Dance of Moonlight

Several minutes later Jacob had waken up downstairs on the couch. It had been cleaned off, but the rest of the room was left in ruins. Faye was laying on the small sofa directly across from him. He sat up stifly and everyone else turned to him. Kristian had put on more clothes to wear since his had been shredded. Brett was wearing one of his shirts with a black trench coat over it, pulled shut over her body. Heilyn was in the room as well. The three were sitting in a circle on the floor between the couch and sofa. The tension in the room was thick. He just wasn't sure why.

"Could someone please tell me who this guy is?" Jacob asked slowly, every move he made causing a small pain somewhere. What had happened to him?

"His name is Heilyn." Brett answered. "He used to take care of me when I was a little girl. Right after my parents had died, he showed up and took me in. He vanished when I was thirteen, me not knowing what happened to him. Since then I was on my own, trying to survive any way I could."

"And for that I am truly sorry, ma beauté. It was imperative that I leave, leave this town, to leave you." Heilyn told her. Brett sat there. He had called her ma beauté, my beauty. It was a name she hadn't been called before he came and once he left. It was his special name for her, something she had missed over the years. Tears started to form in her eyes. The troubles and lonliness she had felt since he had left started coming to the surface and spilling out over her eyes.

"Ma beauté..." Heilyn said softly. He reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her into his lap. He held her close and stroked his hair. Heilyn started to sing softly to her in French. Heilyn wasn't of french descent, but he had been raised by a family that was french. It was kind of hard not to pick some things up. He rocked her back and forth like he used to do when she was a child and was afraid of the monsters under her bed, or the shadows on the wall. What he had never told her was that what she was afriad of wasn't an illusion. There really were things that crawled into her room late at night and tried to get her. That was why he had been sent to take care of her. He was the only one who could have been trusted to watch over her. Placing an arm under her legs, Heilyn stood up with her cradled in his arms. "If you'll excuse us for a little bit. There is much that I have to tell Brett." He turned and headed for the kitchen being careful to step over any debris that was in his way. Kristian and Jacob could only look at each other. What was going on?

Heilyn walked into the kitchen and sat Brett down on the counter so she was level with his face. She was still crying softly. He reached out and raised her face so she was looking at him. "Why?" Was all she could manage to say.

"I took you in when you were little not just out of charity. You know now that there is something different about you. Something that you didn't know anything about when you were younger. I was sent to make sure you grew up to your full potential. And during the time I was with you, I started that process. You were turning out to be a powerful young girl. You could do so many things without having to say a word. By just using your mind. You were learning quickly. A perfect student. But teaching you came with a price. Mathayus, the man who holds power over Kristian, Jacob and Faye, wanted you. Wanted to corrupt your mind into a thing of evil. It took all of my power to keep him from finding you. So instead he found me. And if he found me he would find you because he knew how close we were. My master told me that I had to leave and let you finish growing up before I could return. If I could get Mathayus looking in a different direction then maybe it would give you the chance to actually have some kind of a life." He paused. Brett had lowered her head again, taking in all that he was saying. He held her face in his hands and raised her head once more. "I had no idea how difficult life was going to be for you after I left. If I had I wouldn't have left you alone. I didn't know that Mathayus would begin searching for you using his most powerful animals. I left enough protection over you that he couldn't find you by just searching with his mind. He would have to physically find you if he wanted to get you. And that bought you four years. Long enough for you to grow, long enough for him to get frustrated without having you, long enough for me to return to help you."

Brett placed her hands over Heilyn's. "You said that I was powerful when I was younger. Why don't I remember it? I remember you and everything that we did, but nothing about powers." Heilyn smiled.

"I twisted your memories. If Mathayus had found you some way, I didn't want you to know anything. If you didn't remember how to do things, then you couldn't do anything for him. Your memories are still inside you, but you cannot get them yet. They will reveal themself when the time is right. That's how the magic works. When you truly need them, you'll find them."

"How long will you stay this time?" She asked him, her fingers lightly stroking the backs of his hands. Heilyn hesitated before he answered.

"As long as I am needed." He said softly. Brett's eyes grew. So that meant he wouldn't always stay with her. He would eventually leave her again. She threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly.

"You're always needed. I always need you. It's different when you're gone, I'm not the same when you're gone." She said almost desperately. Heilyn slid his arms around her. How was he going to be able to leave her? How could he let himself leave again? Maybe there was some way he could get out of it. He didn't know, but he was determined to try.

"Brett, look at me." He said but she didn't move. He grabbed a hold of her arms and pried her back away from him. "Look at me." She raised her head slowly. The pain that was there in her eyes was almost enough to break his heart. "I'm here right now. Try not to think about what might happen. I'm here for you now." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. When he pulled away her face was still incredibly close to his. One of his hands slid down her arm to hold onto her wrist. With his other hand he used his thumb to stroke the soft flesh of her cheek. "We shouldn't... you don't know what could happen." He said breathlessly.

"I don't care." Brett told him. She closed that distance and pressed her lips against his. It just felt right. The sudden impulse to kiss him, to feel his skin against hers. It was a wanting strong enough that it shook her body. Her mouth worked against his tasting every drop of him. He tasted so sweet and warm. She wanted it to end. Heilyn pulled her harder against his body. In the back of his mind he knew that he shouldn't be doing this. Not because he had raised her, but because being this close to her would cause something to happen. He just couldn't remember what it was. And he really didn't care at this moment. Brett bit his lip causing a wave of slight pain and pleasure run through his body and he suddenly remembered why she couldn't be this close to him.

Heilyn put his hands on her waist, ready to push her away from him but couldn't. He didn't have enough strength to do it. He still ate at her mouth like it was some precious meal that he would never again get to experience. Again he tried to push her back, but it didn't work. His knees gave underneath him and he collapsed to the floor. Brett was too shocked to scream. Heilyn looked like half of a rotting corpse. His eyes were sunken in and his cheeks were hollowed. His skin was whiter than hers, almost translucent. She could see all the veins bulging out of his skin. He looked like bones with a piece of white cloth draped over him. All his bones were visible. His hair had thinned out and fell in clumps on the floor. His lips and eyelids were a dark purple.

"Kristian! Jacob!" She screamed as she scrambled off of the counter. She dropped to her knees beside Heilyn. She was afraid to touch him. He looked so fragile. And she didn't know what effect her touching him would cause. The two men came running into the room and stopped abruptly at seeing Heilyn on the floor.

"What happened to him?" Kristian asked a little horrified. Brett just shook her head. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened.

"Heilyn, can you say something? Anything that would let us help you?" Brett asked him on the verge of panicking. Heilyn opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. Just a harsh whisper. Brett lowered her ear down to his mouth.

"Energy... I need... energy." Energy. Alright, now where were they going to get it from?

"Where, Heilyn? Where do you need it from?" He licked his dry lips before trying to speak again.

"Krist...ian." He whispered. Kristian came down on opposite side of Heilyn that Brett was. "Drink," He said, raising his whithered arm to Kristian's face. He gripped the side of his face and slowly pulled it down towards his own face. Instinctively, Kristian started to pull away.

"No! Kristian, please, do what ever it takes to save him." She pleaded to him. He looked into her eyes and couldn't refuse the look in her eyes. He turned back and lowered his face to Heilyn's. Heilyn touched his lips to Kristian's. Almost instantly a spark of heat surged inside of Heilyn. Kristian could feel the heat building inside him in a scalding wave. Heilyn's lips fed at Kristian's mouth. The energy he possessed was intoxicating. An orange light began to form where their mouths met. It grew until it was blinding. Brett and Jacob covered their eyes to avoid it. The light covered Kristian and Heilyn's body until it slowly began to dim. As the light dimmed, Brett could see Heilyn's body reforming itself to what it once was. When the light disappeared, Kristian pulled himself slowly away from Heilyn. There lips lingering on one another for a moment. They stared at each other as if they'd never seen each other before. Brett reached out to touch Kristian's shoulder.

"Don't touch him." Heilyn said quickly. Brett pulled her hand back. "He needs to come out of this on his own." It seemed like none of them moved for an eternity before Kristian finally blinked and moved away from Heilyn. He backed away until his back touched the wall behind him. Kristian looked dazed, like he was seeing something that none of the others could.

"Kristian, are you alright?" Brett asked worried. Kristian just stared out into space. He didn't move, didn't give any sign that he had heard her. "What's wrong with him?" She asked Heilyn. Heilyn drew his legs up so he was sitting indian style and had a bright smile on his face.

"Using powers for the first time can be quite... draining." He erupted into a fit of laughter. Brett looked to Jacob with a raised brow. He could only shrug. He didn't know what was going on either.

"Are you drunk?" He asked Heilyn. Heilyn laughed even harder. Hard enough that tears were forming at his eyes. He had to use his hand to brace himself on the floor so that he didn't fall over from laughing.

"That's a good way to put it. Taking so much energy, especially that energy, will always make a person this way. It's like a high. You don't really care where it came from. You just have it and you feel great." Heilyn explained.

"So there's nothing wrong with you other than the fact that you're high or drunk off power?" Brett asked. It sounded ridiculous, but then, anything was possible these days.

"Exactly!" He replied laughing. "And Kristian will be fine. He's never had to go through anything like that before. He obtained a new source of power and gave alot of it away in a short amount of time. His body and mind needs time to recharge. He is not used to the power that you gave him."

"What power?" Brett and Jacob asked together. Heilyn rested his elbows on his knees and placed his chin in the palms of his hands.

"You know, the power that went into both of you when the orb shattered." Brett nodded. "You each received two halfs. There are four, one for each of the four masters of this realm. Inside of those halfs is an incredible amount of information reguarding the secrets to this realm. How it was created, how it can be destroyed. That is what Mathayus wants. To take control of this realm using the information that was locked inside the orb. But I'll get back to that. The orb picks who will be it's masters. It's very picky about it actually." Heilyn fought back a sudden urge to laugh. "It picked you, Brett, and Jacob to be two of it's masters. Brett then passed on another half to Kristian. So far three have been chosen. There is one left. You may know who this person is or it may become a complete stranger. Brett, you are the master of passion. The Fiery one. You have the red half inside of you. You will soon learn to use passion as a way to get what you want, use it to your advantage. You are also the nurturer. The one that binds the rest together. You are their foundation. If you fall, they all fall." He paused.

"Kristian is the master beasts. All animals, mortal and were-animals are under his control, the orange half. He can command them to do anything he wants. With that also comes the earth. He will soon be in tune with her. Being connected with everything everywhere." He turned to Jacob. "Your fate is yet to be determined. Once the last half is found, then I will be able to tell you exactly what you are."

"How do you know so much about this?" Jacob asked. Heilyn looked between them both. He wasn't sure he should answer this question. But, under the circumstances, he decided they needed to know.

"In another time I was the master of passion." He said looking at Brett. Her eyes grew in size. That must have been why she had the urge to kiss him. Or at least that's what she thought. "But my day has come and gone. It came time for new masters, and they were always found. But this is the first time that no one knew who the masters were going to be. Something was done to obstruct the way the masters were called. I went out on a limb and guessed that you would be one of them. I knew how powerful you were and how much potential you had. And apparently, the orb knew it as well or you wouldn't have been called."

"But what are we to do exactly? Being... masters of this realm? What does that mean?" Jacob asked. Heilyn opened his mouth to answer but a high pitched noise flooded the room. It pierced Brett and Jacob's ears.

"No, Master, no!" Heilyn shouted into the air. Jacob, Brett and Kristian began to scream. Painful screams. The pain they felt was the worst any had felt up to this point. It brought Jacob crashing to the floor. Brett's body slid to the ground from where she was sitting. She convulsed into a ball on the floor. Kristian was the only one who didn't fall or go to the ground. He just sat there and screamed. Heilyn sat horrified as he watched what was happening to them. Suddenly Brett stopped screaming. Her screams turned to gaspsing for air. She couldn't breathe, she was choking. Her throat started to glow. Heilyn could see the red ball of energy try to be forced from her body. If it came out she was going to die. They all were. He crawled across the floor to her. He held her face in his hands and turned her towards him. As he looked down at her, he was vaguely aware that Kristian and Jacob had stopped screaming, too. The balls of energy were being forced out of them as well. Heilyn slowly let go of Brett's face and stood up. He moved so he was standing in the middle of them and raised his arms with his palms facing up. He closed his eyes and began to speak under his breath.

A wind picked up in the kitchen. It surrounded him, blowing his hair all around. The wind blew around him, then around the others. It was a cold wind, working against the power of his master. He fought against it with everything he had but it wasn't going to be enough. His master was a great deal more powerful than he was. Someone grabbed onto his hands causing his eyes to fling open. Faye stood before him and was pushing all her power into his hands. It was such an overload of power. It was coarsing through Heilyn's veins like a flood. It took him a few moments before he could take that power, to focus it towards his master. Faye's eyes closed as she let her power seep into Heilyn. Her power was just enough for Heilyn to push back his master's power. It fled from the room as quickly as it had appeared. Faye collapsed against Heilyn, who was just barely able to catch her in time. She had given him almost all of her power. More than she should have. To save her friends, she might have just given up her own life.