Night wing Chronicles I: Blue Eyes of Night Chapters 1-7

[aquario007]

The Night Wing Chronicles: The Carlos Rodriguez Story
By Brad Butler

Chapter 1

Carlos Rodriguez had a rough day. His teacher, Miss Davis, had given him a hard time for being late again! He had little choice, his best friend, Jason, needed his help in fighting off the bullies that had been plaguing him since last month when he mistakenly stumbled upon their smoking spot, and sold them out to the principal. Then again, Carlos was always playing the hero-esque role. Last month, he pulled an old lady out of the street when a speeding bus came through the intersection he was about to cross. It was no big deal, really. He just gently tugged her out of the bus's path. To the newspapers, however, it made him look like a god. He didn't like the publicity that followed that event. It became too much like Hollywood for the weeks that followed. Finally, the publicity had died down enough for him to actually come out in the open without being hounded by the local news stations, trying to get an interview from him.

So now, he was late to class, his presentation had been docked 10 points because of it, and the principal had the nerve to question his outfit choice. As if Principal Seville hasn't seen the majority of his outfits, anyway. This one wasn't any different from the others in his massive wardrobe. It was a solid black goth outfit, complete with blue chains, blue highlights, and a black and blue shawl-cape that outlined his body. He wore black most of the time, with a few exceptions: A few casual outfits, khaki's that he got to go with his navy blue, suede, button down shirt, and dark blue jeans, with copper accent coloring, that went with his Hollister silver with sapphire blue accent striped sweater, that made his muscles look even bigger and sexier. Those nearly got him in trouble as well. Like last year, he nearly got in trouble for taking off his shirt in the parking lot, for it made a girl taking Driver's Ed nearly wreck the car into the side of the building.

Unfortunately for the girls in the school, he was currently involved with someone. Actually, two someones. His girlfriend of 5 years, Sabrina Rose Imez, and his boyfriend of 4 years, Ryan Allen McGraw. But, for now, he had other things to worry about, like how to explain the weird things that have been going on since he moved in with his aunt nearly 8 years ago. He never knew his mother, and it was said she died when he was 3. When he moved in with his aunt, weird things have been happening to him. One morning last month, he woke up levitating 3 feet off his bed. The following morning, he was able to hear nearly everything super clear, and the night after that, he was seeing things in the night as clear as day. But, back to him at the moment. he rode his midnight black Ninja ZX10R up his aunt's drive, Ryan sitting right behind him. They stopped, and Ryan got off, followed by Carlos. They shared a meaningful kiss before they went into the house, and up to Carlos's room.

"Hello Aunt Meg!" He called as Ryan gave his hello to her while running up the stairs to Carlos's room. Sabrina was to join them in about 15-20 minutes, and fortunately, she lived right next door. What's even more convenient, the tree between them grew up to the point to where she could climb out her window onto the tree to his window, making a great escape route from her mother, who didn't approve of her dating him, due to the fact that he's dating Ryan as well. Her mother looked down on that, and has flatly denied him or Ryan the privilege of coming over. but, she still has permission to go over to his place when she wants to.

"Ryan, I really don't know what's going on. I mean, it's getting more bizarre to wake up with these different. . . powers, if you consider them powers. It's like, I don't know, I'm becoming a freak." Carlos unwound as he went to sit on his bed.

"Carlos, you are not a freak. Maybe in bed, but in general, you are not a freak. Just because you can hear like, everything, can see really well at night, and woke up levitating, doesn't mean you are a freak. It makes you, heroic. My hero." Ryan said, as they kissed.

"Guys, please, keep it PG rated until I leave." Sabrina said as she came into the room via the window.

"Sabrina, you're just jealous because he likes me better than you." Ryan replied, sticking his tongue out at her.

"No, trust me, I'm not jealous. I just don't want your germs when I go to kiss MY man." Sabrina said as she went to kiss Carlos.

"Guys, please. No fighting. There's plenty of me to go around." Carlos said. "Besides, we have more important things to worry about, like what is going on with me."

"There's nothing going on. You are just changing." Sabrina assured him.

"Thanks for that reassurance, but you haven't seen the latest." Carlos said. With that, he whipped off the hat he had been wearing all day. Underneath, sitting directly in the center of his forehead, was a blue sapphire stone.

"Oh, my god." Sabrina and Ryan said in unison.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is, how it got here, and what it does, but I wish it would disappear!" Carlos shrieked.

"I think I can explain that." A voice said, out of nowhere.

"What the hell?!?!?!" All three said, freaking out over the random voice.

"Nice going, you blew our cover. It couldn't be enough for you to just monitor him, you had to speak to him, too." A second voice said, this one belonging to a male.

"Well, I'm sorry Karon, but he needed answers." The first voice said, it belonging to a female.

"Leondra, you had to reveal my name." Karon said.

"you two, come out of hiding, before I find you." Carlos said as he picked up his Louisville Slugger.

"Ok slugger, just take it easy." They said, as they materialized into the room.

"Who are you, and what are doing in my room?" he said as he set the bat down.

"Well, we were only supposed to observe you and your power redeveloping, but Leondra here had to ruin that plan and actually speak to you.” Karon said, glaring at Leondra.

"Well, Karon, it pained me to see him disturbed and he had questions that needed to be answered." Leondra said, returning the evil glare.

"Stop arguing! Who are you?" Sabrina said with force, causing everyone to look at her.
“What? I have to mediate my little brothers’ fights.” She casually explained as everyone looked at her.

"Well, if you must know, we are his guardians, sent to him by his mother, to guide him and explain to him about the power he is about to receive, again." Karon said.

"What power, my mother, again, say what?" Carlos asked, stunned.

"Well, the thing on your forehead is called an asherachakra. It will be the source of your power that you are to get. You did have power before, but there was an incident.” Leondra said, wincing and looking at Karon.
“What she means is when you were 4, you fried my hair off.” He said, looking at her in a ‘you had to bring that up, did you?’ look.

"What power??!?!?!?!?!" Carlos said, getting irritated.

"Well, you may not realize it, but your mother is a major super heroine of the night. Her name is Raven." Leondra said.

"Raven, as in Raven, the queen of the night?" Ryan asked.

"Yes sir. and to think your friend is her son." Karon said.

"The correct term would be boyfriend, Karon. If you were my guardian, you would know that." Carlos clarified, looking at Karon sarcastically.

"Then who would she be?" Leondra asked about Sabrina.

"She's my girlfriend. You really need to pay more attention." Carlos clarified.

"What, you have a boyfriend and a girlfriend?!?!?!!" Leondra asked, stunned.

"Yeah, but we need to focus. Less about my love life, let's get back to my power situation." Carlos said.

"Well, your mother lives in a different dimension. She sent us to bring you to her so she can give you a dose of your power, that way you can be ready to face the evil rogues that walk this dimension, and are after the one thing you hold most dear, the sapphire dragon on your dresser." Leondra explained.

"What about my dragon?" Carlos asked, going over to pick it up. As he got closer, the stone started glowing brightly.

"She is holding the Blue Eye of Azarath, the most powerful sapphire in either dimension. It falls into the wrong hands, and you can kiss your world, as well as ours, goodbye. With it glowing like it is now, it has shown that you are its guardian. "Karon said.

"Ok. Blue Eye of Azarath, falls into wrong hands, very bad. We need to move on. Tell me how to get to my mother. Carlos said.

"Ok, antsy. You know the way. Oh, and your dates can come along with, as long as they don't touch anything, nor do anything stupid, nor they. . . " Leondra said.

"Hush. They get it." Karon said.

"Ok, Ryan, Sabrina. Wanna come with?" Carlos asked.

"Sure." they said.

"Ok. We're ready. Let’s see. . . " Carlos said, looking around his room. He looked at the door to one of his closets, then back at Leondra and Karon. They nodded, and he opened his closet door, only to be buried under a bunch of clothes. “Help!!!” he screamed.
“I swear to you, you are flat out the dorkiest person we have ever guarded, and we have guarded a lot of dorks in our day.” Leondra said, laughing.
“Well, help the kid out!!!” Karon said, grabbing one of Carlos’s hands, and pulling him out of the mess. Leondra grabbed the other, and he was soon freed from his prison of clothes.
“I think it’s time you clean your closet, hmm?” Leondra said, looking at Carlos.
“I think it’s the other closet, dear.” Karon said, looking at Leondra.
“Ok, we’ll clean this when we get back. This would be a great time to use magic.” Karon said, looking back at the mess, and walking to the other closet. Leondra, Carlos, Sabrina, and Ryan followed closely behind. Ryan pulled the door shut, and the scenery in front of them changed from the back of the closet to a dark Shadowy land, with floating platforms of rock.

Chapter 2

Meanwhile, the Rogues were having a conference, led by Zuza Kangashabare, Captain over the field operation set up to move in on the Blue Eye of Azarath. They had been tracking it for months, and rumor had it that it was on Earth, and they finally tracked its location to a 10 mile area. They planned on moving in on it tonight, and reclaiming its power. Then, they were planning on tracking the other 7 jewels in the set. The other jewels' locations were unknown, but using the Blue Eye of Azarath's power will lead them to some of the other stones, and in turn, lead them to the rest of the jewels. Zuza had been in charge of this mission for the last 8 months, and it was his last chance. The main boss told him that if he messed up again, he's gone. From the force, from his colony, and from this world. he knew he was on his last limb, so he either had to produce the jewel, or the guardian of the jewel, or both.

"Guys, we got a lock on the jewel signature. It's located about 20 feet up, about 1/4 mile North. We should move in on it at night, when our power will be at its peak. Who knows what kind of power we might be facing if we move on it now." Zuza's second-in-command, Xuxa Kakadashi said.

"Excellent. We shall have the Blue Eye of Azarath, and then, the other 7 jewels. The master will be pleased. We shall have the jewel, and the fate of the universe!!!!!" Zuza said excitedly. To a passerby, the conversation would've sounded like a bunch of warbles and grunts.

"Zuza, I hate to question your authority." Xuxa said, coming up to his commander, after the soldiers cheered and went away to prepare for the evening raid.

"Well, then don't." Zuza replied snottily.

"What I want to know, is why not go in now? It might not be guarded now, and tonight, it might be. Also, if we get spotted at night, the guardian of the stone might have the power to defeat us."

"Well spoken, like a true soldier, however, we have to consider the fact that he might be just like us, a day walker with night power, and then we would both be screwed. Also, at night, we might catch him off guard. Plus, we are in a neighborhood, it's most likely that the stone is in a bedroom on this block. That would mean the guardian might be human, which could also mean that he or she would be asleep when we make our move, whereas now when it is still daylight." Zuza replied.

"That's why you are the leader, very well put." Xuxa said, taking the rejection well.

"We wait until night, as planned. Then we move in. The person guarding this stone will never know what hit them." Zuza said, chuckling.

Chapter 3

When Ryan, Sabrina, Leondra, Karon, and Carlos arrived in the alternate dimension, Carlos felt a sense of familiarity. "Why have I seen this place before?" He asked.

"Because it's the same place you drew for the talent competition 2 years ago." Sabrina mentioned.

"Yeah, it is. Wow. Freaky Deja'vu moment!" He said. Karon and Leondra exchanged a knowing look, not unnoticed by Ryan.
“What was that all about?” Ryan asked Karon.
“We was there at the talent competition. How do you think he won? By head Judges Kenneth and Irene?” Karon said, winking at Ryan.
“You rigged the competition, didn’t you guys?” Ryan said in mock accusation.
"Well, we must meet your mother. She's expecting us." Leondra said, quickly changing the subject. She ushered them into a shimmering dark doorway to their left. They entered what looked like a hallway with a grand staircase ahead of them, leading to almost complete darkness. A figure was standing in the shadows, and moved to the staircase. She slowly made her way down the staircase and went to stand directly in front of Carlos.

"Mother?" Carlos asked, for she had a black cloak covering her face, making her unrecognizable.

"Yes, I am. We can talk all about us later, but for right now, there is little time for you in your world." Raven said, quickly ushering them to another doorway.

"Like what? What’s going on? What has happened?" Leondra asked, worried.

"The Rogues are located about a mile away from your house and are planning their attack and reconnaissance mission tonight, at precisely 10:00PM, which is like, in 2 hours. We need to get you enough power to fight back, and then develop your powers to fulfill the Guardian of The Night role. For you are Night Wing, the master of the night in your world, and will help rescue our world as well." Raven said. "Now, remove your hat, and I will give you the ability to regain your power, as well as boost the power you have now, and grant you some extra abilities to fight back against this attack. This book will help you." Raven said. They were now in a massive library, and she had held out her hand, and a blue and black book had floated from a place in the high stacks to her hand. She handed it to Carlos.

"Thank you, mother." Carlos said as he took the book.

She then placed a hand on his forehead, above the asherachakra, and a gold crest appeared around the sapphire looking stone and upon it. His fingertips sparked a sapphire blue, and his eyes flashed black, before going back to blue.

"Nice." He said as he closed his hands into a fist. A spark of Blue energy Peaked and sparked above his hand.

"I think he's ready. Leondra, Karon, Take them home. Make sure he doesn't get sick with the overdose of power, and keep watch over him. Also, stick with him tonight. This group will not take it easy on him, and they could drain his power." Raven said.

"Yes Ma'am." Leondra and Karon said, as they linked hands and the 5 of them reappeared in Carlos's bedroom.

"How do you feel?" Ryan asked.

"Pretty ok. My head is feeling really itchy, and my eyes hurt a little.” Carlos said.
“That’s common, considering the power running through you. Leondra asked
“I feel it running through me, but nothing else feels different .” Carlos replied walking around to his messy closet. He waved his hand, and the clothes on the floor neatly folded up and went in drawers in the closet, and a gold staff slid into a corner next to a few baseball bats, but nobody noticed. They were too mesmerized by the clothes. “What? I was told to clean this up when I got back, remember?” he said, shooting Karon an evil look.
“True, but we’re shocked that you didn’t need to use an incantation for the pile.” Leondra replied.
“Why, should I have needed one?” he asked.
“Not if you are who we know you are. This confirms that you are Night Wing.” Leondra said, as a gasp was heard from the window. Everyone turned to look, and saw a couple of shadowy creatures, with binoculars, sitting on the tree outside his window. One of them had a rifle.
“What are those?” Ryan asked.
“Whatever they are, they’re dead!” Carlos said, storming to the window, and started glowing blue.
“He’s glowing, guys?” Sabrina said, watching Carlos start to glow blue.
Leondra pulled out a pair of shades, and handed everyone in the room a pair. “His first power surge. He’s gonna be hard to keep control of.” She said.
“Well, look at his mother.” Karon replied.
“True.”
Carlos pulled the ambient energy around him to his hands. They lit up as the Stone on his forehead pulsed, and the blue Sapphire crystal glowed. His eyes turned white, and his face got calm and serious. He was at the window, Leondra and Karon was right behind him. Ryan and Sabrina moved to the back of the room.

“There they are.” Carlos said, and pointed to the rogues climbing on the tree and released the built up energy at the rogues. One rogue, surprised, leaped away from the tree, and rolled into a firing position. He raised the rifle, and fired a couple of shots. “What the?” Carlos said, as the shot connected with the siding of the house, and melted it through.
“That was a really powerful laser, nasty little things, really. “Karon said, blasting at the rogue with fireballs.
“Well, whatever it is, I’m going to have to explain it to my aunt!!” Carlos replied, hurling lightning balls at the rogue.
“I’m sure she will understand.” Leondra implored as she fired at the rogue.
“You, don’t, know, my, AUNT!” Carlos said, blasting the rogue with bolts of light with each word. The rogue shriveled up, and fried on the lawn. “Great, something else to clean up on the yard.” He said, looking at the dead creature. “Is that thing supposed to fry like that?” he asked Karon, who was stowing his shades.
“I would if I had that kind of energy shot at me.” Leondra said before Karon could answer.
“Thank you, Leondra.” Karon said.
“You guys really need to quit arguing.” Carlos interjected, as his eyes turned back to his natural blue. He walked to an apparently shaken up Ryan. He walked over to him, and gave him a good kiss. "It's ok. We'll be ok."

"Ugh. Guys, please." Leondra said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, don’t watch.” Carlos replied, as he let go of Ryan.
“He’s right, you know. Don’t watch if you don’t like it.” Karon said, smirking. Carlos and Ryan winked at him, and he returned it.

"You guys, this is not over. In fact, I think you should take your friends and get out of here, just for tonight. Do you have a relative around here that you can spend the night with?" Leondra asked, irritated.

"Yeah, Ryan, we can stay the night with you. Your mom loves us and I'm sure she will let us stay the night." Sabrina said.

"Ok, but I doubt we can ride triple on Carlos's Ninja." Ryan said.

"Well, my aunt got me a car last week. A Dodge Magnum."

"What? And you didn't tell me this why?" Ryan asked, tapping his foot and crossing his arms.

"Well, I didn't want you to know yet. How else can I get you wrap your arms around me?" Carlos said, laughing.

Ryan punched him lightly in the arm as he grabbed the Sapphire Dragon off his desk and put it in a bag as well as something for Carlos to go to school in the next morning, otherwise it would never get done.

"Good thinking, Ryan." Karon noted as he witnessed his packing.

"Ok, let's go. Leondra, Karon, give them hell." Carlos said as he grabbed his school bag, and his keys.
“What? We’re not going?” Leondra asked.
“No. It would be wiser for you guys to be here, in case the rogues do come, they won’t take my aunt and hold her for ransom.” Carlos replied.
“That makes sense. Good luck.” Karon replied. The trio headed out of the room, and went downstairs to the kitchen where his aunt was making something for dinner. "Aunt Meg, I'm going to spend the night at Ryan's tonight." Carlos said.

"Ok, honey. Just be careful. I'm worried about you, since I caught you levitating and WHOA!!!!" She gasped when she turned and saw the gem on his forehead, along with the gold crest. "I take it you have seen your mother. I was almost afraid of that. Now you really need to be careful. I'll see you tomorrow. We will need to talk." She said, as she went on mixing up what she was mixing.

"Aunt Meg, I have 2 of my mother's guardians in my room. They can explain a little bit what's going on. I'll see you tomorrow." Carlos said as he gave his aunt a kiss on her forehead. He then ran to the garage, Ryan and Sabrina close behind him.

When he opened the garage, the light from a nearby streetlight shone on the bumper of a jet black Dodge Magnum. He hit a button on the keys he's holding, and the interior lights came on as the trunk popped open. "Put everything in the trunk. We have little time." Carlos said as he slid the bag on his back off into the trunk. Ryan put his bag in and then shut the trunk. Carlos then handed Sabrina the book his mother had given him. He then went and slid into the driver's seat, with Sabrina riding shotgun, and Ryan in back, behind Carlos. Carlos started the 415hp engine, revved it a little bit, and eased the car out of the garage and out onto the suburban street. He then slid the gear shift into drive and gunned it. He knew Ryan's house was all the way across town, and he had to get out of the neighborhood by 10:00, which was in 5 minutes.

He was able to get around the main drag traffic by taking the Golden Gate district. He cut down south Lombard, and realized that there wasn't enough time for him to take all the freaking curves that were coming up all slow. He decided to put All 415 horses to good use. "Guys, you better buckle up." He advised, as he lifted the center console and twisted a red knob and hit a button on the steering wheel. A hidden compartment flipped open on the steering wheel, revealing a flashing red button. It would flash green when the Nitrous it was connected to was warm and ready. Another compartment slid out right next to the console, and revealed a laptop computer. It displayed the temperature of all four tanks that lined underneath the back seat. Right now, they were 20 degrees away from prime temperature.

"This car has Nitrous!?!?!" Sabrina asked, shocked.

"Yeah, and I'm using like half to jump Lombard's curve stretch." Carlos replied, as the car shot up to about 155mph.

"Dude, you are going to be so dead if you got a speeding ticket." Ryan said as he watched the speed needle keep climbing. The speedometer had a final reading of 300mph, and was right now at 200mph. The car was capable of speeds up to 310mph, and will reach 307 before shutting off the engine. He saw his jump approaching quickly, and then the red flashing light turned green. He hit the button, and held it for several seconds. The car leaped from 200 to 225 in a matter of seconds. He cleared the initial jump, but to make his efforts not in vain, he had to clear the entire 350 foot section that wound down the hill. They held their breath as they touched down at the end of the section, and he applied the brakes, slowing them to 60 mph in about 45 seconds. "I won't get a speeding ticket now." Carlos said, as he maintained control of the car, and checked his nitrous level. He had only used 10% of his nitrous. He pulled the jet black car up to a red light, right next to a red 2007 Dodge Charger. The driver of the car tapped his hood twice, signifying he wanted to street race. He then revved his engine twice, further taunting Carlos.

"Guys, what do you think? Race him?" Carlos asked, giving the guy to his left the "gimme a minute" signal.

"You might kill him, you might not. What the hell? Just do it. You only live once." Ryan said.

"Do it. It's a boring night anyway." Sabrina agreed.

"Ok. Where to?" Carlos asked the other driver.

"Dockside, no set route. First one there honks twice before leaving. I have a rep there that will take care of paying the winner." the man next to him replied.

"How much are we talking?" Carlos asked, now curious and somewhat cautious.

"$45,000." the guy replied.

"No thanks. I'm in a hurry." Carlos said, as the light turned green and spun tires as he took off.

“You just turned down Almost 50 K’s man!!” Ryan said, stunned at Carlos’s actions.
“The money was not worth it, and besides, he is an undercover cop.” Carlos replied, turning right to a small street.
“How did you know?” Sabrina asked.
“There was a set of lights in the back window of his car, plus there were 3 radio antennas on the top of his car, that particular model only is supposed to have 2. He was wearing a badge under his belt, and he had a CB radio under the center console.” Carlos calmly said.
“So. . .” Ryan said.
“So, if I would’ve agreed to race him, he would’ve let me win, I would’ve then got busted by a set of cops sitting at the finish line, just ready to nab a racer. This is called a sting operation, and obviously this guy has had no bites, because he wouldn’t have been so blatant with the race offer if he had any bites.” Carlos calmly said as he turned left to head towards L.A. River, and looking back in the rearview mirror, he frowned. “That cop is following me, incredible.”

The undercover cop that was next to him sighed as he took off after the guy, knowing that if he hadn't roused his suspicions, he would've had another person off the street for street racing.

“This guy is adamant.” Carlos reasoned as he took a little known side road. The cop did the same. "Ok, time to lose him, without using my speed. Hold on for this." Carlos said, as he turned out his lights on his car. He then turned into an empty sandlot that had two entrances, drove around a little bit, and drove out the other end into the spillway to the L.A River. He drove the left side, then crossed the river diagonally to the right side. Luckily, it hadn't been raining, otherwise the river would've been impossible to cross.

The cop finally found his bearing and just realized his prey led him to the L.A River Spillway. He slammed the brakes, and radioed in back up. Within minutes, the police chopper was seen flying down the spillway, looking for the fugitives.

"They just called a police chopper, and it's getting closer." Ryan said, watching from the back seat.

"No worries, time to disappear." Carlos said, as he took a slight sharp right. It was the up ramp for service vehicles to get into the river. It led to the street Ryan lived on, and luckily, Ryan's mother had an underground garage to park the family cars. Carlos pulled onto the street, turned back on the headlights, and then, a few seconds later, and pulled into the spiral that led to Ryan's family's underground garage.

"Ok, we're safe. Everyone all right?" Carlos asked.

"Just fine. Let's go in.” Ryan answered sarcastically.

"Agreed." Sabrina said as they got out of the car, and took the elevator to the front door.

The cop in the chopper said that he had lost them, and the ground cop cursed under his breath. He was going to lose his job for sure. The Chief was going to have his head after the other night, after losing the Carmen Sandiego look-a-like that knocked up four convenience stores before robbing a major city bank.

She lost him in this very stretch, come to think of it. He will never let that one go away. He shook his head, and went to the station to report to the chief, and to return his badge and gun.

Chapter 4

Back at Carlos's neighborhood, the Rogues were preparing for their move in on the Blue Eye of Azarath. However, they didn't know it was no longer in that location, that it had been taken somewhere else. A rogue that was sent to scout the house, and survived the attack returned to the group after a few minutes.

"What were you able to find out?" Zuza asked him, after his wounds were tended to.

"Zuza, the guardians are strong. One of them is a native to Azarath, or a direct descendant of a native of Azarath, and the other two are royal guards, assigned only to royalty. They do have the eye, and they will not take any chances. I suggest we come back when we have a better team assembled so we can easily defeat them and take the eye." The scout reported.

"Nice work, however, we are not leaving, nor will we retreat. We are not cowards, and we never back down, not for descendants, not for humans, not for royalty, nor for royalty's guards! We will get the eye, and we will get it tonight. Failure is NOT an option, am I clear?" he said, addressing the entire group.

"Yes sir!" the team responded.

"Good. Now prepare to move in. I want that jewel by Midnight. We only have 2 hours." Zuza commanded.

"Yes sir. Rogue team A, prepare to move in." Xuxa called to the team that was to take care of the guardians.

Aunt Meg finished her firecracker chili, and decided to take 2 bowls up to the guardians. She knew her nephew was powerful, and she knew why. She was also in the Azarathian bloodline. Her sister is Carlos's mother. She knew that he would be going through with the power restoration process. She went through it when she turned 17, and she still retained a little bit of her power. She has a little bit of a gem on her forehead as well. She was well prepared for the battle that might be ensuing tonight, though she didn't want to let on about it. She went to the door to Carlos's bedroom and knocked lightly.

"Oh shit, it's his aunt. She might still think he's here." Leondra said in a panic.

"Not to worry. She will go away if we don't answer." Karon whispered to her.

"Leondra, Karon. Open the door. I made you dinner." Aunt Meg said, knocking on the door.

"She knows our name?!?!?! We're doomed!!! She's going to be so mad, throw us out of here; we won't be able to monitor his progress. We may never see Carlos again!!!" Leondra shrieked.

Karon smacked her upside her head. "Get a grip!! He's fine, she's ok. She must know about him, and about us, otherwise she wouldn't call us by name. Now, are you going to open the door to let her in, or do I have too?" Karon reprimanded soothingly.

"You're right Karon. Besides, I don't think she can bite us." Leondra said, as she opened the door.

"It's ok. I know you are here for my nephew, but I can be of assistance too." Aunt Meg said as she set the bowls down on the bed.

"You know his mother?" Leondra asked.

"Of course, she's my sister." Aunt Meg said. With that, she pulled her hair back to reveal the small trace of the gem she had on her forehead.

"Wow. That's awesome." She was about to say more, but they were interrupted by a flash of red plasma energy.

"What was that?!?!?!" Aunt Meg shrieked, dropping a glass she was holding to pour some juice in.

"That would be a softnose 3000, an energy rifle capable of shooting high energy projectiles, which is what you just saw. The rogues prefer this weapon to anything else, because it has a battery life of 100 years. It is truly the “one man gun.” " Karon explained, as two more shots hit the window.

"Well, why are rogues here?" Aunt meg inquired.

"Did your nephew receive something very special recently?" Leondra asked her.

"Well, last week he brought home Straight A's other than his English and I bought him a car. It was better than that death trap of a motorcycle he insists on taking to school every day. He says Ryan likes his bike though, and that's all that matters to him." Aunt meg explained.

"No, something strange." Leondra persisted.

"Well, now that you mention it, he did get a sapphire dragon for his 16th birthday. There was a note with it that said 'this eye is only the beginning.' Is that what they’re after? Did he accept something he wasn’t supposed to? " Aunt Meg asked.

"the sapphire dragon that he got, holds the blue Eye of Azarath. It is only the first in a set of 8. The rogues gathering out there, know it is here, or was, and they were prepared to kill him to get to it. It's a good thing that we're more experienced than he is.” Karon said.

"Yeah, stand back Aunt Meg." Leondra said, linking hands with Karon as they summoned energy.

"I'm not helpless. I am still azarathian by birth" Aunt Meg said, stepping next to them while summoning blue bolts of ball lightning to her hands.

"Ok. Time to take care of these little fuckers." Karon said.

Outside the window, Xuxa had made his way up the tree by the bedroom window and started firing upon the window. His teammates filling the branches below him, and around the tree. He then noticed that there were three people in the room, and one had a plasma ball warmed up. He said "Oh, my god. They are going to kill us all!"

Aunt Meg had the window open, ready for anything. Leondra went to the closet, and stumbled across the cane that Carlos had in there. "Oh, my god, the Staff of Isis." She exclaimed when she pulled it out of the closet.

"He has the staff of Isis?" Karon asked, shocked, as she showed him.

"Where'd he get it?" Aunt Meg asked, looking as shocked as they were.

“I’m guessing benefactor. It is a very powerful weapon.” Leondra said, turning it over in her hands.
“Why don’t we use it?” Aunt Meg said, making a reach for it.
"There’s one minor problem; he can be the only one to use it, and he isn't here right now." Karon stated.

"Well fine, we can defeat these rogues, then we can go to bed. It is really late.” Aunt Meg said.

Outside, the Rogues were having difficulty maintaining their hold on the tree. Xuxa finally spotted that they had the Staff of Isis. "Oh, no. We will not get this jewel tonight. Everyone, fall back!!!" he ordered as the others scrambled to get down the tree and back to their hiding spot farther up the block. "Master, we have failed. They are armed with the Staff of Isis." Xuxa told Zuza breathless.

"Well, then we will have to pull out for now, and return with stronger Rogues, some that will not be scared away so easily by the Staff of Isis." Zuza replied, implementing each word and glaring at Xuxa, as if he didn't even try.

"Yes sir. You heard him. We are out." Xuxa said, giving the command to the others. They were almost too happy to escape their death.

"Look! They are leaving. Let's get to bed. Those chicken shits didn't have the guts to come and face us." Aunt Meg said, pointing to a group of about 30-40 shadows moving up the road.

"Ok, would it be alright if we stayed in Carlos's room?" Karon asked.

"Good heavens, no. I have a great guest bedroom set up for my guests. It's a lot cleaner and has more room." Aunt Meg said as she guided them out of the room to the guest bedroom.

"Thank you, and goodnight." Leondra said as they settled in the bed, for a much needed rest.

Chapter 5
Ryan walked into his house, followed by Sabrina and Carlos. "Mom, Dad, I'm home." He called out to an apparently empty house.

"Honey, we're in the den." Ryan's mom, Sarah, called.

"Ok, I brought friends, and they will be spending the night. Is that ok?" he asked, walking into the den with his parents and his little sister, Meagan.

"Sure. How many, and who are they?" Ryan's dad, Tom, inquired.

"Two, Carlos and Sabrina, from school." Ryan returned, not mentioning the fact that he and Carlos were dating. His parents didn't know that little fact yet, and it might be disastrous if they found out. The only people who really know are his grandparents, and his sister. His sister had promised not to tell his parents, only because if she sold him out on this, he would sell her out for sneaking out of school to go to Six Flags a couple of weeks ago. Luckily, he was home to intercept the phone call from the school that was a courtesy call to remind parents that their kids weren't in school. She about freaked out when he told her his secret and when he confronted her with the courtesy call from her school.

"So, how are you and Sabrina doing?" Sarah asked.

"Pretty good, Mrs. McGraw." Sabrina answered before Ryan could say anything.

"That's great." Tom said, as Sabrina and Ryan reluctantly shared a kiss.

"We're going up to my room." Ryan said, after kissing Sabrina.

"Ok, goodnight, sweetie." Sarah said.

"Goodnight, son." Tom said.

"Goodnight." The three said in unison, while bolting for the upstairs bedroom that was Ryan's.

"Wow, they were in a hurry." Sarah said to Tom and Meagan.

"They probably had a rough night." Meagan said casually.

"Ok, we should go to bed too. Take that back, we really need to go to bed." Sarah said, glancing at her watch. It was 11:30PM.

"Ok, let’s go, Meagan." Tom said, as he and Sarah walked up the stairs, followed by Meagan.


Chapter 6

Ryan and Carlos closed the door to Ryan's room. "That was some stunt you pulled back there. You're lucky you are not dead, or in prison!!!" Ryan said dramatically, shaking as he sat on the bed with Carlos and Sabrina.
“Oh, you worry too much.” Carlos said, pulling Ryan into his arms.
“And you don’t worry enough.” Sabrina said, pulling out the sapphire dragon. “I mean, this thing almost got you killed, and you almost got arrested.”
“But, I didn’t so that’s all that matters.” Carlos pointed out, kissing Ryan.
Sabrina slapped him on the arm. “Oh you are so dead!!!” he said, breaking his kiss from him and chasing her around the room. He was so focused on catching her that he didn’t realize that he was running on a cushion of air.
“Carlos, stop for a second.” Ryan said, noticing.
“Why?”
“Just stop.” Ryan said.
“Ok.” Carlos complied as he stopped running, and stood still. He was still hovering about 5-6 inches off the floor, and it appeared that he was on a cushion of air.
“Dude, you’re flying.” Ryan said.
“No way!” Sabrina said, taking notice for the first time.
“Will you guys stop? You’re not the freak floating over here.” Carlos replied adamantly.
“Oh, ok. I have a couple of weights here.” Ryan said, handing one to Carlos.
Carlos’s arm dropped to the side, but he didn’t land. “Dude, not working.” He said, glaring at him.
“Just concentrate, Carlos. You can do this.” Sabrina said soothingly.
“Ok.” He said, as he focused his thoughts. He started floating higher and higher.
“Carlos…” Sabrina said.
“Hold on, I got this.” He said, as he started floating to the floor. The floor underneath him started glowing blue, and he landed on the floor with a visible blue aura. “What the?” he asked, stunned, as the blue light surrounded him. It focused in front of him, took the shape of his mother, and then disappeared into the stone on his forehead. He immediately felt really powerful.
“What was that all about?” Ryan asked.
“I think it’s the power mom promised me. “ Carlos replied.
“Do you think you can sleep without any more magic interruptions?” Sabrina asked.
“Yea, I think so.” Carlos said, wrapping his arms around Ryan as the 3 of them walked to the bed. Carlos and Ryan laid down together, and Sabrina laid in front of them. They soon fell sound asleep.

Chapter 7

The next morning, Carlos woke up to 3 realizations: 1; his lovers weren’t in bed with him, 2; his head was killing him, and 3; he was not on the bed, but floating 4 feet off of it, with his lovers taking turns diving under him on the bed. “Whoa!” he screamed as he came crashing to the bed, only to be stopped at the last second. “What the?” He asked, as his body was surrounded by a blue and white light. The light guided him to an upright position, and then lowered him gently to the ground, where his feet would touch the floor. He looked at his two lovers, and they returned the looks with shocked expressions.

“You guys really need to get used to that.” He said as he walked over to his bag, and pulled out his black gothic outfit, which outlined almost every muscle in his body, and made him look almost inhuman. He pulled off the blue turtleneck sweater he was wearing, and threw it in the corner where Ryan’s clothes were piled up. Their shocked expressions turned to looks of lust when he pulled off his Diesel Jeans and threw them in the same area. He looked at them, at the jeans, then looked at himself. He realized he forgot to wear underwear under his Diesel jeans. “Oops. Anyone need the bathroom?” He asked casually, as he pulled out a pair of Armani Exchange boxer briefs from his bag. When they didn’t say anything, he proceeded to walk to Ryan’s bathroom when he heard a shimmer. He stepped back from the bathroom door, perplexed, and then, not finding anything, went to go back into the bathroom, and was stopped by an invisible wall. “Hmm, that’s weird.” He said to himself just as Leondra and Karon materialized in the room in front of him.

“Good morning guys, how was your guys’ night? Oh.” Leondra said, noticing Carlos naked in front of him. Um, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?” she casually asked.

“Maybe because you had to materialize in the bathroom, and he was about to bathe.” Karon said, pointing to the pile of clothes in his arms.

“Oh, fun night wasn’t it?” Leondra said, smirking as she walked by Carlos.

“No, Leondra and Karon, it was uneventful.” Carlos said, then stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and locking it.

“Don’t mind him; he’s just a tad cranky in the morning. Plus we caught him hovering again.” Sabrina said nonchalantly.

“He was hovering again?!?!?!” Leondra asked, grabbing Sabrina and shaking her by her shoulders.

“Yeah, we were dive bombing under him, trying to see how far we could go under him without hitting him.” Ryan said.

“I see. So he was asleep when this happened?” Karon asked.

“Yeah, he woke up, saw what we were doing, and got all pissy.” Sabrina replied.

“Don’t take it too hard, he’s not a morning person. Plus he probably was a little upset that he was floating yet again. He needs to learn to accept who he is. It will only get worse if he don’t.” Leondra said, as she patted Sabrina’s shoulder.

“I hope so; I don’t know how much more of his moodiness I can take.” Ryan said, rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, Carlos was in the shower fuming. “Why must they criticize my every action like they do? They’re not the freaks, I am.” He wondered. Suddenly, the hot water turned an ice cold, and became a crystalline blue. The pool at the bottom of his feet created a flat mirror-like plate, and rose to his eye level. As he stared at it, the mirror turned into a crystal, then projected a scenery change all around him. He stood watching, transfixed, as he watched himself in the projection open a cavern into a deep structure, walk through a maze cavern, and retrieve a red gem in the clutches of a phoenix figurine. He saw signs pointing him to a town in Indiana as the images began to fade. He quickly finished, and got dressed. He used his spare set of Toiletries in Ryan’s bathroom, including the new cologne that Ryan thought was incredibly sexy on him, Really Ripped Abs. He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his head, and breathless.

“And what, pray tell, do we owe this joyous get-up?” Karon asked, noting the towel on his head.

“Nothing, pray tell. I think I know where I must go.” Carlos replied, shooting Karon a sarcastic look. He then crossed over the dresser where Ryan keeps some of his extra stuff, and pulled out a Notepad and a pencil, sat down at the desk, and began sketching.

“What are you doing?” Sabrina started to ask, but Leondra hushed her.
“He’s had a vision, so it’s best we not interrupt him until he finishes his drawing.” She told Sabrina.

After about 10 minutes of quiet sketching, he held up his drawing. It depicted 2 scenes: the first, a river front showing a dress plaza with the words ‘Welcome to Evansville’ in plain sight. The second, it depicted a huge college campus, with a conical clock tower. Inside the tower, a keyhole with a 6 point star raised and a small round doorway next to the Keyhole. “This is what I saw. Please tell me someone knows where this is.” Carlos said.

“We do, that’s Evansville, Indiana. The Tower you have seen is on a huge college campus over there. It looks like at some point in time it was a shrine to something, but it’s now a meeting tower for students. Ryan, pull out the dragon statue from Carlos’s backpack, I wanna see something.” Karon said, suddenly interested.

Ryan pulled it out, handed it to Karon, and Karon flipped it over. There was a smooth bottom on the statue. Karon shrugged, and was about to put it back, until something caught Leondra’s eye. “Karon, honey, can you hand that to me for a sec?”

“Sure, I don’t see what good it would do.” Karon reluctantly handed it over. When she had it, she flicked the tail of the dragon deliberately off from the rest of the Statue. Everyone gasped, lunging for the dragon, when the sound of grinding stone made them stop. The base of the dragon Started sinking inward, revealing the six point pattern that was in Carlos’s drawing.
“Well, what do you know? The statue really is the key to the beginning.” Leondra said, handing the statue to a shocked Karon.

“Ok, now we have a destination, we need a means of getting there. I can book our flights online.” Carlos said, pulling out his platinum credit card.

“NO!!!! If you use that, the rogues can trace your route, and know where to catch you. Besides, we can’t just go there now. You may not have realized it, but when you drew this, you wrote the wrong date. Today’s date is April the 30th, not May 1st.” Karon said, pointing out the date he signed at the bottom of the page.

“Hmm, you get a premonition, and you end up drawing the future. But I don’t see why we have to wait until May the 1st to get there. I mean, just a simple matter to talk to his mother, ask him how we are planning on traveling there, and then request a leave of absence for his school, of course we got to take his dates along. Goodness knows they will be worried sick about him while he’s gone. There’s so much to plan.” Leondra started rambling.

“Leondra, stop for a sec. We all need to talk to his mother, but I don’t have the energy to beam us all there, he definitely don’t, and I doubt the 3 of us can beam all of us there.” Karon said.

“I have an idea. Can we all pull our power together and beam one object there?” Carlos asked.

“It can be done, but I don’t know what we can use to get us all there.” Leondra said.

“Um, are we forgetting something?” Sabrina said, dangling the keys to Carlos’s Magnum.

“A car? We haven’t driven in years.” Leondra said.

“No! What she is saying is that Carlos can drive us there.” Karon said, catching on to what Sabrina was saying.

“Good, I was beginning to worry that we might have to drive.” Leondra said, catching the keys from Sabrina, and throwing them to Carlos. Ryan threw in a couple of outfits in an overnight bag, and was ready to go in about 5 minutes. Sabrina grabbed what she came with, and then was ready. Carlos repacked up the bag he had used the night before, and then led everyone out to the front door.

“Mom, dad, I’m going to be gone a couple of days.” Ryan called out as he walked to the front door with everyone.

“Ok hon, be careful, have fun, and don’t forget to use protection!” Mom said, peeping her head from the kitchen.

“Mo-om!” Ryan said, turning 4 shades of red.

“I meant sun block, but if you want to have a dirty mind, be my guest. Who are your friends?” She said, noticing Leondra and Karon.

“Carlos’s friends. We’re only gonna be gone a few days.” Ryan said quickly, pushing everyone out the door, while his mother had a look of confusion. Once outside, they ran to the garage, and to the car. Carlos quickly started the car, and pulled out of the driveway so quickly, he didn’t see the little kid standing at the end until he almost hit him. Carlos rolled down the window, and yelled at the kid. The kid looked at him blankly, then wandered away. Carlos cursed to himself, “stupid kid.” And drove to his house, so he can tell Aunt Meg where he was going, and so Sabrina can tell her parents and pack for the trip.

[Cecilia Rose Demonic Princess]

Great story so far, can't wait to read more. oh a a personal tip it might help if you put chapters on separate pages it was hard to keep up with what chapter i was on. just a suggestion.

[HeavensRose]

Yeah I agree