Rain pounded at my window as I tossed and turned in my bed, struggling to fall asleep. I figured that the assurance that Anubis would be caught soon, but his words from the torturous night still echoed through my brain. I knew he wouldn’t be so easy to stop.

I through a bottle cap at Edna’s cage, rattling her awake. She squawked in displeasure and I whistled her over. She opened up her cage lock, a bad skill she had developed, and flew over to me. I stroke her red feathers as she hummed. She nestled in next to me and covered her face with her wings. She was fell fast asleep.

I sighed and rest my arm down on her and glanced out the window, suddenly confused as to why it was pouring outside. It was always sunny here, and Sol made sure of that. But this was not normal. I climbed out of bed and slipped on my socks. I quietly opened the door and tip toed down the hallway to his room and opened the door. He was asleep, sprawled out across his bed. Altan was snoring in a miniature cave in the same corner that Edna’s cage would be.

I sat down on his bed as his finger twitched abnormally. His body was sweating and his eyes raced under his eyelids.

“Sol?” I whispered, shaking him. It didn’t work. His twitching grew and his mouth began to quiver.

With a sudden burst of energy, he sat straight up, letting out a small yell and opening his eyes. He began to breath heavily, gasping for air. He looked at me, terror in his eyes as tears ran down his face.

“Sol! What’s wrong!”

He didn’t respond, instead hugging me while crying. I rubbed his back as he mumbled sentences while crying. Unable to understand his words, I held him in front of me.

“Sh, Sh. Calm down. Sol, what is wrong?” I asked.

Tears still rolled down his cheeks, but he shook his head.

“Bad dream,” He said softly, looking down at the sheets.

“Mara,” I said to myself.

“What?” Sol asked.

I looked into his fearful eyes and shook my head.

“Nothing. Do you want to talk?”

He took a minute, still keeping his gaze at my hand interlocked with his.

“I was walking, down a path. Mist was all around me, but I could see one light in the distance. I followed it. There was a stone building, one room. I looked through the window and–“ He choked up. “You were inside. You were sitting in the chair, and, and Anubis was there. He was still torturing you.” He began to cry again. “I tried to get in, but there were no doors. The window was unbreakable, and it started to have black mold grow on it. I couldn’t see through where it was covered, and as it devoured the window, I heard your one last scream.”

I looked at him, not knowing what to say. I pulled his chin up and held it, forcing him to look me in the eyes.

“I wanted to save you, but I couldn’t. I don’t want anything to happen to you, MacKenzie.” He said, sobbing, his chest doing the hiccup like spasms. I brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

“Sol, I’m safe,” I started but he interrupted me.

“You’re not safe! No one is safe here MacKenzie! After what he did to you…When I find him I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him MacKenzie!” He was yelling now.

I squeezed his hands, but he was fired up.

I pushed him down, keeping one hand on his chest and the other overs his mouth. I held him there until he settled down, his eyes once filled with fire returned to their calm state. I removed my hands and he sat back up, taking them again in a more gentle grip.

“I love you, Mackenzie.” He said.

“I…I love you too,” I said, stuttering the same way I had when I first came here. He laughed at that, and I leaned in to connect my lips with his.

After kissing, I tucked him in like a young kid, giving him one more quick kiss before leaving.

As I settled back into my bed, the sound of rain faded and the moon peeked out of the clouds.

I pondered what Sol had said, how he was going to kill Anubis. What if the others felt this way too? Or the police? The families of those hurt? He had hundreds of people against him, who would rule him to the death penalty in court.

Worry took over me. I knew this couldn’t happen. No one could hurt Anubis. He couldn’t be killed. I needed to make sure of that. If he fell dead then the world would collapse, everything would take a turn for the worst. No, I had to keep him alive. I needed to protect him.

~

I swirled my cereal around my bowl as Brooklyn and Feng chatted next to me. I zoned out until Sol came and took a seat next to me. His eyes were sunken and his face was pale.

“Are you okay?” I asked him, remembering last night’s events.

He nodded his head and held my hand under the table as he nibbled his bacon. I turned my attention back to my soggy cereal.

I perked up when I heard Anubis’s name. Sol was talking to Brooklyn and Caldwell across the table, apparently speaking of battle strategies.

“And then we take a knife and shove it into his chest!” Feng said violently. My face heated up.

“No. I’ll drown him, and then you can do that with his lifeless body.” Brooklyn said, smiling.

Sol laughed. “How about we destroy him until all thats left of him is a memory?” he said.

I slammed my spoon down and stood up, my chair falling backwards. The room fell silent.

“You think that’s funny?” I asked Sol, calmly but fiercely.

“MacKenzie, I just meant–“

“Calm down hot head.” Brooklyn said.

I snapped my head towards her. “You will not kill him. You will not. And if I have to stand in front of him and take the dagger for him, then so be it. But as long as I am here, you will not hurt him. Do you understand?” I asked sternly. Brooklyn’s mouth hung open and she quickly looked away, resting her head on her hands. Feng made a “crazy” gesture and I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

As I stomped down the hall, Sol ran after me, yelling my name.

When he finally caught up to me, he grabbed my arm and spun me around, holding me close to him, no chance of me running away. I felt his eyes on me and I kept my gaze down, just as he had done the night before.

“What was that all about. Why do you care about him so much?” I couldn’t tell if he was mad or not.

“Nevermind,” I said, trying to remove his hands.

“No! Tell me, MacKenzie. He tortured you! He killed innocent people! Why would you want to protect someone like that?”

“Do you know what would happen if he is killed?”

“Yes! I do! We would have a whole lot of trouble off our plate!”

“No! Have you forgotten who he really is? He controls health!” I lowered my voice. “We kill him, and the world goes completely dark. People are sick, whether its with a fever or with cancer. You really want that to happen? How selfish can you be?” I was yelling again.

“Well how is he going to pay for all he’s done?” He yelled back.

“God, why are you thick? He can save many more lives than he’s destroyed! All those diseases, all those people in the hospital, they’ll be safe! Doctors will be of no use and the world will be better! Why can’t you see that?”

“He hurt you, MacKenzie. And I can’t let him get away with that!”

“You don’t have to protect me so much! I’m not a maiden in a tower, I can take care of myself! It won’t matter once we fix him! If it makes you so mad, then stop caring!”

His hands fell of my shoulders as I marched back to my room.

It was Saturday, so I changed into a sweatshirt and shorts and collapsed onto my bed. I switched the television channel to the news, where reporters stood in front of the place where we had fought Anubis. They explained how it was the same man who caused the bowling alley fiasco, and how he was wanted.

I quickly changed it to the disney channel, where high school musical was playing. As Troy and Gabriella shared a sweet moment, I rethought what I had said to Sol. What if he took my words literally, and stopped caring for me? I shook my thoughts away and turned the tv off.

Mother Nature messaged me, ordering me to the into Strategy Room. I rolled out of bed and made my way there.

Inside, everyone sat along the table. I took a seat at the end, all eyes on me.

Mother cleared her throat. “The events that too place during breakfast have been brought to my attention. And I believe MacKenzie is right.” Many murmurs and gasps spread throughout the room. “We have to find Anubis, and reverse his abilities. We will do this by combining all of our elemental sources into a serum, which will then be injected into his brain, lungs, and heart. It will be difficult, yes, but it has to be done. It will take sacrifice, and one heck of a fight. But once we do it, Mara and Adriano will return back to normal as well and it’ll all be over.”

It was that close. The end, it was a good battle away.

The next day, we all were instructed to help make the serum. We dropped our elemental sources into a deep hole, miles away from the palace. They stirred and sizzled, just like a home made stew. I dropped mine in and a burst of flames responded, quickly dying out. Mother reached her hand in and closed her eyes, murmuring words that were not in english. the hole turned a dark greenish color, with hints of blue and purple. The elements fused together, jumped, and finally melted and a soft buzz filled the air. She reached her hand back out, bringing a needle with her, it resembled a shot and was filled with an orangey red liquid. She swooped her hand over it and it disappeared.

“We are ready. This is what we have been training for, preparing for. Tomorrow, we plan our attack,” She looked at me. “Get ready children, here comes the heat.”