used all these elements, and a demon hunting sword, and even some ninjary."

The Dean took very well notice to those words. He nodded his head, and started to walk to the young man. When he got a good look at him, the Dean was impressed. He was a young man, no older than twenty-one or twenty-two. His eyes were cold, but violet. His hair was jet black with strands of silver in the bangs.

"So, you're the one causing all of the problems..." the Dean said calmly. The man did not reply.

"What's your name." the Dean asked. The Man did not reply, and that made the Dean frown. "I asked for your name."

"I don't know." the man said softly.

The Dean paused for a bit, not sure whether or not to believe the man's words. But the look in his eyes had made the Dean believe he honestly didn't know his name.

"Where are you from?"

"I don't know."

"How old are you?"

"I don't know." his voice was becoming louder.

"Who are your parents?"

"I don't know."

"What is your-"

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" the man roared.

The Dean pursed his lips for a second in thought. This young man was obviously a mix of all the people that were wished back from the Heroics children. The paper format of the wishing must have mixed things up, a glitch. And now, standing before the Dean of Clearwood was an ultimate warrior. Not to mention a good way to get back at Heroics. The Dean grinned.

"How would you like to figure out who you are." The Dean offered.

"And how would you do that?"

The Dean looked at a guard and nodded. The guard removed the handcuffs, making the man more comfortable.

"I've got enough resources that could figure out who you are within a few months." The time I need for school to start and he can slaughter them.

"Sure is a long time." the man said.

"But it's better than you wondering the world for that long of time, isn't it?"

"What's in it for you?" the man asked.

"I would just need for you to take out a few pests for me; a few problems. You're the only one who has the power to do it."

"So, you say to take out a couple of people and you'll get me everything I need to know about myself and then I'm perfectly free."

"Unless you find something wrong with that deal."

The man thought about it for a second. When he couldn't find anything wrong with the deal he extended out his hand.

"You have yourself a deal." the two shook hands.

"If we're going to be in business together, I suppose you should have a name to call you."

"It seems nice to have a name until I find my real identity." the man said.

"How about Rowan?"

"Rowan?" the man asked.

"It's a name of an old friend of mine who passed a few years back. A teacher, more like it. He was an extraordinary man."

"If you think it fits, so be it." Rowan stated.

"Good..." the Dean smiled.

And now it's time to get my revenge for those kids ruining my life... The Dean thought. I'll just make them suffer, little by little...