"Well, I don't believe it, so why don't you tell me what's going on? It's high time the world doesn't keep revolving around me. I'd like to know."

Arie turned to look at me, her eyes distant and reflecting something far different than what was on the mountainside only hours earlier. A frailty began to emerge that I'd never seen before from her usually bubbly self.

Pulling her over to the kitchen table, I cleared off a section of the groceries we still had to put away, making way for whatever was about to spill out of Arie.

"Have you noticed anything off about Cyril?" She asked point blank, her eyes tracing mine for any sign of insincerity or answer to her unasked questions.

Startled by the direction of this conversation, I took a moment to gather my thoughts, thinking back quickly to all the times I'd spent with Cyril over the last few weeks and guiltily realizing how little time I really paid attention to much of anything besides myself and Athen.

"I... I don't know. I don't think so. Like what?" I uttered back, completely puzzled.

She was shaking her head, reaching for the grapes that were on the table in the fruit bowl.

"Don't know how to explain it... Shouldn't probably even be talking about it, really. I'm sure it's nothing. I..."

"You've got to talk to someone about it, right? That's what you're always telling me, at least." I did my best to smile but was deeply concerned with her lack of discussion. Knowing the guys would be back soon, I knew I had to prod to get it out of her.

"Where's this coming from? Since when are you noticing anything? I'm not saying there isn't something going on, but I honestly have been too wrapped up in my own stuff, and for that I apologize. But you've got to give me some clues."

"I don't know. I really don't know." She reiterated again, shaking her head.

"Yes, you do, Arie. You wouldn't have said anything if you didn't."

She was quiet for several minutes, and I wasn't sure if I'd pressed my luck until I heard the sigh escape from her.

"It started right before Athen came back. I noticed that he had been more impatient with you. You probably didn't even notice with everything going on, but I did. I dismissed it though. Then he began to pull back from me a little. I'd start to talk with him, and he didn't want to hear it. Didn't seem to matter what the topic was. He changed the subject and... now, it's like he doesn't really want to be close."

"It didn't seem like that on the mountain?" I gently offered not wanting to contradict what she was dealing with too harshly.

"No, you're right. Coming down the mountain was great, but have you noticed it's not like he's been doing that all the time lately. I mean, come on, think about how he always acted with me when you first came back into our lives. It was like he and Athen were always competing to see who could be the better gentleman, or who could impress us the best. I know it sounds petty, and now that I'm saying it out loud, it doesn't even make sense."

"No, I kind of see what you mean. But, truthfully, I chalked up to him not wanting to rub everything in my face with Athen gone for so long."

"Well, Athen's back and the old Cyril isn't."

Keys in the front door signaled the end to our conversation, reaching over to pat Arie's hand, I was at a complete loss for words and couldn't wait to see Athen turn the corner into the kitchen.

As if a direct page out of Arie's worst speculation, Athen came into the kitchen, letting go of Matilda and grabbing me up from the chair instead, swinging me around and kissing me on the cheek.

"Miss me?" He asked chuckling.

"You didn't give me enough time to." I whispered wryly, glancing over at Cyril who briefly touched Arie's shoulder before heading upstairs. Hoping she wouldn't notice that I caught the interaction, I buried my head into Athen's neck.

"Alright, that's enough. Dinner's still not quite there yet." Not wanting to push him away but doing so for Arie's sake, I spun around to grab the spatula and continued on where Arie left off. The conversation would have to wait.

The morning's sunshine was beating through the window as I was nestled in Athen's arms. Feeling the firmness of Athen's embrace, I wriggled in deeper hoping to stretch out the minutes that much longer before getting up to start the day's training activities.

Before going to bed the night before, we decided to get through the last of the training up here and feel out the situations up here before heading back to Victoria.

"Wanna get up?" Athen whispered.

"Umm, no. I'd like to stay right here, thank you." I pulled the covers up that much more for extra effect, loving the feeling of his skin next to mine.

"Yeah, tell me about it." He rolled over me, his arms surrounding my shoulders, kissing my forehead ever so gently. "We've got to squash these Legions. It's really interfering with us."

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes. "You know it actually is. It's like this nonstop chase is all I've known since coming back. I start to get comfortable loving you again, and something disrupts it. Never mind the poor people that they are trying to attack. It's all about me." I said, laughing, throwing the covers off of me as I did my best to distract myself from watching Athen get ready for the day. Hearing about Arie's struggles the night before created an odd attachment to Athen even more.

"Has your sister talked to you about anything recently?" I asked, throwing him his robe to take in with him to the shower.

"No, not like anything out of the ordinary. Why?" He had the shower running, probably not expecting a conversation to possibly turn the way it might if I fully brought up her suspicions.

"No reason. She seemed a little down was all." I did my best to brush it off as he climbed into the shower and decided to make my entrance into the world for the day by making the pot of coffee for everyone and escape the closeness the shower could possibly bring us.

Arie was already waiting in the kitchen, presumably for me, because as soon as I entered she pounced.

"I hope you don't think I'm imagining things or making something out of nothing. It's probably nothing." She said immediately.

"Trust your gut, Arie. Whatever it is you're noticing, it's wearing you out. The usual perky Arie has vanished since about 4 pm last night, and I'm not used to it." Grinding the coffee beans gave me a chance to formulate what I should or shouldn't say, I didn't really want to mention that I'd seen Cyril barely giving her the time of day.

"Not to sound ridiculous, but have you talked to him about it?"

"Yeah, actually. Last night I brought it up. Didn't go so well."

"Like how? He brushed it off?"

"I wish. He got angry, and he's never ever gotten angry over something petty like that. I only asked if anything was bothering him because he seemed tense, and for the first time ever, we went to bed not holding each other."

"I doubt it's anything that has to do with you. Something's gotta be bugging him and since you're the closest to him, he's taking it out on you. I know how much he loves you, and you do too. We'll get to the bottom of it. Where's he at now?"

"Went to grab some breakfast stuff from the bakery. Hope that's the only reason."

Seeing Arie like this was so painful. I never imagined her to be in this situation or even ever to have a worry or care in the world. I was going to talk to Athen about it; in case, he knew something we didn't. Hopefully, Cyril has opened up to him about something at some point.

"Are you gonna be okay with everything we are trying to stick in for today's plan? I don't want to press you to do anything. It can wait."

"Thanks, Ana. But you know as well as I do, it can't wait. We've got to get this last piece of training started. This is going to be the most difficult to get the hang of. Guarantee it."

The door from the garage opened, and I did my best to act as normal as possible.

"What are you two up to in there, huh? Scheming away?" Cyril asked, seemingly like his old self. I found myself watching Arie's every movement, rather than his. Maybe, it was her who began the cycle, and he can sense her discomfort or something. He seemed happy and completely like I was used to. The coffee maker beeped, letting me know that I could finally get my hands on the best wake up method I knew. Grabbing two mugs from the cabinet, I poured the steaming liquid into both, hollering to Cyril and Arie on my way out of the kitchen to help themselves as I headed back down to our bedroom to talk with Athen before we started our day in the village.

Shapeshifting seemed a little terrifying to say the least, but Cyril and Arie were set on showing me how to do it, so that over time I'd get the hang of it again. I was excited to see it because they had always kept this part from me. It's kind of terrifying thinking that they could be in someone else's body, and I might not even know it. Actually, it was frightening to think that I could be in someone else's body, never mind them.

Truthfully, I think they were trying to come up with things to keep my mind occupied and somewhat focused, rather than what I'd really like to do which was stare at a wall and think of Athen or actually stare at Athen, forget the wall.

Athen was pulling the wool sweater over his head as I closed the door quickly to our bedroom and placed the mugs of coffee on the nightstand.

"Okay, your sister is completely convinced that something is going on with Cyril. Have you noticed anything?"

"To be honest, I've been so occupied with eating up every second that I can spend with you that I haven't been paying much attention to them on that level." He kind of grimaced in embarra.s.sment exactly how I'd felt the night before.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I told her too."

Athen came over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, the tie on my robe getting in the way of his hold.

"Are you after me or the coffee behind me?"

"Both!" He said, grinning and letting go to reach for the mug as I went to the bathroom to shower.

"The things she was mentioning kind of clicked as she spoke about them, but they weren't anything that I'd noticed until she pointed them out."

"Like what?" He asked, now in the bathroom sipping his coffee.

"Well, the level of affection or lack of it compared to normal. I chalked it up to him not wanting to make things worse on me while you were gone, but she said it's been since you were back too. I kind of saw it last night... I think. Or I could just be on high alert now that she mentioned it. Either way, she's really worried about it and focusing on it. So he hasn't mentioned anything to you?" The spray of the shower alerting my muscles to the previous day's activities, I stood in place letting the warmth penetrate me to my core.

"No, he hasn't mentioned a thing. I'll check it out though."

"Thanks. I thought we should be on the same page in case it actually meant something along the way. I hope not, though."

"Yeah, me too. I'll meet you out in the living room."

Arie was attempting to be back to her bubbly self, but there was no way she could fake that totally. A bit of her sparkle was definitely missing.

We had all ventured to one of the parking lots closest to the village where the day visitors often parked. Everyone thought it was best to show me the first of the shapeshifting with people who would be gone from here as fast as they came. The gravel crunched as we all found our way towards the back of the lot, near where all of the RVs were sitting.

"So are you gonna pounce on the first poor soul who wanders by, or how is this whole training by example thing supposed to work?" I asked, completely perplexed.

"Probably the first person who wanders by." Arie said, laughing.

"And they won't remember a thing?" I asked, not understanding the process.

"Not a thing." Athen stepped up behind me and rubbed my shoulders like I was getting ready for something myself.

The far off crunching began to reach us as we realized our first target was coming up quicker than we realized. Whoever it was they were blocked by all of the cars that were parked up and down the aisles, so we had no idea whether it was male or female, old or young. The b.u.t.terflies began stirring inside as their steps became louder and louder. I followed Arie's every move, watching for any sort of preparation that I might need to learn. As usual, there didn't seem to be any. She stepped out from where we were all standing to the major throughway of the lot, readying herself for her victim.

She smiled and nodded at the man who had stopped right in front of her. He seemed friendly and helpful. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a green polo, probably in Whistler to enjoy a day of drinking and hiking. I grabbed for Athen's hand right before the man began to look concerned.

Arie's entire body whisked itself into the man who was standing in front of her. It happened so quickly, the only thing my eyes could pick up was the odd expression the man had as his gut was pushed back into himself. Not really understanding what exactly I witnessed, I looked up at Athen for confirmation. He pulled me over to Arie, who was now inhabiting this man's body. It was that quick.

"Hey, what's up?" Arie asked, in a now deep, male voice. She reached around to hug me, but that just seemed creepy.

"I don't think so, thanks though." I said, laughing.

She began placing her hands above her head and started dancing like we were all suddenly at a club, and it was funnier than I ever imagined. As she took this poor unsuspecting guy's body and began dipping her body to the floor and circulating her hips, I couldn't hold in my laughter in any longer. The topper was her bending over to shake her booty like she was totally getting down.

"Man, we've got some sick humor, huh?" I was barely able to get it out to Athen, whose eyes were streaming with tears by now.

"Not bad, right?" The stranger's loud voice began booming as she got back up to look at us. "I think that's enough for this poor guy. You all wanna move down the lot a little bit so it doesn't look like there's a mob of us staring at him when he comes to?"

We all started moving back towards the entrance to the village when, I felt the strength of the strange man's hand wrap around my wrist.

"Not you. I want you to see how it completes."

Looking at Athen, he nodded and kept walking. I stood my distance as the man's body began convulsing. It seemed like minutes were pa.s.sing, but I was sure it was only seconds. An intense glow began escaping from the man's chest as she glided out of his sh.e.l.l as quickly as she squeezed into it. Doing my best to get rid of the alarm on my face, not knowing when he would reappear as himself, I stared at where Arie was standing, now about five feet from him. She was bending over looking like she was picking up things from her purse that had rolled under the car.

"Hey, miss. Is everything okay?" The man asked Arie, as she was picking up the scattered items from her purse that she only moments before spilled on purpose.

"Oh yeah!" She said giggling. "Just my clumsy self. Got it all now, thanks." She said, with her beautiful smile, surely melting the guy where he stood. He hadn't a clue.

She stood up completely and walked towards me, grabbing my hand as we proceeded to meet the guys in the village.

"Seamless." I whispered.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" She whispered back.

"Yeah, now I have to only figure out what the heck you did." I playfully scowled at her before heading into the village.

We were sitting at a table in the far corner of the Dublin Gate, surrounded by the beautiful cherry wood booth and exposed brick wall, it felt especially cozy and secluded for the conversation that was bound to happen.

After we all ordered our pints, I looked around at everyone waiting for some sort of explanation, and none came. What I did notice, however, was Cyril's arm wrapped around Arie's shoulder.

"Okay, well, this is overly informative. Not to be a pest, but you guys are expecting me to give it a go on Karen, and I don't have a clue about what I should be doing. Oh, wait. Lemme guess. I need to feel the target and pow. I'm there." I said grinning.

"You know how everyone has a first impression or a vibe they give off? It's kind of an essence of who they are? That's what we tap into." Athen said.

"Like Karen - what strikes you most about her?" Athen asked.

"I'd say her protective nature, but how would that create a way for me to go for it?"

"Check this out." Cyril said, nodding at our waitress who was coming over with our poutine. "What do you get from her?"

She put the poutine down and paused, looking at us a little curiously, and then giggled.

"Did I forget something? I feel like I forgot something?" She asked.

"Nope, we've got it all. Thanks." Athen told her and she spun away.

"She seems a bit goofy, fun spirited." I replied, sipping my Guinness slowly.

"So when she comes back, we'll keep her here for a sec, and I want you to really concentrate on her. Tap into that energy. That's what you can channel a bit. Get the feel for it." Arie whispered.

"I'll give it a go." Was all I could come up with as we dug into our appetizer. Slowly scanning the pub, I decided to pause on each individual to see how different the feelings were that washed over me. Not expecting that much of a difference from person to person, I was completely surprised at how vast the emotions were that I was able to pick up on. The one bartender had a darkness around him, a very pessimistic vibe, whereas the other one was totally happy-go-lucky, kind of reminded me Arie, actually. The three customers who were lined up at the bar, each had something different to offer up too. Staring at the cast of characters in the pub, I almost missed that our waitress had returned to check on us. Next thing I know Athen's asking where she's from and Arie started piping in all sorts of things.