Stormy and Poseidon belongs to GeekyCookie1

Note: This is the second-to-last chapter! We have one chapter left and then, we are officially done! Woo! How are we feeling, folks? Thoughts, concerns? I am very curious to know as I haven't done these notes in a while and simply wanted to check on my fellow readers.

~~~~~~~~~

Flashback:

After seeing Aliya's wings on the ground, Jesse's stomach began to twist from the sight he found himself witnessing. Among the moonlight, he could see her translucent wings now stained with a light, metallic sliver.

"Boys, I can confidently say that we put the pathetic Fae-Maid in her place!" Marcellus proudly exclaimed as Jesse observed Katsu and the other's wings glowing in sync, a sign of their excitement. "That will show her to mess with my reputation," he continued as Katsu cleared his throat.

"Our reputation," Katsu sharply corrected, deactivating his super strength. "She nearly bewitched my little brother into joining her side! Luckily, I was able to intervene and stop her from getting inside his head further but can you imagine?" he continued, the others gasping in shock and disbelief.

"Ooh, the nerve's of that freak!" Jesse observed the group exclaimed. "In that case, it was a good thing you were able to stop her from corrupting Hibiki," one of the guys pitched in. "Yeah, she got into his head so badly, I honestly was afraid he was going to call that freak his friend at that point," Katsu added, the others looking at him as their eyes widened from the news.

"Well, did he?" the guys asked as Katsu shook his head, leading to the group to sigh in relief. "No, but it looked like he was going to call her his friend," Katsu added, which caught their attention.

"Right? He didn't outright say it, but Hibiki genuinely looked upset after I dragged him away from her, but I just don't understand why. Everyone knows about the freak and her family aren't any better. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if freakish aunt of hers ends up betraying us in the future."

"Katsu, no disrespect but I can see why you call Hibiki an idiot," one of the other guy chimed in. "Still, I just wonder why he was socializing with her in the first place. He should have never been around her to start!" another guy pitched in, the group now descending into laughter.

"Maybe, Hibiki sought her out of pity, but I doubt your little brother actually considered her to a friend. He wouldn't be in the right mindset if he did," Marcellus chimed in as Katsu sighed afterwards before nodding.

"Right, well anyhow, we got the job done. I would like to see how she plans to bounce back after this," Marcellus added, piercing below the cliff as he saw the water relatively still.

"Ha! If that freak bounces back at all!" Katsu chimed in, his response resulting in the group bursting into laughter, but Jesse couldn't bring himself to join the crowd. Not while the love fairy's eyes remained fixated on the girl's wings.

"Still, we did throw the Fae-Maid into Poseidon's domain and you know the stories. The god speaks to whoever enters his domain under dire circumstances. If this is true and he's talking to her, then what are we supposed to do when he discovers what we did to the Fae-Maid?" one of the guys awkwardly stated to which Katsu and Marcellus simply laughed from his response.

"You don't seriously think the god of the seven mighty seas would care for a freak like her? Please, if anything he should be thanking us! We just did Avalon a favor and we should get rewarded for it!"

"I'm serious!"

"First of all, Poseidon can't intervene in the surface world because that would cause him to break his oath and get him exiled from Avalon, so even if he did somehow know, the god can't physically touch us without risking his own life as one of the mighty Avalonian gods," Marcellus started.

"Second of all, the freak would still end up being unconscious because I made sure to give my knockout blow some extra punch. Plus, we literally placed a bunch of iron on her, so even if she were to wake up from that, the freak would be in too much pain to talk, not to mention, she would feel the effects of her wings being slashed off," Katsu smugly began, looking at Jesse with a triumphant grin at the end.

As Jesse took into the account of Katsu's grin, the love fairy's heart only sank further as he realized the extent of what he did.

"So assuming the freak somehow gets past all of those things you mentioned and she ends up talking, she won't remember anything, given the severity of the blow you gave her. So in theory, Poseidon wouldn't be able to do anything, which means we're safe," one of the guys pitched, to which Marcellus and Katsu promptly nodded.

"But still, I don't see why a god like him would care for a freak like her," one of other guys stated as Marcellus chuckled, preparing to answer when the first guy took over.

"Silvanus, Poseidon doesn't really care about her. The god just simply pities the freak but now, he's probably laughing at how creative we were for teaching her a lesson. He wouldn't laugh at her, naturally, but he's thinking that we're all geniuses."

"Exactly! You're catching on, Aragon."

As Aragon and Slivanus grinned at each other, Marcellus and Katsu looked on the sight and smiled in their crew's direction, before facing the love fairy, who looked less than thrilled about the whole thing.

"Jesse, why the long face? If it's about the blood, don't worry about it. I already got into contact with a fire nymph, who is willing to burn the freak's wings. She won't need them anyways, so we'll be getting rid of the evidence and spare Avalon from having to look at those hideous wings anymore," Marcellus assured him, affectionately touching the boy's shoulder but Jesse only took a step back.

"You said we wouldn't hurt her," Jesse countered back as Marcellus and Katsu looked at each other before laughing promptly in his face, which only made the love fairy feel that much worse.

"Jesse, you didn't take that seriously, did you? We were always going to hurt her, but craving off her wings was never part of the plan," Katsu began. "In fact, what happened tonight only occurred because you gave us the idea to cut the freak's wings off, which was honestly super smart planning on your part!" he finished as Jesse suddenly got an acidic taste in his throat.

"Exactly!"

"Jesse, listen. You were right about her not being worthy of her wings that we discarded our initial plans, because yours was so much better! I don't think any of us ever thought about craving her wings in the first place but the idea of using iron to further enhance the freak's pain, genius!" Marcellus excitedly gushed as Katsu nodded.

"Plus, did you see the look on her face when she just kept calling your name? She was all like 'Jesse, Jesse, help me!' Ha! Did she not get the memo that you and her weren't in the same league anymore?" Katsu openly mocked as the two laughed once more. "I can't believe the Fae-Maid still considered you to be her friend. Like how much of an idiot can you possibly be to not get the hint?" Marcellus added.

"But in our defense, it's not like we were the ones who actually hurt her, not really. I'm sure she saw us coming from a mile away, but you, I don't think she ever suspected you of being in our group, which is stupid if you ask me," Katsu chimed in. "If anything, I would say you hurt her more than we ever did," Marcellus continued before ruffling his hair.

"We all thought you were weak, but you're pretty tough for a love fairy, Jesse," the two said before grinning. "Congrats, Jesse! You're officially one of us now!" the two happily exclaimed, but as the group were celebrating, Jesse only found himself focusing on Aliya's wings, adding onto the amount of guilt he had.

"One of us! One of us!"

~~~~~~~~

It would be years before Jesse recalled his involvement in Aliya losing her wings but now that he could remember, he wanted nothing more than to forget.

In fact, he just wanted to forget just about everything that dealt with the wingless faerie in general.

The love fairy didn't want to feel the guilt rising with each unfortunate thing he directly (or indirectly) did to her. Furthermore, Jesse didn't want to feel intense jealousy he had towards Castor, who he spotted alongside Jax and Lillian, now talking to the knight and staring at him as though he was the greatest thing ever.

Jesse tried to be modest with the fame and fortunes he got from his talent, but over the years, he did grow to admire the spotlight (no matter how much he tried to downplay it), so seeing Castor only made his stomach twist.

Jesse couldn't even get Lillian to look at him with that amount of fondness, because she admittedly disliked him from the years he had bullied her, Jaxon and Aliya. While Jesse knew that much, but even Jaxon was looking at Castor with the same amount of interest and attention they once gave him.

Jesse tried to tell himself he didn't care, but in truth, he did.

Jesse couldn't erase the awful decisions he made in his younger years but he was just a kid chasing out approval of everyone else around him. He wanted to appease everyone that Jesse forgot about the ones who never forced him to change. He forgot about the ones who loved Jesse as the person he was once.

But now?

Jesse knew the possibility of getting back into Issac, Amara and Stormy's good grace officially went down the drain, especially since he was responsible for Stormy turning into Reaper. He knew Lillian would also hate him, so she wasn't a surprise. In fact, he suspected that much.

However, Jaxon didn't like him anymore, so most likely, Jaxon was moving on. He might get lucky enough to possibly get Aliya to change her mind about him, but the odds of him succeeding were incredibly slim.

He had pushed the girl to the limit and now that, her first drowning incident came back to both of the Avalonian's minds with full force, she was stuck remembering just how much pain and suffering he had caused her.

Just like Jesse was stuck remembering how the first time he betrayed his best friend for popularity and respect from his tormentors, who were only talking to him because he was richer and highly valuable compared to them. He initially tried telling himself that he wasn't actually at fault here.

Jesse wasn't the one to crave Aliya's wings off. Jesse wasn't the one who had brutally beat her into falling unconscious and he certainly wasn't the one to throw her into the sea to throw.

But...

Jesse was been the one to put the idea into their heads. Jesse was the one to initiate the whole drowning incident by giving Katsu the iron knife, stating how Aliya wasn't worthy of her wings. Jesse had simply watched, not doing anything to help out the girl who did so much for him.

In the end, Jesse wasn't the one to physically harm her yet Marcellus and his friends were right.

Jesse had been the one to hurt her the hardest, because the love fairy had betrayed his best friend and watch as the girl suffered — all in the name of seeking out approval by a bunch of guys he would later forget.

As Jesse felt these emotions rising in his mind, he soon found he wanted nothing more than to get rid of them and somehow, Jesse knew just the right person for the job. That was, if she was willing to comply.

But if, the love fairy had to deal with the aftermath of his current decision, which as Jesse spotted Amara and Issac's death stares from across the room, he had a strong feeling he would need a lot of help and...

Perhaps, a miracle or two from the gods.

~~~~~~~~~

"WHAT!"

"Yeah, Jesse sold me out to Cain and that's how his dark counterpart took advantage of controlling me, because I didn't factor in the boy's betrayal," Stormy explained, sending the love fairy a cold and calculated look of cruelty, one Jesse desperately wanted out of her mind.

At this point, Amara's eyes glowed into a dark, sinister auburn color and for once, Issac was not the one to hold her back. In fact, he seemed to be encouraging her, much to the love fairy's dismay.

"Amara, let's think just rationally here," Talia gently started as Amara sharply flung a relatively sizable amount of gravel to which the woman easily deflected with her wind abilities.

"Yes, what Jesse did was wrong, but also Stormy should have known better than to go inside our son's mind," the wind fairy continued, which led to Amara's auburn eyes glowing darker.

"Besides, everyone knows how vulnerable mind seers can get once they enter a person's mind," Talia pointed out, only to get tossed back by Atticus. "Shiron, control your wife or I will," Atticus defensively stated as Talia's eyes widened as Shiron helped his wife stand.

"Besides, Stormy was trying to think of a faster way to help out even if it wasn't one of her brightest ideas," he firmly continued, turning to Stormy with a soft grin on his face, much to her, Amara and Issac's surprise. Then as Atticus looked away, the three noticed his hair glowing just slightly brighter than usual.

"I mean... Atticus does have a point, my love. Stormy was only helping," Shiron began as Talia glared at her husband. "But at the same time, her response doesn't excuse you from tossing my wife. If you ever touch my wife again, I'll torch you and your staff," he added to which Talia's eyes softened.

"But—"

"Did you forget your place, Atticus? You are only here to provide a service to us because you need us to survive. As such, you need to remember your place, mage, and stay there," Shiron firmly stated as Atticus silently flinched from his words, biting his tongue to refrain himself from overstepping his boundaries.

Atticus figured Shiron's response was only fair, considering he had tried to kill his son on the surface world... speaking of which, where was that assassin of his? Not that he had cared, that only meant he didn't have to pay the assassin. Still, Atticus knew better than to talk back to his superiors.

That didn't mean the mage was going to forget and move on. From Jesse to his parents, the whole family were cruel to him and when Atticus got his hands on the mystic lamp, the mage was going to make sure the family knew they had made a very, deadly mistake in underestimating him.

"Do you understand?"

As Shiron's words snapped him back to reality, Atticus wondered why he ever chose to work for the elite family. It's not like he actually needed the family as Atticus had his diamond in the rough now. With Aliya, he would be that much closer to having the world in the palm in his hand.

Oh and getting rid of his curse.

But for now, Atticus figured he could play the role of the obedient advisor to the family a little bit longer. After all, what was the rush? If he was going to get his revenge soon, then Atticus needed to stretch his time out and ensure he had solid evidence for when the family begged for mercy from him.

"I understand, sir."

—————————

"You don't think Atticus is still in love with you, right?" Issac and Amara whispered to Stormy, who merely shrugged. "The mind seer confessed to having feelings for me a few times, but I always turned him down since I didn't take him seriously. Even now, I don't   believe the mage because Atticus thinks he's in love, but he's not actually in love with me," Stormy simply answered.

"In other words, if he stares at you again, I have the right to—"

"Amara, no. We are not going to hurt him," Issac chimed in as Amara lightly huffed, her hair floating in the air. "You might to change your mind on that, love," Stormy softly whispered, which caught Issac and Amara's attention. "What do you mean?" the two asked as Stormy eyed Aliya from the corner of her eye.

"Well...." Stormy trailed off as she stared at Atticus, who was busy talking to Shiron and Talia. Then as she eyed Aliya talking to her siblings and Castor, she noticed Jesse in the far corner when he made eye contact with her.

"The boy. He lies."

"We can talk about Atticus at home. Right now, I really think we should address you-know-what since everyone is here," Stormy insisted as Amara and Issac eyed their daughter, who seemed to be chatting with Lillian, Jaxon and Castor before staring at Jesse, their eyes glaring in his direction.

"Kore, I'm all for confrontation, but I don't think bringing the subject up here is a great idea," Issac gently stated as Amara nodded. "I'm with Issac on this one, especially since Aliya still thinks we don't know about..." Amara continued, only to awkwardly trail off.

"But it's been one-hundred-and-eight years. We can't possibly keep ignoring the fact that Jesse played a heavy role in shaping Aliya's trauma," Stormy protested as Amara nodded and began to open her mouth when Issac took over.

"I understand but we'll just end up making things worse for our daughter. We need to confront Jesse and his parents first then we can talk to Aliya and come clean to her about the whole thing," Issac chimed in as Amara closed her mouth, mumbling "I was going to say that" underneath her breath.

"Fine, but if this plan of yours backfires, Isaac, I will follow through with my plan and I don't want to hear anything about it. Got it!" Stormy firmly stated as the older woman's eyes momentarily glowed purple before reverting back to her natural jade color (which allowed Amara and Issac to quietly breathe again).

"Got it!" Issac responded as Stormy got up and began walking to Shiron and Talia, who were now being accompanied by Jesse just as Atticus left. "If her plans involve Reaper, then I hope your plan works because I don't have the mental capacity to deal with that side of Core for a second time," Amara quietly whispered as Issac squeezed her hand.

"I know, mi amor. Neither do I, which is why I'm also hoping this plan of mine works," he whispered in turn, now kissing her forehead. Amara smiled softly before her eyes widened.

"Wait, you didn't go into this plan of yours with confidence!" Amara quietly yelled to her husband but by then, Issac turned away from her, now catching up to their wife.

"Issac!"

———————————

After Atticus left and the couple were reunited with Jesse once more, the two were slightly confused by their son's distant nature as he would have usually jumped at the chance of hanging out with his best friend. So the fact that he simply kept eyeing the four rather than going directly to them was... odd, to say the least.

"Hey, why aren't you hanging out with Castor, Aliya and her siblings?" Talia softly asked as Jesse simply shrugged, his attention still focused on the four. "I've been replaced," Jesse bitterly answered. "She didn't care for me, none of them did," he continued as Shiron and Talia awkwardly eyed each other.

"Jesse, I'm pretty sure all of them cared for you, especially since Aliya and her siblings went out of their way to find you," Shiron politely argued as Jesse blinked. "It's Fae-Maid, not Aliya," he corrected as Talia looked at her husband, more so with a look of confusion now.

"I have a feeling we're responsible for this," Shiron whispered to Talia, who looked over at their son and nodded. "Yeah, we are definitely responsible for this," she whispered back before sighing as she took a deep breath.

"Aliya isn't a Fae-Maid. That's what you told us before you ran away, Jesse," she began as Jesse turned his attention from the group to his parents. In that moment, Talia could see her son's eyes softened but before he could say anything, her husband found Issac, Amara and Stormy approaching them.

"We need to talk about Jesse," the three firmly stated as Shiron and Talia glanced over to see their son's eyes hardened from seeing the three. "Okay..." the parents mumbled before shaking their heads.

"You know what, we should, because I honestly feel like we're missing something here. What did our son do and why does he keep giving you three the death stare?" the two followed up.

"Did Jesse not tell you what happened?" Amara countered back before laughing. "No, of course not. He wouldn't tell you two because he cared about preserving his reputation," the earth faerie bitterly added as Jesse prepared to lunged at her, but Shiron and Talia held their son back.

"Jesse, stop it. What has gotten into you?" Talia insisted, but Jesse only kept his mouth shut, glaring at the three adults. "Okay, what are all of you talking about?" she followed up. "We're talking about the night Aliya was nearly murdered and brutally assaulted," Stormy firmly stated.

"Oh! The night Aliya lost her wings. I knew Avalon despised your niece, but even Shiron and I thought that incident was too much," Talia swiftly responded. "Did you three ever find out who were the ones behind the girl's terrible attack?" she followed up, noticing the way Stormy, Amara and Issac were all looking at each other.

"We knew about four, but there's arguably one we never caught," Issac slowly began, his eyes trained directly on Jesse, who began actively looking away. "Really? Why?" Talia chimed in.

"Because the last person's identity was protected for some time by my daughter, but after Reaper's rampage, we got the truth from Poseidon," Amara also began slowly as Shiron blinked. "So... What does this have to deal with Jesse?" Shiron followed up as Stormy groaned.

"Jesse is the fifth person! Your son encouraged Marcellus and his friends to attack Aliya. Then from there, Jesse simply watch as Aliya's wings were craved off before she was chained and thrown into the sea," she continued, her eyes now flickering between a dark electric purple and a light jade.

"Wait, that's not true! Jesse... He was..." Talia started, only to trail off at the end as her eyes widened. "We didn't even ask what happened to Jesse that night because we were too focused on other things and this was before we had Atticus," Shiron chimed in, his and Talia's eyes now on Jesse as the couple tried figuring out the best way to address this.

"I didn't hurt her!" Jesse angrily protested, crossing his arms. "If anyone hurt her here, it's you, Dad! You're the one who tried killing Aliya by suffocating her with your flames. Not to mention, you nearly slashed her head off with your sword, so here's the monster here?" he sharply added, deflecting the blame onto Shiron, whose eyes widened from his son's truth.

"You know, love, our son has a point there," Talia smugly mumbled, recalling what her husband had told her. "Now is not the time, my dear," Shiron whispered before turning to Jesse. "How did you—" Shiron added, only to get cut off. "Aliya told me back on the surface world before we separated," Jesse simply answered.

"To be fair, you're all worthy of being monsters."

Talia and Shiron heard the three's response, but the couple were too busy focusing on their son.

"Jesse, is what Issac, Amara and Storm saying true? Were you really part of the group who hurt Aliya one-hundred-and-eight years ago?" Talia slowly asked, wanting to cling to the fact that her and Shiron weren't terrible parents who had allowed their simple-minded anger to fester into their son and corrupt him.

"Jesse, this is rather important, so you might want to answer honestly here. Did you or did you not hurt her?" Shiron sternly added but as Jesse opened his mouth, he saw all of their eyes trained onto him.

Yes, Aliya's parents and aunt took care of Marcellus and his friends and Jesse knew this because they were all envious of him not getting caught, but still! The love fairy knew he was arguably at fault here, knowing that once he told the truth, his parents would begin to view him differently.

Though Jesse was really hoping his parents wouldn't care and take his side over Aliya's parents and aunt. However considering how his parents vowed to be better, he thought it would be unlikely, especially if his parents called Atticus to confirm Issac, Amara and Stormy's side.

"I... I...."

"Jesse! Jesse, make them stop! Please!"

Honestly, Jesse wanted to counter back by saying why the three were choosing now to act but then, the love fairy recalled Aliya stating how she lied to her parents and aunt about the boy's involvement, which meant some time between that, none of them had suspected him as the one to hurt her.

That also explained why the three only found out in the aftermath of Reaper's rampage against Marcellus and his friends as one of them had told on him, which led to the three seeking out Poseidon, who had confirmed Jesse's involvement in hurting the couple's daughter and Storm's niece.

Jesse made a mental note to go track down Katsu and ask him about Marcel's other buddies in trying to see who gave him away.

"In fact, what happened tonight only occurred because you gave us the idea to cut the freak's wings off, which was honestly super smart planning on your part!"

"I wish I could forget ever meeting you three and your daughter. I wouldn't be in this position if we never met," Jesse sharply answered, turning away as he began to flee his parents along with Issac, Amara and Stormy.

"Jesse!"

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

"Atticus, I need you to get your people and go. You have all effectively killed my joy for having you all in my collection," Narcissa chimed in, now extremely exhausted from having everyone here. "Maybe, if you'll take off the curse," Atticus countered back as the sea witch laughed.

"You want me to take off the curse? The one you caused yourself to get for abandoning me and our daughter?" Narcissa sharply asked him. "No, I don't think so. You will die with that curse and when you do, your soul will come back here to me," she continued, grinning from the sight of seeing her ex's discomfort.

"Atticus, you made the mistake of using my love for you against me. I taught you how to use your magic and what did you do? You get me sent down here to rot and waste away, so now, you get to deal with the consequences," she bitterly stated.

"Oh and for the record, our daughter's name is Eri and she's training to become a great witch. No thanks to you, of course," Narcissa sharply added as Atticus flinched from his ex's words.

"You're never getting rid of your curse, Atticus. So good luck trying to get rid of it. In fact, I almost want you to try. It'll make my dead heart jump when you have to endure the side effects of using magic to rid yourself from the curse," she continued, lifting his sleeve before gripping onto his arm, the heat radiating from her body, revealing the scales.

As she did this, Atticus's dragon tattoo transformed into the form of a black cobra, the scales now turning black as the advisor quietly hissed from the pain. "There. Now you get the form you really deserve," she promptly stated, harshly throwing her ex's arm back.

"What if I apologized and devoted myself to you like before?" Atticus insisted as Narcissa turned around. "Would you forgive me then and reverse the curse?" he followed up as the sea witch stroked his chin.

"Atticus, my dear, what would apologizing do? Even now, you're only saying these things to help yourself."

"But I have a heart! I care about you!"

"Oh, Atticus," Narcissa began with a low chuckle. "You don't have a heart and you don't care about me, your daughter or anyone for that matter. All you care about is yourself, which is why you were cursed. Even now, you're thinking of ways to reverse my curse, not ways to fix our relationship," she continued, before pulling on his hair.

"I should feed you to my lovely eels, but I'll wait to see what ridiculous plan you have up your sleeve to stop the curse from consuming you. I would really love to see what you do, but I can almost guarantee it won't work," she insisted, the sea witch releasing his hair.

"There's a lamp hidden here in Avalon. I intend to find the lamp and undo your curse, then you'll regret ever doing this to me," Atticus sharply answered as Narcissa stared at him and laughed. "The lamp? Like with a genie inside? Atticus, I can't believe I fell for someone who is so incredibly stupid," she said in between her laughter as Atticus rolled his eyes.

"Laugh now, but the lamp can only be retrieved by the diamond in the rough, which I found. It won't be long until she starts getting visions and from there, me and her will get the right coordinates to ensure we find the right cave."

"Okay, who's this so-called diamond in the rough?" Narcissa dismissively mocked, not taking her ex seriously as she crossed her arms. "Why would I tell you? That's for me to know and not—" Atticus continued as the sea witch stopped him. "It's the seeker, isn't it?" she bluntly followed.

"I — I —" Atticus began, only to render himself speechless. "How did you know?" the mage asked as Narcissa merely smirked. "That's for me to know, not you," she smugly replied, her arms crossed. "Anyhow, she agreed to help me," he added as she laughed once more.

"I pity her. She has no idea you're going to just betray her, because we both know you won't wish the curse away. No, you're going to want for the same things you wanted since we met: power and a chance to rule Avalon," Narcissa promptly stated as Atticus crossed his arms.

"I'm not as heartless or as selfish as I was when we first met. I've changed, you know, and I'm not going to betray Aliya, especially since me and her are similar to each other," he insisted as Narcissa skeptically raised her eyebrow. "I am only going to use the lamp to wish the curse away and that's it," he added as Narcissa blinked.

"Right... I'm real sure about that, Atticus. When Aliya retrieves the lamp, everything you just said will become a lie. In fact, let me tell you what you'll do in the event this lamp is real," she began as Atticus eyed her.

"Once you get the lamp, you're going to use your first wish to rule Avalon. She is going to want to retrieve the lamp to prevent yours from coming true. In response, you are going to push her back into the cave and teleport yourself out just seconds before the poor girl falls to her death. Then, you will make your wish and become the sole ruler of Avalon," Narcissa bitterly finished as Atticus stubbornly shook his head.

"That's not true!" Atticus sharply protested, but as the two made eye contact, he and Narcissa both knew she was right.

"Jesse!"

As Narcissa and Atticus turned around to see the love fairy running away while Aliya and Castor began dashing towards him, the sea witch turned her attention back on her ex.

"Forgive me, Atticus, but I don't buy into your false heroic narrative for you are a handsome but deceiving liar and by the end of all of this, your greed and quest for power will end up being the death of you."

"But—"

"As that boy's advisor, you should go and stop him. From his demeanor, he's about to do something that he'll come to regret," Narcissa chimed in, now moving on. "Oh and please be sure to get everyone out. Whoever gets left behind will end up becoming part of my collection," she added before walking away.

"Nar—" he began, only to stop as Narcissa turned around, softly looking at her ex before frowning.

"Goodbye, Atticus."

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

"Jesse, stop!"

Stopping in the midst of his tracks, Jesse turned around to see he was followed by the two people he wanted to see the least: Castor (the deceiving knight) and Aliya, the liar.

"Why? Why should I stop when everything that is going wrong is occurring because of you? When are you going to quit interfering with my life and make things worse for me?" Jesse angrily snapped, observing as Aliya flinched from his words, which led him to scoff.

"It doesn't matter how brave you think you are, Aliya, at the end of the day, you're still the same pathetic little girl I've always known you to be," Jesse persisted, observing as Castor defensively began to approach the love fairy, but Aliya had stopped the knight from engaging him further.

"Look, all I ever did was try to help out and be there for you because that's what friends do! Real friends are there to help, but of course, you wouldn't know anything about that because all you know is being a backstabber."

"I wouldn't be this way if we never met! Ever since we met, I've just been getting worse! Because of you, I'm stuck with a psychotic dark counterpart and thanks to you, your lovely parents and aunt chose to expose me — me! — as the fifth culprit behind your stupid drowning like I needed another reminder!"

"Wait, you did what?" Castor asked as Jesse sharply glared at him. "It's none of your business!" Jesse angrily snapped. "It's a long story that happened when me and Jesse were younger," Aliya explained to the knight before turning to Jesse. "As for you, that's what you deserve. If I have to remember, then so do you. I just want to know why you didn't stop Marcel and his friends," she told Jesse.

Jesse felt his anger rising and he was trying to get himself to stop before he truly ended up saying something he would regret, but his emotions kept flaring and in the end, the love fairy couldn't hold himself back.

"Because you were in the way, Aliya! For once, I was actually popular and if you had came clean, it would have ruined everything! So yeah, I lied because I wanted to seek approval from Marcellus and his friends!"

"But all they ever did was torment you! Why would you possibly want their approval when they only wanted to be friends with you after the gift ceremony? I was there! You didn't need their approval if you had just stuck with me," Aliya countered back as Jesse glared at her.

"Because you're useless, Aliya! You keep insisting that you can change Avalon, but you can't! You can't do anything because you're just some magic-less nobody! If things had just gone as planned that night, I wouldn't be here dealing with you! I would have my life back! Things would be perfect because you wouldn't exist!"

It wasn't long before Jesse caught Aliya's heart sunk eyes and the love fairy knew there was no going back from here. If he didn't lose her back then with their fight, then the love fairy definitely lost her now.

"It's like I expect you to be the same Jesse I befriended when we were changelings and each time, I set myself up for failure," she started, solemnly laughing. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm such a inconvenience to you, Jesse, but you were right about one thing," she continued.

"What?"

"Maybe we would both be better off if we never met. I could have definitely been spared a long time ago if you never came to me," Aliya coldly responded just as Castor began to activate his bracelets with the intention of teleporting the three somewhere else to talk.

However in the heat of the moment, Aliya grabbed one of the bracelets. "Aliya, no," Castor insisted, but she only gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Cas, but I need to do this," she said, taking a step back.

"Aliya—"

"Besides, you'll end up thanking me later when you become one less person I screw over and corrupt too," she added, clapping the bracelet on her as a bright white light flashed before she disappeared.

"Aliya!"

As Castor snapped in his direction, Jesse found Aliya's family, his parents and Atticus who had just arrived to witness the spectacle that was Jesse's life. Right now, the love fairy was currently trying to figure out why he couldn't do anything right.

"That's your boy," Issac, Amara and Stormy bitterly told Shiron and Talia, who both couldn't help but look at him in disappointment, because they both knew his behavior was a result of their terrible parenting. As Jesse saw their look of disappointment, the love fairy found he couldn't handle anything else.

"Jesse, sweetheart—"

"Get me out of here, now," Jesse bitterly stated, grabbing onto the knight, who was surprised by the move.

"Jesse—"

"Now!" the love fairy snapped as Castor activated his bracelet. "Jesse! Let's think logically here," his parents pleaded but Jesse only give them a bittersweet laugh.

"Logical? Logical is me forgetting this whole thing ever happened."

"Jesse!"

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

As Jesse clapped onto the bracelet, he and Castor were then teleported back to the center part of Avalon.

"Look, I don't what happened but—"

"I was bullied for my passion of the human world to being adored. Naturally, I wanted to be popular after I got my gift, so I was ecstatic when my tormentors, Marcellus and his friends, wanted to befriend me. They all took me in and I found myself wanting to be associated with them, because I got respected easier than that," he quickly began.

As Jesse stood up, he held onto Castor's bracelet.

"So for some time, things were going well for me until things came crashing down the day Marcellus lost in the annual Avalon Cup. It was a fast and intense flying race that he had sponsors, his parents and Iris, who was his girlfriend at the time, watching," he continued.

"Well, that day Marcel lost, it wasn't just to anyone. He lost to Aliya, who had competed because she thought it would be a great way to make her mark since she didn't get a gift of her own," Jesse went on to explain.

"As such, Marcellus was furious because instead of praising him, people were praising Aliya. All of his sponsors were now flocking to her to be part of the Avalon Flying Club, a special group which is known solely for displaying extraordinary shows. Because of this, his parents were embarrassed and Iris dumped him on the spot," he continued, observing as Castor began to nod.

"Well, Marcellus and his friends were clearly upset about the situation. I had wanted no part in their issue but after they agreed to only talk to her, I went along. When I had made it to the cliff later on that night with Marcellus and Katsu, I saw Aliya being dragged by three of his friends," Jesse further added.

"We briefly talked but when she was on the verge of exposing my human fantasy secret, I ended up..."

"Jesse, what did you do?"

"I ended up making Aliya the liar," the love fairy answered at last, taking a sharp but deep breath.

"But of course, the lie itself wasn't enough. No! Instead, I stupidly gave Katsu a iron knife I had carried in my pocket, because... well, to be honest, I don't know why I had the knife in the first place. But nonetheless I gave the knife to him and I watch as he began cutting deep into her skin and slowly craving out her wings."

"Jesse—"

"Marcel and one of his friends muffled her screams, but throughout all of this, Aliya kept looking at me because she wanted me to stop them. But if I had stopped them, Marcel and his friends would have turned against me and who's the say what would have happened?"

"Aliya would have her wings, for starters!" Castor angrily pointed out, but Jesse merely dismissed his claim.

"I would have lost my life that night had I stopped them. Besides, I was in too deep and everything would have been over for me. So, Marcel and his friends began applying iron restraints, kept her gag on, severely knocked her out to the point she fell unconscious and then they proceeded to throw her into the sea."

With his tale now finished, Jesse began twirling the bracelet in his hand while Castor processed his story. "Look, I wasn't a good person to her because I was obsessed with wanting to appease everyone around me. Even now, I am still obsessed with wanting to please everyone, so if I forget, then maybe I can be a better person to her in the future," he insisted.

"You betrayed your best friend for popularity? What is wrong with you! She was your first friend, Jesse! You told me this yourself at one point! How could just stand by and do nothing?" Castor persisted, trying to keep his voice leveled for Aliya's sake.

"She trusted you and you went out of your way to backstab her!" Castor further added as Jesse glared at him. 'You don't think I know that, already! I know! I know what I did! You don't need to keep reminding me of what I did!" Jesse firmly snapped as he harshly held onto the bracelet.

"I messed everything up with Aliya, but she hates me and I guess, I hate her now. So, there's no point in fixing something that's already broken. The best thing I can do is forget we ever met. Then, I won't have to deal with the guilt and I can hopefully become a better person to her," Jesse reasoned as Castor blinked.

"That's not—"

"Besides, Aliya's family despise my guts and I've done more harm towards that poor family than good. Worse, my own parents looked at me with disappointment and I never want to see that look in their eyes again," Jesse continued before chuckling.

"So, I guess you can be their new golden boy. Just word of advice to you: don't think you can fall in love with Aliya and serve as my replacement, because between you and me, we both know you're not worth the effort. At the end of the day, you're a half-breed pretending to be a knight. You're not special and just like Aliya, you won't amount to anything either."

"Jesse—"

"Cas, let's be honest here for a second. You didn't really think you would find love here, right? This city is cruel and I'm crueler. I can manipulate your string, Castor. I can twist it and make it to where you say the most painful things to Aliya, so if you don't want to be responsible for breaking her heart, then don't get close to her."

"You—"

"Besides, it's not a knight she needs, it's a prince and you'll never climb up the social hierarchy in time to get there. I guess what I'm trying to say is you can try to fit in with Aliya's family, but you'll still just be a social outcast. However, you were already one from the start, so it really doesn't matter. Huh? No wonder why everyone hates you so much. You just go and disappoint everyone you meet."

As Jesse saw Castor go quiet, the love fairy smirked.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find a way to disappoint Aliya and her family. It certainly didn't take long for me. Mine was just a series of gradual mistakes that Aliya graciously covered up for me, but now I'm exposed and there's no point in me going back," he said before sighing.

"If you do see her though, tell her I meant for things to go in a better direction for us," he continued before looking at the knight. "I hope things work out for you, but like I said, I control your love life. Don't get close and nothing will happen. Get close to her and I will make sure she remembers you in the worse way possible."

Harshly throwing the bracelet to Castor's direction, the love fairy watch as the knight glared in his direction.

"Alright, have fun now!"

~~~~~~~

"Iris!"

Looking up from her window, Iris's eyes widened at the sight of seeing Jesse, who was holding flowers for her. It was a odd choice but one she was willing to accept. Maybe, he was actually going to accept her proposal after all.

Sliding downstairs in her elegant blue gown, Iris opened the door and grinned as she pulled him into a hug. "Jessi-kins!" Iris happily exclaimed, her grin growing brighter as Jesse smiled softly in her direction.

"I got these for you, but we need to go over some guidelines first," Jesse started as Iris cautiously leaned against her doorstep. "Okay..." Iris slowly began, crossing her arms.

"I'll only date you if you erase my memories of Aliya and her family. I don't want anything to do with them and you're the best person, considering how you're a siren and all," he started as Iris sharply glared at him.

"Oh, come on. Don't give me that look, love. Besides, it's not like you can intimidate me anymore since I know your little secret. You're a half-breed, my dear. You're only here because of me, so in all honesty, you should be grateful I'm even going out of my way to associate myself with you. I would hate to think what the others would think of you and your beloved father when everyone finds out you're both liars."

In that moment, Iris dropped the flowers and angrily punched Jesse in the face. The love fairy fell onto the ground, lifting his face as a wave of blood poured onto his face.

"First of all, I am only half-siren and secondly, I am not here because of you. You are here because of me. Before, you were a simple nobody, so if I would you, you should really watch your mouth and hope I don't do anything else to you," Iris angrily added, throwing the flowers at Jesse before slamming the door.

"Iris, is everything okay?"

"No, dad, everything is not okay. It seems like your latest obsession knows about our secret and thinks it's a good thing to blackmail me into making him forget about the Fae-Maid and her freaky family," Iris sharply answered as she crossed her arms before sighing.

"I know you need him for the first phase of your plans, but can I please get someone else if you decide he's no longer of use to you? Or, can I at least give a break from him before phase one is initiated? I just... I don't know if I can really make myself commit to the love fairy after what he just said," the girl continued as Ambrose gently stroked his daughter's hair.

"Hey, I want Jesse in my plans, but nothing comes before you. Okay? If he really upsets you, then let's just try to see how much you can get out of him, then we can temporarily discard the love fairy until I'm ready for the first phase of my plans. Does this sound like a good trade-off, love?" Ambrose suggested, wiping his daughter's tears.

"Okay, that works, dad. I'm sorry for complicating your plans. I just... Dad, he called me a half-breed and he started talking to me — me! — as though he owned me! It was most infuriating conversation I ever had to deal with him! Jesse was always annoying, but now this is like top-tier annoying," she explained as Ambrose pulled his daughter closer.

"Hey, you never complicate things, flower. You're perfect. As for Jesse, we need to figure out how he knows our secret and who else besides him knows. We need to contain the information before the truth spreads and destroys us," the Senior Fae started as Iris sighed.

"Well, that one is easy. Jesse clearly knows from Castor, Aliya and her siblings crashing his birthday bash. I'm sure to some extent, Aliya's parents and aunt know, so aside from them, they're the only ones who know about our secret so far. No one else knows," Iris explained as Ambrose stroked his chin.

"There's a hidden lamp that holds the secret to changing our fate. It's a long shot, but maybe we won't even need the blueprints. If I can find this lamp, then I can wish for us to rule over Avalon and no one will have any recollection of our secret," the Senior Fae began as Iris tried her best not to laugh.

"The lamp? You mean with an actual genie inside? But dad, genies went extinct a long time ago. Besides, how are you even going to find this lamp?" Iris pointed out as she observed her father's smirk.

"I knew you would say that, so I found a merchant who knows the last whereabouts of the lamp. I plan on interrogating him and see what intel I can get out. But so far, all I know is this: the lamp is in connection to a mythical being that is only referred to as a diamond in the rough."

"Meaning...?"

"Whoever is this so-called diamond in the rough will lead me directly to the lamp, since this mythical being is the only one who can retrieve the lamp without dying inside the cave," Ambrose further explained as Iris raised her eyebrow. "Right..." she mumbled before shaking her head.

"Okay, let's say this lamp is real and this diamond in the rough person can find it. What happens to the mythical being?" Iris followed up. "Well, I can either pay this mythical being into silence or I can simply kill them. It just depends on the person retrieving the lamp," Ambrose swiftly answered.

"You're really serious about this lamp..."

"Yes. I wanted to try a faster alternative and see how that works before I fully commit to the three phases in my plan. If the lamp comes through, then you won't need to deal with the love fairy. You could marry whoever you wanted by that point and I can finally get my beloved Amaranth back," Ambrose proudly stated, now grinning as Iris playfully shook her head and smiled.

"I'm sure you'll get her back with your wish, but what are you going to do with Issac and Stormy?" Iris pointed out. "If the lamp comes through for us, then Issac and Stormy won't remember her. If the lamp fails though, you leave that part to me. I just have to separate them one by one," Ambrose sharply answered.

"Plus with the annual human-Avalonian joint festival coming up, I think it's time for a certain mind seer to get out of town... permanently," he added as Iris blinked from her father's sinister voice.

"Are we talking about Atticus here?" Iris followed up, only for her hair to glow when her father turned. 'You're talking about Stormy... got it," she sheepishly mumbled, shyly playing with her now-glowing hair.

"Okay, but seriously. After you get rid of Storm, you can't expect Issac and Amara to not go after her," Iris insisted as Ambrose grinned.

"I know. That's why after the festival, I'm going to close the portals and get someone else to finish the job in the surface realm. Once the portal closes, neither one of them will be able to do a thing."

"That's great, dad... only, it seems odd you're going to kill the mind seer in the surface realm when you could do so much more with her."

"What do you mean?" Ambrose curiously followed up. "I mean, Stormy is impressive as Reaper. On her own, she is a force of nature. I don't know, but if I were you, I would fake her death then bring her back here and brainwash the mind seer, so all the woman ever knows is being Reaper. This way, it's easier for her to serve you," Iris suggested as Ambrose's eyes widened from his daughter's idea.

"See, this is why you're my daughter, Isa. No one is nearly as creative as you are, flower. You make me so proud to be your father," Ambrose softly complimented, gently kissing her forehead. "Do you mind if I use your idea, love?" the Senior Fae followed up as Iris merely chuckled at her father's response.

"Go right on ahead, dad. No permission needed," Iris truthfully said, grinning as he kissed her forehead once more. "If we're sticking to the lamp plan, do I still need to pretend to be in love with Jesse?" she followed up as Ambrose rubbed his chin once again.

"For the time being, yes."

"What am I supposed to do about his wish to forget about Aliya and her family? I'm not exactly a full-time siren here," Iris added as Ambrose's eyes lit up.

"There's a potion in my room specifically designed to alter memories. I believe there's still some left. Get Aliya's DNA and mix the item inside the potion. You can tell Jesse to come back tomorrow, so the potion has time to corporate the new material. Then when Jesse arrives, slip the potion into a drink or something where he won't be able to detect the smell."

"Okay. Then...?"

"From there, serve the item to Jesse and by the next day, he won't remember anything about the Fae-Maid or anything that has ever been associated to her. This will be easier than getting DNA from Aliya's family too," Ambrose followed up as Iris swiftly nodded.

"Got it. What kind of potion is it?"

"A purple one. It's in a circular bottle about halfway full, but that should be just enough for you to use on the love fairy," Ambrose further explained as Iris nodded once more.

"When he get his memories of the Fae-Maid come back?"

"It should say in the instructions, but considering Jesse is a love fairy... I would say... hmm... whenever he gets true love's kiss since that's generally how his type works. As long as he doesn't end up kissing Aliya, then I don't see why his memories should ever return," he finished as Iris looked her father's necklace.

"Dad, you're running out of your last victim's blood. Either, you're going to need to find an alternative source or pretty soon, you're going to go on a rampage and start killing
every Avalonian in sight and draining their powers," Iris solemnly said, lifting the half-empty crystal necklace as Ambrose reclaimed his necklace.

"I'll be fine. I won't go on a rampage any time soon," Ambrose gently assured her, but still Iris wouldn't budge. "Dad... I want to believe you. I really do, it's just... anyone who has ever transformed into a soul seeker after a few times start becoming inhumane and begin losing sense of their Avalonian self," Iris pointed out, her voice breaking from the words she spoke.

"Iris—"

"Look, I know you indirectly got lucky last time with..." Iris briefly paused as she stared at her father's scar. "The incident at Jesse's birthday bash, but this is different. You just transformed into the soul seeker for the third time! You're two transformations away from becoming a soul seeker for real, Dad, and it scares me because I don't want to lose you too..." she began before breaking down into tears.

Immediately, Ambrose pulled his daughter into a tight hug. "Hey, flower, I already told you. I'm not going anywhere. You're not losing me to this soul seeker curse and you're definitely not losing me to the prophecy. Okay? I'm always going to be here, now and forever," he softly assured her, wiping his daughter's tears once more.

"Promise?"

"I promise, sweetheart," Ambrose affectionately stated, ruffling her hair once more as Iris began to feel better. "Okay, I have some things to do, so I'll be upstairs but if you need me, you know where to find me," he tenderly added as Iris hugged her father once more.

"I love you."

"I love you more, Isa."

Pulling away, Ambrose then started making his way upstairs as Iris quickly wiped her tears and composed herself. Then after applying some tear-reducing magical eye drops, Iris opened the door and resumed her initial approach towards Jesse, now leaning on the door.

"If you beg for my forgiveness, I'll consider helping you with this... wish of yours," Iris slowly began, observing as Jesse wrestled with his thoughts. "I mean I'm sure anyone else can help you, but if you do this easy request for me, I can have your wish ready by tomorrow," she added.

"Really?"

"Yes," Iris reluctantly added, internally banging her head against the wall as she officially found herself out of love with Jesse.

Granted, she wasn't completely in love with him, but Iris did (sorta) like the love fairy.

He was simple and simple was nice, except simple got boring and now she wanted something more.

Someone who could match her for a change.

So as Jesse fell on his knees and begged for forgiveness, Iris proudly grinned from the sight. "Now if you ever decide to disrespect me like that again, I'll break more than just your nose, love. Got it?" she sharply added as Jesse frantically nodded.

"Good, now come back here tomorrow night and bring flowers. If I'm helping you, then I'm getting a date for my services," she continued. "Be here at seven sharp and don't be late. I'll be waiting for your arrival, my Prince," Iris added as Jesse bent down on his knees to lightly kiss her hand, ensuring he didn't get his blood on her.

"Now go get a move on."

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

Upon teleporting back to the center area of Avalon, Lillian and Atticus were particularly drained from bringing everyone from far areas like Narcissa's lair, but made sure not to show their fatigue to the others.

"Castor! Did you have any luck finding Aliya?" Issac immediately asked upon spotting the knight. "Or Jesse, for that matter?" Talia chimed in as the two glared at each other.

"Jesse went to the Senior Fae's place in search of Iris," Castor briefly explained as Talia nodded. "Thank you!" she happily exclaimed, grabbing her husband, who had in turn grabbed Atticus as the three quickly left in search of the love fairy. "No luck on finding Aliya though. I can't seem to find her anywhere," Castor added as Lillian and Jaxon eyed each other.

"Aliya must be using Atticus's invisible cloak, because I couldn't find it in her bag," Jaxon chimed in as Lillian nodded. "How did she acquire the mage's cloak?" Amara curiously asked as Issac and Stormy simply stared at her. "You know, you two are very judgmental," she mumbled before sighing.

"Okay, then if we can't track Aliya, how else can we locate her?" Amara followed up as Castor held his bracelet. "Actually, there's one place I haven't checked. Let me go there," the knight insisted, before clapping his bracelet and disappearing.

"In the event, Castor fails, I ask a friend for assistance," Stormy cheekily stated, cleverly withdrawing when Lillian and Jaxon had asked the older woman for more information.

"You'll just have to find out and see."

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

"Aliya."

Staring at the god into his human form, the young faerie once again witnessed his light skin, black hair and casual clothes, which looked so convincing, she almost mistook him as an human (again!).

"Poseidon, I see you found me and this time, you're not talking to me in my head," she cheekily commented, removing the invisible cloak from her head. "I'm assuming you're here because Aunt Stormy requested you find me, huh?" she followed up as the god nodded.

"Yes, but I'm here for another reason."

Upon hearing those words, a sense of dread overwhelmed the girl, who could sense where this conversation was going. "Poseidon, if this is about what I think it is, then I don't—" she quickly said, but of course, the god beat her.

"We need to talk."