At End's Gate

PASSWORD

Paige took the little black box. She scanned it for a while." It's opened by a password apparently." She looked relieved.

"Let's see," Conner said. She handed the box to him." What did you mom say before you were made to forget. She told him. He started to think." Hmmm. She told you meaning whatever the code is has to do with something about you. What's your date of birth?" She told him. He tried entering Paige's birthday. It didn't work." It won't budge," he said in frustration.

Paige sighed clearly showing relief." Let's just let go of the box. It doesn't matter anyway. We can just focus on getting out of this city."

"Paige in as much as you're scared we need to know the truth," James said.

"What if we can't handle the truth," Blake said in a deep tone. James looked at him annoyed." I understand Paige. Our parents chose to remove memories of our childhood to protect us. Basically our lives were a lie and now you want to open a box that possibly contains answers of what they did to get us into this mess. I'm scared too. "

James looked agitated." Now I'm freaking out too."

"Conner please wait. We need time to prepare ourselves for what's inside. My parents did everything they could to protect James, Blake and I. This protection came at the cost of the lives of your parents and..."

"No no Paige. You're not going to give yourself the blame for the choices our parents made. They chose to protect us so whatever you think your parents did our parents chose to stand by them. That clearly means they chose to risk their lives too. Maybe you might think they betrayed Dukilian but they could have exposed his evil and he wanted to revenge so it's not your fault."

"Even if they did something bad it doesn't matter because they are not you. We're here with you. We can face their demons together," Alexis said in a soothing manner.

Lisa smiled, her black curly hair falling on the side of her face." You're not alone. It's now six of us so no matter what happens we'll conquer these giants together."

James looked at Lisa's shimmering blue eyes. He smiled." Thank you guys."

"We're very grateful," Blake grinned.

Paige took a deep breath then smiled." Okay. Let's think. What might the password be?"

Conner smiled." Okay Paige I need you to think, any important detail about your relationship with your mother from your childhood."

Paige bit her lip, tying her straight brown hair back. She started pacing." Try my pet's name. I had squirrel named Fluffy."

The others laughed." A squirrel named Fluffy," Conner mocked.

"My sister was disturbed from a young age," James teased.

"I was five when I got him okay."

Conner punched in the name." That's not it."

"How about my favourite colour."

Conner punched it in." That's not it."

Blake smiled." That's cool. He didn't even have to hear your favourite colour."

Paige blushed." Okay she used to call me Angel."

Conner punched it in. It didn't work. He shook his head. Paige looked frustrated. She sat down. She stared at the wall lost in thought. Her mind took her to the night her mother told her about the box. Maybe she had forgotten something important. Paige remembered Claire placing the plates in the sink. Her mind focused on the rest of the room. On the kitchen table was a book. She remembered the book. It was a book Claire seemed to always read continuously in her spare time. Paige remembered a younger version of herself asking her mom why she always read this book. Paige remembered Claire saying the book always left her in a state of happiness. What was the name of the the book? She stood up and started pacing. She couldn't remember. Feeling defeated she sat down. Paige remembered Claire's book didn't have a title in the front cover. There was a picture of a a willow tree. She remembered her mom saying the book had poems. One in particular she remembered completely. When she asked Claire about the book she placed Paige on her lap and read her a poem. A young Paige wasn't fascinated by the poem so to make the poem fun for her daughter Claire would sing out the words.

Standing by the willow tree
Crying out the same plea
To be set free
Peace was a friend
Now I can't even mend
Mend the pieces that broke apart
Life is a work of art
Through the pain you have to find your heart
Find yourself by the willow tree
Standing by the willow tree

Paige found herself singing these words." Conner the password is Standing by the willow tree." Conner typed those words in. The box started making an unlocking noise.