Sparks hit the air as the swords clashed. Sweat trickled down my face and back, but somehow, the cold was still pressing down on me. I pivoted, blocking Lafayette's next attack, but I wasn't able to catch the one that came after it. His sword was thrusted against my throat, and my shoulders fell as I struggled to catch my breath.

Lafayette offered me a hand, but I hesitated before accepting it. "Not bad," he said, but his lips were drawn tight the same way they always do when he lies. "Come on, let us do it again."

I hated the feel of the sword in my palm. I hated the lack of control I had, the weight, the way the guard pressed against my hand. But most importantly, I hated the way it reminded me of Thomas. I mean, it was his sword after all. Nobody else wanted it, and I guess I had just wanted to keep it with me. Not that I didn't regret that decision now.

"Do we have to?" I questioned, rising to my feet. My grip clenched around the sword.

Lafayette opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head. "No. I guess not." I cringed at how guarded his words were; it wasn't hard to tell he was disappointed with me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"You do not have to apologize, Alexander. I am getting tired of this too." He turned away, sheathing his sword. The pillar of stone we were standing on slowly sank to the ground. "Actually, I think I may need your help with something."

"My help?" In spite of everything, I grinned as I slid my sword back into the scabbard. "The great, wonderful Lafayette needs my help?"

Now he was fighting back a smile. "Whatever."

"Is it about Thomas?" I asked, voice dropping a little as his name left my mouth. Whenever I picture his emotionless expression in my mind, I shatter all over again. I didn't know how I feel, and, what's even worse is that I didn't know how I was supposed to feel.

Lafayette looked confused for a moment, before he rapidly shook his head. "No, no!" he laughed. "It is actually about something a little more...domestic."

"Oh?"

He frowned, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword. "Well I mean...you know Hercules, right?"

"Do I know Hercules? Yes." I couldn't help my smile. I think I knew where this was going. "What about Hercules?"

"Well, I am sure you have heard about our...past relationship." Suddenly, his eyes found a tree off to my side very interesting.

"I have."

"Right." He was silent for a long time, and I crossed my arms and waited as he deliberately stalled. His words came out in a rush. "Well, I might, umm, like him again."

I laughed, rolled my eyes, and began to walk away. "You don't need my help for that one. Just talk to him," I called over my shoulder.

"Wait, Alexander!" he exclaimed, and a stone wall shot up from the ground a second later. I stopped in my tracks so I didn't run into it and turned back to him. "I cannot just talk to him! I...I do not know what to say."

"What did you tell him last time?"

"Last time... how should I say this? Things just kind of happened. But I left everything in such a...terrible state, okay?"

"I thought you too were already back together, anyway."

"No. We just became friends again."

"That's what you think friendship is? You were, like, openly flirting."

Lafayette crossed his arms quite angrily. "That is what friendship is like on Aspisena!"

"Wow, you really are French."

He stared at me as if I had said something insane. "Pardon?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. Look, why don't you just talk to him and apologize for whatever happened?"

"But I do not even know if I want to get back together with him."

"Well," I said, swallowing. The sword hanging from my waist suddenly felt a lot heavier. "Overall, how do you feel without him?"

"Not happy," he said, dragging out each syllable slowly, as if it was a new discovery he was unaware of.

"And how did you feel with him?"

"Happy."

"There you go," I said.

"What if he does not want me?"

"Are you really not even going to try?"

He bristled at that, and I knew I had hit a nerve. "It is more complicated than that, okay? It is not about—"

"Sure," I said, nodding. "Can you let down the wall, please? I have things I'd like to take care of before the end of today."

Lafayette murmured an apology and raised a hand. Sure enough, the wall fell away. I nodded to him and stepped away. "Good luck. You won't need it."

But before I could leave and go back to my room where a mountain of books was waiting to be studied, Peggy suddenly appeared in front of me as though she had been there all along. I jumped in surprise and hissed, "You guys have got to stop doing that."

"It's urgent," she said, and her expression made me frown. "It's the King. He's in Pilésion."

My stomach dropped, knowing exactly where she was going with this. Suddenly, breathing seemed so much harder. "And Thomas—?"

"Reports say he's with him," she answered grimly. "The others are about to leave." Peggy paused for a moment, her gaze boring into mine. "Alexander, you don't have to come if you don't want to. Neither do you, Lafayette."

"Not happening," Lafayette said, already drawing his sword. "I'm going."

I stood there silently for a moment, my stomach twisting into a knot. Finally, I caved. "Me too."

~•~

Dense fog clouded my senses, making it next to impossible to see in front of me. Each step I took was weighed down by the mud that covered the ground where grass should have been. The only comfort I had was the feeling of Philip's hand holding onto mine, as though he was clinging on to me. I swallowed, hard. No matter what happened today, I would protect Philip with my life.

Even if it meant facing that monster inhabiting Thomas again.

"Do you smell that?" asked Aaron after a moment. "It smells like smoke."

"They aren't burning things, are they?" James asked. "That doesn't sound like something Thomas would do."

"That thing isn't Thomas," I snapped, growing tired of his unrelenting faith that Thomas would be okay. Thomas was gone. "And...if he killed Eliza, he would destroy a swamp." Saying it aloud almost brought tears to my eyes, just when I thought I had exhausted all of my tears already.

"Well, regardless," Washington said, ending the inevitable fight before it began. "That is something the King would do. And if he wanted it done, it's done."

"Guys," Peggy murmured under her breath. Then, she shot forwards, disappearing into the fog.

"Peggy, wait!" Hercules called, chasing after her.

"Why can't we all just stay together?" Washington hissed. Without another word, he was gone, teleporting to wherever Peggy had gone. The rest of us followed suit.

I was greeted with the smell of burning wood and corpses. I almost gagged at how pungent it was, but Philip pushed past me. The fire glowed in the fog, consuming all there was to consume. It took me a moment to realize that a city lay trapped underneath it, and my throat tightened with horror.

At my feet, a tiny bird that had once been made from flowers lay abandoned. I swallowed, knowing where I had seen it before.

"Alexander? What is it?"

I leaned down, picking up the toy bird and dusting off all the dirt that stuck to it. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about the dried crimson stains. "Nothing," I returned, pocketing the bird before Philip could see.

I stepped forward to help Aaron and Peggy put put out the fire. Its warmth seeped into my skin, and it was all I had to stay in the present and not be brought back to that night. I think Aaron was having just as tough a time, while Peggy was as still as she could be. The fire refused to be defeated by magic alone, but we managed to bring it down so it was nothing more than the flicker of a candlelight. Then, thankfully, Peggy managed to extinguish it with a drop of water.

A grim silence had swept over all of us.

"Any survivors?" Washington finally asked, the first to break it.

Lafayette, his head bowed, said, "If there are, they managed to escape before the fire got too big."

"Okay," he said. "Thank you."

Lafayette nodded and stepped back into place next to Hercules, who set a hand on his shoulder discreetly. Any other situation, and I would have shot them both a knowing smile, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything but stare at the charred remains of the city the fire had wrought.

It isn't fair, I thought.

"Alexander?" Philip asked softly. "Did Thomas do this?"

I couldn't answer him. "C'mon kid. Let's see if we can find anything in the wreckage." I placed my hand on his back, but stopped as I heard a growl rising from behind me. I swirled in my tracks, sword in my hands. Just in time to see two glowing gray eyes blink to life in the shadows that were cast by the trees. "Philip, get behind me," I hissed, my heart leaping up into my throat.

"What—oh," he breathed.

The dragon stalked forward until it emerged from the shadows. It bared its fangs, rows upon rows of sharp daggers made to rip flesh apart. Its mind pressed up against mine, and the electricity that tore through my body was unmistakable—this was Thomas. Not that I expected any different, but I guess any hope I had took to the sky like a bird escaping a storm.

I lifted my chin as it got close enough to where I could smell the scent of the world after it rains. I tried not to cringe, tried my best to keep calm, but its mind was pressing up against mine with more and more force.

"Alexander!" warned Washington, his voice low. He didn't have to elaborate for me to know he wanted me to escape, to run as far away as I could as fast as I could.

"I want to try something," I returned.

There was silence for a moment as he debated. "Just be careful."

I dropped the sword.

The dragon stopped in its tracks, its eyes widening as its gaze fell to the weapon, then back to me. It flinched away from me, as if struck. Without warning, the scales peeled back and the figure rose. When the transformation was complete, Thomas was towering above me. I swallowed and stepped back, trying not to focus on the black he wore, a sharp contrast to the bright colors from when I knew who he was. A cloak made from dragon scales dragged along the ground with each step he took.

"Alexander!" cried Lafayette, but I held up a hand, and he didn't rush forward like I knew he wanted to.

Thomas stopped, gazing at me through those sharp, demon-like eyes, then paused to pick up the sword. I waited for recognition to pass through his gaze at the memories I had bled into the sword, the memories of us. Of me and him and nobody else. Of the library, of his room, of the world we had created together and left behind in our wake.

He shifted the weapon from hand to hand, testing it out. A strike of lightning rained down from the sky and consumed the sword in all of three seconds. I teleported away just in time so I wouldn't be hit, but when I looked back up at him, Thomas let the charred remains of the weapon fall to the floor as if it was nothing more than dust. My breath caught in my throat.

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that," he said, his voice edged by a deeper, darker undertone that turned my blood to ice. He withdrew his scythe from thin air and twirled it in his grip. "Though I do appreciate the effort."

"Have you really forgotten everything?" I spat, struggling to find the words to describe how I felt.

"No, Alexander," he promised coldly. "I haven't forgotten a single thing. And if I were you, I'd run."

An arm wrapped around my hand, and I was jerked backwards. "Thomas," I breathed, but he disappeared, and I was left staring at the wall of the castle.