"Kat?" Trix glanced at him as though he was insane.

"You touched Kat, which means this is her essence. You might hurt her if you hurt this thing."

"Yes, Trix," the apparition said, using Kat's voice. "Why would you hurt your friend? You already hurt me when you touched me."

Trix faltered, confusion obvious in his features. Cage's grip on his wrist tightened to steady him. Then he thrust his hand forward and sent a bolt of lightning directly at the creature. Lulled into a false sense of security, it wasn't quick enough to move out of the way and took the bolt directly in the chest.

Cage released Trix and shot another bolt and then another. The thing screeched in pain as steam rose from its pretend skin. Kat's features contorted in agony and pain ran through him, making him nauseous.

This is not Kat. This is inside Trix's head. It's a part of Lucille. It's what hurt Kat and drove her mad.

He kept repeating the words as he unloaded more magic into the thing. The effort of it had sweat dripping down his brow. With every passing second, his energy drained and his muscles contracted painfully. The creature didn't burst into flames, but became smaller and smaller until there was little left of her. So little that he wasn't even sure there was something still there to hit, but he continued to force his magic forward.

"I think... I think it's gone." Trix lowered his hands and squinted into the darkness.

Cage broke the stream of lightning and fell over. Every breath he took was sharp and painful in his chest, but he felt as if he'd just come out of water a moment before he were to drown.

"That was a very impressive display of force," Trix said.

"Can... Can we go back now?" Though Cage didn't think he had a choice in the matter. He was so exhausted, he could feel his consciousness slipping away.

"Yes, go. You can't lose yourself in here."

And yet, pulling himself out of Trix's mind meant putting in an effort he wasn't sure he was up for. He closed his eyes and focused on his real body, on what he truly felt. It was hard when he felt as if he were floating in nothingness.

It was so tempting to just rest for a few moments, drift away on the pleasant wave of someone else's consciousness. What could happen?

Something squeezed his shoulder so hard, the pain reverberated through his very conscience. Cage sucked air through his teeth and his well developed warrior senses brought him back to the place he needed to be to defend himself.

The dim light in the infirmary still made his eyes water, but Cage ignored the pain and twisted his body to avoid any further harm coming to it. The sharp movement had him toppling off the stool and onto the floor. In a moment, his hand was on the hilt of his sword, but he faltered the moment he took in the angry face hovering above him.

"What in the bloodiest of hells do you think you're doing?" Jazz said between his teeth.

Cage blinked, his gaze moving from him to Jinx who stood just behind him, a look both worried and hopeful upon her beautiful face. He wanted to answer, but found that his lungs had little air in them, so all he could do was wheeze. The exhaustion he'd gathered while battling the monster inside Trix followed him into reality, leaving him defenseless.

"I told you not to attempt this! I told you it could destroy your mind!"

Jazz's screams were a distant buzzing in Cage's ears. He shut his eyes, trying to regain his senses, but the return had been so brusque, he felt as if half of himself was still lost with the demon Kat.

Had he...? What had he done?

Images flashed in front of his eyes, of Kat and her loving smile, and the fog inside his brain didn't let him piece the information together. Jazz yelling didn't help at all. There was Jinx's voice there, too, but much more silent and he couldn't pick up the words.

Darkness. There had been darkness and lightning and he'd done something. A dull ache settled in his heart as his memories chose to focus on Kat. He'd done something to Kat.

"Cage!"

"Could you shut up for a minute?" he tried to say, but he wasn't sure how much actually came out.

It worked, because silence surrounded him. With great effort, he focused his vision and could see Jazz and Jinx clearly. Jazz was frightening in his rage. Jinx by comparison looked meek. Behind her shoulder, he could spot Father Nathan, his pudgy cheeks pale.

With every passing second, the ache inside him seemed to dull, and he could finally get himself in a sitting position. Jinx hurried over to extend a hand, but he didn't take it, lowering his head between his knees instead. With the blood flowing to his head, he got a bit more sensation in his limbs.

"You fucking imbecile," Jazz said between his teeth.

"How dare you!" Father Nathan said, his voice high and afraid.

"Shut up, you old fool," Jinx snapped.

"Stop it, all of you," Cage said. "Just... Give me a moment." He took in a deep breath and his lungs finally filled properly. "I'm obviously alive and somewhat well, so can it, Jazz."

"It's mere dumb luck--"

"How is Trix?" Jinx asked immediately.

Oh, right. Trix. He'd been inside Trix's head. Cage glanced towards him, but he was still sleeping.

"I... I think I saw him. He was..." It was hard to piece together all the random images inside his head. "He was trying to protect us."

"Protect us," Jazz said, skeptically.

"Yes. From what he absorbed when he touched Kat. I think... I think I might have destroyed it?"

Jinx's smile was radiant and the gratitude in her gaze obvious. Jazz still looked ready to blow fire, but there was an undeniable hope hidden well beneath the anger. Cage took advantage of the temporary silence to draw a few more deep breaths. His conscience became reacquainted with its own body and with every passing second, he felt more like himself. With it came the realization that he'd indeed done something incredibly reckless. If Jazz hadn't hurt him enough to activate his fight response, he might have never returned his mind to his own body. But he wasn't about to admit that.

"How long did it take?" he asked no one in particular.

"You have been in a sort of trance for over two hours, your Majesty," Father Nathan supplied. He hesitated for a few moments before asking, "What did you do?"

Cage didn't answer and got off the floor and back into his seat. Even if he hadn't technically done anything, his muscles were still sore as if he'd truly overexerted his magic. Maybe he had.

Trix moaned from the cot and all eyes turned to him. For the first time in weeks, the muscles of his face moved as a light frown took over his features, then he opened his mismatched eyes and stared at them. He blinked, groaned, and moved one hand to rub his face.

"Trix!" Jinx threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his chest to give him a hug.

"Get off," he mumbled. "Don't touch me. Gods, my mouth is so dry."

Jazz hurried to his bedside and poured him a goblet of water from the pitcher placed on his nightstand. With careful moves, he helped his friend drink.

Cage gave him a small smile, too exhausted to join in the fray. He didn't have to, because the moment Trix had his fill of water, he turned to him.

"Thank you."

Cage just gave him a wave of his hand. "I'm just happy you could join us." But as Jinx and Jazz focused on Trix, he glanced towards Father Nathan.

If he'd been pale before, it was nothing to how the priest of Tyr Dorna looked now. It didn't take a well read man to figure out the reason. The old man had realized his king had used magic.

"You are not to repeat what you have witnessed in this room," he said, his tone carrying all the authority of his position.

"Magic!"

"It is no different from what you do."

"I use the power of Tyr Dorna--"

"Call it what you will. It's still magic," Cage growled. "Just because you are too ignorant to admit what you're doing does not turn it into something else."

"We priests--"

"Are either charlatans or have a weak form of magic," Jinx snapped.

"Semantics don't matter," Cage said, his tone final. "You are not to repeat what you saw and heard here to anyone under penalty of death. And I believe you are aware I am a man of my word." With a wave of the hand, he dismissed the priest.

Father Nathan seemed paralyzed with fear, but after a few moments in which everyone stared at him, he realized this might be his only chance to avoid the palace dungeon, so he scurried out.

"Do you think he'll keep his yap shut?" Trix asked not seeming half-interested in the matter.

"I don't care. The ban on magic will be lifted. I just need to stall for time." Cage returned his attention to his friend. "Did you see everything I saw while I was trying to get you to return."

Trix nodded. "And I owe everyone an explanation. I was trying to protect you, because when I touched Kat, it wasn't like it usually is when I drain the life and powers out of people. Instead of gaining access to Kat's memories and being, something seemed to enter me. I won't lie, it was terrifying. I'm not sure how long it took me to become aware of myself again, but when I did, I knew something was wrong. That if I didn't force myself to remain under whatever enchantment had fallen upon me, I could release that thing upon you."

"I think that might have been Lucille's plan," Jazz said.

Trix raised into a sitting position and lowered his legs to the floor. "I tried to neutralize it. I couldn't. I knew I couldn't keep this up forever, but I was ready to die rather than let it out."

"What was it?" Jinx whispered.

"I'm not sure..." Trix lowered his face in his hands and groaned. "My body feels so sore."

"You're going to need time to recover." Jazz threw Cage a killer look as if this was his fault. "So you just waltzed in there and faced whatever Trix was trying to protect us from."

"Pretty much," Cage said with a shrug.

"Cage zapped it with lightning until it seemed to disappear," Trix supplied.

"Seemed?" Jazz now sounded worried.

"I'm not sure it's gone. I'm not sure if I'm fine, but Cage was drifting from the effort and I had to aid him back. Which meant coming back myself."

Cage had missed that part, but he was grateful. "Thank you, Trix."

"No. It is I who should be thanking you. If it wasn't for you, I would have certainly died."

"I'm just glad you're both back and safe," Jinx moved closer to hug them both.

Jazz, however, still kept away, an expression half-thoughtful, half-annoyed on his face.

"Yes, Jazz, there is still danger," Trix said, reading his friend well. "But I will most certainly keep you updated on any outward interferences."

This seemed to appease Jazz, because he finally seemed to loosen up. His smile was most definitely sincere as he moved forward to hug his friend.

"I'm still upset with you," he said to Cage, then grasped his shoulder. "But thank you. You've definitely proved your loyalty and your worth, your Majesty."

"Speaking of which," Trix said, sounding amused. "Where the hell am I and why is Cage his Majesty?"

With a smile on his face, Cage lay down in the cot next to Trix's. "Jazz, Jinx, you have the pleasure of filing in our friend. Make it snappy. There is much work to be done."

⚜⚜⚜

I apologize for the slight delay which no one noticed, most likely. Technical difficulties.

But, here we are. Trix is back in business but maybe with a little more danger. He was such a deftly crafted Trojan horse, wasn't he? Maybe Cage managed to defuse the bomb.

He is, however, right. There is much to be done, so we have more fun politics in store for the next chapter!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story so far.