"Are you sure you want to do this? It's not too late to back out, you know?" Raheem asked as he, Toney, Abigail, and Tiffany sat around the television, watching the news. The serious demeanor on his face showed that he wasn't simply joking about fighting against each other at the tournament.

"I'm not sure what you mean," said Toney.

"I mean about letting our children see the Emblem of Valor tournament. It may seem barbaric for them to watch. Hell, it may even ruin them mentally, warping their minds to make them think that fighting is all that the Northern Amian Forces do."

"Geez, and here I was thinking that the wives were supposed to be the overprotective type," Toney chuckled.

"Excuse me?" both Tiffany and Abigail asked.

"What? I'm just joking ladies," Toney said before kissing Tiffany on her forehead. She still glared at her, her cheeks puffed. Yeah, Megumi definitely takes after her mother.

Raheem hunched over on the sofa, letting his elbows rest on his knees. "It's not just that. It's our children that I'm worried about. I've spent the last twenty-three years making sure that our sons doesn't turn into what I had become."

"And they won't," Abigail interrupted. "Loyalty, Ian, and Dre are all good children- well, two children and a mischievous adult. Either way, our children have something that you didn't have. They had a father, probably one of the best fathers they could ask for. They won't make the same mistakes you've made."

Raheem lowered his head, gathering his thoughts. He remembered those dark days of his time at the academy. He remembered the bloodlust, the rage, the feeling of a caged animal ready to pounce on anyone he'd seen fit. The thought of his bloodlust made him feel queasy.

Minutes later, Megumi burst through the front door, followed by Dre and a young girl that Raheem recognized as the girl who was almost killed in the Edge Walker's forest three weeks ago. "Daddy! Daddy! Is it time to go yet?" Megumi said, bouncing up and down like a kid hyped up on sugar. For Raheem, it was a first seeing her act this way, and considering both Dre and Kim's puzzled look, so did they.

"Eh... Yeah, I suppose it's close enough time to go," Toney said, looking at his watch. "Go put your satchel up while we get ready."

"Yay! Thank you daddy!" she exclaimed as she hopped up to hug Toney around his neck. She rushed to her room.

"Looks like you just made your daughter's day," said Abigail.

"I've never seen her so... overexcited," Kim said.

"Hm? Kim? What brings you here?" Toney said, looking as though he had just realized her.

"I-I wasn't aware that Megumi was your daughter. I got a ride from her to meet up here so I'd have a safe place to go to Amity, Headmaster Gladestone," she said as she hid behind Dre and pulled her hood far over her eyes. "If that's okay with you, sir."

"Please, just call me Toney if you like," he said, pardoning her with a raise of his hand. "Of course, I don't mind. You guys are partners after all."

"Oh, and daddy?" Megumi's head popped from the corner of the hallway. "I forgot to ask, but is it okay if Kim stays over tonight? Her parents already okayed it."

"Sounds good to me. By the way-" he turned his attention towards Kim, "who are your parents?"

Kim's head shot up with a frightened look in her eyes. After a moment, she finally said, "N-Nathan and Rain Stewart."

Toney repeated the name under a few times. "Oh, yeah, I remember them. They're pretty cool. Anyway, we will have gumbo for dinner once we get back, so don't ruin your appetite while we're up there," he said with a grin.

"You mean... you're actually okay with their marriage?" she asked, astonished.

"Well, yeah," Abigail said. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because she's not fully Amian, aren't you, Miss Kim?" Tiffany asked before taking a sip from her cup of tea.

Kim shook her head.

"Do you mind removing your hood?"

She looked at Tiffany with a start before slowly doing as told. Her golden-blond, hime-cut hair flowed down to the small of her back while the two cat ears that was usually on her hood twitched. They were much too similar to the ears that he'd seen when they went to the lake.

"I don't get it. What's wrong with her?" Dre stated.

"In our eyes, nothing," Tiffany began. "In the majority of the Amian society, however, she would be seen as a lower life form because her parents are of different races."

Dre's temper flared. "And what's wrong with that? You and Mr. Toney are of different races as well."

"Ke'Undre Samuel Wolf! You mind your-"

"No, no, Abby. He has a right to be upset," Toney said. He turned his attention to Dre and Kim. "Whenever Tiffany said that Miss Kim's parents were of different races, she didn't mean differences in nationality. While one of her parents is indeed an Amian, her other parent is not. If I remember correctly, your mother is Armonian, am I correct?" She nodded, though Toney could barely see her behind Dre. "Unfortunately, not everyone on Amity sees their relationship the same way that we do. While our race is a mighty one, we still have some shameful instances in our history."

"But that doesn't make it right," Dre said through his teeth, his fists clinched and trembling at his sides. "What gives them the right to judge someone just because they aren't fully Amian?"

"That is something we share with the Human race," Raheem said.

A dark, deathly air passed through the room. The tension was thick enough to smother a lesser man.

"I'm all ready to go guys!" Megumi appeared at the entrance of the hallway, wearing a large, plain white T-shirt whose hemline stopped midway past her thighs, a pair of baggy blue jeans, and a beaded multicolored necklace around her neck. Her cheerful demeanor disappeared as she looked at everyone in the living room. "Is everything okay?"

"Just a little history lesson," Toney said, smiling ruefully. "I'll tell you about it later on. Right now we've got to get to Amity."

He handed a piece of honey drop to everyone in the room. "We aren't going to Amita today guys. We're going to the city of Sylvia." He popped the candy in his mouth and disappeared. The remaining people in the house followed.