"What's wrong, Alexander? Scared?" Eliza asked, nudging my side in a way that could only be playful and friendly.

"Yes, actually," I returned. "I am. I really don't think this is such a good idea."

"Can you two keep it down?" Lafayette hissed, the loudest he had been in the past half an hour or so. Whatever he was working on was eating up all of his focus. And his patience.

I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my anger as the only wall between me and a level of insurmountable fear that was sure to reduce me to a gross mess if I couldn't keep it under control.

I stared ahead at the looming labyrinth. My heartbeats were frantic; the memories of this place were still too fresh in my mind and still hurt so much, but I'd give anything to go back to them. To live in those moments for the rest of my life, even if it meant watching Thomas's blood spill onto the grass over and over again. Because back then, he was still alive. Ripped away from me, yes. But I still was able to feel the gentle beating of his heart, and I didn't have to let go.

I swallowed down those thoughts, but dismissing them only did so much good. They would undoubtedly be back to haunt my every  nightmare later that night, keeping me away from the sanctuary of sleep. But at least, with Eliza by my side, it got easier to escape them.

"Don't be scared," Eliza said with a grin, nudging me again. And it was impossible to do anything other than match her jovial glow, her friendly smile. She was amazing, and I hate how it took the death of somebody else for me to realize it.

I didn't mention his name anymore. Nobody did. We were far too afraid of what we might summon if the syllables escaped our mouths.

It was for the better, anyway.

"How far are you?" I asked Lafayette in a hushed murmur.

"I am almost there," he returned, his accent thick just as it always was when frustrated. "You have got to give me a second."

"Sorry." I tried not to tap my foot against the cobblestone path, but it was proving impossible. Whatever difficulties Lafayette was having trouble with as he tried to cast his mind out through the stone (Eliza explained it to me and it still makes no sense), he was having a tough time defeating. But it was taking far too long, and the longer I stood in this one place, the more my mind wandered. And Divinity's children, the things I think about are truly horrible.

Eliza placed a hand on my shoulder, and I gripped her fingers with my own. It felt wrong, especially so close to Lafayette, but then there was the thrill that always came with hiding something, a secret you couldn't let anybody find out. There's something slightly freeing about it. Almost as if you don't feel trapped, even if it's only for a moment while the rush dies out again.

Maybe it's her that makes me feel so free.

"Got it," Lafayette snapped suddenly, spinning around just slow enough for me to let go of Eliza's hand.

"What did you see?"

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, brighter than he should have been.

"What?"

"That is good. It means that whatever the King is keeping in there, he wants it to remain a secret. I finally managed to get through to his protection spells, which are denser than they have ever been before. Which means that the sooner we find it, the sooner we destroy it, and that bastard is left without whatever tool he has added to his arsenal."

Lafayette had become considerably colder since...well, since the funeral. I don't know if it was just Angelica or the combination of both of them, but whatever it is, Lafayette doesn't laugh any more. And he rarely smiles. Just bent in the utter destruction of the wearer of the crown.

But if there's one thing I've noticed, he's become slightly warmer to Hercules, even as he shuts himself off to the rest of us.

"So are we good to go back yet?" Eliza asked, suddenly quieter than she had been in the previous half an hour.

"Just waiting on Herc. Sorry, Hercules," he corrected himself, quickly.

I cast out my energy, searching for the familiar brush of the shapeshifter, and found him not too far away. I frowned as I felt him in the sky above, wondering how he possibly got up there.

And then I remembered and pushed the thought away before my heart plummeted down into my feet.

It's not worth thinking about; it's not worth thinking about; it's not worth thinking about. You need to move on.

"You alright?"

"Hercules is still checking up above," I said out loud, purposefully ignoring her. I wasn't a child and I didn't need to be treated like one.

But how could I move on when literally everything brought me back to him?

"Where?" Lafayette asked, moving a hand up to his face to block the sun from his eyes so he could scan the vast blue above for any disruptions in the color. "Can you give me an exact location?"

"Yeah, just hold on," I returned, searching for Hercules's energy once again. It took longer this time, and the size of his energy was decreasing, but he wasn't using any spells. Almost as if he was getting further and further away from us. I frowned and retreated, opening my eyes. "Where is he going?"

"What do you mean? He isn't supposed to be going anywhere," Lafayette returned curtly. He was worried.

"Hold on, I see him," Eliza mumbled. "I'll ask him." A minute passed, and she stepped backwards in confusion. "He says he sees something? Something unusual?"

"What does it look like?" I asked, casting out my energy again to see if I could find him.

A force slammed against my mind, throwing me backwards. I let out a yelp as a reflex as I tried to steady myself from falling.

"Alexander!" Lafayette exclaimed.

"There's something else there!" I returned, my voice shaking with both excitement and determination. "Hold on, I've almost got it."

"What is happening?"

"Eliza, do you feel it?"

"Feel wha—? Woah," she breathed. "Divinity's children! What is that thing?"

I searched for the unknown force. Whatever it was, it was powerful, definitely stronger than me. It wasn't in the maze, nor protected by any of the spells the King had cast. It was huge, intimidating, and there was something about it that was eerily familiar. Like I knew it, but I couldn't place how I knew it.

It pulled against my own energy, and the distorted whispers of a message touched the outer walls of my mind. It was trying to tell me something, but it was impossible to make out what it was. Its touch was gentle, almost welcoming, but there was something much darker and much more sinister behind its exterior. I could feel it from here.

"I think it's the King," I said. It matched up perfectly, there was no other possible explanation for it, and it wouldn't be hard to figure out what he was doing and why he was doing it. And yet somehow, I still couldn't shake the sinking suspicion that it was something else.

"You do? What does it feel like?" Lafayette urged.

"Hold on. I'm telling Hercules to come back now before he gets hurt," said Eliza.

I hugged my body. Whatever the unknown force was, it had completely pulled away any joy I had a few minutes ago. I glanced elsewhere, trying my best not to shake so badly. There was something so familiar about it. Something that truly terrified me.

"Maybe it's Angelica," I whispered, making both Eliza and Lafayette freeze where they stood.

"Never say that again," Eliza forced out, turning away from me. "My sister would never try to hurt us."

"Do we know if it wants to hurt us?" asked Lafayette.

I shook my head, but I got the feeling that the thing wouldn't rest until we were all dead.

I cast my energy out slowly, searching for it once more until I felt its gradual tug. I heard the whispering again, but ignored it as I pushed closer and closer, trying to penetrate its walls. My heartbeat quickened as the force grew stronger, almost as if it was writhing against me, pushing back with an amount of energy I couldn't match. I grunted, trying to keep myself from falling backwards, and continued with my slow, thorough search. "Hello?" I called out to it. "Are you okay?"

Panic. Hard and fast and impossible to overcome. It shoved itself into me and drained all of my energy in a single swipe. I let out a curse as I scrambled to break the connection with it, finally managing to pull away before it was too late.

"Alexander!" Eliza exclaimed, catching and steadying me before I fell.

"Fuck," I mumbled underneath my breath, rubbing my face as I struggled to stand without her assistance. "Fuck."

"What happened?"

"I tried to talk to it. Whatever it was, I think it wants to hurt us."

Lafayette let out a curse and frantically searched the sky. "Where's Hercules?"

"There!" I said, pointing as a shape took form. It got closer and closer into view, and I recognized the pointed tail feathers of the bird Hercules had taken shape as before launching into the sky.

"Did you guys see that thing?" he exclaimed once he hit the ground and transformed back.

"See?" Eliza questioned before I had the chance to speak. "We didn't see it, but we felt it."

Lafayette shrugged, suddenly much more relaxed now that Hercules was closer. He didn't say anything to the Rishftin, but there was a connection beyond just verbal between the two of them, and it stemmed from Hercules letting his fingertips rest lightly on Lafayette's shoulder as he came up next to him.

A pang of longing suddenly bubbled up, and I forced myself to stop staring at their silent conversation. I had Eliza now. I didn't need anything else. And I certainly did not have to worry or think about anybody else now, either.

I didn't need to need him anymore.

"What did it look like?"

"Well, it was too far away for me to make it out, but the sheer wingspan of it alone was impressive. I only caught a quick glimpse, though. I can't wait to kill it, whatever it is." He was far more excited than he should have been.

"Do you guys want to keep investigating it?" Lafayette asked slowly, glancing to each of us. "Or should we head back now. We have what we came for."

"Oh, right. Did you find anything?" Hercules asked.

"Just some common protection spells. They should be easy enough for the others to break, though it does worry me a little bit."

Hercules and Lafayette led the way home, chattering about things that weren't as important, and I went to follow them, but Eliza tugged on my sleeve and stopped me from going forward.

"What's up?" I asked, accepting her hand in my own.

"I didn't like that thing, Alexander. If I'm being honest, I...I don't think it was the King. It was too subtle. And it couldn't have been Angelica."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've only known her my entire life," she returned sharply, but the spark in her eyes relaxed as I squeezed her hand. "I know what the energy of my sister feels like. Its gentle, calm, collected. That thing was uncontrolled and dangerous. There was nothing welcoming about it. Whatever it was, it's out to get us."

I flinched at how dark her voice was, how glazed over the look in her eyes became.

"I want to stay here and try to connect with it again. You felt how familiar it was, right? But there was something missing. Like it was keeping up walls. Maybe if we work together, we can overpower it."

"I don't know, 'Liza. Maybe...maybe we shouldn't?"

Eliza glared at me. "Fine. I'll do it myself."

"No! That's not what I want either!"

"Then help me."

"Do I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice," she said, but something about her smile told me I really didn't, and I couldn't stop myself from chuckling. It always surprised me how threatening she could be if she wanted.

"Alright, alright. What do you need me to do?"

"We just have to confront it at the same time. What could go wrong?"

I let my body relax as I nodded in agreement. My energy was already venturing out without me having to force it too, and it wasn't long before I recognized the steady pulse of Eliza's besides my own. Together, our energies dipped up and out of the maze, going far past the horizon, until I ran into something else.

It was the thing.

I stopped and gently beckoned Eliza to do the same. I could feel her unease spreading into me, but she didn't let it stop her from pushing herself up against the other force. I joined in too, trying to keep my focus solely on the task at hand and not letting it venture out.

"I think we're getting somewhere," she said, her voice ringing in my head like chimes on a windy day.

Good. Let's keep going.

I kept attacking the unseen force, chipping away at its walls. I could feel its panic as it slowly began to fight back, but it wasn't much of a match between the two of us. Its energy slipped away from us, but grimacing, I followed it even as Eliza stopped.

"Wait, Alexander!"

Hold on, I returned.

"I don't think—"

"Alexander."

The voice was so sudden I fell backwards and landed against the cold, hard ground. my energy disconnecting with whatever it was almost immediately.

"What is it?!" Eliza demanded as I forced myself to my feet. "Alex, what happened?"

I didn't respond as that contorted voice rang in my head over and over again. There was something about the way it said my name that sent chills spiraling down my back, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.