Mr Hook's Big Black Box

«Guardians»

"I can remember that," Destinee shivered, "It was terrifying. Even thinking that there's someone like that in the world makes me feel sick. I understand why they did it now, but I still... so brutal."

"I know," Kris held her close, giving all the comfort he could, "I think we all understand. Would you like to talk about it? If it's not such a bad memory?"

"I don't remember enough," she shook her head, "I just remember standing there huddled up in terror. Nothing made sense, I didn't understand. You were excited, you were a bit loud, but the Empiria were yelling, shouting in anger, and I never heard anything like that noise before. 'Thou shall not!', and 'The seal must remain unbroken!', and threatening terrible things if anyone tries to open the Box. It's like the only thing that ever got them angry."

"I didn't even know they were there," Dwayne shook his head in apology, "I wish I could have done something to quiet them down. Led them away or something."

"It's not your fault," Destinee reminded him, "The Empiria are always my problem. Or always were. They watched over me. But keeping the Box locked was a good part of the reason they were sent to Earth, so you can understand them getting agitated. It was terrifying at the time, though. A cacophony, and I thought I couldn't even mention it to the friend who was trying to help me. Because nobody else could hear it. Because they were only there for me, and you wouldn't understand. Maybe if I'd said, you would have found an answer. I guess I didn't trust you as much as I thought."

Kris held her close, still, and spoke softly: "Don't worry, Dee. You've changed since then. You've changed a lot. We all accept you for who you are, and understand that we'll never hear the voices of these guardian angels like you do. But if there's anything we need to know of, you can tell us. And neither they nor any other intangible spirit will threaten you again. Not while there's any possible way we could fight them."

His voice was hard as stone by that point. The determination unshakeable, the will to protect her no matter what. It had been what brought them together as that week drew to a close, and Destinee couldn't help smiling to see that he still felt the same way. That was the real strength of the Alexandros family, and of his Circle: the desire to protect those they really cared about, against the wishes of the rest of the world.

"So," Dwayne interrupted the moment, though he gave them a few minutes lost in their private reminiscences first, "Who's up next?"