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And maybe
they were; after all, James had sacrificed himself for the sake of
Lunaria.
    “ Welcome, Guardians and children,”
one of the Spirits said as James sat down. “You might not have been
aware of it at the time, Guardians, but we’ve followed your every
move from the shadows the last time you were here, and we must say
we were very impressed.”
    The Spirit was looking young and
boyish; his skin was a shimmering crystal blue, and his silver eyes
glittered as jewels in his face. He had white freckles on his
cheeks, and his hair was a messy bunch of silver strands with
golden highlights. “I am the youngest of the Spirits,” he said.
“Ince, the Spirit of Innocence. And these are my brother and
sisters.”
    “ Why, thank you,” Thomas said. “We
are very honoured.”
    As James looked around the table, he noticed
that all of his friends were dressed in their old clothes as well.
Their children were dressed in clothes that were fairly similar to
the parents’, but still noticeably different.
    “ No, we are honoured,”
another Spirit said. She was a female with fair skin, and wavy,
dark brown hair that was decorated with flowers. She quickly
proceeded to introduce herself as Aoife, the Spirit of Life. “You
risked your lives multiple times to save our world. If it hadn’t
been for you, our world would’ve been lost to the
Master.”
    The Spirit who was sitting next to
Aoife nodded. He had lavender skin and one dark blue and one golden
eye, which darkened as he spoke. “But, I believe that Akilah has
already told you that we need your help once more.” He paused to
look at Akilah.
    “ Aharnish is right,” Akilah said.
“The Master will rise again if we don’t do anything. And now the
Book’s magic has been released, matters are worse than
ever.”
    Luke shifted uneasily in his
chair. He wasn’t sure what to think of everything he saw; thus far,
his father hadn’t been lying. But... a world full of magic, and the
balance between the Light and Dark of said magic being endangered?
Unlike his father, Luke was always a person of ratio. He didn’t
think that magic could exist anywhere outside a storybook, and
thus, he didn’t think it existed here.
    Akilah smiled at Luke, reassuring
him a little. “This was bound to happen sooner or later, Lucas,”
she said. “Please, don’t blame yourself for everything that has
happened. For now, we should worry about the Master.” Her
expression darkened. “He has pulled someone from your world,
someone you know. And the Master’s going to use her against
you.”
    *
    Earlier that day
    It was deep in the night, and now
eighteen-year-old Mari was trying to fall asleep, but without such
luck. And as she finally started to drift off, something woke her
up.
    “ So... Marilyn Belluci. The girl
I’ve heard so much about.”
    Mari opened her eyes at the sound
of a deep voice saying her name. She didn’t see anything but
darkness at first, before noticing two glowing red eyes staring at
her.
    “ Who... are you?” Mari said; as
she looked around, she noticed she was no longer in her bed in her
safe hideout – the mysterious figure in front of her had taken her
outside.
    “ You could consider me... an old
friend of your father’s,” the mysterious figure said; Mari wasn’t
sure whether it was just too dark to see or he didn’t have a face
at all. “What are you doing out here all alone,
Marilyn?”
    “ ...I don’t know,” Mari said,
slightly hesitant. “I should be asking you. Why’d you bring me out
here?”
    The dark figure in front of Mari let out a
deep chuckle. “Amusing,” he said. “Don’t you remember me, child?
The face in your dreams? The voice that called you out
here?”
    Mari’s eyes filled with confusion
at first, but then the realisation hit her. When she listened
closely, she indeed recognized his voice. The voice in her dreams
had been a tad younger, friendlier too, maybe – but it was
him.
    “ ...Then you can answer my
question,”