"The darkest nights produce the brightest stars."
~Unknown
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Lilly

I never thought I'd be as thrilled to see Shane Calhoun in my life, but the universe proved me wrong in that very moment. I watched him grab Chad by the back of the neck with a thick shadow tendril, thicker than anything his younger brother had ever created. Taking advantage of Chad's distracted attention, I blasted him with a wall of ice, namely to get him to release me. It worked like a charm, thankfully, and my body collapsed to the floor in a wheezing mess as air flooded my lungs again. Through spinning vision, I watched Shane stand protectively in front of me, shadows swirling in a threatening dance around him. However, I'd never felt safer, even when he peered over his shoulder, and black voids met my gaze instead of glittering sapphires.

"You okay, Lilly?" Shane asked calmly. I could only nod, which seemed to give him the truthful answer. Without raising his voice, he ordered, "Caleb, Dylan, I think you should get the girls out of here. I'm about to teach my brother a lesson, and it could get ugly."

"No!" Viv protested, sprinting in front of the heap of limbs that was a dazed Chad and holding out her hands placatingly. "Please, let's talk about this-"

"Yes, let's talk while I kick his ass for touching Lilly," Shane replied, taking a menacing step forward.

Chad coughed and stood up shakily, but I could tell by his stance that he was absolutely ready to fight another round. Moving next to Vivienne and glowering at his brother, he said, "You're really going to defend her? She doesn't even like you."

"Most people don't," Shane pointed out nonchalantly. "Thing is, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I believe in her. I believe she's the salvation for this corrupt planet, and I will defend her with my life, even against my own brother."

"You okay?" Caleb asked worriedly, kneeling next to me and brushing a piece of hair out of my face.

I nodded shakily but firmly. "Help me up."

"I really think-"

"Caleb. Please. I need to get up," I insisted. Reluctantly, he assisted me into a standing position, and with an effort, I strode next to Shane as a sign of solidarity with him. He had my back; I had his. Staring down Chad, I said, "I don't want to fight you. Truth be told, I want nothing to do with you. But if you attack me again, I won't be alone in my defense, and if I had to place my bets on you or Shane, it will be on the latter. Choose wisely."

"Lilly, please, this is crazy," Josilyn declared, locking eyes with me. "I don't want you two fighting."

"Worried we're going to hurt your boyfriend?" I retorted sharply, anger bubbling in my veins.

Viv shook her head. "What? No, that's not- I don't want you getting hurt even more."

"Really? Because when you had to choose between checking on me, your childhood best friend who had been tossed around like a damn ragdoll and nearly killed by your boyfriend, and the guy who treated you like dirt and only apologized to you for his behavior because Dylan set his pants on fire, you chose him."

"He was closer-"

"Bullshit!" I snapped, tears of rage and betrayal threatening to blur my vision. "You've been choosing him over me since we've arrived! I've barely seen you outside of dinner and events; you're the one not responding to my texts and calls, and you're defending this guy who has been nothing but an asshole to me since I arrived. Best friends don't do that, Vivienne. They don't choose guys over their best friend, especially when he's a prick who attacks someone unprovoked because they don't like the fact that they're hanging out with his brother."

"You're acting like this is all his fault, but you're to blame too!" Vivienne clapped back. "You shouldn't have gone on that Malkan ship or started an offense of your own against him! None of us would be fighting if you had stayed on the ship with Caleb and-"

"And what? Let Shane go on a suicide mission by himself? By the time I realized what he had planned on doing, I'd already grabbed hold of him, and it was too late to back out because I'm not sure if you're aware, but shadow travel happens in a split second. You don't have time to reconsider what you're doing. And you know what? What Shane and I did saved lives. So criticize us all you want, but I would do it again if it meant rescuing people."

"Vivienne saves lives, too, without putting others in danger and starting a full-scale attack," Chad spat, shadow tendrils slithering up and down his arms. "Only you."

"I didn't ask for that. I didn't ask to be part of this alleged prophecy. I didn't ask for superpowers. I didn't ask for any-" I motioned at everyone and everything in the room- "of this. And I'm not going to apologize to the likes of you for the things I haven't been able to control. Someone in the higher-ups evidently thought Shane and I were worth saving, so if you have a problem with that, bring it up with them, not us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my room because the last place I want to be right now is here with you two."

I turned on my heel and strode out of the room with my head held high and tears stinging the backs of my eyes. I forced myself to keep it together until I reached my room. Then, and only then, did I let the strong façade crumble. I sagged against the door and bowed my head, letting silent tears fall. Toothless waddled up to me, and I scooped him into my arms, burying my face into his fur. It brought me a small amount of comfort, enough to give me the energy to move to my bathroom to assess the damage that had been done.

After setting Toothless on the ground, I braced myself against the counter and stared at my bruised and battered reflection. I'd taken more hits than I realized; I showed the beginnings of a black eye on my left eye, cuts dotted my face from the deflected shards of ice I tried to skewer him with, and purple, green, yellow, and black bruises could've been used to create a map of a fictional world, they covered so much of my skin. Worst of all was the bright red, thick, swollen line around my neck. I couldn't even remember Chad grabbing my neck; it must've been when he pinned me against the wall. It's the only thing I could think of that would've caused the sudden rush of air back into my lungs when he released me.

I should have gone to the infirmary to have them heal my injuries, but I had no energy to go back downstairs. I barely had enough to take care of myself. Sighing, I forced myself to do what needed to be done, moving as if I were a programmed robot rather than a human being: shower, put on pajamas, remove makeup, dry hair, clean and dress wounds, including a nasty abrasion on my right shoulder blade, brush teeth, feed the cats, and crawl into bed. I grabbed the remote from my nightstand and adjusted the lighting, dimming it to a soft, incandescent glow. I sank into the plush covers and closed my eyes, content to sleep away all my problems, but God or some other higher being had other plans for me. Someone knocked on my door, followed by Vivienne's voice saying, "Lilly?"

I stayed quiet. I didn't want to talk to her right now, not when I still felt betrayed. Not when I still felt like she'd chosen Chad over me ever since we arrived on Vasileia.

"Lilly, we don't have to talk if you don't want to, but at least let me heal your injuries," she continued almost pleadingly. "Please?"

I remained silent. I'd rather deal with the pain of my injuries than talk to her, no matter how petty it sounded. Peace and quiet were in order for the rest of the day.

Vivienne tried one more time to get me to answer before giving up and leaving, probably to go be with Chad. I tried not to let the idea upset me because I knew fully well that had I answered the door, she would've stayed and tried to work this out, and that had been my decision to ignore her, but I couldn't get over the fact that it felt like she'd picked him over me, and not only in the recent fight. Vivienne had been choosing to hang out with him over me. I'd barely seen her outside of meal times and events, and whenever I did happen to walk past her, she would always have Chad at her side or would be heading to work without time to catch up. Not to mention the fact she blamed me for not answering her calls and texts when I never received either from her; hard to respond to something that doesn't exist. The sense of abandonment and betrayal ran through my mind. Had we been on Earth, where I had other things to do and people to fall back on, had I not wholly relied on her friendship to get me through my days here, it may not have stung as much.

But that wasn't the case.

I recognized I had Caleb, Iris, and Dylan. Hell, I even had Shane. But I still barely knew them compared to Vivienne, let alone trusted them the way I did her. I couldn't trust them with my deepest insecurities or fears the way I could with her.

Of course, it seemed I didn't have Viv anymore, either.

I closed my eyes, trying to rid my head of the depressing thoughts, but they stubbornly remained. Even my exhaustion did nothing to help; I thought it would knock me out into a deep slumber, but no, it only gave me a headache and another thing to be upset about.

Another knock sounded from my front door, and I waited for Vivienne to plead with me to open the door again. However, to my surprise, a different voice called out for me. Well, more like they threatened to Shadow-travel into my room if I didn't open the door for them. Taking them seriously, I rolled out of bed and shuffled solemnly to the door. Opening it, I found Shane- bruised and bloody- leaning casually against the doorframe. His blue eyes scanned me up and down, and he frowned, saying, "Did you not go get healed?"

"No. Why do you look like you went ten rounds with Chad?" I replied, unable to help the worry slipping through.

Shane chuckled. "It was only one, but that did both of us in. He's in a hell of a lot worse shape than I am. I'm sure Vivienne has healed him up nicely. Speaking of, why did you not go to the infirmary?"

"I could ask you the same."

"I wanted to check on you. Your excuse?"

"I just wanted to be alone with my cats..." I admitted bashfully, shoving my hands into my hoodie pockets. "What happened with you and Chad? I thought the situation had deescalated?"

"It had, but he started to trail after you, I stopped him, he lost his temper, and I put him in his place. He got a few good licks in-" Shane glanced in disinterest at the black bruises dotting his forearms- "but Chad holds back with his power. I don't."

"I'm sorry the two of you got into a fight."

Shane shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm honestly surprised it took him this long to snap."

"Yeah, but he's still your brother, and I don't want to cause a rift between you two. He's your brother. If being my guard-"

"He can deal. I'm not giving up my position simply because he doesn't like you."

I shifted on my feet, hoping my following words didn't sound too cheesy. "Thank you, Shane, for everything. I know I haven't acted like it, but I'm truly grateful to have you around."

For the first time, I swear surprise flickered in Shane's eyes. "You're welcome. I won't keep you, let you get back to your cats and quiet, but can you do one thing for me before I go?"

"You're not planning on teleporting onto a Malkan ship again, are you?" I joked lightly.

"No, no, not doing that to you," Shane said with a chuckle. Instead, he held out his hand. "Let me take you to the infirmary to be healed. Then I'll leave you be."

Without hesitation, I took his hand, and as we Shadow-traveled, I wondered in disbelief how Shane, in the span of less than five minutes, had become one of the people I trusted most in this messed-up world I found myself in.