*Quin*

I was shocked when she told me she didn't mind if I asked her, so shocked that it cancelled out some of the shock from when she tossed her feet on my lap. Honestly, I wanted to complain and give her a hard time, but another part of me didn't.

She looks like the kind of girl who would curl up in one comfy ball when she slept. Her personality was the type that would take up the entire bed. Her sleeping patterns matched her personality. After she fell asleep, she laid flat on her back and stretched her feet all the way across my lap.

"Hey, Hecate," Hatchet said, walking down the wooden stairs. Shit. "Hecate!"

"Hatchet," I said, using the voice I used when I was a commander, "quiet."

"What? Why?"

"She just fell asleep." And there was my second screw up.

A smirk slid across his lips. He walked towards the back of the couch and leaning over it to see Hecate with her feet spread over my lap. And me doing nothing to stop it.

"Aww, Quin. I didn't know you had a soft side."

"Shut up. I'm only letting her because I don't think she's slept mush the past few days."

"What're you talking about? Didn't she sleep in New York?"

"I don't think so. She went to bed after me and was up before me and I only got a few hours of sleep. I think the last time she slept was after the prison camp, after her powers...you know."

"I think you're right. Jesus Christ, she's gotta be exhausted."

I nodded. "So shut up and let her sleep."

"Alright, but when she wakes up, could you tell her I wanna start my training?"

I nodded.

"Thanks. I'll go keep Jacin and Heather distracted in the meantime." He started heading back downstairs before he turned around with one more comment. "Don't get to cuddly, guys."

I picked up a pencil from the ground and threw it at his head, barely missing.

I set my elbow on the armrest and rested my head on my hand.

---

I must've fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes next, the lights were out. My hand was tingling and numb.

Instead of sleeping peacefully or humming along to some stupid tune from some Disney movie. She was sweating, her features uncharacteristically strained.

"Sa... No..."

A nightmare. Apparently even Hecate was scared of something. But what?

I figured it was best to let her have her nightmare, let her wake up normally, and possibly learn a weakness or two of hers. Anything I could get.

After less than a minute, I felt incredibly guilty. Her hands were tearing at the blanket and the couch, trying to grab onto something and she looked like she was in pain.

"Hecate," I whispered, reaching over to rest my hand on her shoulder. "Hecate."

"Alex," she mumbled. "No...No!"

She sat up, slamming her head into mine. I fell back, catching myself on the armrest.

I looked into her eyes and was amazed to find vulnerability. Sadness and pain, terror. I was taken aback. I forgot the pain in my forehead, immediately distracted.

It was only a moments glance, something I might not even have noticed without my training. She recovered immediately, pulling herself back into her usual happy, calm demeanor.

"Morning, Mr. Grumpy Pants," she said with a goofy smile.

"You said I could ask you anything, right?"

She nodded. "But that doesn't mean I'll answer you."

"Who's Alex?"

She looked at me for a second, her features perfectly still and her head tipped a millimeter to the side. Her thinking face. She was deciding what it was okay to tell and what she wanted to be kept secret.

"Wow, I haven't heard that name in a while. Alex is...part of my past."

I nodded, knowing I couldn't get anything useful. Alex, though. I'd have to listen for an Alex.

"Go sleep upstairs or something," she said, laying her head back down on the pillow.

"Nah," I replied, "I'm pretty comfy right here."

She let out a long laugh. "Your arm's numb isn't it?"

I nodded.

She was still smiling. "You just wanna hear what I say while I'm sleeping again."

I smiled back.

"Well, if you're not taking the room, then I am."

She got up, dropping the pillow and the blanket in my lap before pulling herself upstairs.

"Really?" I said, even though I didn't have much of a problem with it.

I laid down on the couch.

Alex, huh? I'd have to keep my ears open for this guy.

---

Something kept poking my cheek and I had a feeling it was Hecate.

"Morning, Mr. Grumpy Pants."

Yep. She's the only one who'd dare poke me and then call me Mr. Grumpy Pants.

There was another poke.

"Breakfast."

"Who's cooking?" I grumbled, throwing my arm over my eyes to shield them from the light.

"Me, now come on."

"I didn't know you can cook." Though it didn't really surprise me. She could do just about anything.

"I live by myself. Of course I can cook."

I sat up, pushing my hand through my bed head. "I thought you lived off fast food."

She let out a short laugh. "Usually. But when I'm down here, I like to make my own food cause the nearest restraunt's Wendy's and I don't really like them that much."

She grabbed my hand off the couch and pulled me up onto my feet.

*Hecate*

Breakfast was chocolate chip waffles, cause in the war between waffles and pancakes I will always choose the waffles. I cooked up some bacon, pig bacon and turkey bacon, and set some strawberries out too.

Quin was impressed, at least. He was trying not to be , but I could see his amazement under all that seriousness. I also saw complete and utter deliciousness when he took a bite.

Smiling, I snapped my fingers together and sent a jolt of magic up to the others.

"What the hell, Hecate!" Heather yelled, running downstairs. "Was that you?"

"Of course it was me," I half said half laughed. "If it was Hatchet he might've killed you."

"And I can't do something like that," Jacin said through a yawn.

Unlike Heather, Jacin and Hatchet came down the stairs in a much mre relaxed manned. No running, no yelling. They were used to my breed of crazy/weird by now, unlike Heather.

The three of them sat down at the table to eat.

"You're not eating?" Quin asked, after swallowing a strawberry.

"Nah. I gotta go check on my stuff and set some things up so Hatchet can start his lessons."

They didn't respond, too busy eating my delicious breakfast. Hahaha. I'm a fabulous chef.

I skipped up the stairs and made a right, the only way I could go unless I made a whole in the wall or something.

On the right side, I counted down three doors until I reached one with caution tape duck tapped on the front of it. No matter how long magic lasted, duck tape was the god of eternal stickiness.

I touched my hand to the brass doorknob and immediately felt a shock shoot through my body. My own magic immediately reacted, seeping into the door and attacking the electric glyph on the other side. I could feel static picking at the hairs on the back of my neck and then nothing. The magic shut down.

I gently turned the doorknob, listening to the door eerily creak open.

The room was cluttered with ancient artifacts almost up to the ceiling with enough space for me to sit and work in the center. I closed the door behind me and then raised my hand. Magic flowed through the room, carefully avoiding the treasures which may or may not have the power to blow up and/or end human existence as we know it.

The glyph that I drew on the ceiling reacted, taking in my magic to light up.

This was the only room in the house that I had to be careful with electricity in. You know, ending all life and all that.

I sat in the center of the room and grabbed for the artifact I was working on last time I was here.

It was a purple rock that I could date back to the Beginning. It was a diamond shaped rock with a flat surface on two opposite corners. On one of the flat surfaces was the symbol for magic and on the other was one I couldn't read. Whenever I touched the stone, I could feel magic being sucked out of me, but not in a bad way or anything. If I pulled back I could just as easily take it back. And it only took a small amount unless I gave it more.

The symbol for magic was a clockwise circle. The other symbols was a counter clockwise circle which I guessed was something like antimagic but that didn't make sense because there was no such thing as antimagic. Unless there was such a thing as antimagic. Which didn't sound good.

There was a creak in the old door behind me.

"What did I say about coming in here?" I asked Mr. Grumpy Pants who's curiosity would probably get him killed someday. Of course it was him. "Opening that door may or may not have ended the human race as we know it. For all I know I could be dead by now"

"You're not dead, Majesty."

"How would I know that? One of these artifacts may be killing me slowly because you opened that door. For all we know the world may already have ended and we're just uh... We're waiting."

"For what?" He asked. I could hear his footsteps carrying him into the room and the door shutting behind him.

"I don't know, anything. That's the problem."

He sat down behind me and I could feel him peeking over my shoulder at the purple stone.

"I thought you were preparing something for Hatchet."

"Got distracted. Curiosity got the best of me. Besides, he can wait a little while longer."

"What're those?"

"Glyph symbols. See, this one here stands for magic." I pointed to the clockwise circle. "But I don't know what the other one is, and it bothers me."

"Well, it's the opposite of magic, right? So what would you consider the opposite of magic."

"Antimagic, which doesn't exist unless it does exist in which case I may have screwed up a few things and we may also be screwed."

"Okay, assuming that anitmagic doesn't exist what else would you consider the opposite of magic?"

"Hmmm... No magic." A thought hit me. I jabbed the other half of the stone at Quin who looked confused. "Touch it."

He did so, grabbing onto the other half of the stone. In an instant it reacted, both glyph symbols glowing. More magic was being sucked form my body in a slow and steady manner.

Quin jumped, tossing the stone.

I grabbed onto his hand to see it giving off a feint glow.

He looked at his fingers with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open.

"What the hell was that?" He mumbled.

I had a huge smile on my face when I looked at him.

"I just gave you my magic," I mumbled. "I transferred magic to you!"

The glowing in his hands quickly faded.

"Of course it wouldn't last long," I mumbled. "You have nothing big enough to retain extra magic with so you can't use magic by yourself but if we both held the stone at the same time and I let you, you could use my magic. Quin, I know where we're going next. There was this place that I found with the same symbol on it and I couldn't figure out how to get in, but now I might now."

I stood up. "I gotta go calm down before I get too into this. Thanks, Quin. I seriously wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

I was still smiling. I could feel my heart beating fast in complete excitement. I- no we translated a new symbol.

"Hold on," Mr. Grumpy Pants said, grabbing my sleeve. "I came to ask you something. Do you, uh, think there's anything I could do to help you? Besides shooting at people, I mean. That's what I wanted to ask, but now I know what I wanna learn. Can you teach me how to read glyphs?"

-Authors Note-

This special thanks goes to @SwordmasterNicole for all the likes and comments. Thanks for loving my characters as much as I do.

Love you all,

~Q