“This... is….”

Crystal shifted, accidentally bumping into Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel took it as a demand for comfort and patted Crystal’s shoulder. They were all packed tightly into the back seat of Austin’s four-runner, Crystal, Daniel, Troy, Sam, and Kaine. Austin was driving and Amanda was riding shotgun. Crystal had a feeling that the crowding was done for comfort needs. Still, she didn’t feel the need. All she felt was…well-- nothing. It must be shock, she assumed.

“This is….”

Kaine had shucked the mysterious priest look in favor of his teenage dirt bag look. Crystal had to admit that he looked less intimidating that way; she would rather handle a drug dealer than that thing back in the detention room any day. At least they had covered what to do about drug dealers in school. Everyone had seen what Kaine really was and what had happened to Ms. Itemiser, but thus far, no one had brought it up. Remarkably, the only one acting sane and rational besides Crystal was Amanda, and it was obvious that she wasn’t suffering from shock.

“This... is…” Austin uttered again.

“If you’re not going to say anything constructive, then shut up,” Amanda said in a perfectly calm voice. Or at least as calm as she ever got.

“I’ll say something constructive,” Troy piped up from the very back of the SUV, “I want a cigarette.”

“That effectively contributes to that matter at hand, thank you,” Amanda growled just loud enough for Troy to hear the fact that she’d said something insulting.

“Damn it, using big words isn’t making us feel any better!” Sam suddenly burst out from his place beside Troy.

“Bite me,” Amanda called without looking back at them.

“Thanks,” said Sam, sounding genuinely relieved.

“Well, I suppose some explanations are in order,” Kaine put into the ensuing silence. No one said anything.

“Now, some of what I’m going to say will sound virtually impossible,” Kaine continued, receiving no challenge or response from anyone, “Utterly preposterous, and some of it may just go over your heads.

I am the Guardian Priest to the Royal Family of the Balance. I am immortal. I live forever and will not age. My job is to protect the Royal family and the Balance between all in the Universe.”

There was a very long silence.

“Jack in the Box?” Austin asked.

“We always eat there,” Amanda whined.

“It’s closer,” Austin pointed out.

“All right,” Amanda sighed in resignation.

“I want three tacos, stuffed jalapenos and a coke,” Sam said, perking up at the thought of food.

“Number three,” Troy called from the back seat.

“Sex on the beach,” Daniel said. Crystal slapped him upside the head. “What? It’s a drink!”

“HEY! WHY ISN’T ANYBODY LISTENING TO ME?” Kaine yelled, “Don’t you guys care about your fate?”

“No,” was the unanimous reply.

“But, what about your destiny?” Kaine persisted.

“We really don’t care,” Amanda answered, digging in her backpack for some change.

“What about the mess you guys left at the school?” Kaine glanced around.

There was a pause.

“Touché,” Amanda sighed, handing Austin a five-dollar bill. Crystal watched as Austin waited until Amanda’s attention was elsewhere, then put the five back in her backpack. He almost never let her pay for her own meals, but if she found that out, she would kill him. Crystal thought it was a sure sign of friendship.

“Okay, okay,” Troy said after they had all begun to eat their food while parked in the Jack in the Box parking lot (for some reason Austin would refuse to eat drive-through while driving.) A higher blood sugar has been known to restore brain cells in children. “I’ve got an idea. I had something like this happen to me and a friend once before,”

Everyone turned to stare at him.

“Okay, not exactly like this, but close enough,” Troy surrendered, “Anyway, lets just eat, go home, sleep and meet each other back at school tomorrow with paint, nails, wood, and plaster. We can decide what to do from there. Cool?”

Crystal sighed. What else could they do?

“You could’ve told me,” Crystal hissed at Kaine later that night in her bedroom. The mysterious priest had insisted on staying with her through the night, to do some “catching up.”

“As if you would’ve believed me,” Kaine protested. He had his back to her, modestly as she dove beneath the covers of her bed. Crystal didn’t want him to see her lacy nightgown with the incredibly low cut.

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When he turned to face her, his indigo eyes turned sad.

“What is it?” Crystal asked.

“When I look at you, I see your mother,” Kaine replied. What was really wrong was that he wanted her to automatically remember, so he wouldn’t have to re-count the final hours of their last life together.

“Kaine,” Crystal said, uncomfortably, “Um, how did my mother die? Who was she and why don’t I remember any of this? And what about the mother I’ve got now? Is she the same one from the past life?”

“No, she is not.Your life as it existed before your tenth grade year is a life separate from the one you lived in the past, yet you are still the same person.Your destiny has not changed, though you cannot recall what that destiny is.You will never truly remember any of your past life…And even if I tell you every single detail, knowing the way the teenage mind works, you will probably be in denial about most of it, but that’s all right; it’s not important.”

Yes it was. He wanted nothing else. Kaine sat cross-legged on the floor. “Still, it seems I should probably explain why you will never be able to live your so-called ‘normal’ life again.”

You can say that again, Crystal thought. But as that would be the most jackass thing she could say, she instead said, “Okay, go ahead and tell me. It can’t be as bad as listening to my homeroom teacher talk about community service.”

Kaine looked at her, a measuring look in his eyes. “Do you have the disc?” he asked quietly. Crystal sat up and reached over to her nightstand where she had kept it. She passed the warm stone to him and watched as he turned it over and over in his hands, studying the surface. “This is, was, your family’s crest. The crest of the royal family.” Absently, he reached up to touch the matching symbol on his brow. “I have served the family for as long as there has been a family.” Crystal watched him as he reached deep within the folds of his robe and withdrew the music box that had been on Crystal’s bed on her birthday. He fitted the disc in and the soft music began to play. Crystal settled down onto her pillows, listening. It was hauntingly familiar and entirely different at the same time. Slowly, with intense deliberation, Kaine began to speak:

“Long before the time that you exist in now, the world as you understand it was controlled by a single ruler.This man, or woman, had power over all.They protected the strong from the weak, kept the dead separate from the living, and kept good and evil in perfect balance.For you see, all these paradoxes must be kept in check to prevent Chaos, and that was the job of our ruler.It was not a simple matter of title, for the ruler was selected by divine right from the High Priest.The Priests served a higher order than that of man and were vested with powers beyond mortal imagination.Including the power to discern those fit to rule.”

Kaine tried not to let pride swell in his voice. He had to remind himself that Crystal was fifteen and probably didn’t give a damn about the Highest Order of Priests, which was Kaine the Eternal, incidentally.

“The ruler’s power did not pass exclusively from blood relative onward.If a ruler’s offspring was not fit to maintain the balance, then the Ultimate power passed to one who was worthy.The chosen one’s power would reveal itself when the time was right.However, one ruler gave birth to two twin girls.This was not unheard of, but typically, one of the twins would display the ability to control the power, or neither would.In this case, however, both girls exhibited great power.What’s more, their power was equal to the other, though of opposite bearing.So, while they had different strengths, one could not overpower the other.

“Years passed, and the ruler grew old. She had to choose between her two children who would rule, but she never made the choice. When she died, the Priests decided that both would rule the throne jointly. For a time, this worked, though one twin was rather discontented at having to wear a gown and use her regal bearing. The more serene twin did all of the figurehead work, while the fractious one did a lot of the technical aspects. In short, one seemed to be the queen, while the other was the bad ass.”

Kaine paused to see if Crystal would react, but she said nothing.

“Over the years, the twins grew distant.The Queen ruled from the heart of the Universe, while the other sister traveled where she wanted and enforced the laws of the Dynasty everywhere…even in the most forbidden territories.When she returned to court, which wasn’t often, the other twin was…estranged.Many whispered of black magic surrounding her and her weapons.Some say that she was haunted by a thousand screams.It did not help that her harsh, silent manner earned her a reputation as a witch.Through all that and more, she developed the title of the Damned One.People encouraged the Queen to banish her, but as far as anyone knew, the sisters remained close at heart.

“Then, the queen gave birth to a daughter. The queen wanted her baby to be the heir to the throne, but the Damned One was not happy with this. Though the Queen tried to assure her, the Damned One stayed fractious on the matter, but during the pregnancy, she never left her sister’s side. Then, the eve before the birth, the Damned One left the Capital. As a matter of fact, she vanished. No one saw or heard of her ever again. No one knows why the Damned One left her sister and her duties, and the Queen never spoke of it. But she did cut her hair and veiled her head in the sign of mourning.

“Meanwhile, without the other half of her power, the Queen lost control of the balance.Evil began to run amok, and the Universe was leaning toward collapse.Without the Damned One to enforce justice in the outer most territories, many rebellions were spawned.People turned away from their old beliefs and tried to base a new way of living on precarious ideas.An army of darkness arose to overthrow the Queen.In short order, the Queen was killed, but her daughter, the princess, and escaped.Convinced that no matter what had happened to her aunt, the other half of her mother’s power had survived, the princess created a…rebirth.You see, upon the queen’s death, the princess inherited her mother’s broken power.Her aunt still had the other half.The princess decided to seal away that fate and that time until the other half of her power resurfaced either directly through her aunt, or through her aunt’s designated heir.

“She made loophole in which everything will repeat itself unless acted upon by the princess with her full power. Otherwise, the Universe will go to the brink of Chaos…and then just start over.

“Now…the Queen was your mother, Celeste. The Damned One was your aunt, Astrea…and the princess was…is… you.”

Kaine finished with a sigh of relief.The music had stopped playing.After thousands of millennia, had finally told the story.He could finally start to heal and regain his powers.He could finally get on with his life.

I’ve finally found you. Kaine opened his mouth to ask Crystal if she had any questions.

She was fast asleep, snoring.

“You haven’t changed at all,” Kaine said.

He brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes and, on an impulse, kissed her forehead. Instantly, he felt his heart lurched with longing and sadness. His brow tingled a little, remembering the forbidden caresses of lovers. But virtue or no, he missed her so much! But…she obviously didn’t remember the relationship they had had. Kaine wasn’t sure he wanted her to remember. Being fifteen years old now as opposed to back then had a huge effect on what was kosher as far as relationships went. But technically, since he had no age…. It didn’t matter; she still wasn’t the same Crystal he had let go of many years before. And he wasn’t exactly the same after all this time. But some part of him knew that he loved her still and always would.