NOTE: THERE IS A BRIEF TALK ON SELF-HARM (vague), SUICIDE (vague) AND EXPLICIT DISPLAY OF VIOLENCE (mild to slightly moderate).

Please read with caution if you are uncomfortable with any of these things. Thank you.

First note: Corentine Leviton (Stormy) and Poseidon (mentioned) belongs to GeekyCookie1.

Second note here: I own the dark/possessed version of Corentine Leviton/Stormy (who once again is owned by GeekyCookie1). Her dark/possessed form is known as "Reaper" and while the majority of her form was strictly created by me, I had some creative input from GeekyCookie1, thanks sis!

Third note: Watashi wa karera ni shiharawa semasu means I'll make them pay in Japanese (though if this translation is incorrect, please feel free to correct me).

Fourth note: This book is nearly complete! There's just two more chapters left and it will be a wrap! Thoughts so far? Regardless, I want to thank everyone who got this far. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I hope to hear from you all soon! Peace! 💕

~~~~~~~~~

A FEW MOMENTS AGO

"Who said fighting Jesse's evil counterpart and Narcissa's army was easy?" Issac asked, ducking as he punched one of the souls, careful not to let its lifeless body merge with his skin.

"In my defense, I told your kids fighting Cain and the sea witch's army would be easy," Faustin pointed out as Issac rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well the adults are losing to my son!" Shiron sharply snapped, only to spot his wife's glare.

"Our son. Sorry, love. It was a heat of the moment kind of statement. It won't happen," Shiron softly corrected as Talia lightly kissed his lips. "You're forgiven," she told him, returning the same tone before pulling her husband close and using her wind abilities to smash several of the souls together.

"We can't keep going on like this. There's too many of them," Amara pointed out as she and Stormy were back-to-back, going through the souls together, but the sea witch's army never quite stayed dead.

"I'm going inside his head. Maybe, I can bring back Jesse," Stormy insisted as Amara sharply glared at her. "Corentine Leviton, you are not going inside his head," Amara sternly stated, flicking a piece of the rubble back towards the souls as Stormy eyed her, somewhere between a mix of concern and pure sharpness.

"Should I remind you what happened the last time you decided it would be smart to get inside someone's head?" Amara continued as Stormy winced. "Don't remind me," the mind seer told her as Amara crossed her arms, before turning around to kick spin the souls, retaining her focus back on her wife.

"Core, I'm sure you could absolutely find Jesse but if Cain finds you in his head, then it becomes a different story. When you become persistent about finding someone inside their mind, you linger longer than the average mind seer should," she continued, sighing heavily.

"That's when your search becomes a problem, Core, because whoever is in control of that person's mind ends up controlling you," Amara added before sighing. "Ma—" Stormy tried to say, but she got interrupted.

"Storm, don't take this the wrong way, but you had this idea once and you didn't get out in time," Amara continued, her voice on the verge of breaking. "I'm trying my hardest not to remind you of the whole situation but it's impossible when I can see the whole thing in my head," she said, shaking her head.

"Look, I understand what you're saying, my love, but it's okay," Stormy began, lightly holding her chin. "The first time was a learning experience. I made a few key mistakes and I've learned from them," Stormy softly continued, trying to ease her wife's nerves but if anything, that only made Amara more stressed for her.

"Stormy, you don't just learn from the first time. You learn after a series of the same mistakes occur and that's what makes me afraid. It's you being persistent about finding Jesse, you staying too long in his head and then, you being at a vulnerable position for Cain to control you."

"Amara—"

"Corentine, can you please just listen to me for once and not go through with this plan of yours?" Amara sharply snapped at her, trying to balance her anger with her level of concern but everything was blending in for her to tell which emotion was which. "We can find another alternative to beating Cain without the expense of losing you," she continued, trying to maintain her normal voice level.

"Amaranth, love, I will be just fine," Stormy assured her, taking out a few souls with her fighting abilities. "Why are you so tensed about this one idea of mine? I've gotten hurt plenty of times and you never look nearly as scared as you do now," she continued after knocking down another set of souls.

"For a mind seer, you're one of the most brightest and stupidest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, dating and marrying," Amara mumbled to herself before groaning, which caught Stormy's attention.

"I always had the constant fear of losing you, but I knew you were strong enough to get back up! But this is different, Storm! I'm afraid, okay? I'm afraid of losing you again," Amara truthfully admitted, the tears streaming down her face as Stormy found herself becoming quiet out of respect for her wife.

"I'm afraid of losing you to something I don't have control over. Once you're in his head, that's it. None of us will be able to reach you and I won't know how everything will turn out until I see the color of your eyes. When your eyes are this beautiful jade color, I feel safe and confident knowing you're going to be alright," she continued as Stormy softly smiled before she laughed to break up the tension.

"Jade has always reassured you beforehand."

"Okay, that's true but jade officially became my favorite color after Issac and I married you," Amara pointed out as Stormy's eyes softened. "I knew as long as we had you in our lives, everything would be okay. Things would work out in our favor," she sincerely added, which only made Stormy's eyes softened more.

"But when your eyes become purple, Core, ... that's when I'm scared," Amara told her, taking Stormy's hand off from her chin as she tenderly held her hand. "I've only seen your eyes switch to purple a few times and each time, there's a level of fear and dread associated with those eyes," she continued, making a slight chuckle when Stormy gave her an offended look.

"Your purple eyes are beautiful, Stormy, don't get me wrong now. It's just... If your jade colored eyes serves as a signal you're in control, then purple serves as the opposite for me. When you're not in control, that's when you become known for something other than your feisty, firecracker, loving woman I adore so much."

"Which is?"

"The Reaper, my love, is what people call you."

"You harm with no remorse and you bring out literal fear. If you can see people's mind and access their memories with your jade eyes, then you can poison them with a single touch," Amara further explained as Stormy found herself wishing she hadn't asked after all.

"You know I wouldn't tell you these things if I didn't love you," Amara truthfully stated, squeezing her wife's hand. "Issac and I... we worry for you, that's all. If he was standing here with me, I guarantee he would say the same things I'm telling you," she continued as Stormy nodded.

"I know and I'm sorry, really I am."

As soon as she heard those words come out and Stormy pulled her hand from her gentle touch, Amara couldn't help but look at her wife in a mix between disbelief, betrayal and anger.

"Stormy, no."

"I'll be quick, I promise."

"Please," Amara desperately pleaded. She wanted her wife to understand how reckless she was being in the moment, but then she saw that look of determination in her eyes and Amara knew it was game over for her.

"I'll try to keep you, Issac and the kids in mind on my search for Jesse. It'll help keep me grounded when I'm dealing with Cain," Stormy softly told Amara, lightly kissing her lips before the mind seer pulled away from Amara, taking all of the warmth with her. "I love you," she sincerely added, tenderly looking into her wife's eyes.

"Corentine, please, don't do this," Amara pleaded once more, her heart aching from her wife's decision but as Stormy teleported away, she clenched her fist and silently prayed for Stormy's safety. Then she ran towards her husband and the others. If she couldn't stop her wife from going with her plan, Amara figured she could provide a warning for the others.

After all, hell was about to break loose.

~~~~~~~~~~~

INSIDE JESSE'S MIND
A few moments ago

"Jesse?"

Lightly planting herself in the boy's mind, Corentine stared at the eternal darkness, her eyes darting toward both sides. As she began to walk through the love fairy's mind, the mind seer kept an active eye for the boy.

"Come on, Jess. You couldn't have just vanished completely," she mumbled to herself, careful to check every now and then over her shoulders. Corentine meant to time herself before she had entered Jesse's mind, but she was in a rush to get inside the boy's mind, she simply forgot.

Unfortunately for Stormy, that meant she was running on finite time.

"Stormy?"

As Stormy softly turned to her left, the mind seer found the young love fairy wrapped in chains with his battered arms and bruises evident to the older woman. The boy's light brown eyes sunk toward a sea of despair while his pink hair grew darker. Even his voice, which was once hopeful, now came across as broken and simply devoid from hope.

"Jesse?"

Upon approaching the boy, Corentine attempted to take the chains off but Jesse stubbornly shook his head.

"You shouldn't have come," Jesse sternly told her. "Well, if you had listened to us, I wouldn't be in your mind right now," she sharply countered, but the love fairy only released a sorrowful sigh.

"You made a mistake coming here. Forget about me and get out while you still have a chance," he urged her, but Stormy naturally shook her head. "I'm going to get you out and you'll going to fight Cain, so we can end this," she told him, but Jesse only stared at her and laughed.

"You're just as stubborn as your niece."

"Well, she is a younger version of me, so..."

"Yeah, that much I know," Jesse started, only giving a hallow laugh now. "Still, you and Aliya both plan poorly," he continued, which caught Stormy off-guard as she held one of the linked chains in her hand.

"Jesse..." Stormy slowly started, her tone cautious though it had slowly developed into a tone of confusion and dread. "You should have taken my warning and left when you had the chance, Storm," Jesse continued, his tone oddly emotionless which did little to calm her nerves.

By the time Jesse spoke his final statement, a shiver ran down her spine. She didn't need the love fairy to finish because Stormy already knew where he was heading with his words.

"I didn't think you were be of use to me, Jesse, yet you managed to redeem yourself," a voice Stormy knew all too well spoke as the older woman sharply glared at Jesse's eyes, which conveyed some sense of guilt.

"You sold me out," Stormy coldly finished as Jesse's eyes watered from the impact of her words. "I tried to get you to leave, but you're stubborn like Aliya and now you're paying the price for not listening," he weakly spoke, his voice breaking as he slowed down with his words.

"Soon, your niece will learn the same lesson..."

As she turned around, the older woman saw Jesse's darker counterpart with his pitch black medium-length hair with a dark denim-blue jacket on top of a dark gray T-shirt followed by black jeans, high-top black heart-break stylized socks and black sneakers to finish off his look.

Although Stormy could see some kind of eye color, Cain's eyes were a darker shade of brown, almost black as the male was surrounded by shadows.

"Don't touch her or anyone else," Stormy sharply continued, prepared to fight back in order to defend her family, friends and to some extent, that protection also extended towards Shiron and Talia Åarons.

"You know, I make no guarantees. Me and Aliya have... unfinished business and I need to settle the score once and for all," Cain swiftly continued as he eyed the mind seer with a gleam of mischievous glee.

"Besides, who said I would be the one to touch the others?" Cain added, a light smirk forming on his face as Stormy glanced back at Jesse, who looked away in shame. In that moment, the mind seer felt her own inner clock tick as she realized she had once again overestimated the situation.

"I am so getting lectured by Amaranth and Issac later...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

PRESENT TIME

"Stormy?"

Aliya saw the fear in her sibling's eyes. Cain was someone who Jaxon and Lillian had fought before, but the idea of fighting their aunt was something that her siblings were processing for the first time.

"Corentine?"

Atticus didn't know why he cared if someone like Corentine went rogue. If anything, it only proved Avalon's point about her. But despite their banters, he had loved the mind seer once. Maybe, a part of him still did...

"It's Reaper now!"

Staring back at Narcissa, Aliya saw the triumphant gleam in the sea witch's eyes as she glowed at the sight of winning the battle at hand. Then as Aliya saw Cain, she could see the fairy's level of disgust with her, but then she also saw a hint of regret and remorse in those eyes.

As Reaper raised her sword, Aliya saw Jaxon and Lillian retreat as the two hid behind her and Castor. She could see Atticus and Castor trying to keep a steady face, but it was clear that the idea of fighting Corentine affected them too.

"I'll fight you lot off just like I finished the others," Reaper coldly continued, her electric purple eyes shuffling through the group as she analyzed which ones were truly a threat and which ones were the imposters.

If the group wanted to ask what happened to the others, there were no need. All the group had to do was look.

Shiron, Félix and Talia were trying to stand, but when Reaper and Cain looked, the two forcibly and brutally attacked the three, knocking the couple and the fortune teller back onto the ground, neither of them showing remorse. When Jaxon and Lillian wanted to attack, Aliya and Castor held the two back.

Not far from them, Amaranth and Issac blankly stood beside Stormy, their eyes now a black purplish color as the three sibling's parents became nothing more but drones for Narcissa and Cain's cause just like their aunt, Corentine Leviton.

There were no more heroes to help them here.

Aliya, Lillian, Jaxon, Castor and Atticus were the last defense against the forces of Narcissa and Cain.

Yet all of them were terrified and knew if someone didn't step up and take control of the situation at hand, fear would soon become their enemy. If fear won over the group, then there was no point in fighting because by that point, Narcissa and Cain would win the battle at large.

So after taking a quick survey of the group, Aliya took a deep breath as she found herself stepping up to the challenge.

"Narcissa and Cain can take everyone we love and bruise, batter and turn those people against us, but guess what? Narcissa and Cain want us to be scared. That's why they chose Stormy, Issac and Amara to control, so we would be less eager to fight back," she began.

"That's why they chose to harm Shiron, Talia and Félix, so it would be easier for us to submit to their commands, but we are stronger than that."

"How?"

"Narcissa and Cain can't take our pride. They can't take away our spirit, because those two made the mistake of underestimating the fighter that resides within all of us," Aliya fiercely continued, turning toward the group, who were now beginning to believe in her words.

"Tonight, we reclaim this night as ours! We'll show Narcissa and Cain that they messed with the wrong people!" the faerie concluded as everyone looked at each other, before nodding.

"Yeah!"

Now on the same page, Aliya and Atticus came up with a plan to succeed. Since there were only three people under Cain's control, Aliya's siblings and Castor would be the ones to fight them since Cain sought out the wingless faerie while Narcissa naturally wanted revenge on her traitorous ex.

With this plan in mind, the group quickly split up, which caught the attention of Cain and Narcissa, who both turned to face Reaper. As the two faced Reaper, the mind seer just finished cleaning her sword when she made eye contact with the two, her electric purple eyes glowing brighter.

"Reaper, you know what to do," the two told her, gesturing towards the three teenagers. When Reaper stared at Jaxon, Lillian and Castor, she smirked, silently nodding toward Cain and Narcissa, who didn't need to know her physical answer as her eyes told the two all they needed to know.

Watashi wa karera ni shiharawa semasu.

~~~~~~~~~~

As Jaxon and Lillian eyed Castor, the two sibling's eyes went back towards their aunt, who was now wearing a black long sleeve shirt and jeans. As she fastened the hoodie aspect of her outfit, Reaper then placed a face shield over herself, the mythical object allowing her to turn invisible at will.

In that moment, Jaxon and Lillian leaned on each other, searching both sides while Castor used his bracelets as a light source as Reaper disappeared in that moment, the three now looking for her.

"Axon? Lilith? Do either of you see her?" Castor called out to the two, who both shook their heads. "No, nothing yet," Jaxon and Lillian simply answered, looking around just as Lillian's eyes quickly focused on the ceiling.

The hybrid didn't know why her eyes were glued to the ceiling until Lillian felt a heat signature oddly identical to....

"Castor, up ahead!" Lillian tried to call out, hoping she could give Castor some time to react, but instead, she had timed her response too slow. By the time the knight had looked up, Reaper was already on the verge of knocking Castor down altogether. He only barely managed to dodge her sword in time.

"Libby!"

Reacting just in time, Lillian managed to dodge a punch from her adoptive father, whose eyes resembled guilt in spite of the emotionless blank stares Issac gave her.

"Behind you!"

Turning back slightly, Jaxon found themselves caught in their adoptive mother's death chokehold as they struggled to escape Amara's incredible strength.

"Jax!"

"Axon!"

"Hold on!" Castor and Lillian quickly called out to them as Jaxon darkly glared in the two's direction, wishing to say something sarcastic if they weren't on the verge of being choked to death by their own adoptive mother.

"Leaving so soon?" Amara lightly mocked as she pulled harder on their neck. Spotting this, Lillian quickly flung her adoptive father to her adoptive mother, the impact freeing Jaxon from their mother's death chokehold. As their parents fell to the ground, Lillian ran to help her sibling stand.

"How's your neck?" Lillian concernedly asked as Jaxon weakly coughed while rubbing their neck. In the end, they managed to give their sister a "thumbs-up" to show Libby that they were okay, even though in truth, they were going to think twice about ever battling Amara to an arms-wrestling match.

"Mom was definitely holding back on us with those arm-wrestling contests," Lillian mumbled as Jaxon weakly nodded. "I guess that would makes sense though. She is a earth faerie with the ability of super strength after all," she continued before getting back to her fight pose.

"Why we are just getting started!" their parents proudly exclaimed, now slowly rising as Jaxon and Lillian found themselves backing away, awkwardly chuckling in the process as though they might have gone over their heads with this one.

"Yes, please stay," Reaper continued, touching the two as a sea of bright purple veins began to flow from her hands and into Jaxon and Lillian's shoulders. As soon as the veins started making their way towards the sibling's bloodstream, the two naturally bit their tongues, refusing to scream in spite of the pain.

"Axon! Lilith!"

As Castor knocked Reaper to the ground, he tried to survey the damage that occurred to the two but by then, Lillian and Jaxon were struggling to stand. Almost immediately, the knight began to panic on the spot as his thoughts began to warp, insisting this was all his fault.

"H.. Hey, come on!" Castor pleaded as Lillian and Jaxon were using each other to stand, but it wasn't going to last long. "We are fine," the two siblings cheekily assured Castor, smiling in the knight's direction despite the veins now spreading to other parts of their bodies.

When the two siblings saw Reaper preparing to attack from the knight's back, Jaxon went to shove Castor out of the way, taking the hit as the mind seer sliced through the hybrid's skin, dark blue blood dripping onto the ground. Teleporting to their side, the knight managed to catch Jaxon before they could fall.

"JAX!"

While Jaxon's vision started to spun, Lillian's eyes immediately turn black, now glowing as she and the Reaper were on par with each other (to some extent, at least). While the two fought, Reaper's moves were more fluid than opposed to Lillian's more aggressive, angered style.

"I can't believe you took the hit," Castor said in disbelief as Jaxon weakly chuckled at his response. "Well, you would have done the same thing for me," they dismissively stated, assuming their response would have been common knowledge for the knight. "Besides, we're friends now, right?" they continued.

As Castor stared at Jaxon's body grow slump, he made sure to keep them in a secluded area, away from any further chances of gaining more damage onto their body. As the knight stepped back, he tried to catch his breath before he realized Jaxon's sister was facing Reaper by herself.

"Lilith!"

The knight had managed to teleport back to the scene of the fight just in time to catch Lillian, only for Reaper's intense punch to end up sending the two directly towards the wall. While he managed to keep a tight grip on Lillian to prevent her from enduring more damage to herself, the knight was less unfortunate.

"Are you alright?" Castor asked, holding his hand out to Lillian, who gladly accepted his offer. "I'll be better once we manage to snap my aunt out of this state!" Lillian exclaimed from anger before a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her, forcing the hybrid to lean onto Castor for support.

"You've been overstepping your limits..." Castor quietly noted as Lillian merely scoffed at the knight's response. She would have downplayed his response, had half if not most of her body wasn't violently screaming from the injuries she endured.

"Well, what's life without overstepping limits?" the hybrid lightly countered back, only to wince soon after. "I'm fine," Lillian sharply assured him, after spotting the knight's concerned eyes.

"Lillian—"

"I'm fine, Castor," Lillian firmly stressed, preparing to stand on her own when her knees gave way and she was caught by the knight once more. Not long after, Castor raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're definitely doing fine," Castor mumbled underneath his breath, but before Lillian could throw her opinion in, the two cautiously looked up to see Reaper standing tall in the midst of the rubble the hybrid caused. Although Reaper had managed to gain injuries of her own, the injuries were far from severe than opposed to Lillian, who was stuck leaning onto the knight for support.

"One down, two to go," Reaper boldly spoke, swinging her sword as Lillian and Castor retained their fighting stance. "How does it feel to be on the losing side for a change?" she snakily asked.

"We are not the losing side here," Lillian less-than-confidently began, apologetically flashing the knight a look. "Contrary to popular belief, I would actually disagree here," Reaper lightly mocked.

"Well, it won't be long before Atticus and Aliya take down Cain and Narcissa," Castor pitched in with his confident tone, to which Lillian gave him a skeptical look. Before he had a chance to comment on the hybrid's choice of stare, the three heard screaming just as Reaper raised her sword with a smirk.

"You were saying?"

"Cas, I'll be fine. You need to go help Atticus and Aliya," Lillian firmly stated as Castor shook his head. "Lilith, you and I both know Aliya is a fighter. She'll be fine and besides, she would have wanted me to stay here to help you and Axon," Castor sharply protested as Lillian merely shook her head with a slight grin.

"I had a feeling you would say that."

Before the knight could ask what the girl had meant by her response, Lillian created a portal from underneath the knight's feet. Glancing down and back at the hybrid, Castor started to open his mouth, preparing his response, only to scream as the portal closed from behind him.

"That was a smart choice, kiddo."

Lillian barely had time to react as Reaper harshly knocked the hybrid to the ground, the impact causing a sudden ringing in her head, causing her to bite back her scream while the mind seer held her sword directly against the girl's throat.

"Just not a smart move for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"We got your partner, Cain. Just surrender and we can talk about this," Atticus firmly stated as Cain blinked at the mage holding the sea witch by the edge. "Well, she wasn't entirely useful to me," Cain countered back as the mage shot Aliya a rather concerning look that this plan of hers wasn't going to work.

"What? Everyone knows Cain is the opposite of Jesse. I just didn't factor in the fact he was completely heartless," Aliya quickly but sharply whispered to Atticus underneath her breath. When Atticus shot Aliya another look, the girl defensively eyed him before turning to Cain, her presumed soulmate.

"Cain, the sea witch is the only reason you're here as she summoned you through the soulmate curse. Surely, you must care about her enough to make a deal with us," Aliya logically reasoned as Cain stared at Narcissa, who found herself held by Atticus, who was less-than-thrilled about pushing his ex to her death.

"You know what, you might be right," Cain began as he approached Atticus and the sea witch, whose face began to resemble some level of relief. "It's about time you came to your senses," Narcissa promptly stated as Cain merely laughed.

"I did."

Without a second thought, Cain shoved Narcissa and Atticus directly towards the edge, the two screaming as Aliya's eyes widened.

"You know what the mortals say. It's everyone for themselves," Cain promptly stated, stepping on Atticus's staff as the gem began to crack under the pressure. "The mortals are quite the selfish lot. Just a bunch of miserable, idiotic creatures roaming around without a ruler to control them. Their lives are pathetic, but I like their selfishness," he continued as Aliya's thoughts began racing.

"So, tell me, seeker. Who will you end up saving? Will you save the advisor? What about the sea witch? Or perhaps, will you save yourself?" the hate fairy slowly but gradually persisted as Aliya refused to answer him.

In response, she briefly knocked Cain down, retrieving the end of Atticus's staff before seizing the fairy's (now) black string to create a hook. Then as Aliya jumped down, she was able to catch Narcissa from falling farther. Unfortunately, she was less than lucky with the advisor.

"Atticus!"

As the advisor kept falling, his life was spared when Aliya saw Castor teleporting to catch him in time. "I got you," Castor told the advisor as Aliya found herself quietly sighing in relief.

"You saved my life, seeker," Narcissa found herself saying in disbelief as Aliya rolled her eyes from the "seeker" comment. Ever since Poseidon called her a seeker, that's all she ever found herself hearing now. But now was not the time to address these issues. She could focus on the whole "seeker" matter another time.

"Well, don't say I saved your life just yet. I still have to lift us back," Aliya truthfully told the sea witch. "We got you!" Atticus and Castor exclaimed from the top, pulling on the string as Narcissa eyed the wingless faerie.

"You're quite resourceful for a talentless nobody, Aliya," Narcissa lightly commented on the girl's clever thinking. However, Aliya only heard "talentless nobody" and felt slightly (just slightly) compelled to drop the sea witch to her death.

"Right, well, I have to fend for myself somehow," Aliya mumbled, on her way to pull her and Narcissa up when Cain grabbed hold of the string. "So, this was your smart idea," Cain openly mocked, severing the string as Castor and Atticus were stuck with the first half.

With the string disconnected, Narcissa teleported herself back to solid ground while Aliya was stuck holding the second half of the string. "You should have done that like five minutes ago!" Aliya angrily snapped at the sea witch, feeling incredibly stupid at herself in the moment for wasting her energy.

"You're pathetic, Aliya," Cain firmly stated as he held her arm, leaving the girl dangling in the air. "I admire your courage though. Saving two magical people instead of yourself is admirable, but it was a stupid choice," he stated, pulling the girl closer.

"Can I safely assume you plan on pulling me up?" Aliya sheepishly followed up as Cain stared at her before he shook his head.

"No," he firmly started. "I simply wanted to see your look of terror before I let you go for good," Cain bluntly continued, now standing up with a smirk. "Goodbye, Aliya. I hope to never see you again," he continued.

Before she could say anything, Cain released his grip on the girl, watching as she began to plummet downwards.

"Well, that makes two of us!" Aliya's voice rung out, trying to grab onto anything and everything in between to at least stabilize herself. As she fell further, her chances of stopping her fall were becoming slimmer.

The faerie closed her eyes, expecting to hit her head or something, but when her impact stopped, Aliya became nervous. So as she slowly began to open her eyes, Aliya looked up to see Castor's ecstatic face as he gladly rushed to her side, spinning the girl mid-air as Aliya found herself laughing.

"Aliya!"

"Castor? You saved my life?" Aliya quietly whispered, but Castor only shook his head in a regretful manner. "I used my last jump on Atticus," he admitted as Aliya looked up to see Atticus trying to fuse his staff. "Here, I have this piece," she said, revealing a small piece of his staff as Atticus thanked her.

Eventually, the young faerie's eyes landed on the sea witch, who tenderly smiled in her direction. "You saved my life," Aliya repeated, now in disbelief as Narcissa moved closer to the wingless faerie. "Well, you saved mine," the sea witch pointed out as Aliya bitterly laughed.

"You had powers! You were going to save yourself regardless of the outcome. I was just stupid enough to think you actually needed help," Aliya angrily told the sea witch, who patiently waited for the girl to stop talking. "I was better off not showing you mercy and saving myself," she mumbled.

"A enemy who does not show mercy to their opponent is one who becomes a dangerous foe, but nonetheless, a rather foolish one," Narcissa began as she gestured to Cain. "Had you not shown mercy to me, there's a chance I would have viewed you differently than the way I view you now," she continued.

"What do you mean?"

"To show mercy toward one's opponent is not a sign of stupidity as you might think. To show mercy in the face of adversity is a sign of a person's character, and for that, I am indebted to you, seeker," the sea witch added, kneeling down to Aliya, which made the girl uncomfortable.

"You can stop now," Aliya shyly pleaded, bashfully looking away from the sea witch's kneel as she wasn't used to this kind of behavior. "A humble seeker, might I add. Most seekers are notably royals and rather selfish, so you are definitely a surprise from those two standpoints," Narcissa continued, ending her kneel towards the wingless faerie on the girl's request.

When the sea witch saw Aliya's visible confusion on her face, Narcissa simply laughed from the girl's reaction. "Don't worry. Everything will make sense when you're older," she cryptically stated, which did little to stop the girl's curiosity.

"I'm only sixteen! That should mean I'm old enough to know," Aliya swiftly pointed out as Narcissa stared at her in confusion by the remarkable small number. "I meant one-hundred-and-sixteen, sorry, I'm used to the human system..." Aliya later corrected as Narcissa eyed the young faerie with a wonder of curiosity.

In all of her years of being a gifted witch, Narcissa has hardly met a non-royal seeker and she definitely never came across one who had a passion for the outsider's world, especially in later years.

Despite knowing Aliya to be this generation's seeker, the sea witch still found herself questioning why the gods chose this wingless, talentless, non-magic Avalonian to help them, especially since Avalon was thriving!

After all, seekers arrive when there is a unforeseen crisis and from their actions in that situation, that's when the gods determines which era the future Avalonians would get to see.

Maybe one day, Narcissa would know all of the answers to her questions. However until that time came, she was now in Aliya's debt and Narcissa was determined to be on the right side of the war this time as the last one didn't go too well for her....

"You have screwed me over for the last time, Fae-Maid!" Cain angrily snapped, but while Narcissa, Castor and Atticus were ready to defend the girl, none of them were quite ready for Aliya to be the one to put Cain in his tracks by knocking him promptly onto the ground.

"Do you need one of us to handle him?" Narcissa chimed in, the others saying similar responses. "No, it's okay. I can handle him," Aliya insisted as Atticus opened his mouth, only to end up nodding.

"We should work on healing the others and reversing Stormy, Issac and Amara's state," Atticus promptly said, preparing to grab Narcissa's hand but the sea witch only slapped him. "You and I are still not on good terms," she firmly stated, the two bickering as Castor and Aliya looked at each other.

"Are you sure you got this, captain?" Castor slowly asked as Aliya nodded. "Yeah, I got this — Wait, captain?" she began, only to curiously repeat his nickname for her. "You were impressive out there when you motivated everyone with your speech. So, the idea of you being a captain just came to mind," he sheepishly explained, slowly making eye contact with her.

"If you don't like the nickname though, I can find something different!" Castor quickly exclaimed, panicking at the thought of offending her. He was about to spill out a dozen apologies to the girl, but when he hear Aliya's giggling and spotted a bright smile on her face, his nerves started to calm down.

"No, captain is perfect, so thank you," Aliya softly stated. "Actually, I was wrong. The nickname is missing something..." she began, which caught the knight off-guard, to say the least. "What?" Castor curiously followed up.

"Well, every captain needs a co-captain," Aliya started to explain. "So... if you are going to start calling me captain from this point on, then it should only be fair if I get to refer to you as co-captain," Aliya followed up, her grin growing larger when Castor's eyes lit up with joy.

"Co-Captain, huh? I love it!" Castor delightfully answered, now grinning at the sound of his nickname. The knight found it endearing that Aliya wanted him as her co-captain and could not stop himself from soaking in her bubbly laugh and sparkling light brown eyes.

"Oh, co-captain? You're staring," Aliya softly pointed out, resulting in Castor bashfully looking away as his hair began to glow. Castor tried to get himself to stop staring at her to save himself from further embarrassment, but then Aliya did her cute laugh and he found himself gravitating towards her sound.

"Castor!"

"Well, your assistance is needed," Aliya chimed in, unaware of his stare at the second time, which Castor silently thanked the gods for not letting him get caught by the girl two times in a row. "Yeah, I guess so..." he said, shyly trailing off as the two made eye contact and gave each other a soft smile.

"I should work on getting Jesse back," Aliya briefly stated, now breaking off the eye contact as Castor shook his head, making himself return to reality. "Right!" Castor exclaimed, perhaps too excitedly as Aliya eyed him.

"I mean, right," Castor corrected before awkwardly taking a step back. "Alright, I should let you work on bringing Jesse back. I'm sure his parents will be thrilled to know their son will be returning to normal soon," he continued as Aliya casually nodded. "Right," she said in agreement.

"Okay, then I just want to wish you luck. Let me know if he ends up being a handful for you," the knight further stated, bowing towards the girl, whose eyes widened when he had looked up. As his hair glowed once more, Castor dashed off, too embarrassed to know her response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Aliya held the hate fairy steadily in her grip, Cain found he lacked the strength to push the faerie back as his eyes widened.

"Who exactly is the pathetic one now, Cain?" she bluntly mocked as Cain's hair glowed from frustration. "You may have a fancy title now, seeker, but no one will ever claim you as Avalon's savior, especially not someone who is wingless and possesses no magic of their own," he darkly told the girl.

"Behind that title, you're still the same, scared and pathetic little girl underneath. The girl who couldn't save herself from enduring her cruel fate. The girl who failed at her own suicide attempts. The girl who will soon fail to stop her best friend from leaving her. You are a bundle of mistakes and everyone knows this," Cain firmly continued, observing as Aliya's eyes flickered in spite of her neutral expression.

"Your siblings? That knight? Don't bother wasting their time. They're all going to leave you in the end all the same. You'll have no one and for that, you won't have a legacy, because no one will be there to remember you."

"Anything else you want to get off your chest?" Aliya dismissively asked as Cain shook his head. "No, I think that's it," he reluctantly finished, looking towards the girl before sighing. "I guess let's just get this over with, but I will be back. Jesse can never get rid of me fully," he continued as Aliya blankly nodded.

"Well, luckily for lover boy, he'll have people to help him," Aliya countered back, before pulling Cain into a kiss. As the two kissed, a bright white light covered Cain and flashed throughout the sea witch's lair and as she pulled away, she grinned at the sight of seeing her best friend once more, making sure to release her grip on him.

"Jesse!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Jesse found himself back in control, he tried to make sense of his surroundings and tried to walk before his knees gave way, causing Aliya to catch him. "Hey, hey it's okay. Cain is gone, or at least, he's gone for now," she corrected, helping him stand as Aliya explained the chain of events to him.

"Come on, I'll show you to everyone," she excitedly began, dragging him to the center of the sea witch's lair as his parents ran to hug him. This time, Jesse noticed Aliya stood ten feet away from the three. "We were so scared for you!" Shiron and Talia exclaimed as Jesse held his parents closer.

"But it's okay because we're all here and Jesse, me and your dad are going to be better parents to you. You should never feel the need to run away from us and we were wrong for placing so much pressure onto you," Talia tearfully admitted as Shiron nodded.

"Jesse, nothing is more important to us than you and somewhere along the line, your mother and I forgot that. We got selfish and started focusing on how you were going to benefit us when in reality, our mindset should have been focused on you, not on your powers," Shiron admitted as Jesse warmly smiled.

"Thanks."

"If you don't want to marry Iris, we won't make you, not anymore. We can find someone or you could even propose to Aliya, if that's what your heart truly desires," Talia softly added as she leaned on her husband, who softly kissed her forehead.

"We're done trying to mold you into the kind of person this society wants you to be. It's time for you to follow your heart and trust in yourself. This is your life, not ours, and we're so sorry for not seeing this sooner," Shiron sincerely added, playfully ruffling his hair as Jesse laughed.

"You two are the best!" Jesse happily exclaimed, hugging his parents before running off to find Aliya, only to stop when he found her with Castor, the two casually talking as the knight softly brushed Aliya's hair out of her face... the same way he would do to her, so Jesse had a better chance of seeing her eyes.

As Jesse stared at the two, he saw Aliya looking relatively happier as his stomach began to form a knot in itself.

"Hey, thanks for what you said back there," Castor truthfully began as Aliya playfully downplayed her efforts. "Yeah, that's what friends are for," she casually said and for a moment, he felt relieved until he saw the knight hold her hand.

"No, I truly mean it," Castor firmly told her. "What you said back there... you actually helped me in more ways than you think," he continued before turning away.

"Back in my hometown, I wasn't well-liked and I often self-sabotage anything good that did come into my life. So when I met you, I didn't think nothing of it. I just assumed we would be nothing more than strangers. But then after Jesse's birthday bash, you ended up changing my life around," he explained.

"You helped me gain a sense of myself again. Now, because of you, I have real, genuine friends like your siblings, Jaxon and Lillian instead of having to be around Jesse and Iris for a change. I understand what it means to have a sense of belonging because I found that through you, Aliya."

"Cas—"

"It's just like you told me earlier. It's you and me against the world, and nothing is ever going to change that," Castor happily finished, pulling Aliya into a hug as Jesse found himself choking back on his tears.

She told him our saying.

"You and me against the world?" Jesse forced himself to repeat just as Castor and Aliya pulled away from their hug. As his heart sank, Jesse spun on his heels and began to run away.

"Jesse, wait!"

When Jesse finally managed to get a break, he heard footsteps approaching. As the boy turned around, the love fairy found Aliya, who began to open her mouth. "Jesse... look," she began, but Jesse only shook his head.

"You and me against the world?" Jesse angrily repeated. "You told him our saying! We were kids when we said those words! Castor wasn't there when we spoke those words!" he persisted, hearing the girl's nervous chuckle.

"I mean... it's not really our saying anymore, is it?" Aliya slowly began as Jesse glared at her. "You told me that I was on my own. Well, if I'm on my own, then it's not really our saying now, is it? So with that logic, I told Castor our oath because I didn't see no harm in doing so," she continued before sighing.

"But clearly, telling Castor 'our oath' offended you and I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to take our oath without asking you for permission. I totally get it. In fact, I would have asked you first, but you were sorta turned into Cain and hellbent on killing me, so... yeah," she followed up.

"It's more than that. Castor strokes your hair the same way I did! He gives you those secret looks you think are subtle but really not and he gets all flustered around you!"

"Well, Jesse, it sounds like you're just jealous," Aliya swiftly said, now laughing at his anger. "I'm upset because I know that knight has been smitten with you ever since you, him, Jaxon, Lillian crashed my birthday bash! I'm upset because I can physically see him in love with you!" Jesse angrily snapped as she blinked.

"Is it really terrible for another person to like me for a change?" Aliya slowly followed up and it was these words that led his heart to shatter.

"I mean, it's not you and I were actually going anywhere with our relationship to start, so I don't understand why you're so upset by Castor possibly being in love with me?" she added. "Because I'm in love with you!" Jesse exclaimed at last as Aliya blinked before she laughed.

"Jesse, you just think you're in love with me, but the moment will pass," she assured him, which only caused his heart to set itself on fire. "Why won't you just believe me!" Jesse angrily exclaimed as Aliya stopped in her tracks.

"You want to know why I don't believe you, Jesse? It's because I don't trust you!" Aliya exclaimed at last before she quickly covered her mouth. "Jesse... I... I... Look, I can.... I can explain...." she awkwardly began, attempting to cover up her mistake but it was too late.

"Y... You don't trust me?" Jesse heartbreakingly asked her as Aliya lowered her hands and made eye contact with her. "No, Jesse, I don't. I mean, I kinda do. It... Look, it's complicated!" she countered back, much to his annoyance.

"I can barely trust you with my life, what makes you think I can simply trust you with my heart?" she followed up as Jesse bitterly laughed.

"So, you don't trust me but you trust some guy you barely met?" Jesse bitterly snapped, blinking back his tears. "Castor doesn't know you like I do, Aliya! He doesn't have the same kind of history we do!" he angrily continued as Aliya bitterly chuckled in his face.

"Oh, and you think you know me? Ha! You literally kissed Narcissa, who disguised herself as me! If you had really known me, you would have known that I couldn't have returned back to Avalon without an Avalonian necklace because of the rules set by the Senior Fae and the Avalon counsel!"

As Aliya and Jesse eyed each other, the love fairy quickly looked away and that's when her bitter laugh returned. "You knew Narcissa was pretending to be me, didn't you?" she bitterly asked as Jesse glared at her.

"Yeah, I did know! I knew since she brought up my interest in having a fairytale life! I knew since I got a vision of you being chained in her dungeon! Okay? Yes! I knew about the sea witch being an imposter and I still kissed her anyways, because she made me feel safe!" Jesse exclaimed as Aliya crossed her arms.

"Furthermore, the sea witch wanted to commit to my dreams! You never wanted to commit to anything I did because you don't care!" Jesse angrily finished as Aliya gave a low, dry chuckle.

"First of all, if you want safe, go run to Iris. I bet she'll protect you really well with her siren songs and her dad's beastly form. Yeah, you'll feel really safe, especially when they end discarding you once your use to them is over," Aliya bitterly started as Jesse attempted to speak, but she stopped him.

"Second of all, I've always cared about you! When Marcellus and his group bullied you as a changeling for your human obsession, who was there to defend you? When you wanted to promote your love for the human world, who was there every step of the way? Who helped you discover your gift? Me! I was there!"

"Aliya—"

"No! You don't get to cut me off whenever you know I'm right! Not this time!" Aliya angrily exclaimed, falling onto her knees as Jesse heard the girl trying to hold back her sobs.

"I was there for you on everything, Jesse. From your highs to your lows, I was there for you! Even now when you ran away, I dragged Jax and Lily to help me look for you because I knew no one else would! Do you really think Iris cared? She didn't look for you!"

"Aliya—"

"I even went through the notion of making a deal with Narcissa just so you could get out of your contract, which if you had read the contract, none of this would have happened because you would have known you just needed true love's kiss to become human!" she snapped, clenching her fist.

"You say I don't care, but really, it was you who never cared for me."

"What?"

"When I needed you, you were the one to turn your back on me. When Marcellus and his friends drowned me that night I lost my wings, you didn't stop them! No? What did you do? You encouraged those idiots and simply watched as Marcel and his friends took out my wings and threw me into the sea!"

"Come on guys, this isn't funny," Jesse meekly said as Marcellus laughed. "Come on, we're not going to hurt her, we're just engaging in light conversation," Marcellus simply assured him.

"Let me go!" Aliya exclaimed, struggling to free herself when Jesse caught sight of her, trying to hide his face when she excitedly spotted him. "Jesse! Jesse! I am so happy to see you! But what are you doing hanging out with the guys that bullied you as kids?" she curiously asked as Marcellus nudged him.

"These guys are my friends."

"Your friends? Jesse, are you sure about that? If that's the case, do your friends know that you still have your human collection?" Aliya countered back as Marcellus and his friends began eyeing him. Jesse could recall being so nervous that night because he was going to be cool and.... Aliya was going to ruin everything.

"Sure, I collect those filthy outsider's bones and break the skulls as a reminder of how superior we are to their pathetic kind," Jesse remembered saying as a cover up and the love fairy remembered how excited Marcellus and his friends were to know that he, Jesse, had also collect "human bones."

"That's so cool!" Marcellus and the others gushed as Jesse remembered the look of confusion on Aliya's face. She must have been trying to figure out why he was lying when the two both knew he didn't own not one skull.

"But... you don't collect skulls, Jesse, not even human ones," she had unwittingly said as Marcellus and his friends eyed Jesse suspiciously. "Is this true?" Marcellus asked. "If there's one thing I hate worse than magic-less freaks like her, it's liars," he continued, snapping a tree branch in half like nothing.

"So, who is being honest and who is the liar?"

Jesse recalled being so scared because he desperately wanted to be seen as cool to his friends. With his wings, he was popular and if Marcellus and the others knew about his secret life as a human fanatic, then his new high-class elite status wouldn't matter.

To them, Jesse would always be that human-loving freak and the laughing stock of their generation unless... unless they never knew.

But Jesse felt guilty because he knew Aliya was right, but did it matter? She wasn't popular. She wasn't rich, she didn't even have magic! She was nothing like him, so why did it matter to him to factor in Aliya's feelings?

"That Fae-Maid is the liar! She's only saying these false things because she's trying to bewitch me into going against you," Jesse recalled saying and just to ensure Marcellus and his friends knew he was on their side, he gave Katsu an iron knife.

"Here. She's already magic-less as it is. Why should she need her wings if she's not worthy of having them?"

"Iron. Her weakness. Good job, Jesse. I guess you really are one of us," Katsu told him, ruffling his hair while swinging the knife in the air. "Hold her down, boys. It's time we taught this freak a lesson she'll never forget," he ordered as three other Avalonians forcibly held Aliya down (the love fairy embarrassingly no longer knew the other three's names) onto the ground.

"No, no, no! Stop, please stop!"

Jesse could recall Aliya begging Katsu to stop and it got to the point where Marcellus suggested to tie her mouth up. "Jesse, you have to get Marcel and his friends to stop this! All I did was beat him in a race!" Aliya protested as Marcellus angrily pulled on her hair.

"It wasn't just any race, Fae-Maid! I had sponsors lined up for me! My girlfriend and my parents were watching! Everyone was watching and out of all of the competition there, I lost to you! You! You're nothing more than a speck!"

"Iris didn't even like you! She only hung out with you because she was scared of you!" Aliya protested, wincing as Marcellus tugged on her hair harder. "Iris loves me and you know nothing, freak!" Marcellus angrily snapped, forcibly throwing Aliya's head into the dirt.

Jesse recalled wanting to stop Marcellus, Katsu and the others from going further but by then, he was too far deep. As one of Marcel's friends placed Aliya in iron restraints, the other guy tightly held a cloth over her mouth while Marcellus and his other friend held Aliya in place.

From there, Katsu began craving onto the girl's body, aggressively cutting into her flesh with the iron knife and slowly making progress as her wings were beginning to come off. As Jesse heard her muffled screams, he could never forget when everything was over.

Jesse saw Aliya's dried tears and sunken eyes as she only stared at him: a look of betrayal as Katsu threw her wings on the ground, the girl's clear wings which were now drenched in her blood.

"Wait, but what if someone ends up hearing us and tell her family?" one of the guys pitched in as Marcellus eagerly smirked toward the boy's direction, as if waiting for the question to pop up.

"Not to worry, boys. In case the girl's freakish parents and aunt come, we just bang her head up really good," Marcellus sharply said as Katsu's eyes lit up. "Yes! I love banging stuff, especially heads!" Katsu happily exclaimed as Jesse recalled the way Aliya kept looking at him to help her.

Aliya wanted him to come through for her like she had always done for him, but Jesse learned a terrible lesson that night: he wasn't like her.

That's why he could never forget how Aliya kept her eyes solely on him, even in her last moments when Katsu brutally knocked the girl's head down. When Marcel and the others finished adjusting the iron restraints, it was Katsu who threw Aliya into the water as he was the strongest.

From there, Jesse only watched as his best friend gradually fell into the ocean until he heard nothing but a splash.

The memory came back after years of gradual suppression and Jesse felt years of guilt coming back to haunt him. Jesse chose popularity for a bunch of guys he wanted to impress, only to end barely remembering them. There was Marcellus, but he was almost certain that he died somewhere underground back in the human realm.

Jesse only vaguely remembered Katsu and that was because Castor was always talking about the guy's strength on the Crownsguard. As for the other three, he didn't really have much of a clue when it came to them.

"How long have you known?" Jesse forced himself to ask as she weakly chuckled. "Does it even matter?" she solemnly asked but Jesse eyed her.

"Fine. At first, I could only remember sinking, so I couldn't recall anything major. Then, little by little, I started remembering things. Then a few months, I started making out faces. Then a year, I got voices. From there, I was able to figure out what happened and who was there."

"I—"

"Were you ever planning to apologize to me for that night or were you just going to keep it a secret?" Aliya asked her and for once, Jesse had remained silent. He didn't have an answer and somehow he suspected that she knew too.

"Heh, you say we have history, but how can I fight for something that clearly died a long time ago?" Aliya solemnly asked, no longer having anger but pure sadness in her voice.

"I think the worst part is that I lied to my parents and Stormy about your involvement, because I couldn't let them think you were ever do something so... cruel. I remember having to go to a seer to teach me mind tricks just so I could trick Stormy long enough into thinking there were four guys, never five," she continued.

"I guess in doing that, I tricked myself too because I didn't want to admit to myself that I had witnessed my best friend give his fake friends the weapon that would leave me scarred for life. I had witnessed my childhood friend call me a Fae-Maid for the first time and I just remembered thinking about what I did wrong."

"Aliya..."

"I was just a kid when I learned I wouldn't be part of the Flying Avalon team because no one wanted a freak like me in the show. I didn't have magic like you and the others, so flying was the best thing I had. I loved flying! I was going to grow up and be the best flyer out there, but guess what, Jesse?"

"Aliya—"

"You, Marcel and his friends killed that dream for me. I was a kid when I accidentally scratch myself with iron and I was only a kid when I started self-harming myself. I was only a kid, but I decided in the moment, that if my best friend hated me, then who's to say my family didn't feel the same? Who's to say they were lying to me just like you had done to me?"

"Aliya..."

"I was a kid, Jesse, when I learned what it was to experience betrayal for the first time, because of you. You were the one who broke me, Jesse, and I've never been the same since."

As Jesse saw Aliya stand up, she flashed him a sad smile as the love fairy could see the girl holding back her tears.

"So no, Jesse, if I had to choose between you and Castor, I would gladly choose Castor a thousand times before I ever chose to let you have my heart, because unlike you, he was actually there for me."

As Jesse went to reach out to her, he saw the girl pull her hand back and for once in his life, Jesse saw the genuine fear in her eyes. 

"Aliya..."

But as Aliya walked away, Jesse started to realize just how much he screwed everything over with her. She had been there for him, but he wasn't. He couldn't apologize but it was too late. Jesse had everything he wanted, but at the end of the day....

He lost her.