"Why did she even run off in the first place?" Liberty asked. His voice was not strained enough for the extreme situation she was in. He needed to be something other than "chill bro".

"She didn't run off," I corrected. "She walked here. She should be here!"

Liberty backed up, holding his hands out in front of him. The main hall had been a clatter of crazy and worry. I tried to follow Hope, but she was so much faster than us. She had always been faster.

I decided then to wait and see if she would come back. We waited. We waited a long time. She didn't come back.

My last plan was to just go back. She could find her way back. She was smart and cunning and physically fit enough. She had always been a warrior. Strong, brave, you could even call her fearless. She could keep her stamina far longer than us, and she could carry a lot for only being 115 pounds.

How had we not figured it out. Her acute senses. Her endurance. Her golden blonde hair or pale skin. She was always glowing in some estrange way but I guessed she had good skin. Even when the people she was from were standing right in front of us, we couldn't notice. For fucks sake, she has the same attitude as them!

"I'm starting a search party," I declared.

It was best for everyone. Definitely for me. I needed to get out and actually do something about the problem. Andor's nails were already to nubs, and if he gnawed on them any more he would be bleeding.

"Your coming too." I motioned to Andor, grabbing a second lantern for him.

He grabbed the lantern, not willing to argue at this certain moment. "I don't know if she'll want to see me," He let out meekly.

"Bullshit, she loves you." The lantern wouldn't flick on as I absentmindedly fiddled with the flint and steel. I was just talking out of no where when I said that, but when I looked back up at Andor he seemed absolutely heartbroken.

"We want to come too." Sonja said, hastily. She had excited the building as soon as Hope ran off. She hadn't even found Jeriah. We just found a huge mess instead.

I nodded my head no. "I need you guys to stay here. She might come back."

"You can't go out there!" Liberty yelled. He pointed rather mightily out at the window, very sure of himself. "It's fucking poring."

Sure, when I stared out the stain glass windows I saw a battle of rainwater. I heard thunder and blinked at the flashes of lightning. A few tree branches had even piled on the ground. But no tropical storm was going to stop me from finding Hope.

"Look," Liberty added on. "Let us go, okay. We've got a lot of young troops that would be willing to make a search party, and they have rain protection-"

"Oh right raincoats. Yeah. That's what we were missing-"

"Wha- I." Liberty didn't have any words. "Jordan. You're not getting my point." He laughed out of frustration. "You guys are very important to the safety of the whole universe. You can't just go out and throw your lives into danger."

"-I just need, like, two of those raincoats." I started asking Faith, because Liberty was being no help.

Liberty screamed. "We are here to protect you! That is why we exist!"

The whole room was floored. The rest of the team had paused. Even Tom was astonished and a little scared. Liberty had the booming voice of a leader, and it was very obvious that his Uncle took care of nothing compared to him.

Still over the quiet, you could here me fiddling with the lantern that still wouldn't fucking light.

Faith eventually got frustrated and lit it for me. Her delicate fingers were quick to light the wick and turn the knob. She mad everyone look so easy.

Liberty sighed, realizing he would be taking to air. Still he continued, trying to reason with me. "Us nephilim. We get it. Most of us are Ianites here. I understand what you would do for one of your own-"

"Well she's also one of your own." I let out casually. I didn't fully process what I said before it came out, but I realized I had made a mistake.

Liberty squinted at us. "Excuse me."

But my attention immediately went to Faith who's hands started to shake when she heard the words come out of my mouth.

"Hey?" I asked. "Are you okay-"

She stood up, covering her mouth. Her green eyes started to water up.

"She's a nephilim?" Liberty asked. His question came out panicked.

I almost wanted to be snarky, but Faith being close to crying had me at levels of anxiety I couldn't further yet understand. "Yeah."

Faith turned to her brother. She uncovered her mouth, trying to speak. "Mom-" was the only word she could get out before she started to cry.

Liberty motioned Faith to go upstairs, and as he held Faith protectively behind him, his eyes were lighting up like golden fire crackers.

"You have to find Hope now," he ordered.

I almost wanted to argue. Any other time I would have argued, but his voice was shaking and Faiths sobbing in the background made it obvious that it was serious. My brain was to scattered to out the puzzle pieces together just yet.

"Now!"

"Hey!"

The thunder slammed outside of the castle. Rain clattered against the windows. Wind whistles between the cracks of the old building. Floorboards creaked as I stomped across them.

"Hey!"

He didn't stop. Liberty immediately went from calm to medieval psychopath. He sent Faith up the stairs and sped the other direction. Fuming, I followed. We needed answers. There was no want anymore.

Still, as much as I yelled his stupid ass wouldn't stop walking away. He ignored me just a few minutes after he told us that his kind was here to protect us.

They weren't doing much protections right now!

"We demand to know what's happening, right now!" I stood dead in my tracks, not willing to follow after him any longer.

Thankfully Liberty didn't take long to react.

"You think I know as much as you!" Annoyingly his reaction was anger, which didn't help anyone in the situation. "I'm clueless!"

The theory of these two being the gatekeepers of all information was wrong. Even though they were a hell lot better leaders than there uncle, Lucy knew all. I had to deal with it.

Liberty choked on his own words, grasping for anything to say. Anything. He was confounded about his own people, about his own history, and maybe even his own family.

"Just- we just-. All I know is that right now my sister is thinking one thing and one thing only, and I don't know what to do if it's true or not."

I tried to take a few steps up to him. Liberty was scared. Not even long hair and pot eyes could cover up the stress he was under.

"What's that?" I asked.

He folded his arms together, sighing. "My mom -." He rubbed his eyes and tried to breath some tears back. Were they orphans too.

"My mom was chased out of Aura one night. She had a baby, her daughter, my sister. I guess it was special and needed to be properly taken care of, for something. But she didn't want that life. She had told my dad that no mother would want that life for her child."

The room went silence. I had been left with my own fault. My own strong theories. "What happened to the baby?"

"Sirens," he got it out like he pulled out a knife. Taking a deep breath again he tried to continue speaking. "They got her, and she died. The baby too."

He then looked up at me. His green eyes had ominous yellow flecks in them when reflected by the light. "At least we thought the baby died."

My mind was now a whirlpool of crazy ideas. I was glad the team didn't follow me. It would have been hard to keep a calm hand in this situation.

"What was the baby's name?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. He also had freckles behind his ears just like Faith did. Just like Hope did. Maybe just like his mother did.

He let out a big sigh, coming to the conclusion I had. "We name our babies kinda late, so we can input the personality. It was only three months old, but if mom continued the tradition-"

He pointed to himself. "Liberty." Then upstairs. "Faith."

He pointed to me, as we both nodded in agreement. "Hope."

I held my head in my hands. I felt the room spin. It all made so much sense and yet we hadn't figured it out. The same nut job who named their kid Liberty had to name the other Hope.

"Is that why you were going to see Lucy?" I asked.

"Yeah," he nodded his head, uncrossing his arms. He was obviously to the brink of sobbing. Liberty felt more stupid than the rest of us for not figuring it out.

"I'll go." I motioned him to go upstairs.

And Liberty almost argued with me, but if he spoke another word the damn would brake down and he would just be crying in front of a random stranger. I really hoped that wouldn't happen, seeing as I'm the worst at comforting people. The best I could do was suggest for him to go cry with his sister.

The library was only a bit down the hall. I could see the oak door pinned open, as if she was expecting me to show up.

Or realistically she wanted some fresh air.

Lucy creeped me out when I was around her. Not in a bad way. I couldn't be scared of her. She was light and bouncy like a cloud. She just seemed to have this energy circling around her at high speeds all the time. I almost had to squint my eyes like I was staring at the sun when I said hi to her.

I creaked open the door, just a tad. Just enough to be able to see what she was doing without actually entering.

The library was dimmer than normal. Only one oil lamp was lit at her desk. Sadly the leather desk chair was empty, meaning I had to search in the actual library.

I opened the door the whole way. A breeze of cold air flushed through the hall when I opened it. Goosebumps started to form on my arm.

"Umm-" oh god please answer. Oh god please answer. "Hello."

No one answered. Only the squealing of the tropical wind against this tree branches.

"Dammit," I let out.

I thought about all of those times I woke up when I was little. I had a closet right in front of my door, so when I leaned up from my bed I saw my clothes and crap that was in my kiddy closet. That kiddy crap made weird shapes when I looked at it because it was pitch black and I was four. To stop from being scared, I would shut my closet door before I went to bed.

Somedays I forgot to shut the door, again, because I was four. I usually realized this when I had been tucked in and was cuddled up. When everything was pitch black and dead quiet. Of course I couldn't stand having the door open, but I also didn't want to have to close it in the dark. A monster could bite my ankle or something.

I had to go close this closet door now.

I shuffled into the library, and I became less scared. The smell of books and paper was greeting. I became accustom to the chill of the room, and the rain became therapeutic background noise. Who said things had to be scary in the dark.

I went over to her desk so I could grab the oil lamp and search the library for that history book thing. Though I didn't see much point to that because she probably kept the world's secrets with her at all times.

Do oracles have to shower?

As I went to pick up the lamp I noticed something on the table. Something folded up. Something with my name on it. Something with an envelope.

Holy shit, she does know everything.

I grabbed the envelope and tore it open. This had to be the answers I was asking for.

I held the scratchy parchment in my hand, leaning against the desk. I poised myself to get as much light as possible.

"Dear Tucker,

I remember first learning about you. About your team and about your god. You had a best friend and a girlfriend and a family.

I also remember thinking you were a huge prick!

Then I witnessed you go on your adventures and protect your friends. As much as they may complain that you are the leader, you were the only one that would lead.

So I know you will want answers. I know you will need answers. I know Hope will need answers.

Please show this to her when you find her.

Hope is a nephilim. Half Angel and half human. One of the rarest on Mianite. It's what made her so strong and so persistent. Normal eight year olds can't fight wolves in the woods.

She's not normal. She wasn't born normal, just like you and your team. She needed to be a hero.

I wish I could write what I read because the worst is truly yet to come.

In some way, shape, or form Hope would be an orphan. No matter what family she was birthed to or what she was raised as. She had to end up in Mianite at the time she did completely alone.

Her mother was a scholar. She read my textbooks. She knew the history of Mianite. She knew what was to become. What was set in stone to happen.

She knew who her daughter was.

Hope's mother lover her children more than life. As much love as she held for Hope she held for Liberty and Faith too.

Her mom tried to brake that. She ran off with her daughter, trying to hide Hope. Though fate sought that as an advantage and did what needed to be done to put Hope back on the right track.

This is why no one but me knows the scriptures anymore.

Hope may have learned of her family here, but she will always have you. You hero's are each others family. You will always be. You all need to remember that when you need each other.

Never brake apart.

That will be your undoing.

With love and hope for the future,

Lucias.

P.S: yes. I do have to shower."

Thunder cracked in the sky like a snapping bone. The lightning illuminated the skin in white fluorescent light.

"Hope!"

My vision had became inept. The lantern barely gave out enough light to see the ground, and my glasses were soaked in rain water. At this point in the search I was following Andor blindly.

"Hope!" My voice was sore for screaming so loud. I didn't see a point in trying anymore. She wouldn't be able to hear us over the storm anyway.

"We're almost back to where we started? What if she got lost?" Andor asked. He turned back to me, his face full of worry.

I started to have the same feeling too. Still, I had to have hope. I couldn't stop.

I shook my head no, still screaming over the storm. "She's an ace tracker! She wouldn't get lost!"

Andor murmured something to himself, something around the lines "Yeah, Yeah. You're right."

Though, there was a good chance we were both in denial.

We had circled through the perimeter of the institute, screaming our lungs out trying to find her. Afterwords I went down the path that the carriage followed. Still nothing.

The idea popped into my head that she might have been taken, or worse. She was to strong for that. Hope isn't dumb enough to be sneaked up on. If I could fight it off, she could fight it off.

"Maybe we should go down the path more?!" Andor suggested.

Another clap of thunder burst through the sky, making Andor jump. I wanted to head back, mostly because I had dragged Andor into this. If it was just me getting soaked and cold I would be fine, but Andor was shivering and his aunt would murder and skin me if he got sick.

Hell, she was gonna murder and skin me when we got back. At this point I was just winning brownie points to make sure the death is quick.

I thought about asking Andor if he would go back and I could continue to search, but he would be as against that as I would to leaving.

"Okay! Let's go down that way more!"

We walked down to the path. We almost sunk knee deep in a few places. The normal mud patches had transformed into pools. The jungle started to look more and more like a swamp.

If we didn't hurry up and find Hope we would be flooded in soon.

"Hope!" I screamed out again. "God dammit! Where are you!?"

No luck, no nothing. The only thing I heard was the god awful rain tumbling to the ground and the thunder cracks and lightning getting closer and closer to each other.

I could start to see the tire tracks from the carriage in the mud. They were completely filled with rain. Only an hour ago it had been sunny and nice. Now it felt like Sharknado 6.

Partly because the search was mind numbingly boring.

"Is it me, or is the storm getting closer?" Andor asked. He made a good observation. It made no sense. The winds were heading east, not west. It's like they were carrying over our heads.

"No, it's not you. We're just screwed."

I almost gagged on water every time I breathed. I could feel my socks squish every time I stepped. The ends of my hair had been flattened down and were dripping on my nose. I could no longer see anything except Andor with his lamp.

The lamp that was barely surviving. I was truly surprised it had lasted that long, seeing as it was filling with water as we walked.

The flame went out.

"Oh no," Andor gasped out. I heard him try to fiddle with the wick. We both knew it wasn't going to light again.

"The candle is soaked!" I said. I gulped down the anger bubbling up in me. Everything had gone wrong, so horribly wrong. It had all been sabotaged, at least that's what it felt like. As if life was sitting there and laughing at us.

Andor's expression was horrified. He clutched the lamp to his chest. "We can't give up on her."

"-Andor."

"She's - She's out here. Like you said she's a tracker. She can follow the moon and the stars."

We both glanced up at the sky. We saw the clouds that were covering the beautiful sky and the stars.

Andor let out a sharp breath of air. I couldn't see his face that very well anymore because of the darkness and the rain. I could here his raincoat shuffle around uncomfortably.

"I don't want to go back without her," he murmured out, just loud enough that I could hear him.

"I know-"

Suddenly there was shuffling, around the right of me. From the exit of the trail. Where we would go back to the institute.

We both paused. The shuffling stopped, just for a moment. I slowly moved closer to Andor, struggling to gets my boots out of the mud gracefully.