"You know, your people will be so happy to have you working alongside them to get things back to normal," Elia commented. Shayla looked over and gave a frown.

"Things will never be 'normal.' But, I have to do what I can. They look up to me, and it's my responsibility to be a leader. So many families have been destroyed- so many homes torn to pieces. This is all the work of Mazell."

"We will avenge!" Wooley cried out, putting his fist into the air. Angelina gave him a strange look.

"I'll avenge you." My Aunt made a face and then cleared her throat. "It's about time that we made a confession. It involves you, Daniel, as well as myself, and your father."

Everyone looked over in interest. Aunt Angelina looked to everyone for attention. After a moment of silence, the king spoke up, his voice moistened by his milky tea. "Well, what is it already?"

"Aha. You'll remember that Mazell originally kidnapped and held Wooley and myself hostage, right? Hasn't anyone ever wondered why that is?" Receiving blank stares from everyone, she continued. "You see, we are a special, er, family. I was born with the ability to hear a special voice, and so was your father. So, Daniel, were you. Back on that day, way back in Deonn- the day that your father and I were kidnapped, Daniel, we heard the call. You did too. Do you remember?"

Everyone looked at me, and my face flushed. "Uhhh... " I thought back to that day. I knew what the answer was; I had been messing around outside my apartment building with a friend of mine, when all of a sudden, the strangest headache had hit me. I saw nothing but blue for a split second, and I had nearly fainted, but it passed as quickly as it had started. When I had come to my senses, all hell had broken loose- monsters had swarmed the apartment, and it hadn't been long before my dad and aunt were in the clutches of the demons.

"That light, Daniel... that was the Guardian of Light speaking to you." Angelina finished softly. Dad looked a little bit uncomfortable, but the rest of the large group looked somewhat puzzled.

"I don't see what this has to do with anything," said Seth. "Doesn't this just prove that you're all a bit... unscrewed?"

"No." My Aunt shot him a look of death. "This is not a time for cheeky insults."

"It's true..." my dad spoke up. "We knew that day was coming. We knew that this was our destiny. Darkness made its move on that day, and we- the three of us- are the defenders of light. It is our duty to protect life from the force of darkness."

Veronica snorted in pent-up laughter. "I'm sorry, I don't get it."

The King looked over uncomfortably. "I really must use the bathroom. I shall return."

With dubious glares and murmurs coming from around the table, Lily stood up. "You don't think this is possible? Look what you've discovered over the past month, for heaven's sakes! We've fought DEMONS, we've explored an entire other world, and we've witnessed the very supporters of our world turn against us! Why do you think these three are mixed up in this..." - she gestured to Daniel, Angelina, and Wooley - "... in the first place? If you people aren't going to take them family seriously, then we don't stand a chance. We're a team, here. We've fought hard together, and we aren't about to start treating the CORE of the team as if they belong in some institution somewhere!"

Veronica smiled. "I've never... heard you talk like that before. But how can we believe this kind of stuff?"

Finally, I spoke up. "Yeah... and why haven't *I* heard of any of this before? This is all kind of sudden- and a little bit scary." "Why would we lie?" my Aunt countered, putting her hands on her pudgy hips.

"Why would you wait so long to tell us about this?" Sly leapt down from the table he had been sitting on in the background and took a step forward.

"Well," Wooley started, "If we had told you this before, NONE of you would have believed it. After you came to rescue us, Daniel, we knew that you had gathered together a crew of real heroes. You've been so strong, and I'm proud of you. But now that you have all seen what kinds of forces are at work, I think that you can believe."