Annui was between the floor and that girl. The Marked boy was watching the Akajsi girl above him and the knife he had been using on his breakfast in her hand.

"Where are we?" asked Yue, fastening his hand on the knife.

"M-My ho-hom--"

The girl pressed the edge of that knife to the boy's neck, something that made the boy swallow saliva from nerves.

Where are we?" insisted Yue in a threatening tone. Her body burned in pain; she felt as bad as when she was poisoned. "Are we in Adhaz?"

The boy was startled to hear that name. "Adhaz? Were you traveling to Adhaz?"

"Answer."

"N-No, we are not in Adhaz!" exclaimed Annui quickly.

"Where?" "And if you repeat your home again..."

"Betheas!" expressed the boy hastily and fearfully. "The Kingdom of Betheas, we are outside the city of Vantaigy. It's a small fishing town--"

"Why are we here?" asked Yue. "We were supposed to be floating in the sea..."

"I-I found you two," Annui explained. "I was on shore doing my jobs and..."

Yue watched the boy and soon moved closer to his face. The boy trembled with fear at having that akajsi girl so close; that girl's long black hair covered his vision, and he didn't know what she was up to. In a moment, he felt the pressure on his neck become lighter.

"Are you a Marked One?" she asked.

The boy drew in a shaky breath and then nodded vigorously.

"Is he like us?" asked Fynn in a stunned voice.

"Yes, it seems so," replied Yue. "But I don't know; what do you think?"

Annui looked around, waiting for a decision.

"Get off of him, Yue. Let him get up."

The Akajsi girl snorted and, with some difficulty, got up from the boy and managed to sit on the bed.

Annui then got up hurriedly and tried to keep distance between them. Then, Yue got up, still threatening him with her knife.

"Don't get smart," Yue threatened.

"Th-That's a butter knife," Annui pointed out, pointing to the weapon she carried so firmly. "I-It doesn't really have an edge..."

"It's not the weapon that hurts; it's the wielder," Yue expressed. "Do you want to see how I stab you with this?"

"N-No!"

"Yue! Stop it!" shouted Fynn hoarsely. "Then we won't know where we are."

Annui then looked at the boy on the bed. The dark-skinned boy was watching him with his hazel eyes more serenely than her friend.

"It's okay. We won't hurt you," the Chinese man said with a tired look and husky voice.

"Speak for yourself," Yue said, glaring hostilely at the boy.

"So, you said you found us while doing a job?"

"Y-Yes," the boy said shakily, holding up his hands to show he had no hidden agenda. "I was on the cliffs when I saw you among the rocks; I was to go down to do my research and..."

"What research?" asked Yue between his teeth.

"It's research on fish and other local marine life. I was going to catalog barnacles today. I've been doing it since-"

"If you keep this up, you'll make me even more bored and angry," Yue said, annoyed.

"I-It's the truth!" said the boy.

"Hey, take it easy," Fynn said to her friend. "He looks more scared of you than you do."

"I'm not scared," Yue said, turning to Fynn.

"Are we in a safe place?" asked Fynn to the brown boy.

"Y-Yes, I think so."

"How do you 'think'?" asked Yue.

"I mean, you're safe here, don't worry."

"You live alone?" asked Fynn.

"Y-Yes! I mean, no! I mean--!"

"Annui! Are you home?"

A female voice was heard calling out to the boy. Yue listened to the voice behind the door. She tried to rush at the boy, whether nervous or fearful.

Annui saw her coming toward him, and along with a scream, the boy pushed the air inside the room to shake the girl off. In a single instant, the roar of all the furniture flying across the room was heard throughout the house.

The boy took the opportunity to leave the room amidst the commotion, and as he left, with a clap of his hands and a magic word, he sealed the door with magic.

Yue and Fynn were thrown out against one of the walls. After that, beds and pieces of furniture became their prison.

"I knew we couldn't trust him!" yelled Yue in annoyance.

"It's not what you think!" said Fynn as she tried to convince her friend.

"I'll go get him!" she shouted as adrenaline pumped through her body, making the pain and heaviness disappear for a few moments.

The akajsi girl, cunning and sneaky, hid underneath the furniture where darkness was forming. There, she mimicked again what she had done so far. For an instant, memories of the forest returned to her, and it was then that hatred motivated her to use that passage of shadows through the floor.

"Yue!" shouted Fynn. Then, without hesitation, he pushed the furniture off him, but by the time he went to his friend, she had already broken through the floor.

Fynn, trapped in the room, tried to open the door. First, he did it with the doorknob. Then he wanted to open it with a couple of tugs and pushes. Finally, the boy sighed and, grimacing in discomfort, had no choice but to kick the whole door open.

Annui dashed down the stairs.

"Annui! What's going on?" a deep, intimidating voice was heard say.

Annui froze: Ledger was in the house. As the boy came down the stairs, a scream was heard from the dining room. Miss Estelle screamed in dread.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here!"

"Where is he!" shouted Yue.

Annui hurriedly peeked into the house's dining room and saw the girl, half-ragged, angry, and with one of the knives on the table, pointed at Estelle. When she saw Annui, the girl pounced at him, and the boy soon broke into a run.

"Wait!" shouted Annui in terror.

"Don't run away!" shouted Yue furiously.

At the end of the hallway, the two figures Annui was most terrified of made an appearance.

"Annui!" shouted the man furiously.

The boy stopped, and behind him, so did Yue.

Ledger, his master in magic, watched him with a scowl that denoted the anger he harbored within. The well-dressed, robed man watched him with his arms folded, waiting for an answer to all the chaos. Beside him stood Aliz, a much younger and more jovial figure than his master.

"Oh, who's she?" asked Aliz.

"Yes, Annui, Who is she?" asked Ledger.

Annui turned and saw the girl with gritted teeth pointing at them.

"Oh, by Lithal, someone gets some clothes," Aliz said. "M-Mrs. Estelle!"

"I-I can explain!" said the boy.

"She's a marked one!" indicated Ledger. "You better have a good excuse."

Aliz looked at Yue with astonishment, "Oh, is she--?"

"Where are we!" shouted Yue, firmly grasping the silver knife. "Tell me where we are right now!"

"Oh, stop shouting!" said Ledger.

"Tell me, where are we or--"

Ledger made an abrupt gesture, a vibration was felt in the atmosphere, and it was then that Yue was thrown off towards the ceiling as if the knife in her hand had been magnetized against the top. The girl tried to pull away, but her hand was trapped between the blade and the wall.

"Put me down, you mustachioed idiot!" she shouted as she tried to wriggle free.

"What!" exclaimed Ledger, who quickly covered his bushy mustache. "Annui, are you in-"

"Everyone, shut up!" shouted Aliz. Her jovial voice echoed down the hall.

At that instant, Ledger and Annui were utterly silent, and only Yue's struggling could be heard.

"Is anyone else here?" asked Aliz gently but firmly.

Aliz looked at the staircase and a shadow that could be seen from there.

"Y-Yes," said Fynn.

"Two Marked Ones?" said Ledger through his teeth.

Annui shrunk in on himself at his master's fury.

"What's your name, boy?" asked Aliz.

"F-Fynn, ma'am," said the boy with nervousness.

"Oh, nice to meet you Fynn. Please, come down," said Aliz while turning to Ledger, "Please. Put the girl down, now."

Ledger sighed, and Yue dropped abruptly to the floor, and from the staircase, the dark-skinned boy peered down.

"A-Are we in trouble?" asked Fynn.

"Yes," said Ledger.

"Oh, I don't think so," replied Aliz.

"Oh, you don't think that?" asked Ledger as he watched the young woman.

She returned her look with a smile. Then, she turned toward the staircase, from where Fynn was coming down.

Then, Aliz exclaimed, "Well, I think this lunch will be interesting..."