Ame's terminal buzzed just as she brought the freshly washed laundry inside.
She scrunched her brow. It was Cyan. Was something wrong? She picked it up.
"Hey, Cyan. What's up?"
"I'm not feeling that well right now. I may not be home for a while. I figured I should let you know that Colin was at home sleeping when I left."
Ame frowned. "I will worry about Colin. Please just get yourself taken care of."
"You don't need to worry about me." Cyan hung up.
Why didn't that make her feel better?
***
When Ame walked into the house, Alastair had stumbled into the kitchen. Honey dutifully skidded after him.
Ame wet a washcloth she got out of her terminal. "Wipe your eyes. They look sleepy."
Alastair grumbled as he complied.
Ame got out a scoop of food since Honey's bowl was empty.
"Where did Cyan go? Did she decide to leave?" he asked.
"It's not that." Ame sighed. "She's sick. She said that she'll be staying away until she feels better."
Alastair stiffened up. "Will she be okay?"
"I'm not sure. I can try to check up on her. Her terminal has a tracker, so I can warp to where she is if I have to."
"If she's sick, why didn't she come home?"
Ame squeezed his shoulders. "She didn't want to give you her bug."
"But I can't get sick!"
"Cyan doesn't know that. Plus, you have been feeling pretty lousy as of late."
"But can't she stay locked up in her room? Like En does?"
"She could, but since she often cooks and washes your stuff, she probably felt it would be difficult."
He stomped his foot. "I can do that, though!"
"I'm not saying that you can't do those things, but with your wrist like it is, it would be hard for you."
Honey rubbed herself against his leg.
"I like cooking..." he said.
"It'll probably be more fun when you have both hands again." She stroked his cheek. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"I'll make food." Alastair got up. "You can go now."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Alastair rubbed his head. "Yeah, I'm not feeling sick right now, aside from some head throbbing."
Ame sighed. "Alright but let me know if you need anything."
"Why do you care all of a sudden?" Alastair glared at her. "Apart from training, you haven't really helped. Even with that, it was Lulu and Kai who sparred with me. You're useless."
Ame bit her lip. "You're right, I am. But that's why I'm trying to be a little more helpful."
Alastair went to fold his arms, but his injury made it look awkward. "You can start by telling me what you know about my parents."
Ame sighed. "Couldn't figure a thing out, could you? Fine. Rin and Helena's breaks were cut, causing them to crash."
He gasped.
"That's what Hannah's Hiko found out. The detectives he hired couldn't figure out who it was that killed his cousin."
"W-why didn't he tell me and En?" Tears poked out of the corners of his eyes.
Another sigh. "Because it would haunt the two of you."
Alastair fell to the floor. "Who did it?" He punched the ground with a steel-covered fist, burning it with an electric discharge.
"Alastair! You're going to hurt yourself!"
"Who would hurt Mommy and Daddy? Who would hurt Mommy and Daddy? Who would hurt Mommy and Daddy?" He punched the floor again, setting it on fire.
Her voice cracked. "Alastair!"
His wrist had to be beyond aggravated by now. At this rate, how much damage would he do to his body? He had to go to sleep.
She held out her hand and knocked Star out with a blast of energy. Thankfully, it didn't take long to work.
Ame caught the boy in her arms and sighed. He didn't even let her say the rest. Could he take it, though? Given what the royal family had done to him? Her trembling voice was just above a whisper. "I'm sorry, Alastair, but I have to keep you safe."
She put a barrier over the flames to rob them of oxygen before teleporting them to the front yard.
"Call Noelle," Ame whispered into her terminal.
She picked up almost instantly.
"Hey, Let. Did you need something?"
"Alastair and I need to stay out of the house for a few days. I was wondering if we could come to Engrada. There's a nice hot spring out there, isn't there?"
"Please do! The family who owns the hot spring are my friends. They should have a room or two that you can use."
Ame smiled. "How do they feel about dogs?"
"Come over. We can sort that out when you get here."
Honey whimpered. It was probably distressing it see her human unconscious.
"It'll be alright, girl. We're going to get Alastair taken care of right now."
Amethyst teleported her KK and his dog to what looked to be a palace.
Noelle rubbed Alastair's forehead when she saw him. "Let, he's shaking! Why doesn't he have a jacket?"
"I don't think he's sick," Amethyst said, putting him on the floor. Sparks flew up at the three girls.
Honey barked and ran off.
"Honey!"
A tall man with black hair walked in. "What in Ama's name is that?" he gasped when his gaze drifted toward Alastair. "Wait, is that a Key Keeper? Is he evolving?"
Ame put her hand up to put a barrier around her KK. "Huh? How does he know?"
Noelle pushed it down. "Calm down. He's Cece's cousin. He saw her do something like this."
The man bit his lip. "Yeah, except it was steam coming out of her..."
Ame lifted the boy into the air with telekinesis. "I better get him out of here."
Noelle stepped toward her. "Where are you taking him to?"
"Someplace safe where he won't hurt others. Maybe the sky over the desert or the ocean."
***
Ame wanted to sigh. None of this was Alastair's fault. He had no control over how or when he evolved. It honestly would have been preferable if it happened while he was still with Hannah, but that didn't happen.
She still needed to take care of him. This was when the poor kid needed her most. If Ame couldn't manage that, she wouldn't be fit to be a Gatekeeper anymore. Protecting a KK was a major responsibility of a Gatekeeper, after all.
This was the first evolution she'd been responsible for managing in more than eighty years. Cecil and the others had none. Ame wasn't exactly sure why that was. Not every KK had one. Just like how not every KK had a mission given to them.
The girl let out a dry laugh. She wasn't called Amethyst back then. She was just Violet. She didn't begin using Melissa, too, until the 1930s. As for Amethyst, she didn't change Violet to that until 1945. Being restationed was a big deal, and she thought it would fit given that this world always had an edge over Earth technologically speaking.
Ame had met her previous Earthling KK on Earth in 1927. It was early spring at the time, so she had just turned seventeen. Missy was alone when Ame originally met her. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of watching Missy use her powers to water her garden. Her plants were like her children.
Like Hannah's Violet, Ame had used that name once upon a time.
Missy jumped the first time she caught Violet watching her water her garden.
Violet smiled and held her hands out. "I don't want to hurt you. I won't tell everyone about your gift, either."
"My gift?" Her eyes were the size of ping-pong balls. "Why aren't you scared of this?"
"I like watching you water the plants. You must love them." Violet stroked a nearby sunflower. "The plants seem happy too."
Missy gasped. "You can tell?
"Look at how tall they are." Violet put her hands on her hips. "Do you really think that plants would grow this big in this gloomy city?" She chuckled. "Not to mention, I've met people who can do similar things."
Her jaw dropped. "You've met other people who can make their own rain clouds?"
"I don't think most of them can do that, but they are equally special to you." She offered her hand. "Violet."
She took it. "Melissa."
"Say, Violet… How long have you been watching me?" Melissa asked.
Violet gasped. "Well, since I was told to."
"Huh? Told? Are you a spy? Did I do something wrong to be spied on?"
"N-no! Uh, do you have a birthmark?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Violet's cheeks burned. I should not have asked her that! It was none of my business as a virtual stranger!
"I do." She put her hand over her heart. "It's close to my heart."
Violet knew better than to ask to see it, although she wished she could.
"Did you want to see it?" She laughed as she fiddled with the collar of her top. "I could show you, but you'd probably rather that I didn't."
How could Violet ask her what it looked like? That was probably a weirder question than the initial one about whether she had one or not.
She smiled. "It looks like a key."
The color drained from Violet's face.
"I knew it!" Missy's eyes got big. "You do know why I'm special! What am I, Violet?"
"I'm not sure you want to know… It's pretty shocking."
She put her hands on her hips. "I can make thunderstorms. Try me."
Violet shrunk away from her intense gaze. "I think you could be a Key Keeper."
"A Key Keeper?"
"Key Keepers have the ability to travel between two worlds in order to protect them. They often have power over nature's elements, too."
Not that it was a hard rule. Noah had power over sleep on top of his elements.
"That makes sense." She sighed. "I could never explain it."
Violet's jaw dropped. "You're not shocked?"
"I'm happy to finally have an answer and glad to have met you, Violet."
"I'm glad to have met you, too…" I said. "I'm gonna have to let my friends know since it's our job to look out for people like you."
"Sounds great!" She had an infectious smile on her face. "Call me Missy."
Violet looked away again. "Could you call me Let then?"
Missy made her meet her gaze before hugging her. "Of course, I can, Let. That's a wonderful name."
Those were great days… I couldn't get them back no matter how many times I wished upon a shooting star, though…
Ame took care of Alastair the best she could, but it was a brutal few days. She didn't really feed him since she didn't have a way to while he was asleep. Oh, and she drank an absurd amount of coffee since they'd go plummeting into the ocean if she fell asleep. Thankfully, Noelle provided her with fresh, hot coffee.
***
The man with black hair ran outside as soon as Ame and Noelle returned to the palace. "Is it over?"
"Thank Kayleigh that it is," Noelle replied.
"I'm sorry to ask, but could you please take him to bed? There's something I need to find before he wakes."
The last thing the poor kid needed right now was a meltdown. Everything was so sudden. There was no telling what kind of mood he was going to be in when he woke.
The man held his arms out. "Of course."
Ame rubbed her eyes. He was holding Alastair the same way Ed held Sky whenever he wasn't well.
All the more reason to find Honey.