"How's that even possible? No one but Miss Lyra lives here," Venna stated, her voice laced with confusion.

"I can tell we're being watched," Benkrat groaned, his eyes scanning the area.

"This is a cul-de-sac. If someone were watching us, we would have noticed by now. It only has one exit, so anyone keeping an eye on us would be kinda hard to miss," Kai argued, glancing around the street.

"That may be true," Elmz interjected, "but if Benkrat says we're being watched, then there's no way he's mistaken." A distant dog barked, breaking the silence.

"Why?" the twins asked in unison, their curiosity piqued.

"Because that's one of Benkrat's powers. He can sense when an Eldorian is close," Elmz explained.

"Yeah, the stronger the person, the worse the pain," Benkrat added, dusting off his pants as he got up from the ground, seemingly unfazed.

The twins stared at him in surprise. "Weren't you-"

"Yeah, but whoever it was is gone now," Benkrat interrupted.

"Okay, this doesn't make sense," Venna said, shaking her head. "How come you weren't reacting like this when we first met?"

"I was, but not as intensely. I could feel a slight flow of magic from the hall, but I couldn't pinpoint it, mostly because your powers aren't fully awakened yet. That's also part of the reason why I was so grumpy that day," Benkrat explained.

"Hmm," Venna murmured, lost in thought.

"Yeah, and I could sense that whoever was watching us was trying to mask their presence," Benkrat continued.

"So you're saying they were probably using invisibility?" Ikzar asked.

"Yeah," Benkrat confirmed.

"Things just got interesting," Elmz said with a smile.

"I don't know what's going on here, but since we've finally accepted this whole Eldorem thing, I think you still need to do a lot of briefing," Kai mentioned.

"I've got it!" Venna exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone.

"I've got it," she repeated. "The search for other Eldorians. All we need to do is use Benkrat as our GPS."

"Oh, golly gee, Venna! We didn't think of that," Benkrat said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I didn't-"

"Come on, it's common sense. And no, it won't work that way because I'm not powerful enough to sense anyone more than ten feet away from me," Benkrat explained.

"Meaning someone was really standing that close to us and we didn't notice?" Kai asked, shuddering.

"Yeah, when you put it like that, this place is actually giving me the creeps now. Let's leave before someone finds out we broke into Miss Lyra's house," Venna said, running her hands along her folded arms as if warding off a chill.

The walk back home was mostly silent, each person lost in their thoughts about the stranger Benkrat had sensed.

Trying to lighten the mood, Elmz asked, "When do you guys get off school tomorrow?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "We don't have school for the rest of the semester. They suspended it indefinitely after what happened. Thought you said you watched the news?"

Elmz's expression turned somber. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry about that. I was thinking of introducing you and Venna to the rest of the squad tomorrow."

"Squad?" Kai echoed.

"Yeah, remember I said we were ten," Elmz reminded them.

"Yeah?" Kai responded.

"Well, the others will be back by morning from their mission, so I was thinking of bringing you guys to meet them. What do you think?"

"Sure, why not," Venna shrugged, and Kai nodded in agreement.

"Great, see you by four tomorrow," Elmz said, stopping as they reached the front of Kai's house.

Distant flapping of wings drew their attention as Choo-Choo came flying in. The three of them climbed on, Elmz taking the reins this time.

"Try not to get in trouble while we're gone," she called out as the griffin took off.

"Holy shit! What the hell was that?"

The twins turned immediately to find Kai's elder brother, Jason, fresh from football practice, staring up at the griffin's fading silhouette in the sky.

Kai laughed nervously. "What was what?" he asked.

"I saw... something like a... a strange creature in the sky, and three kids were, umm, riding on its back," his brother answered, unsure of himself.

Venna looked at Kai, and they both burst out laughing. "A strange creature?" Venna asked, wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, I mean-" Kai's brother stopped himself, looking flushed.

"I'm sorry, but we didn't see anything like a..." Kai air-quoted, mimicking his brother's uncertain tone, "...strange creature."

"Right," his brother said, still looking thoughtful. "I must be really tired then," he added, bouncing his ball as he went inside.

"Whew, that was a close one," Venna said, letting out a deep breath as they followed after him.

****
The next day, after doing house chores and lying around doing nothing, Venna couldn't stop herself from glancing at the alarm clock multiple times on Kai's bedside table. It read 4:25 p.m.

"Are you sure they're still coming? We've been waiting for over twenty-five minutes now, and they still haven't come to get us," she said, her impatience growing.

"Relax, they're probably on their way. Those three can't stop themselves from coming to get us even if we asked them not to," Kai replied nonchalantly, lying on his bed and scrolling through his phone.

"Hmm, but they've never wasted this much time before."

"Ugh," Kai groaned, annoyed that his siesta was being interrupted. He sat up and looked at Venna. "Since when did you start missing them so bad, or is it just Ikzar you miss?" he asked, playfully raising his eyebrows.

Venna picked up a pillow and smacked him with it. "You're disgusting."

"Ouch," a voice said from the doorway.

The twins turned to see Ikzar standing by the door, his hand still gripping the handle. He looked slightly offended. "I didn't know missing me was considered disgusting."

"No, I didn't mean-"

"Let's go, they're waiting outside for us," Ikzar said, ignoring her as he walked out of the room.

"Ishh, see what lying gets you," Kai said unapologetically as he got up and followed Ikzar.

During the ride, Ikzar took the reins, wanting to stay as far away from Venna as possible.

Venna felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't expected him to walk in on her when she said that. Besides, what was he getting so upset for? It's not like she liked him or anything, she thought. Friends say harsh things to each other all the time; she had expected him to let it go by now. Ugh, why was she so bothered by this? Did she like him and just hadn't realized it yet? She questioned herself.

"Venna," Kai called. When she didn't answer, he shouted, "Venna!"

She jerked, realizing she was still the only one sitting on the griffin. She quickly jumped down. "Sorry."

Shaking his head, Kai turned with the others and strolled toward the meeting hall. As they walked, Venna maneuvered around them, trying to catch up with Ikzar, who was walking at the front of the group.

"Hey," she said when she reached him.

"What? Isn't talking to me also considered disgusting, according to you?" he replied, his tone icy as he walked ahead, leaving her standing there, unsure of what to say.

Inside the meeting hall, two teenagers, a boy and a girl who looked around fifteen and sixteen, were already seated, engrossed in an argument.

"Hey, Myrrha. 'Sup, Jaeger," Elmz called, waving as they walked in.

The girl, presumably Myrrha, ran to tackle her. "Elmzzzzz, I missed you, baby girl!"

"Who's your baby girl?" Elmz asked jokingly, trying to untangle herself from the hug.

The twins watched as the boy, Jaeger, got up, smiling broadly as he half-shook and half-hugged both Benkrat and Ikzar.

Turning her attention to them, Myrrha asked, "And who are these guys? Especially the cutie pie over here."

Kai blushed, assuming she was talking to him, but immediately straightened as she passed him and stopped in front of Venna.

"Hi, I'm Myrrha, but you can call me Myrrh," she laughed, pointing out, "you know, frankincense and Myrrh," she said between laughs, trying to fill Venna in on the joke.

Venna gave a nervous laugh, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Yeah, I get it," she said, offering a hesitant wave. "Venna here."

"Mhmm!" Kai said, pretending to clear his throat.

Myrrh turned to him and rolled her eyes as she walked back to her seat.

"Forgive Myrrha, she's not into boys," Elmz said, and Myrrha shot her a look. She quickly added, "Neither is she into girls. She just doesn't like having guys as friends, except for Jaeger, her cousin."

"Oh, sure," Kai said, disappointed.

"Hi, I'm Jaeger," the boy said, strolling up to greet them.

"Ha! What a stupid name," Kai blurted out and then looked at Ikzar angrily.

"Sorry, man," Ikzar laughed as the rest tried to hold back their laughter.

Jaeger didn't share in their amusement. "What did you just say?"

"Umm, I meant what a nice name. It sounds German to me," Kai flinched as he corrected himself.

"It's not. It's pronounced exactly as it's spelled. Jae-ger!" he bellowed in Kai's face.

"Sorry," Kai flinched again, taking a step back.

Jaeger flashed a smile at Venna before going to sit with his cousin.

"Okay, moving on. Myrrha is sort of a puzzler," Elmz explained. "She's extra fast at piecing puzzles and riddles together. Let's just say she's the smart one. If you have any secrets, you might want to stay away from her—she's good at picking up on people's thoughts."

"Cool," Kai said, winking at Myrrha.

She made a face and turned away.

"As for Jaeger," Elmz continued, "he's a titan. He can grow to the size of a titan and possesses ten times the strength of an average human when he does."

"Ooh, are we doing introductions yet?" A girl with a dulcet voice asked as she floated in, carrying another girl on her back.

"Whoa, is she flying?" Kai asked in awe, almost shouting.

"Yes, she is," Elmz said, walking over to give the two girls a hug as she introduced them. "Guys, meet Tolma and Nina."

"Hi," Tolma waved.

Nina ignored them, heading straight to greet Myrrha and Jaeger.

"Rude," Venna muttered under her breath, earning a warning look from Elmz as she continued the introductions.

"Tolma is a flyer, and Nina... well, she's a somnolet," Elmz explained.

"What kind of dumb superpower is that?" Kai remarked, laughing.

The room went silent. Before Elmz could intervene, Nina spoke, "Sleep."

Kai went rigid and slumped to the ground, snoring.

"Ouch, that's gonna hurt when he wakes up," a voice called out.

Venna turned to see two boys strolling in, hands in their pockets, taking similar strides. They stopped in front of her, and the one who had spoken stretched out a hand.

"Hi, Lynx reporting," he said as he shook hands with Venna and the unconscious Kai.

The second boy waved. "The name's Z-z-zay-ay-ayn-n," his mouth phasing as he tried to speak.

Startled, Venna took a step back. Kai, who was already regaining consciousness, rubbed the side of his throbbing head as he got up. "Ouch."

"Excuse Zayn, he's a mouth phaser," Elmz said as she walked past the twins to hug both boys. "Zayn sometimes has mouth spasms that he can't control, which affects his speech and makes him not much of a talker. He can detach his mouth and put it somewhere else, meaning he can be here and also be talking to someone far away, let's say... Africa."

"Brooo," Kai said, raising both hands to his head and mimicking an explosion. "Mind blown," he made a sound to accompany his gesture.

Zayn chuckled. "Thanks," he said more fluently this time.

"He can also project energy and vibrations from his mouth," Elmz added.

"Nah, bro, I think you're my favorite," Kai said, excitedly punching Zayn playfully in the arm. Zayn only smiled.

Lynx scoffed. "Hmmph, wait till you hear my powers."

"What was it again? A big head and an even bigger ego?" Elmz asked mockingly as she climbed onto a bench and took a seat on the table.

"Admit you're simply jealous of the fact that I have self-esteem," Lynx smirked, walking up to join Myrrha at their table.

Elmz rolled her eyes, getting up on the table. "Everyone, meet the twins of Tierlin, the ones assumed to be the Mark of Eldorem, the one and only, drum rolls please," she shouted dramatically, bending to drum on the table with Ikzar joining in. "Venna and Kai!"

She clapped as she finished, with Ikzar and Benkrat clapping along.

"Nice to meet you, everyone," Kai said as he bowed. Venna only gave a shy wave.

"Anything you two would like to say?" Elmz asked.

Kai was about to speak when he was interrupted by a rich, sonorous, genial voice calling from the entrance.

They turned to see a girl with a powerful yet feminine build, wrapped up in purple leather. The leather crossed her chest, subtly revealing the underside of her breasts, and formed a circle around her neck, leaving her back bare. It tightly wrapped around her waist, creating a skirt that reached mid-thigh.

She seemed to be the oldest, between eighteen and nineteen. With one hand on her hip and the other holding a sinister-looking weapon pointed downward, she smiled.

"Don't tell me you guys started the party without me," she called, raising the scythe-like weapon to rest on her shoulder.

"Holy guacamole! And who might that be?" Kai asked, mouth agape.

Elmz sneered. "And that would supposedly be my sister."