Everything was back to normal. At least the other kind of normal for Dye. He had his powers back and he was protecting the city, stopping the usual petty crime. He was better than before as his instincts seemed to kick in more naturally this time around, giving him access to better control of his powers. From time to time, Dye would become reminded of what happened to him.

He died, and it hurt.

Griflore’s blade impaled him and left him for death. Stricken with the fear and uncertainty of it all, whenever this thought stirred inside his head, he became depressed and regretful of his actions that led up to it. He should’ve listened to Sam. He should’ve gone home initially. Nonetheless, it took his death for his brothers to gain the upperhand against the monster.

Was that worth it?

Had he gone home they wouldn’t have been able to run Griflore out of town. Worse, he probably would’ve killed them. It was hard to fathom, but he tried to rush the thought from his mind whenever it decided to call.

Back at school he protected his identity as always. Jenny eventually came around after what happened on their date but Dye still felt bad that he couldn’t protect her like he could now. Joss was in geek-mode as stories and opinions about what happened filled the media. Dye, as always, sat and listened, pretending to be uninterested, as Joss discussed them with him and Jenny. Rumors circualated that a bomb went off on Twenty-First street and the Xenton simply couldn’t stop it to giant subterranean lizards emerging and the Xenton fought them and drove them back underground. Some even surfaced that a secret experiment broke loose from a military base and that's why the military got involved.

“Oh no, couldn’t have been because the city was under attack,” chucked Dye at the ridiculousness of the idea.

“Hey, I’m just telling you what I heard,” Joss replied.

“Sure, like you don’t kinda believe that,” Jenny teased.

“I’ve heard stories about Area 51 so it’s plausible.”

Jenny and Dye laughed. “You’re a lunatic, do you know that?” Dye playfully replied. Joss smiled.

“It's been three weeks since the mysterious and cataclysmic attack that occurred in Downtown Beach Shores,” said the news. Suddenly the television picture flipped to the street that was completely destroyed. “As you can see, the damage taken here was incredible. Twenty-first Street has been completely destroyed, reduced to nothing but oversized craters and ruins. Officials say that the damage will cost millions of dollars to repair. Meanwhile, people are forced to live on the streets or with family and friends due to the fact that their homes were destroyed in the mysterious attack along with businesses, leaving thousands of people out of work. The Military is unable to confirm if the attack was terrorist–related or not. However, hundreds of eyewitnesses have described the attacker as a purple armored person who toppled military tanks and destroyed helicopters. Other eyewitnesses have confirmed that the trio responsible for the derailed train rescue were seen during the attack. Whoever these armored people are, are they friend or foe?”

The TV was muted by Sam, who was sitting in the living room on the couch with his laptop on his lap. “I can smell the blame pointing towards us,” he began typing on his laptop when Dye came walking through the swinging door leading into the kitchen eating a sandwich.

“What's up, Sammy?” Dye said. “What are you up to?”

“You come back from the dead, and all you can think about is food?” Sam replied while keeping his eyes on his computer screen. Dye walked over and sat on the couch adjacent to Sam.

“I’m starving,” Dye replied, “don’t judge me. So what are you doing?” He asked in a curious tone, taking another bite out of his sandwich, “Homework?”

Sam shook his head. “To be honest, I’m trying to see if I can pull up any information about our purple armored friend.”

“You can do that?” Asked Dye, munching on his sandwich.

“That’s what’s so great about the era we live in,” said Sam. “We have a whole archive of information we like to call the internet at our fingertips.”

“What I meant was, do you even know what to look for? You can’t just google Purple Armored Xenton Throughout the years.”

“No, but you investigate strange sightings and see if anything compares with what we know so far.”

Dye nodded with an agreeable gesture on his face. “So have you found anything yet?”

“Not yet,” said Sam, “I mean it’s Saturday, so I practically have all day. Not saying I’m going to be here all day.”

The room fell silent. The only noise was a mixture of Sam’s typing and Dye’s crunching.

“Wait a minute,” said Sam, catching Dye’s attention and breaking the silence.

“What is it?”

“Get over here and look at this.”

Dye jumped up from his seat and approached Sam. He laid his eyes on the computer screen, finishing the last piece of his sandwich.

“Um, what am I supposed to be looking at?” He said

“This is a document that describes a purple armored being that was sighted during the climax at the Battle of Gettysburg.”

“Really? Are you talking about the same Battle of Gettysburg that happened during the Civil War?

“There’s only one Battle of Gettysburg, Dye.” Sam exhaled.

“Well how am I supposed to know that?”

“It says here that this sighting happened around eighteen sixty-three, the same time that the battle was taking place.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Considering Arayan believes this to be the same Griflore from his era, maybe. Look at this,” Sam minimized the window on his computer and opened a new one. “A river in Russia called the Vedrosha River was where the Battle of Vedrosha took place. A record was found of a soldier who claimed to have seen a purple armored, unknown being. And it says here that this battle took place in the year fifteen hundred. These accounts that describe Griflore go back as far as the ninth century, maybe even further.”

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“I mean, Xenton aren’t supposed to be immortal, are they? Arayan wasn’t even aware Griflore was a Xenton, ” said Dye.

“Exactly and the arm we saw didn’t show any signs of old age. Which means the person underneath the mask must be young.”

“Okay? I’m confused,” said Dye, picking out the remaining food from the back of his teeth. “How can something so young be sighted for centuries and not get old?”

“I have no idea,” Sam replied. “Could Griflore not age?”

Dye shrugged his shoulders.

Sam closed his laptop.“Wait, where are you going?”

“I have homework to do. I have to update my science fair progress report.”

“Hold on before you go. I have one more thing for you to research.”

“What is it?” Asked Sam.

Dye opened the coat closet. It was there he took out a bag and pulled out the ruby, red rock he found on that day.

“What can you tell me about this? This is what Grilfore was after. I don’t know what it is but he sure wanted it. Badly!”

“What is that?” Said Sam, mesmerized by the shiny stone. “That ruby is huge!”

“I don’t know?” Dye replied. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

Sam took the stone from Dye’s hands and began to analyze it.

“I don’t know what this is but it’s heavy and I don’t know if rubies are this dense.”

“Maybe Arayan might know what it is.”

At that moment, a flash of light lit up the living room. The glare blinded both Sam and Dye, causing Sam to drop the stone.

“What the?” Said Dye, rubbing his eyes and moaning over their sensitivity.

“What was that?” Sam groaned.

As they were regaining their eyesight, the two started to distinguish a figure standing in the middle of the room.

“A–Arayan?” Said Sam.

“Yes,” the figure replied.

“Geez, man!” Said Dye. “You really gotta start warning us when you do that, for both our sake and yours.”

“Yeah,” said Sam, “what if our parents were home?”

“My apologies,” said Arayan. The room fell silent again. Realizing he’d dropped the stone, Sam bent down and picked it up.

“Glad to see that you're up and about,” said Arayan.

Despite him giving back his Ka, Dye was still subtly creeped out by Arayan’s off putting demeanor. Furthermore, Dye couldn’t forget the sinister persona he put on when he forcefully took his Ka, but he didn’t let his appreciation go unnoticed. “I never really got to say thanks for returning me back to life.” He held out his hand.

“No thanks required. I used a unique cast that was able to bring you back from the dead. Don't die on me again because it was only a one-time thing,” spoke Arayan. He looked at Dye’s hand. “What is this for?”

“It’s a hand shake.” Dye replied.

Arayan looked at Dye’s hand and then back to him. “But it's not shaking.”

“It's a gesture to symbolize that we are cool?” Dye replied.

Arayan's confusion began to show.

“But we’re not cool. In fact, it is a bit warm in here,” Arayan replied.

Dye took his hand back feeling awkward and naive. “Nevermind then…”

Arayan caught a glimpse of the rock Sam was holding.

“Is that–?” Arayan paused, setting his eyes on the stone. “May I?” Sam handed it over.“Where did you get this?” He was completely mesmerized by the ruby red stone.

“Uh, I found it on the streets where you guys we’re fighting. Why? What is it?”

“This is the energy my medallion detected.”

“There must be a lot of energy circulating around this planet,” said Dye, unimpressed. He wasn’t too sure how Arayan’s necklace worked. All he knew was the thing detected energy all the time and it was just too much to keep up with. He wasn’t sure how Arayan managed it all. Though, he was curious.

“You’d be surprised,” said Arayan, still kept by the stone. “It’s called a Jenshia Star.”

“Okay? What is that exactly?” asked Dye.

“It’s the fragments of a planet named Jenshia that blew up eons ago due to a massive supernova. It is said the star from the system Jenshia orbited contained an unknown power, a quintessential power of some kind. It imbued the fragments with its energy as they scattered through space. Some of its remains made it to Earth. They used to fall every year or so. Those who were lucky enough to come across one would have the privilege to have whatever his or her heart desired.”

“What? Like granting a wish?” asked Sam

“Not exactly,” Arayan answered. “The power of the star gives the user the ability to alter reality and that takes time. The bigger the desire, the longer the change. This gave someone who opposed the event the opportunity to undo what was being done by destroying the star.” Sam and Dye exchanged looks as they listened. “One who held the star, who expressed their desire for anything, under a full moon, would slowly begin to realize their longing as it became tangible. Once completed, the star would become just another hunk of rock.”

“So this thing only works on a full moon?” asked Sam.

“That is correct.” Arayan answered, finally taking his eyes off the rock

“So that’s why Griflore wanted this thing so badly,” Dye came to the conclusion. “And that’s why he made such a scene when he was looking for it because it was buried. This thing must’ve been here a while then if it was buried under all that asphalt.”

Arayan continued to be awestruck by the mysterious object he held.

“He must have tracked its energy somehow and found it, I suppose,” said Arayan.

“How would he know to do that?” asked Sam.

“I am not sure. There is still a lot I don’t know about him. First he is a Xenton, and now he’s able to detect energy like my medallion.”

“Which would explain why he’s here in the city,” interjected Dye.

“If he gets his hands on this thing then we’re doomed. I think it’ll be best if I hold on to it. If he’s planning on tracking its energy again, then your family will be in danger. If I were to take it up to the Sky Sanctuary, its power signal would disappear behind its cloaking.”

“Sure,” said Sam. “Sounds like a plan to me. I really don’t want to have another run in with him any time soon.”

“Neither do I,” Dye recalled his death. “At least not yet.” A desire to get pay back tickled him.

“Agreed,” Arayan replied. With that said, the mysterious boy vanished from sight, and the two boys were left in the silence of their home.

“Now if you would excuse me, I have homework to get done,” said Sam, marching upstairs.

Sam made his way upstairs, leaving Dye in the living room by himself. He plopped down on the couch, turned the TV off mute. He saw the final scenes of the devastation on the news. He looked at it for a second and brief images of his death resurfaced. He quickly changed the channel and found a movie he was interested in. He laid down and relaxed himself as the movie took his mind away from his painful memories.