Aysha didn't feel anything. She didn't know what to think. She was the one who hadn't wanted to be anything more with Craytia, so why did she feel the stinging hurt of jealousy?

She couldn't feel anything.

She shouldn't feel anything.

Aysha ran back up the stairs and disappeared to her room, for fear of Craytia finding out that Aysha had been watching. Aysha heard the door open and the sound of laughter.

"Will you accompany me tonight?" Craytia asked the woman.

Aysha didn't really know how the woman looked. She had simply looked in the peephole and had gotten a vague impression of what she looked like. The only distinct feature she had seen was the woman's brown hair that was similar to Craytia's.

"Aren't you going with that Aysha girl? You've talked up a storm about her Craytia." The woman's voice had a firmness to it that countered Craytia's flirty and playful voice.

"Mm. I'll still ask her. I do want to see what she looks like in a dress..."

"Is that all?"

"Well, no. She gives me the vibe of someone who wants to change things. She wants justice and I don't blame her, but she will fail."

Aysha was pissed. Craytia had no right to decide whether she would succeed or fail in her goal. Pride bubbled up to the surface as Aysha smiled knowing that Craytia didn't know she was here. She was completely out of view and relied only on what they were saying rather than what they were doing. It was risky, yes, because anything could easily become interpreted out of context, but Aysha had to take that risk. She'd been doing so for years now.

"How are you sure? From what you've described, she seems to have an unbreakable resolve."

"Do you also remember what I said about how-"

"Yes, I do." The woman sharply cut Craytia off and Aysha was surprised to know that there was someone that could actually make the Jewel of Orenda go silent.

"The only reason you're keeping her in the dark is because you think of her as something more. That will not be the case. I'd prefer her to be a vicious lion that fights until the very end rather than a slithering coward like you are that hides when the end nears. You will help her win the Blood Trials. Is that understood Craytia?" The woman's voice left no room for argument or defiance. Her word was resolute.

"Yes, I understood."

"Good. Continue to update me on her training. If she doesn't win, I trust you know what will happen?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Your time is coming to an end. It would be nice if you finally became realistic. I truly hope that you don't try to go against me by killing her. Trust me, you aren't helping her. Show her what she can really become."

What I can become? Aysha felt her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. She'd heard her parents say similar words when she was younger. Aysha stumbled back to her room, locking the door with a click. She closed her eyes and let herself get absorbed in the flashback.

A younger version of Aysha was laying on her bed, having a hard time falling asleep. She was too excited to sleep. Her parents had said that they were going to take her somewhere special tomorrow.

Aysha heard the soft cries of her father coming from what she assumed to be the living room. Aysha tiptoed toward her door and opened it to a crack to see both of her parents sitting on the couch.Their faces were turned toward each other. Her mother was rubbing her father's back and was trying to comfort him.

Why is Daddy crying? Aysha thought. Had she done something wrong? She'd cleaned up all her crumbs from when her mother had given her a cookie.

"She can't be human. Did you see her? That wasn't our daughter. Did you see what she became?" Her father sobbed.

Aysha was confused. What had she done? She tried to recall all the events of the day, but at a specific point in the afternoon, all her memories went blurry. She remembered her father bleeding for some reason, but the memory wasn't clear.

"She'll be okay. She's our daughter, okay? We won't let her grow up like everyone else. She'll be different. We won't let her become that, okay?" Her mother comforted her father, but Aysha kept wondering what had happened earlier that day.

She tiptoed back to bed and decided she would ask her parents what she'd done the next day.

She never did.