The day after Leana had returned to Phoenixbrook - and a few days prior to Jarret having met up with the unfortunate Kela - she had done as she had promised, informing the rest of the city about the current situation with the Elysia.

That had entailed journeying to the town hall just north of the river and the suspension bridge - a journey Leana normally enjoyed, but this time even the sight of the magnificent bridge couldn't lift her spirits. Once at her destination, Leana had made the announcement, following discussions with the mayor. Word of mouth had already gained her a sizeable audience, when the news spread that Leana had bad news for them. For the rest of the city, the announcement was seen and heard through the information screens found on many of the street corners. To ensure that everyone would hear the message, a copy was also sent to every house and shop via the TV email system, tagged as "very important."

Though her announcement had been a shock to some of the city's inhabitants, enough rumours had already spread to ensure it wasn't a total surprise to many. The considerable respect held by the people of Phoenixbrook towards Leana meant they trusted what she told them in reply to their questions.

One such question centered around why, if Leana and the mayor, as well as several other people in the city, knew of the Elysia threat six months earlier, they hadn't told everyone much sooner. The mayor looked to Leana for support.

She explained, "We didn't take that decision lightly. We had no idea at first if the rumours were even true, and that the Elysia really were in a position to strike again. When I'd confirmed those rumours, we had no evidence proving when they might strike, or how. Nobody in the city would have wanted panic and paranoia to spread like wildfire."

One of the audience, a slender rabbit girl, called out, "But the Burrow nightclub was destroyed! If we'd known about the Elysia being active again, we might have been able to stop that happening. What if people had been killed?"

"That was the idea," Leana replied, slightly sternly. "The Elysia's mission is to rid the entire planet of snowkittens. They don't mind if a few other people die along the way, if they happen to get in the way of their plans, but they never attack anyone except for snowkittens, for any other reason. It seems they see that as 'counterproductive.' If they'd planned to kill anyone other than the Shaylanii twins at the Burrow, why wait till it was shut and those two snowkittens were the only inhabitants?"

She paused for a moment, looking at the gathered crowd. "As for anyone preventing what happened there, knowing would have made no difference at all. The Elysia didn't plant the bomb. They used someone else to do their dirty work. And as you all know, their normal 'troops' look like just about anyone else on this planet. They don't walk around in Elysia t-shirts, after all. Okay, we all know what their officers and their leader look like, but we've got first paw proof that they can now use an extension of their powers to create extremely convincing disguises..."

"That's why," she continued, "The city has to go into lockdown."

A few short hours later, that is exactly what happened. Lockdown was only used in the most dire of situations, and ironically enough had last been used five years earlier during the Elysia's last attempt to claim the city. With Phoenixbrook captured, the rest of Aredria was guaranteed to be under Elysia control within weeks, and from there, potentially the entire planet would be at serious risk. Phoenixbrook had to be protected at all costs, particularly when it was the principal target of the Elysia.

What lockdown involved was the sealing of the four city entrances - the only realistic way into the city - using massive, solid entherium steel gates that had guarded the city centuries ago. The gates had also been infused with powerful spells, making it practically impossible for anyone to destroy them. Additionally, the train network into Phoenixbrook was shut off completely and the tunnel entrance for the train was sealed in much the same way as the main entrances, albeit with a much more recently created door.

Of course, this did mean that nobody could leave or enter the city without extremely strict authorisation and an exceptionally good reason. Supplies, if needed, could be obtained from highly secure sources outside the city, but Phoenixbrook itself was very self-sufficient, so it was unlikely they'd need to rely on outside help for a long time. And the ACU, Aredria's police force, were fully prepared to defend the city from inside and out, should any attacks take place from the air, unlikely as it seemed.

The gates were thoroughly secure, so nobody could sneak in or out. The only exceptions, as Jarret had proven when he went in search of Kela, were snowkittens. Since it was snowkitten magic that had been used to protect and strengthen the gates, it meant they could also detect if someone leaving or entering the city was indeed a snowkitten. They and they alone had unlimited access to and from Phoenixbrook, and even the Elysia lacked the means to trick the gates.

The next step had been an official declaration from Phoenixbrook to the rest of the world, informing them of the Elysia threat. As a result, the rest of Aredria was on full alert, and although the Elysia had sneaked in and out before in small groups (as Jarret knew from meeting Attra and the Elysia soldier in the backstreets of the city) it was somewhat doubtful they could sneak an entire army in so easily.

These measures seemed drastic, if not excessive, but they were necessary, as the snowkittens knew from five years previously. Leana also knew that almost certainly, all those defences would ultimately not be anywhere near enough.

A week had passed since lockdown began. Koreen, sitting downstairs, folded up her newspaper, tossing it onto a small glass coffee table as her twins returned home. Eliki had helped Andrina on her stall as usual, and Leana had finished her afternoon shift at The Bookshelf.

To some, it may have been strange to see the people of Phoenixbrook continuing their jobs and daily routines as if nothing was amiss. However, nobody knew how or when the Elysia would strike, so the people of the city had little choice but to try to continue their lives as usual, since it was that or sit around all day worrying and doing nothing.

Koreen stood up, heading for the kitchen, having promised she'd make the tea once her kittens had returned. She called out, "How did it go?"

"Okay!" they both chorused unintentionally. Eliki flopped onto his favourite black beanbag as he gestured for Leana to go first.

Leana leaned in the kitchen doorway, watching her mother preparing cheese omelettes. "Business was about the same as usual, but so many of the customers kept asking about the Elysia, and if there was any more news. I wouldn't mind if there was something I could actually tell them."

Koreen frowned as one of the eggs rolled towards the edge of the worktop, and she swiftly used her powers to roll it back to safety. "They're scared, Leana. Besides, if you had any news, it wouldn't be good news. It would mean the Elysia were almost certainly on their way. No news is good news, remember, and those customers like to hear that."

"I know..." Leana sighed. "I'm not annoyed. I understand why they ask, but I wish I was able to give them some news that would reassure them properly. I hate this waiting game."

There was a sudden thundering sound as two sets of feet stampeded down the stairs. Leana and Eliki looked as Keryan hurtled across the living room, pursuing a grey furred, similar sized bunny. They both vanished briefly into the hallway, before the small rabbit crawled back in on his hands and knees. He just had time to quickly say, "Hi Leana! Hi Eliki!" before he was swiftly pulled backwards out the room by his feet, a look of surprise on his face.

Eliki couldn't help grinning. "Hello, Matthew..."

Matthew Billingham, a month younger than Keryan, had met her at a nearby playground three years ago. He was an extremely shy rabbit, but Keryan - overflowing with confidence to say the least - had wondered why he was sitting on a roundabout, alone except for his mother who was sitting nearby on a bench, reading a book. When Keryan had decided on a course of action, nothing would deter her, and his shyness had since been chipped away by her energetic enthusiasm - or at least his shyness towards her had gone. Around other people, it soon reappeared, unless he was totally used to them. Since then, they'd become best friends, and because Matthew lived in the next street along from Eliki and Leana, he often visited during the two week periods that Keryan stayed with Eliki. This time however, her visit was of course somewhat longer than two weeks, and as such he had plenty of chances to visit her.

"Are you staying for tea, Matthew?" Koreen called out.

He reappeared momentarily, managing a hurried, "Yes please!" before a blue tail wrapped around his face, pulling him back into the hall.

Eliki shuffled awkwardly off the beanbag, wandering over to the window while Leana chatted to their mother. He watched as, across the road, elderly Mrs Gare swung a broom back and forth along her front path. Watching the vixen, and then hearing Keryan's tickle-induced giggles, he wondered how strange it was that, under the circumstances, people were able to carry on so normally. Eliki had every faith in Leana's powers and her ability to defend them from the Elysia, but it was impossible not to worry about the danger nonetheless. The worry was always there, even with the distraction of working at the busy jewellery stall. And yet Keryan, despite all she had been through recently, was playing without a care in the world. You view the world and its dangers so differently as a child, Eliki thought.

Leana wrapped her paws around his chest and purred. "Grub's up!" she told him.

Despite Matthew's shyness, he was the first to reach the kitchen to grab the food, and the first to sit, cross-legged on the floor next to the beanbag, which Keryan had now claimed. Eliki opted to sit between Leana and their mother on the settee. Matthew's shyness soon returned and he seemed to be nervously nibbling at the omelette in front of him, checking constantly to see if anyone was watching him eat.

A slight hint of mischief crossed Koreen's face when she noticed the rabbit peeping, and she asked, "So... When are you two getting married then?"

Matthew went bright red under his fur and he began eating the omelette feverishly. Keryan stuck her tongue out and replied, "Ewww! Granny Koreen, we're trying to eat. He's my boyfriend and that's all, and we won't be getting married for at least a million years." She visibly shuddered at the thought.

Leana watched Keryan as her expression changed. If it had been possible, a comedy light bulb would have appeared over the little snowkitten's head as she went wide eyed. The mention of "Granny Koreen" had reminded her of a recent conversation with Leana.

"The box!" she exclaimed, and swiftly finished her food.

Leana raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "What box?"

Keryan pointed at the ceiling. "The one in your room on the cupboard. The one you locked up tight so I couldn't crack it open and look inside."

"Oh, that box...."

"You said that you'd show me what was inside it when you got back. And you are back. I can see you right there in front of my very eyes."

"You're sounding more like Andrina every day," Koreen commented. "Well, come on daughter, don't keep us in the dark. What's in there that's so exciting?"

Leana made a strange gesture, and moments later the door behind the settee swung open, and the light blue box from upstairs, which had fascinated Keryan, floated into the room.

"Leana, you lazy kitten!" Koreen said with a glint in her eye.

Leana shrugged. "Mother, you used your powers to float a plate out of the cupboard when you were in the same room!"

As they 'argued' playfully, Matthew sat there wide eyed. No matter how often he'd seen it, snowkitten magic never failed to amaze him. Leana took hold of the box, placing it in her lap and laying her paws on top of it, cancelling the powerful sealing spell that she herself had put on it a month ago. She then reached into the little pocket on her blue skirt, producing a tiny silver key which she used to unlock the box. Moments later she lifted out the strange mask that Koreen had given her and Eliki for their birthday,

Koreen watched with fascination, as Leana handed the mask to Keryan, who clutched it eagerly, asking excitedly, "What does it do?"

Koreen, in a better position than the twins to explain, after owning the mask for so long, told her, "This, my dear, was made by your ancestors a long time ago. It gives you a glimpse at what the city looked like in the past. Whatever you look at, you can see the same place, but as it appeared years ago."

Keryan held the mask up to her face, peering through the glass lens. "It's all the same. It's not all old and wrinkly!"

Koreen leaned forwards. "It won't let you look at anything indoors. Or rather, not inside people's houses. That would have been much too cheeky. Look out the window though." Keryan moved over to the window as had been suggested, and put the mask up to her face again, and Koreen told her, "Now connect your powers to the mask, and concentrate on what time you want to 'go' to."

Keryan squinted. "Hmmm... Mrs Gare is still there!"

"Then you need to concentrate harder and..."

"No, no," Keryan said excitedly. "I mean she's there, but she's a tiddly little girl. She's braiding her mother's hair."

Leana's jaw dropped. "That's impossible. I thought the mask only recorded what happened two hundred years or so ago?"

Koreen laughed. "You of all people, Leana, should know better than to underestimate anything made by snowkittens. That mask has recorded everything that has happened in the city since the moment it was created. Keryan? Fast forward to today, about forty five minutes ago."

Keryan obeyed, whooping as she told them, "There's papa and Auntie Leana going up the stairs to the front door!"

"See?" Koreen grinned at Leana, who just shook her head in bewilderment.

"It's like the world's biggest security camera," Eliki said, not sounding entirely happy. Matthew was busy tapping Keryan on the shoulder, trying to get a turn.

"Sort of," Koreen replied. "Don't forget though, it only covers events from inside Phoenixbrook, and never looks inside houses. Having said that, if anyone was up to anything outdoors that they shouldn't have been, it'll be in there somewhere..." She couldn't help noticing the slightly shifty, nervous look on Leana's face following that comment.

Eliki watched for a while as Keryan and Matthew took it in turns to peer out the window, using the mask to replay various snatches of Phoenixbrook's past as it had happened outside their house. It seemed Matthew was having less luck getting it to work, but Keryan helped him as best she could.

Eliki turned to face Koreen. "Okay, but in that case, what did you mean when you said that the mask is able to show things as they really are?"

Koreen looked a bit surprised. "You mean you didn't figure that out?" She stood up and asked to borrow the mask back from Keryan, and then handed it to Eliki. "I suppose I really should have given you more hints about that side of things. Right... Turn the mask round the 'wrong' way and then look through it."

Eliki looked through the reversed lens and blinked. "Now that's weird..." He could see his own paw glowing with a strange white light. Nearby, the whole of Koreen's body was glowing in much the same way, and Leana was illuminated so brightly that it was almost impossible to look at her.

"Now look at the kids," Koreen prompted. Eliki turned round and noticed that Keryan was glowing white too, while Matthew was surrounded by a pale blue light.

Leana took the mask so she could try it out too. "But what does all this mean?"

The twin's mum replied, "Clever, isn't it? A little extra feature our ancestors never actually told anyone about, and this is exactly why the Elysia would love to get their paws on the mask, if only to prevent you from using it. If you view any snowkitten through the lens that way, they'll glow white. Anyone else will be surrounded by other random colours.

Leana looked at Keryan. "That's strange... Keryan is surrounded in white light, but I can see black sparks flashing along her arms as well."

Koreen looked puzzled. "I've no idea that that means. Not unless it's tied in with her being part Shaylanii. I never did see what they looked like through the mask. Even so, it's strange..."

"Okay," said Leana. "That's all impressive but how would the Elysia benefit from stealing it?"

Koreen dug deep into the pockets of her black jeans, tugging out a handful of coins. Most of them were put back again, but she kept two in the palm of her paw, telling Leana to view the coins through the inverted mask. Leana did so, and was surprised to see that one coin glowed gold, and the other appeared to be shrouded in shifting red mist.

Koreen explained, "The one that you probably noticed is red - that one is a false coin. As I said, the mask shows things as they really are. The Elysia may have the ability to disguise themselves now, but the mask will always show them as they really look. Their powers are based on snowkitten magic, and so is the mask, so it can cut through their disguises easily."

Leana sighed. "If only we'd known about that when I went to see you at the Arcadian."

Koreen hugged her." If only I'd given you a stronger hint. And nobody expected the scum to turn up there anyway. At least you know now, and it might prove to be very useful if... when they reach Aredria."

She handed the mask back to an eager Keryan, who put the mask on and began to chase a beleaguered Matthew round the room.

"Oh, and that ability to show things as they really are? There's something else," Koreen told her twins. "You might like to try taking it to our sacred clearing some time soon..."