Stormy belongs to GeekyCookie1

~~~~

"We have to talk."

The four words Aliya found herself dreading. She was already pressed for time and she needed to make it to the portal before midnight. "What is there to talk about?" she asked, only to instantly regret her question.

"When were you going to tell us about striking out on your own to the human realm?" everyone (excluding Castor and Félix) began as Aliya blinked. "Wait, the only person I told was Castor and Félix knew ahead of time, so how do the rest of you know?" she inquired as everyone (excluding Castor and Félix) glanced at each other.

"Well, I told Lillian and Jaxon, who told Amara and Issac, who then told Stormy," Félix quickly summarized as the others collectively nodded. "Now with the logistics out of the way, why don't we start with the obvious?" Castor began as Aliya glared at him, as she wasn't used to everyone siding against her.

"Which is...."

"You can't go to the human realm by yourself," Stormy firmly stated, much to the girl's disappointment. "But—" Aliya began, trying to protest but Amara and Issac shook their heads. "I second Stormy. It's extremely dangerous to go on your own," Amara insisted.

"But Jesse got to go by himself!" Aliya finally managed to get out as she sighed. "So, why can't I?" she followed up as Stormy and Amara began opening their mouths, but Issac stepped forward. "My dear, the answer is simple. His parents are idiots who can't pay attention long enough to know when their son went missing or learn enough about him to know his possible locations," he sharply continued before placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"In short, you're not going alone because unlike Jesse's parents, we actually love you," Issac softly finished as Aliya dejectedly sighed. Issac frowned before kneeling to her, hoping to cheer his daughter up.

He (much like everyone else) knew she had good intentions, but it was just Issac could not take Aliya getting hurt anymore, especially whenever a situation involves the love faerie. The first time she got involved with Jesse after their separation, the incident nearly led to the death of his daughter and each time after that only seemed to carry similar results.

Issac tried liking Jesse (for Aliya's sake) but by this point, he knew the love faerie was causing his daughter heartache now. Each decision Jesse has made led to Aliya hurting (whether that meant physically, verbally or emotionally) and the only reason he and Stormy didn't out-right get their revenge against him was because Aliya insisted that Jesse was capable of changing for the better.

Only... Issac and Stormy weren't too sure of that. If anything, they weren't even sure if Aliya should even maintain contact with the love fairy anymore. Issac hated to admit it because he genuinely wanted to see the good in Jesse, but maybe... Aliya and Jesse were better off being apart.

"Love, I admire your spirit, but at least take someone with you," Issac softly suggested, warmly smiling, which only made Aliya feel worse. She knew everyone was only looking out for her safety, but that meant having to keep an eye on more people when all Aliya wanted to do was find Jesse, bring the boy back home and get his parents out of her hair!

Aliya knew she could succeed on her own, but no one was going to let her go... Unless, she was willing to compromise. She didn't want to bring anyone (as she still wanted to go alone) but in truth, she knew everyone was right. At least with someone going with her, she wouldn't have to face the dangers ahead of them alone. Plus, she would have company from her closest friends, which was always nice.

"Okay, if I took someone with me, then will I be able to go?" Aliya asked as the adults in the room collectively looked at each other before nodding. "Yes," Félix, Stormy and her parents answered. "In that case, I'll take Jaxon and Lillian with me," she answered as Jax excitedly fist-bump the air while Lillian rolled her eyes from her sibling's reaction.

Softly chuckling, Aliya then made her way to Castor, who had indirectly singled himself out. "Cas, I would ask if you wanted to tag along, but with your injuries—" she began as Castor tried to mask his disappointment by shrugging. He trusted Jaxon and Lillian, but he wanted to tag along too.

If only Iris hadn't been so intent on making him "pay" for siding with "the enemy," he would have been able to join them. "It's fine. Besides, I'm pretty sure your dad would kill me if I took a similar route to you and aggressively forced my healing to take place," he insisted as Aliya playfully made a pout.

"For the record, my aggressive route is very effective," Aliya confidently claimed, much to the illusionist's 'surprise'. "Uh-huh," he mumbled. "You are too accident-prone for your aggressive route to be considered effective," he said as Aliya laughed. "I prefer the term 'trouble-magnet', thank you very much," she playfully shot back, warmly smiling in his direction.

~~~~~~~~

"Aliya..."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so invested in getting Jesse back? I know it would get his parents to leave you alone, but if they cared, surely Jesse should be their problem?" Castor curiously asked, trying to remain as polite as possible when referring to the love fairy.

Personally, Castor despised Jesse and could care less, but because Aliya still considered the love fairy as her best friend, he chose to respect her wishes and say nice (ish) things about Jesse around her.

"You're right. Jesse should be Shiron and Talia's problem, but his parents hardly paid attention to the love fairy when we were growing up. So in hindsight, his parents don't really know anything about him. If that was the case, then there wouldn't be a need to waste their resources searching for their son here, but...."

"Because his parents don't believe you...."

"I'm mainly taking this opportunity to prove his parents wrong. Shiron and Talia think his disappearance was my doing after all, so when me, Jaxon and Lillian bring Jesse back home and he admits that he ran away on his own, maybe his parents can finally give me a break," she finished before glancing at her hands.

"Besides, Jesse is still my best friend despite everything. Maybe it's just a terrible habit of mine, but anytime I ever saw him getting hurt, my first instinct was to always protect him and let him know upfront that I would always be there for him," she continued.

"I guess since we were just getting back into talking with each other, I thought maybe..." she trailed off with a solemn sigh. "You thought he would have told you of his plans to run away?" Castor finished as she solemnly nodded. "It would have been nice, but yeah, I really did," she answered.

"Since we're on the subject of Jesse... can I ask another question?" Castor asked as Aliya nodded. "Okay, but don't laugh now. I'm not saying this will happen, but knowing you in such a short amount of time, the possibility of you getting hurt might happen," he began as Aliya playfully rolled her eyes.

"Do you personally think Jesse would be able to protect you and keep you from harm's way by going through the same lengths as you if he knew you were in danger?" Castor inquired, as Aliya instantly brushed off his worries with a cheerful grin.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I think so? Jesse is my best friend. He would definitely return the favor if I was ever in danger," Aliya confidently stated, her tone full of hope.

He already knew Aliya was willing to do anything to ensure Jesse's safety (the birthday bash crash takeover proved that much to him) but would the love fairy actually do the same for her? Personally, Castor didn't think so. He could tell from the birthday bash crash takeover that Jesse (under the influence of Iris but nonetheless) was too thrilled in seeing his best friend get hurt.

Castor couldn't even wrap his idea around Jesse failing to break out of Iris's control when he was still able to break out of Iris's control because Castor had wholeheartedly chose to trust Aliya's words than pursue the lies Iris was selling him. So, if this was case... why didn't Jesse end up doing the same?

Did Jesse prefer the lies Iris told him over his best friend's words? Or did Jesse not have enough faith in his best friend? Did Jesse even care about Aliya or was he just stringing her along because he knew she would always be there, making an excuse to cover his actions and forgiving him all the same?

Castor knew his thoughts on Jesse were based on his newfound protectiveness over Aliya, but for her sake, he hoped Aliya was right about Jesse and wished things would work out in her favor.

"Aliya."

"Hmm?"

Castor thought about revealing the truth about the way he felt towards her, maybe even getting the courage to try asking her on a date in the future. It was too soon, yes, but at least he would know for sure if Aliya felt the same way towards him. But once Castor recalled the way Aliya so desperately wanted to find Jesse, he ended up changing his mind.

Castor didn't want to distract Aliya from her mission nor did he want Jesse to think of him as some threat to his love life (even if Castor secretly thought pretty low of the love fairy), so glancing at his Avalonian necklace and back at Aliya, he knew what to do.

"Here," he said, unclasping his Avalonian necklace as he saw Aliya's eyes soften at the gesture. "Your Avalonian necklace? But it's yours. I possibly couldn't—" she began, trying to protest her way out of the offer as he only shook his head, a playful smile on his lips.

"Aliya, you can't go inside the portal with an Avalonian necklace on, even with Lillian and Jaxon having their necklaces, you would still be locked out," he explained. "So, I'm giving you mine," he began, before offering to place the necklace on her.

When she had accepted his offer and held her hair up, Castor clasped his necklace on the girl, observing the way his necklace responded to her by turning into a light golden shimmer. Perhaps it was the first time he gave his necklace to someone else, but as far as he knew, color changes in the gemstone were not common.

"Besides I'll know to trust him when you personally give me the necklace back. It'll show me that Jesse cared about you enough to keep you safe," he continued as Aliya nodded, understanding his idea.

"Okay, that's fair," she softly reasoned. "Alright well... good luck on your journey," he concluded, beginning to walk away. "Wait," Aliya began, gently holding his hand but when the two made eye contact, she immediately tried releasing his hand. She tried apologizing to the knight, but Castor kept their hands together, insisting that he would be able to focus his attention on her better.

"Yeah?" he began, moving closer to her as Aliya shyly glanced away before smiling softly in his direction. "Cas... thank you for everything," she began as Castor nodded, a light grin on his face. "Yeah, no —" he casually began as Aliya shook her head, cutting him off.

"I don't just mean saving my life or lending me your Avalonian necklace either. I meant in terms of coming into my life in general. I thought I had you figured out, but then you proved me wrong and I'm glad. You're different from the others and I like that about you, Cas."

Knowing that he began growing on her in the same way she did to him, Castor couldn't stop himself. "To be fair, I thought the same thing about you too. Everyone insisted you were just some nuisance when I came here and I was foolish enough to believe them," he began as Castor internally laughed at his poor decisions.

"Only now, I can see you clearly and well..." Castor found himself trailing off as his hair lightly glowed. "You're unlike anyone I ever met before, Aliya. You are truly something else and I would love to get to know you more," he softly said as Aliya's eyes softened, her hair now glowing for a change.

"Well, once you are fully recovered from your injuries, maybe I... I could take you to the human realm and we could explore together," she shyly offered, now fidgeting with her hands as Castor smiled from her response.

"I could even give you a tour of whatever city the portal takes us and show you around since I'm practically a local among the humans," she teasingly continued. "But, if you're not interested, I can—" she quickly added as Castor chuckled from seeing this new side of Aliya.

"Sure. I'll like that," he softly answered, now in a dream-like state when he saw Aliya's smile grow brighter upon hearing his answer, which made his heart melt at the sight of her smile. Castor found himself enjoying seeing the girl happy more than he initially thought.

"But I still want my souvenir when you come back," Castor chimed in as Aliya happily laughed at his response. As he silently listened to her and took in the moment, Castor found himself frequently falling in love with hearing the sound of her laughter, a soft laugh that often sent his heart melting.

Oh, Castor knew he was definitely in over his head with Aliya, but he didn't care. Seeing the girl happy and content with herself was good enough for him, even if that meant just being friends with her. He would set aside his feelings towards her if it meant giving her the world. It was fine; at least, he would have her in his life.

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~

After pulling away from each other with their hands coming undone, Aliya regrouped with Jaxon and Lillian just in time for Félix to reveal his wand. "Give me your necklace," he advised as Lillian went first. As Jaxon unclasped their sister's necklace, they gave the necklace to Libby, who then gave her necklace to Félix.

With a touch of his wand, the three friends observed the way her necklace's gemstone changed from a bright teal to a lighter color. "As long as you keep your necklace on, you should be able to retain your human form without re-entering the portal," he explained, giving Lillian back her necklace. As Jaxon clasped their sister's necklace back on, Lillian repeated the process for Jax, who then gave their necklace to Félix.

Once again, the three observed the way their necklace's gemstone changed from a dark maroon to a lighter shade of maroon. "The same applies to you as well," he continued, giving Jaxon back their necklace as Lillian placed her sibling's necklace back on them.

"What happens if one of us takes off our necklace or lose it in the process?"Jaxon curiously asked. "Your Avalonian form would end up being revealed to everyone around you, which makes you highly susceptible to hunters and assassins who may seek your blood, powers or both," Félix plainly explained, observing the way the two siblings look at each other in concern.

"On second thought, is it safe to tag along?" Lillian immediately asked as Jaxon nudged her. "Come on, it's for Jesse," Jax reminded her as Lillian laughed. "What has he ever done for me? I'm only tagging along because you're an idiot and Miss Trouble-Magnet over there will get herself killed without our help," she only half-jokingly stated as Aliya and Jaxon rolled their eyes.

"Aliya, since the Avalonian necklace belongs to Castor, your case will end being different. However, everything I told Lillian and Jaxon still apply," Félix began before placing a rose gold bracelet on Aliya afterwards, which transformed into a light golden color.

"This will be your way of retaining your human form without needing to re-enter the portal," he advised her as Aliya stared at the bracelet before nodding. "Got it," she said before looking around. "I guess that's everything then," she insisted as Amara, Stormy and Issac immediately hugged the three, smothering each one with love and affection.

Aliya, Lillian and Jaxon all respectively groan from the affection but once the three heard Castor and Félix laughing, that's when they all collectively decided to rope the knight into this. Since Aliya was the closest to the two, she had no problem pulling Castor and Félix into the "love fest" as the three liked to call it.

In turn, Amara, Stormy and Issac had no problem giving the same treatment to the knight when the three were freed. As the trio watch the knight struggle, the trio looked at each other before grinning amongst themselves as the tables turned. However when Félix got the same treatment, the trio only laughed harder as Castor and Félix finally managed to pull away, eyeing the trio who were still laughing.

"You guys are terrible and I'm too old for this," Félix insisted as Stormy, Issac and Amara began laughing. "When y'all meet my mom, I'll make sure to return the favor," he continued as the trio brushed his statement off. "Especially you," he added, pointing at Aliya, who innocently smiled at his response. "I will take that as a challenge then," she teasingly countered back as Castor laughed. "You're on," he said, the two eyeing each other in a playful manner.

Their interaction was small, but it was enough to get Amara, Stormy, Félix and Issac looking at each other. With Castor being in their company for a few days, maybe the trio and Félix would get some answers for his and Aliya's budding 'friendship' (which was code between them for a potential romance as anyone could tell from a mile away knew Castor had a thing for their daughter).

"Please stay safe and keep an eye on each other," Amara softly advised the trio, who all promised to obey her rules. "Also, try to come back in one piece," Issac firmly stressed to the trio. "I might be a healer, but if all of you get hurt, I'll have my days stretched out for me," he insisted, though his eyes were fixedly trained on his daughter, who actively pretended not to notice by searching around the dining hall.

"Oh, would you look at the time, we should really get a move on if we want to catch the portal on time," Aliya interjected, ignoring her father's stares. "Alright, I guess this is farewell then," Jaxon began as Issac ruffled their hair. "I'll see you in a few days," Lillian told Amara, who warmly hugged the girl.

"I want to hear everything about your adventure when you come back, my little flower," Stormy softly said as the two finished their hug. "Okay, that sounds like a plan," Aliya insisted, preparing to go when Stormy had caught a glimpse of some kind of marking on her hand.

"What is this?" Stormy curiously inquired, grabbing her niece's hand when she saw a circular mark with the "A" initial engraved on her skin. "Wait, isn't this the marking of a iron marker?" Stormy asked, noticing when the girl pulled her hand away. "It's nothing important," she insisted as Stormy skeptically eyed the girl. "Aliya," she sternly began, knowing that was all it took to break her niece.

"It's a long story, but I promise to tell you if you don't tell them what you saw straight away," Aliya answered, now lowering her voice as she peered over her shoulders to see her parents holding Lillian and Jaxon close. She softly smiled to herself as the two siblings were basically part of the family.

"When you come back, you're telling the three of us what happened," Stormy firmly stated as Aliya nodded, surrendering her defeat as she knew it was impossible to hide stuff from her aunt. "Okay," she truthfully answered as the trio were finishing up the last of their farewells.

As Aliya and Castor hugged once more, Lillian tugged on the girl's arm. "Alright, now we really have to go," Lillian persisted as Aliya laughed, softly waving to Castor on the way out. "Aliya, wait!" he quickly called out as Lillian silently groaned, releasing her friend for a split second.

"Good luck," he softly told her. "I know everything will work out for you, Lillian and Jaxon in the end," he added as Aliya smiled warmly at his response. "Thanks," she sincerely said as Lillian reclaimed the girl's arm. "Now we go," Lillian insisted as Aliya and Castor laughed.

"Have fun with Stormy, Félix and my parents!" Aliya called out to the knight, before she, Lillian and Jaxon became out of sight. As Castor softly sighed, he turned around to see the four adults staring at him. "We should definitely have a talk," Issac insisted as Castor awkwardly chuckled, knowing this was going to be a long three days for him.

~~~~~~

As the trio made their way towards the main portal, Lillian quickly volunteered herself as lookout. So when she saw Avalonians up ahead, the half-hybrid faerie quickly pulled her sibling and Aliya down into the bushes.

"Find the boy and kill him. If you see any other Avalonians, exterminate them but spare the girl. I need her back here alive," the first figure ordered, handing the second figure a bag of coins who nodded. "I will make sure the mission is a success," the second figure answered before heading into the portal.

When the first figure walked off, Lillian gave the nod to move as Jaxon and Aliya stood up. "Who would want Jesse dead?" Jaxon immediately asked as Lillian scoffed. "Don't you know that love faeries are always making enemies?" Lillian insisted as Aliya's eyes lingered towards the dark patch the first figure had entered.

In that moment, Aliya felt her hand burn as she silently winced at the pain. When she had looked up again, she saw a pair of green eyes staring back at her. Glancing down, she saw the circular mark glowing but when she had looked back again, the pair of eyes were gone and the glowing stopped.

"Aliya? Is everything okay?" Lillian curiously asked as Aliya held onto her hand before turning around. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I thought I saw someone," Aliya answered as Lillian nodded.

"Well, come on. The portal is just up ahead," Lillian insisted, before seeing her sibling get a head start. "Hey, no fair!" Lillian called out, flying after them as Aliya chuckled before her eyes lingered on the dark patch.

"Atticus, what do you really want out of this?" she asked herself, glancing once more at the mark engraved on her skin. Why would the advisor go through the effort of assisting her, only to summon an assassin to kill Jesse? She tried to understand his logic, but so far, nothing came to mind.

"Aliya!"

"I'm coming!" Aliya called out, before looking at the area one last time. "I'm coming," she repeated, lowering her voice as she stared at her hand. "Whatever you're planning, Atticus, it isn't going to end well," she mumbled to herself before heading off to catch up with Lillian and Jaxon.

"Are y'all ready for this?" Aliya asked upon approaching the siblings. "I don't think we have much of a choice," Lillian pointed out as Jaxon chuckled. "Anything to help out Jesse. Now, let's go!" Jaxon remarked, marching straight into the portal as Lillian rolled her eyes, following after them.

Aliya half-expected the portal to close on her at once, but after she held the Avalonian necklace Castor lend her to the keypad, the mist in the tree trunk faded, allowing the girl to enter. Sighing in relief, she glanced over her shoulders one last time before entering the portal, the mist now forming around the tree.

"Here goes nothing."

~~~~~~~~~

When Aliya came out from the other side, she immediately felt her Avalonian marks fade away. In place of those marks, a birthmark formed on her left dimple. "Okay, how are—" she began, only to cut herself off when she saw Lillian and Jaxon making robotic movements.

"What are you two doing?" she asked as Lillian and Jaxon blinked. "Blending in, duh," the two siblings answered, trying to raise their arms when Aliya politely lowered their arms. "Humans don't act like robots, for starters," she began.

"Really? But I thought—"

"The books on human history lie, Jax," Aliya finished as Jaxon gasped upon hearing her statement while Lillian facepalmed. "You take that back!" Jaxon defensively exclaimed as Aliya shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat," she said as Jaxon blinked. "What?" they asked, much to the girl's dismay.

"It's a human expression. It means—"

"Jax! Aliya! Come check this out!" Lillian exclaimed as Jaxon and Aliya looked at each other before following the girl's lead. "I found this guy by himself. He looks about our age too," she explained as Jaxon and Aliya frowned. "Poor kid," the two said in sync before Aliya stepped forward.

When she saw the boy with his head down, Aliya noticed the torn streaks on his denim jacket, jeans and sneakers. However when she approached him, she saw streaks of black roots forming, the pink in his hair slowly fading out.

"Hey, kid. Where are your parents?" she politely asked, only to frown when the boy didn't answer. "Hey—" she began once more, only to cut herself off when the boy had lift his head. She could visibly see the redness in his eyes and wet, clear streaks across his freckled face. She frowned, wondering what happened to this guy.

As Aliya stared closer though, that's when she saw the boy's eyes glowing as a faint pink hue crossed over his eyes before returning a normal shade of brown as she blinked, stepping back as the girl's eyes widened.

"Jesse?"