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Layla and Blake both stood there in disbelief. Here was Amber, the only other person that was in the vicinity of the song. Blake blinked her eyes a few times as she tried to process everything. Layla, on the other hand, broke the silence.
"Amber? What are you doing here?" she asked in curiosity. Amber let out a nervous giggle.
"Well, I... Uh...," Amber stuttered, trying to find some sort of excuse. Amber was looking really suspicious at the moment. Layla tried to recall what Blake had told her earlier, reminding her that the Knight's song was unique to each Knight, and is usually something that came naturally to each Guardian. Could it really, Layla wondered to herself. Blake finally recovered herself and cleared her throat.
"Amber? You don't have to answer if you don't want to but," Blake carefully chose her words, "Were you, by chance, just out here to sing in private?" Amber gasped. Layla's eyes widened in the sudden realization. She and Blake had the same idea in mind.
"H-how did you know that?" Amber asked worriedly. Blake huffed in disbelief as Layla low-whistled. There was only one more question that she needed to ask.
"What song was that? The one you were singing?" Blake asked almost hurriedly. Layla gulped loudly in anticipation. Amber looked really hesitant to answer. Moreover, she was already confused as to how Blake knew that she was hear to sing for herself.
"I don't know actually," Amber admitted, "It's sort of something that came rather natural to me. It was nice, so I sung it again today. I didn't think I would be found here though." Blake held her bated breath. Everything was beginning to match up. Layla felt the same, but she wanted to confirm for herself as well.
"Amber," Layla spoke up, "Do you happen to have a tattoo on you? One that I don't know about?" Blake turned to face Layla, eyes going wide. Layla nodded to her in return; she was just as curious as Blake was. Amber glanced over at the two, wondering what was going on.
"I don't know if you've seen it or not, but I do have one," Amber finally answered, raising her left sleeve. Layla couldn't see it herself, but the look on Blake's face was enough for her to confirm what they both had thought. For Blake, right on her left forearm, was a small pair of golden runes. The exact runes that had just shown up on her own tattoo.

Blake let out a sigh of relief. She had finally found the Guardian that summoned her that night. Layla felt just as relieved, although she was still startled at the fact that Amber happened to be that same Guardian Blake had been looking for all this time. Between the two girls was a feeling of closure that they relished. Amber, on the other hand, observed in complete confusion.
"Um, guys? You okay over there?" She called out, waving a hand in front of them. Blake was the first to respond, dropping down to one knee before Amber. The girl yelped and took a step back in shock as Layla gasped. Blake kept her head tilted down, looking like an actual knight from medieval tales.
"Let me explain before this gets out of hand," Layla quickly says as she notices Amber opening her mouth to speak (or scream), "Blake here is the only other person who can actually see that tattoo that you have on your arm. I don't see anything."
"Huh? You can't see it?" Amber asked incredulously, "It's right here though. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I thought that you just didn't want to really ask about it."
"Well, yeah," Layla confirmed, "To me, you don't have a single tattoo on you. Blake, on the other hand..."
"Your tattoo is of a crossed out 'W' and three horizontal wavy lines, right?" Blake asked, raising her head. Amber nodded in surprise, and Blake smiled.
"We're gonna need you to listen to us for a bit, okay? It's important," Layla continued, taking a seat on the bleachers. Blake stood and took a seat just below Layla as Amber nervously sat to Layla's right.

"To begin, I think you should know about what happened that Friday night," Layla began quietly, "When a shadow-thingy called an Ire attacked me." Amber's eyes widened.
"A-an Ire, you said?" Amber said in a shaky voice, "How do you know that term, Layla?"
"Oh, this makes things simpler to explain," Layla smiled, looking to Blake, "Blake taught me." Amber turned to look at Blake, who only grinned in response.
"Maybe this will help," Blake spoke up at last, taking off her blazer. Underneath the blazer, Amber gasped at the sight of bloodied bandages. Blake quickly unwrapped them and revealed her tattoo. Amber gasped as she absentmindedly began tracing the sky blue runes on Blake's arm.
"That's the same as mine," she spoke softly, glancing back at her own tattoo. She looked back up to Blake's eyes, "Blake, what are you? How do you know this stuff?"
"Same way you probably learned it. I was taught," Blake responded, "Do you know what you are?"
"A bit," Amber admitted solemnly, "All I know is that Ires can only be seen by Guardians and..." Amber's eyes widen as she comes to the realization, "And Knights..." Blake shots Amber a small smile. Amber's eyes began to water until she was quietly sobbing.
"You're my Knight?" She finally asks, to which Blake gives a firm nod, standing up again. Layla watches as Blake gets back down to one knee in front of Amber, mixed emotions raging through her mind. On one hand she felt happy. The two of them finally found one another like they were meant to. However, on the other hand, she felt left out. Those two were involved with something that she didn't intend to be apart of, and yet at the same time she was one of the special few "normal people" with the ability to see and interact with Ires. It was already bad enough that Ires wanted her dead.

The three of them went their separate ways back home before nightfall, with Blake bowing low in a chivalrous manner to both Layla and Amber. Layla giggled and waved back as Amber blushed madly and kept grinning like a little school girl as she watched Blake, her Knight, return to her home. Layla scoffed at her love-stricken friend as she dragged her back into the dorms.
"Blake... is my Knight," Amber repeated to herself as she entered their dorm room. Layla remained silent; she had already heard Amber repeat that same statement for the entire duration of getting to their room. At this point, Layla was so tired of hearing the same thing that it was just getting ridiculous.
"Yes she is, Amber. Now will you PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy in the world, SHUT UP ABOUT IT?!" Layla finally snapped. Amber snapped out of her own traced state and began nervously laughing at the glares Layla was shooting her.
"I'm sorry, girl, but you have to understand," Amber tried to explain, "I've usually been with this alone. I never knew that you or even Blake knew about them as well. Especially in your case on how an Ire actually went after you that night."
"I get that, but that's now fact so just accept it already," Layla sighed, "I understand how this must feel for you, but we have more important things to talk about right now."
"Like what?"
"The Ires. Earlier right before we split off, Blake mentioned something about Ires becoming more active in attacking regular people like me," Layla stated clearly, "The fact that they are usually invisible to normal people makes things worse. Just imagine the amount of damage they can cause. It would be much worse than what happened to me." Amber nodded in understanding, furrowing her brow and deep in thought. Layla was right; the Ires were now posing a greater threat towards innocent people. It was common knowledge between Layla, Amber, and Blake that these Ires had the capability of taking the lives of thousands if left unattended.

Meanwhile, Blake had arrived at her house to some unexpected guests. She noticed that her home had been broken into, and sitting on her living room couch was none other than Rine and Maria. Maria greeted Blake with a smile as Rine got up from his seat to approach her.
"Blake, so good to see you, my friend," he greeted casually. Blake didn't return the courtesy, instead opting to glare at the man in annoyance.
"You know I have a cell phone. You know you can call me. Yet you decide to break into my house instead," Blake deadpanned. Rine smiled proudly as he stepped back to admire his handiwork. Maria, on the other hand, kept smiling as she got up from her seat and tapped Rine on the shoulder. When he turned around, Maria sacked him right in his manhood. Hard. Blake even cringed and actually felt sympathy for poor Rine as he fell to the floor with a high octave yelp.
"Sorry about that, Blake. You know how much of an idiot Rine is," Maria's attempt of an apology didn't make things better for Blake. Even though the sight of Rine in severe pain was lovely to watch, it still didn't fix her broken door.
"Oh! Right, the door," Maria exclaimed, raising a finger to the broken door. Blake watched in awe as a faint glowing golden light traveled from Maria's hand to her door, restoring it in seconds to working condition. Maria smiled and put her hand back down.
"You have to remember that we Guardians have exceptional control over our aura, or ethereal essence," Maria reminded Blake in a sweet voice, "Don't forget that the same aura is within Knights like you and Rine. Your auras are more passive in granting you exceptional combative strength instead of being active for aural manipulation like Guardians." Blake smiled and thanked Maria kindly. Between Rine and Maria, Blake preferred to be around Maria more. Although she would seem cold and uncaring at times, she was still much more reliable than Rine would ever be. In fact, it was mainly Maria that raised Blake during those harsh times; Rine was mainly in charge of training Blake in combat and controlling her aura for enhanced strength or augmented defense.
"Anyway, we came here for a reason, and I'm sure you're aware of the recent increase in Ire activity, yes?" Maria asked, her tone dropping a bit in seriousness. Blake nodded curtly and escorted Maria back towards the couch, smirking as Rine remained on the floor in agonizing pain from Maria's ball punch.
"First off, were you able to find your Guardian?" Maria asked.
"Yes, I did. I've also managed to find a human who is able to see Ires," Blake reported, referring to Amber and Layla.
"How interesting. And they are aware of the situation as well?" Maria continued. Blake nodded her confirmation, and Maria smiled.
"Good. That will make explaining this a lot better," Maria concluded, "The main task is simple: do your best to make sure the Ires do not get out of control. While your at it - and I know this is a given - protect any and all innocent humans from their attacks. I don't need to remind you of what they can do, hm?"
"You don't," Blake agreed grimly, recalling her mother. Maria's eyes became soft, placing a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder. Blake looked towards Maria and found reassurance in her soft smile.
"Don't worry too much about the Ires that are constantly roaming around the city. Do your job whenever you can and in the area you are currently in," Maria briefed, "Your task is to get your Guardian used to having to deal with Ires and for your other friend to assist in making sure that no innocents are hurt when you and your Guardian initiate combat. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Blake reaffirmed.
"Good, then when you get the chance, have the Guardian and her friend come over," Maria ordered, "I'm going to help you explain things a little better."