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Maria guided her aura to surround Amber in her golden light. It felt warm, like a fluffy blanket pulled fresh from the dryer. Amber relaxed in the light and felt herself slowly growing stronger and better. Layla could only sit back and watch as her best friend went from battered to healthy in a matter of minutes thanks to Maria's aura. When all was done, Maria relinquished the aura around Amber with a satisfied smile. Amber tested out her newly-healed aura. Much to her delight, the pinkish light danced in her hands without flickering in and out of existence like it had been after her battle with Melody.
"Now that you're all up to speed," Melody began, placing a hand on Amber, "I believe it's about time Blake got the same treatment."
"How do I do that though? And why can't you do it?" Amber asked. Maria sighed, noticing Layla giving her a sympathetic look of disappointment.
"Because Blake is your Knight and not mine," Maria replied, rubbing her temples, "Besides, supposedly Knights heal much faster if it's their own Guardian healing their soul. After all, you two share a contract, do you not? Besides, all you really need to do is surround your aura around her, and the rest will become clear." Amber still looked rather confused, but went along with what Maria said. She guided her aura towards Blake, surrounding her with the pink light. Blake let out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes as the warmth of Amber's aura surrounded her. Amber closed her eyes on concentration, noticing some parts of her aura feeling cold around Blake. This is probably what she meant, Amber figured quickly. Since her aura was warm to Blake, it would make sense that in order to heal, she would just need to warm every cold area she could sense, and that's exactly what she began to do. She focused her aura around the parts that felt cold and icy until those areas were as warm as the rest of her aura. At the same time, Blake's aura activated on its own, intertwining with the pink aura to create a cloak of dark and bright light surrounding Blake.
"What's going on with Blake?" Layla asked Maria in a hushed tone, trying hard not to panic from the sudden development.
"Relax. That's normal for healing between Guardians and their Knights. It's a process we call synergy," Maria answered normally, "When auras come together like this, it allows for the aura to be stronger. That means faster healing, more powerful defense and offense, as well as telepathy, if you allow it." Blake felt stronger already. Her soul wasn't as damaged as Amber's was, but the effects were just as nice. She felt her wounds healing ever so slightly. It wasn't much since a majority of her injuries were physical, but whatever aura-related injuries she sustained disappeared into nothing. The warm aura slowly left her, and Blake opened her eyes to find that her own aura had surrounded her. She relinquished it with a satisfied smile as she felt her strength returning to her and looked over to Amber. Likewise, Amber opened her eyes and smiled proudly at what she accomplished. Maria clapped her hands, congratulating the two.
"You two are starting to become more of a Guardian and Knight pair. I'm so proud," she told them. Blake and Amber exchanged looks of gratitude. At the same moment, Layla watched over them with a smile of relief. They looked much better than they were moments before. Now all that was left was for them to heal their physical wounds, which would take time. I only wish I could help them a bit more, she thought with a bittersweet smile.

Maria and Ryne returned to their home early in the morning as Blake, Amber and Layla left for school. They couldn't assist with helping them as they headed over towards the building in three days time, but they agreed to help with sorting something out with school. They had agreed that both Amber and Blake were required to go, but Layla was to join them with the excuse of crowd control should it be needed. They arrived at school and were immediately swarmed by Blake's fans that were concerned for her well-being. Much to their surprise, some of the students that greeted them also went to see Amber.
"Amber! I heard you almost lost your life trying to save Layla! Thank goodness you're okay!" some students were saying. Amber laughed nervously and just rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment as Layla giggled and Blake grinned; seems the rumor of Amber's bravery story (aka the excuse she used to explain her injuries to the school without mentioning that she had fought against a crazed and murderous Guardian) spread like wildfire to the point where she had gotten a nickname of her very own. Of all the names that they had to give me why did they choose that, Amber wondered in embarrassment at the mention of it. Blake snickered and Layla didn't even hold back when the three of them finally arrived at class having gone through the students outside.
"Amber: The Guardian!" Layla guffawed, "I can't believe that it's going to be your nickname now! How ironic can you get?!" Amber glared at her for rubbing it in, which made Blake bust out laughing as well.
"Oh come on, Blake. Not you too," Amber groaned.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just that," Blake paused to catch her breath, "I never expected this to happen either. It's just... too ironic!" Layla and Blake continued to share their laughter as Amber tried to shut them up until classes finally began. For the time that they were in school, the three of them went about their day as normal high school students. However, when school finally ended and all the students went home, all three felt a sudden tense dread hanging in the air.
"So... more homework, huh," Amber broke their silence. Layla and Blake didn't respond, much to her expectations. She knew what they were thinking about, but she wanted to lighten the mood and steer away from that topic for now. At the very least, steer away from it until the coming weekend just two days away when they agreed to go.
"Did you guys notice that Daniel was missing today?" Amber tried again, this time with a more relevant topic. Blake reacted to that statement, giving it some thought as she retraced her memory of today. Sure enough, as Amber stated, she failed to notice that Daniel wasn't present at all.
"Wonder why that is," Blake said aloud, "Usually if he's got something going on he'd shoot me a text about it. I didn't get anything though."
"It must not be too serious then," Layla said reassuringly, sensing Blake's subtle worry.
"Yeah, it might just be something that he had to do. I'm sure he's fine," Amber chimed in support. Blake smiled and nodded, although she had an uneasy feeling about it all.

Two days went by in a flash and soon it was Friday night. The very next morning at sunrise was the time Blake, Amber and Layla were to head over to that horrid building to meet with Ty the "civilized" Ire. During the two days, Blake and Amber took their spare time to train a little bit to be more comfortable in their teamwork as well as give Layla better protection. With their new teamwork, Layla's aura armor and weapon were easier to manage and gave Blake more leeway when fighting. It also served as a way for Layla to make sure her friends were okay while fighting to keep her worries at bay.
"We're going to get there using my car so we don't have to worry too much on transportation," Blake was saying when Layla stopped her with a raised hand.
"Since when did you get a car? And why can't we just levitate over?" She asked simultaneously. Blake shook her head.
"First off, I've had it before I even met you girls," Blake began, "I've held the license for it for the same amount of time. Second, it's best that we save our aura for the actual fight. You never know what's going to happen, especially if a talking Ire is leading. I just want us to be more prepared." Layla nodded, understanding Blake's point of view. Amber remained silent. She worried about Layla's safety throughout this new adventure. Sure, she was worried for Blake as well, but she knew that Blake was strong. The girl lasted for hours of torture and pain directly to her soul. Amber knew the feeling from her fight with Melody; hits to the soul from an aura attack was like feeling a rusted blade stab you repeatedly as your skin was on fire. Amber shuddered at the thought of what it would feel like for an Ire to strike. It felt as if it could be just as bad, if not worse. She hadn't felt it from past fights since she never let them get close, but that didn't mean she wanted to test it out.
In the end, they reached an agreement on what to do and ended up getting some sleep. Well, almost everyone. However, the one who stayed up this time wasn't Amber or Layla. Instead, Blake was the one restless this time. Before Amber and Layla headed off to sleep, Blake had opted to sleep in the living room this time around, not wanting something like Ty's visit to surprise them again. It was a mere excuse though; Blake was restless and nervous. Seeing how Ty was living proof that someone or something was capable of manipulating Ires or giving them awareness was a very disturbing thought. If this was ignored, Ires could become smarter and evolve into beings capable of mass murder without Blake or any other Guardian or Knight being able to prepare in time. Whatever was capable of controlling these Ires could do as much good as much as bad. I hope that if we find that person we can strike a deal to keep these Ires from being ruthless killers, Blake thought from an empty hope. She heaved a heavy sigh and sunk deeper into the couch, trying to relax and ease her mind to sleep with little success. She stood up with the intent to go make some warm tea when she heard a knocking sound coming from the front door. Blake's nerves screamed her senses wide awake and alert. She immediately formed her aura armor, the blackish light wrapping around her form quickly as she tip-toed to the door. The knocking continued, soft but loud enough for Blake to hear. Amber and Layla weren't alerted to the noise as of yet, so Blake kept her wits about her as she checked the viewing glass of the door. Just outside the door was a girl with long, black and flowing hair. She wore a simple white blouse with the cuffs tucked up to her elbows and denim mini-shorts with red and white sneakers to match. Her sky blue eyes looked back at Blake's own as she inspected the door.
"Do you know the ones who live here?" the girl asked quietly, just barely loud enough for Blake to hear. Blake kept silent; she considered waking the two sleeping girls to see if this was someone they knew, but at the same time she figured they needed their rest for tomorrow. She didn't have to think long, however, as both girls in question emerged from their room, rubbing sleepy eyes and giving curious looks to Blake who stood at the door.
"What's going on, Blake? Is there someone there?" Amber asked groggily.
"Yeah. A girl with blue eyes, a blouse and short-shorts. Someone you know?" Blake casually asked aloud. Layla gave Blake a confused look.
"I don't know someone like that," Layla said with a yawn, "And I know all the girls in this dorm, and that girl doesn't fit any of them. At least from what I know of." Blake felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. This was starting to sound fishy again, just like with Aria when Blake was captured. Amber waved her hand in dismissal.
"Probably Janice from the building next to the dorms then," she said, shuffling over to Blake, "Weird girl that goes to our school. She's a year above us, making her a senior at school. All I know about her is that people claim that she can see ghosts. Can you believe it?" Amber peeked at the peep hole of the door, confirming her thoughts and opened the door for Janice.
"What's going on, Janice? Need something?" Amber asked as politely as she could manage in her sleepy state.
"Sorry to bother you so late at night, but I was wondering if you had happened to have noticed that creepy shadow figure enter your house three nights ago," Janice calmly replied. Amber and Layla immediately snapped awake. Janice's description matched Ty, and the timing was a bit too perfect.
"Y-Yeah, but how did you know about that?" Layla answered nervously.
"It's just that," Janice began, then shook her head, "You know what, I think it's best that I show you. Follow me for a bit, please?"