The boat was silent for a long, long time.

We seemed to have made a collective agreement that we weren't going to discuss what had just happened. Abigail's departure in the wake of such an emotional encounter left the atmosphere hollow.

I ran a hand through my hair, closing my eyes. Not for the first time, I wondered why we couldn't fight normal monsters. Normal villains that you read about in fairy tales. A slice of the sword and it was done. But we faced Tormentors and Tempters who twisted our minds until we weren't sure which of our feelings were real. A monster who was our friend, exposing our insecurities and fears.

Amarie was battling herself.

I sighed, exhausted. More than ever, I just wanted to go home. I usually didn't think much about it. Even when I had just started, had barely understood the crazy world I was in, I didn't dwell on the past. But...at that moment, I just wanted comfort. Safety. Routine.

I watched as Amarie curled up against the side of the boat, as far away from the rest of us as she could. I could see the dried tear tracks on her cheeks as she stared blankly into the distance. I felt a surge of guilt in my stomach. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how. Comfort wasn't exactly my forte. In fact, usually when I tried to comfort someone, I ended up saying something stupid and made the whole thing worse. But I couldn't just sit there and watch Amarie hurt all alone. She had been pushing away everyone who had come close.

Then I had an idea. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a certain rock golem and waited while he uncurled in my hand.

"Hello!" he said brightly. Deynan glanced up from nearby but looked back down.

"Hey," I said softly. "Can you do me a favor?"

Ore raised his stumpy arms happily, his personal way of nodding.

"You see that girl over there?" I whispered, gesturing subtly to Amarie. "Could you go talk to her? She really needs a friend right now."

A rocky smile split across his face and he raised his arms again. Then he hopped off my hand and waddled over to the quiet girl. She seemed surprised to see him there, but didn't immediately push him away like she had with the rest of us. She hesitated.

I held my breath.

Then Ore climbed up on her knee. I couldn't hear what he said, but it made her smile weakly.

I relaxed, feeling a little bit better. Maybe I was socially awkward, but I could at least do something.

"You know what I miss?" Deynan said suddenly. "Burgers. Good, hot, fresh burgers. The fast food kind that just FEEL unhealthy in your stomach. I could go for one of those."

I laughed. "Nice. I mean, I'm vegetarian, but nice."

"Dude, what?!" Deynan exclaimed. "How do you live!?"

I shrugged.

"Me too," Sophie said happily. I gave her an air fist-bump.

Deynan shook his head incredulously. "Well, respect. Because there's no way I could live like that."

"There's other fast food that is equally unhealthy and vegetarian," I pointed out.

Audrey nodded emphatically. "Ooh, like fries. The really greasy ones."

"Twinkies," Isaac said, amused.

"Doritos," Deynan added dreamily.

"Chick-fil-a milkshakes," Sierra added.

Isaac frowned. "What's Chick-fil-a?"

Sierra gasped. "Only the best fast food place in the history of the world! Have you never been? That's so tragic!"

"It's a Southern chain," I explained. "They don't have them in Seattle."

"Gotcha," Isaac replied. "Guess I'm missing out."

"You live in Seattle?" Sophie asked.

Isaac nodded. "Yep. It's rainy."

Sierra laughed. "So I've heard. Well, even if you don't have the best fast food restaurant in the known world, you do live in the capital of Starbucks. That has to count for something."

Isaac shrugged. "Not really a coffee guy. Hot chocolate is more my speed."

Sierra's eyes widened. "I live on coffee. Mochas, specifically."

"I'm a tea person," I added.

"Um? What's coffee?" Amarie asked quietly.

We looked up. She was still curled in on herself, but had lifted her head. Ore was sitting on her shoulder.

"Oh!" Sierra said brightly. "It's this amazing, totally unhealthy drink that helps keep you awake."

"It's a drug," Audrey said, deadpan.

"No, it's not!" Sierra protested. "It's made from natural beans!"

"Yeah, and those beans have caffeine," Deynan snickered. "It's a drug, Sierra."

"Don't get addicted," Isaac warned. "My mom is, and she has the worst withdrawal symptoms."

"Drink tea," I insisted. "It's good for you! And delicious!"

"Tea is just leaf water," Sierra said, crinkling her nose.

"Coffee is just bean water!" I protested.

Isaac laughed, and I smiled. The moment the sound rang out, my heart broke a little inside, splitting at the cracks of tension when I realized how long it had been since I last heard that sound.

"Ahoy!" Deynan cried dramatically. "News from the motherland!" He pointed behind my head.

I turned to see a familiar orange butterfly fluttering towards us. I grinned. It was the perfect time to hear a friendly voice.

Sierra raised her hand, and the butterfly landed on her finger lightly, before the glowing orb rose from its back. I went still, leaning slightly forward with anticipation.

Then I heard the sound of someone crying.

"Hey, Sierra," Tess said, her voice raw with exhaustion. The crying continued in the background. "Things here are...not great. I'm going to pass this over to Juan because I'm too tired to function. So...yeah."

I shared a concerned glance with Sierra, the jovial atmosphere quickly dissolving.

Juan began to speak, worn down and gravelly. "Hey. I guess I'll cut to the chase? We were attacked. By Damius, I mean. He sent those bat demons and strange octopus creatures after us. What are they called again?"

"Tormentors and Tempters," Tess grumbled.

A horrified chill ran down my spine.

"Right. Those. Well, as I'm sure you know, they messed with all the Myths and Legends. People were screaming, no one knew how to fight back...some Legends turned dark and destroyed parts of the castle. The West Tower is completely demolished, as well as the back wall of the dining hall."

Deynan cursed. Isaac closed his eyes, memories of darkness flashing across his face.

"The attack lasted hours. So many kids passed out from the emotional stress. Some of the Dark Legends attacked the unconscious students. No one's dead, gracias a Dios, but several are seriously wounded."

Audrey turned away, her fists tight and shaking.

"Luckily, Tess and Lee defeated two of the Tormentors. It was pretty incredible. Oh, and Harrison got one of the Tempters."

"It wasn't that incredible," Tess mumbled. "Besides, Lee helped me a lot with mine. She should get more credit."

"Anyway," Juan sighed. "We started to turn the tide. The Simones helped quite a bit, as well as Ms. Catalona. Then all of a sudden, all the demons just...left."

The crying in the background, which has grown quieter, suddenly returned full force.

"We thought it was over. The dark Legends detransformed and passed out from exhaustion. Then...Damius was back. Without the demons. He...well, he..."

"He possessed me again," Giselle's voice said, suddenly breaking free. It was immediately clear that she was the owner of the crying voice. "He possessed me, and I destroyed the courtyard, and a classroom, and set someone on fire."

"Alex is fine."

"I set him on fire!"

Juan sighed. "But you fought back! And won! He didn't control you for long!"

"That's not the point," Giselle said bitterly. "The point is he shouldn't be able to control me in the first place. I'm dangerous to everyone here and you should've locked me up ages ago!"

"I'm not opposed," Tess added.

"Tess," Juan said sharply. Then he sighed. "I'm not giving up on you, mi cielito. Don't give up on yourself just yet."

My heart ached. His voice was so gentle with her. In another life, another timeline, I could see them together, happy. But Damius and this Boss Man ruined that.

"Anyway," Tess cut up, "we should go. I'm going to check on Lee—what! She's hurt! Don't look at me like that, Marquez—I'm going to check on Lee, then take a nap for 100 years until I can wake up with a hot boyfriend and a job in politics."

"Tess, what?"

"Sleeping beauty? No? Get cultured, Marquez." She sighed. "So yeah. Hope you guys are doing better than we are. Not a high bar. Bye."

The orb sunk back into the butterfly's back. Sierra took it, a troubled expression on her face, and clipped it into her hair. We would respond later.

There was silence.

I glanced around, wondering who would be the first to speak. I certainly didn't want to be. The tension in the air was palatable.

Deynan swore.

Isaac sat down abruptly next to Sophie, who stared determinedly at the ground.

"This is bad," Audrey stated.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Deynan said bitterly.

She glared but didn't respond.

"I hope Giselle is alright," Sierra said quietly.

Audrey looked at her incredulously. "Seriously? That's your first concern? Giselle?"

Sierra frowned. "Is there something wrong with that? She was possessed and crying, Audrey."

Audrey shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, but people also got legitimately hurt, Sierra. Are you not worried about Lee? Or Alex, who was literally on fire?"

"Of course I am," Sierra replied, her voice gaining a slight edge. "But I'm also worried about the woman who has been emotionally abused for years for her power!"

"Hey guys," Isaac interjected suddenly, we're all a little stressed right now, let's just take a deep breath, yeah?"

Audrey didn't appear to listen. "Having a dark past isn't an excuse for kidnapping kids and attempting to blow up an entire island," Audrey scoffed. "She tried to kill us, Sierra. I don't understand why you have sympathy for her."

Sierra stood up, her shoulders tense. "I'm sorry I feel bad for someone who did horrible things under the control of someone else."

"She wasn't under his control the entire time," Audrey argued. "And yeah, I feel bad for her, but it's still not an excuse! Sometimes people do bad things!"

"That doesn't make them bad people!"

Audrey laughed sardonically. "I'm actually pretty sure it does!"

I looked in between the two girls and shot Isaac a helpless glance.

He stood up slowly. "Hey, hey, guys, maybe we should take a breather, alright?"

"No!" Audrey shouted. Isaac stepped back, stunned. Audrey looked fiercely back at Sierra. "I'm tired of her pretending like everyone is nice and wonderful if you just try hard enough! I bet she'd even defend Damius!"

"Maybe I would!" Sierra shouted back, her face turning red. "We don't know what happened in his past that makes him the way he is!"

"Does it matter?" Audrey asked, disbelieving. Her voice grew quieter, but retained its intensity. "He's still a bad person! Who does bad things! And if you go into a battle against—which you very well might!—believing he's just a troubled guy who can be 'fixed', you're going to get yourself hurt."

Sierra let out a frustrated huff and took a step forward. "Why not? It worked before! And don't we have to at least try and understand? If you view him as only an enemy, nothing will change!"

"And if you don't view him as an enemy, you're just naive! Your compassion can, and will, be used against you." Audrey's expression softened slightly. "I don't want you getting hurt, Sierra."

Sierra's eyes narrowed, and her words began to spill out of her mouth faster and faster. "Has it ever occurred to you that you think these things because you grew up in an environment where kindness was seen as weakness? Because it's not, Audrey."

Audrey laughed bitterly, her voice rising in pitch. "Well, forgive me for not growing up in a loving family that told fairytales when things got hard." She crossed her arms, her voice raising. "Has it ever occurred to YOU that you tell yourself everyone is good at heart because that's what you WANT to believe?!"

"Sorry I'm not a pessimist!" Sierra exclaimed. "Sorry I believe that no one is born plotting evil schemes!"

"You're naive!" Audrey shouted suddenly. She took a quick breath before snapping, "You're naive, and hopeless, and blinded by the idea that everything will end up sunshine and rainbows and people singing Kumbaya at the end of the day!"

"You're just bitter!" Sierra shouted, tears forming in her eyes. "The world wasn't kind to you so you think everyone is the same way! You're so stubborn that you can't comprehend the idea that maybe, just maybe, the world isn't as horrible as you think it is, so you push away every concept of kindness because you're afraid of love!"

"FINE!" Audrey screamed.

There was a moment of silence. Audrey took a breath.

Sierra looked stunned, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said. The boat was as still, the moment hanging in the air.

When Audrey spoke next, her voice was low and clipped. "Fine. Go ahead. Believe what you want. But don't come crying to me when someone destroys your perfect little fantasy." She turned and stormed to the other side of the boat.

"Audrey!" Sophie called, half-standing.

"Don't talk to me," Audrey snapped. "Any of you. You'll side with her anyway. Everyone always does."

Then she sat on the prow of the ship, staring out into the sea with eyes as empty as we all felt.

Sierra burst into tears.