Hey guys! Oh man, you probably hate me right now. Well, this chapter is longer than usual, so I hope that compensates? Yes? Please?

Here it is.
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I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. I stretched sleepily. I felt refreshed, better than I had felt in a long time.

"Audrey's still asleep," I heard a quiet voice say.

I turned my head and smiled. "Someday, I'm going to teach you how to sleep in."

Sophie smiled. "How exactly do you teach someone to sleep?"

I sat up, stretching more. "I'll find a way."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me," I heard Primrose say, "may I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," I called out. She opened the door quietly, stepped inside to curtsy, and looked at us nervously. "Lad- I mean, Seraphina, requests your presence at breakfast as soon as possible. And she says there's a change of clothes in the closet."

I swing out of bed. "Thanks. We'll be there in a few minutes." Primrose curtsied and left.

I turned to the sleeping form of Audrey. I put my hands on her shoulders and motioned with my head to Sophie to do the same. She did, with a small smile.

"1, 2, 3," I whispered. Then we shook her as hard as we possibly could. "AUDREEEEEY!!!!"

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Most of the princesses cried when we left. They were so sweet, practically overloading us with food. I got hugged so many times I lost count. Sophie looked like she was about to cry. Seraphina was crying so hard and steadily, she had to sit down. Audrey patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

Finally, we bid them farewell and continued into the forest.

"They were weird," Audrey muttered. Sophie looked shocked. "But they were so nice!"

"Nice, yes," Audrey agreed. "But also weird."

"I thought they were incredible," I whispered, thinking about how they had forgiven Giselle even after the horrors she had forced them to endure.

Audrey's face lit up. "Hey Sophie," she said excitedly. "Can I see the book?"

"Uh, sure," Sophie said, pulling the book out. "Why?"

"I want to see if I can play Tetris," Audrey said, grabbing the book and opening it sideways like how we had seen Seraphina do.

"Can you play Tetris online?" Sophie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can do anything online," Audrey replied.

Suddenly, I felt it. A twinge. A pang. Something was wrong.

"Hey guys," I said nervously.

They continued talking. "But how are you supposed to play Tetris on a book?" Sophie asked.

"I'll find a way."

"Guys, something is wrong," I said, now convinced. I stopped looking around wildly.

"But there are no buttons on a b-"

"Haha, success!"

"GUYS!" I shouted. They turned to look at me. "Something isn't right."

Suddenly, Sophie gasped. "There."

And sure enough, in the clearing ahead of us, was a tormentor.

My heart crept up into my throat. It was ugly, maybe the ugliest I've seen yet. It was black, black as night, and seemed to suck all the light out of the air, even though it was the middle of the day. It's horns were small, but curved forward, as if they were in the consistent position to kill. It had a long, slender, scaly tail, like a snake. And it's face. It's face looked like it had been smashed with a bowling ball, smushed in all the wrong places so that it barely resembled a face anymore. It grinned, which cause the face to contort grotesquely.

Then it turned, and walked slowly into the woods. I didn't have time to take a breath before it returned, dragging a girl.

My heart lurched with concern and flooded with anger and horror. This girl hadn't done anything wrong! This was our fight! My eyes widened in shock of the heartlessness of Giselle.

The tormentor threw the girl in front of him. She immeadiately curled into a ball. Her blonde hair, which likely once was beautiful, was soiled with streaks of mud, twigs and leaves. There were scratches on her arm, and holes in her jeans. She looked as if she had been dragged for miles she probably had. One of her shoes was missing.

Something in my subconscious woke up. I felt as though...I had seen this girl before.

Then she raised her head slowly, a tear rolling down her cheek, and I gasped. Sophie and Audrey did too.

It was Tess.

I felt as though I couldn't breathe. The tormentor had Tess. She looked as though she had been put through a blender. Broken, defeated, she was a different person. Gone was the look of superiority, the confidence in herself she seemed to hold tight. She had as much life in her eyes as a dead fish.

"Sierra..." she whispered, her brow creasing as if she didn't believe what she saw. Her eyes flickered to Audrey and Sophie. Something lit up in her eyes. "You got my message..."

"Is everyone ok? Back at the school?" Audrey whispered.

I was still frozen.

"Yeah..." Tess choked. "At least...I think." Audrey and Sophie breathed with some form of relief.

But I couldn't move.

Tess. She seemed so much more human, on the ground, no fight, no fire. She had been stripped of the persona she put on, and she was human. She had doubts, fears, uncertainties.

And then I cursed myself.

Of course she was human! How could she not be? How had I allowed myself to judge her, when, I of all people just wanted others to be happy?

Now that I thought back...she hadn't had any friends, had she? There was Lee of course, her shadow. But Lee wasn't really a friend if she didn't laugh and joke with her. She just stood there. My heart ached. Tess must have felt so alone!

I had learned so much about Sophie and Audrey on this journey...but what about Tess? What backstory did Tess have? She wasn't born wearing too much makeup and looking down on others. I knew nothing about her.

I felt cold all over. Then it felt like hot rocks were shooting all over my insides. I clasped my hands to my mouth. A mini thunderstorm had started in my gut. Was the ground shaking? I took a step. No. I was shaking. The world suddenly got very hazy.

"Sierra?" I heard Audrey say, though it sounded like she was talking through water. "Sierra, what's wrong? Sierra!"

"Audrey the tormentor!" Was that Sophie? "It's opened its eyes...and it's looking right at Sierra."

"So we aren't feeling the effects?"

"I don't think so."

Their voices were strangely calm.

"Sierra, snap out of it! It's the tormentor! It's got you on full blast!"

I suddenly couldn't stand it any longer. I surged forward--had I fallen to my knees?--and scrambled towards Tess. I practically fell on her, dropping to my knees and embracing her.

"I...am so sorry," I choked. "For everything, everything."

"Sierra..."she whispered. "I've known you for roughly two weeks. Two. That's it. And yet I envy you like I've never envied anyone else in my life."

I was speechless. What?

"You walk into a room, and it lights up," she continued. "I don't know if you notice, but you practically spawn smiles. It's like you're the sun...and no one can help but reflect your rays. It's incredible. I've never seen anything like it.

"You don't need to try to make friends, you just do. That twin girl, Anna, you know what she said when we were sitting in the boundary, waiting for you guys to save us? Well she was praying for you guys, I think. I asked her why. She said, 'Sierra's my friend...of course I want her to be safe.' Which was weird to me. Because I hadn't really thought you guys as friends before. I thought that, you know, there had to be an understanding. I didn't get just BEING friends. I don't have any friends. I thought maybe Lee, but I think I scare her more than anything." Her voice broke. "Well...I know Lee isn't my friend now. But that's not important."

She took a breath. "But what I seriously admire about you the most is your boundless joy. I have no idea where it comes from. I've been happy of course...but yours is a different kind of happiness. Real happiness, I think. Deeper than feelings. Sierra..."

I burst into tears. "I'm sorry for not being your friend...not knowing is no excuse. I was weak, weak, I didn't put up a fight to instantly hating you. I never, ever want to do that again. Please. Let me be your friend."

Tess was silent. My tears ceased, replaced by breathless anticipation.

Finally she spoke. "You're too nice for your own good you know. One day, it's going to hurt you."

She looked down. "But...I would be honored to be your friend."

She looked back up with a wry smile. "And I forgive you."

A feeling of joy like I had never known burst from my chest, like it could lift me off the ground. I embraced her. "Thank you," I whispered.

"Hey listen," she said, looking me in the eye. "This tormentor is the opposite of joy. I don't know what it is, but it's the opposite. That's why you're the only one who can defeat it."

I nodded. A few moments ago I would have denied it, but now I felt so incredibly happy, so relieved...I hadn't realized I had cared this much about Tess.

I stood up, now determined. I couldn't, however, stop the grin on my face from widening.

I was beauty.

I was vivacity.

I was light.

I laughed. My heart soared, and I followed it.

I shot into the air, purpłe butterfly wings sprouting from my back as if they had waited a lifetime to spring free. I whirled to face the tormentor.

Only this time, it wasn't looking at me. It was getting closer to Audrey and Sophie, who were staring with blank expressions. Audrey had her arms folded in a bored sort of way.

Suddenly, I realized something was wrong. They wouldn't just sit there the whole time...watching. Especially not with a tormentor around. I was surprised Audrey hadn't put a knife through its chest already.

"Sierra!" Tess shouted, her voice full of panic. She was standing. "Look!"

I turned quickly and gasped. Perched in a tree a few feet behind Tess, well concealed, though not good enough, was another tormentor. And I recognized this one.

Maroon and scaly, with leathery bat wings. Two twisted horns. Long and lanky.

Guilt.

I looked at Guilt, smiling nastily in the tree. I looked at the black tormentor, slowly approaching Audrey and Sophie, who didn't appear to care.

In a flash, I understood.

"Guilt...has been attacking me and Tess," I said slowly. "And the black one has turned its power on to Sophie and Audrey. So that one is the real opposite of joy!"

Which is why I didn't have much trouble transforming.

I sped towards the ground with little concern for my own safety. I had to get to my friends. I had.

I landed right in between the tormentor and my friends. "Listen, you have to ignore whatever you're feeling! Think of joyful things! Get rid of whatever thought is in your head! No--whatever feeling."

Audrey turned her blank face towards me. "Um...what?"

Sophie regarded me with an expression of skeptism that was completely out of character. "I'm not exactly feeling anything...and remind me why I care?"

I stared at them, shocked.

Audrey shrugged. "Don't get us wrong, if you give us a reason, we'll try...but I don't see any particular advantage to, um, think of joyful things."

"To defeat this tormentor!" I gestured wildly to the creature who had halted behind me.

Sophie sighed. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why we have defeat these stupid things in the first place."

"To get to Giselle," I said in disbelief.

Audrey bit her lip. "I don't really think we should go to Giselle anymore...not sure why we went in the first place..."

"TO SAVE OUR FRIENDS!" I exploded.

Sophie looked bored. "Sure. I don't know. I don't really care. I follow you guys."

I couldn't believe it. If they were under mind control, I would, but everything they were saying, every word, was based off an emotion they felt deep down.

They didn't seem to care at all.

I turned on the tormentor. "What have you done to them?" I hissed.

It was sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking amused. It looked me in the eye and shrugged.

It didn't seem to care either.

Didn't seem to care...

I understood in a flash.

"Indifference," I muttered. "That's what you are, isn't it?" It smiled larger as if to congratulate me. My eyes narrowed, and I pressed my lip into a thin line. I spun around to face Audrey and Sophie.

"Alright, listen up you two," I said fiercely. "I'm not taking no for an answer. You can sit here all day and tell me you don't care about the safety of our friends, but I just don't believe that. Audrey," I said turning to her. "You are one of the most passionate people I've ever met. You practically burn with a desire for justice, honesty, and you burn just as brightly in loyalty to your friends."

Audrey blinked in surprise, as if she had just noticed something strange.

I turned to Sophie. "And you. You have one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. You hold enough love in that heart to defeat an army, for the simple reason of how much you care. Indifference is so unlike you. Can't you feel it? Can't you tell that somethig is wrong?"

Sophie suddenly looked a little afraid, and nodded uncertainly.

I stared at them, straight in the eyes. "Taylor. Ashlyn. Talia. Amy. Lydia. Anna. Lynn. Lee. Mrs. Simone. Ms. Catalona. Our friends."

A spark seemed to show up in their eyes. I pushed forward.

"They're in trouble, and we're the only ones that can help. We have to get to Giselle. For our friends. So they can keep on living!"

I strode forward with determination, turned to face the tormentor, and grabbed their hands.

"We reject you!" I shouted. "You won't stop us from being happy anymore! Get out you filthy creature!"

I think it was me holding their hands that did it. Memories of us holding hands and rising into the air, as phoenixes, as fairies, as Myths, flooded back.

And when we rose into the air this time, tears of happiness streamed down my face. To this day, I'm not entirely sure why. But it was a raw, exhilarating kind of joy we felt that day.

We swooped at the tormentor, and I think a sort of golden orb surrounded us. But whatever it was, Indifference turned with a hiss, spread its black bat wings (which I hadn't noticed before), and took to the sky.

We landed on the ground, breathing hard, but laughing. Audrey caught my eye, and I noticed that her cheek was wet too. I looked at Sophie, who's eyes also shined with tears. We looked at each other and burst into hysterics again.

Suddenly, Tess was right next to us. "That was incredible," she muttered. Her smile was small, but sincere.

Then a loud sound broke through the air, like the crack of a whip. We jumped, and instantly the smiles on our faces dropped. Tess turned white. "No," she whispered hoarsely.

It was dead quiet.

Then someone started clapping. "Very good," a voice said. Shivers went up my spine. The voice was colder than ice. "I didn't expect you to get that. That was quite impressive, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it."

Tess made a gasping, choking sound. Sophie her eyes squeezed shut. Audrey was frozen.

I was trembling, but I turned to look. It was a woman, with hair so blonde it was almost white, and straight as a sheet. She wore a red, almost buisnesslike suit with a pencil skirt. Her red heels were several inches higher than usual.

She smiled at me, a horrible, terrifying smile. "Hello Sierra," she sang. She stared at me, smiling smugly. "Well," she said after a moment. "Aren't you going to say hello?"

I knew who she was. I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to confirm my suspicions. But I took a breath.

It came as barely a whisper. "Giselle."
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:-) love you guys too.

~Paint_splatt