My heavy eyelids began to droop as I dozed off in the chair next to KL's lab table. She must've used a lot of energy saying that I've been sitting here for the last forty-five minutes watching over her.

As I sat to myself, I couldn't help but think about how much had changed within the last week or so. Finding out that my little sister was still alive was something that took me by surprise. Of course it was awesome to know that at least one of my other family members had survived the slaughtering, but for her to just pop out of nowhere so unexpectedly kind of bothered me. I couldn't help but feel responsible for her even though she's only two years younger than I.

From what I've learned so far Airilice raised herself, living off of other's generosity or finding and making things for herself. Just from some of the stories and experiences that she's spoken to me about, I can tell that Airi seems like the independent, go-getter type. She seems comfortable in her own skin, which was a rare quality to find in people nowadays.

As a favor, she filled in the blanks on what happened that day we ran away. The rest of our family was slaughtered, so I ran and she followed. I was trying to protect her by telling her to run in front of me, but she never managed to catch up. Running at the fastest speed my legs could handle, I took off while accidentally leaving her behind. Up to the time she filled me in on this information, I had always believed that I had gotten away and she didn't. Apparently I was wrong.

Yet the deeper I thought, the more confused I became. What were we running from? Who were we running from?

As much as I loved having a little sister, it was a bit of an adjustment getting used to the fact that I was now a big brother. Conversation was hard to make with someone you were supposed to know like the back of your hand. Part of me felt guilty for not taking more of an initiative to spend time with her, but I didn't want to rush things and make things even more awkward between us. We were complete strangers that were bonded by blood.

Looking at KL in such a vulnerable state made my heart sink into my chest. Who would be so humble as to risk their own life to heal another? Knowing that I was the personal Guardian to such a selfless person was an absolute honor. Yet I couldn't help but feel that we were still on rocky ground because of what I did to Seth. The guilt still eats me up to this day. Everytime I think about it my heart repeatedly pounds in my chest causing it to twist in squeeze in a stressful, agonizing way. I couldn't help but hate myself because of what I did to the poor guy.

Looking at the situation from this point in time, I couldn't help but think it was quite humorous that I killed him because he was trying to protect her. He was doing the exact job that I was now assigned. Would things have been different if the event had played out another way? If he was still alive, would he have been her Guardian? Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, dripping down one by one. No matter how many times I tried to push the thought aside , it always came back to haunt me.

Kratos walked in the lab and automatically stopped in his tracks when he spotted me. " Why are you here?"

" I wanted to check up on her, see how she's doing? Why do you ask?"

" Just wondering is all," he replied, agitation lacing his words.

" You ok? You're acting like something's wrong."

" Something is wrong."

" What is?"

" What's it to you?"

I sighed. " I'm at least trying to get along with you. I have nothing against you Kratos, but for some reason you always treat me like I've done something to you. I don't understand why you just can't cooperate with me."

" Because I don't have to cooperate with anyone, especially if they're murderers. If you have a problem with that, then there's the door."

" See? I'm trying to talk this out with you but then you act like that. I'm tired of you throwing my past in my face."

"When you refer to the past, it means years ago. This happened weeks ago."

"Well what am I supposed to do? Go back in time? If I was able to I would, trust me. But what's done is done. How do you think I feel living with the guilt of this everyday? I killed him for protecting her, and now protecting her is my job. Don't you think I feel like a hypocrite? Don't you think I know I'm a murderer, that I have blood on my hands? But what am I to do about it now?"

"Well how do you think she feels? Think it's all rainbows and roses? First she lost her parents, then you killed the only person she had left!"

"Well she has you."

"That's not the same! Seth was her friend and as annoying as he was, he was the only thing that connected her to her past! Why in the world would you think it was okay to do that?"

"I didn't have control of anything! The rubise was affecting me!"

"Sure, let's blame it on that," he said, turning away from me. Boiling in irritation, I bit my tongue. There was enough stress going on with KL and we didn't need to add extra fuel to the fire.

Glaring at him, I noticed that he winced in pain a bit and put a hand to his head.

Suddenly, KL began to fidget around on the lab table. As my attention locked on her, I noticed that the lights began to rapidly flicker. Kratos and I exchanged glances, but I couldn't help but notice that he looked very sickly.

"Dude you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," he grumbled.

Slowly sitting up, KL looked around and focused her attention on us. Oblivious to what was happening, she swiftly wrapped her arms around me and the machines began to pull the wires that were still connected to her.

" Jagger!" she exclaimed while crying.

" Hey, it's so good to see you too. What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

" What happened to me?"

Kratos walked over and that's when she released the hug. Speaking up, he said, " You drained your energy to heal Shadow because he was on the verge of dying."

" Is he okay now?" She asked, wiping a rolling tear off of her face.

" He's perfectly fine," he replied, reassuring her.

Squinting her eyes at him, an expression of concern plastered on her face, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Why do you guys keep asking me that?" Kratos asked, looking between the both of us.

"You look pretty pale," KL answered, nervously gnawing the inside of her cheek.

" I'm fine guys, really. It's no big deal, just a slight headache," he replied.

KL's eyes widened as she looked over at me. Instantaneously, we heard a horribly loud thump and as we looked over, we saw Kratos kneeling on the floor and holding his head in pain.

" What's happening?" I asked in complete shock. What had I just witnessed?

" He gets these out of the blue!" KL replied, kneeling beside him.

" Stop! Stop it!" Kratos screamed.

As KL placed her hands on his temples, Shadow ran into the lab." What's going on?" He asked, jogging over to us.

KL glanced up at him, "He has another headache."

"More like a migraine," I mumbled.

"Can you stop it?" Shadow asked, his grey eyes widening in shock.

"I'm trying to right now," she replied, her orange power radiating through her fingertips and looking like it was travelling into his skull.

KL looked at Kratos, worry written on her face, " Kratos, calm down. Please."

I glanced over at Shadow now, who was smirking.

"Shadow, why in the world are you smirking?" I asked as a pang of anger surged within me. How could he find humor in such a serious situation?

" Because I think I understand why this is happening."

" What? Why is it happening?"

" I'll explain once he returns to his normal self," Shadow replied. Nodding in understanding, I watched KL work her magic.

Slowly but surely, KL managed to calm down his headache and his blue eyes peered open and stared directly at her.

" Kratos, are you alright?" Shadow asked.

" Yeah," he replied. "My head's a little sore, but that usually happens everytime I get one of these."

" Can you tell me how those headaches are triggered?" Shadow asked, cocking an eyebrow at Kratos.

" I have no idea. They just randomly happen and it's just really annoying and frustrating. Imagine if this were to happen when in battle."

"That would be pretty sucky," I replied.

"Not to mention dangerous," added in KL.

" When did these headache start occurring?" Asked Shadow.

Pondering on the question, Kratos replied. " I never had these before I met KL."

Automatically, a guilty expression appeared on KL's face. "I never meant to-"

Shadow smiled and raised a hand to her. "Child, all is well. However, I do think it has to deal with something pretty important."

"Like?" Asked Kratos.

"Just wait and see," Shadow replied, smirking. Looking over towards KL, Shadow smiled at her. " KL, use your power against me."

" What? No, I can't do that! I'll hurt you!"

" Trust me," he said as his voice had a hint of sincerity in it.

She sighed in defeat. She seemed to know that no matter how much she resisted, Shadow was going to keep pressing on. As she shut her eyes, an orange glow danced around her hands.

Shadow swiped his hand in the air, and as he kept his palm open, a large, circular, glass-like structure appeared in front of him. It was outlined in a bright white glow that looked like it was made out of neon lights. Taking the sight in, I realized that it was a transparent shield. It was fairly large, and covered his whole body except his ankles and feet.

" Kratos and Jagger, take a few steps back," Shadow said. Kratos and I did as we were commanded and exchanged worried glances.

" Shadow, I don't know how to control my powers much," KL replied.

" Don't worry. Just do what you can," Shadow replied.

"Shadow, don't you think this is a bit on the dangerous side?" Kratos warned.

Shaking his head no, Kratos' lips pursed in concerned.

"He's crazy," Kratos muttered under his breath, and for once I actually agreed with something he said.

Anxious, KL shakily walked closer to Shadow and summoned her orange, transparent sword.

Shadow looked down at her weapon and said, " KL, don't use the sword."

" What? That's the only thing I know how to use!"

" Try to experiment. Try to discover something new," he replied, looking at her from behind his shield.

KL shot him a glare that was simultaneously mixed with annoyance and disappointment. As she retracted her sword, her orange glow illuminated the dimly lit lab. She waved around her hands and watched the glow of her hands shine through the air. She simultaneously closed her palm and her eyes. As she opened her palm, a fluorescent orange laser beam shot out of her hand, which Shadow managed to block with his shield.

"Bravo! Try that once more! That was amazing!" Shadow commanded.

This time, KL shot multiple lasers out of one hand. Shadow asked her to switch hands, to which she did. It took her a while to get this hand under control which led me to assume that this wasn't her dominant one. As she got it under control, a laser shot out of that hand as well.

" Alright, now try to combine them into one large laser and aim it at my shield."

She nodded in understanding and placed both of her hands as closely together as she possibly could. Little flickers of light began to erupt from one hand and formed into a steady orange beam of light. Repeating the process with the other hand, she combined both laser beams to form one big one.

" Give it some more power!" Shadow replied.

She did, and the laser beam grew wider.

" Even more power KL!" Once again, she gave it even more power. As he pushed her to her extreme, her power threw her back and she hit the wall behind her. On an impulse, Kratos and I ran over to her. I went to help her up but as soon as I made contact with her skin, her power threw me back into the wall opposite of us. Sliding down the wall, my shoulder throbbed from the pain of the impact.

Shadow took down his shield and casually strolled over to Kratos and KL. As Kratos went to touch her face, he was thrown back as well. His eyes widened in shock as he landed in a sitting position by the wall. Brushing himself off, he refocused on the situation and ran back over to KL.

" KL, control yourself. You're using too much power! You're going to lose control of it if you keep letting it flow like that."

" I'm trying to control it!" She replied with shut eyes, fighting the power surge flowing through her body.

" Let me help you," Kratos replied. She opened her amber eyes and looked deeply into his. He went and took her hands, and slowly the orange glow around her faded. Kratos wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled within his embrace.

As I glanced over at Shadow, he smiled too. " I knew it."

Kratos and KL looked over at Shadow.

"So you were testing all of us? Not just her?" Kratos asked.

Shadow chuckled, "Actually, I was testing you, and now I can finally confirm my assumption."

"Me? Wait, what? How?"

Shining proudly in a non existent light, Shadow flashed a smile at his protege. " You are The Balance, Kratos."

" What a surprise," he said, sarcastically rolling his eyes. Shadow glared at him from the side of his eye. The exchange of expressions was so priceless that it made me burst out laughing.

" The Breaker, The Balance, and The Guardian. Wow, I never thought I would live to see the day where all of you would be standing before me."

" Which means?" I asked.

" Jagger, you are The Guardian. You are KL's protector. Which means you should be able to sense when danger is anywhere near her."

" Which makes sense to why I found Shizuka earlier in the forest."

" Exactly."

" KL, you are the Breaker of course. Which makes sense as to why you would need both a Guardian and a Balance."

" Kratos, you are the Balance. When her power gets out of control, you can help calm her down and control it, which sometimes can even let her transfer some of the excess power to you. This would also explain why you have your headaches."

" Wait, what? Because I'm her Balance, I get headaches? How is that fair?"

Shadow laughed and shook his head. "No, you misunderstood me. You don't get headaches because you are the Balance. You get headaches because your heart is so set in its solid ways, it needs to be Broken."

" What?" He replied, staring at Shadow like his teeth had just fallen out before him.

" She has Broken other people, but you are one that she has yet to break and it's because you're still stuck in your past. You were always so used to being on your own and being alone that now that you met her, it's hard for you to know how to let someone into your life. Because you haven't let anyone in, you get these headaches. Her powers are trying to break you but you refuse to let it. You refuse to let people in, Kratos."

He looked somewhat upset and disappointed as he let Shadow's words sink in. On that note, we were both important parts in KL's life which meant that we were going to have to start getting along whether he liked it or not.

© Lightning_Stryker 2016