Disclaimer: i don't own the Lorien Legacies..

Hi guys!

Here it is, the Sequel to my other story, the Return of Lorien. I really hope this is just as successful as my other one!

So, please please remember to review, just like you did brilliantly for my other story!

Eight

I never knew how infuriating a 'maybe' could be.

It's between a yes and a no; not a definite answer. It's a tease and a wind-up and I can't stop thinking about it. About her.

I think of the way her eyes lit up mischievously as she grinned at me, the dreaded word slipping out. How I had thought it was funny but hadn't taken it seriously. I was arrogant enough to believe that she loved me too much to stay away for too long.

What an idiot I was. She has a lot more will power than I give her credit for.

"Dude? Can you stop drooling over her for one minute?!"

I turn and sigh as Nine grins at me, shaking his head in mock disgust. "Are you seriously this whipped, that you're reminiscing over a picture?!" he demands.

I blush and stuff the picture of her into my drawer. I had taken it in Egypt and the picture is of her standing in front of the pyramids. She's laughing at something I said and her hair is blowing in the fierce wind we had that day. She looks beautiful and so, so happy.

I miss her so much.

Now, I'm in my shared dormitory with Nine and John and I wish to hell I had my own room. You would not believe how much those two snore.

"You would do the same if Five acted like that" I accuse as I pull off my shirt and reaching for my pyjamas. I feel bone-weary, a result of the gruelling training we have here.

If I thought I was on top form before, I was seriously wrong. In the last six months, my strength has grown to an unbelievable level and my legacies are perfect now. We haven't had any attack from mogs which means that we've been doing non-stop training.

"No because I'd go and annoy her until she went out with me again" he replies, dropping into bed with a groan. I stick my tongue out at him maturely.

"Wow, I don't know what she sees in you" I say. Nine rolls his eyes and dramatically gestures to his body.

"All of this. I have abs of steel" he boasts. This time it's me who rolls my eyes.

"You're still seriously-" I begin but the door to our room opens and John staggers in. He's very pale, white and shaking pretty badly. I react at once and teleport to him, wrapping an arm around him to help him stand. Nine is there soon after, a surprisingly gentle look on his face.

"Bad day?" he asks as we guide John to his bed. John groans in response, too tired to say anything.

Ever since we've been here, John has truly begun to evolve into Pittacus. Since he's supposed to get every legacy, he's been developing at least three a week, if that. He has to master every one of them and spends hours a day practising them. This exhausts him to the point of collapsing every day. I feel sorry for him, I really do. He has to work twice as hard as the rest of us.

"I'll get Six" I say as Nine lays John down on his bed.

Six has developed a new legacy as well, energy manipulation. It may not sound so great but I tell you, it's amazing. She can channel energy from any living thing into one of us, which will be perfect when we're fighting for our lives. We'll be constantly replenished with energy.

I teleport into the girls' room next door, stupidly forgetting to knock. I feel something slam into me, knocking me onto the floor, before I hear laughter. Five leans over me, having punched me in the stomach at my sudden appearance. Marina is laughing on her bed and Six is grinning at me as she leans against her own.

"What do we have here, a peeping tom" Five says, dragging me up with her super strength. I grin and try to shake her off but only half-heartedly.

"Ouch" I mutter, rubbing my side where I hit the ground. Six grins again and raises her eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, though she probably already has an idea. I shrug as I eye Five nervously. She seriously packs a punch.

"John's exhausted" I explain. Six sighs and nods, loping to the door quickly to fill him with energy again. Five lets go of me as Six leaves and I rub my arm.

"Isn't it forbidden to be in our room?" she asks sceptically. I grin and shrug.

"Like they could take me on" I say. Marina rolls her eyes as she climbs off her bed, reaching for a book. I'm sort of distracted by her ensemble of shorts and tank top for pyjamas. I snap out of it and am met by Five's smirk. I swear, she's just as bad as Nine.

"I don't know, you don't have invulnerability like Nine does" she replies. I sigh and pull a sad face, going up to her and laying my head on her shoulder.

"Will you protect me then?" I beg, my eyes wide. She laughs and pushes my head off, making me stumble a little.

"I thought you said you could take care of it" Marina retorts, grinning at me. I laugh as Six enters the room. She comes over to me with a mock glare.

"Out. Now. I'm about to change" she says, dragging me to the door. I make her job easier and simply teleport away, back into my room. John is sitting up, looking a whole lot better.

"So rude to me" I say sadly as I climb into my bed. Nine rolls his eyes as he gets back into his own.

"You deserve it, perving after them" he replies. I open my mouth to protest when John groans as he lies down.

"Stop it, both of you! I'm too tired" he complains. I shut up at once; he needs his rest.

"Night" Nine says as he switches off the lights with telekinesis. Within seconds they both drop off.

And the snoring begins.

Xxx

I wake up as a huge clap of thunder echoes in the room, lightning flashing outside. Rain pounds against the windows as wind howls outside. That's a full scale storm out there.

I groan as I roll over, sleep evading me. I love storms but I always have this urge to go and watch them, no matter what the time. They were magic in India, lighting up the night sky with the Himalayas looking all the more terrifying.

I sigh as another rumble of thunder booms outside and then I get up, leaving the warmth of my bed. I'll go and get some sleeping pills because between the storm and Nine's snoring, I'll never get to sleep.

I pad quietly out of my room and down the long corridor, going to the small kitchen we all share. This small building has five rooms for all of us Loric and Sam and Adam. We have a lot of room to ourselves which suits us since we're so different from the other soldiers here.

I pass the small cleaning cupboard in the hallway when I see a light underneath. I sigh to myself; someone left it on and is wasting electricity. I open the door and reach for the light switch when I hear a small scream.

I jump back in alarm, my heart pounding until I see someone huddled on the floor amongst the cleaning things. I look closer to see Marina peeking up at me, her eyes wide with fear. I stare at her confused as she shakes in fear.

"What are you doing in the cupboard?" I ask, puzzled by her behaviour. It's not exactly comfortable in here.

"It's quieter" she whispers. I furrow my brow.

"You left your room and your bed because it was too loud?" I ask, wondering if she's lost the plot. A huge crash of thunder echoes down the corridor and she cringes against the wall. Realisation hits me; she's scared of storms.

"Move over" I say, sitting down next to her. She peeks up at me and then obediently moves over so that we're cramped in together as I shut the door. It is quieter in here but still, there's no room. I pull her to me so she's lying in my arms with her head on my chest. She's too scared to complain.

"Why don't you like them?" I ask her. Her fists are clenched and I try to smooth them out.

"Bad memories" she whispers unwillingly. Another crash of thunder booms in the small room and she jumps, a small squeak escaping her lips. It's so cute that I can't help but smile.

"Do you want to hear a story?" I ask nervously, thinking quickly. She looks up and I notice the corners of her temples are damp with sweat, making her hair stick to the skin. She nods, cringing as another crash echoes through the air.

"Ok" I say, my brain running through everything I could tell her.

"There was this kid, a boy, on Earth" I say slowly. I'm aware that she's still shaking in fear and I continue, trying to calm her done. "And he liked to explore everything. He did everything with his father and they spent days away from home, doing whatever they could in the wilderness. The little boy hated storms; he thought they were terrifying" I say slowly.

"They were inseparable" I say, a small lump in my throat. Marina has relaxed a little by now but I can still tell she's scared; she's still clutching my arm and her nails are digging in. "They usually tended to get into trouble and most of the time that was the boy's fault. But his father always laughed, always found it funny"

"However, they were being hunted by some bad people, people who they owed money to" I improvise. Marina is looking up at me, her dark eyes impossibly beautiful. "One day, the father was separated from his son whilst they were on the run and he was near to being caught by the bad men" I say.

"When it looked like the father's position was going to be discovered, a storm begun. The bad men weren't used to nature like the father was and using the storm to his advantage, he managed to escape. He and his son managed to get away in the storm. After that, the little boy liked storms" I finish. Marina smiles weakly, her face filled with thought.

"Thank you" she whispers. I nod slowly, still holding her close to me. She's much calmer now, her eyes a little sleepy. Maybe my presence is the real calmer... or maybe i'm being too arrogant.

"Try and get some sleep... I'll still be here" I whisper, brushing her hair back. She nods and shifts a little, trying to stretch out as best she can in this cramped space.

"Eight?" she asks, as I'm about to drop off. I look at her in question.

"I know that little boy was you"

Xxx

Nine

Life is like one massive routine now...I hate it.

We get up at 5am, train for three hours, go to school until 3pm and then come home to train some more until about 8pm. We get about one or two hours to chill in the whole day.

I miss my freedom. I miss Chicago where I could do what I wanted, even if it was training. I miss the ability to hang out with Five whenever I wanted and not have to worry about being chucked out of her room because it's inappropriate.

"Concentrate!"

I glare as I look up, the general in front of me returning the look. He and I have a mutual dislike of each other ever since I kicked his star soldier's ass on my first day of training. Said star soldier, Brad, is leaning against the wall, smirking.

Asshole.

I sigh and continue doing push-ups, sweat dripping down my forehead. I might be super strong and all that but 400 per session can kill a guy after a while. I see Eight and John nearby, doing the same as me but not as fast. They don't have super strength like me though.

I sit back when I'm done, panting a little. I look around as other soldiers attempt to do the same as me. Good luck to them. My muscles are complaining but I shake it off; pain is nothing. It's almost 8am which means we get a break soon.

I'll get to see Five.

It's not enough that they have to make us work so hard but they've also separated us guys from the girls. I mean, are we seriously going to have a make-out session in the middle of training? And on top of that, I barely get to see Sandor anymore since he and the other Cepans are working on the documents.

"Nine! Stop relaxing and do some more!" I scowl at General Rowland, annoyed by his constant pushing. I purposely lie back down and put my arms behind my back in a show of complete relaxation.

"Nine!" he roars but I simply yawn. I can hear Eight laugh and I bet John's grinning. The General marches over to me and grabs my arm, dragging me up. I sigh and then shake him off easily, making him stagger back.

"How dare you" he hisses, his face furious. I simply grin at him, not worried about his temper at all.

"Why you little-" he begins but the alarm goes, signalling our break. I grin at him again as I lope off towards the door, looking forward to something to drink. I burst through them and head towards the break room, where I know Five and the others will be.

"Hey, wait up!" I hear John call but I ignore him and carry on. I may have seemed carefree with the General but inside, I'm fuming. They treat us like dirt here; a puppet they can control.

I hate it.

I enter the break room and smile when I see Five already here, massaging her temples. Ever since her injury she gets headaches; she'll never be fully cured. Marina's tried to help but she doesn't know what the problem is so it's hard for her to heal it.

"Hey gorgeous" I say, sitting down next to Five and taking a drink from her coffee. I've finally persuaded her to take milk with it and it's so much more bearable now.

"Hey" she sighs, still rubbing her temples. I smile sadly at her.

"Still bothering you?" I ask. She shrugs, taking a sip from her drink.

"Only when I train" she says. I sigh and nod, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"That seems to be all the time" Ella complains, her face scrunched up as she concentrates on working on her telekinesis to pour some sugar into her coffee. I grin at her; she's so cute it's unreal.

"At least you don't have the devil as your trainer" I complain. Marina rolls her eyes as she looks at me sceptically.

"General Rowland? We have him too. And trust me when I say this, he hates girls" she says. Five nods and snorts.

"Sexist pig" she mutters. I frown and cross my arms in anger.

"He doesn't make you over train, does he?" I ask, protectively. Six glares at me as she finishes off her drink.

"Over train? Now you're starting to sound sexist" she mutters. Two gets up quickly, sensing a coming argument. We've had a lot of those recently due to tensions running high; we haven't really been free in six months.

"Anyway, I'm going to shower. We have school soon" she reminds us as she leaves.

School. Another torture we have to go through. Apparently, the US government thinks we need an education, despite the war going on. How the hell they managed to get nine new students into one school without a load of gossip beats me.

"Oh great, I have to explain to Mr Nagy why I haven't done my homework, again" Five mutters. I grin and kiss her cheek, making her blush.

"Compel him" I say. Five grins and shakes her head.

"Nah, can't be bothered. I've gotten to the point where I want to avoid using my legacies. I'm so sick of training!" she says. John scowls and nods.

"Try being me" he says bitterly. Six takes his hand and smiles at him sadly but I roll my eyes.

"Says the guy who kicks Eight and I out every week so you could spend some 'quality time' with Six" I protest. Five was taking a drink but spits it out in shock, her eyes staring wide at me. Eight's nodding along with a grin whilst Marina's giggling.

"Ew, gross" Six mutters, brushing drops of coffee off her. She doesn't seem to care that I've just talked about her sex life. Five is still staring at John incredulous.

"Are you actually that desperate?!" she demands and then shakes her head. "Never mind, you're a guy, of course you are" I laugh and poke her side, whilst John rolls his eyes.

"Look, we better get ready otherwise we'll be late" Marina says, standing up. I look at her pleadingly.

"Did you do my essay for me?" I beg. She smiles gently and nods.

"Yep, it's all completed. I'll give it to you on our way out" she says. Five shakes her head.

"I can't believe you let him blackmail you into doing it" she says to Marina who blushes a little whilst I grin evilly. It's awesome that she's defenceless (blackmail-wise anyway) and clever.

"Guys, come on, we need to go!" John says, looking at the time. I stand up and leave the room with Five, just as I bump in Brad.

"Oi, watch where you're going!" he hisses, shoving my chest and knocking me into Five. I admit, I lose it a bit. I shove him back and he goes flying into a wall. He glares angrily and growls, stalking forwards. The others have appeared behind me and are watching curiously. Eight has his fists clenched.

"This isn't over" Brad hisses, sensing he can't win this. Smart move. He stalks down the corridor, muttering profanities under his breath. I stare after him, my muscles shaking in anticipation for a fight. It's been so long.

"What's that about?" Three asks, peering out from behind John's tall body. I loosen my fists.

"Nothing"

Xxx

Six

I hate school.

Granted, it's not too bad for me since Marina and John are in most of my lessons but still, I hate it. There are so many cliques here and the teachers have taken a distinct dislike to me.

"Maren Elizabeth? What is the answer?" I look up in confusion having completely blanked out the teacher. Marina tries to whisper the answer under her breath but teachers seem to have a sixth sense for that kind of thing.

"I said Maren Elizabeth, not Marina" Miss Forbes says. Marina flushes and looks down but I simply glare at the teacher.

"I don't know, I was more interested in the wall than this lesson" I reply. She whitens in anger as a couple of snickers echo in the room. She then smiles frostily.

"Then perhaps you should sit closer to it" she says, gesturing to a spare table at the edge of the room. I bite my lip; I don't want to leave Marina. It's not that she needs my help to work; it's the other way around in reality. But there are some pretty nasty girls behind us and they seem to know when someone's unlikely to stand up for themselves.

"Go on then" Miss Forbes says and I unwillingly get up, grabbing my stuff. I shoot Marina an apologetic smile as I sit across the room from her.

Who can I copy now?

The lesson drones on and I manage to control the bitches behind Marina with some vicious glares. Twice more I'm called on by the teacher and every time, I don't know the answer. I now have two detentions lined up and that's just with this teacher.

"Ugh, thank god that's over" I mutter as I leave the room. Marina smiles sadly as she adjusts her grip on her books.

"What's wrong?" I ask her. She frowns as we approach the others who are by some lockers.

"They were just being mean about you" she says but I simply laugh.

"Mar, you're more offended than I am. Shit happens" I say, waving off their comments. She's still frowning and I gently nudge her.

"What else?" she sighs and passes me a note, messy handwriting scrawled on it.

You and your little slutty friend better not get on our bad side or else

I try not to laugh at the pathetic attempt of a threat. I make sure the girls are watching as I throw it in the trash with a light smile. The leader turns away with a glare; I can't wait for the day when I'll break her nose.

"You don't understand, Six. Bullying isn't fun" Marina says, still looking worried. I lean against my locker whilst she goes to hers. John wraps an arm around my waist and pecks me on the cheek, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Look, Mar, I know you had it hard in the orphanage but you have me now. I won't let those girls be mean to you" I try to reassure her. She's still frowning as Nine and Eight walk up.

"Why are you looking-" Nine begins but he sees my glare towards them. "Oh, school drama between girls" he mutters. Eight looks on confused; apparently his social skills are still crap. Marina still looks upset and winces at every loud laugh from the girls.

"Ok, we're going out" I announce. I need a break and Marina looks horribly uncomfortable here at the school.

"Where?" Marina asks, looking at me nervously.

"I don't know... we'll find something to do" I say, grabbing her arm and tugging her away. I can hear Nine laughing behind me as Marina unwillingly follows me; she's not used to breaking rules.

"Six, we'll be punished" she says, trying to get me to stop. I sigh and smile at her; it's not her fault her upbringing was so screwed up.

"They're not going to paddle us here. We're in America, not a Spanish Convent" I say. She finally smiles and shrugs as we go out the school gates, easily avoiding the teachers.

"Well, I suppose this could be fun" she admits.

Xxx

"You're in so much trouble" Five sings as Marina and I finally get back to our 'home'. We've barely taken two steps when Henri storms into the room, his face furious. Crayton hangs behind looking disappointed whilst Sandor gives us a secret thumbs up.

Man, he's so cool.

"Why would you do that?!" Henri yells, his hands on his hips.

We're in what we like to call the 'Common Room'. Basically, it's where us Garde, Adam and Sam hang out after training and school. There's a TV, a couple of sofas and to Nine's delight, a mini-fridge.

"Because we deserved some fun" I defend myself as Marina shrinks behind me. I feel protective over her; past events have taught her that you get beaten after a lecture. Not that that will happen here of course.

"We all deserve some fun but it doesn't mean we all go off without warning!" Henri yells. John tries to get up to calm him down but Henri simply glares at him. I roll my eyes at him and he grins, making me feel better at once.

"We've managed to stay off the radar for so long! What if Mogs see your picture on the shopping centre's CCTV?! Then we'll be found within minutes!" he yells. I roll my eyes.

"I wasn't that stupid. We were invisible when we went to places with cameras" I say. I can see Crayton sag in relief whilst Sandor is outright grinning now. Guess he used to be like this.

"How did you get those then?" Nine asks, pointing to the bags we're holding. Marina blushes and looks down.

"We put money on the desk so we wouldn't feel so bad..." she whispers, looking ashamed. Henri almost growls, I swear, and throws his hands up.

"Oh great! So mogs won't see you two, but they'll see random things suddenly disappear whilst money appears on the pay desks!" he shouts. He shoots me a furious glare.

"From now on, you two will be escorted to every class at school... in fact everywhere you go" he orders. Marina looks horrified and I jump forwards in alarm.

"No! We'll be like prisoners! And we'll get some shit from everyone else!" I yell. Henri glares as he walks out the room.

"You should have thought of that before then"

Xxx

One

"Helloooooo?" I call.

Nothing.

"It's getting a bit old down here... can you at least change the scenery?" I call.

Still nothing.

"Not even some colour?" I ask.

As predicted, no change.

Being Number One sucks. I used to think it was so cool, being the one protecting all the others. I would be the oldest and get my way, whilst the others would be forever in my debt for protecting them. I would be the metaphorical queen of the Garde.

And then I died. That sort of screwed up my plans.

"But you don't just die, do you?" I mutter in a stupid voice. Being along has kind of led me to talk to myself. It's some kind of noise at least.

And then, bam! I'm in a mog's mind and since I'm so lucky I get to relive my death. More than once. And if that isn't worse, I get to see the deaths' of Two and Three. The pain and utter despair that caused me is indescribable. Two are more dead. Two fewer soldiers in the war.

"Technically, three" I remind myself when I remember that I'm dead.

And then I sort of like Adam. Or love, I'm not so sure right now. All I know is that I miss him like hell, ever since we've been separated. Not even Five was a great substitute.

"Annoying, short, know-it-all" I mutter affectionately. I do like her; she's a good friend but even she left. Her body must have miraculously survived and off she goes, back to lover boy and all her friends.

"I wonder if she slept with him" I mutter, remembering our conversation as I try to draw things with my finger in this weird cloud substance.

"Hey, can I get a colouring book?" I call up to what I assume is the sky. "At least give me something to do"

Silence.

"A mogadorian prison would be more interesting" I think or do I say it? I'm not so sure anymore.

"Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq..." my scarce knowledge of French runs dry. Damn, I could have lessons now.

This is the problem with being here for so long. My mind drifts and wanders so weirdly, that I have no idea if I'm going mad or not. One minute I'll be thinking of Hilde and then the next I'll be thinking of how to cook Paella. Weird, I know.

I don't even know how to cook Paella.

"Can I get a French grammar book?" I call up to the clouds, thinking of my earlier topic.

Nothing.

If it seems pretty boring now, don't worry, things will pick up. I promise!

Please please review!