Helloooo! Kara here, and I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter! (Shhh I know it's way too late). Medi is thinking of writing a second chapter, so let us know if we should! :O I am not Lynette Noni, even though I am Australian :P

It had just struck midnight, and still no sign of the anticipated stranger. The man cursed and rubbed his hands together. It had seemed the perfect place to meet; in the middle of a forgotten forest that was full of fog so thick he could barely see his feet. The main advantage, however, was that it was completely deserted.

But the man had overlooked the fact that it was in the northern parts of the country, and unfortunately for him, one of the the coldest. The man scowled darkly. If it was anything he hated more than the cold, it was unreliable people. He sighed. The dealer had always been really sketchy, the man mused frustratedly. He was about to turn away when a dark, feminine figure pierced through the fog. Finally.

"You're late."

"I had a little trouble getting it, that's all," came the low, foreign-sounding voice. The silhouette took something out of her mouth, the tip glowing faintly red. "I didn't think a little remote would have that much security. I'm impressed. What is it exactly?"

"Like hell I'm gonna tell someone like you," the man sneered. He was getting impatient. "It's none of your business, anyway. Look," he took out a small sack and threw it at the thug, who caught it on reflex. "There's the money I promised. Now you must fulfill your end of the deal."

The figure put the cigarette back in her mouth, so she could open the bag more easily. She took out a large golden coin, of which she started inspecting thoroughly. She smirked around her cigarette. She shrugged off her rucksack and pulled out a glowing orb.

''Perfect,'' Aven whispered, a devilish grin stretching across his handsome face. ''Let the Truth be revealed."

~~~~~~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~~~~

Kaiden POV

I woke up to the sound of water splashing on tiles and someone singing far too cheerfully in the morning. I groaned. Declan must be taking a shower. I got out of bed and got dressed for the long day ahead. I waited for Dec, and then we headed to the food court for breakfast.

The next four hours of class went by quite quickly. In chemistry we learned about Hydroa's blood and what it could be used for. In Core Skills I was kinda bored 'cause I already knew how to control my gift, plus no one was supposed to know my true gift apart from Declan.

~~~~~~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~~~~

Declan POV

Kaiden and I had just finished Core Skills. We were both ravenous and practically raced to the food court. Kaiden got there first and found us a table with only two other people on it. I grabbed the menu and selected my lunch; lasagna with Dillyberry juice. I attacked my plate at once.

"The teacher was such in a bad mood today, wasn't she?" I said, and glanced away from my food to look at Kaiden. His plate of fish n' chips were left untouched and he had barely drank a sip of his orange juice. I followed his gaze and sighed. He was staring at Alex, who was sitting at the table across from us with Dix.

"Hey," I snapped my fingers in front of his face. Kaiden's head jerked up, a dark blush blooming across his cheeks at being caught. "Can you stop checking your girlfriend out for one second," I teased.

"You would think she brainwashed you or something."

Kaiden flushed an even darker shade, if that was even possible. He opened his mouth probably to protest that she wasn't his girlfriend but instead settled on an embarrassed 'S-shut up'.

After a couple seconds of an awkward silence I finally said, " So … did you see the match last night?" I asked, changing the subject quickly. I knew if I teased him about it too much he would crush me in Combat later (I learnt that the hard way).

But Kaiden didn't answer, as he was focused intently on only eating his food, not trusting himself to get distracted. I looked over to Alex. This time instead of Kaiden looking in her direction she was looking in his. Dix looked up, realised what was going on, and mirrored my exasperated gaze. We were both thinking the same thing.

Both Alex and Kaiden needed to get out of their comfort zone and tell each other how they felt. We both thought of it, but we knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

~~~~~~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~~~~

After lunch, Alex and D.C went off to the Stables for their Equestrian Skills class. When they finished tackling their horses, Talya told them that for today they could just have a fun stroll in the Ezera forest since she had to meet up with the headmaster. D.C and Alex were heading towards the forest when D.C spoke up.

"I saw Kaiden staring at you during lunch." Alex looked up to find the same mischievous grin on her friend's face that always appeared whenever they talked about Alex and Kaiden's relationship.

"He was probably just thinking," Alex was desperately trying to get the blush to disappear from her cheeks.

"Oh really?" said D.C, unimpressed. "If he was 'just thinking', then why were you staring back?" she pressed.

Her friend was speechless after that and had even redder cheeks.

"I … I dozed off," she tried to hide her embarrassment, but failed. D.C left it at that, knowing that soon enough Alex would tell her the truth. They finished the walk in silence before galloping back to the stables as class was almost over.

After Equestrian Skills, Alex walked to the Arena for her Combat class. When she got there she saw Kaiden sprint past her and towards a familiar face.

"What are you doing here?" Kaiden asked after giving his older sister a hug.

"That's a surprise."Jeera looked up to find Alex watching. She smirked and leaned down to whisper something in her brother's ear. Kaiden's face flushed a dark shade of red. He glared at his sister, who was delighted with her sibling's reaction.

Kaiden stalked over to Alex and started to push her from behind. "That's it. Bye. See ya." He yelled over his shoulder to Jeera, practically shoving Alex away from his sister to avoid any more awkward situations.

Alex was a little confused with Kaiden's bizarre behaviour, but dismissed it as a sibling thing. They headed to the middle of the Arena to start stretching when Karter arrived.

"Today we have a guest, and I don't think she needs an introduction," he said while gesturing towards Jeera. At that moment Alex finally understood why she was here, and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. This lesson was going to be tough.

"So I'm guessing you all know who I am and why I'm here, but in case you're new, I'm Warden Jeera James. I'm gonna give all you a…'taste of life', to put it nicely. And trust me, it's not as easy as it looks." She smirked as everybody groaned.

"Alright then, let's start. We've wasted enough time as it is." Karter frowned as he checked his ComTDC.

"Jeera is going to put you guys into pairs. Person 1 is going to stand in front of these red lines," Karter nodded to the red lines that were painted further down the Arena. Alex was surprised that she hadn't seen them before. "Person 2 must use any means to get past the line. You will take turns with the roles of person 1 and 2. All your weapons are here. Go ahead Jeera, pair them up."

"Okay, Declan and Brendan. Nick you're with Sebastian. That leaves you, baby bro," Jeera was cut off by the Combat boys and Alex, who all snickered apart from Kaiden who starting blushing again.

"Don't call me that," he hissed.

"Fine, Kaiden you're with Alex. Alex, Declan, and Sebastian you three will be preventing your partner from passing the red line. As for the others, your job is to get past the line. Once you've done that, you switch."

As they went to the red line, Kaiden took a sword, Brendan got a wooden staff and Nick, Declan, and Sebastian took daggers. The six of them took their positions.

"Go," came Jeera's voice. Alex saw Kaiden come at her with his sword, and she stepped aside right on time. She then realized that she forgot to take a weapon. She could barely beat him in hand-to-hand combat without getting a bruise or two, so there was no way she was getting out of here alive. He had a wrought-iron deadly sharp sword and she had, well, nothing. Kaiden saw her worried face.

"Forget something?" he taunted her. Kaiden grinned widely; he knew he had the advantage. Kaiden aimed a kick at her torso which made Alex back up an inch or two.

"Nope," she replied, grinning just as widely.

Kaiden was so surprised by her answer that he barely had time to raise his blade to block the one that was only a couple inches from his right leg. He took a couple steps back to try to get a clear image of the sword. He'd seen it before but he couldn't remember exactly when or where he had. Alex then threw her weapon in the air and that's when it hit him. That was the sword she had summoned during her fight with Aven Dalmarta when they were on their SAS trip. They continued sending and deflecting attacks until Kaiden finally got passed the line. They were the last group to have finished. Declan and Nick both won which was not surprising. Declan easily blocked Brendan from passing and thanks to his agility Nick easily passed Sebastian. As Kaiden and Alex headed to where the others were waiting, Jeera gave Alex a worried look.

"Are you okay?" she asked as Alex and Kaiden got closer to where the others were standing.

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?" answered a confused Alex.

"You just got cut really badly,"Jeera pointed to an area above Alex's hip. Kaiden closely inspected the wound. His sister was right; Alex had gotten cut really bad.

"Alex, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Kaiden had a concerned look on his face. "We better take you to Fletcher."

"It's n-" Alex was cut of before she could finish her sentence.

"I swear, Alex, if you say it's nothing..." Kaiden, concerned, left his sentence hanging, then added, "You always say it's nothing, when really, you probably just lost like two liters blood."

"Alex, Kaiden's right. Don't worry, you won't be missing a lot, since class is almost over. Besides, if you really want to continue training I'll be here Friday as well. Now that that's sorted, please could you take her to the Med Ward, Kaiden."

"Yeah, no problem," and with that, Kaiden put his weapon back, sent a 'see ya later smile' to his sister and left the Arena with Alex.

~~~~~~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~~~~

When Kaiden and Alex reached the Med Ward they found Fletcher reading a book, which he put it down the second he saw them come in.

"What did you do this time, Alex?" the doctor sighed as he got up from his desk.

Kaiden was the one to answer, as Alex had gotten extremely weak and probably didn't even notice the fact that someone had spoken to her. "I cut her hip by accident in combat."

"Tsk. Well, put her on a bed and I'll go get some painkillers and something to heal that wound." Fletcher left as Kaiden put Alex down gently on the nearest bed. Fletcher came back a minute later carrying two vials, one with a lime green liquid and the other with a shimmering turquoise liquid inside. He gave Alex the green one first, which, judging from Alex's relieved sigh, was the painkiller. Then he gave her the turquoise liquide, which Kaiden assumed was supposed to heal the wound. Alex downed the vial in one go, and everyone waited with baited breath. Nothing happened.

"Well, that's not normal," Fletcher said after a while, frowning. "She'll have to stay here for the night. You can go eat dinner Kaiden, the food court should be open by now." On that note, the dark haired teenager left the Med Ward.