[SpringsSong]

Alisha sighed as she continued to administer herbs to Kria.  "She seems like she is all right, but... she seems to be... well, I can't explain it." Alisha said, sighing.  Chandani shook her head and paced up and down the hallways.

"No, she can't die.  She just... no.  She can't." Chanda said, shaking her head.  "Do you know what I have been through, throughout all of my days, to find her...?  To first think that I was looking for a different one, and then to find out that... that my sworn enemy was my own blood?" She asked, looking at Alisha with her blood-red eyes.

The Magistrey shook her head and said, "All of us have times when we are... well, shall we say... tested.  This might be one of them for you, Chandani.  You just need to keep your faith."

~*~*~*~

"Come on!  Fight me like a true warrior!" Alyan roared, turning around blindly and trying to pin his attacker.  However, Lian?¶ continued to leap gracefully out of the way every time that he would try to attack her.  Finally, after a minute, the sandstorm dissipated.

"What?!" Ghia shrieked, staring at Chloris.  "I thought you were keepin' her covered, Uncle Chloris!" She said, her eyes glowing.

"I was, I was!  My powers have been suppressed somehow." Chloris responded, and then, they both looked up at the female Shielupe that was shielded in a purple ribbon.

"So you want me to fight you like a true warrior?  Then I shall." Lian?¶ said, her voice excited and determined as the Chaos Shielupe cackled.

"Oh, this will be easy..."

[12.1][7.1][11.4][11.4][6.2][6.0][5.3]

[SpringsSong]

Chandani sat down as her body shook with a sob, looking at Kria.  The Dweller female seemed ever so still now, and it seemed like she was slowly fading.  She shook her head as she thought to herself, I am so sorry for everything I ever did to her... for calling her unsound, for accusing her of trying to steal my boyfriend...

And I forgive you, Chanda.

The Celestial female looked up, her ears suddenly perked as she looked at her sister.  "...come again?" She asked, staring at the other female blankly.  "Kria... what...?"

There was a certain point in time where I was hit with... well, realization.  I was slapped with the fact that if I continued to pursue revenge with you, then it would pass on to my children, creating a blood feud that would take forever to correct. Kria said, chuckling.  Then, her eyes slowly opened.

Alisha chuckled.  "See, Chandani?  I told you that, if Zu'hai had not deemed this as her time to leave, that she would awaken soon enough." The Magistrey said, laughing as she watched the other Lucain sit up.

~*~*~*~

Lian?¶ smiled as she said, "Oh, you think this will be easy, Alyan?  I am afraid that you are quite mistaken." The Shielupe leapt into the air nimbly, her lithe form sliding easily over the Chaos Shielupe.

Chloris merely stared as Lian?¶ leapt over Alyan, his eyes wide with terror as Ghia inched away slowly.  "You, ah... got a plan, Uncle?"

"Ah... no." Chloris said, his head lowered.

[12.2][7.2][12.0][12.0][6.3][6.1][5.4]

[SpringsSong]

Chandani sat perfectly still in shock, her red eyes widening as Kria slowly sat up.  She shook her head and protested, "But... Kria, this is what you don't... understand... there were two parts to the mission I failed..."

"What... two parts?  But... Chanda... what would the second part have been?" Kria asked, her voice riddled with shock.  Chanda's head remained lowered, and finally, Alisha spoke.

"Her aura... it is confusing to read, but I can read it easy enough.  The first part of the mission was to kill the Kuhna speaker--that would have been Lian?¶--and then, the next day, she was supposed to lure off the two Lucain that were closest to her." The Magistrey's blind eyes lowered as Kria's widened in shock.

"But... Chloris and I were those two Lucain!" Kria said, looking at Chanda, whose body was shaking with sobs.  "As soon as I realized Verano meant you two, I realized that I was doomed to fail his test as it was.  Therefore, I never returned there." She said, her voice broken with tears.

~*~*~*~

"All right.  Chloris, Ghia, this isn't a suggestion or anything.  I'm telling you--go join Chandani, Kria, and Alisha.  Just do it--don't question." Lian?¶ said firmly, dodging an expertly-aimed blow from Alyan.  Chloris shook his head, starting to protest, but soon enough, ice tendrils from Ghia changed his mind.

"No, Uncle Chloris.  We had best do what Lian?¶ said.  This is her fight now--not ours." She said.  Her voice was firm enough that Chloris reluctantly followed after her, casting a glance back to Lian?¶.

"I'm not trying to contradict you, but I sure do hope you know what you're doing!" He said.

Alyan chuckled as the other two fled.  "So, you wish for them to not be here when you die again?" He said, circling the blind Shielupe.  She chuckled as she said, in a quiet voice, "No--I told them to leave so that they would not hear the part of the mission that was never completed."

[12.3][7.3][12.1][12.1][6.4][6.2][6.0]

[SpringsSong]

Kria's eyes widened to the point where, if one looked hard enough, they could actually see the whites of her eyes.  They were just a thin little band of white, barely visible, but there.  Finally, she said, "I'm glad I wasn't around long enough for Verano to give me a test like that."

Chandani chuckled.  "Oh, you'd be exempt, Kria.  He, ah... gave me a message to give to you a few days ago.  Of course, you conveniently vanished from the face of Evelon then." She said.  Seeing the brightness in Kria's eyes made Chanda's sparkle all the more as she said, "He asked me to tell you that he will be coming to the Arena eventually, and that... he misses you."

Alisha smiled, but then whipped her head around as she heard footsteps approaching the door.  She listened intently for the voice on the other side of the door, which cried out, "Chanda?  Kria?  Alisha?  If you're in there, please let us in!"

"That sounds oddly like Chloris." She said as she moved to open the door.  Sure enough, Chloris and Ghia burst through the doors, panting heavily as Alisha closed the door.

"I sure hope she knows what she's doing..." Ghia panted.

~*~*~*~

Alyan tilted his head, and then, he chuckled.  "There was no second part to Chandani's mission.  There was only the assignment to kill you." He said.  The Blossom Shielupe shook her head as she laughed.

"You are gravely mistaken, Alyan.  There was a second part--for Chandani to kill Kria and Chloris as additional proof that she could live the assassin's life.  In her own credit... she failed."

[12.4][7.4][12.2][12.2][7.0][6.3][6.1]

[SpringsSong]

Kria seemed to be having some sort of a nervous attack as she tried to process what Chandani had told her.  Finally, Ghia walked over to her and gave her a gentle poke.  "You okay?" She asked, almost amused at her mother's current state.  After a moment, she snapped out of her daze--had also fallen over in her shock--and responded, "I... I don't know, Ghia.  I mean, I just found out that my own sister would have had to kill me and her boyfriend to complete her mission."

"...come again?  That... was the other part of Chanda's mission?" Chloris asked in shock. He looked over at Chanda, who was shaking uncontrollably with sobs as Alisha approached her.  She shook her head as she pushed Chanda gently over to the side and turned back to Chloris and the others.

"She feels like what she did is something that, even now, after she knows she has your forgiveness, she must atone for her wrong.  I do not blame her, but... surely she knows that she has your forgiveness..." She said, her blind eyes filled with worry.  She sighed as she looked back to Chanda as another sob shook her body violently.

~*~*~*~

Alyan laughed as he shook his head.  "Of course.  Leave it to Verano to conveniently leave that off for me when he sent me as backup.  Then again, I'm sure he had a good reason for not telling me.  Most people often do have a good reason for not telling me." He said, circling Lianæ.  "The fact remains, I still have the advantage over you.  You are blind, Lianæ."

The femme Shielupe laughed as she moved out of Alyan's way.  "Since when does being blind--and a female, I know you are thinking that--automatically put me at a disadvantage?  If anything... I am even better because of my gift." She said slyly, walking around him with her eyes fixed on him firmly.

Alyan chuckled sarcastically.  "What gift?" He asked, his voice full of spite.

[13.0][8.0][12.3][12.3][7.1][6.4][6.2]