-Monday, 6:37pm, Ishida Residence, Tina's Room-

Three red feathers lay on the dresser, emitting a soft glow. Tina Ishida eyed them warily from across the room. She had called her brother a minute ago and was patiently waiting for him and Reinstar. She hoped they arrived until her mother saw the feathers. She hadn't expected this to happen while searching her room for her comb. Then suddenly a bright light blinded her. When her vision cleared, she discovered three feathers where there should have been only one. At first, she panicked. After calming down, she took a picture of them to send to the Radiant, called her brother, and now waited for the situation to escalate since Reinstar was on her way.

The door burst open revealing the Flora Radiant, who zipped over to her immediately.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." Tina leaned back against the redhead's intense stare.

The older girl tilted her head, nodded, then zipped to the feathers on the table.

"Fascinating." She spoke with an excited tone.

"Uh... Lina?" Tina spoke up.

"What happened?" The flora warrior responded, not taking her eyes off the feathers

"I was looking for something, then a bright flash of light blinded me."

"And the result is the feather multiplying." Lina tilted her head, smiling. "What are you?"

"Phoenix feathers."

"Or something else entirely." The Flora Radiant took out a pencil and placed it on the feathers for a few seconds before lifting it to examine the top. "Nothing burnt. Obviously, since the dresser is still intact."

Jake entered the room, followed closely by Reinstar. The canokian ninja eyed the feathers with interest.

"Bright light, feathers became three." Lina summarized to the canokian. "That's all I was informed."

"I see," The violet shinobi exalted slowly. She gazed at Tina who was being comforted by Jake. "Tina."

"I know..." she sighed. "I guess I can't convince you to let me keep them?"

"Tina," Jake grimaced. "All it did was produce light. What if the next transformation could burn you?"

"I... but it didn't."

Reinstar sighed. "I'm sorry, Tina. I know you value them because your grandpa gifted them to you, but this is the type of situation to be concerned over." She eyed the feathers. "Jake, Lina, the mana level is different than last time, right?"

They nodded.

"That means something is happening." The ninja massaged her temple. "The Hub has equipment that can contain them for observation before they cause real harm." She eyed the feathers. "Three feathers... kids, what do you think?"

"It's going to be Phoenix again!" Lina squealed.

"Yes..." Jake grimaced. "or the Vermillion bird."

"Or something else." Reinstar chuckled. "I'll bring the Porta Hub for transport."

"Why not use the teleporter?" asked the Fire Radiant.

"Extra precaution." The shinobi turned to leave. "Teleporting with unstable mana is a bad blend. Hmm…" She chuckled. "Even in a world with a high abundance of mana like Galvania, teleporting using mana tech is hazardous."

After leaving the room, Lina stared at the door, eyes widened as if she just discovered something remarkable. She spun toward Jake like a hyper child, eyes twinkled with delight.

"Did you hear that? Teleporting in Galvania could kill us!" the flora warrior squealed.

"That shouldn't be something you should be happy about." scolded the fire warrior. "If that's the case, that answers my thoughts why everyone is gone for long periods."

"I can't believe I never asked… or Christina never asked." A grimace crossed her face. "I'm out of touch."

"How are you out of touch?" The fire warrior raised an eyebrow, confusion crossed his face.

Yawing, Lina approached young Ishida's bed and lay down. "I just need some sleep."

"On my bed?" Tina groaned.

"Kids?" a familiar voice called

Jake quickly ran to the dresser and stuffed the feathers inside just as his mother entered the room. Keiko noticed Lina on the bed before turning her attention to fire user with a smile.

"Oh, I didn't know you had company. I didn't hear anybody come in."

"I'm a window lass, Ms. Ishida." Lina lazily sat up. "I came in through the window. I'm Lina O'Grace."

"She's visiting a friend of ours. No one you've met, but a friend of a friend of Amy's." Jake added, awkwardly scratching his head.

"Oh, that's wonderful." The matriarch turned to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Salutations." Line greeted.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I thought I heard more voices," Keiko wondered

Everyone heard a squeak from the hall, and Keiko spotted Amy and Blair poking their heads out from Jake's bedroom before quickly pulling back.

"Amy?" Keiko asked.

Jake facepalmed, while Tina sighed.

Moments later, the warriors of light and shadow apprehensively emerged from the room,

"Hi!" Amy excitedly greeted.

"Did you two also come through the window?"

"Yes!" Jake quickly moved between them, a nervous chuckle escaped his lips. "Yes they did, these two climbed through the window, because my window is always open."

"Yep!" Ryu poked his head through the bedroom. "It's what the cool kids do."

Jake scowled at him, prompting the lightning warrior to rub his head sheepishly.

Keiko smiled at them, then let out a dreamily sigh. "I remember sneaking into places when I was teenager." She looked up at the ceiling, nostalgia in her eyes. "Sneaking into a school after hours just to play flashlight tag."

"Oh?" The light warrior perked up. "You did that?"

"Yes, but no more of that." She smiled at them. "You're all welcome to visit anytime, but please don't make a habit of sneaking into anybody's bedroom." She turned to Blair. "I don't believe we have met."

"I-I'm Blair Agnes." The shadow warrior stammered with a shy smile.

"She's also visiting, but she'll be moving here soon." Jake chuckled while patting the shadow warrior's shoulder. "She also won't be climbing through windows."

Blair shook her head. "Never."

The mother giggled. "That's fine. It's good to meet you." She glanced at Jake's bedroom. "And hello to anyone else in the bedroom. You're welcome to stay for a while, but remember it's a school night." With that, she moved downstairs.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, the fire warrior groaned. "That was close."

"We should've checked before coming." Amy chuckled while twirling a strand of her hair. "But, good for thinking fast, Jake."

"Lina's spur of the moment idea." He turned to the sleeping girl. "I wonder how often she crawled through windows."

"It wouldn't be surprising." The shadow warrior sighed. "She admitted to s-sneaking into museums after closing when they were tracking the Masked Piper." The group stared at her, not believing her. Their stares prompted her to awkwardly twirl a strand of her hair. "I-it's true."

"I… believe it." Jake muttered. "And she didn't get caught, that's good."

"If she had, Lance and any conspiracy nut would've broadcast it." added Ryu, chuckling at the news. "Classic Lina.

"Oh dear." Amy facepalmed. "What was she even doing?"

"Nighttime tours are better." Lina lazily yelled out from Tina's room. "It's serene and otherworldly. I already snuck into the museum in Parkerville."

"No, why?" whined Jake while he marched into the bedroom. "You're going to get caught!"

"It's a braw way to learn from a different perspective." She waved him off. "You should give it a go."

"If braw means good, then sign me up." Ryu stepped into the room, a mischievous expression on his face. "Maybe I'll be more interested in ancient history."

The fire warrior sighed. "Ryu."

Jake turned his attention to his sister, who stood before the opened dresser, holding the feathers. A small frown marred on his face as he gazed at her solemn expression. He hated seeing her like this, knowing she would remain in that state for the next few days. He hoped this wouldn't open old wounds again and be reminded of their deceased father.

"Tina," He softly spoke. "I know you treasure them, but we don't know what will happen if they multiply again."

"I know." The young girl turned to him. "But it sucks. I have this cool mysterious artifact and it's taken from me, a gift from grandpa no less. It might seem dangerous, but I have a feeling… it's not. I know you and the others don't think that's enough of a reason to leave them be, but that's how I feel. They protected me from having my desires stolen." She smiled at them. "Even before my abduction I felt warmth and safety, like they were a good luck charm."

"Hmmm." Lina mumbled. "No… I doubt they determine the probability of luck."

"The point is, it hurts that I have to let them be locked away." She grimaced. "They might have to be destroyed. I don't want that, but what can I do? I don't want to be responsible for hurting other people."

"You won't be," Jake reassured her, placing an arm around her shoulder. "It's great the feathers didn't burn you or the house. Let's be thankful for that. For the time being, Guardian will monitor them and decide on what to do with them. Who knows maybe they will deem them safe for you to take."

"Or transport them to Galvania for disposal." Lina stated. "Handling artifacts is one of their priorities. Caution is a must with this situation."

"Even so." Amy walked into the room and hugged Tina tightly. "Monitoring is one step towards trying to figure out what it is. I'm sure they'll allow you to see them again."

"Maybe." The sister sighed. "But I want them near me, and not far away. Knowing it's in my room gives me peace of mind. I even thought about changing them into a necklace as a memento of grandpa." She looked at the others, noticing Ryu and Blair entering the room. "You understand?"

"You mean some deeper connection to you or something sentimental from a relative." wondered the lightning warrior. "No matter how you describe it, it's important to you."

"A keepsake." The shadow warrior spoke softly, rolling up her left jacket sleeve to reveal two engraved silver bracelets on her left arm. "These are h-heirlooms that were passed down from my grandma's side. My mother gifted them to me when I turned five." She frowned. "I understand you want them as a reminder."

Tina nodded. "Yes, I think that's how I feel, but I just don't want to lose them. It's an invaluable treasure." She chuckled. "Now I feel greedy about keeping it."

"What about that story?" asked Ryu. "What if it chose you as the maiden?"

"There isn't any documentation other than the known mythologies." Lina yawned while rubbing her eyes. "We can't believe that tale. Word of mouth can change over a millennia."

"Plus wouldn't she be the reincarnation of the friend?" stated Blair, eyeing the feathers. "What w-would that mean if the bond was something else?"

"Nothing!" growled Jake, his aura flaring.. "Absolutely nothing! I'll fight a damn bird myself before anything bad happens. That tale could be complete crap for all we know."

Amy grasped Jake's shoulder, concern on her face. "Let's remain calm. We need to keep in mind how the tale describes a bond between the phoenix and the maiden. If there is something awful behind it, keeping the feathers in the Hub will be a good start so it doesn't hurt her and we'll be ready in case anything goes wrong."

Jake exhaled softly. He didn't like it, but he agreed with her. Still, the worry lingered. If something happened to her, he would beat himself up for not taking the feather as soon he felt the mana. He hoped his decision wouldn't become a disaster. He turned to Amy and nodded to her, then turned to his sister.

"Tina, I've said it before: I'll protect you."

"We all will." the light warrior reassured.

The other nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Tina smiled at them.

Jake's expression suddenly dropped, and he rubbed his head. "Damn…"

"What's wrong?" Amy tilted her head in concern.

"I didn't realize this until now, but I'm sure Pilot would be very unhappy about the feathers."

Ryu laughed nervously. "Ah ha, yeah, no kidding. He's going to be mad at you, Jake. You're the leader, so you're taking the blame for this one."

"We're a team, so we'll all be punished." whimpered Amy.

"Not me." cheered Lina.

Blair grimaced. "But we a-are a team, even if we weren't t-there when the feather was known. We could've p-persuaded them to confiscate the feather. We might be punished."

Tina giggled. "Sorry… not sorry."

Jake groaned. "I don't want to think about it right now. Guys, go home."

"Nope, your mom said we can stay for a while." Ryu started to leave the room. "We're ordering pizza!"

The fire warrior snorted. "Fine."

As the group left the room, Tina lingered at the doorway, gazing at the feathers on the dresser for a few moments. She blinked, snapping herself out of the trance and followed the others. The red feathers remained on the dresser, emitting a soft red glow. All three briefly emitted a red light before the aura diminished, leaving only a faint outline.