It took about an hour for the van to reach its destination. Julian had stayed in the back throughout, quietly contemplating all he had seen and learned over the past day. Nathan periodically checked on him, asking if he was all right, but Julian was just glad to finally have an hour where he could lay back and try to relax a little.

The events of the past two days weighed, understandably, rather heavily on Julian's shoulders. Before Thursday, all he had worried about was paying the rent and the bills on time. Now, just two days later, the obligations of day-to-day life seemed insignificant compared to the burden he had been given to carry. The weight of a war, supposedly preordained by some dubious deity that the Awakened had named 'Fate', pressed down over Julian, and he worried that it was a load he would not be able to bear.

He now knew that Professor Arkwright and his people, Kershaw included, were the ones he was meant to be fighting. But one thing the Professor had said still rang true with him; why should he be fighting this war? He had fought before, he had paid the price with his life, and he had not asked to be drawn into this a second time. Why should his existence be governed by this ephemeral Fate, commanding him to fight its battle once, and then again, and who knows how many times until it was satisfied? He felt his anger rise in waves as he thought the questions over in his mind.

Then again, what choice did he have? While there were the demon Awakened out there, seemingly bent on tracking him down and destroying him as part of their war, what could he do but respond in kind and pick up his side of the battle as the other Awakened seemingly had done?

Fight a secret war or die. It wasn't the sort of choice that Julian preferred.

"Julian, we're here." Nathan's gentle voice came from in front of Julian, not to the side up towards the front compartment of the van as he had expected. Looking up and allowing his senses to finally register the environment outside of his thoughts, Julian suddenly realised that the van had stopped, and Nathan had opened the side door of the van to allow Julian out, his form now silhouetted against the bright November afternoon sky. Behind him there were a few trees, and a gravel track leading away into the distance.

As his memory slowly dragged details out of the cloudy depths of the last half hour, Julian vaguely the journey having gotten more bumpy for the past few minutes, as if they were driving down tracks rather than properly surfaced roads.

Julian pushed his palms against the slightly dusty floor of the van and slowly stood up, his legs aching a little from having been in the same static position for a while. He stretched and took a deep breath, then ducked a little as he stepped forward to leave the van through the side door, Nathan stepping aside to allow him passage.

His feet crunching on the loose gravel as he hopped out of the van, Julian looked around slowly, taking in his new surroundings. The immediate vicinity had been cleared of trees to make way for a small car park, but beyond that, and the track leading away, the area was completely surrounded by forest, thick leafy trees reaching up tens of feet into the sky. The obvious age and uneven distribution of the trees indicated that this was a natural forest, not one that had been landscaped into a city or its suburbs, built as part of a park. It felt isolated and quiet, away from the constant pressure of the city.

The car park was almost empty, occupied by only the white van that had brought him here and a pair of small estate cars, one black and one blue, looking a few years old but obviously well looked after, parked at the far end. Both were unoccupied.

Nathan waited patiently as Julian's attention drifted over the surrounding area, and then finally back to him. He smiled and casually gestured to the person standing beside him. "This is Sebastian O'Rourke, but we just call him Rourkie. He's one of us too."

Rourkie was, Julian guessed, somewhere in his mid-thirties. He was a little taller than Nathan, and wore a leather jacket and jeans. He looked well built, though not overtly so, and his hard features, coupled with his shaved head and dress sense, immediately put Julian in mind of a stereotypical individual from a police show on TV, causing trouble outside some random city bar. He tried to dismiss the impression from his mind, with a little success, concentrating instead on the expression Rourkie was offering him, which looked less than threatening.

"Pleasure," Rourkie spoke in a slight cockney accent as he thrust out his hand in greeting. "Thanks for helping get me out of trouble back there," Julian smiled as he took Rourkie's hand and shook it firmly.

Rourkie grinned widely, his expression belying that he had probably enjoyed the whole experience. "Don't worry about it, kid. Nathan said you might be in a tight spot, and we can't have our young 'uns being picked up by those undesirables. We Awakened folks got to stick together, right?"

Julian nodded and grinned, finding Rourkie's good spirits almost infectious. "Right." For the first time since the beginning of his current predicament, Julian felt as if he was truly among friends.

Releasing his hand, Rourkie turned to Nathan and smiled. "He's a good kid, I can tell." He began to walk slowly away towards the forest, stopping after a few paces and looking up at the trees.

Nathan nodded and turned to Julian. "I arranged for a few of us to be here while I was waiting for you to call in earlier. Rourkie and I are just going to check in with them and make sure everyone is happy with the situation. Then we'll come back and get you, okay?"

Julian smiled ironically. "You knew I'd be calling for help from the University?"

"Just a hunch," Nathan said dismissively. "I figured that they would have to move quickly, given that your Awakening would be affected by being pulled into all this before you were ready. They obviously wanted something from you, otherwise they would have just killed you, but they couldn't risk waiting too long, so that you would remember something that would give their game away and allow you to figure out that they were not your kind."

"I see," Julian considered. "I suppose it makes sense."

Nathan nodded. "Incidentally," he added, "did you find out what it was they wanted?"

"I have a good idea, Nathan." Julian left an unsteady pause as worry swept in waves over his face, washing away the bright smile that had previously been there. "At least, I think I do. But if there are more waiting for us, I would rather explain to everyone. There are some things I think you all have to be aware of. Things that perhaps none of you remember yet."

"All right," Nathan examined Julian's expression, uncertainty painted across his own face. "It's always the case, everyone brings something new to us." He stopped and shook his head a little. "But I don't like the you sound about it. We'll be back quickly to fetch you, all right? Then you can tell your story."

"All right," Julian agreed. "I'll be right here."

Nathan turned away, still looking unsettled by Julian's words, and walked to where Rourkie was waiting, who then fell into step with him as they disappeared down one of the rough trails into the forest.

Julian sighed and stepped back, sitting on the edge of the van's rear compartment, still accessible as the sliding door had been left open. He watched the tops of the trees swaying slightly in the light breeze that was picking up, and tried to figure out how to tell his story in a concise and understandable way. He needed everyone who was to hear it to understand.

A couple of minutes, later, Julian heard footsteps coming back along the trail that Rourkie and Nathan had departed down. Julian tried to look as nonchalant as possible as the sound of breaking twigs and disturbed leaves came closer, remind himself that the approaching person could just be, and probably was, an innocent individual, out for a day of rambling through the forest.

Having convinced himself of this deduction, it startled Julian to see, moments later, Nathan emerging from the trail, unaccompanied. He felt a little more at ease by Nathan's unhurried pace, and his neutral expression, but still found himself unable to completely lose his worried expression.

"Nathan?" Julian said in a questioning tone as his friend approached. "What are you doing back so soon? And where's Rourkie?"

Nathan looked at Julian and waved a hand causally. "Don't worry," he smiled. "I sent Rourkie on ahead. I wanted to talk to you a little on our own first."

"Oh?" Julian made the expression into a question by itself.

"Yeah," Nathan turned and sat on the edge of the van's rear compartment next to Julian. "I wanted to talk to you about your Awakening."

"I thought we'd agreed I'd tell my story to you all once the pair of you fetched me to meet your friends?" Julian frowned a little.

Nathan looked at the ground beside the van and shook his head a little, his expression clearly troubled. "Indulge me a little, okay?" He raised one hand and rubbed the back of his neck gently. "All that's been happening, it's bothering me. I admitted to you before, this is the first time I've done anything like this, introducing a newly Awakened to the rest of us, bringing you to understand the situation we find ourselves in, with the battle we're fighting. But," he stopped and let his hand pause his neck, just resting against it, "it's not happening the way it should. I've seen others go through this. Heck, I've been through it myself. But you've been pulled in by the horns and forced to adapt so quickly, and there's all this business with the demons trying to lure you in and get something from you. It all feels so wrong."

Julian smiled to himself. "If it feels wrong to you, imagine how I'm feeling!" "I know, Julian," Nathan sighed. "And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Julian shrugged and sighed, leaning backwards into the van a little as he stretched his legs out. "I would have become part of this whether you had brought me into it or not." He paused for a moment, considering his thoughts. He smiled slightly and spoke a little more cheerfully. "And besides, if I recall, the only reason you became involved when you did is because you were saving my life?"

Rubbing his neck one last time before lowering his arm back to his side and pressing his palm against the floor of the van for support, Nathan chuckled grimly to himself and nodded. "That's right, I suppose."

"So I got the better of the two possible outcomes," Julian nodded. "I'm still alive, and I have you to thank for that. For what it's worth, I'm glad you were around."

"That means a lot to me," Nathan smiled, looking out at the trees beyond the car park. "Thank you."

Julian chuckled quietly to himself. "Don't mention it."

The wind picked up a little and the trees around the car park rustled, the light rippling sound filling the silence that existed between Julian and Nathan for a few moments. Julian watched the waving branches at the top of the trees, still thinking about what he would tell the people he was about to meet.

"What do you think of it all?" Nathan suddenly asked, his voice quick, as if he had been wondering whether or not to ask, and had decided to speak before he changed his mind.

"I'm sorry?" Julian replied, surprise colouring the tone of his voice. "What do I think of what?"

"Why are we fighting?" Nathan elaborated, more slowly now. He rose from the edge of the van and walked a couple of steps into the car park, gravel crunching beneath his feet as he turned and looked up into the trees. He spread his arms briefly in a sweeping gesture, then rested his hands on his hips. Without looking back at Julian, he continued. "What is the prize for the winners?"

"You've already explained to me that you don't know," Julian replied gently. "Why do you think that I could tell you?"

Nathan glanced back to Julian and grinned before looking back at the treetops. "I'm not saying you could," he said, still smiling. "I just want to know what you think. I told you that we were what happened when Fate got bored. But surely there must be more reason for our existence than that, right? What do you think it might be?"

"I'm not convinced I believe in this 'Fate' at all, to be honest." Julian turned a little, resting back against the divider between the front and rear compartments of the van, while lifting his feet and propping them up against the edge of the retracted sliding door. "There's really no evidence for it."

"Isn't there?" Nathan sounded surprised. "Two sides of such power and, yet, both such catastrophic opposites, coming into conflict on such a tremendous scale. You think that would happen by chance?"

"Coincidences do happen, Nathan," Julian said, a little dismissively. "I just can't grasp the thought that there is some power out there that controls and defines everything we do. What's the point of even existing if nothing you do is by your own true choice?"

"Everything happens for a reason," Nathan countered. "Or at least, something as large as that would do." He paused and looked back towards Julian, wandering over towards the van and leaning against the sliding door. "I'm not saying that there's something out there that watches you when you get up in the morning and decides whether you'll have cornflakes or toast, or whether to wear the blue shirt to work or the red one. I can't believe that there isn't such a thing as free will either. But sometimes, don't you ever feel like something turned out just right, and it's almost as if something intervened to make sure things fell just right for you?"

"I guess," Julian nodded slightly. "But everyone gets that, don't they?"

"Fate is a busy person, I suppose." Nathan mused over the thought. "But," he said, more directly, turning his head to look at Julian, "that's not my point."

"Then what is?"

"That there is the potential for Fate to exist," Nathan answered confidently.

"I'm still not convinced," Julian shook his head. "Even if Fate did exist somehow, and did play such a part in all our lives, what right did it have to send us all into a war so terrible? To send countless numbers of us to our deaths? What was the point?"

"And that," Nathan explained, "is where my original question springs from. What is the reason for us to fight?"

"I don't know," Julian replied plainly, feeling a little frustrated, his mind filling again with the memories of misusing the chaos drivers to kill demons, even in defence of his kin.

"Want to hear a theory?" Nathan asked, smiling reassuringly at his friend.

"All right," Julian replied slowly, sounding a little uncertain. "Go ahead."

"I was thinking a while back, trying to figure out the answer to this question, and I ended up thinking about why it would be in Fate's interest to set up such a devastating war. Supposing Fate isn't a sadistic entity that would do something like this for amusement, what reason would there be for this war to take place?"

Julian waited for Nathan to continue. When he didn't, he looked up at him and asked, "Well? What reason is there?"

Nathan grinned widely, an almost proud look in his eyes. "Because Fate had no other choice."

"Fate had no choice?" Julian repeated, his voice dripping with disbelief. "I thought Fate was supposed to be the thing that decided what choices we had and how things turned out? How could Fate then find itself without any choices itself? It seems awfully short sighted of it."

"Hear me out," Nathan said calmly. "You'll see where I'm headed with this in a second."

"All right," Julian nodded. "Go on."

"Look at the history of the world, for example." Nathan gestured with his hands, indicating the world around him. "Look at how, as humanity has developed, greater and greater conflicts have broken out, ever more devastating as a result. A thousand years ago, there would be people with bows and arrows, right? Maybe a few hundred would be killed in any war between neighbouring kingdoms." Julian nodded again and kept listening as Nathan continued. "Now, in our recent history, wars spread over the entire globe, with million being killed. In a thousand years, the scale of war has increased so dramatically, just on this one world."

"So what does this have to do with Fate?" Julian asked, sounding more than a little confused.

"Think about it," Nathan continued, his voice more excited now as his explanation gathered pace. "Take it to through next logical steps. Conflicts of ever greater scale, building and building, until you finally reach that point where you have sides diametrically opposed, possessing such incredible power that the war threatens to destroy existence itself. A true battle of light against dark, if you see what I mean."

Julian looked out at the trees for a moment, and then said, confused, "Even if you're right, I still don't see where Fate fits into this."

"That's the next part of the theory. Assuming it is Fate's role in existence to make sure that the universe continues as it should, and everything is kept ticking over nicely, or as much as it can in such a vast universe. Suppose it saw the inevitable climactic conflict, obviously a war that could destroy the universe would be a threat to its position as caretaker of the universe, right?"

"I suppose, yes."

"So what would you do if you were Fate?" Nathan asked, waiting for Julian to consider a reply.

"I'd intervene and stop the war from happening." Julian answered quickly.

"All right," Nathan nodded. "But what if the war cannot be stopped. If you intervene, it happens somewhere else, and you are repeatedly forced to interfere with the order of the universe to stop it over and over again. You come to the conclusion that, sooner or later, this war is going to happen, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it."

Julian considered his answer more carefully this time, taking a few moments to examine his palms before speaking. "In that case, I would let the battle happen, and then intervene to cause one side to win very quickly, and as bloodlessly as possible."

"And if Fate is a neutral force, either unable or unwilling to determine the actual outcome of the battle?"

"Sounds like the opposite of what Fate would be," Julian argued. "Surely Fate would have to make those decisions all the time?"

"Perhaps," Nathan nodded, contemplating the thought. "But assume for a moment that I'm right."

"All right," Julian said, thinking about the possibilities again. He took another few moments to form his answer, and then spoke slowly, running the logic through his head as he tried to explain it. "I would cause the battle to happen in such a way that the outcome would be determined by the sides involved, but so that I can control and limit the damage caused?"

"Exactly!" Nathan beamed. "Create two sides, in equal and opposite measure, with power beyond imagining, and give them a world, or a series of worlds, in which they could fight it out, resolve the universe's need for that ultimate battle. All the while under your own rules and limits, set so that the destruction is limited. Perhaps in an isolated part of the universe, somewhere the battle couldn't spread any further. I'm not sure, my theory gets a bit fuzzy past that point. But you get the idea? Arrange the terrible war under your own conditions so that the universe can go on, or allow it to happen without interference and watch as everything is destroyed. Fate would be choosing the lesser of the two evils."

Julian considered the theory for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I see how it could work, Nathan, certainly." He paused and sighed. "But you don't have anything more than guesswork to go on for it, do you?"

"Afraid not," Nathan admitted regretfully. "But it makes sense, don't you think?"

"I guess it could," Julian said slowly, still thinking about the possibility. "But it doesn't explain why we're still fighting here. This certainly doesn't feel like some ultimate battle of light and dark"

"Perhaps something went wrong," Nathan suggested. "Perhaps Fate made a mistake?"

"Fate making mistakes?" Julian grinned slightly. "If there was such a thing as Fate, protecting the future of the universe, I wouldn't want to believe it was capable of making mistakes!"

"If the cycle repeated and repeated into infinity, you might expect something to go wrong somewhere, don't you think?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow slightly at Julian, who considered the idea.

"Perhaps, though if Fate did exist, I would want to know what it thought it was doing pulling all of us into such a terrible war without even asking if we wanted to play a part in it." Julian sighed angrily, feeling his emotions rise in him as old memories drifted through his mind. "If you have the whole of existence to search through, surely you could come up with armies of people who were willing to fight, rather than being forced into it?"

"Maybe it did ask?" Nathan ventured cautiously. "None of us remember all of what happened, and the further back you try and go, the cloudier it becomes. Perhaps, long ago, before you even existed as an actual being, while you were just a potential of creation, Fate could have somehow asked you if you were willing to give your existence up to ensure the rest of the universe wasn't destroyed. What would you have said?"

Julian looked up at Nathan, suddenly feeling very unsure of himself, wondering if his new friend could actually be right. Could Fate have asked him if he would fight, and he had simply forgotten? Because, he was fairly sure that, if he had been asked such a question, whether he was willing to sacrifice himself so that everything else could go on, that the answer would have been, "Yes."

Nathan smiled and nodded. "Interesting thought, isn't it?" Pushing himself upright from the side of the van, Nathan brushed his jacket down and sighed. "I'm going to check what's taking Rourkie so long," he decided. "I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure," Julian said, his voice distracted as he continued trying to come to terms with the new possibilities Nathan had given him.

Walking to the edge of the car park, Nathan turned back and smiled apologetically at Julian. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about all this." Before Julian could reply, he turned back towards the forest and disappeared inside.

Julian listened to Nathan's footsteps, disappearing into the distance as he moved further into the forest, leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of footsteps faded back into Juilan's perception, multiple people this time, accompanied by the voices of Rourkie and Nathan. A few seconds later, the pair walked out from the edge of the forest trail.

"Back already?" Julian smiled at the pair as they approached.

"Sorry we took so long," Nathan said apologetically. "It's been a while since some of us met and-"

"What do you mean?" Julian interrupted, a puzzled look on his face. "You only just left!"

Nathan and Rourkie looked at each other, then Rourkie started to speak as he turned back towards Julian. "We've been gone a good few minutes, lad. What are you talking about?"

Julian chuckled and shook his head. "Stop fooling around, okay? Nathan was here talking to me no more than half a minute ago."

"We're not fooling around," Nathan looked directly into Julian's eyes as he spoke, his expression conveying the seriousness of the statement. "We've both been gone a while. You're sure it was me you were talking to?"

Julian opened his mouth to speak, the tone of reply that was about be delivered obvious through the derisive look Julian shot at Nathan, who interrupted before the sarcastic denial could be spoken. "No, I know, stupid question." He turned to Rourkie, who was looking around nervously. "Rourkie?"

Rourkie nodded and pulled out a mobile phone from his leather jacket's pocket. "On it," he acknowledged quickly, hitting the speed dial on the phone.

Nathan moved closer to Julian, looking up and down the length of the van, and out across the car park. "What was it that you were talking to me about exactly?"

"Well," Julian said slowly, his voice hesitant as he remembered the conversation, trying to spot anything within it that might have indicated that the person he had spoken with was not Nathan. "You said you were worried about everything that is going on, with me and with the world in general. Then you talked about your theory for why we're doing what we're doing, fighting this war and such, and what reason Fate might have had to pull us all into it."

"What theory was that?" Nathan asked, his expression still deadly serious. In the background, Rourkie was now speaking on to someone on his mobile phone, but his voice was hushed to such a level that Julian could only hear a mumble and not discern what exactly was being said.

Distracted by Rourkie for a moment as he looked over Nathan's shoulder, Julian shook his head and moved his gaze back to look at Nathan. "What theory?" He repeated uncertainly. Nathan nodded in confirmation. "Well," he continued, "it was about Fate, and why we were summoned to fight the war, what exactly was at stake."

"Oh?" Nathan's expression melted a little, curiosity invading the seriousness he had previously shown. "What exactly did I say it was all about?"

"That the kind of terrible war we were fighting was inevitable in the universe, and that it had the potential to destroy all of existence, so Fate had forced it to happen under its own terms, limiting the destruction as well as it could." Julian ran quickly back over the conversation in his mind. "That was the gist of it, I think. Also something about our being here being an accident or a mistake."

"Interesting theory," Nathan nodded and smiled grimly. "But it isn't mine. Then again," he paused a moment to think, "it doesn't sound like demon talk either."

Rourkie walked up to the pair as he clicked his mobile phone cover closed and placed it back in his pocket. "The others haven't seen anything. Jess reckons that if it were a demon plot, they'd be busy doing us in right now rather than pretending to be you and talking to Julian here. What do you reckon, Nathan?"

"I agree," Nathan nodded slowly. "I say we go ahead. Cautiously, of course, but there seems to be no immediate threat."

"Hold on a second," Julian interrupted the pair. "Just what was that thing? If it wasn't you, and you think it wasn't a demon, then what on Earth could it have been?"

Shrugging a little, Nathan looked across to Rourkie, who looked just as unsure as he turned away to let his eyes scout the car ark once more for signs of trouble. "I don't know, Julian," Nathan admitted as he stepped to one side, gripping the sliding door on the van and closing it firmly. "All I do know is that there are some strange things in this world, beyond just us and the demons, and it looks like one of them seems to have taken an interest in you for some reason."

"Lucky me," Julian said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Seems that everyone wants to be my friend at the moment."

"Look at the alternative," Nathan replied frankly as he locked the van and placed the keys in a pocket inside his jacket. "Better that than them all wanting your head."

"I suppose," Julian agreed. "So, do I get to meet these other Awakened people you mentioned?"

"You do indeed," Rourkie grinned, turning to look at Julian and Nathan, having finished yet another inspection of the car park. "Let's get going."

The three walked silently into the forest, following the forest trail as it led through trees that had been changed by the autumn from depths of luscious green to a violent fire of yellows, oranges and red, many leaves having already fallen to decorate the forest floor as the cold harsh winds swept through the trees. It was a beautiful sight to behold, the odd evergreen tree here and there providing a contrast of deep, cool green against the other flaming trees.

A few minutes down the trail, Rourkie stopped momentarily, signalling with a hand for the others to follow suit. He looked up and down the trail, and listened intently for a few moments, satisfying himself as much as possible that there were no others nearby, and then quickly paced into the tree line, leaving the trail behind. Nathan followed behind him and waved at Julian to do the same.

Beyond the forest trail the undergrowth was thick, despite the cold autumn having reduced some of the plant life through frost and other such weather effects that plants generally find unpleasant. Julian nearly tripped more than once as he stepped over brambles and carefully followed Nathan and Rourkie through patches of nettles.

After just a couple of long minutes traversing the difficult terrain, the three came up on a clearing in the forest, well hidden from the forest trail. It was perhaps twenty feet across by Julian's reckoning, surrounded by trees that were already fairly bare, their red-gold leaves covering the floor of the clearing in a bright carpet of sorts which, Julian noted happily, was virtually free of the troublesome undergrowth they had fought through to reach it.

Waiting within the clearing were two people, both of whom looked expectantly towards the trio as the appeared. The first was a fairly young looking woman, probably not much older than Julian. She had rather compact features on her face, framed by two slim cheeks that seemed to go on for longer than they should have done, giving her face an elongated appearance. Her blonde hair was long and tied back, and she wore a long, light coloured coat, made from some sort of thick, heavy looking fabric that looked as if it was ideal for the cold weather that had recently prevailed. Julian was almost glad that it wasn't leather, which both Nathan and Rourkie seemed to prefer, against Julian's own preference.

Nathan stepped towards the woman and turned back to Julian. "This is Jessica," he smiled. "But we just tend to call her Jess. Jess, this is Julian."

"Pleased to meet you, Julian," Jess greeted, her voice light and friendly. She raised her hand towards him, which Julian shook, smiling warmly at her.

"Glad to be here," Julian replied.

"And this," Nathan continued, indicating the second waiting figure once Jess and Julian had finished shaking hands, "is Will."

Will was an elderly man, who carried a dark coloured walking stick. He was leaning slightly against a tree for support, though it didn't look like he really needed to. His thin face carried features that looked wise and experienced, conveying a feeling that he had seen much in his life, and held more than a few secrets behind his calm exterior. His short hair had faded with age to a silver colour, though he had been fortunate enough not to lose any of it. He was dressed in a chequered shirt and tidy looking trousers, almost as if he was more dressed for a summer afternoon's stroll along the forest trail rather than meeting with others deep with the woods in the middle of a cold autumn day.

"He's the closest thing we have to a leader," Nathan continued the introduction. "He's been around fighting this war a lot longer than any of us."

"Come closer, Julian," Will beckoned with a hand gesture, his voice surprisingly fluid for his age, "you have no need to fear here."

Julian smiled and turned from Jess to walk closer to Will, who studied him carefully as he approached, his gaze almost seeming to look through Julian, seeing something beyond him, or perhaps within him.

Will looked slowly towards Nathan. "His eyes are open," he explained cryptically, "but he does not see. Yet."

"I'm sorry," Julian said in a confused tone. "I'm not sure I understand."

"He means," Jess chipped in helpfully, "that you are Awakened, or you will be, but you haven't fully come to realise your full potential."

"Full potential?" Julian repeated, questioningly.

"It's a long process," Nathan moved to stand by Julian. "You might still be remembering new things about your former life for a while."

"I'm not so sure," Julian sighed. "I've already remembered some pretty disturbing things."

Will nodded solemnly. "Our stories are rarely happy, Julian. But we find solace in knowing that we are not standing alone with out burdens."

"Just how many more of us are there?" Julian asked curiously.

"Hard to say," Jess mused, looking up at the treetops. "For this country, possibly a few hundred. In the city and surrounding areas there are a few more than just us, but not many."

"Doesn't seem like many to fight a war," Julian remarked apprehensively

"Indeed not," Will agreed. "And yet, here we are. We do what we can, when we can, Julian. If we do not counter the threat, then it will hunt us down and destroy us. There is little choice in the matter."

"That has already been made clear, believe me," Julian grinned wryly.

"Yes, so I understand, Julian," Will nodded slowly, raising a hand to stroke his chin thoughtfully. "It seems that Arkwright and his cronies have taken something of an interest in you."

"Yes, to put it mildly," Julian confirmed. "I've nearly been killed three times in as many days."

"And yet," Will mused, still stroking his chin, "they haven't killed you, either through inability or unwillingness. What exactly is it that they want from you?" "They've managed to get hold of something," Julian began to explain, choosing his words carefully, though he had still not decided how he was going to relate his whole story to his audience. "They've got it, and they want me to show them how to use it."

"What do they have exactly?" Will asked gently, his expression unconcerned, though whether that was a mask covering his true emotions, Julian couldn't tell. "A chaos driver," Julian answered plainly, waiting to see if anyone reacted.

"Bloody hell," Rourkie exclaimed from behind Julian, at the same time as Jess gasped in shock to his side. Though he didn't see, Nathan's expression darkened with worry. Will, however, just nodded grimly.

"I take it you know what that is, then?" Julian asked, trying to sound as optimistic and unworried as possible.

"Indeed we do," Will confirmed. "Those cruel devices have tormented our dreams for many years, though we didn't always know what they were called. Do you know how they acquired such a thing?"

Julian nodded. "Professor Arkwright claimed that one of their number had remembered how to create them, but had died soon after making the one they have. I'm not sure, and I think I know why. I think working with raw chaos, without the power or ability to control it properly, slowly destroyed his body, maybe even his soul itself. As I remember, chaos was dangerous stuff if you didn't know what you were doing."

"For you to know all this," Jess said, her voice sounding slightly awed, "you must have been-"

"An Architect." Will finished Jess' sentence for her.

"That's right, I was." Julian sighed, shivering slightly as he did, partly from the cold, and partly from the memory of the terrible things he had done as an Architect during the war. He didn't think those memories would ever leave him. How could they?

"There are few Architects among us," Will explained, suddenly looking a little brighter despite the news of the chaos driver. "To find another among us is a momentous thing. Architects were the most powerful and revered of our kind, their ability to wield the chaos drivers made them invaluable to our culture, and in the war, our defence."

"I don't want to be treated any differently because of that," Julian stated frankly. "I don't deserve anything."

"You were an Architect," Jess began to argue.

Julian shot a sharp glance at Jess and snapped, "I was a murderer!"

"What?" Both Nathan and Jess uttered at the same time.

A confused silence fell over the clearing. Julian lowered his head and rested the bridge of his nose against his thumb and forefinger. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Will pushed himself up from the tree he was leaning against and took a few steps towards Julian with the aid of his walking stick, not that he really need to use it. He placed his hand on Julian's shoulder and sighed. "You did what you had to do."

"What does he mean," Nathan stepped forward, looking at his friend with a concerned expression.

"He did what he had to do to protect us, Nathan," Will explained patiently, still resting his hand supportively on Julian's shoulder. "But in doing that he violated his own moral code and misused the power of creation to fell our enemies. Isn't that right, Julian?"

Julian just nodded slightly in acknowledgement, not raising his head.

"He used the chaos driver to kill demons?" Nathan concluded hesitantly. Then, speaking more quickly, he added, "But surely that's a good thing?"

"It is, Nathan, and it isn't." Will's reply was cryptic, something that, Julian guessed through his muddled thoughts and painful memories, wasn't unusual for the aged man. "Julian defended his kind. That is good, yes. But he also broke a sacred moral code that the Architects held to. He used the power of the chaos driver, which they pledged to use only for creation and the betterment of our kind, to destroy and kill. It may have been the enemy he killed, true enough, but the breach of that pledge was just as serious for him. I've seen this in Awakened Architects before. Some feel it more than others. Julian feels it greatly, as you can see."

Nathan stood, his jaw hanging slightly, suddenly understanding the graveness of Julian's dilemma

"So it's like that oath that docs take, right?" Rourkie chipped in. "The watchacallit, Hippocratic, right?"

"A fair comparison, Sebastian," Will nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry," Nathan managed to force the words in his mind into his mouth. "I can't imagine how that must feel."

"It's all right," Julian said quietly, pulling his shoulder away from Will's hand and taking a few steps away, looking out into the trees beyond the clearing. "It's all done and buried now. It's in the past. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Jess said sorrowfully. "You don't have to bear this alone."

"The most important thing," Julian said calmly, struggling to put his feelings to one side, "is to make sure that Arkwright and his cronies don't get the chance to make use of that chaos driver. I told them as little as I could, I don't think they found out much that they didn't already know. If it takes them too long to figure out, it might not matter, but we can't take that chance."

"Wait a second," Jess interrupted. "What do you mean? What will happen if it takes them too long to figure out?"

"Creating the chaos driver killed the person who made it because he handled too much raw chaos without realising it. I think he knew how to make it, but he had forgotten the dangers. It was like working in the middle of a nuclear reactor without a radiation suit."

Jess frowned and shook her head slightly, still confused. "I understand that, Julian, but what does that have to do with the rest of them?"

"Their reactor is leaking, so to speak," Julian continued. "The chaos driver they have is imperfect, and is leaking chaos into the space around it. The demons have recognised this, as they realised the dire effects that the chaos released from a demon-activated chaos driver had on us, specifically on me. But I don't know if they really realise what causes that reaction, and I'm pretty sure that they don't understand that the chaos will affect them as well, only at a lesser rate. It will kill all of them who come into regular close contact with it eventually."

"You certainly seem to know a lot about it," Jess spoke after Julian had finished his explanation.

"Kyarth remembers a lot about it." Julian answered casually.

"Kyarth?" Nathan repeated, his eyes widening a little in surprise.

"Yes, that's right." Julian confirmed slowly, turning to see that everyone was looking rather surprised at him. "That's who I used to be, I think. He's been talking to me in my dreams, helping me to remember. I figured it was part of the Awakening." He paused and felt rather uncomfortable at the reaction the name had provoked. "Why, do you know me?"

"Everyone remembers Kyarth," Nathan grinned warmly. "Well, most of us do."

"Greatest Architect of them all," Rourkie smiled. "I remember your statue."

"I had a statue?!" Julian gaped at Rourkie, unable to believe his ears.

"You were somewhat famous," Will nodded. "Your skill with the chaos driver was unmatched."

Julian shook his head and shakily backed away a couple of steps. "No, I don't want this. I told you, I don't want to be treated differently."

"Calm down, Julian." Nathan stepped in front of the others, putting himself between them and Julian. "No one is going to treat you any differently. We're here to help each other."

"I'm sorry," Julian sighed, looking at Nathan. "It's all just so much. I don't know if I can bear the weight of these memories."

"It'll be all right," Nathan comforted his friend gently. "The Awakening is always difficult. But we're here. I'm here. You will get through this."

Julian nodded quickly a couple of times. "I know, and I'm grateful for that. It's just a lot to take in one go. I never expected to have my own statue." He forced a slight grin on to his face. "But I can't let it affect me. We have to do something about Arkwright. If he works out how to use the chaos driver, it pretty much signifies the end for us. It would tip the balance of power hugely."

"You are right," Will agreed. "Do you think it is possible that he will be able to use it?"

"I'm not certain," Julian sighed, folding his arms across his chest and looking to the sky as he thought. "Neither side has the same level of natural power as we used to, so it wouldn't be an easy thing, but I have no idea whether it would be possible. But, as it kills them, the leaked chaos will afford them certain supernatural abilities, such as the ability to hide the Shriek, which Nathan told me about, and which I believed Arkwright was using while he tried to convince me he was on my side.

"Whether he knows that is because of the leaking chaos driver or not, I don't know, but if they can use the power of chaos on that level, there's no reason I can see that would stop them from using it on a greater scale as the chaos poisoning within their bodies develops. Who knows how powerful they might become before they eventually succumb to it?"

Julian was surprised at how easily the knowledge was coming to him. Whole new areas of information suddenly opened up to him, requiring no effort to access, as if they had always been there, just waiting for him to look in the right place. Somewhere in the background of his thoughts, he could feel Kyarth smiling warmly at him. No, wait, that was him smiling at himself, wasn't it? This was going to take some getting used to.

"You are certainly right," Will agreed sagely. "Something has to be done about the demons possessing a chaos driver. And, given what Nathan has told me about your movements, I assume they have it locked up safe somewhere within Greewood Unviersity?"

"Yes, underground in some sort of vault."

"We'd never be able to bust in there," Rourkie sighed. "They're armed to the teeth in that demon pit. It's like some sort of army base."

"Then we will have to think of another way," Will reasoned, his expression still calm, the same way it had been since Julian had first spotted him upon entering the clearing. Julian supposed that, in a lifetime of fighting the secret war on this world, Will had seen his share of desperate situations, and had learned to live with them. For a moment he drew some uncomfortable parallels with the decline of Kyarth's spirit in his previous life, but decided that Will, although calm and low on emotion, didn't seem to hold the same hopelessness that Kyarth had fallen into.

"I think, however," Will continued in the same tone, "that we have spent enough time here for now. Julian has met us, and I think he will agree that we all have plenty to think about."

Jess nodded and smiled. "Agreed."

"Wait," Julian said, holding up a hand, his expression suddenly becoming rather worried. "What am I supposed to do now? With the demons still after me, is it safe to go home? What about work?"

"You're right," Rourkie said grinly. "Won't be safe for you back home just yet. Not, at least, with all this chaos driver malarky up in the air."

Nathan grinned and waved his hand dismissively in front of him. "No problem, Julian. You let me stay at your place, least I can do is return the favour." He paused and considered his thoughts for a moment. "I can drive you into work and back on Monday, and for as long as you need. I doubt that even Arkwright would try storming a business just to get you. It's too high profile."

"That sounds acceptable," Will smiled, satisfied. "It may seem like a difficult balance to maintain, but if we can keep you in work, it would be for the best. We need to gain as many contacts as we can, and have access to more resources. As much as possible, we must continue to keep our normal day to day lives stable. If none of us were able to work, we would find ourselves in even graver times than we do now."

"I understand," Julian acknowledged, his expression and tone as serious as they could be. "Besides, seeing as Silverline Fisheries is really a front for us, I guess I can get a little more time off if I require it."

Nathan chuckled and nodded, smiling widely as he looked around at the others in the clearing. "See? He's getting the idea already."

Rourkie laughed out loud and stepped over to Julian, giving him a firm slap between the shoulders and then gripping his hand gently over one of them. "You're going to fit right in here, kid."

"Thanks," Julian smiled, not quite sure of how else to respond to Rourkie's forwardness.

"I'll drive you two home then," Rourkie grinned, releasing Julian and stepping towards the edge of the clearing. Nathan fell into step with him, and Julian followed, then faltered, and turned back to Jess and Will.

"I'm glad to have met you both," he smiled warmly. "I hope I'll be seeing you again soon."

"Count on it," Jess grinned. "I think this is going to get, well, interesting, before it gets resolved."

Julian chuckled wryly, nodded somewhat respectfully at Will, and turned to leave the clearing, disappearing into the tree line. He smiled to himself, as Jess' words brought back the traditional Chinese curse to his mind - 'May you live in interesting times'. Right now, he certainly was.