"Fi, are you awake," Annie asked the girl in the bed next to her in a hushed tone.

"No. I’m asleep," Fi responded. She felt a little guilty so she rolled over to face Annie. "What’s up?"

"I just was wondering," Annie started to say something but then she paused. "Well I mean do you know anything about… Well I guess I wanted to know if…"

"Annie it is almost six in the morning," Fi knew she sounded meaner than she had intended to but she was tired. "Please just spit it out so I can get back to sleep."

"Actually it is closer to seven."

"Annie!"

"Right, sorry," Annie took a deep breath. "Well after I fainted or whatever down stairs I had this dream that, and I know this is going to sound totally weird but, Raliana was the Princess Rhylinye of the Fey."

Fiona’s eyes had been closed up to that moment but the minute Annie said the name Rhylinye they flew open, "What did you just say?"

Annie shook her head, "I know it is totally weird but there is more. Incanto was Puck and they were engaged and everything. It was like I was seeing the whole dream from Raliana, well Rhylinye’s point of view."

"Wow," that was all Fi could manage to say.

"Go back to sleep!" Raliana yelled in a hushed tone at them. "It’s only six in the…" she stopped talking for no reason. At first the girls thought that she had fallen back asleep but then she got out of her bed and snapped herself into some clothes. "I’ll be back later," She mumbled to them as she walked out the door.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking," Annie whispered to Fi. She got out of her bed and started to get dressed.

Fi shook her head, "Annie we can’t follow her. It probably has something to do with Puc- Incanto."

"Fi what did you just say," Annie whipped her head around to look at her friend.

"I said we can’t follow Rye because it she is probably go to talk to Incanto," Fi covered badly. She wished that she that Puck and Rhylinye had taught her how to manipulate minds, but they said that it they could not teach her until she decided if she wanted to be a member of the Avalon community. Only then would they be able to make sure that she did not abuse that type of power.

"No," Annie looked at her in the eye. "You said we couldn’t follow her because it probably has something to do with Puck."

"I am tired," Fi explained. "You just called Incanto Puck a few minutes before when you were telling me about your dream. I was still thinking about it when I said his name."

"I don’t believe you," Annie finished getting dressed and headed to the door.

"Freeze," Fi called out as Annie’s hand reached for the door handle. She expected for Annie to stop in her tracks and not move a muscle but she saw the glimmer of her magic bounce back towards her. She ducked so she would not get hit.

"What? Are you going to come with me," Annie turned around and looked at her.

‘Darn it! That should have worked,’ Fi could not figure out what was going on. She had to buy time so Annie would not find Rye and Puck. "Yeah just let me get dressed okay," Fi went to get some clothes on.

‘Rye,’ Fi quickly pathed to her friend. ‘Annie is making me come look for you and Puck. Either make yourselves scarce or act like you are doing something normal.’

Fi waited a few seconds for a reply. ‘Thanks Fiona. I wouldn’t worry about it.’

‘What do you mean?’ Fi had just finished the thought when Annie collapsed on a near by bed. ‘You put her to sleep?’

‘Well not us,’ Rye explained. ‘Go wake up Jack. You have to tell him now. Things, well things are starting to take an unexpected turn.’

‘What is going on,’ her mind voice was full of worry.

‘Fi go wake up your brother and tell him what is going on now. If you don’t Rhylinye and I will be forced to and that is something that we don’t want to do,’ Puck’s voice had such forcefulness in it that she did not question him.

Fiona used Raliana’s method of changing clothes and went next door to knock on the boys’ door. "Jack," her voice was sharp whisper. "Jack wake up! I need to talk to you." She heard sleepy footsteps head to the door.

Jack poked his head out, his hair was mussed up from sleep, "What do you want Fi? The sun isn’t even up."

"It is up, it has been for an hour. But that doesn’t matter we need to talk," Fi told him quickly.

"Can’t this wait," Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"No it can’t!"

Jack shook his head and sighed, "Fine let me go get changed." He turned around to head back into his room.

Fiona blinked and a small glow appeared around Jack, "There now you are changed. Let’s go." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the hallway.

"Fi! What’s going on? What just happened," Jack was fully awake now. He was not sure how his nightclothes suddenly turned into day-clothes but he suspected that she had something do with it.

"I will explain once we get there," Fi grabbed Jack’s hand.

"Get where?" Jack started to ask her but then he was blindly for a few moments. When he was able to refocus his eyes he realized that he was standing outside. The sun was shining down on him warming his body. He heard a strange bird song off in the distance and he was standing at the shores of a lake. There was a forest near him but the trees were nothing like any that he had seen before. Then he turned and looked at Fi.

She was dressed in something he had never since her in before. She was wearing dress, a rare thing for her, sometimes he thought that she did not even own one. It was free flowing and looked like something out of one his history books. On her wrists were gold bands with a Celtic design and she wore a matching belt. "Fi were did you get that," Jack asked her but before she had a chance to answer he kept going. "I must be dreaming. Of course that is it. Ha! I almost believed that this was actually happening."

"Jack this isn’t a dream," Fi told him sadly.

Jack laughed at her, "Sure it isn’t. Wow, my subconscious must be working over time."

"This isn’t a dream!" Fi yelled at him. "If this was a dream would I be able to bleed?" Fi made a knife appear out of no wear and cut her arm from the end of her wristband to her elbow. Blood started to trickle down her arm slowly.

"Fiona what on earth are you doing?" Jack ripped a piece of fabric form his shirt and rushed over to her to cover her arm with it. "You could have really hurt yourself."

"Do you believe me now that this isn’t a dream," Fi asked him seriously.

Jack nodded, "This is a nightmare."

Fi wanted to cry. She knew she should have explained to him in their world what was going on but she thought seeing Avalon would force him to believe her. She pulled away the cloth that Jack had put over he wound, "If this was a nightmare would my arm have healed?"

He looked down at her arm. There was no sign of her ever cutting herself not even a scar. Jack backed away from her, "No, this is not happening. I must be asleep."

"Jack you have to believe me," tears were escaping her eyes but she tried to hold them back. "You are not asleep, you are awake and you are standing on the soil of Avalon home to the Fey." He did not respond to her. "What can I do to prove that you are awake?"

"I don’t know," Jack shook his head.

"Okay well you don’t feel physical pain when you are asleep, right?" Fiona hated what she was saying and what she was about to do.

"Well no," he thought about it. "I don’t think so."

She let the tears run down her checks now. There was nothing that could have stopped them because she was about to do something that she never thought that she would have to do, "I am sorry Jack."

"Sorry? Sorry about what? Fiona you are scaring me," Jack gave her a nervous look.

She did not say anything to him; she did not even look at him. A small ball of blue light started to form in the palm of her right hand. Then before he knew what was happening she hurled the ball at him.

His knees buckled under him in pain. He sank slowly to the ground not quiet believing what just happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his sister running towards him, tears were streaming down her face. Her lips were moving and it looked like she was saying that she was so sorry about everything, but he could not hear her. His whole world was crumbling beneath him. Not jus because his sister had hit him with some type of energy ball, but because she had the ability to form it. Because she was telling the truth, he was not just dreaming he was in Avalon, a place that was only supposed to exist in myth. Proving that science and logic could not explain everything, that he had been wrong his whole life.

"Jack," Fi pleaded with him, "Please say something. Anything, please!"

"What are you?" Jack looked at her with fear and even a little disgust. She was after all the one who disturbed his prefect world.

"I am the same as you," she was a little hurt by the tone in his voice. "Half Fey, half human."

Jack stood and started to walk away from her, "No! No! I am the normal one, I am the logically one. There is nothing un-human about me."

"Jack listen to me, our father, he was the son of Oberon," Fi tried to explain. "He was banished to the human world just like every other Fey a little over a thousand years ago."

"You are lying," Jack yelled at her, tears of anger coming down his face. "Stop this right now!"

"He wanted to be with us, he loved us. But Oberon had called for the Gathering to start and he was forced to go back. Oberon sent his guards out to take him back. Sometimes, he would come and visit us; he would bring people with him, a young man and woman. They would stay for a couple of hours and then leave. When they left they would come here Jack."

"Fiona I am telling you if you don’t stop this right now," Jack shook his hand at her violently.

Fi was sobbing lightly; she tried to maintain some control over her emotions so she could speak. "On the night of the first feast of the Gathering he refused to go back to Avalon. Oberon was furious and sent his guards out again. When our father went back with the guards he struggled the whole time. The guards brought him to dinning hall and he was screaming for Oberon’s head." She wanted to reach out to her brother so that he could hold her and comfort her, but she knew he wouldn’t, not right then.

"Stop! Please stop," he begged her.

"There was nothing anyone could do," Fiona looked Jack in the eye, matching tear for tear. "He had committed treason and the penalty was death. Oberon had no choice, he had to otherwise the Court of Avalon would have done the same thing. Titania, our grandmother, she asked for our father to be allowed to visit us one last time. So they poisoned him with iron. That night that we remember Daddy getting in a car accident, he was already dying before he left the house. He died for us, because he loved us so much."

"Why?" Jack wanted an answer, "Why now?"

Raliana and Incanto appeared before him, "Because we need your help and because your loved ones are in danger."

"What are you doing here," he struggled to get the words out.

Raliana and Incanto morphed into their Fey forms of Rhylinye and Puck. They were dressed much the same way as when they first appeared to Fiona. Rhylinye stepped forward and held her hand out him. "I am the Lady Rhylinye, your father’s clan sister, and your aunt."

"I find that hard to believe," Jack told her harshly, "You are blue for crying out loud."

"Always the logical one Jack," Rhylinye laughed a little. "I remember when you were little. When you did something with your magic you would always rationalize it. You gave your father the hardest time." She smiled at him and then she morphed into another form. A tallish woman with dirty blond hair and hazel eyes, "Do you remember me now?"

Jack looked at her in horror, "Cousin Lin."

"That’s right," Rhylinye nodded. "I never was creative with names."

"This isn’t happening. I am dreaming," Jack started to slap his checks. "I just have to wake up. Come on Jack, wake up. Wake up."

"You are not asleep," Puck spoke harshly to him. "If you continue to refuse to believe us you will keep putting the people around you in danger and they could get killed."

"Puck," Rhylinye held her hand up. "You are out of line. He is a member of the royal family." She glared at him then turned to Jack. "What Puck said is true. If you do not listen you will end up hurting the others around you. That is why Fiona let us train her, so she could come back to be with you and your mother, and help you."

"Jack it is true," Fi stepped closer to him. "Our untrained magic, well it is leaking into the world around us causing problems. That’s why I had to leave," she hesitated for a moment, "and that’s why Annie blacked out yesterday."

"What?" Jack’s mind was telling him not to believe anything that was going on, but his gut was telling him something else.

"Your magic is seeping out from you like water seeps from a crack in a dam. Over time the flow becomes stronger until the dam brakes. Last night it almost did, that’s why Annie’s guardian had to leave her. Something triggered for you magic to start to flow from you faster. But Annie’s guardian saw it, and he knew that if he didn’t do something to stop it you would have hurt everyone around you and maybe even killed yourself," Rye tried to explain. "So he left Annie to build a temporary shield around you so that would not happen. Only when he did that he realized that the whole thing was a trap, your magic was not really about to explode from you, it was just an illusion. One to get him away from Annie so that she would be left vulnerable."

"Vulnerable to what," Jack was not buying this. "To some big evil force? If my magic was leaking so much why didn’t you see it? Why didn’t you do something about it?"

Rhylinye started to shake her head but Puck spoke up, "We were not meant to see it. The threat was only to be directed towards you and Annie."

"So someone was attacking Annie and me directly," Jack’s head was starting to spin from all the information that he was being given. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

"We don’t know why just yet," Fiona told him sadly. "But if you let Puck and Rhylinye train you we can make sure that it doesn’t happen again."

"Why should I believe you if you don’t even know what caused this?"

"Because what they are saying is true," a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Annie," Jack turned around to see Annie standing there with a panther at her side.

All of the sudden a small bubble started to fly towards Annie. When it hit her it grew to surround her. She was lifted high into the air over the lake. Annie started to pound on the walls of the bubble and was screaming, but no sound could be heard.

"What is going on," Jack turned and screamed at everyone.

"He is close, I can feel him," Rhylinye looked fearfully at Puck. "You have to get Fiona out of here, take Jack too."

"No! I am not leaving until you tell me what is going on," Jack told them with determination.

"Jack you have to," Fi started to say but then she stopped. "I can’t move, my body is totally frozen."

Both Puck and Rhylinye tried to move but the looked at him. "You have to help her Jack," Rhylinye told him.

"What about the panther," Jack was starting to panic. The panther did not move an inch; it seemed to be frozen like the others. Jack looked up at Annie and saw her start to slump towards the bottom of the bubble, if he had to guess he would say that she was running out of air. "What do I do?"

"It is too hard to explain," Rhylinye sent images to his mind.

At first Jack was in shock as the images invaded his psyche. He could not make sense of them because they were coming to him so quickly. Then it stopped and he was able to fully process what he saw and what he was supposed to do. "Thank you," he whispered to Rhylinye. "I am coming Annie, hang on," he shouted at her.

Looking at his right hand he concentrated on the space around it. He watched as tiny specs of light started to gather around and above it, the specs started to form a heavy object in his hand. "Excalibur come to me," Jack shouted hoping to speed up the process of the sword’s materialization. A bronze handled sword with brown leather grip appeared in his hand, its weight more than he expected but he forced all of his strength into hold up blade which had Celtic designs covering part of its length.

"I did it," Jack looked at the sword with astonishment. "I don’t believe it! Fi look at this!"

‘That’s wonderful Jack, now go help Annie,’ she pathed to him.

"Yeah right," Jack looked up at her. He knew how he was supposed to get to her, Rye had showed him, but he was not sure he could do it. Above him he saw Annie’s body start to convulse and Jack knew that there was no choice; he had to believe that he could do this.

When his feet left the ground he was shaky because of his uncertainty of being able to levitate but only moments later his body steady and Jack sent himself propelling towards Annie. Once there he put his hand against the bubble and she looked up at him, it was oblivious that she was chocking from lack of air. Raising the sword above his head with unsteady hands he wielded it towards the bubble with all of his might. The bubble broke and Annie’s body started to crash to the ground but Jack raced to catch her. He set them both down on the ground.

"Thanks Jack," Annie’s voice was weak. She looked around and saw everyone frozen in place, "What happened to them?"

Fiona started to laugh, "We are okay, we were just pretending."

"You what?" Jack was furious.

"Well we had to make you believe some how. Annie was never really in danger," Fi assured him but he just glared at her. "Well she knew what was going on too!"

"Is that true," Jack looked Annie with the same glare.

"It wasn’t my idea," Annie gave him a guilty look.

‘It was mine,’ the panther’s voice entered all there minds

"At least he won’t blame us now," Puck whispered to Rhylinye and she elbowed him. "What?"

"So what is really going on here," Jack asked everyone.

"Well we had to make you believe," Annie told him. "So Evintha volunteered to help my guardian." Annie motioned to the air but then in an instant a young woman who looked similar to Puck appeared.

"Hey," Evintha smiled at him. "I am sorry we scared you Jack, but it was the only way. And when Annie’s guardian came up with the idea I decided to help. I haven’t had so much fun in awhile."

"Fun! You call this fun," Jack was losing it. "Annie could have been killed."

‘No, she was fine the whole time,’ the panther told him. ‘We were only frozen for the first few moments after that our magic neutralized Evintha’s.’

"I can’t take this," Jack’s shoulder’s slumped and he let the sword drop to the ground.

"Excalibur return," Rhylinye called to the sword and it flied to her hand. "I know it is a lot to understand but you have, you really don’t have a choice."

Jack stood there but he did not look at any one. He concentrated on the sword, the way the sun hit the blade and reflected off of it. "Its mine," Jack held up his hand and Excalibur was ripped from Rhylinye’s hand and sailed towards his.

"He’s got a good memory," Puck chuckled and everyone frowned at him. "Well it’s true! He remembers that the sword is his. I mean sure his Da promised it to him when he was little but he still remembers."

"I don’t think that is what he is talking about," Annie backed away from Jack and slowly walked towards the others.

"He is possessed," Rhylinye told everyone in horror as she reached out for Annie’s hand to pull the girl a save distance from the person that was no longer her nephew.

"That is impossible," Puck told them. "He is Fey, we don’t get possessed."

"He is untrained," Rhylinye’s voice was full of caution. "Excalibur’s power might have been too much for him to handle."

"Don’t be ridiculous," Puck laughed at them. "There is nothing wrong with my Jackie boy. Your just happy to have your gift back, right old chap," he walked to Jack not looking at him. He did not notice that Jack had raised the sword above his head, and he turned around just in time to see Jack swing the sword at him. "Whoa, Jack! I am on your side remember," he dodged the blade and retreated behind the Princess of the Fey. The others gasped when the saw how narrowly the blade had missed him.

"Stay back," Jack told them all. "Excalibur is home now and there is nothing you can do to stop this."

"Want to bet," Rhylinye replied to him. "Sword of Excalibur hear my cry," her eyes started to glow. "Release your hold over this Fey, he is pure of heart and mind. Only honor shall be brought to you. No spell is needed.’

Jack laughed at her and started to talk in the old tongue of Camelot, "Silly girl. Your magic cannot hurt me. I am Mordred son of Arthur and I have waited a long time to claim my birth right."

"Oh that’s it," Fiona threw her hands up in the air. "I have had it! My family is put in constant danger because of the Lord Oberon and as if that wasn’t enough my brother is now possessed by King Arthur’s evil son? I don’t think so."

Fi put all of her frustrations into a massive globe of energy. Then she aimed it at her brother, "Release!" She threw the globe at him with all her might. When it came in contact with him he screamed loudly but everyone noticed a hazy form leave his body.

"Is it over now," Puck asked meekly as he poked his head around from behind Rhylinye.

Rye sighed, "I think so. How do you feel Jack?"

"Like my arm is about to fall off and someone ran my head over with a truck," he put his hand to his forehead and let the sword drop to the ground. "It was like I had no control over my body. I could see what was happening but I couldn’t do anything about it. Sorry Puck."

"It is okay. Like you said you weren’t in control," Puck picked up the fallen sword. "This is yours."

"I don’t deserve it," Jack pushed the blade away. "You saw what happened."

"Nonsense," Puck laughed at him. "Your Da wanted you to have it. You just need a little training to make sure that it doesn’t happen again."

Jack gave him a sad look and Annie felt her heart go out to him. She went to him and wrapped her arms around him. "It is going to be okay Jack," Annie whispered to him as she held him close. "We just need a little help that’s all. We can do this, together."

He pulled away a little to look into her eyes. He saw in those eyes everything that he was feeling and he knew that he could this. With her help he could make it through anything.

Fiona looked at them and felt jealously start to rise in her a little so she looked away. One day she knew that she would find what they had, just not today. Today she had to be there for them, help them. The dark lord was close and she could feel it. Something was different about Avalon since she had last been here. "I don’t think we are save here," she told everyone as she looked at the gathering clouds in sky.

"The time of the gathering is over," Rhylinye agreed. "The war is close. The only place we will be safe is the palace."

‘No,’ the panther protested. ‘I will not have Annie going near that palace it is not safe for her. I have somewhere else you can train them.’

"Why is my palace unsafe for your child guardian," Rhylinye asked. "Everyone knows that the safest place for those of light is the palace of Avalon.

‘I will only let you train her on my terms,’ the animal offered no apology or explanation. ‘Follow me.’

"What choice do we have," Puck huffed as he led the others to follow the panther into the forest.

They walked for some time until they came to a clearing. ‘This is where you will train them until they have enough defenses to leave the circle. Once they can protect themselves you can leave the protection of the clearing to train else where,’ the panther headed towards an old tree stump and eased his body to the ground.

"Well it will be big enough for sword training," Evintha scanned the area. "That and you will be able to teach magic while I train."

"You do sword training," Jack almost laughed. Evintha was only slightly taller than Annie and Fi, and she was much leaner than either of them.

"Aye," Evintha looked harshly at him. "Why do you find that so funny?"

Rhylinye had to hold back a giggle, "Watch what you say Jack. Evintha is the best sword mistress in Avalon. She will give you a run for you money."

"Why do we need to learn how to use swords," Fi did not really want to know the answer but she knew they would tell her if she did not ask. "I thought the Fey only used magic to fight."

"That we do," Evintha informed her. "But the dark forces have been using blades made or iron as of late. They are starting to play dirty."

"They always have," Puck reminded everyone. "We shall not start training until later today though. First we have to find a way make sure that no one will notice we are gone."

"We could tell them that we are going to a movie and then out to dinner," Annie suggested.

"That might work except that mom’s concert is tonight," Fi thought for a moment. "What about we start training tomorrow instead?"

"Can’t," Rye shook her head. "We have to have teach Annie and Jack how to project their images so that no one will notice that they aren’t there on the bus tomorrow."

‘Teach what you can now,’ the panther spoke with wisdom. ‘Then when it is time for breaks use that as time to train them how to travel between the worlds.’

"That’s brilliant!" Evintha exclaimed but she quieted down when she received and nasty look from Puck. "What, it is a good idea."

Rhylinye laughed, "Don’t be mad because a spirit animal came up with a solution faster than you did. Come let us begin. Evintha will you start teaching Fi how to use her sword."

"I don’t have a sword," Fi felt a little left out, she would like to use Excalibur but it was clear that the sword had chosen Jack.

"That could be a problem," Evintha agreed with Fi and she saw a little bit of a relieved look on the girl’s face. "Too bad for you I have a solution. Here," a bronze handle blade with spiral design on the grip and what looked to be horns at the cross section of the sword appeared in her hand. She handed the sword effortlessly to Fi, who struggled to get a good grip of the blade. "It used to be mine until I crafted my own sword. It is the Sword of Odin. I won it from Odin himself. Of course he has many other swords so it was not a big deal to him, but the sword does have his blessing, and there is no other like it. Mostly because no one has ever won a sword from Odin before, he is a very skillful warrior. I think I caught him on one of his off days."

"I guess everyone has one," Jack gave Fi a goofy look but she just snorted at him. "Lift with your shoulder’s Fi, this is not fencing."

"Really," Fi retorted. She quickly formed a little rain cloud over Jack’s head and liquid poured down on him. "Use your imagination Jack, this isn’t a dream."

Jack looked like he was going to start chasing her but Puck stopped him, "We all better get started. We are losing daylight."

So everyone went to different parts of the clearing and began their various training sessions. Jack and Annie spent hours learning the same things that Fi had weeks before. Fi practiced swordsmanship basics over and over until she could barely lift the sword. Annie’s panther watched with satisfaction as young half Feys learned more about their culture and traditions. He was sometimes disturbed by Puck’s presence but assured himself that it was a necessary unpleasantry. With the help of Puck the training would go much faster.

After a few hours the first break was taken and Jack and Annie learned how to travel between worlds. When they were all safely back at the hotel, with the exception of Evintha and the panther, they went to find the other members of their tour group.

"Hey," Carey called out from behind them. "Where have you guys been? We have been looking everywhere for you. I thought we were going to have to start breakfast without you guys."

"Breakfast," Jack’s eyebrows went up. "I don’t know about you guys, but after that ah, hike I am starved!"

"Yeah me too," Fi smiled at Carey. "Show us where the food’s at."

"Of course my lady," Carey held his arm out to her and Fi took it with a giggle.

Jack gave them a strange look that they did not notice but everyone else did. Annie hit him on the arm. "What?" Jack was a little offended. "I can’t be worried about my little sister," he whispered so that Fi and Carey would not hear him.

"It is her life," Annie told him sternly.

"Besides you don’t even know if there is anything going on," Rye added. She and Puck had changed back into their human forms of Raliana and Incanto.

"I don’t," Jack eyed her. "But you obviously know something."

"Aye! I know nothing," Raliana held her hands up in a mock surrender.

"Now I know you know something," Jack insisted.

Incanto stood slightly in front of Raliana as if to protect her, "Let it wait until another day Jack. Fiona will tell you if there is something going on or not." Incanto and Raliana started off in the direction that Fi and Carey went. "Well are you two coming or not."

Annie nodded and followed them eagerly when she noticed that Jack had not moved. "Really Jack, stop brooding. It is not very pleasant," Annie smiled at him. She held her hand out to him, ‘Come on. You know you are hungry.’

"Oh! Don’t do that," Jack held his hand to his head. "You know now much that gives me a headache.

‘Sorry, but you have to get used to it,’ Annie gave him a little frown.

‘Well I don’t have to like it,’ he sounded so much like a little boy that Annie couldn’t help laughing.

"Come on now," Annie walked away from him. "Before everyone eats and there is nothing left. She heard him grumble a bit but then he followed her.

*****

"Yeild!" Evintha shouted up to Annie as she lay on her back on the ground. "I yield."

"Good!" Annie laughed and helped Evintha up.

"I am not sure I should have given you the sword of Lionheart," Evintha shook her head. "You are getting too good at handling it."

"You are only saying that because I beat once out of how many times?" Annie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well. I have almost lost to you several times and Jack and Fi are starting to give me more trouble," Evintha turned to Rhylinye. "You know if we didn’t have guards on these swords I would be dead ten times over."

Rhylinye chuckled as she finished up her lesson with Jack, "Well I am sure everyone appreciates your hard work."

‘Attack stance, now!’ Annie pathed to Jack. She sensed Puck and Fi coming at them at a fast pace.

Jack complied but he did not understand what was going on, ‘What do you mean it is just Puck and my sister?’

‘Yes but they are,’ Annie did not get to finish the thought. Puck and Fi burst into the clearing and sailed start towards Rhylinye.

Puck grabbed one of Rhylinye’s arms and Fi captured the other. They dragged her with them for a bit and then disappeared. Everyone stood there in shock for a moment.

"Okay, what was that," Jack gave an angry gestured to where Rhylinye had been standing a few moments ago.

‘It is a test,’ the panther pathed to him with sleepy eyes.

"You are supposed to go rescue Rhylinye from Puck and Fi," Evintha continued with a sigh. "To test your ability to detect, defend, and use magic all at the same time. You are lucky, Fi had to do this test by herself. Although most time it is done with at least one other person."

"So she is going to make it especially hard for us," Jack groaned.

‘We can do this,’ Annie squeezed his hand. ‘Together.’

‘Together,’ Jack repeated with a smile and they went off to find Rhylinye.

"Do you think they are ready," Evintha asked the panther.

‘I know they are ready,’ he replied. ‘I just don’t know if Rhylinye is ready.’

"What do you mean," Evintha asked him.

He looked at her for a moment, ‘For the great change that is to come.’ With that he walked off.

*****

"Damn the stars!" the Dark Lord threw globe of glass at the wall. "I cannot see what they are doing! Wisp tell me what is going on, now!"

"I am sorry my Lord," the Wisp’s voice quivered. "They have been a protected area for days now. I have not been able to see what is going. It seems though now Jack and Annie are taking the test. They have journeyed out to the rest of Avalon."

The Dark Lord let a menacing grin fall over his features, "They have moved their training along much faster. Good, the sooner they are trained the sooner we can take care of the silly little Princess and her Fey subjects, then I will rule all of Avalon forever." Then he thought off something that made his grin fade, "Have you found out why the Annie girl is protected?"

"I will soon my Lord," the wisp tried to cover his failure.

"What! Have you been doing nothing I asked?" The Lord’s voice boomed across the room and the floor shook. "No matter," he calmed for a moment. "I am changing you into human form now. Start planting the ideas that something could have been done to save their father."

"Yes my Lord," The wisp replied and then he felt himself grow bigger. His body started to take the form of a human but he still had his wisp like glow. When the glow faded from his body he lifted his hand to look at it. It was the same color as Incanto’s and Raliana’s. He used his mind to form a reflecting pool in front of him and stared into it. Looking back at him was someone who was just about the same age as Jack, maybe a little older, with thick black hair and clear green eyes. "I say, I make quite the human," he admired his features in the water.

"Now get moving before you make quite a dead human," The Lord waved him off.

The Wisp saluted his Lord, "Yes sir!" He jumped into the water before he saw the Dark Lord roll his eyes.

"Somehow I feel like I am making a huge mistake in letting him go," he muttered to himself. He made another globe appear before him and looked into his window to the other world.

*****

"I can’t believe it," Jack was laughing as he and the other walked down the hallway of the New Mexico concert arena that his mother was performing at for the next two nights. "We spent weeks and countless hours training, missing out on all the great things in the towns we have passed through since we were in Chicago, and for what? To spend hours in a ceremony promising to up hold the laws of magic and land that we have never lived on just so we can use what we learned!"

"Shh!" Annie hit his arm because she was afraid that someone would hear him.

‘It is not just that Jack,’ Fi pathed to him. Reminding him that he should be using his mind voice when he talked about anything that had to do with Avalon. ‘We did it so that we will not be a danger to the people around us.’

‘Sorry,’ Jack couldn’t stop laughing. ‘But it just seems so, well I don’t know.’

‘Well I’m happy,’ Annie grinned as she grabbed his hand and swung it a little. She shielded her thoughts from everyone but him, ‘Now we don’t have to worry about getting caught.’

Jack blushed a little at some of the images that she was sending to him in his mind. ‘Annie!’ he sent her back the private message. ‘I am shocked!’

‘What,’ she gave him this innocent look, ‘you know that you were thinking the same thing too, and I know it.’

He gave her a goofy grin, ‘Well, I wasn’t thinking that exactly.’

‘Hello would you two like to join the rest of civilization!’ Fi pathed to them with an evil smile.

"Hey!" Carey called out from down the hallway then ran up to them.

‘No talk of Avalon,’ Raliana sent the quick thought to all of them. She laced her arm around Incanto’s and smiled at Carey.

"Hey man," Jack greeted him and then gave him a funny look. Carey was clearly not looking at anyone but Fi. She was kind of blushing under his stare.

"Hey Carey, is practice over," Annie sent Jack a mental punch in the arm. She knew that Jack did not mind that Carey liked his little sister, well it bothered him but not to the point were he did not approve. What was bugging him is that neither of them would tell him what was going on. ‘Well it is not like we are telling them about us,’ Annie reminded him.

‘What is there to tell, I mean anyone can see what is going on if they have eyes,’ he retorted.

‘Maybe that is how they feel,’ Annie smiled harder as she watched Carey’s lips move in reply to her question.

"We are taking a break," he looked at her quickly but then moved to be closer to Fi. "So have you guys seen the new roadie that my dad hired? He is like totally weird."

"Sounds like someone Fi would like," Jack wriggled his eyebrows at his little sister. "What do you think Fi?"

She was about to give him a semi-harsh reply when someone came crashing into the hallway carrying an armload of boxes piled higher than his head. "Luk out," he shouted as the boxes started to topple off the pile.

Everyone jumped back as the boxes hit the ground. "Sorry," the guy gave them apologetic look. "De other roadies thought it wud be craic to see 'oy much de new boyo cud carry," he spoke with a thick Irish accent and looked up them with huge green eyes.

Fi felt captivated by him instantly, "Here let me help you what that." She bent down to help him gather up the boxes. "The other guys can be really jokers if they want to, they are just trying to break you in. Don’t let it get to you," she smiled at him.

"Thank ye," he took her hand and placed a small kiss on it. Then he gathered up his boxes. "Sorry aboyt runnin' into all av ye."

"It’s okay," Fi smiled at him. She watched him turn to leave and remembered that she had not found out his name. "Hey, wait up!" She ran from the group to catch up with him.

"Did oi forget somethin'," He gave her a puzzled look.

She smiled at him, "Yeah. You forgot to tell me your name."

"Oh, me name is Hugh O’Broin," he smiled back at her. "An' ye are?"

"Fiona Phillips, but everyone calls me Fi," she started back towards her friends. "See ya around Hugh!"

"Aye!" he replied with a smile and then turned away from her. "Much sooner than ye tink Fiona."

"So what was that all about," Jack nudged his sister a little when she had rejoined them.

Fi rolled her eyes at her brother, "Nothing. I just wanted to know his name. Come on Annie," She grabbed her friend’s arm. "We need to still have to do that thing that we were talking about earlier. You too Rye."

"Waat thing," Rye shook her head and Fi sent her a sharp look. "Aw, dat thing. We’ll see you guys later." With that they all took off down the hall.

"Do any of you know what that was about," Carey asked Incanto and Jack.

"My guess," Jack pretended to think for a moment. "Fi likes that new roadie and she is going to have a conference with the other girls to see what is the best way to get to know him." Jack saw the color drain fro Carey’s face and held in a laugh. ‘I am so loving this,’ he pathed to Inky.

‘You know it is wrong to meddle in your sister’s life,’ Inky pretended to scold him. ‘Aw, what I am saying. Do you see is face! He is totally crushed, this is going to be too much fun.’

"Yeah," Inky agreed with Jack out loud. "I got this vibe from the both of them. Kind of like they were meant to run into each other."

"Really?" Carey started to have evil thoughts about the roadie. "But shouldn’t we be protecting her from him. I mean we don’t know anything about this guy."

"Well your dad hired him Carey. I am sure Mr. B wouldn’t hire any one that he thought was sketchy," Jack winked at Inky. "Besides he seems nice enough."

"He seems nice enough? You just meet the guy!" Carey cried out in frustration. "Fine, if you guys aren’t going to watch out for Fi I am! I got to get back to rehearsal." He headed back to the stage.

"Oh that was good fun," Inky laughed as he watched Carey walk away. "Well Jack my boy I have to get going. There is someone I have to talk to."

"Okay, should we wait for you at dinner time?" Jack tried to speak between chuckles.

Incanto shook his head, "No don’t bother. I won’t be back till late tomorrow. Tell Raliana not to wait up for me. I will talk with her later."

"I will. Have a nice time," Jack laughed a bit more and started to head to the stage to bug Carey some more. He did not notice that Incanto flickered out, a clear sign that he was going to Avalon. Not that it would have surprised him, Incanto and Raliana were always winking in and out of Avalon. He was about to go through the stage door when he got a better idea. Looking around to make sure that no one saw used his magic to transport himself to another part of the venue.

*****

"Fiona, oi don't know aboyt dis. It doesn't seem like a gear idea," Rye looked at her nervously. They were all standing just out side of the concert building

"Gear? Since when did you start talking like you were from Ireland?" Fi stared at her.

"Yeah," Annie agreed with Fiona.

"Aw naw! Dis 'appens to me whenever oi 'ear someone wi' an Oirish accent spake. Oi 'av tried for years to git read av dis accent an' oi still use aye all de time," Raliana started to get frantic. "Now oi canny stop speakin' like dis!"

"I think it is kind of cool," Fi tried to reassure her.

Annie nodded, "Yeah, ditto."

"Dat is waat ye say now. But waat until ye canny understan' me anymore cos oi use words like scon!" Raliana wring her hands and tried to calm down.

"What does scon mean?" Annie asked innocently.

"Scon is am. Aye me!" Raliana started to cry a little. "Incanto 'ates it when oi spake like dis."

"Well how about you take a few deep breaths and try to concentrate on how Annie and I talk," Fi felt bad for Rye. She did not so much care about what Incanto thought she wanted to be able to understand her friend.

"Aye," Raliana felt a bit defeated. "So why is it dat ye want til git dis Hugh til notice ye?"

Fiona paused for a moment to make sure she understood everything that Rye said, "I don’t know." Fi started to get this strange, almost starry eyed look on her face, "He is just so…"

Annie smiled at Fi, "I know that look. That is the same look that I used to get around Jack."

"Used to, hah! Ye still git dat luk aboyt ye whenever ye aroun' 'im or are thinkin' av 'im," Raliana teased her. "Av cousre who scon are til spake, Puk still does de same thin' til me sometimes. It is called bein' in love."

Fi shook her head, "I don’t know about being in love. I do feel like I have some type of connection to him. Like we knew each other in a past life or something."

"That is so cool," Annie exclaimed.

"Oi dunna tink dat is possable Fiona. Oi mean it is rare for a Fey til die. Even if ye did die de chance av another Fey dyin' aroun' de same time are slim til none," Rye scrunched her face up at the sound of her voice. "Scon are never gonna soun' normal again!"

"First of all it doesn’t matter if you sound like you are from Ireland or America, Puck should love you either way," Fi shook her finger at Raliana. "Second of all who said that Hugh had to be Fey. I could have known him as a Fey in a past life and both he and I got killed in some war, but he was human and I was Fey. And third, the chances of me being half Fey are slim to none but I still am!"

"She has a point," Annie agreed with Fiona.

"Thank you," Fi threw her head back with an air of confidence.

"Aw, oi know scon are gonna regret dis. So waat do ye want us til do?" Rye sighed.

"Okay I know this is a tangent but couldn’t we just cast a language spell on everyone so it sounds like she is speaking with an American accent?" Annie smiled brilliantly.

"Aye, dat might work Annie, but Puk wud clap roi through it an' everyone wud be able til understan' Hugh all av de sudden. Oi tink people wud start til git suspicious," Raliana gasped. "Scon are gettin' worse!"

"Calm down Rye," Fi told her firmly. "And what is clap?"

"See," Annie felt proud that she had been able to figure it out. "It was either see or look, see made more sense," she tried to explain how she was about to figure what the word meant.

"Anyway, before oi forget, waat aboyt Carey?" Rye asked slyly

"What about him," Fi shrugged.

"Aw, oi don't know," Rye held her hand to her head as if she were thinking for a moment. "Waat aboyt de fact dat he kissed ye an' ye liked it!" she looked Fi straight in the eye.

"Carey kissed you?" Annie squealed

Fi looked around quickly fearful that someone might over hear them, "Geez Annie! Keep it down!"

‘Sorry,’ Annie pathed to Fi. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘Cause then you would tell Jack,’ Fi explained.

‘An' then Jack wud 'av killed Carey,’ Rye finished. ‘Aye even me thoughts are Oirish.’

‘Oh would you stop it,’ Fi and Annie both yelled in her head.

‘Naw sympathy at all. Not one wee drop av it,’ Raliana complained.

The girls laughed at her but then Annie stopped, ‘Fi you really should think about what this is gonna do to Carey. I mean it is really obvious that he likes you.’

‘Someone agrees wi' me,’ Rye was pleased.

Fi glared at both of them, ‘Well if he did something about I would not object, but he hasn’t so… Besides which Jack and I have yet to decide if we are going to pledge allegiance to the Fey, well the Court of Avalon. And if we do, well there is that whole arranged marriage thing.’

Annie felt her head start to spin, ‘What arranged marriage thing?’

‘Well it is not arranged per say,’ Fi rolled her eyes. ‘More like the Fates tell you who you are destined to be with.’

‘So is does every Fey and half Fey have to go through that,’ Annie hoped that they would say no.

‘Not unless they are part av de royal family an' were still alive at de time av de Gatherin' an' after it,’ Rye gave the girls a knowing smile. ‘An' even then they 'av til be offishal declared a couple in front av de whole Court av Avalon. Oi remember dat yer Da wus supposed til marry dis silly flighty Fey blade. But yer Da refused til marry someone wi' de intelligence av a toadstool so they were never offishal declared til be wed. Then we were all sent away so yer Da never foun' anyone until yer Ma. Yer Da loved 'er so much. Aye waat they 'ad wus true so 'tis love!’

‘So what if my Dad and Mom meet,’ Fi was in total shock. ‘Then neither of them would have ever experienced true love! If Oberon had never banished everyone from Avalon they would have never meet. Then Jack and I would have never been born.’

‘They are called Fates for a reson,’ Raliana replied. ‘Sometimes they will say one thin' is gonna 'appen in order til make sure dat waat is supposed til 'appen really does.’

‘So Oberon killed my father for a reason,’ Jack interrupted them.

The girls all jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. "Jack don’t do that," Fi yelled at him out loud because she was so shocked.

"Sorry," he gave her a lopsided smile. ‘So you are saying that Oberon killed our dad and your brother for a reason.’

‘Well yer Da did break de laws av Avalon, but owy everythin' alwus 'appens for a call,’ Raliana nodded.

‘What happened to you,’ Jack looked at Raliana with shock written all over his face.

Raliana groaned, ‘An' on dat 'appy note scon are gonna leave all av ye til blather aboyt yer future. Oi 'av til spake til Inky anyway.’

‘Oh Rye, Inky said to tell you that he would be gone until later tomorrow. Something about talking to someone,’ Jack remembered to tell her.

She smiled, ‘That is bars news oi 'av 'eard all day! Maybe oi wi' me new foun' tongue oi will go talk wi' Hugh. Oi know he will understan' me.’

"Bye everyone. Oi will tell Carey hi ya for ye Fiona," Rye grinned and then raced away from them before Fi had a chance to say anything to her.

"I swear sometimes," Fi made a fist with her hand.

"Hey it’s okay Fi," Jack patted her on the back. "I already knew there was something going on with you and Carey."

"But there isn’t!" Fi tried to convince him but he just shook his head at her. "Fine let’s just talk about what we are going to do. Are we going to join the Court of Avalon and pledge our allegiance to Oberon or not?"

"I will join the Court," Annie spoke. "But I will not pledge my allegiance to any man who can kill his own son. What is there preventing him from doing the same thing to us?"

"Nothing," Jack agreed with Annie.

"I am not saying I don’t agree with you, but Jack, daddy did break the law," Fi pointed out. "He did it for us, but he broke the law. Rye said that if Oberon did not kill him the Court would have."

"Raliana also said there was a reason that this happened," Jack thought for a moment. "She must know what that reason is and she should tell us. Why should we fight for people and a government that killed our father? I think we need to get more information from her."

"If we do not fight the Dark Lord will take over all of Avalon. I have seen the things that he has done. They are worse than what Oberon did to our father. He attacked Annie for no reason," Fi was frustrated with her brother. "I don’t know about you but I am perfectly willing to fight in order to make sure the Dark Lord does not get any more power over this world and Avalon. If he comes to power who knows what will happen to us or the rest of humanity."

"I think whatever decision is made should be agreed on by all of us. None of should have to do this alone," Annie held her hands out to both Jack and Fiona. "Doing this with each others support is the only way we are going to be fight the Dark Lord or decided that the life of the Fey is not for us. So what do you say?"

"I agree," Jack took Annie’s hand.

Fiona thought for a moment, "Well I used to being the odd one out." Both Jack and Annie gave her a concerned look, "But for this, I couldn’t imagine doing it without either of you." She smiled and took both of their hands. "Annie is right. We are going to get through this. But only if we stick together."

Jack rolled his eyes, "I feel like the three musketeers."

"You know Raliana said that she meet them one time. They were not all they are cracked up to be. If one of them was given a chance to save their own skin they would betray the others without a second thought."

"Thank you Fiona," Jack’s voice was full of sarcasm. "Just destroy my childhood fantasy why don’t you."

"Sorry," she shrugged.

"Well why don’t we go talk to Raliana some more about Avalon and the times before the Gathering," Annie suggested to them. "We deserve to know everything."

"That sounds like a plan but can we do this later," Fi plead. "There is someone I have to go talk to."

Jack smiled at her, "Go on and talk to Carey, this can wait. Oh he might think that you are trying to go after that Hugh guy."

"Jack how many times do I have to tell you," Fi started to say then she fully understood what he had said. "Jack what did you just say?"

"Just that you really seemed to dig Hugh person," Jack did not understand what she was getting at.

Fi gave him an angry look, "Except you didn’t know what his name was because he never told us. That’s why I had to go after him, to find out his name."

"Um," Jack started to get nervous. "Carey told me, yeah. Come on Annie, let’s get out of here," Jack grabbed Annie’s hand and pulled her with him as he started to make a break for it.

"Jack Phillips!" Fi called after him.

"Oh, by the way Fi. I promise I won’t kill Carey cause he kissed you," Jack called over his shoulder and then he and Annie disappeared.

"This is just great," Fi huffed. "I can’t believe this is happening." She looked around the empty area of the arena. There was nothing fun to do here and she was starting to get bored witless. Maybe she should go talk to Carey, they never did have a chance to talk since Chicago. She was always putting him off because she had been busy helping Rye and Puck with training Jack and Annie. Now though she did not have any excuse. She was getting these strange vibes from Hugh. There was something about him, she just could not put her finger on it, but that was no excuse to not talk to Carey.

"Fi," she heard Carey call out to her and she turned to look at him. "Hey, I have been looking all over for you."

"Hey Carey," she smiled at him. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah actually that’s why I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about that new roadie my dad hired, Hugh," Carey looked at her with apprehension.

Fi laughed at the expression on his face. "What about him?" she whispered pretending like they were telling secrets.

Carey gave her an exasperated look, "Fiona, I am serious. Look, I think you should stay away from him."

"What are you talking about," she was starting to angry again.

"I just get a bad feeling about him and we don’t know that much about him," Carey tried to explain. "Just promise me that that you will stay away from him."

She shook her head at him, "You have no right to ask me to do that. You aren’t my brother!"

"You’re right. I am not your brother, but I am worried about you. You need to stay away from him," Carey tried to reason with her.

Fi could not believe what she was hearing, "If I want to talk to Hugh or go out with him I will and it is none of your business! What is your problem Carey Bell?" She looked at him disgust and then walked away from him.

"Dat is waat scon are countin' on Fiona," a grin crossed Carey’s features as Fi went into the venue. "Dat is exectly waat scon are countin' on," his started to glow green and he let out a small chuckle.