Diana Leia Sentry (mentioned), Briana Gem Sentry (mentioned) and Jake Sentry (mentioned) belongs to Sci-Briana17

Stormy (mentioned) belongs to GeekyCookie1

Side note: A segment of this chapter will reference Little Sister (written by Sci-Briana17) which goes into the life of Princess Briana Sentry (who belongs to Sci-Briana17), a book I highly recommend! Go check it out!

~~~~~~

As Jesse walked alongside Aliya and her friends, the love fairy was genuinely starting to believe that he stood a chance in completing his side of the deal. Heck, maybe he would even become human after all of this. But first, Jesse had to go through the assassin that wanted to kill him.

Jesse ignored the way Lillian kept eyeing him in an attempt to avoid being humiliated by her. He wanted to know why she was being so cruel to him, except Jesse knew the answer. So, he wasn't as upset as he would have been in the past because Jesse deserved his behavior coming back to haunt him.

For this reason, Jesse was grateful to be near Aliya and Jaxon who were both genuinely nicer to him. However while Jaxon regularly kept engaging him, Jesse's eyes were now Aliya, who was smiling, but he felt something was off with her.

It was one thing Aliya was indirectly (or at least, he hoped she was indirectly) avoiding him, but now it seemed like she was trying to distance herself from him. He frowned, wishing to know why she was trying to put distance between them when Aliya was genuinely more open when the trio had first found him.

When Jesse heard music playing in the distance, he got an idea. When he had grabbed her hand, Aliya genuinely looked confused by his action. "What are you—" she began, only to scream after the two took off and began running while Lillian and Jaxon looked at each other.

"Jesse!"

~~~~~~

While the two were just beginning their chase, Jesse and Aliya had fared better off in the distance. Catching a break, he briefly released her hand as Aliya glared at him. It was a crazy decision, yes, but it got Aliya looking at him again, so Jesse didn't mind whatever she was going to say.

"Jesse, are you out of your mind? We should be sticking as a group, not..." she began, as Jesse half-expected to get scowled by her, only to smugly smile when he saw Aliya trailing off. There, Jesse and Aliya saw people dancing in the street, perhaps having some kind of festival.

Even if the two didn't have any flexible clothes meant to dance freely, that didn't stop Jesse from reaching to Aliya's hand. "Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Aliya pointed out as Jesse shook his head, causing the girl to gasp. "Jesse, you rebel, this is cute and all, but we really need to —" she began, but Jesse brushed her concerns off.

Knowing his history with Aliya, Jesse wanted to mend their relationship before his wish came true. Maybe, he could even talk her into visiting the surface world from time-to-time once he got his voice back. Besides, he had three days to get all four relics with the help of his friends. They had time to figure everything out.

"Jesse... I really do think we should try to find Lillian and Jaxon," she politely insisted as the love fairy wrote in his notebook before pointing towards the page. "It will only be five minutes," she read, looking up to see Jesse nodding at her as he morphed his eyes to appear more childlike.

"Jesse...."

Once again, Jesse wrote in his notebook before pointing at the page again. "You want to experience some of the human traditions together?" she read, forming the response as a question since she was genuinely surprised by his request. "But, we haven't done that since we were changelings," she said as Jesse nodded, writing again.

"I know! But here in the human world, we don't have Avalon breathing on our backs! We can just be free together," Aliya read as Jesse excitedly nodded his head, noticing the soft skepticism in her eyes. "I don't know, Jesse..." she hesitated, trailing off as he noticed the girl taking a step back.

When Jesse had noticed her hesitation, Jesse frowned and wrote in the notebook again, pointing to the page. "Please? I wanted to experience this moment with you. Not Jax, not Lillian, just you. I like Jax and their sister, but I feel more comfortable around you," she read, briefly pausing before clearing her throat.

"Look, I don't know why you are distant towards me, but if I hurt you, then I'm sorry," she briefly read before stopping. "Jesse, you... you haven't done anything wrong yet. I just..." she began, awkwardly trailing off. "It's complicated," she weakly finished for a lack of better words, which only left Jesse more confused.

"I want this moment to be about us mending our friendship again. Can we at least hang out together for five minutes then track down Jax and Lillian again?" Aliya finished before looking up at Jesse, the hesitation still in her eyes but at least, she gave the love fairy a smile... even if the smile was reluctantly made.

It was still progress!

"Okay. You have five minutes. After that, we leave to go find Jaxon and Lillian. Deal?" she offered as Jesse energetically nodded. From there, his eyes lit up when Aliya took his hand. "Lead the way," she softly said as Jesse's smile grew brighter, happily grabbing her hand as the two took off.

Although Aliya had initially screamed, she had laughed afterwards, which made Jesse smile. She seemed like herself again, which was nice. As the two looked at the festivities, Jesse found himself in awe with the "little people" and when he had tried grabbing one, he gasped as Aliya laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that's a puppet," she said as the puppeteer snatched the puppet from Jesse, their furious eyes lingering on the boy as he awkwardly smiled. "We should run," Aliya briefly stated as Jesse took her hand in tow with the puppeteer calling out after them.

"I can't believe the puppet didn't move on its own!" Aliya read from the notebook as the two took a break to hide from the puppeteer and now the cops after Jesse indirectly offended one of the merchants as he forgot to pay for their cupcakes.

Although, Aliya had went back to pay for the cupcakes and the situation was technically resolved, the cops was still looking for them and that was why, the two were currently in hiding.

"I think it's because the puppets here are operated differently. Rather than moving on their own, humans control them by using their hands," Aliya briefly explained as Jesse noticed she was actively trying to avoid making eye contact with him, but her smile was much more natural now, which caught his attention.

Aliya seemed to genuinely be enjoying herself just like he was and for that, Jesse softly smiled. As Jesse ate his cupcake, he caught a few glimpses of Aliya, surprised when she looked away, perhaps noticing his stares. He frowned before taking out his notebook.

After Jesse wrote down what he wanted to say, he gently tapped Aliya's shoulder. "You want me to read what you said?" she asked as Jesse nodded. Picking up the notebook, she then looked at Jesse. "You want to know why I haven't made eye contact with you at all today?" she followed up as Jesse nodded once more.

"Jesse... it's really complicated, but I guess I could try to explain it," she weakly said, noticing the way her hands was shaking. "You see, Jesse... I... I...." she began but when Jesse saw the dancers in the distance, Aliya gave him back the notebook as he wrote down his thoughts before holding the notebook up.

"Why don't we continue this conversation later?" Jesse suggested as she chuckled, now nodding with the love fairy noticing she looked much more at ease. Then, he pointed at the next segment. "Do you want to dance with me?" she read as Jesse stepped out of the shadows with a grin.

"Jesse... Are you serious?" she asked, genuinely surprised by his request as he nodded, flashing her a tender and warm smile, holding his notebook. "I wanted to ask you to dance since I was preparing for the birthday bash, but I never got around to it because Iris... is Iris," she read as Aliya chuckled.

"I don't know what else to say about her, but I never wanted her as my plus-one that night. Not really," she continued as Aliya looked up. "Who did you want as your plus-one then?" she curiously followed up as Jesse's face grew brighter, shyly looking away from her.

When Aliya failed to connect the dots, Jesse wrote his answer down before holding the notebook again. "You... You wanted me as your plus-one?" Aliya softly asked, glancing at Jesse in shock as he nodded, still blushing. "You're the only one I could think of as my perfect plus-one," she softly read as Aliya smiled warmly in his direction.

"Jesse, that's sweet but...."

When Jesse saw her smile fall, he frowned. Every time she paused, good news did not follow. She was probably going to say they had to go find Jaxon and Lillian, but Jesse wasn't quite ready to leave. Besides, this was the happiest Jesse has seen Aliya in awhile and he wanted to hold onto the moment.

Just a little bit longer.

Writing into his notebook, Jesse held a finger to her lips, pointing to the notebook as he pulled away. "I know our time is running out, but can we squeeze in one dance before we go? Please? It'll be the last thing I ask out of you," she read as Aliya skeptically raised her eyebrow, causing Jesse to softly blush. "... Okay, maybe not the last thing, but still," she read as Aliya chuckled.

"Okay. One dance, but that's it," she reasoned, accepting his hand before the two threw their trash away. Upon reaching the center of the town square, Jesse and Aliya quickly integrated themselves with the civilians of New York City, switching from the lively, upbeat dance style to one of a more folklore style.

As a soft folklore ballad played in the background, Jesse spun Aliya around as she softly screamed, before pulling her close to him as the two making eye contact in the midst of the dance. It was a brief moment, but the two lightly blushed, neither of them realizing they were leading everyone in following their lead.

As the music picked up pace, the two had switched partners but towards the end of the ballad, Jesse and Aliya found themselves reconnecting with each other as partners, the two now looking at each other with a fond-like mannerism. When the music ended, Jesse leaned into Aliya as everything slowed down.

His heart began pounding as Jesse frowned, realizing he couldn't physically tell Aliya how he felt.

So while he was trying to grab his notebook, Aliya saw one of the girls getting their hair braided as she grinned, holding his hand before pulling him along as Jesse frantically grabbed the notebook and pencil in time, silently huffing as he realized he had missed his opportunity to kiss her.

If only he had his voice back!

While Aliya was getting her hair braided by a few kids, Jesse fondly leaned over the edge, staring at the girl with wonder as she grinned, showing off her mid-length braid with detailed flowers. "Thank you," she softly told the little girls, who smiled brightly.

"You're welcome, lady!" the girls told her as Aliya gave the girls a few coins, their eyes excitedly lighting up. "Really?" the girls asked, roughly around eight or ten as Aliya nodded. "Sure, it's the least I could do," she said as the girls smiled brighter. "Thank you!" the girls exclaimed, accepting her offer. "You're very welcome," she said as her and Jesse saw the girls run off.

When Jesse had tapped Aliya on her shoulder, he gestured to the notebook. "You're incredible, you know that? You really made their day," she read as Aliya looked at him, softly blushing. Hopping off from the ledge, Jesse held her hand as the two began walking away from the festivities.

When she had tried releasing his hand upon reaching the end of the street, Jesse gently pulled her close as the two blushed, when he noticed Aliya was blushing brighter than usual, which made his smile brighten. She tried to speak, but the words fell short when Jesse brushed her hair back, softly grinning when he got a chance to see her face clearly.

She was really beautiful and it pained Jesse not to physically tell her this fact. As the noise dimmed down in the distance, Jesse felt time slow down when he stared at Aliya, who shyly smiled in his direction. If he was going to take his chance, it needed to be now.

Taking a deep breath, Jesse leaned towards her, half-expecting Aliya to push him away, but instead, her eyes widened, torn between wanting the moment or trying to go against it. "Jesse...." she whispered, her voice gradually becoming quiet as he softly held her chin, the girl blushing harder by this gesture.

The two were on the verge of kissing until...

"Jesse!"

~~~~~~

When Jaxon saw Aliya and Jesse close to each other, they felt their heart break. Even though, Aliya had pushed Jesse away from her, it was too late. They saw the way Jesse stared at Aliya with such love and such passion, Jaxon knew they didn't hold a candle against the girl.

They were always going to be just a second choice when it came to Aliya and that's what made Jaxon's heart ache more. They had genuinely loved Jesse, but at the end of the day, he was going to choose her.

"Hey, there you guys are!" Lillian chimed in, noticing Jaxon's dark glare towards Aliya as the girl tried to look away from Jesse, appearing more guilty than thrilled. But she could tell the dynamic between Aliya and Jesse had changed as the two were looking more bashful towards each other, even when Aliya was genuinely trying to appear not interested in Jesse.

"Yeah, we're here," Aliya sheepishly said, trying to avoid making eye contact with Jaxon as she felt a mixture of shame and a rush from the closeness she shared with Jesse. "Are you guys okay?" she genuinely asked as Lillian nodded. "Yeah, we're fine, but after Jesse took off with you, we got really nervous," she explained, before noticing her braid.

When Aliya tried undoing her braid, Lillian stopped her. "Human look or not, it's still really cute on you," Lillian softly complimented, grinning as Aliya genuinely gave her a warm smile. "Thanks," she softly said as her and Jesse walked alongside Lillian and Jaxon. While Jesse walked with Lillian in all smiles, Aliya tried to approach Jaxon.

"Jax—"

"You knew I had feelings for him," Jaxon coldly told her as Aliya flinched from the sudden change in their tone. "I... I know and it just happened so quickly. I... I was honestly —" she tried, stuttering halfway through as Jaxon bitterly laughed, their jealousy now getting of them.

"Do you really think Jesse would love you the same way after he learns about Erebus?"

Their words were a swift cut to Aliya, whose eyes became wounded as Jaxon tried to ignore their guilt. They had a right to be angry! She knew they were in love with Jesse and Aliya still went in for the kiss! If they and Lillian hadn't arrived in time to see the two... No, they refused to feel guilty in the moment.

"Jax—"

"I'm just saying, you've always been known as a troublemaker from the start. You are a natural born walking disaster, Aliya. Everything has go to wrong when you're around, but now?" they continued as Aliya flinched again.

"With Erebus now controlling you, who's to say you won't end up getting worse? What if you snap? What if you hurt him? Better yet, what if you try killing him? What if you hurt me again? What if you try hurting us? What if you try killing us? What are you then?"

"Jax, come on—"

"You're a monster, Aliya. That's what you become," they sharply answered, ignoring the way Aliya's eyes swelled up with tears. "It's incredible Libby, Jesse and I still trust you when you shouldn't be trusted at all," they added, scoffing afterwards as they looked at Aliya in disgust.

Some friend she was.

Some sister she was.

To think Jaxon could actually trust Aliya not to fall in love with their crush. Why was it foolish to believe the faerie would do her best not to show interest in Jesse? Didn't Aliya get that she wasn't good enough for him?

Besides, she basically posed a danger to Jesse! After all, how could Aliya be so selfish to keep Erebus a secret from Jesse? Worse, what if she tried killing Jesse? With Erebus controlling her, anything was possible! They had to face the facts and cut ties with Aliya before things got worse.

"When this is all said and done, consider our friendship over," Jaxon sharply finished, deciding this was the best approach to take as they ignored Aliya trying to reach out to them. They didn't want to treat Aliya like this, but she left them with no choice. This was her fault, not theirs.

If she really cared about their friendship, Aliya would have never fell in love with Jesse.

~~~~~~

"You didn't have to be rude to her," Lillian scowled, which she took great pleasure in after she got lectured by her sibling for being harsh to Jesse. "But she knew!" Jaxon angrily pointed out as Lillian rolled her eyes, half-amused and half-annoyed by their behavior.

"It's a crush, Jax. Get over yourself," she insisted before crossing her arms. "Besides, if you want someone to blame, go for Jesse. That's what I do when things go wrong," she added, laughing before frowning when Jaxon glared at her. "I need to find myself a better crowd," Lillian mumbled to herself, shaking her head afterwards.

"Look, Jax, he doesn't have feelings for you, okay? Jesse never did and it sucks, I know, but blaming Aliya for your failed love life isn't going to change anything," Lillian said at last, sighing afterwards. She didn't want to break the news to them, but someone had to do the job.

"Besides, you'll find someone better along the way," she added with a hopeful look and tone when Lillian saw Jaxon's eyes darken. "But Jesse would love me if that wingless freak wasn't in the—" they began, only to cut themselves off as Lillian looked at their sibling in dismay.

"Jax, you sound like Iris now and jealousy isn't a good look on you. You need to accept the fact that you lost. He wants Aliya, not you. Just move on before you end up making a stupid decision that backfires on you. Okay?" she firmly finished as Jaxon reluctantly nodded.

But even after Jaxon had told her "okay," Lillian could see their eyes darkened in Aliya's direction as she facepalmed herself, quietly shaking her head. Jax was definitely going to land themselves in trouble soon enough. She just hope they wouldn't be that stupid enough to let their jealousy get the best of them.

"Hey! I got a signal!" Aliya called out, running towards the group as Lillian gasped, passing the track onto Jaxon for them to notice. "No way, another human gimmick," they bitterly mumbled as Lillian harshly nudged them, quietly whispering for Jax to be supportive.

"I mean... cool," Jax feebly finished, not wanting to be around Aliya at the moment. "It's going in this direction," Aliya simply said, heading off in front of the others as Lillian grabbed Jaxon and Jesse. "Come on," she said, trying to catch up with the other two in tow.

When the three managed to catch up with Aliya, she promptly placed her arm over to Lillian and the others. "What do you see?" Lillian softly whispered as Aliya peered over the wall. "Soldiers, mostly," she whispered back, noticing the excessive amount of soldiers in the small area.

As Aliya scanned the crowd, she heard the tracker beep just as she found their suspect out in the open. "That's him," she whispered to Lillian, who peered over the girl to see for herself. "Wait, I want to see," Jaxon chimed in, lifting their head on top of their sister's hair while Jesse had looked from the side and gasped.

From their perspective, each of them could see the older pale-skinned male's black purplish regal attire, his white shirt, blacken dress pants and matching shoes. For Jesse, it felt weird knowing there was an Atticus lookalike in the human realm, essentially so close to him.

"They even look alike," Jaxon mumbled as Lillian softly sighed. "But his hair is so refined in the human world here," she said with a dream-like tone as Jaxon and the others stared at her. "Don't none of you even say a word about this," she scowled, rolling her eyes afterwards.

"I think it's too late for that," Jaxon and Aliya chimed in, softly chuckling before looking at each other. "Anyways, how are we supposed to get near him with all of those soldiers surrounding him?" Jaxon asked as Aliya, Jesse and Lillian scanned their surroundings.

"We move while the soldiers aren't looking," Aliya and Lillian spoke, looking both ways when the group began inching closer, only stopping after one of the soldiers had looked in their direction. When this has happened, Aliya and Lillian quickly pulled Jesse and Jaxon back as the soldier shrugged and went back to work.

At the front of the entrance, the four observed as the soldiers were carrying some kind of neon-bright liquid containers into the dark, secluded area while the Atticus lookalike orchestrated the whole process, directing the soldiers inside.

It went like this for some time as one of the soldiers faltered, dropping the container which halted the entire production. "Soren, my legs are tired and we've been at this for a few hours now. Can we please take a ten-minute break?" the unnamed soldier insisted, the tiredness clearly evident in their tone.

From what the four saw, it seemed like a reasonable request. Whatever they were doing took time, so a small break couldn't have made that much of an impact. However, their Atticus lookalike — Soren, the four reminded themselves — looked at the soldier as everything went deadly quiet.

"I'm sorry, you want a break?" Soren sharply began as the few of the soldiers behind him urged the soldier in front to take his request back. "We're halfway done, just keep going," one of the soldiers insisted, helplessly looking on as the soldier who asked for the break found the words unable to come out.

"Do you think the Shredder hired you to just take breaks?" Soren coldly continued, despite his tone being calm. If anything, he almost looked pleased by the soldier asking as Soren tapped his staff, the purple gemstone glowing. "Wait, isn't that the same gem used on Avalon?" Jaxon asked as Lillian blinked.

"N... No, Sire. N.. Not a.. at a... all," the soldier frantically stuttered, but it was too late the moment, Soren's eyes turned purple. Not long after, the soldier disintegrated to ashes as he faced his soldiers. "Does anyone else want a break?" Soren coldly asked as the soldiers picked up the pace, indirectly stepping on the remains of their now-lost colleague.

"That's what I thought," Soren finished as the four quickly pulled their heads away, trying to process the death in front of them. "Are you sure he's not Avalonian?" Lillian and Jaxon asked Aliya, who furiously shook her head.

"He's not Avalonian. I literally scanned him just before we arrived here," she countered back, showing her friends the data she had on Soren through the tracker. "He doesn't act human..." the siblings mumbled.

"Maybe, some of our technology and resources bled into their world," Aliya reasoned with a shrug. "That still doesn't explain how he has access to our stuff," the siblings insisted.

"Or, Soren could just rely on dark magic like Atticus. After all, you don't need to be of Avalonian blood to practice dark magic and become a dark mage," she added, which caught Jesse's attention, who furiously shook his head and frantically tapped Aliya on her shoulder.

"My advisor is not a dark mage!" Jaxon read, emphasizing the anger in Jesse's tone as Jesse nodded. "I would know! He's been there to raise me since I was a changeling and he never shown signs of using dark magic!" Jaxon added, reading in Jesse's tone as Aliya only laughed.

"Jesse, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but you don't know your advisor," Aliya coldly began, much to Jesse's dismay. "Why do you think there's an assassin coming after you?" Aliya countered back, crossing her arms as she patiently waited. When Jesse didn't write in his notebook, she took it as a sign to continue.

"It's because Atticus sent the assassin to kill you, Jesse. He may come across as a mind reader, but Atticus definitely dabbles in dark magic," she finished, recalling the iron marker Atticus used on her. "Besides, he knew you were coming here and essentially left you for dead," she added, which only made Jesse more irritated.

So when Jesse angrily shoved her out of their hiding spot, Jaxon laughed as Aliya rolled her eyes. While Lillian was trying to pull Aliya back in, an argument went out between the siblings and Jesse could only watch as Aliya ended their argument. By that point though, the area went deathly quiet.

~~~~~~~

When the soldiers surrounded the four, Soren stepped towards the group, determining which one was leading them. "This area is restricted. How did you four get in?" Soren coldly questioned, his stern tone catching the attention of the four as he observed the three hiding behind Colombian girl he met earlier, the only one brave enough to face him.

"This area is restricted? We didn't know. We thought we were on our way to the concert when we got lost," the girl casually stated when he failed to notice her looking at his rusted dagger from the corner of her eye.

With its sharp curve-like exterior and ocean blue gemstone with white swirls in the center of the holder, Soren knew the power hidden within the dagger and he wanted to exploit the magic from inside to enhance his staff.

After all, Soren had to get strong if he was going to take over the Crystal Empire and get revenge on King Flash and Queen Twilight, who were responsible for his exile. He still felt bitter over their decision not to kill the young Princess Briana, who would one day serve as a true threat to his kingdom.

It was worse when his ex-wife, Sunset Shimmer, directed the royal couple to him when Soren tried taking things into his own hands. Naturally, this didn't set well with them, so after he alerted the intruders to invade the castle, that served to be final straw as Soren was stripped of his titles and exiled.

Out of the Crystal Empire he went and into the bleak, dreary and disappointing scenery of New York City. Cruel they were, none of them would even let him say goodbye to his son, Cameron Chandler. Though to be fair, he hardly thought about the boy these days as his thoughts were often consumed by revenge and power.

The rulers were incompetent, their youngest daughter (Diana Sentry) continued to be relatively useless and if their oldest daughter survived, then she would end up being no better as the next heir to the throne.

If he ever found Princess Briana one day, Soren vowed to kill her first then overthrow the Crystal Kingdom and start a new reign in his image.

But he couldn't do any of that without help.

So when the time came, he would betray the young Jake Sentry, who wanted the girl for his own purposes. For now though, Soren would play the role as the boy's advisor and one of Shredder's henchmen with content. But deep down, he knew he could survive without any of them.

Even if he wanted to believe them and let the four go, Soren knew letting the teenagers go would pose a risk. After all, they saw the mutagen and the four saw him kill a soldier, which would not par well with his reputation... not that he had one in the human realm.

Directly after his exile took effect, Soren purposely sought out the Shredder and Jake in this lair, offering his services to the two in exchange for a few items: a suitable ranking status, a worthy title and a reasonable amount of resources that would be available to him.

So although Soren knew no one here in New York, the Colombian girl seemed familiar, seemingly approachable though relatively weak. To be fair, all of them looked harmless, but in the end, secrets were secrets. If word got out, guess who would be the first to go?

Him.

Soren couldn't risk it. He needed the Shredder and Jake for their resources. So, in the end, Soren held his dagger, quickly morphing into a sword. "I'm afraid none of you can go," he stated, ignoring the protests of the three (one of them couldn't talk, apparently).

"Foot Soldiers! Attack!"

~~~~~

"We all barely got a word in and he wants to attack us!" Aliya angrily exclaimed as she blocked one of the soldier's attacks, silently thanking Stormy for the martial arts lessons she taught her. While she was able to stand head-to-head with the Foot Soldiers (which didn't make sense to her), her friends... well, not so much. So when she saw Lillian and Jaxon using their powers, Aliya merely huffed.

"You're supposed to fight like the humans," she promptly told them as the siblings merely scoffed. "Why would we do that when we got powers?" the siblings chimed in as Jaxon levitated a soldier while Lillian created a shadow portal underneath the soldier's feet, leading to the soldier falling into her portal. Aliya looked at the two in awe before shaking her head.

"Because it's... fair?" Aliya weakly suggested as Lillian and Jaxon looked at each other before laughing. "Fair? The humans were never fair to us. Even with the barrier being open, it doesn't mean we're at peace with their kind. Five decades of war and bloodshed can never be forgotten," Lillian firmly stated as Jaxon nodded.

"You would know that if you didn't neglect your traditions as an Avalonian," Jaxon told her as Aliya stared at them. "So, what? Are you saying the Senior Fae would make a better ruler than King James and Queen Morgana?" she countered back, punching one of the soldiers coming near Jesse's direction.

"I never say that, but maybe," Jaxon chimed in as Aliya shook her head. "Five decades ago is different from now. Would it really be so hard to just forgive and move on?" she stubbornly insisted as Lillian shook her head, taking a stand with Jaxon on this one.

"Look around you, Aliya. This is how humans treat us," Lillian bitterly countered as Aliya blinked. "Technically, we did trespass this area first..." Aliya sheepishly pointed out, which did little to change Lillian's mind. However when Aliya saw Jesse in danger, she left the siblings to do their own thing.

"Jesse!"

Hurling the boy out of the way as Aliya braced their impact, she was careful not to hurt the love fairy. "Are you alright?" she asked as Jesse nodded. "The boy is right here, just take him out while the others are preoccupied," Erebus insisted as Aliya pushed herself away from Jesse. "Just stay put and stay out of sight," she coldly instructed, walking away from Jesse.

"You dare ignore me!" Erebus angrily snapped, the first time she actually felt his anger directly towards her. "I told you, I'm not going to hurt Jesse. He's my friend... well I think we're friends anyways," she mumbled before instinctively turning around to see Soren.

"Jesse doesn't care about you. So why are you fighting for a pointless cause?" Erebus sharply began. "Well, whatever. You know Soren has the dagger. Just take the Atlas from him and kill the guy," he ordered as Aliya resisted the urge to roll her eyes and talk back, so she merely held her tongue.

"This should be fun," Soren smugly stated, charging at her. With each hit, he blocked while she managed to get a few hits here and there. As the two fought, Soren found the girl could keep up with him, which was surprising. However in the midst of their fight, Soren hadn't paid attention to his dagger which led Aliya to grab the Atlas.

"No!"

As Aliya held the dagger of Atlas in her hand, which returned back to its original form, she had planned on gathering her friends and leaving, but when one chooses to dance a delicate game of possession with a supernatural god, that plan can drastically change.

"Good, now finish the job," Erebus chimed in and before she could even answer, Aliya found her eyes glowing black with the gemstone reflecting the god's control over her. "I guess it's time to return the favor then," she darkly spoke, giggling before charging at Soren, who reacted with ease.

Grabbing onto his staff, Soren tried to fight back and while he got a few hits in, Aliya was much faster than him. "You know for a man who boosts so much about power, you are incredibly weak. It's no wonder your ex-wife views you as a disappointment," she and Erebus spoke as Soren's eyes widened.

"How did you—"

"I live on people's fears and exploit them," Erebus now spoke, using Aliya's body to harshly throw Soren to the back on the wall. As he fell, he used Aliya's hand to form a tight grip on the human mage. "Any last words?" Erebus and Aliya spoke as Soren kept his eyes trained on Aliya while trying to reach his staff.

"Please don't hurt me! I have a kid back home who is waiting to see me," Soren insisted as Aliya scoffed, keeping her grip on the man's throat tighter as his lips began turning blue. She smiled at the state of this man. "You care only for yourself. Why would you love anyone else?" she bluntly stated, keeping the dagger near.

"I'm selfish, I get it, but I care about Cameron! He's the only kid I have. Please don't take me away from my family," Soren rambled, being honest and partially buying himself time when he saw the girl release her grip on him briefly. Rubbing his throat, Soren used this opportunity to grab onto his staff.

Flickering between her light brown versus the black eyes given to her by Erebus, Aliya slightly stumbled but when she caught Soren trying to attack her, her eyes quickly turned black as she held the dagger of Atlas, responding as the dagger morphed into a sword which she used to hold Soren in place as she picked up his staff.

"You know, I always wondered how human mages die," she gleefully spoke, her black eyes glowing with delight. "You'll be my first experiment," Aliya continued, aiming the gem towards his neck as Soren screamed, the natural heat of the gem burning into his skin.

"Hmm, this is going too slow," Aliya whined, tossing the staff aside before grabbing the sword and pinning Soren to the wall. Swinging the sword, she promptly smirked as he stared at her in fear. "Which way do you deserve to die?" she taunted, now laughing.

"There are just so many ways to kill human mages like you," Aliya and Erebus began, the girl pondering for a brief moment before her smirk grew into a sinister grin. "I got it," she said, swinging the sword towards his throat, lightly pressing so she could hear Soren's screams as his blood droplets fell onto the edge of the blade.

"It's a shame you have to die. We could have made a decent team, but no matter. I'll find a better human as my vessel," Erebus sharply began, pushing the sword further into the human mage's skin as Soren screamed. Hearing the screams from humans always gave him a rush of joy.

"Now to finish you off," Erebus insisted, preparing to throw the final blow when he found himself unable to control Aliya's arm. As he fought against her, Erebus was soon able to gain control of her body as he laughed. "Ha! You missed!" he taunted before he felt the acidity of the blade grazing her arm as he screamed, releasing his grip over the girl.

As the sword morphed back into its original form as the dagger of Atlas, Aliya found her eyes and the gemstone returning to normal as she struggled to keep herself steady. Her eyes lingered on Soren before she walked off, knowing he wouldn't do much to her.

With the majority of the soldiers either injured, unconscious or lost in the vortex of Lillian's shadow realm. As she approached the others finishing their last round of Foot Soldiers, Aliya weakly smiled, wincing when she nearly fell, holding onto the wall for support.

"The price of holding the Atlas. You might have broken our link temporarily but you'll feel the effects of your actions soon enough," Erebus smugly told her as Aliya bit her tongue. "I would be upset, except you lasted longer and nearly had your first kill, so consider me impressed," he praised her, which only made Aliya feel worse.

"By now, it won't take much for me to gain full control of you soon enough," Erebus continued as Aliya stood up. "Once a god stake their claim, we aren't the type to share our vessels," Erebus proudly concluded, laughing in her head as Aliya turned her arm over to see the blood on her wrist turning to a metallic sliver.

"Iron. The Atlas is made from iron," Aliya weakly mumbled, resisting the urge to laugh as she shook her head, now knowing why she felt stranger than usual. She knew about the dizziness and fatigue, but it was to a lesser degree. Now, the dizziness and fatigue felt more amplified by holding the dagger of Atlas and grazing her wrist with the blade.

Just naturally.

~~~~

"We did it!" Lillian and Jaxon proudly exclaimed with Jesse waving his hands with excitement. "Wait, where's Aliya?" Lillian curiously asked, the others looking around before spotting their friend with the dagger of Atlas. "You got the dagger!" Lillian and Jaxon exclaimed as Jesse's eyes widened.

"But how! More so, how are holding the dagger for this long? Especially since it's made from iron," the siblings continued, bombarding the girl with questions as Jesse got in front of Aliya and trying to get the two to stop. It was only after she fell on Jesse that Lillian and Jaxon stopped.

"It's a long story," she weakly said, passing the dagger off to Jesse who held the prized item. However as he was trying to keep Aliya steady, Jesse indirectly tried passing the dagger onto the siblings who looked at him.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Lillian defensively asked. "We can still get affected by iron too, even though we're half-faeries," Jaxon stated, though they were nicer about it than opposed to their sister, who was much harsher with her response. So placing the dagger in his pocket, Jesse hadn't noticed the assassin behind him, but Aliya did.

"Look out!"

It was subtle but as Jesse fell, the assassin grabbed onto Aliya, who could barely keep her head up as it was. "I thought those idiots would never leave," the assassin spoke, referring to the humans as Jesse stood up.

"Let's do a trade. Give me Jesse or the girl dies," the assassin spoke, realizing that under this circumstance, they couldn't really be at fault because she was already dying when he found her. That's what they were going to tell their boss, at least, so it wasn't like they were breaking their contract here.

"Aliya!" Lillian and Jaxon exclaimed, half in shock and half in panic as Jesse could only helplessly stare as he couldn't call out to her. "Follow up with what I want and I might be able to cure her," the assassin said, smirking when Aliya barely put up a fight.

"Not that she has much time left," they said, keeping their grip on the girl, who could barely fight. "Libby, can you summon a portal?" Jaxon asked as Lillian quickly stared at the assassin and Aliya. "Underneath the assassin's feet? Sure, but we would have to grab Aliya in time," Lillian insisted as Jaxon nodded.

"We can manage," Jaxon told Lillian who nodded. "We're not giving up Jesse," Lillian firmly stated as the assassin scoffed. "Then this just makes my job easier. I'll get a kill in since you all took out the soldiers," they said, placing the iron dagger towards Aliya's throat.

"So say goodbye to your friend, I suppose," they added just as Lillian took a deep breath. "You should watch your moves more carefully," Lillian began as the assassin glanced down to see a shadow portal forming underneath their feet. "Your four are really getting on my nerves," the assassin mumbled just as Jesse and Jaxon worked together to pull Aliya out of their grasp.

As the assassin struggled to let her go, Jesse gave the assassin a final kick before the portal closed, their screams forever descending as Aliya tried to stand, only to falter as Jaxon and Jesse held her steady. "I have enough energy to create one shadow jump for the night," Lillian insisted as Jaxon and Jesse nodded.

"Do it."

~~~~~~~

Arriving at the city's park, Jaxon held Lillian steady while Jesse caught Aliya from falling. "Is everyone alright?" Aliya weakly asked, her voice barely recognizable. "We're fine, but you're the one that needs help," Lillian insisted as Aliya shook her head. "I'm fine," Aliya countered back, much to the girl's irritation.

"Jax, I'm really sorry about everything," she said as Jaxon shook their head. "Aliya, no, I was just being selfish," Jax quickly said, their heart sinking when they saw the girl's weak smile.

"I'm sure you three can handle the rest of the relics on your own, right?" Aliya softly questioned as the three gasped. "What are you doing?" Erebus angrily asked. "You can't have a champion if they're dead," Aliya simply stated, ignoring his screams.

"Aliya, no!" Lillian softly exclaimed with Jaxon and Jesse shaking their heads. "You're going to be okay! We... We'll find help!" Jaxon said as she faintly smiled. "I'll only hold you back," Aliya countered back, softly dismissing their response. "Jesse, I hope you get your wish and live out the life you wanted," she said as Jesse felt tears swell up inside him as he furiously shook his head.

"I wish I was a better friend to all of you. When you three complete the quest, tell Castor I'm sorry for failing him, tell my parents I did my best and tell Stormy I wasn't strong enough as she thought I was. I really am sorry for everything," Aliya quickly rambled before she weakly smiled.

"Don't forget me."

As Aliya fell, Jaxon caught the girl as her body went limb. As they tried checking their pulse, they could feel their emotions rising. "Hey, hey! You need to wake up!" Jaxon angrily exclaimed, shaking the girl as Lillian pulled them back. "Jax!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking as Lillian forced herself to look away.

Gut-wrenching, Jesse kneeled by the girl, silently screaming and crying as he held Aliya close, wishing she would just come back. He didn't want his wish if it meant not having her in his life. Jesse wanted nothing more than to take back every harsh thing he told her — every insult — everything if it meant having his friend — his best friend — his one, true love back.

As Jesse's tears fell on the Avalonian necklace, the gray dull gemstone softly glowed, catching the attention of the siblings, who shook Jesse. When the boy looked up to see the gemstone fully restored to its golden state, the others stepped back as the three heard coughing.

"Aliya!"

~~~~~~~~~

Death was weird.

One second, Aliya was floating through a endless void of black space and the next thing she knew, her soul was thrown back into her body. As she sat up, Aliya coughed as she held her head, she only opened her mouth until she found herself being tackled by hugs.

"Alright, she has to breathe," Lillian insisted, dragging Jesse and Jaxon back as Aliya tried standing, only for Jesse to catch her. "Thanks," she softly said, still trying to figure out how she was alive. The Atlas should have killed her, but it didn't. The more she tried figuring out why, the harder it was to control her headaches so she stopped altogether.

"Looks like our Captain is back, which is good, because I can't believe you were just going to leave me to deal with these two idiots by myself," Lillian promptly stated as Jaxon and Jesse stared at her.

"We're not idiots, Libby," Jaxon pointed out as Lillian promptly scoffed. "You and Jesse are definitely idiots. If it weren't for me and Aliya coming to the rescue all of the time, you two would have long been dead," Lillian countered back as the two began bickering while Aliya and Jesse looked at each other, shyly smiling before shaking their heads.

"Well now that Aliya is alive again, the quest is back on!" Jaxon happily exclaimed as Lillian laughed. "Yep! We got one relic down, now we got three more left to go," she added as Aliya's eyes widened.

She thought by dying, she might have stopped Erebus, at least indirectly. But now that she was revived... Did that mean the god's control over her was now? Did dying then getting revived erase all traces of the god of darkness and despair?

"No. To be fair, you almost had me," Erebus stated as Aliya internally sighed, no longer surprised that he popped back inside her head. She should have known better than to think being dead would mean the end.

Nothing stayed dead forever.

"We have the heart of purity and after that, we just need to get Erebus's scepter and gemstone! We're off to a good start for our first day!" the siblings cheered as Jesse grinned with Aliya trying to ignore the overwhelming dread she felt.

She was that much closer to...

Aliya shook her head, not wanting to think about what awaited her. She should have told them now, while she still had energy, but everyone was so genuinely excited and hopeful about seeing Jesse succeed that she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.

So, she told herself to come clean to everyone after obtaining the heart of purity. She could do that much.

~~~~~

Later on that night, Jesse found himself next to Aliya underneath a tree as she kept fading in and out of sleep. When he gently tapped her shoulder, her eyes sharpened which caught him off-guard before softening when she saw him, which made him relax in the end.

"Hey," she greeted as he smiled, writing in his notebook before holding the pages for her. "I'm glad you're back. I wouldn't know what to do if you didn't come back," she read as Aliya shook her head.

"You shouldn't be glad I'm back. I'm trouble and you're in danger just by being near me," she truthfully admitted, trying to create space between them when he gently grabbed her hand, pointing to the notebook.

"Jesse..." Aliya began before sighing. "I say these things because you shouldn't trust me, not anymore. Look, I tried killing you in your sleep last night. I only stopped because I talked myself out of it, but still. Do you really want to put your trust in me when I could be seconds away from ending you?" she followed up as Jesse blinked, processing her words before writing in his notebook.

"Jesse, I'm possessed by Erebus. Okay? I've been possessed by him since last night. He doesn't want you to succeed in finding his last two relics and if you do, I'm expected to kill you," she said, her voice a mix of anger, hurt and despair after seeing what he wrote.

"That's why I've been keeping my distance from you because I don't want to hurt you, not really," she admitted with a heavy sigh, the guilt getting the best of her as Aliya held herself close and buried her head, too ashamed to look at the boy. "Just get away from me while you still can. I'm a lost cause at this point," she mumbled.

Jesse frowned, writing in his notebook. When he was satisfied, he lightly tapped on the girl's shoulder, who lift her head up. "Jesse...." she slowly began, trying to understand why he was still sticking around her when she has basically given him a warning. "Okay, I'll see what you wrote," she said, giving in at last as Jesse gave her the notebook.

"You want me to read it?"

When Jesse nodded, Aliya released a exhaustive sigh, but she was grateful he was here keeping her awake. She didn't want to fall asleep anymore... If the thoughts during the day were loud, her thoughts are night were louder. She could escape during the day, but at night? Alone with her thoughts? It was like a never ending nightmare.

But more so, being awake meant she was capable of holding herself accountable. Well, at least Aliya hoped she would be able to keep herself accountable. She didn't trust herself anymore.

Not really.

"Aliya, you're more stronger than you think. You've broken free from Erebus's control several times when most of his victims wish they could break out of his control once. If that doesn't say how strong willed you are, then I don't know," she began as Jesse eagerly nodded, wanting her to continue.

"I'm not going to keep my distance from you, because you chose to help when Iris had controlled me. So, I'm going to return the favor because you've always been there for me and it's time I started returning the favor," she continued, looking down to see Jesse holding her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere. If Erebus wants you, he'll have to go through me first," she read, before analyzing Jesse. "That's literally what he wants..." she mumbled before shaking her head, trying to brush off the negativity in her thoughts.

"You wouldn't hurt me because you're one of the most caring Avalonians I know. You care me about too much to see anything happen to me. That's why I'm still here," she read as Aliya looked up to see Jesse hugging her.

Her and Jesse were both fools in this game, Aliya knew. She told herself the same thing when Jesse repeatedly hurt her underneath the influence of someone, so what made her any better? She was going to hurt him and that realization broke her. They were close now, but eventually everyone was going to end up being her enemy.

But still...

For one night (at least), maybe she could feel okay. So against her better judgment, Aliya hugged him. "Thanks," she softly said as the two pulled away. "Now get some sleep. I'll keep watch. If anything weird happens to you, I'll wake you up," she read as Jesse confidently nodded as Aliya solemnly sighed.

"Here goes nothing, I guess," she mumbled, almost wishing her body could quit relying on sleep as Aliya reluctantly leaned against Jesse's body. As he stroked her head and held her close, Aliya found herself at ease and she closed her eyes. Smiling softly, Jesse kept his word and watch over Aliya for the rest of the night, occasionally stroking her hair or just squeezing her hand when she saw her moving.

Jesse would keep her safe and that was one promise he was willing to keep.

~~~~~~

When Jaxon felt Lillian was comfortable, they gently got up, careful not to wake their sister. Then, Jaxon began walking, perhaps in an attempt to find Jesse alone. However when they found Jesse with Aliya, their heart shattered at the sight of seeing the two asleep together, holding hands and genuinely being close.

It's what Jaxon always imagined how Jesse would look at them, but no. "Libby was right. He'll never love me," they forced themselves to say, the realization being too much for them as Jaxon forced themselves to look away. In tears, Jaxon ran until they found a lake where they skipped rocks into the water as a way of calming their broken heart.

"It's not fair. I loved him for years. Why does he going for her?" Jaxon solemnly asked themselves, torn between wanting to be happy for Aliya or to let their jealousy fester into something that would become unrecognizable.

"I believe I can be of service."

Turning around, Jaxon nearly screamed when they saw the oddly wrinkled woman in a dark green dress, her hair neatly composed. "Who are you supposed to be?" Jaxon curiously asked.

"Narcissa," she promptly answered. "If you help me, I'll make sure you have more time with Jesse," she added, getting straight to the point as Jaxon shook their head, not wanting to be part of this.

"Jesse is going to lose his soul because of you. No thanks," Jaxon stated, preparing to walk off. "Well, that's a shame. I guess you must really enjoy being second best forever, right?" Narcissa countered back. "Yeah, you'll never be good enough for him, anyways, but you knew this, didn't you?" she insisted, preparing to leave as well when Jaxon ran back to her.

"Wait!"

The sea witch promptly froze, turning around as Jaxon wrestled with their thoughts before sighing. In the end, Narcissa knew she had won them over, which was good because if Jesse fell in love with Aliya, it would have been game over for her as all he had to from there was kiss the girl.

Help was one thing, but their relationship was something else. Soulmates was a tricky business, but there wasn't nothing like good old-fashioned jealousy to turn the tides in her favor. "Yes?" she calmly asked, hiding her eagerness as Jaxon glanced back before looking forward.

"What do you want me to do?"