At first, Isabel had screamed and hit him. Then, she composed herself and realized her parents were right upstairs. By the time Max got back from dropping Maria off, she had reverted to the silent treatment.

"Isabel," max said as he walked through the door. "I want you to describe the visions in as much detail as possible."

They spent the nest hour discussing what they could mean, why Maria was the one getting them, and the poem's importance.

Michael knew he had heard it before but didn't remember where until Isabel mentioned Maria's English class.

"Oh yeah! This nerdy guy was translating it or something… I did feel that it sounded oddly familiar when he read it but I was too busy watching M-thinking about other things." Michael tried to cover up his blushing by pretending to yawn.

Isabel just rolled her eyes. "We're still not done with THAT issue. But for now I say we go get a few hours sleep and visit this Dr. Jeffery Wilkins in the morning."

***

Max drove slowly, not feeling any more refreshed after small amount of sleep that they got. He pulled in front of the address they had copied down from the phone book and found it to be a house.

"Some office," Michael muttered, jumping out of the back.

Max and Isabel joined him on the front porch just as he was ringing the doorbell. Ms. Granfors answered the door and looked as though she were going to have a heart attack.

"Wow, Michael. What do I owe the pleasure?"

Confidently, Michael cleared his throat. Max had always thought that he should go into acting. "My friends and I were chatting about that fairy tale thingy your fiancé read and-"

He cut off short when laughter erupted from inside. Was that? No! Couldn't be.

"Oh, where are my manners? Please come in! We were just having tea with yet ANOTHER interested student." She allowed them entrance and led them into a back living room.

Please don't be, please don't be, please don't be, please don't be-

"Maria! Look a fellow classmate and friends are ALSO interested!" Ms. Granfors said happily.

Maria simply grinned.

***

After an infuriating half and hour of chitchatting, they finally got to the topic of the fairy tale.

"I've translated five more lines!" Dr. Wilkins said excitedly.

"Once upon a time, Three were born to shine. Triplets by the Sphona, Uriah, Zimri, and Tarikan.

Destined to be the legend, The mystical trinity. Some say they were equal, Some say not-"

"Both cursed and blessed by Him," Maria finished, astonishment written all over her face.

"Why, yes… how did you know that?" Dr. Wilkins asked, thoroughly confused.

"Umm…" Maria thought quickly. "It just sounded right. Maybe this is a different version of a story already out there."

"Hmm… I was told it was an original but who knows, you may be right!"

Maria smiled politely, but on the inside she was freaking out. 'How did I know that?' she asked herself, but could not come up with an explanation.

She looked up and found three questioning faces mirroring her insides. Calmly, she shrugged and pretended to pay attention to the history lesson the odd man was trying desperately to teach.

***

The four sat in the jeep silently for a few minutes. Max scanned the full, untranslated version of the fairy tale in the driver's seat. Isabel was applying makeup in the passenger seat mirror. Michael was seated uncomfortably next to Maria trying to deny anything had happened the night before but doing a horrible job at it. And Maria was trying to concentrate on making the world stop spinning.

Maria finally spoke through clenched teeth. "It's obviously about you guys."

Max shook his head. "Then why has it been around for so long? For what a few thousand years?"

"Maybe it hasn't. Maybe just the language used was from back then. Maybe it came down with you in the crash."

"It's definitely a possibility," Isabel conceded.

"Listen, Maria, thank you for helping us. Thank you for coming here and for doing everything you have done," Max said. "I know you don't really like us or trust us all that much."

Isabel snorted but Maria ignored it. "I don't really have a choice in the matter. I wish I did because this is not a painless experience." She winced as another wave of dizziness and nausea hit her. She opened her eyes, startled, when she felt a tentative hand slide around her own clenched one. Maria looked up at Michael and found worried eyes.

Unaware of the two behind her, Isabel continued babbling as Max started the car and pulled away from the curb. "So those are our names…"

"What?" Max asked, glimpsing Maria and Michael lost in each other in the rearview mirror.

Maria vaguely heard Isabel answer.

"Uriah, Zimri and Tarikan… I wonder which one is mine."

Maria felt herself grow weak. Her head was spinning uncontrollably now and moments before she slipped into a dream world, she felt Michael's strong arms encircle her protectively.

***FLASH***

The streets were made of cobblestone. Maria heard people all around her but saw none. Up ahead was a huge castle, resembling those in her favorite fairy tales. Birds flew overhead but scattered as dark clouds looming in the distance move swiftly as if fastforwarded across the sky.

Maria felt a tugging at her jacket. She looked down and found a boy, not much older than five staring up at her.

"He is coming," he whispered.

***FLASH***

Maria opened her eyes and found herself laying in Michael's lap.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just another of those annoying visions."

"We were getting worried," Max said from the front seat. "You were passed out for twenty minutes."

"I'm fine." Maria reluctantly sat up and proceeded to tell them about the newest vision.

Max sat pondering. "I want one of us to stay with Maria at all times. We need to make sure that she is okay, not only because of the visions but also because of the guy who attacked Liz."

"I'll go with her first," Isabel volunteered. She didn't want to leave Michael and Maria alone together just yet and Max had to work.

"Okay," Maria agreed, a tad disappointed. "But all I'm doing is going home to sleep."