Soul's POV:

"Silver!" I call out as he walks through the doorway. He turns around at the sound of my voice.

"What now?" he groans. I hold out his black leather jacket.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" I grin and dangle it in front of him, teasingly. He sighs, then walks back toward me and snatches the coat. He quickly turns around, but I see his expression.

"Silver? What's wrong?" I ask, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He pushes my hand away, though, and storms toward the doorway, ignoring me. But before he can step out, I focus my energy and create a force field in the doorway, preventing his exit. He turns to me, exasperated and angry.

"What do you want, Soul?!" he yells. I flinch at his sharp tone, but recover.

"You look...depressed," I say, softly. He looks at me, and for a second, I see pain in his silver eyes. But he quickly covers it up with anger. He turns around and focuses his eyes on the barrier. His eyes turn blacker than night and within an instant, my force field slowly shifts color from bright purple to black, becoming weaker. As it does, I feel myself start to crumble. I fight to keep the force field up, but Silver is too strong for me. The force field collapses, and I with it.

He walks through the doorway and leaves, not even bothering to look back. I am on my knees and watch his retreating form. When he is finally gone from my sight, I sigh and turn my head. My eyes catch sight of the mirror. I catch a glimpse of myself: a sickly thin and fragile woman with glowing purple eyes. As I watch myself more closely, the purple glow slowly fades away, leaving my eyes their natural color, hazelnut brown.

Crystal's POV:

"Hey, Crys," Soul greets me dejectedly as she sits down at the counter, watching me prepare breakfast. I stop stirring the pancake mix for a second to look at Soul. She seems extremely tired and sad. I resume stirring, but continue to look at Soul.

"Hey, Soul. What's the matter?" I ask. Soul slightly shakes her head.

"It's just Silver. He seemed unusually pained today," she replied, turning her gaze towards the window.

I stop stirring and walk over to Soul. I take her chin gently and turn it towards me, forcing her to look into my eyes. Her eyes start to glow purple and I know my light blue eyes are doing the same, as I feel the bridge between our brains build itself.

The nightmares? I telepathize.

Soul nods. Yup. I thought he was over them, but…

That's what you get for falling in love, I chide her sternly.

Soul looks away, breaking the bridge and our bond, meaning I can no longer telepathize with her.

"Sis, I know what I'm doing. Stop telling me what to do all the time!" Soul sounds more hurt than angry. "I am still in love with Silver, and he is in love with me. And that will never change, no matter what."

I sigh, frustrated, and return to making pancakes. "Just don't say I didn't warn you. I am not responsible if you two get caught. You're on your own."

Soul drops her head onto the table, so her face is hidden. He voice is still loud and clear, despite it.

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't Gifted," my twin sister complains. "Then I would be able to do anything I want, without the stupid Dictator breathing down my neck."

"Soul!" I gasp. "Be careful! You can't go around saying things like that. You know how many spies the Dictator has. You'll be killed! But...then again...you'll be killed anyway if you and Silver are caught."

Soul groans. "Stupid, stupid. Stupid fate. Stupid luck. Stupid world. Stupid…"

"Pancakes are ready!" I sing, hoping to drown out Soul's pessimistic words. Her tone worries me. Soul is the most optimistic person I know. If even she is becoming like this, what will the world turn into? Though, with the Dictator as our, well, dictator, the world pretty much sucks already. Especially since he placed those restrictions on the Gifted, the rare people with abnormal powers, like Soul, Silver, and me. Oh. And Gold.

I place a plate of a stack of raisin pancakes in front of her. The sight of her comfort food instantly brings her out of her melancholy as she cheerily digs into her breakfast.

I glance at my watch and panic as I see the time: 7:25 AM.

"I'm gonna be late!" I exclaim. "He told me to meet him at 7:30!"

I race through the house, throwing my clothes on, dabbing on a small coat of makeup, and yanking the knots out of my hair. Soul glances up from her pancakes to watch me.

"Who a oo meeig?" she asks, her mouth stuffed with pancake. However, I clearly understand her question.

"I'm going on a business trip! See you in a month or so, Soul!" I yell as I hop out the door and slam it behind me, avoiding her question.

I can faintly hear Soul scream, "You tell me this now?" but I ignore it and make my way to our meeting point. Once I am there, I see him. He is wearing a cloak, hiding his face and body, but his impatience is visible.

"You're a minute late, Professor Crystal," he says. His voice is deep and gruff.

"I know. I'm sorry. Forgive me, please?" I bow in apology.

He scoffs. "Very well. We shall leave," he nods, signalling me. I can read his thoughts through his green eyes: "Prove that you're worth the trouble."

I close my eyes and clear my mind. When I open them again, there is a purple screen in front of me. I whisper my destination, and the purple ripples, showing a castle.

"You first, Professor," he says. I gulp and step through the portal, slightly aware of the man following behind me.

Gold's POV:

I stand in front of the door to Crystal's house. It used to be Soul's, too, but she moved in with Silver a month ago. I was slightly glad when it happened. It meant I could now spend more time with Crystal without Soul interfering.

Not that I don't like Soul; she's awesome. She just has a habit of teasing me because she knows I like Crystal, and her twin sister doesn't. Maybe today I could tell Crystal how I feel about her, something I have been putting off for five years. Five years. To think it has been five years since Crystal and I first met. We were eleven then. We had only been acquaintances at first, but when we both realized we were both Gifted, we had a slight bond. A bond that only grew stronger, till we were best friends.

I gather my courage, put on my best flirtatious smile, and ring the doorbell. I quickly realize the doorbell does not work. Deciding to take things into my own hands, almost quite literally, I touch the bell with my finger. I concentrate, gathering energy, then release it as a spark.

The electricity I produced works. The doorbell sounds out loudly. I wince at the sound. Maybe I have overdone it.

The door slams open.

"Gold! You scared the living daylights out of me!" Soul yells. "I felt as if someone put two tuba next to my ears and blew into them! My ears are ringing!"

I wince again at Soul's anger, but smile innocently.

"Who? Me? I didn't do a thing!" I lie.

Soul rolled her eyes. "So your eyes are normally electric blue, huh? Or can I assume there were storm clouds before I opened the door and they coincidentally decided to leave just as I opened the door?" she says sarcastically, glancing up at the clear, blue sky.

"Come on, Soul! Not even a thank-you? I fixed your doorbell. Be grateful," I say in a haughty tone. I playfully poke her nose and squeeze my way around her and into the house. I look around for Crystal.

"Where's Miss Workaholic?" I ask Soul, turning to her as she kicks the door closed.

"She left on a business trip just an hour ago," Soul replies and crashes onto the sofa. "I'm supposed to take care of the house for her."

I feel my spirits deflate.

"When will she be back?" I ask, hoping this is one of her one-day trips.

"Not until next month, or so," Soul replies, giving me a sympathetic glance.

"Ugh!" I groan with frustration and crash onto the sofa next to Soul. "Just when I had worked up the courage tell her how I felt about her!"

Soul chuckles. "Were you really going to?"

"Yes!" I exclaim and close my eyes, placing my hands behind my head.

Soul sighs. "It's probably a good thing she left before you came."

"What do you mean?" I ask, opening an eye to look at her.

"We kinda just had an argument about falling in love. You know, the usual. Me and Silver."

"Oh. And it's 'Silver and I', by the way," I tell Soul, putting a smug smile on my face.

Soul rolls her eyes and gets up, but I grab her arm and pull her back down. She looks at me, confused.

"How's Silver?" I ask. It has been months since I last spoke to my childhood friend.

When Soul's face darkens, I realize it was the wrong question. I am about to let it go, but Soul speaks anyway, looking into my now-normal golden eyes.

"He's just...not himself. I think he started having the nightmares again," she looks at me with worry. I feel my heart strain. This is exactly why I allowed Silver to hang out with Soul. I had hoped her cheeriness and brightness would relieve him of the memories of his horrible past. It had worked for the first year. However, apparently, it was a temporary cure.

"I was thinking we should get Blue," Soul says quietly. "She has always been able to cheer him up. And it worked the last time he had those nightmares."

I think about it. Soul had a point. Blue was the only one who could get Silver out the dark abyss he grew up in when Soul wasn't enough. But I know Blue would never come on her free will. Not that she didn't love Silver; she loves her little brother to death. The reason Blue would not come is because she would not be able to. Blue is the stepdaughter of the Dictator, making her the Princess and heir to the Six Regions. She has much too many things to do and take care of, with her stepfather. The only reason Silver does not live with her in the palace is that he wanted to escape from his morbid childhood. And his cruel stepfather.

"I'll see what I can do, Soul. But Blue is probably way too busy," I give her an apologetic look. "But don't worry about it. This is probably just a temporary relapse. He'll get better. But only if you cheer up and be yourself."

I pat her cheek and get up to leave.

"Call me when Crys gets back," I call out as I exit. "And I'll call you if Blue can show up."