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Pilot Special - Part II
The Rise of the Lady Bone Enchantress

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Real Language Index
Baba- Dad {in Arabic}, Apá - Dad {in Spanish}
Mija - Daughter {in Spanish}, Mamá - Mom/Mother {in Spanish}, Tía - aunt {in Spanish}

Familia - Family {in Spanish}, Buena Noches - Good night [feminine plural - meant to be used in terms of later on in the day/evening; in Spanish]

Omi - Mom/Mother {in Arabic}

Nieta - Granddaughter {in Japanese}

Chai - Tea (in Hindi) ~> side note: When referring to chai, I will only say chai as "chai tea" indicates a flavor of tea, which is not the case due to its literal translation meaning tea. As such, to say "chai tea," you are saying "tea" twice and to avoid that, I will only be using chai. Thanks!

Fictional/Avalonian Language Index
Shiszi - traitor, Shon - son

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⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS ⚠️
Includes, but is not limited to, the following: explicit display of murders {low}, explicit display of gore/blood {low}, explicit display of gory actions {low} and explicit display of torture {low-to-medium}

Quick Author's Note: These are all of the trigger warnings I could think of based on all that occurs in the second part of the special, but if you see something potentially triggering, then please let me know and I'll be more than happy to include it here. Thanks!

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I'm in trouble.

As she stared at her friend and observed the way his eyes continued to glow, she found her eyes drifting toward his right hand, where she saw her friend opening his palm. As he did, she began to see crystals forming and as the crystals began to glow, she realized he was about to blast her with his crystals.

Yep. I'm definitely in trouble.

So when his smirk grew and he began to push his hand toward her, the fire fae silently accepted her fate when—

"Ember!"

When she and her friend heard her name being called, they glanced over to see her friend's daughter as she emerged from the crystallized misty, shadowy flame-like smoke, which dissipated after she made her presence known to her and her father.

After that, the girl stood directly across from them. In that moment, the fire faerie's eyes instantly lit up as Ember excitedly grinned at the sight of her other friend, having been thrilled about seeing her friend's daughter survive the blast and relieve to know the girl was okay.

At least, she thought the girl was okay... until she saw the girl exhaustively fall onto the ground, which made her nervous in the moment as her grin vanished and the gleam in her eyes faded at the sight of the girl's current state.

"Aliya!"

Not long after she called out to her, she saw her friend's father angrily clenching his fist as she saw the crystallization in his right palm go away as she saw him direct his focus from her to his daughter, who was now assuring her she was okay as she stood up, only to fall again.

"Actually, just give me a minute." his daughter insisted, lingering on the ground for a bit before she picked herself up again as she held onto right arm and began rotating her upper shoulder bone for a bit until Ember saw she was satisfied with the way her arm was moving.

It was only then that she saw her friend stop moving her arm as she started to grin a bit right around the same time her friend's father looked away from his daughter and held onto his head before he winced.

"Ike?" Ember concernedly asked, now observing as he momentarily regained his light honeysuckle eyes before the light blue, almost pale-like color took full control of him once more. As soon as that happened, she saw him take his hands off of his head as he turn to face his daughter, who was now rotating her left arm.

"Okay, I think I'm good to go." her friend followed up, now taking her focus away from her arm as the fire faerie concernedly looked at her friend's daughter and sighed as she face-palmed herself.

"Aureus!"

Caught off-guard by the sharp, sudden aggression in his tone, Ember looked to see her friend's father looking at his daughter as he growled at the sight of her.

Aureus? Wait... He doesn't actually think his daughter is Aureus Braveheart now... right?

"Come to finish what you started? Well, you can try, but I'll crush you where you stand!" Issac angrily snapped as she puzzlingly stared at him while as his daughter just mutely stared at him, as if the girl was also trying to figure out what was going on with him.

Okay, he does. He definitely thinks that Aliya is the seeker from his past.

"Aureus?" she puzzlingly repeated before she blinked and shook her head. "Ike, I think you have the wrong person because that's not the seeker, that's..." she began before trailing off when she caught a glimpse of his Avalonian amulet, which she saw cleverly blending into his attire as she saw his gemstone glowing a light blue, almost pale-like color.

Huh. Well, that explains why me and Aliya couldn't see his amulet beforehand.

As she looked at him and back at his daughter, her eyes widen as she saw the latter clenching his fist and glaring at the girl in his range.

"Issac—" she quickly tried to say, but before she could get the rest of her sentence out, he began to charge at his daughter as she could only look onto her friend's newfound situation in panic as she saw her friend's father get nearer.

"Aliya! Look out!"

Although she noticed that her friend tried to heed her friend's warning when the girl attempted to dodge her father's incoming attack, he was simply faster than her as he threw the first lunge at her.

Ouch!

When Issac punched his daughter's face, Ember saw the girl tumbling through the air before she fell onto the ground. However when she felt the ground beneath her shake, she saw Aliya getting thrown into the air before her father teleported and proceeded to throw another lunge towards her as she began to fall mid-air.

Not long after, Issac teleported again and delivered another hit to her as he threw her above the foundry's ceiling before he struck her again. This time, as she looked on, she saw that he had struck her back by forcefully punching her back with his fists and he did, she saw his daughter promptly crashing onto the ground once more as she quietly listened to the girl weakly winced.

From there, Ember saw her friend menacingly towering over his daughter, who used her arms to lift herself slightly off of the ground with her back now facing her. So when she saw her friend preparing to lunge at his daughter once more, her eyes widened as she looked on in panic and fear.

"Aliya!"

As soon as she called out to her friend and raised her fist, Ember saw a whirl of reddish-orange flames escaping from her fist and heading directly toward the pipes, which burst and caused a series of debris to fall onto Issac as she blinked at the sight in disbelief and shock.

Confused by what happened, she looked at her fist and as she opened her fist, she saw a bright reddish-orange flame glowing in her palm brightly, causing her eyes to widened as she excitedly cheered.

"Oh my gods, my powers are back! Yes! I knew Aithne wouldn't forsake me!" Ember excitedly cried out before she cut her excitement short as she stared at her left hand again in wonder and curiosity.

"But... how was I able to do that just now?" she slowly followed up, glancing from her hand and towards Issac before her eyes drifted to Aliya, who was now attempting to stand when she saw the girl start to fall.

"I can figure that out later. Right now, I need to help out my friend!" she told herself and as she flick her wrist, she saw the flame vanished as she activated her wings. As soon as her wings became activated, a light shimmer formed and not long after, she started to morph into a ball of reddish-orange flames. So in her form, the fire faerie quickly teleported to her friend and as she regained her physical form, she caught her friend from falling right as the reddish-orange flames quickly swirled around her and left, leaving her unharmed as she smiled warmly toward her friend, who exhaustively looked at her.

"Ember?" her friend faintly asked, trying to stand on her own again when she proceeded to fall, to which she quickly steadied the girl to keep her from actually falling over. "Hey, it's okay. I got you." she softly assured her friend, who gave a gracious but tired smile as she nodded.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

As she continued to steady the girl and observed the way her friend began to tiredly lean on her for support, she glanced toward the debris currently trapping Issac as she sighed at the sight.

"I didn't mean for all that to happen to him, I swear. I just didn't want him to actually crush you like he said he would." she now explained as she saw her friend mutely but weakly nodded as the girl acknowledged her words.

"Well, technically not you, but still." she followed up as her friend gave a tired chuckle. "I get it." her friend tiredly but lightly countered as she sighed. "I still can't believe he sees you as Aureus though." she followed up as her friend bitterly but weakly scoffed.

"Yeah, well we got his omi to thank for that." her friend faintly, but bitterly added as she huffed. "You're right, and unless we find a way to break your grandmother's hold over him, then whatever Aureus did to him in the past, you're going to pay the price for it." she added before she huffed, now glancing away from her friend as her eyes went back to the debris, which was now being scattered around as he emerged from the rubble. As he did, she caught a glimpse of the amulet again as her face hardened.

"Ike's amulet." she sharply but abruptly added as she sighed. "His amulet?" she heard her friend repeating as she nodded.

"Yeah. If I had to guess, then I would say that's where your grandmother is controlling him and it wouldn't be entirely too farfetched if the same thing occurred in Phantom's case when he succeeded in possessing Ike twice." she explained before she sighed again and observed as her friend looked at the bit of her father's exposed Avalonian amulet hanging over his neck.

As she did, Ember noticed her friend's light amber eyes abruptly vanish. Rather in the place of her friend's natural eye color, she saw a bright golden honey color taking over her friend's eyes as she stared at the sight with a bit of wonder.

That's new.

"You're right. She's controlling him from his amulet and she still has her priorities set on having you, so she's getting him to get rid of me since I'm the only thing that stands in the way from him being able to complete his task." her friend added as the fire faerie saw her friend's bright golden honey eyes revert back to her natural light amber color.

"How did you get all that?"

"When I staring at his amulet just now, I saw a few bones and a skeleton's head floating in his gemstone and not long after, I heard her whispering the words kill and destroy and get the girl." her friend simply explained, answering her question as she blinked at her response.

"When I looked at his amulet, all I saw was just his gemstone matching the same color as his outfit and his eyes." she countered as she blinked. "So, how were you able to see and hear all that when I couldn't?" she followed up as she saw the girl shrugging. "I'm not sure, but what I do know is if we don't do anything soon, then he's never going to stop so long as she continues to have her hold on him." her friend firmly state as she nodded.

"Right, so our best bet of freeing him from her hold is destroying his amulet." she said, right as the two heard a dark, sinister crackle.

As they glanced over at the sound of his crackle, they saw her friend's father intensively lock eyes onto his daughter in a dark, aggressive manner right as he began charging at them... or more so, the girl beside her.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Ember heard her friend say as she felt the girl pulling away from her as she raised her fists. "Time for round two." her friend confidently followed up when she placed her arm over her friend and stepped forward.

"No. If you take any more hits at the rate he's throwing them, then you're never going to last." Ember firmly stated as she heard her friend scoffing.

"I'm aware of that, but I don't care because all I know is my grandmother isn't getting to you and if I got to put my life on the line to ensure that doesn't happen, then so help me, that's what I'm going to do because your safety is more important here." her friend had firmly stated as she saw the girl lowering her arm before she began walking past her. As soon as she did, the fire fae grabbed onto her friend's arm and stopped her from moving any further.

"Aliya, I'm not letting you throw your life away to keep me safe." she firmly stated as her friend dismissively scoffed. "Well, it's too late for that, Emby, because I already decided, so let go." the fire faerie heard her friend firmly counter back when she shook her head.

"Ember—"

"No. You're not fighting him alone because this time, I'm fighting with you." she firmly stated as she saw her friend's annoyed look quickly turn to one of confusion. "What?" her friend puzzlingly asked before the realization dawned on her.

"No! No! I'm not letting you go through with this!" her friend firmly exclaimed now as she only looked at her.

"Aliya—"

"No! Even if his omi needs you and he fights you with less strength, you're still at risk of getting hurt and the last thing I need is someone else endangering their life for me!" her friend firmly protested as she continued to look at her.

"I'm aware of the risks, but you can't take more of his hits, so I'm going to distract him and try to get you an opening." she further explained, now releasing her friend's arm as she saw her friend looking at her in disbelief.

"Ember—" her friend began but she interrupted her as she began to see Issac getting closer to reaching the girl. "You'll have one shot—" she firmly followed up when her friend interrupted her.

"Ember—" her friend persistently began when she interrupted her again as she turned to face her.

"—so make it count." she firmly finished, momentarily looking at her friend before she spread out her wings, creating a gust of wind that made Aliya fall as she took off, leaving behind her friend as she began to pursue her other friend, who was now gaining speed with every move that he made.

Once Issac grew closer and he was within her range, she deactivated her wings and as she fell, she extended her arm and allowed the flame to consume her fist before she jumped down and punched the ground.

As she did, she created a explosive blast that sent him backwards as he crashed toward the back of the foundry, causing more debris to fall around him and scatter across the floor as a dust storm formed.

Deactivating her flames, she stood up and began shielding herself from the dust storm right as she started to hear a series of dark chuckles.

"You can fight all you want, but you will meet your fate soon enough!" he had sharply exclaimed and as he spoke, she eeriely heard his mother's voice talking alongside him right as she saw his eyes glowing brightly amidst the dust.

As soon as his eyes glowed, a series of light blue, almost pale-like crystals surged from the ground. Quickly, she began activating her wings and launched herself up into the air as she saw the crystals striking the spot she was originally at.

"Ha! You missed!" she taunted, but when the dust had settled, Issac was nowhere to be seen as she intensively looked at the spot he previously occupied. As she did, she began to hear a series of low-hushed, eerie giggles that made her tense up.

"Oh, child. Brisha didn't miss. All he needed to do was draw you out and now, you are exactly where he needs you to be." she heard the Lady Bone Enchantress eeriely tell her as she began trying to locate the woman. However, she continued to hear more giggles as she mutely clench her fists.

"Now, you will meet your fate as my shon foretold." the Lady Bone Enchantress added as she scoffed. "Oh, yeah and what's that?" she bluntly counter as she tried to sense how close the woman was to her.

"Your fate, my child, is quite simple. You will aid me on my destiny as I work to perfect these imperfect worlds, starting with this mortal city, then I'll finish what I started by going after Avalon." the Lady Bone Enchantress gleefully answered as she scoffed once more at the woman's response.

"I have nothing of value to you, so good luck—" she had dismissively began, only to find herself cut off when she saw the Lady Bone Enchantress suddenly appear in front of her with a eerie smile on her face.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, child, because there's a power inside you and once that power emerges from you, I will be right there to utilize it for my destiny." the Lady Bone Enchantress promptly stated as the woman began to cunningly smirk.

"A destiny that begins... now." the Lady Bone Enchantress promptly followed up, giggling before she saw the woman vanishing from her view as a trail of shadows lingered in her absence, much to her annoyance as she huffed.

"It's been one night and she's already..." she grumbled, only to abruptly stop once she felt a sudden chill coursing through her as she trailed off and froze.

Issac.

She didn't need to look to know that her friend was behind her, but as she slowly began to turn anyways, the fire faerie saw him staring back at her with his glowing light blue, almost pale-like eyes and it was only then she became aware of his fist being positioned near her.

However as she realized what was about to happen, he reacted by punching her directly in her stomach as she felt her breath knocked out of her. As soon as he made the move, Ember found herself crashing onto the ground as her wings did little to protect her from the unexpected attack.

Wincing from the attack, she faintly attempted to lift herself up right as Issac suddenly appeared near her. Weakly looking on, she saw his eyes glowing brighter as he raised his right arm, which she saw was now covered in crystals as he aimed his palm to her.

As he did, she saw his right arm starting to glow as the crystals began to illuminate in his palm. But before he could successfully execute his crystal blast and encase her in his crystallization, she saw a rock abruptly thrown at his head as she blinked.

Huh?

"Yeah!"

As she and her friend turned to look, they saw Aliya standing on top of a jagged light blue, almost pale-like crystal as the girl tossed a grey-colored rock in her hand and confidently eyed her father, who looked greatly irritated at the girl's arrival.

Though whether if it was because her friend saw his daughter again or because he saw the seeker in Aliya's place, she wasn't quite sure.

"I got more rocks where that one came from—" her friend attempted to add when Issac mutely released his blast on the crystal she was standing on, which made the girl cut herself off as she glanced down to see the crystal shattering on impact.

"Ahh!"

"Aliya!"

She attempted to come to the girl's aid, but as she promptly fell onto the ground, she could only helplessly look on as the girl fell onto the ground too as Issac stood in front of his daughter, who was now surrounded with fractured crystals on the ground.

"I've had enough for you getting in my way, and seeing how you're all out of tricks, I would say that it's time I dealt with you... permanently." he darkly told his daughter before he aimed his crystallized arm toward her.

"Wait!" Ember panicked, scrambling to get herself on her feet again, but when she fell back onto the ground, she clench her teeth and silently growled from annoyance before she glanced over to see her friend's eyes widen, mirroring her look now.

"No! Wait!" she heard her friend exclaim, but as soon as she got the words out, she saw the blast hit his daughter as a misty light blue, almost pale-like dust storm formed in the aftermath of the blast.

"No!" she solemnly exclaimed before her face fell from the sight. "Aliya..." she solemnly followed up as she saw Issac retain his light blue, almost pale-like eyes while his smirk only grew at the sight, which made her growl and angrily clenched her fist as she knew this was her doing!

"Well, now that my traitorous daughter is finally out of the way, I can finish what I started with you."

"Are you sure about that?"

Ember wasn't sure why she posed the question, but either way, she saw Issac scoffing at her as he rolled his eyes.

"Of course, I'm sure! After all, we both saw the same thing!" Issac bluntly and quite aggressively snapped right as the two heard a smug chuckle and not long after, the misty dust from his blast settled.

So as she and Issac looked at the misty dust, they saw a few rocks and some fragments of the once-established crystal her friend had stood on a few moments ago all become crystalized in her place as Aliya herself was nowhere to be seen.

As her eyes widened, she began to excitedly gasp at the fact that her friend survived the attack while Issac's eyes darkened at the sight and immediately made his thoughts on his daughter's trick known.

"What!" she heard her friend's father sharply exclaimed as he angrily clenched his fist. "A ruse?!" her friend's father angrily added as she saw his eyes darkening more at the sight.

"Yeah, and as it turned out, I didn't actually run out of tricks after all, because I still had one up my sleeve."

When he turned, Ember saw Aliya innocently standing in front of him as she cheekily grinned, to which the fire faerie saw her friend's anger toward his daughter start to intensify at her response to him.

"We'll see about that!" he sharply exclaimed and as he cast several crystal blasts to his daughter, she saw the girl respond back by throwing several fractured fragments of the crystal and as she did, a misty dust storm began to form.

As soon as she saw the misty dust storm, she noticed her friend's silhouette amidst the misty dust. He blasted at the silhouette, but as soon as he did, the silhouette quickly vanish as the crystal blast had hit a few pipes, causing the debris to scatter across the foundry. As such, she heard Issac irritatedly growl while his daughter simply giggle at his response.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going easy on me, apá. Not when you're so close now." her friend said in a light, mocking tone that made Ember realize her friend was trying to irritate her father into catching him off his guard.

"Stop talking!" he sharply snapped and as he extended his arms, Ember saw a series of crystals disperse the misty dust storm. As he did, she saw his confusion when he didn't see his daughter in his sights until she saw Issac turn to see Aliya standing behind him. When he did, she noticed the girl's hands were behind her back now as she sheepishly smiled.

"Gotcha."

In that moment, Issac thrust his hand to his daughter and as he did, she saw a series of crystals push her toward the back of the foundry as her eyes widen.

"Aliya!"

Finally being able to stand up now, Ember immediately flew towards her and as she reached the back of the foundry, she saw Issac chuckling at his daughter being trapped in his crystallization; her feet and the lower area of her body crystallizated whileas her arms and the upper area of the girl's body remained uncrystallized.

"You tried, but in the end, not even you could outwit me." she saw Issac confidently boasted as his eyes glowing brighter. "So now, I can really finish what I started with you and then, I will be rid of you for good." he followed up as Ember's eyes widened.

"Issac, that's enough! Please! I know you don't want to hurt her, so just let her go." she insisted, but he simply looked at her and lightly chuckle as he firmly shook his head.

"No. She brought this upon herself when she betrayed me and now, she has to pay the price." he firmly countered and not long after he spoke, she saw a crystallized sword forming on his right arm.

As soon as he did, Ember saw Issac position his crystallized sword near his daughter's throat as her eyes grew wider from the sight.

"Issac! Please snap out of your mother's control and fight back before you end up losing Aliya for good!" she frantically exclaimed with panic as she saw the latter scoffing at her response.

"What good is she to me, anyways? She's a traitor, a failure and a disappointment." he bluntly stated as she saw her friend turn to face her. "Besides, she means nothing to me. Not really." he followed up as Ember internally screamed in frustration at her friend's response, knowing this was all his mother's doing but found herself helpless to free him from the Lady Bone Enchantress' hold on him!

Ugh! You will not get away with this, Enchantress! You and Phantom think you might have won tonight, but so help me, karma will come for you both!

"So, the sooner I rid myself of her, the better off I'll be." he followed up, now facing his daughter again as she felt her panic for Aliya start to kick in from the moment she tune back into her friend's response.

"Issac—" she began, but when her eyes drifted onto his neck and she saw his Avalonian amulet was no longer on him, she cut herself off right as she heard his daughter start to chuckle at his response.

"That all sounds very promising, apá. I mean, it's very likely she's going to get what she wants to advance her destiny if it weren't for one little detail she forgot to factor in her grand scheme of things..." her friend interrupted before she had trailed off as they observed her neutral expression turn to one of pure smugness.

"... Her neita being one hell of a thief."

As soon as they saw the girl revealing her father's amulet in her possession, Ember saw Issac glancing down at his neck before looking back at his daughter as his eyes widened in shock while she looked on in awe.

"See, your omi might rely on fate to achieve her goals, but I don't believe in destiny and neither should you!"

As soon as Aliya said those words, she saw the girl aggressively slam his amulet against the pipe and as soon as she did, the fire faerie saw the gemstone cracking at the impact as flickers of light blue, almost pale-like celestial energy began to expel itself out of his amulet.

As soon as she did, the vibrations of the amulet ignited a sensation through the pipe, which all began to crack from the impact and set off a jointed effect as the other pipes proceeded to falter as well. Not long after, the crystallization surrounding her friend shattered as the crystals turned into misty, shimmery dust. As she looked, she saw her friend standing on her own as she flew to the girl and stood beside her right as the girl spoke.

"Okay, maybe I added too much force there... Heh." her friend awkwardly but meekly mumbled as she awkwardly chuckled. "My bad..." she heard the girl further add before hearing her sheepishly trail off as they saw parts of the foundry start to slowly crumble in front of their eyes.

"You know, we should probably get out of here before this place collapses on us and we go down with it." her friend further added, pointing out the obvious as the fire faerie [in the moment] sent her friend a sarcastic, deadpanned look. "You don't say?" she bluntly countered right as she had observed her friend pocketing the shattered amulet. Not long after, they had heard a staggering, faint groan.

Right as the groan happened, they saw his crystallized sword bursted into a faint mist as his crystallization dispersed with him now becoming disconnected from his omi's hold over him. Not long after, they saw his attire reverting back to his healing faerie form as he regained his warm-beige skin, jet-black hair and now worn his light grey sweatshirt, black casual pants, plain black shoes while he possessed his light yellow wings again as they slowly glanced at each other.

"Do you think he..."

"Maybe..."

When they heard another groan again, the two turned to see Issac slowly lifting his head and as soon as he did, they noticed his light blue, almost pale-like eyes briefly flicker. As they continued to look on, they saw him regaining his light honeysuckle eyes as the hue took over and completely overpowered the light blue, almost pale-like color as they had sighed in relief.

"W... What happened?" he slowly asked as she and Aliya mutely looked at each other before they looked back at him. It was then that she saw her friend start to approach Issac as her eyes widen.

"B... But uh, Aliya—" she cautiously tried to warn her friend as she wasn't sure how Ike was going to respond, but she cut herself off when she saw her friend happily ran to her father.

"Baba! You came back!"

Excitedly, she saw her friend gleefully pulling her father into a quick, loving embrace that seemed to have caught her other friend briefly off-guard. However, it wasn't long before he returned his daughter's hug as she warmly smiled at the sight from her spot.

Aww, that's so cute.

As she lightly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with a soft smile on her face, she then noticed the debris beginning to pick up speed as she blinked.

Oh, right. If we don't get out of here soon, we're all going to come down with this little foundry and I'm way too young to be dying right now!

"Uh, guys! I hate to cut your father-daughter moment short, but we have to leave now before this foundry crashes down on us!" she promptly exclaimed, flying to the two as she saw them pulling away from their hug and look at her before they glanced upward at the debris, which was coming down at a rapid speed unlike what her and Aliya seen moments ago.

"Hang on!"

As Issac promptly grabbed onto her and his daughter, he proceeded to hold onto them and as he did, a series of shadows began swirling around them. As soon as the shadows swirled around them, she and Aliya saw the shadows lift them up before spinning them around and promptly teleport them outside of the foundry.

As the shadows placed them on the ground, they saw the shadows vanished as they all looked at the foundry, which promptly collapsed moments after they had gotten out of there.

"Well, as usual, my destructive streak continues." she heard her friend whine as she saw the girl huffing at the sight of the foundry. "Just once, I would like to not be destructive, so I can finally say I beat the accusations, but until then, I guess I will just continue to be destructive since that seems to be the only thing I'm good at these days." she heard her friend bitterly continue as Ember huffed at her response.

"Come on, girl. Don't be like that. You're good at a lot of things and besides, it's not like you were the only one to bring down the whole building. I mean, it was pretty much a group effort." she lightly countered, to which her friend simply huffed at her.

"I guess."

"Plus, you broke your grandmother's hold over me, so come on. Give yourself some credit." she heard Issac softly chime in as her friend shook her head.

"I can't take credit, because it was a team effort." her friend promptly countered, pulling away from her father as Aliya crossed her arms. "Ember was the one who said the Lady Bone Enchantress was using your amulet and she's the one who got me an opening for me to destroy your amulet. If she hadn't said anything and got me that opening, you'd have still been under your omi's control, so if anyone deserves credit here, it's Emby." her friend sincerely added as she saw the ex-knight softly look at her.

"Aliya—"

"After all, she's the only reason I was even aware of the amulet being possessed because she saw it before I did, so really you should be thanking her too."

"Aliya—"

"I see." her other friend slowly said before she saw his eyes drifting away from his kid as he looked at her. "Ike, it's not—" she attempted to interject when she found herself cut off by Issac pulling her into a hug. "Thank you." he earnestly whispered as she blinked before she returned the hug; a small but proud smile forming on her face as her smile grew wider.

"You're welcome."

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Aww, that's so cute!

As Aliya looked at her father and their friend hugging each other, she lightly crossed her arms and smiled warmly at the sight as she was silently enjoying their moment together when she heard a thunderous crackle in the sky.

"Uh, guys—" she attempted to interject when she cut herself off at the sound of eerily, hushed inaudible whispers behind her. When she looked on, she saw that Ember and her baba were nowhere to be seen as her eyes widen.

Where did they—

As the whispers grew, she heard a lowly hushed leveling scream as a skeletal set of light blue, almost pale-like eyes formed behind her, causing her to cut off her thoughts when she realized what was going on as she dryly chuckled and began to turn her head to see her grandmother mutely looking at her; the wind blowing her dress and her hair gently against the currents as she dryly chucked.

"So, you thought you had all the pieces right where you wanted them, huh?" she slowly asked as she saw her grandmother cryptically smirk at her question. "Oh, nieta, there are so many moves that I have yet to play." her grandmother smugly boasted, a light giggle escaping her lips.

"What you saw was merely the beginning. In time, I will regain my champion again and once he's in my control, he will succeed in getting me the girl as they will aid me on my aspirations just as destiny intended." she heard her grandmother confidently continued as she dryly chuckled.

"You can keep saying it all you want, but I guarantee you, destiny won't stand a chance against me." she confidently countered as her grandmother chuckled at her response.

"Oh, child. You can try to fight against destiny, but it comes for us all just as it has come for me, my shon and soon, your friend will follow suit for there is no escape from their fates." her grandmother promptly followed up as she crossed her arms to then scoff at the woman's claims.

"I don't believe in destiny."

"Ah, but I have a feeling you will. If not, then soon, because in time, you'll come to see that when it comes to destiny, there is no choice."

"Say what you want, but there's always a choice and that choice is the one you pave out for yourself. Not what your so-called Fates dictate. So, mark my words: you can try to get a hold of them, but I will stop you. One way or another." she sharply rebuked as she glared at her grandmother, who simply giggled.

"Your stubbornness may perceive you, nieta, but your efforts to stop me will prove to be futile as I will get my hands on the Incendius Flame and with my champion's help, I will use its flames to reforge this world and Avalon just as I aspire to do with the rest of the realms until everything is freed from imperfections." her grandmother said calmly but proudly as she smugly smirked, to which Aliya angrily clenched her fist from her words.

"You should've stayed buried."

In that moment, she promptly turned to face her grandmother as she attempted to lunge at her, but before she could, the woman vanished as the punch landed on her, dissipating in front of the girl's eyes as she quietly but angrily growled at the sight.

Ugh! I was so close yet so far!

It was then she saw a series of light blue-ish, almost pale-like shadows swirling around her as she slowly pulled her fist back, glancing up at the barrier surrounding her now as she felt herself tense up when she sensed the woman hovering beside her, having seen a glimpse of her eerie grin.

"And should you try to stop me from achieving my destiny, I will erase the very memory of you and eradicate you from this world."

After she made her threat, the girl heard her grandmother make a low, hush-like eerie scream. As she did, the girl saw the woman's appearance was no longer physical as her grandmother transformed into a ghostly skull-like shadowy spirit; the skull expanding as the eerie screams grew louder.

From there, she began to see visions of what her grandmother meant in terms of what the woman's destiny entailed.

The first vision she saw was a gigantic light grey, almost sliver-like mech standing in the middle of New York City as it oversaw the buildings of New York City. As she had observed the mech closer, she noticed a bright blue flame illuminating in the center of the mech. From there, she glanced at the buildings, most of which had either burnt to the ground or were in the process of burning down as she observed a series of light blue, almost teal-like flames igniting throughout the city that continued to get its fair share of destruction.

From there, Aliya saw the vision switch from the overview of the gigantic mech as a second vision came into sight as she saw the center of the mech. There, standing in the center of the mech, she saw her grandmother as she possessed grey, metallic-like skin and raven hair holding a few white streaks as she looked at the ongoing destruction in her mech in her silk ebony long gown with light blue ruffles shown on the cuffs of her shoulder sleeves and black high heels.

After seeing the first vision with the mech and the second vision involving the Lady Bone Enchantress with her mech, the pale light blue landscapes for the two visions switched over to having a moonlit night background with scattered clouds all across the sky.

She then briefly made note of the full, white misty moon staring back at her, now wondering why she cared about the moon's appearance when an agonizing and rather distressing scream pierced through the night's silence and caused Aliya to redirect her attention onto the person who was screaming.

When she turned, she saw a large pale light blue colored rune with ancient symbols as a stream of pale light blue energy flowed into the rune and directly to the person who continued to scream from the intensity of the energy now entering their body.

They seemed to be fighting whoever it was that was trying to control them, but when the rune began to glow brighter, she began to see their body stretch out as the energy seemed to flow directly into their veins now. When that had been the case, the last of the energy entered their body before the rune vanished and they went momentarily motionless mid-air.

When they did, Aliya tried to get a glimpse of who they were, but before she could get a good look, their head abruptly shot up as a bright white light arose from their eyes. Shortly after, she saw them encased in a light blue misty sphere that made eerie, low-hushed whispers as her head ached from the sound.

Not long after that, a bright light erupted from the shadowy sphere as the pale light blue glow began illuminating rather intensively and now quickly engulfed the entire landscape with its brightness.

As the light began to come toward her direction, she raised her arms to shield her face from the intensive brightness before she began to hear the low-hushed, eerie whispers once more. Her head started to ache from the whispers, but Aliya pushed her growing headache to the side once she heard her grandmother laughing.

Once she heard her laughter, she lowered her arms in time to see her grandmother as she stood in the center of her mech, which the girl recognized from the first vision she had seen.

As her grandmother laughed, Aliya noticed how she worn a simple white and sliver-laced gown with her raven hair notably gaining a few, distinctive white solid streaks that seemed to color parts of her hair.

From there, she noticed the woman's giggles gradually evolve into a rapid descend of a long never-ending string of manically, elated laughter. While the laughter persisted, she saw a few shadows zooming past her as they briefly spun Aliya over to the moon's direction right as she began to pick up on their low-hushed, eerie whispers once more.

When she was able to steady herself from the shadows zooming past her and pushed aside her headache, she heard her grandmother's laughs ringing persistently in her ears as she glanced at the moon, which now appeared to be a glowing pale light blue hue rather than its bright white hue she saw at the beginning of the vision.

She was initially confused by the sight until her eyes gradually drifted to the person illuminating the pale light blue shadowy glow and it was then that she realized the glow emitting from them made it look as though the moon had changed its natural color when this hadn't really been the case at all.

She thought to move closer to get a better look at them, but right as she was about to move, she heard her grandmother's laughter gradually dial down before the woman eventually stopped laughing altogether.

"I admit, this was a unforeseen moment, but one I welcome greatly as my destiny is now within my reach, thanks to the fates blessing me with the perfect host." the woman proudly stated as she grinned victoriously.

Seeing her grin made the girl turn to see the shadowy glow fading from the woman's host as she gasped.

"Oh no..." she solemnly whispered, before trailing off as she realized she wasn't just looking at a stranger, but rather... her father.

As she saw her father opened his eyes, her heart sunk at what she saw because rather than seeing his light honeysuckle eyes, his dark lime-green eyes or even his light blue, almost teal eyes staring back at her, she found a pair of light pale blue eyes staring at her like his eyes had done tonight when his omi first controlled him, which caused her to lament at the sight as she looked on.

As she continued to look at him, she noticed his jet-black hair was less saturated as his hair contain several white-and-pale light blue streaks. Then, the change spread to his outfit as she saw he was wearing a tunic that was similar to the one he worn when he made his debut in his Celestial Royal form.

But instead of the tunic's colors using various black and blue shades as that form did, the colors of the tunic she saw her father wearing now showcase a variety of pale light blue and dark sliver shades.

"Now go reclaim the fallen flame and rid yourself of those who dare to stand in your path...." the woman started to command before trailing off as a devious smirk began to form on her face.

".... My champion."

As soon as the visions ended, she angrily clenched her fist again and sharply growled.

"I'll say it once and I'll say it again: you should've stayed buried!"

Again, she turned to face her grandmother and attempted to land a direct punch at her, but instead, she only punched through the shadowy structured barrier as she heard her grandmother's giggling before she observed the woman vanishing. Seeing how she was nowhere in sight now, she growled again as the shadowy barrier collapsed.

When it did, she found herself back outside the foundry and standing in her same spot as she saw Ember and her baba in the same position, hugging each other as though time never passed. As she glanced at the two and back at her clenched fist, she felt a surge of anger as she recalled her grandmother's words.

"Oh, child. You can try to fight against destiny, but it comes for us all just as it has come for me, my shon and soon, your friend will follow suit as well as you, neita, for there is no escape from their fates."

I'll show her! Mark my words! I will defy destiny if it's the last thing that I do because he's not getting controlled by her again and Ember isn't going to get captured! I will make sure of it!

"Aliya?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she saw her father and their family friend looking at her with concern as she glanced over at her fist.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm alright." she said, unclenching her fist now but she saw her father and their family friend looking at each other and back at her as if neither of them seemed to believe her answer. Aliya knew that much when she saw the two end their hug and pull away from each other as she saw her father beginning to approach her.

"Mija—"

"I'm okay." Aliya insisted, though she knew it didn't matter what she said because at the end of the day, he knew she wasn't okay. They both knew that, but she liked to think she could trick her apá into believing she was fine if it meant keeping him from worrying so much about her.

"Mija—"

"We should get a move on. It's late and I imagine you two must be exhausted from using your magic."

"Pfft — Exhausted? No way! Isn't that right, Ike?" the fire faerie counter, but she heard the exhaustion in her tone and quietly frowned. "Yeah and besides, we're... we're..." her father attempted to add on but when he trailed off, they saw him gradually swaying, as though he was unable to maintain his balance.

Here we go again.

Not long after, they saw his eyes start to close before he abruptly began to fall, causing their eyes to widen at the sight.

"Ike!"

"Baba!"

Having been closer to him this time, she caught him from falling onto the ground as she gently placed him on the ground. From there, she began checking his pulse as she heard their family friend flying to them. "Is Issac going to be okay?" Ember concernedly asked as she began checking on his breathing before she lift her head up and turned to the fire faerie.

"He'll be fine."

"What do you think made him black out like that?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm guessing between the three possessions and him using his powers just now to get us out of the foundry, he must've overexerted himself and blacked out... again. But he just needs rest and when his body recovers, he'll be back on his feet." she softly assured her as she saw Ember quietly sighing in relief.

Not long after, she began picking her father up and holding him in her arms, careful not to drop him as she saw her friend concernedly but very hesitantly looking at her father and at her.

"Well, seeing as he's not the only one who overexerted himself, should I—" she heard her friend slowly began, but she interrupted her as she shook her head, sensing what she was about to ask as she looked at her friend.

"No, Emby. I'm fine. Besides, I'm still in tact since I don't have to use magic like you and my apá, but I know that you used a lot of your magic throughout the night. So, should I—"

"No, I should be fine. Besides, I think I still have enough energy to endure the journey of finding a place to stay..." she briefly answered, interrupting her before trailing off as the fire faerie puzzlingly glanced at the buildings around them. "... Assuming that we manage to find someone willing to take us in." her friend slowly finished, now looking back at her as she smugly chuckled.

"Ah, well, my dear Emby, don't fret because you are in luck!" she gleefully proclaimed as her friend chuckled. "Oh, yeah? How so?" her friend lightly asked as she lightly grinned.

"Because I know a guy who will take us in and if memory serves me right, then we're not far from his place, so come on." she promptly answered, leading the way with her father in her arms as the fire faerie walked beside her.

"Trust me, this guy is perfect for us, because should any Avalonians attempt to capture my baba or try to kill me for the bounty, then they got to go through him." she followed up, walking through the back streets of the city with her father still in her arms and the fire faerie maintaining her pace.

"Go through him?"

"Mhm! If they try to test their luck with him, they will never succeed because this guy is the toughest, the deadliest and the most rage-filled warrior you will ever meet, which is why he's just who we need to protect us." she then added as she glance around. "Anyways, his place shouldn't be that much further now." she added on as she heard the fire faerie lightly hummed.

So as the two continued walking past several houses and a few townhouses, she kept her eyes peeled on a particular building as she huffed. "Where is it? I know his place has got to be around here somewhere." she mumbled when her eyes fell on a light reddish brick building as Aliya spotted the familiar black latch on the dark reddish-brown front door, causing the ex-knight to excitedly gasp.

"There!"

"Here. I can hold onto him while you go knock on the door." she heard the fire faerie offer as they reached the steps of her friend's house. "Thanks." she said, placing her father in her friend's arms before she dashed off to the front door, where she lightly thumped the latch against the door.

"So anything?"

"Not yet." she said, turning to face her friend and her unconscious father when a small slot rattled at the sound she made from using the latch.

"Who is it?" a voice deeply answered, sliding a small slot over as she grinned. "It's your old pal from the wrestling ring!" she cheekily answered as a light pause came before a gasp followed suit. From there, she saw the slot close up as she turned to the fire faerie with a excited grin on her face.

"Wrestling ring?"

"It's a long story." she briefly answered as she saw the girl raising her eyebrows. "I'll tell you eventually, but in the meantime, get ready to have your mind blown because in just a few seconds, you are going to meet the greatest warrior that ever lived..." she excitedly and gleefully added, trailing off when they heard the locks on the door coming undone with the door slowly beginning to open up.

"... Khashi!" she excitedly exclaimed, introducing her old friend but when she turned to face him, he ended up scooping her in his arms as he excitedly grinned and happily held her. As such, she didn't quite get a good look at him just yet.

"Yia! Buddy! It's so good to see you again!"

"I... It's good to see you too, Ashi." she found herself delightfully greeting him, slightly stammering from the way her bones were crushing from his raw strength in his hug, which she knew wasn't even a fraction of his untapped strength he wielded. She just had the unfortunate luck of being built differently, but nonetheless, she was stoked at the fact that he was still as strong as she remembered him.

Okay, he's still strong so this is a good sign! It has to be!

"Yia?"

After her friend spoke up, she felt Khashi put her down as she looked at the fire faerie's puzzled look.

"It's his nickname for me." she sheepishly answered before she cleared her throat. "But anyways, Ember, this is Khashi. He's the guy I was telling you about." she briefly said as she paused before she continued. "Khashi, this is Ember. She's a family friend of mine and the guy in her arms is my dad, Issac, but he's uh—" she attempted to continue when her friend cut her off, having seen their current state.

"Say no more. Come in and I'll get you all situated." Khashi promptly said, interrupting her as she turned to see her relatively tall and athletically muscular dark skinned friend who appeared to be in his mid-three hundreds — mid-thirties, she mentally reminded herself as she knew she had to get her mind accustomed to using the mortals numerical way of aging again — as she observed him leading them inside.

As she looked, she made note of the way his rugged jet-black beard grew longer while he worn a plain light pink short sleeve shirt, pastel pink sweatpants with bunny slippers as she blinked.

Huh. Okay, his casual attire isn't what I remember him ever wearing, but I mean, it's not that important. I mean, it's just his clothes. He can still be intimidating and wear what he's wearing, so this is nothing. Alright? He's still the same warrior you know him to be. This is just a nice switch up for him and honestly, it kinda suits him, so go Ashi.

"You know, your friend doesn't look that intimidating." she heard the fire faerie quietly whisper as she joined her. "Are you sure this is the right guy?" the girl quietly asked as she rolled her eyes at the question. "Yes, this is the right guy." she quietly answered as they entered her friend's house.

As they did, they stared at the wooden flooring and glance at the remodeled bright blue painted walls, a stark contrast from the fading and chipped midnight-blue painted walls with tears on the flooring she recalled seeing years ago. Glancing over her shoulder, she and Ember saw the walls decorated with various wood cravings of animals and observe the wooden ducks on his countertops when they noticed him arrange his ducks in a row.

"This can't be the guy, Aliya. I mean, look at him. He looks about as harmless as Issac was when he was still pretending to be a healer."

"Ember, trust me. This is the guy." she whispered back before he finished arranging his ducks and looked at them.

"I have a guest room upstairs that you three can use for the night..." he started before he paused when he looked at their state. "... or until you three get back on your feet again." Khashi slowly finished as they nodded.

"Thanks."

So as they followed him upstairs, he brought them to the guest room and as she looked at the room with the balcony view, she heard lighthearted chuckles and faint giggles as she saw silhouettes of her and her siblings chasing each other, giggling and laughing as if they were all just kids enjoying the simplicity of life and not trying to avoid those who wanted to collect her bounty on what she 'did' to the love fairy.

When she thought about her siblings and recalled the good times with them, she felt a throbbing, aching pain in her heart that longed to be reunited with her siblings again, but she knew finding them was easier said than done. Then even if she did find them, she wonder whether Lillian would resent her or if Jaxon would take her back as their younger sister.

Even though she liked to think Jaxon would take her back and Lillian wouldn't resent her, she knew realistically that they wouldn't take her back and that her sister would resent her for failing to protect her.

Aliya knew neither of them would never forgive her because what happened that night fell on her. Just as Jaxon disowning her did along with the downfall of her relationship with Castor as it came to an end. It was her fault that these things happened because—

"You're the reason behind these things and more because you make a mess of whatever you touch. It's just what you do because you, like your father, live on causing chaos and causing destruction in your wake, but that's not surprising. After all, that seems to be the only thing you and him are both good at doing these days."

As she recalled her ex's words and vividly recalled the way his eyes glistened with anger, disgust and bitterness, she found the room to be suffocating as her memories of her two siblings became a cruel reminder of what she once had before she went and messed everything up.

She wanted to run right then, but what was the point when this whole city taunted her with memories of her adventures (or misadventures) with her siblings [and Castor later on] as they searched for Jesse? Her blossoming crushes on Castor and Jesse? The fight she endured with Jaxon over Jesse and the fight she endured with Jesse over the night she nearly died?

Then as if that wasn't enough, her mother and her aunt's lives were taken here and she was unable to do anything but watch from the mirror screen in Avalon. They had both died separately in a fire that claimed their life and she couldn't save either of them.

So although Aliya wanted to run far away from this city, she knew she couldn't. After all, she couldn't outrun this place because everywhere she looked, this city just taunted her with haunting memories of a past the girl knew she couldn't escape... not when it finally found her.

"I tried to keep everything the same from when you and your siblings were here but—"

"It's great, Ashi. Thank you." she interrupted, maintaining a sincere and gratitude tone as she felt a sudden, painful lump in her throat but she fought it back and took a deep breath to compose herself.

"You're welcome and speaking of them, where are they? I was looking forward to seeing those little scamps when I heard your voice, but—"

"I saw that you redecorated the place. It looks nice." she sincerely but hastily told Ashi, now interrupting her old friend as she didn't have the heart to break the news to the guy nor was she ready to open up old wounds in telling him about what happened to Jaxon and Lillian.

"Wouldn't you say so, Ember?" she followed up, now turning to face the fire faerie, who laid her father on the bed before she turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, it's neat." the fire faerie casually said, now joining them as she stood beside her right as they saw Khashi brightly grinning from their words.

"Thank you!" he softly beamed before he glanced at her father's state. "Is he going to be okay?" he followed up, gesturing to her father as she nodded. "Oh, yeah. He will be fine. He just needs some time to rest and recover from the journey." she said as she saw him nodding.

"Ah, okay. Well, in that case, let's take this conversation downstairs so none of us are disturbing him."

So as Khashi walked out of the guest room, she and Ember followed suit as she quietly
closed the door from behind her as she was the last one to walk out. When she released her hand from the door knob, she heard Ember quietly snickering, which caused her to look as she saw Khashi heading down the stairs and make his way towards the kitchen.

"Ah, so it looks like I was right after all. He is harmless." her friend smugly told her as she shook her head.

"No, no, no, no. There's still a chance that I'm right here." she quietly but fiercely shot back as her friend only snickered. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that, Aliya." her friend counter as she saw the fire faerie began stifling her giggles on the way down the stairs.

While her friend did that, she rolled her eyes and mutely walked down the stairs right as Ember reached the last step and seemingly got her giggles out since she noticed that she stopped stifling her giggles once she got beside her. It was then that they began making their way to the living room, where they saw Khashi arriving with three sandwiches as she started to chuckle.

"Are you going to have us take the food from you by having us fight you like old times?" she fondly asked as he puzzlingly blinked before he chuckled. "Ah, no. I figured you and her were probably hungry from the journey, so I made us a sandwich for us to eat as we talked, so please feel free to eat and sit down." he lightly answered, placing the plate on the coffee table near the light green velvet couch as she slowly stared at her old friend in disbelief and slight dismay by his response.

"Oh." she simply said for a lack of a better response while as her friend was delighted by the sight. "Well, thank you so much for the food!" Ember gleefully said as she saw her friend happily take a sandwich. "You're welcome!" Khashi happily beamed as Aliya felt her friend lightly nudging her.

"You know, it's looking more and more like I'm right." her friend cheekily whispered as she huffed. "I still have a chance to be right." she mumbled, though she was doubtful of the possibility. Still, Aliya was stubborn and refused to give Ember the satisfaction that she was right. "Mhm. Sure." her friend lightly and sarcastically teased before she took a bite out of the sandwich and delightfully gasped as she quickly swallowed and looked at her.

"Oh my gods! These are so good!" Ember gleefully gushed as she saw Khashi beaming. "Thank you." Khashi happily said as her friend delightfully grinned. "You're welcome!" the fire faerie happily gushed as Aliya softly giggled at her friend's excitement.

"But I agree. Thank you for the food." she softly said, taking a sandwich from the plate as she joined Ember and sat down on the velvet couch. "You're welcome." he said as the girls sat beside each other while Khashi sat across from them and looked at her.

"So, old friend, what brings you here?" he followed up, now merging his hands together as he placed his hands beneath his chin and glanced up at her. "I mean I appreciate the visit, but I sense there's more to your visit and judging from the state I saw your father in, that journey must've also taken a toll on you two as well." he further added on as she glanced at her friend, who took a bite of her sandwich as she nodded.

"You could say that it's been a long night for all of us, but her especially." she heard her friend say as she took another bite of her sandwich. "How so?" she heard Khashi ask as she turned her attention back to him.

"I've been accused of committing regicide and murder." she casually said, taking a bite of her sandwich now as she saw Ember's puzzled look.

"Wait, I thought you were just accused of killing the King and Queen of Fairytopia, so shouldn't it just be regicide?" her friend pointed out as she saw the girl take another bite.

"It should be, but someone chose to add onto the kill count and brutally murder a dozen royal guards, so now I'm accused of killing them too." she answered, taking a bite of her sandwich now as she saw the fire faerie's eyes widen, stopping mid-chew as she quickly swallowed and looked at her as she saw the shock in her friend's eyes.

"What?!"

"Mhm."

"Who would do such a thing?!"

She knew the answer but when she had recalled the moment she said his name and he appeared out of nowhere, she refrained from saying his name as she wasn't sure if him coming at her voice was a one time thing. However, Aliya definitely didn't want to risk exposing their location to him if it turned out to be a reoccurring thing, so she simply shrugged.

"Beats me." Aliya mumbled, taking another bite of her sandwich before she swallowed her bite. "But either way, it's done and there's not much more we can do about it now." she followed up before she proceeded to a few more bites of her sandwich and turned toward her old friend.

"Anyways, that's what led us to going on the run and us being at your doorstep. So now, me and my dad are wanted — or will be wanted — by the kingdom. He's wanted alive as I am wanted dead, but Ember luckily shouldn't be wanted since she didn't do anything to catch their attention. Still, she pretty much got dragged into this—"

"Hey, I didn't get dragged into this. Okay? I came willingly because you and Ike are my friends." her friend fiercely protested and defended as she flashed her friend a warm, sincere smile. "Thanks." she softly said before she turned back to her other friend and nodded.

"But yeah, that's the gist of it." she casually added, choosing to omit a lot of things from their journey as she and her friend took a few bites of their sandwiches in silence until Khashi broke it when he spoke.

"That's a lot to take in, old friend." he briefly stated, right as she and the fire faerie had finished consuming their sandwiches. "Ha, you're telling us." Ember chimed in as she heard the fire faerie give a swift chuckle.

"You know what I do to those who disturb the peace?" he followed up and as they glance at him and saw him stand up with a darken face, she began to excitedly gasp, believing he was finally going to show his rage-filled side now as they saw him head towards the kitchen and inflict a butcher knife onto his cutting board.

"I...."

Oh my gods, yes! He's about to do the thing! He's about to do the thing!

"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!" she excitedly whispered to Ember as she could hardly contain herself.

"... Serve 'em chai!"

As soon as Khashi said that, they saw him arriving back with a small tray of bright cyan marbled tea cups that were served on a glass light beige saucers with a few rectangular-shaped cookies as Ember looked on with curiosity while she looked on in pure disbelief with her excitement now deflated.

... That's not the thing.

"You guys want some?" he then offered as she mutely stared at him while the fire faerie smugly look at her and nodded. "Sure!" she heard the girl answer as she carefully took the saucer and looked at the drink in confusion.

"Uh, Aliya, why isn't the drink levitating?"

"Because there's no magic here, so you have to lift the little tea handle to drink it." Aliya quietly answered as Ember's eyes widen in disbelief. "Wait, really?" she heard the faerie ask in disbelief as her friend looked at the cup in wonder.

"Huh. I always knew surfacers were a bit strange, but these outsiders... they're a bit of something else." Ember followed up before she attempted to drink her chai when Ashi stopped her at the last second. "Uh, it's hot, so you should wait." he had advised when the fire faerie puzzlingly stared at him before the girl chuckled.

"Oh, I have heat immunity, so anything I consume that's hot doesn't affect me." she had heard her friend tell Khashi as the girl smiled. "But, I appreciate your concern, so thank you for the heads-up." the girl softly followed up before she saw the girl looking at her as she tilt her head and mutely gestured towards her cup.

"Oh. You have to tilt the cup at a slight angle. Otherwise, it's going to slip all over you." she said as she saw the girl puzzlingly stare at her. "I'll show you." she said before she glanced at Khashi.

"May I?"

"Be my guest."

"Thanks."

As she retrieved the saucer from the tray, she then wrapped her fingers around the tea handle as she then raised the cup near her mouth, just slightly tilting the cup near her lips before she proceeded to stop performing the action when she caught a glimpse of her friend slowly nodding on.

"Oh." Ember said before the girl began mimicking the same action she had done as she saw the girl she then wrapped her fingers around the tea handle before looking at her as she grinned. "Thanks!" her friend happily added as she raised the cup near her mouth, just slightly tilting the cup near her lips as the fire faerie began to consume her chai, to which she smiled.

"You're welcome."

From there, she then turned away from her friend as she blew on her chai, knowing that if she were to drink it straight away like Ember, she would certainly burn her tongue off as she didn't have heat immunity like the fire faerie. But as she stared at her friend and back at her chai, she couldn't help but start to wonder if there was a chance of her apá having heat immunity too.

She figured with all the things she had seen him do tonight that it wouldn't be entirely farfetched if he had heat immunity too.

After all, she never expected him to have crystallokinesis but he did. Then again, Aliya didn't expect him to have umbrakinesis or possess the ability to shape-shift [much less even having the ability to transform into animals!] or have enhanced speed and super strength...

Oh gods! With all these powers, I'm going to have to start making a list to keep track of it all!

"Mmmm! This is really good and really fruity!"

As she snapped out of her thoughts and heard what Ember said, she decided to see if she was good to drink the chai, so she wrapped her fingers around the tea handle and raised the cup near her mouth as she slightly tilt the cup near her lips. However, Aliya stopped as soon as she felt the scorching liquid on the verge of making contact with her mouth, so she lowered her cup down. Huffing, she blew again in an attempt to cool off her chai.

If only I had heat immunity, then I wouldn't have to worry about burning my mouth off. Better yet, if I had magic, then I wouldn't have to worry so much! Eh, but again, I have been able to accomplish a lot without magic and not many Avalonians can say that, so ha! Maybe, I'm worth something after all... or maybe, I'm just trying to justify my existence. I mean, it's not like anyone really needs me. Everyone can pretty much defend themselves just fine and if anything, I'm just causing more trouble than what it's really worth... So maybe, everyone would be better off without me if I didn't exist.

"Thanks!"

Pulled out of her thoughts again, she blinked as she saw Khashi beaming at her friend's compliment.

"Yeah, no problem and if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up achieving the fruitiness of the chai?" she saw Ember curiously ask as Khashi's dark hazel eyes lit up from the girl's question.

"Oh! Well, I was able to achieve the fruitiness of the chai by using my own special blend of fruits. Plus, I made it by using fruits bearing anti-stress properties, so drinking this is not only tasty, but it can also help lower your heart rate if you're feeling stressed." Ashi cheekily answered as she stared at him and back at her untouched drink in wonder and curiosity.

Anti-stress properties, huh? That sounds too good to be true, but then again, what do I really got to lose?

After blowing off her chai a couple more times and observing as the steam lessened, she decided to go for it and after she was able to successfully drink a bit of the chai without burning herself, she did pick up on the strong fruitiness flavor of the drink as she gave a light nod.

"Ah, okay."

"I like it! It's really good, but what made you want to do make your chai with anti-stress properties?" she curiously chimed in, observing as Ember and Khashi turned to look at her.

"Oh! Well, my therapist said I needed to calm down and channel my anger since what I was doing just wasn't healthy." he briefly began as she nearly dropped her saucer at his response as it caught her off-guard.

Wait. Did he just say channel his anger? As in—

"Therapist?"

When she heard Ember chime in, she glanced at the two as she saw Khashi nodding at her friend's response.

"Oh yeah! She's been giving me some advice on how to control my anger, so I've been trying to implement some of the things that she recommended me like doing yoga and incorporating more meditation into my day." he proudly began as she saw her friend's subtle but smug smirk.

"That's also why I've been drinking chai for the past couple of months now." he proudly added as she blinked.

"Wait... So what happened to my angry, nail-spitting friend with fists of steel again?" she had slowly asked as she hadn't quite processed everything he said, to which he chuckled at her response.

"Ah, I got a therapist and I don't go around picking fights anymore like I used to. So, in other words, I've changed." he answered, to which she saw Ember's smugness growing as she glanced at her.

Okay, so this puts a damper in my plans but honestly, I'm glad he's doing better, so it's fine.

"Oh, you don't say?" Ember lightly chimed in, but there was a undertone of smugness in her tone that made it clear the fire faerie knew she was right as she looked at her with a proud 'I told you so' expression. Rolling her eyes at the look, she then turned to face her other friend as she smiled.

"Well, I'm happy for you, Ashi." she sincerely told him as he grinned. "Thanks, Yia." he softly said as he stood up and began picking up the empty plate before he approached the fire faerie. "I can take your cup if you're done." he said as she saw the girl blink at him before she slowly nodded.

"Oh, thanks." Ember simply said, placing her cup over the saucer and onto the plate as he turned to her.

"We can—"

"Nonsense, Yia. You and her don't need to do anything because you are my guests." he insisted, now promptly interrupting her as she glanced at her [now] empty cup of chai. As she did, she quietly huffed at his answer before she reluctantly surrendered the cup and the saucer to him, having sensed what he was going to ask.

It was then that he began to make his way to the kitchen as she saw the fire faerie look at her.

"You're going to go in after him, huh?"

"Yep."

"Aliya—"

"It'll be fast." she insisted as she saw her friend lightly chuckle. "If you say so, Lia." she heard the girl lightly say before she chuckled. "Well, I'll be here when you're done." the girl followed up as she nodded. "Sounds good." she simply said before she proceeded to stand up and trailed after him as he set the empty dishes in his kitchen sink, which she noticed was a lot cleaner than the last time she remembered it.

"Are you sure I can't—"

"No."

Ugh!

Huffing, she then crossed her arms as she lightly leaned against the kitchen counter and glanced at the butcher knife staring back at her before she glanced back at Khashi again.

"Fine. If I can't help you, then at least let me say thank you on behalf of my dad and my friend for your hospitality and for hosting us at such a short notice." she sincerely said as she saw Khashi warmly smile at her and chuckled. "You don't have to thank me, but since you already did it, then you're welcome." he warmly said as she saw him turn on the water and start to wash the dishes.

"I know you said you could stay for as long as we needed to, but if you ever need us to leave—"

"Nonsense, Yi. You and your folks can stay for as long as you need." Khashi insisted as she saw him turn off the water and place the dishes inside a black, silicone drying rack before he grabbed a small kitchen towel. "Besides, you're my friend and I would never turn down a friend in need." he sincerely added, now drying his hands as he looked at her.

"Especially not after what you, your siblings and Jiahao did for me back in the ring." he followed up as she lightly brushed off his sincerity.

"Ashi, come on. We already said it wasn't that big of a deal." she softly insisted, but he shook his head. "No. It is a big deal, because had you four not done what you did for me back in the ring, then I would still be the monster they wanted me to be." he countered, looking at the sink as his voice became low.

At the sight of her friend, a subtle but sorrowful frown formed on her face as she found herself reminded of her father through his response.

"Khashi—"

"So maybe it's not a big deal to you and him or your siblings, but what you four did for me that night will always mean everything to me and why it will be a big deal for me because you four were the catalyst I needed to see I had a chance to restart my life and start my journey anew." he sincerely continued, interrupting her as she saw how sincere he was from the way his dark hazel eyes glistened with gratitude.

"Khashi—"

"Anyways, I'm sure it's been a long night for you and your friend, so come on." he lightly said, now interrupting her as she huffed. "I'm sure you two could use the rest." he added as she gave a light chuckle. "You too." she softly said and as he lightly shoved her out of the kitchen, she lightly rolled his eyes as he turned off the light.

"Alright, I'm going to sleep then, but before I go, do you—"

"No, we should be okay, but thank you for everything again." she softly declined as she interrupted him, having sensed what he was going to ask. "Okay, then goodnight, Yia." he told her as she nodded. "Goodnight, Ashi." she said in turn as she saw him begin to approach her family friend.

"Goodnight, Ember."

"Goodnight, Khashi and thank you again for the sandwich and the chai!" Ember happily replied as she saw Khashi chuckling before he smiled. "You're welcome." he softly said, glancing at them one more time before he walked upstairs and gradually faded out of their sights; the sound of a door opening and closing being the last thing they heard as she sat beside her friend and listened to the girl giggling.

"So, this should go without saying but... I was right!" Ember happily proclaimed as she felt the girl lightly and playfully punch her left shoulder. "Haha, alright, Emby. I get it. You were right." she playfully said, agreeing with her as she lightly nudged the girl as the two went back and forth between their shenanigans before eventually stopping as they sighed.

"What a night." Ember exhaustively followed up as she heard a yawn following shortly thereafter. "Mhm. What a night indeed and aha! I knew you were exhausted!" she had triumphantly added as she felt the fire faerie playfully but tiredly shoving her.

"Girl, I am not exhausted." her friend insisted but her voice came across a tired whine as she lightly shook her head and huffed. "Uh-huh." she skeptically mumbled, turning away from Ember as she quietly sighed.

"Emby, come on. You're clearly tired, so why don't you just..." she initially began, but when she felt a light thump on her right shoulder, she turned to see her friend tiredly leaning against her as she trailed off and glanced at her friend's state.

"Ember?" Aliya quietly asked and it was only when she saw the girl tiredly move a bit and slightly stir did she realize that the girl was asleep. Lightly shaking her head, she then began to gently scoop the girl into her arms, careful not to drop her as she made her way over to the light switch.

Gently removing her arm for a bit, she turned off the light in the living room before she resumed her hold over Ember and began making her way upstairs, careful not to let out any noise as she moved through the stairs. After a bit of walking, she managed to reach the guest room and as she moved her arm to open the door, she lightly nudged the door and heard a light creak that [thankfully] didn't alert her family friend or her father as it had alert her.

Sighing in relief, she continued to hold onto her friend and quietly closed the door from behind her before she began approaching the other side of the bed. Moving the blanket over, she gently placed Ember down on the bed before she draped the blanket over the girl, now covering her as she quietly smiled.

"Goodnight, Ember." she softly whispered, walking away from the fire faerie now as she made her way towards the bedroom wall near the door. As she did, she leaned her body against the wall before she sunk to the ground. Not long after, she had leaned her head against the wall when she felt something slide out of her pocket. When she glance down, she saw her father's amulet hanging out of her pocket as she chuckled.

"Where do you think you're going?" she quietly but playfully asked, now retrieving her father's amulet from the ground. As she did, she glance at the deeply cracked dark blue gemstone in the center of his amulet as she heavily sighed at the sight.

"I really need to get this repaired soon before he gets the idea to wear his amulet again." she quietly told herself, now standing up to store his amulet away in her pocket before glancing over at her apá. As she did, she noticed he was beginning to shiver, something she took as a sign of consciousness.

As such, she viewed the action as a way of believing his unconscious state had simply evolved to him actually being asleep. Something she figured would have been the case, given the way she seen her baba overexert himself the entire night and watched as he got possessed three times in one night!

The thought was enough to infuriate her, but when she saw him continue to shiver, she set the thought aside right as she spotted a thin, medium-length salmon-color blanket near the edge of the bed.

"Huh. I must've overlooked the blanket on the way here." she simply stated and having known that she couldn't cover him using the actual blanket on top of the bed [as he was sleeping on top of said blanket and there was no way that she was going to wake him up when she knew he needed the rest], she decided to retrieve the blanket from the edge of the bed seeing as it would help with his shivering.

So as Aliya walked from her spot and approached the edge of the bed, she retrieved the blanket. Once the blanket was in her possession, she began to approach her apá, careful not to make any loud, sudden noises along the way.

Upon reaching her father, she then unfolded the blanket and nearly draped the blanket over him when she heard his faint sounds of distress. So as she lowered the blanket, the girl noticed her father was starting to toss and turn in his sleep as she quietly frowned.

He must be having that same nightmare again.

Even though he never talked about it with her [as he insisted he was fine], she's known about it from unintentionally eavesdropping on him when he thought she couldn't hear him. She didn't mean to do it, but when it's just them and the walls were thin, well... she had tended to pick up on a few things and his constant, repetitive nightmare was one of those things.

So, as he continued to toss and turn in his sleep, she believed he was going through his usual nightmare until Aliya saw a light blue, almost teal-like shimmery sparkling mist surround him. As soon as it did, she saw the mist vanishing as he shape-shifted into a heavy coated, black-feathered bird.

After witnessing him take on the form of the heavy coated, black-feathered bird, she got the sense that he wasn't enduring his same nightmare as she positioned herself near her father and continue to hold the blanket in her possession. As she did, she listened to the quiet caws he made, turning to the left side of the bed now.

After he turned, he began showing signs of distress, much to her dismay as her frown deepen. She thought to intervene then, but froze when he began tossing once more as he shifted again, taking on the form of a black wolf before he spoke.

"Don't... Stop."

When he began to toss and turn in his sleep again, Aliya cautiously moved closer to her father and listened to his faint whimpers as she took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn't startle him.

"Hey." she slowly but quietly spoke as she attempted to reach out to him. However right as she got close to touching him, she saw him turn and abruptly opened his eyes as she lower her right hand in time to see him shift back to the human-like form he acquired since arriving here.

Almost immediately, she noticed his frightened light honeysuckle eyes stare back at her as she mentally scowled herself for startling him.

"Hey, it's okay." Aliya softly assured her father, now adapting a gentle and calming tone as she warmly smiled in his direction, only to frown upon seeing her father sit up from his initial position as he hazily held onto his head.

"Mija..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay. Just go back to sleep." she quietly ushered, observing how her father's initial fright in his eyes shifted towards a dazed-like state. "Mija, I'm fine." she heard him mumble insistently as she quietly sighed.

"Apá, I love you, but you need to rest. Besides, you just had a long night and your body needs to recharge from everything you went through." she insisted, observing the way that his sunken eyelids were more visible with a glimpse of the moonlight penetrating the guest room as the light shined slightly on him, which only made her frown again.

She thought, by some luck, his eye bags would gradually disappear with time, but much to her dismay, her father's eye bags remained the same. Aliya feared his eye bags would only continue to sink further if he didn't consistently get the rest he needed... which like her, became a on-and-off thing over the years.

Before he could sleep fine, but when the tragedies started, she could see the first signs of him struggling to sleep start to surface.

However, when she witnessed Jaxon disown him [and her] in the midst of the heated argument he had with them over the way they blamed her for Lillian's disappearance, that's when his struggles really made themselves known in spite of the lies he would tell her to get her to stop worrying about him.

So naturally, she had made it known that she knew and after she did, she found herself locked in a constant struggle to get him to sleep.

Some days, it was a battle getting him to sleep but when he did, she took her victories as they came. But when she lost, she would know — his eye bags always made it known.

On the nights he struggled to sleep, she could tell from his eye bags that he only manage to get an hour of sleep [maybe two on his good days or maybe less if it was a particularly bad night] before the nightmares got a hold of him.

Based on the way his eye bags currently looked, she suspected her father got an hour of rest [which was unfortunately normal for him] before the nightmare occurred. It also didn't help how she startled him and caused him to abruptly wake up [even if it was an accident, the girl still blamed herself for letting it happen].

So when he tiredly began to chuckle, Aliya snapped out of her thoughts and frowned at his reaction.

"Apá, I'm serious. You need to go back to sleep and rest."

"Mija, I'm fine," her father insisted as she solemnly sighed at his words. "Dad, you know I love you, but you seriously need the rest. After all, you went through a lot today, so it's important that you make up the energy you lost by going back to sleep." Aliya reminded him, urgently repeating herself in a different way as she saw her father groggily stared at her and give another tired chuckle.

"Mija, I'm fine." he stubbornly insisted as she intensively stared at him and crossed her arms. It was then that he sighed and held his hands.

"Besides, I... I can't go back to sleep." he had quietly confessed as she heard his dejected sigh. "Not again." he solemnly pleaded and it was then that she gave a quiet sigh as she knew the feeling all too well.

"Okay." she promptly told him, now standing up as she began to fold the thin, medium-length salmon-colored blanket. "If you can't sleep, then you can't sleep." she followed up as she set the blanket right at the edge of the bed.

"Thank you." he sincerely said, sighing in relief now as she mutely held her hand out to him. "Oh. You didn't really think you were just getting what you wanted now, did you?" she slyly countered, now observing the way he puzzlingly blinked before the realization dawned on him as he gave a tired huff.

"Mija—"

"Baba, you know the rules."

"I know, but—"

"If we're staying up, then you're learning a thing or two from me, so come on." she told him as he huffed at her persistent nature.

"Just like your mother." he mumbled, but she saw him take her hand nonetheless as she led him away from the bed and toward the balcony as she quietly open the door toward the extended area of the room.

Ushering him outside, she then quietly closed the door before she released her father's hand and began to approach the railing as she leaned her arms against the railing and stared at the city's iconic skyline in the distance.

"That's New York City in the distance." she began, gesturing to the city's skyline in the distance before she stopped and lowered her arm. "The city is known for a lot of things, but its iconic skyline is one of the best things that they're known for since their skyline along with other skyscrapers serve as a symbol in terms of developing the city's budding power, identity, economic and cultural significance." she further added as she kept her eyes centered on the skyline.

"It's also famously nicknamed as the city that never sleeps as the city is always bustling with things to do and because it's always full of life." she briefly continue, hearing a light chuckle now as she turned to see her father mirroring her in the sense he chose to lean his arms against the railing in a similar manner she did.

"Ah, so this is one of the things you wanted me to learn."

"Well, seeing as we're going to be stuck here awhile, I figured it would be a good idea if you knew a bit about the city me and Jesse used to visit as changelings and the city me, Jaxon and Lillian went in search of him in an attempt to prove my innocence." she said as she later huffed. "Plus, I thought it would be a good way to take your mind off of your nightmare, but if it's boring you, I can—" she added before he interrupted her.

"No, no! I'm not bored at all, mija." he quickly insisted, looking a bit panicked now as she lightly chuckled. "It's okay to admit if you're bored, you know." she lightheartedly said, now trying to assure him of that much when she saw her father shaking his head.

"Mija, I'm not bored by what you said." he insisted before he sighed. "If anything, I was watching the way you talked about this city and it... it made me think of your tía." Aliya saw him further add on, now turning away from her and face the city's iconic skyline as the girl quietly stared at him.

"Your mamá and I always knew that your tía has always been the adventurous type. She was the one who always wanted to venture out into the wall as changelings and she just always held this sense of wonder whenever she learned about places outside of Avalon as it fascinated her to learn these things." her father softly began, fondly reminiscing as she saw his eyes light up when he began talking about her aunt, appearing more joyful too.

"It was evident to me and your mamá back then that we both knew she really wanted to explore what was beyond Avalon, so when she said she wanted to leave Avalon, we were thrilled to see she got to finally do what she always dreamt of doing..." he happily added before he trailed off as she saw him solemnly sigh.

"... I just wish your tía didn't have her life cut off so short and go out the way she did. Not when we envisioned her living out her dream of exploring what life had to offer outside of Avalon with her new lover at her side." he continued, sighing again as she saw the excitement in his eyes die out and quickly turn to sorrow.

As she looked at him, she then glanced back at the skyline and toward the buildings in their nearby neighborhood when her eyes caught sight of a old, crumbling building in the distance that appeared to be badly burnt. Seeing the building's state made her think of her mother and thinking about her made the girl recall the last words she heard her mother speak...

"LOOK OUT!"

It was quick but she recalled seeing the wood continue to fall and the building begin to come undone on the mirror screen, she vividly remember the way her mother used her earth-wielding faerie magic to get the reporters safely out of the building.

Even in her last moments, mamá never stopped thinking about others, she thought to herself as she recalled seeing the building collapse seconds later. It was then that the reporters' words echoed in her head.

"It is rumored that she was close to figuring out the culprit behind the fire when the death of her former lover-turned-traitor Corentine Leviton, commonly known as Stormy, in the surface world resulted in Miss Amara halting her investigation on the late royals. Like the late royals, the traitor's life was taken in a fire not related to the one taking Queen Reese and King Trojan's lives, though Miss Amara had speculated the two fires were connected to one another after she left Avalon to investigate the death of her former lover."

Their fires. Mamá knew the death of Rhys' grandparents and Aunt Stormy were both connected from the two separate fires that occurred, but how? she thought when she recalled her conversation with Jesse.

"Come on. Don't look at me like that. She tried to make something out of nothing when she had began investigating the fire that resulted in the death of Prince Rhys' grandparents and that had only continued when she started to look into the fire that resulted in your aunt's death." he told her as Aliya simply continued to glare at him.

"Look. All I'm saying is their deaths was pretty straight-forward and she couldn't accept that, so she wanted to turn two closed cases into something more." he defensively protested as he held his hands up in the air. "Only Amaranth ventured too far and died for nothing." he added as she shook her head at his words.

"That's not true. My mamá didn't die for nothing." she firmly protested as she crossed her arms.

"She always speculated that the deaths of Rhys' grandparents and my aunt Stormy were always connected and she must've been close to figuring out who because someone wanted to silence her that night. I mean, why else would a fire set off right as she was about to give her thoughts?" she had continued as she saw Jesse sigh.

"Aaliyah, I know you miss your mother, but please don't start following in her footsteps. Alright? What happened that night was nothing more than an accident. The building collapsed because it was old and destined to fall. She chose to save those reporters' lives and died with the flames engulfing her. That's all."

"I know, but—"

"I mean it. Don't go making something out of nothing."

She knew the love fairy had a point, but she just couldn't shake off the notion that there was something amiss about the whole thing. After all, it couldn't have just been some coincidence that Rhys' grandparents, her aunt and her mother all seemingly died in a fire.

It just couldn't!

Maybe, it wouldn't have made her suspicious but then again, only Reese and Trojan's bodies were found directly on the site of their crime scene. Because when it came to her aunt, they hadn't been able to recover her body just as when it came to her mother—

"[...] her body was never discovered at the scene, leading some to speculate the possibility of foul play was at hand."

"Foul play..."

"Huh?"

"Baba, what if mamá was right and there really was something amiss about the way our friends and Aunt Stormy died in a fire?" she asked, now turning to face him as she saw his initial puzzled expression before he realized what she was talking about, observing as his face sunk further.

"Mija—"

"I mean, one fire is one thing. Two fires is another but igniting a fire right as mamá was on the verge of saying how she thought the fires were connected?" she countered as she interrupted him. "Even you have to admit that's suspicious in itself." she added as she saw her father huff.

"Yes, but—"

"Jesse told me mamá's death was nothing more than an accident. That the building had collapsed because it was old and destined to fall. That the flames engulfed her and that was that. But I don't think that's the case because whoever ignited the fire killing mamá that night has to be the one behind the same fires in Reese, Trojan and Aunt Stormy's deaths."

"Mija—"

"I don't know how the two fires were connected, but mamá knew."

"Mija—"

"She knew how and she had died trying to get answers to bring closure not only to Rhys and his people, but also for us. Yes, mamá, Jaxon and Lillian are not here anymore, but his grandparents were their friends just as they were ours. Plus, mamá cherished Aunt Stormy just as much as you did and my siblings were both raised by Aunt Stormy too; the same as me."

"I know, mija, but—"

"So, I don't know how I'm going to fit this in between helping you remind people of who you really are and the whole Lady Bone Enchantress situation in addition to us being on the run, but I promise you, baba, I will finish what mamá had started all those years ago if it's the last thing I do." she determinedly vowed as she took a deep breath and briefly paused before she continued.

"I will find out how those fires started and who was behind them because Rhys and his kingdom deserve to have their closure... just as we deserve to have ours." she added as she sighed. "Granted, I know I'm nothing like mamá, but if—" she continued when she was interrupted by her father.

"Mija."

After he called out to her, she saw her father gently holding onto her shoulders as he spoke again. "Listen to me. I know you think you're nothing like her due to the things Ambrose told you, but please believe me when I say that you are every bit of your mamá just as you are every bit of your aunt and me." he sincerely told her, to which she simply huffed.

"You're only saying that because I look like her." she mumbled when she saw her father shaking his head. "No. It goes beyond that, mija." he insisted as she puzzlingly stared at him.

"How so?"

"Ambrose retracted himself when he said this, but he was right about you having your mother's sense of justice. Like her, you strive for change and when you do things, you don't do them halfway or the bare minimum. No, when you do something, you give it your all just like she does and you're persistent. Oh, you are so persistent just like her but you are also concerned about people in the same sense that she did as you're both overprotective of the people you love." he sincerely began as she huffed at his response.

"I am not—"

"Yes, you are and it has only amplified when the tragedies happen before it went up again the night Lillian went missing and Jaxon..." he promptly interrupted, before trailing off as he shook his head and looked at her.

"Look, mija. I know you're overprotective because your mother did the exact same thing to me and your aunt. Especially your tía whenever it came to her whole Reaper ordeal." her father added, not quite finishing his previous response, but they both knew that he didn't need to.

Not when they both knew what happened.

"I admit, I might have found your mother's overprotective nature a bit annoying just as I do when it comes to your overprotective nature for me, but I know you both do out of a place of love. So, I put up with it because I know you both care." he continued, briefly pausing now before he resumed speaking once more.

"I mean, why else would you trap me in a force field if not to protect me?" he followed up as she stared at him in shock.

"You remember that?" she asked, now genuinely surprised before she realized what she said and tried to backtrack on her statement. "I uh... I mean..." she feebly attempted to add before she saw his slightly stern face and sighed.

"Okay. I'm sorry, baba. I really am, but I had to do it. It was the only thing I could think of to guarantee your safety and I knew if one of us had a chance to make it out alive, I... I would rather have that person be you than me." she apologetically confessed as she saw his slightly stern expression shifting as his look softened now, but he also looked extremely concerned about her response.

"Mija—"

"I know. If I was going to do something like that, I should've talked it out with you, but you had a lot more at stake if they got a hold of you than I did and I knew if I told you, you would have tried talking me out of it."

"I wouldn't—" he attempted to say, but when she raised her eyebrows, he cut himself off as he removed his hands from her shoulders and sighed.

"Fine. You're right. I would have tried talking you out of it." he later admitted, looking away as he huffed in slight annoyance now as she giggled, only to stop when he looked back.

"But, that's only because I don't want you constantly putting your life on the line for me. Okay, I love how you care for me. I do, but you're my daughter and I can't bare the thought of losing you too... Not the way we lost everyone else because of me."

"Baba, that's not—"

"It is true. Okay? I... I messed up when it came to your sister and your.... Your oldest sib just as I messed up when it came to my friends. Oh and not to mention, I couldn't save your tía or your mamá from their deaths." he continued as she frowned at his words.

"Baba—"

"So, yes. It is true, because I'm the reason we lost our familia and I'm sorry." he added before he solemnly sighed.

"Baba, it's not—" she softly began to counter, but when he turned away from her, she quietly sighed and cut herself off, choosing to fall silent instead with his words now replaying in her mind.

"It is true. Okay? I... I messed up when it came to your sister and your.... Your oldest sib just as I messed up when it came to my friends. Oh and not to mention, I couldn't save your tía or your mamá from their deaths."

Not long after she replayed those words, she was reminded of her conversation with her ex and more so, she specifically thought back to what Castor said in regards to her apá... and her.

"Anyways, this looks like the night where your father's knack of trouble kicks in and I wouldn't even be surprised if he managed to make a mess of things like he always does." her classmate continued as she proceeded to stand up.

"That's not true and you know it." she defensively protested as he simply chuckled at her response. "Right, because you and him are definitely not the same." he countered, now staring at her as he chuckled again. "I mean, it's not exactly a coincidence that you and your father both have a tendency of making a mess of things and causing trouble wherever you go," he added as she glared at him.

"That's not—"

"True?" he dryly finished as he laughed. "Then, tell me how he managed to lose all of the friends he had, his wives and his two kids in the span of four hundred years?" he added as she sighed at his question.

"You know exactly how these things all occurred in the span of four hundred years, Castor, because you were there for most, if not, all of it," she answered as she recalled the way she sighed once more.

"Besides, you said it like he meant to lose everyone that he cared about in his life when we both know that isn't the case." she added as he sighed.

"Okay, fine. That might not be the case for his wives or what happened to Lillian, but it's definitely the case for his friends and Jaxon." he said as she shook her head.

"No. What happened to his friends and Jaxon still fits because he hadn't meant to lose them just like he hadn't meant to lose my mother, my aunt and my sister." she countered back as he shook his head.

"His actions led to his friends leaving him and his lack of action in the case of what happened to Lillian led Jaxon to disown him as their father. Okay? I get that Issac isn't responsible for most of the losses he endure, but he's partially to blame when it comes to him losing his friends and his eldest kid," he countered in turn as he sighed once more.

"Just like you're responsible for what happened to Lillian, why Jaxon disowned you as their sister and why our relationship came to an end." he added as she recalled the way her face fell at his words.

"Don't look at me like that, Aliya. You're the reason behind these things and more because you make a mess of whatever you touch. It's just what you do because you, like your father, live on causing chaos and causing destruction in your wake, but that's not surprising." he added as he sighed again.

"After all, that seems to be the only thing you and him are both good at doing these days."

Quietly sighing after Castor's words finished replaying in her head, she then glanced back at her father's solemn face and began recalling his words.

"So, yes. It is true, because I'm the reason we lost our familia and I'm sorry."

After she finished replaying her father's words, she glanced at the ground and sharply clenched her fist.

"No."

"What?"

"I refuse to accept your apology because it's not your fault we lost our familia." she firmly said, looking up from the ground now and facing her father as she saw the way he dejectedly sighed at her response.

"Mija, you're sweet but it's my fault."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is." he firmly insisted as she crossed her arms. "Fine. Since you feel the need to blame yourself, then you might as well go ahead and blame me too while you are at it because if we are going by your reasoning for blaming yourself, then it's my fault too." she sharply stated as she saw her father's face falter at her words.

"Mija—"

"What? I mean, it's true. I'm the last person who saw my sister and when she needed me most, I couldn't uphold my promise to protect her. I couldn't be there for her and because of me, she's still gone."

"Mija—"

"Oh and let's not forget that the only reason Jaxon even disowned you in the first place is because they had gotten into an argument with you over the way you couldn't stand how they rightfully blamed me for what happened to Lillian." she sharply continued as she saw her father heavily sighing.

"Mija, please stop blaming yourself for everything that ends up happening to us when it's not your fault." he sincerely pleaded with her as she simply scoffed. "Oh, so you can go ahead and blame yourself for things that aren't your fault just fine, but I can't?" she sharply countered as she saw him sigh again.

"Mija—"

"Look, baba. I know you feel as though you're responsible for things that happen to us because you believe you could've done more, but it's not—"

"It is my fault. I'm the one whose meant to protect everyone. Not you! Okay? It was my responsibility, but I failed! Okay? I failed because I... I wasn't strong enough and when they all needed me most, I—"

"Stop! Stop feeling like you have to bear the weight of everything that happens on your shoulders when you don't!" she snapped, having had enough as she promptly silenced her father now, who only looked at her in shock as his eyes widen before the look faded as he looked at the ground.

When she saw that, she couldn't help but sigh as she leaned her back against the railing and glanced up at the night sky.

"Look, baba, I understand why you're like this. Okay? I do. You lost a lot of people back in your past to Magnus and that's why you feel this overwhelming, protective burden to keep all of us safe because you didn't want to lose anyone in the same way you lost your entire race to the first seeker." she continued as she sighed again.

"I know I didn't lose a entire race like you had to endure, so I can't say I relate or claim to know how it felt to deal with that, but I can imagine having to silently shoulder that burden on your own for a thousand plus years must've weighed heavily on you and it must've only gotten worse when after losing Aunt Stormy, mamá, Lillian and Jaxon." she further added as she sighed once more.

"So, you feel this need to blame yourself for failing to protect them and you shoulder the burden on yourself, but baba, you shouldn't blame yourself nor should you feel the need to shoulder all that burden on yourself because you're not alone." she further continued as she sighed.

"I know you must've felt like you were alone then, but that's not the case now because you have someone in your corner whose willing to help you. Okay? You only need to—" Aliya softly added, beginning to take her focus off of the night sky and gradually return her attention on her father when she found herself abruptly pulled into his hug as she quietly blinked.

—Ask, she had finished, internally thinking the final word to her response as she felt her father continue to embrace her in his arms, hugging her in a passionate but appreciative and graciously loving manner. In response, Aliya chose to maintain the silence they had going as she returned the hug.

The two remained like this for sometime until her father released her, which in turn, led her to release her hold on him as he gently held onto her shoulders again. "Thank you." he softly and sincerely told her as she warmly smiled.

"You're welcome and although I still don't know how I'm going to fit this in between me helping you remind everyone who you really are, the Lady Bone Enchantress situation, us being on the run and finishing what mamá started, but I promise you: we are going to find them." she determinedly vowed as she took a deep breath and briefly paused as she saw her father hesitantly looking at her.

"Mija—"

"I know, but I don't care what those investigators said about them being gone because I know they're still alive and we're going to find them. Okay? We're going to go find my oldest sibling, find a way to make amends with them, convince Jaxon to take us back as their family again and once we do that, we're going to find my little sister and bring her home too." she determinedly added as she saw her father's eyes briefly flicker in doubt before he took a deep breath and confidently nodded.

"Okay. We'll find Jaxon and Lillian and we'll bring them home." he repeated as a bright grin formed on her face. "Yes! We'll find them just like we're going to find Aunt Stormy and mamá because as far as I'm concerned, neither of their bodies were ever discovered on the site of their respective crime scenes, so there's a chance that they could still be alive." she optimistically continued as she saw her father's eyes briefly flicker in doubt again.

"Mija—"

"I know it's wishful thinking and I know there's a chance that neither of them are alive, but even so, finding them — regardless of what their outcome is — will bring closure to us and maybe we can bring closure to Aunt Stormy's lover too by doing this... whoever he is anyways."

"Mija, I get what you're trying to do. I really do and while it's noble, the only one who knew who her lover was your mamá. But, before we could ever learn his name, she was taken by the fire, so we don't even know his name, where he lives or if your aunt had a family of her own for that matter." he pointed out as she huffed.

"You're right, but still. Regardless of the fact we don't know his name, where he lives or if my aunt had a family of her own, we will figure it out somewhere down the road and besides, if she does have a family, then they deserve to have their mother back just as her lover deserves to have his wife back."

"I know, but—"

"Even if Aunt Stormy isn't alive, don't you think that her lover and her potential family deserve closure too just the same as us?" she followed up and it only then that she saw her father sighing as he nodded.

"You're right." he sincerely said as she lightly giggled. "Pfft — I'm always right." she had teasingly said when she saw her father skeptically raising his eyebrow as he lightly cross his arms.

"Are you sure about that, mija? Because—"

"— The point is we're going to find out what happened to Aunt Stormy and if she's alive, then we're going to find her — wherever my tía is — and reunite her with her lover and potential family. If she's not alive, then we'll look into who her lover was and tell him — alongside his potential family — what happened and hopefully bring him — or them — closure." she promptly said, now interrupting her father before she sighed.

"And maybe — just maybe — we'll find out what happened to mamá. If she's alive, then we'll find her — wherever she is — and bring her home alongside Jaxon and Lillian to hopefully become a family again. If she's not alive, then at least we'll have closure and we'll hopefully be able to move on." she further continued before she sighed.

"The only hard part would be breaking the news to Jaxon and Lillian if it turns out she's not alive after all and I'm not sure how we would do it." she solemnly added, glancing at the city's iconic skyline now as she looked away from her apá and heavily sighed.

"Hey, if it turns out that your mamá isn't alive and that moment arises, then we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Okay?"

When she heard his voice, she glanced back at her father and took a deep breath before she nodded. "Okay." she softly answered as she took another deep breath. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." she added now before her mind went back on the fire faerie... and her parents.

"Hey, baba, you'll be the one to tell Ember's parents that we might've accidentally but not intentionally drag their daughter with us, right? Because—" she meekly added as she saw her father chuckling at her sudden mannerism.

"Don't worry, mija. I'll be sure to let them know in the morning that we have her with us when I..." he began before glancing down at his amulet-less neck as he later huffed from the amulet's absence. In response, she mutely took out his amulet and revealed the now deeply cracked gemstone as he huffed. "Oh, right." he mumbled as she winced from the look and response he made.

"Sorry..."

"Don't be sorry. I mean, you needed to do what you had to do to free me from my omi's control and besides, there are worse things to mourn over than a cracked gemstone." he insisted as she sighed, still feeling guilty.

"I know, but I promise to get it repaired. I'll take on a few jobs and try to find someone to fix it and—"

"Mija, it's okay, really. Besides, I'm just glad that you and Ember were both able to free me from her control." he softly assured her and though she still held her doubts, Aliya nodded as she placed his amulet back in her pocket.

"Yeah, no problem." she softly said, now looking up as she saw her father sitting on the ground and looking at the city's skyline with a solemn expression, much to her concern as she frowned.

"Hey, what's wrong, apá?" she concernedly asked, now sitting beside him as she saw her father heavily sighing at her question. "I just didn't want to think that Ambrose, Shiron and everyone else were right about me, but—" he began when she interrupted him.

"Baba—"

"I ended up freeing your grandmother anyways and now, there's a chance that she'll try to destroy everything and—"

"Baba, hey. That's not your fault. Okay? You were forced to free her just as I was when I unwittingly guided you to the site of her imprisonment." she gently assured him, but he still sighed all the same.

"I know, but she's my responsibility and I—"

"Baba, I know you feel like she's your responsibility because she's your omi and all, but you don't have to face her on your own because you have me and Ember here to help you. Besides, you don't—"

"—always have to shoulder everything on my own." he finished, now interrupting her as he lightly smiled. "I know because that's what you taught me." he softly added, to which she smiled at the fact he caught onto the second thing she taught him until she stopped when she saw his smile fading. "But still—" he added when she interrupted him.

"Hey, everything is going to be fine. Besides, whatever my grandmother and her right-hand are scheming, we can handle it." she confidently added as she stopped nudging her father, before she turned to face the city's iconic skyline as she took her eyes off of him now.

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because you, me and Ember are a team and as long as the three of us stick together, we can face anything." she optimistically followed up as she heard her father huff.

"Again, how can you be so sure of that when the odds are literally stacked against us? I mean, Ember might not be wanted, but you and I are no doubt will and everyone sees us as their monsters and villains and—" she heard him rambled before he cut himself off as he sighed.

"I just don't see how you can be positive about our outcome when it feels like you and me are just falling with Ember caught in the midst of it."

"Well, maybe to fall is one way of learn. I mean, the only way we can go from here is up right? Besides, by the end of all this, everything is going to turn out great, so I know we'll be fine."

"But how—"

"Because even though our situation is grim, the odds are stacked against us and things might seem dark right now, I know we'll be fine because we'll have the light to power us through the darkness ahead."

"But—"

"Besides, you know what they say: fear is strong, but hope is stronger and at the end of the day, that's all we need. Hope to guide us to the light." she softly added, interrupting her father as she listened to him sigh.

"Yeah, but if we got lost and couldn't find the light?" he countered before he huffed and sighed. "Okay, maybe not you and Emby, but..." he further added as he trailed off and huffed. "... What if I got lost and I couldn't find the light?" he followed up, now finishing his previous response as she blinked at his question before she gave him her response.

"Well, even if you got lost, it wouldn't matter because I know it's the light you'll find in spite of you thinking that you couldn't find it." she assured him as she listened to his huff.

"Mija—"

"Besides, they claim what is lost can always be found. So, no matter how long it takes or how far I would have to go, I would do everything in my power to find you and that's a promise I intend on keeping." she sincerely and determinedly vowed, interrupting him again as she took a deep breath.

"Okay? I would fight for you in spite of the obstacles I would end up facing because..." she initially added, but when she felt a light thump on her right shoulder, she turned to see her father sleepily leaning against her as she trailed off and quietly smiled.

"... You're my baba and you're always going to be worth fighting for." she quietly but truthfully finished, before she began to gently scoop her father into her arms, careful to not drop him as she made her way back to the balcony door that led to the guest room.

Gently removing her arm from her father for a bit, she lightly nudged the door and heard a light creak that [thankfully] didn't alert her father or their family friend as it had alert her just now.

Sighing in relief, she continued to hold onto her father and quietly closed the door from behind her before she began approaching the left side of the bed, where Ember had set him down. So as she moved the blanket over, she gently placed her father down on the bed before she draped the bed cover over him as she quietly smiled. "Goodnight, baba." she softly whispered before she took another look at his sleeping state and retained her smile.

"He looks peaceful like this." she quietly noted, shifting the few strands of his hair over to the left when she noticed how he still retained a few white and light blue, almost pale-like streaks.

As soon as she noticed the streaks in his hair, she found herself recalling the way her grandmother's giggles gradually evolve into a rapid descend of a long never-ending string of manically, elated laughter as part of the visions she saw and it wasn't that much longer when she recalled what the woman had said.

"I admit, this was a unforeseen moment, but one I welcome greatly as my destiny is now within my reach, thanks to the fates blessing me with the perfect host."

Her smile quickly dropped, having now recalled what the woman first told her prior to the visions.

"What you saw was merely the beginning. In time, I will regain my champion again and once he's in my control, he will succeed in getting me the girl as they will aid me on my aspirations just as destiny intended."

Glancing at her father and their family friend in their slumber as her grandmother's words echoed in her mind, she felt her anger rising, but not wanting to wake them up, she mutely turned on her heels and approached the balcony door again.

Quietly opening the door, she then left the guest room before she quietly closed the door from behind her. As soon as she ensured that the balcony door was closed and fully confident that they couldn't hear her, she then backed away from the door and proceeded to release a few frustrated screams she suppressed for quite some time.

"Ughhh! Why! Why her! What is it about Ember that she feels the need to have her so badly! Why can't she just leave my friend alone!" she angrily yelled, frustratedly screaming in her shirt this time before she stopped and adjusted her shirt.

"Better yet, what kind of mother calls her own shon a vessel?! A vessel of all things?! Oh and not to mention the way she called him her 'perfect host' and her 'champion' as if he was just some sort of weapon for her! Like he's not your weapon, lady! He's her son for crying out loud and yet she treats him like he's a tool for that stupid destiny of hers! Oh and that annoying right-hand of hers is no better!" she angrily ranted, tightly clenching her fist as she felt her anger heighten the moment she thought of him.

"That zealous destiny enabler of hers had a lot of nerves to call my apá a monster and a villain and had the audacity to possess him twice! Twice! Ugh and all because my apá didn't want to do what his namesake prophecy had said! The — The — The — Ugh!"

Too frustrated to talk now, she only screamed in her shirt again because while she was outside because she didn't want to draw anymore attention to herself with the way she was yelling.

"Ugh! I can't stand her or that destiny enabler of hers and their persistence in the belief that there is no choice! If it's their destiny, they should decide what to do with it! Not her! Not her enabling right hand and certainly not anyone else!" she angrily yell before she heavily sighed. "It should be their decision. No one else." she mumbled as a solemn sigh came out as she glanced up at the sky. As soon as she did, her anger quickly returned as she lashed out once more.

"Ugh! I can't believe I was stupid enough to think tonight would actually work in my favor! I mean, what I was thinking?! That what? That I could have somehow actually made a difference? That I would've finally been accepted by my home after enduring years of rejection? Ha!" Aliya bitterly, sarcastically and angrily followed up before she solemnly chuckled.

"What a joke. I can't believe I almost had everything I ever worked for and lost it all in a matter of seconds with the blast coming out of that stupid hilt! I mean, everyone else in my class went before me and their induction went fine, but me? Ha!" she bitterly, sarcastically and angrily followed up again as she huffed in annoyance.

"It's just so irritating that my classmates got knighted in front of the entire realm just fine, but when it came to me, that's when things go wrong and just when Avalon was going to see me for..."

"Aaliyah, I am aware that you and your father both endured many hardships, but tonight as the people of Fairytopia, Oceanian, Deheubarth and the Light Kingdom look on to you, Avalon will see you and your father for who you two really are."

When she thought back to the Director's words moments before the knighting ceremony had occurred, she found herself trailing off as she blinked.

"Huh. How ironic he says that and the next thing I know, I'm seen with the sword that ends up killing King James and Queen Morgana. How ironic then that everyone's calling me a murderer, a traitor, a villain and a monster. Just as it's ironic he said that about my apá and the next thing you know, he's revealed to be the Shadow Prince. So, it's only ironic that everyone refers to him as being vile and dangerous but also call him a villain and a monster, same as me." she said as she hummed in curiosity.

"How ironic he says Avalon will see you and your father for who you two really are when those things only happen after your induction goes wrong from..." she followed up as she spoke in a calm but suspicious tone now before trailing off as she blinked. "... The sword that Alexis gave me. The sword that they clearly knew something about..." she finished, trailing off again when she began to recall her interaction with the Director's squire.

"Oh! Your sword."

As the squire presented the last iridium sword to her, she flashed the squire a soft smile.

"Thanks." she softly said, but as soon as she accepted the sword, she felt a immediate weight difference as her standard sword was lightweight, but this one felt... oddly heavier. It was then that she looked at the sword and saw a sliver, green-eyed snake rising from the end of the tip, a distinctive feature she knew wasn't present for the rest of the iridum swords and had certainly never been seen with her typical sword.

It was only then that she saw the sword in her hand lacking the distinctive royal family's seal and the five elements she saw only moments before she was handed the sword.

Realizing that the sword in her grasp was not hers, a puzzled look surfaced on her face as she awkwardly stared at them.

"Hey, um... I know I'm no sword-expert and all, but I think there might have been some mistake." she meekly said, gesturing to the sliver, green-eyed snake rising from the end of the tip, a distinctive feature that wasn't present for the rest of the iridum swords for a good reason.

"I don't think this is actually my sword." she awkwardly confessed as she saw the squire glance over at the other cadets [who were all doing their own thing] as they glanced at her and sighed.

"I had a feeling you would say that." they cryptically began as she puzzlingly stared at them. "How so?" she followed up as she saw them heavily sighed, as if they were struggling with finding the right words now. "Because—" the squire initially began, only to be interrupted by a loud slam.

"Cadets!"

As she and the squire turned to see the Director, she [and the squire] saw the rest of the cadets beginning to line up in two rows when the squire had spoke.

"I should get going." they quickly stated, now preparing to grab onto their cart when she had gently placed her hand on their right shoulder. "Hey, Alexis. Are you—" she gently started when they interrupted her.

"I'm fine. Just get to your position before he calls you out for not being in formation like the others." they firmly told her as she reluctantly released her grip on their right shoulder, recalling the confusion she felt from the sudden shift. "But you—" she initially began, only to get interrupted once more.

"All Cadets, Miss Finkelstein! You are not above the law, so join the others in formation now or so help me, you will not be knighted alongside your classmates."

"If Shiron hadn't came in right then and there, I wonder what they would have told me." she mumbled as she huffed. "Probably something about Jesse's dad with the way they freaked out upon seeing him." she further added before she sighed.

"Well, if there's any chance I have of clearing my name, it's them, seeing how they're the only lead I got. But of course, I can't go back and they're not here, so I can't go and ask them what they knew. At least not until they come here or I get my shiszi mark removed to regain access to the portals connected to Avalon, if there's even one here, but I don't see either of those things happening, so there's nothing more I can do about the matter." she further added before she huffed.

"So, that's a bust, but it's probably a good thing. I mean, between my grandmother's uh strange obsession with destiny and her desire to use my friend and my dad, I have to go stop her while also factoring in my goals to find my sib, my little sister, my aunt and my mamá along the way. Oh and once I add in trying to find out if my Aunt Stormy did end up with a family alongside her mystery male lover, I basically have my hands tied, so there's no point in even trying to dive into the whole who framed me ordeal." she mumbled as she huffed again.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure it's obvious and I'm almost certain he's working with Ambrose, because why keep Marcus alive if not for the prince to somehow name the Senior Fae as his heir? I mean, not that Ambrose really needs the prince anyhow. He can easily discard him, make up a lie and claim the throne for himself with the prince not having a heir." she further added, now shaking her head as she sighed.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the two were working together to establish their control of the heart of Avalon. Nope, it'd not surprise me at all because they've always been shady guys in power. They've just been smart enough not to get noticed or draw attention to themselves." she followed up, huffing once more as she yawned before she exhaustively rubbed her head and her eyes.

"I should take a page from baba and Ember and go to sleep, but I am so not ready to relive all of tonight through my nightmares. So, I would stay awake and avoid torturing myself than go to sleep and torture myself by reliving this night." she tiredly said as she rubbed her eyes again and glanced at the night sky, thinking back to her father and her friend when her words popped up in her head again.

"Oh, child. You can try to fight against destiny, but it comes for us all just as it has come for me, my shon and soon, your friend will follow suit for there is no escape from their fates."

Sighing, she took another look at the sky and frowned. She refused to wish on a star and ask the gods for help because it was clear to her that she was nothing more than a joke to them. So, she knew better than to go make the same mistake twice, but still. She knew she needed to get help but who—

"You were meant to fight for justice like Amara, but I see I was wrong when I made the comparison between you and her as I now know you're nothing more than a disgrace to your mother's memory."

She wasn't sure why Ambrose's words popped into her head but if there was two things she did know, it was this: the way her mother fought for justice and the way her mamá loved her baba as much Aunt Stormy did.

They both cared about baba a lot and if they were here, I doubt they would have cared about him being the Shadow Prince. Mamá and Aunt Stormy would've fought for him as he fought for them, I'm sure of it. So, even though they're not here, I know they'd be proud of me for sticking by baba's side... so it would only make sense that I reach out to them for help.

"I really hope this works, because if it doesn't work, I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess if push came to shove, I'll go sell my soul or something to some powerful overlord or whatever. I don't really care at this point but I just need someone to help me out here because clearly, I still have no idea what I'm doing and I can't keep losing people." she quietly mumbled as she sighed.

Not anymore.

So as she took a deep breath, she grabbed onto the rails and look towards the night sky once more.

"Mamá... Tía... If either one of you are out there, then please send me a sign because I... I could use some guidance and I don't know what to do." she began as she sighed.

"Baba is in trouble. Everyone is going to hunt him down soon and his omi... who doesn't even deserve the right to be associated as his mother, only sees him as a tool to advance her destiny; a destiny that's going to involve a lot of innocent people getting caught in her quest for revenge in regards to what the first two seekers and the past royals did to her." she briefly added as she sighed.

"Not only that, but her and her right-hand intend on using baba to carry out her destiny as they view him as a mere vessel for her plans. Worse, everyone thinks that he's a monster and a villain because of a prophecy he was forced to fulfill, so they want to capture him and take him back to Avalon." she continued before she sighed.

"I was able to get him out of Avalon, so he's safe from them for the night, but that won't last and even then, his safety here is limited thanks to his omi and her destiny enabling right hand. Not to mention, his omi wants to get a hold of Ember. She's a stubborn but deeply loyal fire faerie who I think you two would've definitely loved, but I don't know for what reason or to what extent that she wants her." she further added on before she sighed once again.

"I was able to stop my grandmother tonight from succeeding in achieving her destiny, but..." she briefly continued before she trail off as she recalled her grandmother's words.

"Oh, nieta, there are so many moves that I have yet to play."

"... She's determined to have her destiny come true just as she plans on regaining her champion and once baba ends up in her control again, she intends on having him succeed in getting Ember as she believes they will aid her on her aspirations as destiny intended." she briefly followed up, finishing her previous response now as she solemnly sighed.

"I know Poseidon said I was meant to do great things one day, but I just don't see how when all I ever do is cause trouble. Just as I don't know if I can actually keep Baba and Ember safe or if I'll ever strive to be the person Poseidon thought I could become before he passed, but I'm willing to put in the effort and try anyways." she further added before she began to gain a upbeat tone to her now.

"I know I'm not half as strong like you and Aunt Stormy, but I have to believe I can do whatever it takes to keep baba and Ember safe because they matter and they shouldn't have their lives dictated by destiny. So, I'm willing to overcome any obstacles and scrutiny that comes my way because in addition to keeping them safe, I need people back home to see me and apá are more than what they perceive us to be, which is why..." she continued before she trailed off as she took a deep breath.

"... I'm asking for you or Aunt Stormy to give me a chance to protect baba and Ember. Give me a opportunity to remind Avalon of who me and baba really are and show them that we are not the monsters nor are we the villains they made us out to be." she finished before she held her breath for a bit and sighed again.

"So please. If you or Aunt Stormy are up there and you can hear me, then please. Please send me a sign, so I know I was heard. It can be literally anything, I don't care. I... I just need to know that I'll have someone to come and give me the strength to do whatever it takes to keep baba, Ember and everyone else safe because I can't do this alone. Not anymore." she added on as she put her heart and soul into those words as she gave her last sigh.

As she did, she kept her eyes on the sky before she blinked, having now realized that she didn't think her plan all the way through.

"Wait. Did I even going about this whole thing right? What if I did it wrong and no one answers? Or what if I did it right and one of them does send me a sign? How would I even know what the sign..." she began, now expressing a bit of doubt regarding her last-ditch effort plan when she trailed off as she felt a change in the direction of the wind and it was then she heard a sound in the wind.

Ah-ah, oh-oh

"Huh? What was that?" she mumbled, turning to find the source of the sound, but she didn't see anyone with her as she suspiciously crossed her arms. "Weird." she mumbled before she recall the change in the wind's direction and blinked as she uncrossed her arms.

"Wait. What I heard just now, was that—"

Ah-ah, oh-oh

When she was interrupted by the voice, she started to gasp as she realized what the sound and the change in the wind's direction indicated for her. Because now, she knew one of them had heard and answered her pleads by giving her what she wanted. So as she gave a gracious sigh, she took a deep breath before looked at the night sky again and sincerely smiled.

"Thank you."

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

"Oh my gods! Look at this place! A thousand years' worth of history destroyed just like that!"

As Marcellus observed his classmates glancing at the damage inflicted onto to the Hall of Heroes and bemoaning the loss of their ancestor's history, he noticed the way Jesse kept surveying the vines as the love fairy glanced away from the vines. As he did, the seeker saw the love fairy look at him as the seeker saw the love fairy skeptically glaring at him.

"And you're certain that the shiszi is behind this?"

"Obviously. It's like I told you. The shiszi manipulated Chepi to turn on me and Aeolus by forcing her to do all of this. She made Chepi attack us, then she made her destroy the Hall of Heroes and forced the nature faerie to unwillingly help her as she kidnapped Ember, retrieved her monster and took off by escaping with some skeleton-looking key." he explained before he huffed.

"I mean, it's because of her that Chepi has to go get the shiszi's brain-washing removed and why Aeolus is currently getting checked out by the royal healers in the affirmary room." he added as he crossed his arms at the love fairy's skepticism.

"Somehow, I find it unlikely the shiszi did all that and the things you claimed she did." the love fairy insisted as he loudly gasped.

"Oh, so you're on her side now!" he bluntly countered, making his voice exceedingly loud as he and Jesse saw their classmates looking on before their eyes fell on the love fairy, who sharply glared at him.

"Marcellus—"

"You know, our seeker does have a point." Katsu, Aragon and Slivanus promptly stated as he saw his friends interrupt the love fairy, who simply rolled his eyes at their response and gave a light chuckle.

"Guys—"

"If you hadn't trusted her, none of this would have happened!" Katsu sharply interrupted as the seeker saw Aragon nodded.

"Yeah! That shiszi was nothing but trouble right from the start and now thanks to her bringing about the great tragedy, the Shadow Prince is going to free the Lady Bone Enchantress and bring doom about us all!" Aragon followed up as Slivanus glared at the love fairy.

"Come to think of it, I bet you helped her escape!" Slivanus sharply snapped, which made the others glare at the love fairy in disgust as the seeker saw Jesse simply roll his eyes at the knight's response. "I wasn't even here, genius." the love fairy sharply but very bluntly shot back as the seeker saw the nature faerie scoffing in response.

"Whatever. I never even like that freak anyways. She was nothing but a hindrance to us all." the nature faerie sharply followed up as Castor chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about her." Castor chimed in as Slivanus chuckled in turn. "Yep. You and the rest of us share the same feeling." Slivanus added as the seeker saw the rest of the knights nodding as if it was a sign of their mutual agreement right as the knights all heard the doors to the grand atrium opening.

As they all turned, Marcellus and the rest of the knights saw the Director enter the Hall of Heroes and inspect the damage when they spoke.

"It's his fault!" he, Katsu, Aragon, Slivanus and Castor all collectively exclaimed, now pointing at Jesse with Atlas and Triton cheering him and the others on. "Yeah! You guys tell him!" Atlas and Triton proudly chimed in as all eyes went onto the love fairy, whose jaw dropped as Jesse stared at them.

"Me?!"

"Yes, you! Who else, genius!" he sharply taunted as he crossed his arms. "You're the one who was the closest one to her after all, so why didn't you tell us the shiszi was working with the Shadow Prince?" Atlas and Triton sharply followed up as Jesse glared at them and rolled his eyes once more.

"How I was supposed to know Issac was the Shadow Prince when we all literally found out in the locker room at the same exact time!"

"ENOUGH!"

As the Director's loud, booming voice pierced through his son's response and silenced the love fairy, everyone then followed suit as they all looked as the Director moved forward to approach them.

"A villain just killed innocent people, destroyed our kingdom, took a civilian and is on the loose, no doubt causing mayhem now in her wake with her monster in tow while she continues to hold said civilian hostage as we speak." the Director began before he sighed.

"Meanwhile, I look at this kingdom's latest heroes of the realm expecting to see a group of men ready to discuss how to deal with this dangerous threat on our hands when all I see are knights fighting amongst one another as if they were all common-born savages and not the elite/first-class members of our prestige society." the Director added, now scolding him, his son and the rest of their classmates as he, Jesse and the other knights quietly looked on.

"Remember your training, gentlemen. Remember why you all chose to be here. Remember why you all chose to honor the oath and follow through with protecting this kingdom and our realm from the forces of evil. Above all else though, remember who you are. You are all knights who were born to protect this kingdom, so now is the time to defend it!"

As Marcellus, Jesse and the rest of the other knights looked at each other and back at him, they felt a sense of resolve and determination to do what they were born to do: protect their home and honor the legacy their ancestors left behind.

A resolve and determination Marcellus felt so strongly about, he had proudly held his hand up in the air as the seeker [and everyone else] knew there was now a vacancy spot in the Captain role, a position they all knew would've gone to the shiszi had tonight's events not occur. As such, the knights all knew the role of Captain was up for grabs and Marcellus was going to claim his stake as he was the most qualified for the position.

Plus, he was the seeker, so it only seemed fitting that he follow in the footsteps of those before him in becoming the next Captain of the famed, prestige Crownsguard just as those before him were.

Almost immediately, Marcellus shot his hand in the air and became determined to claim what [he felt] was rightfully his.

"Let me take the lead, Director." he began as he stepped out into the open and stood in front of the director's gaze.

"Please. My ancestors fought to protect our kingdom and it's only right that I carry on the legacy he and his son passed onto me and my family as the seeker-knight's latest descendant and our kingdom's chosen one. I strive to represent our kingdom well, Director, and I'll do whatever it takes to ensure that the shiszi is dealt with accordingly." he followed up before he took a deep breath.

"After all, His Highness lost his parents to someone who betrayed his trust just as these people lost their royals to someone who also betrayed their trust. She vowed to protect our home, but she broke her oath when she brought about the great tragedy that led to the Shadow Prince's awakening, so, it's time that we treat the shiszi like the royal-killing monster she is." he further added as he heard his friends and the other knights cheering at his words.

"Yeah!"

"I'll hunt her down." he confidently continued as a sinister gleam in his eyes began to show. "I'll make her hurt and I'll make sure that she—" he added when he was promptly interrupted right then and there.

"No."

When Marcellus finds himself cut off, he [along with the other knights and the Director] look up to see Jesse moving forward as he stood in between him and his father. "I'll do it." Jesse firmly added as Marcellus started to laugh at the love fairy's bold proclamation.

"You?"

The love fairy sharply but mutely glared at him before he saw the latter take a deep breath and begin to face his father.

"Father, if anyone can find Ali—" the Director's son briefly began before he briefly cut himself off as he paused to take another deep breath and correct himself. "If anyone can find Aaliyah before someone else gets hurts, it's me." Jesse further continued, correcting his previous statement as he took a deep breath.

"I know you believe the seeker should be Captain, but with all due respect, we can't rely on him when his powers aren't as strong as those who came before him. I mean, he should've been able to locate her by now, especially with her shiszi mark, but he hasn't. So, if we were to rely on him, he would only lead us astray and with lives on the line, we can't afford to make mistakes after all that occurred tonight." Jesse added as Marcellus sharply glared at him.

"Father, if you want the shiszi and the Shadow Prince both brought here back in chains and the hostage to be safe, then you have to let me lead. I know I'm not blessed by Thena like Marcellus nor am I the chosen one or the seeker and I have never once made you proud, but I've never felt more clearly about what I'm doing than right now." Jesse passionately continued as Marcellus crossed his arms and simply scoffed.

"So, please. If you give me this opportunity and let me lead these men in the hunt for our threat, I vow to do my best to make you and my home proud by capturing our soon-to-be fugitives and bring them right back here to face the consequences of their actions."

After Jesse finished, the entire Hall of Heroes lingered in silence as all eyes went to the Director, who glanced at him and back at his son before he took a deep breath and began to address the group.

"When we were first faced with the Lady Bone Enchantress and her Great Beast a thousand years ago, we believed they were going to be the only threat we would ever face. But then, we dealt with the Fallen Heroes's deception occurring in Aureus Braveheart's time and we thought that would be the end of it. Only to come and learn another threat would arise from the traitorous seer's betrayal when she chose to love a outsider and now, years after the seer's treachery, we are faced with the greatest threat that Fairytopia has ever seen in generations with the shiszi's despicable actions." the Director briefly began, momentarily pausing as he turned to face him and his son.

"Thankfully, we have my shon here to lead us through the darkness and restore the light that the shiszi and her monster stole from us." the Director proudly added, now facing his attention away from him as he faced his son, causing Marcellus' jaw to drop from the Director's direction.

"What?!"

But everyone seemed to be ignoring him now as all eyes went to Jesse, the new Captain of the Crownsguard, with Marcellus begrudgingly looking on to see the Director's son start to address the group of men in the destroyed grand atrium.

"Knights of the Realm!" Jesse heroically began, already catching everyone's attention [if the love fairy hadn't done so beforehand] as they looked on.

"The shiszi and her monster might have gotten away from us tonight, but now it's time for us to rise up like the heroes we are and show these monsters they messed with the wrong kingdom!"

"Yeah!"

"So search through every Avalonian residing in the otherworldly realms and locate any sightings of the shiszi mark, her monster or the civilian she took from her parents." the love fairy added on before Marcellus saw the love fairy pausing until Jesse had faced them once more. "Find Aaliyah and bring her to me!" the new Captain now concluded and as Marcellus saw the squire applying golden pauldrons onto the knight's shoulders, he silently growled at the sight.

That should be me and in time, it will be. Because when the love fairy screws up, I'll be there to capitalize on the knight's failure and claim my right to be Captain. Just as I'll restore my seeker powers to their full glory when I find Aureus' Staff of Immortality and show Poseidon that I am the seeker.

So when Marcellus saw the knights take off to follow their orders and noticed the Director taking off, the seeker approached the love fairy, who was now alone as he smugly crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Cute speech, loverboy, but we both know why you're really doing this." he smugly began as he saw the new Captain scoffing from his response. "Whatever you think I'm doing this for, Marcel, you're wrong. Okay? I stand with Avalon and that's it." the love fairy sharply stated as he began to slyly chuckle before he flashed a light, prideful smirk in the knight's direction.

"Come on, Jesse. You can fool them and your father, but you can't fool me. The only reason you chose to advocate yourself for the title of Captain is because you viewed it as a way to keep that little girlfriend of yours safe, but guess what? Your girlfriend is my monster and if you think you will be able to keep her safe with your newfound title, then you are wrong because I have every intention of slaying the monster where she stands." he further added, moving closer as he then gave another chuckle.

"Oh and as soon as I'm done with that half-breed girlfriend of yours, I'm going to finish what Magnus started by doing what he never got to do. I'm going to slay the Shadow Prince and in killing the monsters, I will honor Thena's wish and restore peace to not only our home, but to the entire Avalonian realm as well." the seeker determinedly added as he chuckled.

"So, you can claim you stand with Avalon all you want, Jesse, but I know the truth of where you really stand." he firmly taunted, now standing toe-to-toe with the Captain, who sharply glared at him.

"Wherever you think I stand, Marcellus, think again because as I told you before, I stand with my kingdom and nothing is going to change that." Jesse firmly stated, now standing toe-to-toe in front of him as the two knights proceeded to darkly glare at each other until they heard a meek cough.

It was then that the two saw the squire standing in front of them as they awkwardly cleared their throat and glanced at the two.

"Um, I hate to interrupt... whatever it is that you two have going on, but I'm here to retrieve the new Captain of the Crownsguard." the squire explained as Marcellus saw the love fairy smugly smirked to him before he saw the love fairy turn to the squire and nodded.

"Yes, and what is the reason for this?"

"His Royal Highness intends on addressing his people and the entire realm alongside the Senior Fae and your father before the press, who will be boardcasting his speech for all to hear."

"Mhm and..."

"... And His Royal Highness along with your father and the Senior Fae want you there as the new Captain and face of the Crownsguard. As such, you are to report to the Throne Room, where the press conference will take place in just a few moments." the squire finished as Marcellus mutely glared at the love fairy, who nodded.

"Right, of course. Tell them I'll come shortly. I just need to wrap up a few things with the seeker, then I'll make my way over there." the new Captain promptly stated as the squire nodded. "Of course, Captain. I'll relay your words to them and let them know that you will be arriving there shortly." the squire formally stated as Marcellus saw Jesse nodding.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Right as the squire was about to leave, Marcellus then cleared his throat as the squire glanced at him.

"Yes?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you meant to leave me out when you chose to address Jesse, seeing how I'm the seeker and all—"

"Ah, yes. You are the seeker and Thena's chosen one, but I intended to leave you out as His Royal Highness, the Senior Fae and the Director have no use for you at the press conference. After all, I was only told to retrieve the Captain of the Crownsguard and seeing how that person is not you, I felt no need to address you as you are irrelevant to this matter." the squire promptly explained, now interrupting him as his jaw dropped at their response.

It was only then that he saw the squire smugly smirking before they promptly walked off. When the squire left, he heard Jesse snickering.

"Well, what do you know? I guess the seeker title doesn't hold as much power as it did before in the past when your ancestors first obtained the title. So, I guess it won't be long before you slip into oblivion." the new Captain stated as he felt the love fairy lightly placing a pity touch on his right shoulder.

"You had a good run, Marcellus, but it seems as though your luck has just ran out." Jesse further added before he stopped and pulled away from him. "So while I go attend this press conference, you can make yourself useful by locating our soon-to-be fugitives like the rest of the knights..." the Captain further added, only to trail off as Marcellus saw the love fairy mockingly chuckle at him.

"... If you can even manage to do that."

After the love fairy said those words, he saw Jesse take off as he found himself alone in the ruins of the grand atrium.

It was here where the seeker stood as the squire and the love fairy's words replayed in his head.

"I'm not irrelevant and I will not slip into oblivion." the seeker sharply stated before he sighed to himself and leaned against the wall of the grand atrium. As he did, he glanced at the damage in the Hall of Heroes once more, he sighed once more at the sight before his eyes drifted toward a statue with his head wrapped with a golden, metallic thin headband — almost like a variant of a crown of sorts — as the seeker curiously looked on.

Slowly, he moved from his spot and began to approach the relatively bodyless statue as he bent down and glanced at the statue. As he looked on, he saw his ancestor's craved stone eyes stare back at him as he picked up the head of the second seeker-knight and sighed, standing up now with the statue's head in his grasp.

"Aureus... If you are out there, then please send me a sign because I... I could use some guidance and I don't know what to do." he began as he sighed.

"You and your father did whatever it took to keep the monsters out of our kingdom, but now the monsters have returned and I want to help, but Poseidon forsake me. He reduced my abilities as a seeker right before he passed and now, thanks to him, those powers.... are nonexistence." the seeker continued before he sighed again.

"So, even though I'm still a seeker in name and I'm still Thena's chosen one, I'm useless because I can't do the things that you, Magnus and all those who came before me could do." he added as he sighed.

"These people need a hero and I know I can be that for them, if only I was half as strong as all of you." he added before he sighed again.

"I don't know if I can do whatever it takes to keep these people safe, but I'm willing to fight the monsters if it means restoring peace to our kingdom again. So bring on the monsters, bring on the demons and bring on all the enemies you had because even though life and fate are scary, I want to be legendary and I want my name to be forever linked to being these people's savior." he continued and as he spoke, he began to gain a more determined and optimistic tone to him.

"So even though Poseidon forsake me and my seeker abilities are not on par with you, your dad and the others, I'm willing to overcome any obstacles and scrutiny that comes my way because we have come a long way and I can't let the shiszi and her monster destroy everything that you, your father and the others built in perserving our way of life, which is why..." he continued until he trailed off and took a deep breath.

"... I need you to reveal the Staff of Immortality to me. I need to harness your powers and if I had the staff, I could help these people just as you did all those years ago. I know you enhanced the staff to only be used when it deemed someone worthy, but I'm your descendant, so I have to be worthy by default. I mean, come on! I'm like the most worthiness person here!" he insisted now as he tossed Aureus' head in the air before he panicked and quickly caught his ancestor's head from falling onto the ground.

"Besides, Poseidon was wrong about not only you and me, but all of our bloodline as well. He claimed we were only pushing our agenda. That we don't care about these people. That we're too selfish and too close-minded to look past seeing people who are unlike us, but what would he know?" he sharply continued as he huffed.

"He's a god who doesn't honor justice. I mean, he would rather punish me for trying to save our kingdom from a threat early on as a changeling who was devoted to protecting his people than see the freak he cared so much about become the our biggest threat." he added as he began to let his anger get the best of him.

"Poseidon could say what he wanted, but the way we've been doing things is true and just as it has always been. This kingdom doesn't need change, but still, he thought she should've been the next seeker as he believed that she could bring about the change he wrongly claims we all need." he followed up before he scoffed.

"No. She's no bringer of change just as she's certainly no seeker. No, if anything, that half-breed demon spawn is nothing more than a monster, a murderer, a traitor, a villain and a threat to our people and me and mom knew that!" he further added as he clenched his fist now.

"We knew that she was a monster right from the start, so when mom proposed that I sacrifice her to Poseidon to gain his blessing, I tried to help out, but no! That foolish god was too blind to see my heroism as he took pity on the freak. Ha! He pited the freak, but now it's thanks to his decision to spare the monster that our own people are doomed and it's all his fault!" he angrily snapped, sighing again as he huffed.

"He wanted her to be the seeker, but Thena knew better. She knew I was meant to be the seeker and she made sure he couldn't intervene with my birthright by ensuring the title stayed with me and not wind up getting bestowed to the shiszi..." he then followed up before he trailed off as he sighed again.

"... Only, he got the last laugh in the end when he wrongfully forsake me and now, I have to go resolve what he did if I am to ever be these people's seeker and become the chosen one that Thena needs me to be, so please. If you are there and you can hear me, then let me wield the Staff of Immortality. Let me vanquish these monsters and let me finish what your father had begun a thousand years ago. Let me restore peace to this kingdom and this realm by finding them and ensuring that they can never hurt anyone again. Please."

After he spoke and held his breath, he then glanced at the seeker's craved stone head and as he looked around to see nothing changed, he huffed.

"Of course. Let it be my luck that even my own ancestor would come and forsake me too! Just great! Typical! You were never around anyways because all you ever cared about was yourself! If we have a bad rep, it's because of you!" the seeker then angrily snapped as Marcellus growled and threw the seeker's stone head against the ruined walls of the grand atrium.

Once he did, he saw the seeker's head crash against the wall as he flew to see what further kind of damage had been done. Upon looking at the scatter fragments of the stone and at the golden, metallic thin headband — almost like a variant of a crown of sorts — he saw the headband brush up against the fallen edge of some crumbled down statue. As he looked, he huffed to himself as the seeker began to see where it stopped rolling at.

"Alright, come back here." he stated, now bending down to collect his ancestor's headband but stopped when he caught a glimpse of a few cloud-like symbols. "Huh." he mumbled and it was then that he tossed the crown's variant to the side and moved the broken, crumbled pieces of the statue that initially surrounded the accessory. When he did that, he saw the few cloud-like symbols were etched onto the light golden ends of a peach-colored staff as he gasped, having recognized the weapon now.

"Oh my Magnus! I've found it! I found his son's Staff of Immortality!" he happily exclaimed as he cheered and joyously laughed.

"Ha! Wait and see, Poseidon. You can strip me of my powers, but not for much longer. I will wield this staff and when I do, I will have my powers restored. Then we'll see just how much of a fool you were for forsaking me and trying to rob me of my birthright." he proudly boasted before he smirked at Aureus' staff in front of him as the staff seemed to have been deeply rooted into the ground as a series of roots and vines surrounded the ancestral relic.

As Marcellus proudly smirked, he began wrapping his right hand around the top end of the staff, ensuring that the ancestral relic was now secured around his hand. As soon as he did, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if he was trying to prepare himself for the greatest moment of his life.

Alright. Here goes nothing.

When he opened his eyes and began to tug at the staff, he expected the relic to effortlessly rise up from the ground with ease, but to his dismay, that... didn't happen.

Instead when he continued to tug at the staff, he found the staff to be completely unliftable as he released his grip on the staff and backed away as he huffed.

"Huh. What gives? I should be worthy enough to wield this thing!" he exclaimed, now crossing his arms when his eyes lingered on his amulet and back at the staff in front of him as a subtle, but mischievous smirk arose.

"Then again, Aureus has always been known to be a trickster... a trickster who loved loopholes." he cunningly followed up, his smirk now growing wider as his amulet began to change from its default dark blue state towards a metallic, sliver gray-ish color.

Once his amulet began to change, his forest-green eyes also started to change as his eyes were now a metallic, sliver gray-ish hue. After that, he extended his right hand before a metallic, sliver liquid metal started to flow from him and onto his arm, where the liquid metal began to morph around his right hand and structured itself to form a sliver, metallic gauntlet as he smirked from the sight.

"Huh. I never knew what to use dad's power for, but I guess being a dual Avalonian does have its perks after all because now I finally have a reason to use his gift." he mumbled before he glanced back at the staff.

"Alright, Aureus. You might have enhanced this staff, but that doesn't mean I can't use magic and no, in case you're listening, you can't get mad at me for finding a loophole because you failed to establish that magic couldn't be used in your condition." he smugly stated before he glanced at his gauntlet again and smirked.

"So, with this lovely gauntlet, I'll be able to lift your staff with ease now as this is strong enough to overpower even that of the strongest magical enhancement you put on your relic." he added as Marcellus could feel his hopes of reclaiming his seeker abilities rising with each step he took towards his ancestor's staff.

"Now, let's try this again."

As he began to lift the staff, a golden energetic charge began to be released from the staff but not long after that, the staff seemed literally unliftable as he growled. "I am getting this staff, so help me!" he determinedly yelled as he proceeded to tug on the staff. "I am worthy of wielding your staff and I'll show you!" he determinedly added as he tugged harder on the staff and after a few grunts, the seeker saw the vines and the roots that kept the staff deeply rooted onto the ground break as he victoriously held the staff in his gauntlet.

"Hahaha, yes! In your face, Poseidon! A word of a seeker does overpower that of a god! WOOO! The seeker is back, baby! I'm back and stronger than ever!" he excitedly exclaimed, grinning at his newfound victory as he laughed.

But a few seconds later, his excitement faded as he looked at the staff and realized there was nothing else to it as he stared at the staff in bewilderment.

"Hey! Why aren't you glowing! You're supposed to glow! I found you! I'm the Great Sage's new successor, so recognize me and glow!" he frustratedly shouted, now aggressively shaking the staff in his possession as he huffed before he took a deep breath.

"You know what? It doesn't even matter because I found you and as long as everyone thinks I'm worthy of wielding your staff, then that's all I need." the seeker calmly added, gaining a ruby red glow in his eyes as he swirled his freed hand to his right and began to conceal the gauntlet from being seen. In the gauntlet's place, his right hand took its position as he smirked at the sight in front of him.

"Perfect."

Doing the same to his amulet, he concealed the metallic, sliver gray-ish gemstone to appear in its default state with his eyes retaining their forest-green look again. However, there was just a sliver of the metallic, sliver gray-ish hue in his eyes as he couldn't conceal everything with the way magic had a way of slipping out in illusions.

"Now, no one will ever needs to know and I can still keep being the seeker." he confidently said as he sighed.

"Of course, now that it's confirmed I'm not your successor, I need to go talk with Thena and my mom in trying to figure out who your real successor is but that's a later problem." he followed up as he stared at the staff in his possession. 

"For now, I have the staff and I intend on using it to vanquish them once and for all, so watch out demon spawn." the seeker followed up before he dryly chuckled.

"The shiszi might have helped you escape now, but I will finish what my ancestor started all those years. Then once I'm through with you, I'm going to complete what I started with the shiszi and eradicate my monster once and for all." he determinedly vowed before a sinister gleam formed in his eyes.

"So, look out Brisha because this... oh this..." the seeker darkly threaten before he trailed off as a confident and cocky chuckle came about him. Not long after, he began to sinisterly smirk as he looked up.

"... This is only the beginning."

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"No!"

Abruptly waking up, Issac found himself gasping for air and coughing as he tried to process what he saw.

"Ike?"

Turning at the sound of his nickname, he glanced at their family friend, whose eyes groggily but concernedly stared back at him as she spoke. "Hey, are you alright?" she softly but concernedly asked as he heard the sleepiness evident in her tone, which made him feel a bit guilty about the way he [unintentionally] managed to wake her up.

"Y... Yeah, I'm alright." he assured the fire faerie, now sitting upright as he did his best to conceal the sudden fear that crept up on him, but the girl's eyes only kept staring back at him with pure worry.

"Ike—"

"Emby, I'm alright, really." he repeatedly assured her again as he saw the girl skeptically staring at him.

"Ike—"

"I'm okay. Just try to go back to sleep." he softly added, keeping his tone gentle as he saw the fire faerie's eyes gradually get drowsier. He knew she wanted to say more, but her exhaustion simply won out as she groggily nodded.

"Okay..."

So as she trailed off, he moved closer and draped the comforter over her as he saw her wrapping herself further in the blanket. Smiling gently at the sight, he then pulled his hands away from the comforter as he saw her drifting back to sleep.

"Goodnight, Ember."

Once he saw that she was asleep, he then quietly moved away from her before he quietly got up from the bed. As he did, he glanced around and having realized that his daughter was nowhere in sight, he decided to check the balcony as it was the last place he recalled seeing her. So as he began walking away from the bed, he moved toward the balcony as he quietly opened the door toward the extended area.

Once he did and he found himself outside, he quietly closed the door before he glanced over toward the balcony's railing, where he saw his daughter facing the city's iconic skyline in the distance. Quietly moving closer to her, he stood in front of the railing near her before he had decided to speak.

"Mija?"

As soon as he called out to her, he saw her slowly take her focus away from the skyline before he saw her facing him.

"Baba?" she slowly asked as she blinked. "What are you doing awake?" she puzzlingly asked as he saw her confusion grow. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she followed up before she gasped not long afterwards. "Wait, did you have another nightmare? Are you okay?" she followed up as he quietly sighed at her questions.

"Mija, I think the better question is, what are you doing awake?" he then countered, deflecting her questions to him when he saw the moonlight slightly shining on her and reveal her sunken eye bags.

Granted, he always knew that her eye bags were sunken, but they were significantly deeper than he initially anticipated, which made him frown as he had hoped with some time, her eye bags in time would disappear. But, much to his dismay, his daughter's eye bags were almost on-par with his eye bags and that made him nervous because he feared her eye bags would only continue to sink further if she didn't consistently get the rest she needed... which like him, became a on-and-off thing over the years.

He knew she had a hard time sleeping ever since she became plagued by the night she lost her wings and since then, it became a battle trying to get her to sleep.

Some days, he could get her to sleep and when he did, he took his victories when they came. But when he lost, he would know — her eye bags always made it known.

So on the nights she struggled to sleep, he could tell from her eye bags that she only managed to get an hour of sleep [maybe two on her good days or maybe even less if it was a particularly bad night] before the nightmares got a hold of her.

But despite this, it did [for a brief period of time] stop as she was able to sleep decently and he liken that success to her friends [Rhys, Chepi, Nancy and Ember] who were also stubborn about getting the girl to rest.

Unfortunately when the tragedies started, he could see the first signs of her struggling to sleep again.

He would try to ease her into sleeping [as he saw it as a way to distract himself from his grief by focusing on her], but after her sister disappeared and her attempt to come to his defense when he got into a heated argument with her eldest sibling resulted in Jaxon disowning both of them, Issac [when he wasn't so weighed down by his own grief] could see the signs worsen.

So when she got into a particularly nasty breakup with her ex some time after losing her siblings, that's when her struggles really made themselves known in spite of the lies she would tell him to get him to stop worrying about her.

He knew that much [at least] because she began focusing intensively on him and on her training to a excessive, almost unhealthy degree.

While she always cared for him [before and after the tragedies], she amplified her overprotective towards him and in trying to tend to him in his grief [on top of juggling her training as a cadet in the Institute while running his local healer stand at night {something he didn't learn about until recently}], he could start to see the way she extensively neglected herself along the way.

So as he mutely stared at her and observed the way her eye bags currently looked, he suspected that the time she spent between caring for him, extensively working on her training and running his local healer stand played a factor on top of everything that occurred to her tonight [in terms of the ongoing stress and traumatic experiences she endured and never processed] only made his frown deepened.

"Actually, when's the last time you got sleep?" he slowly asked her as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and started to avoid his gaze.

"It's not—"

"Mija."

When he made his tone slightly stern, he saw her stop rubbing the back of her neck as she gave a tired sigh and looked back at him.

"Nine days." she tiredly confessed as she sighed again. "I haven't slept in nine days because after we heard what the investigator said about Jaxon and seeing your disheartened face, I wanted to try to get a second opinion or at least convince them to change their mind, so... while I got you to sleep, I... I took it upon myself to over work-time at your local healing stand to raise more funds towards our private investigation, seeing how no one is too bothered to care." she further added as his face fell.

"Mija—"

"I know, I know. I know what you're going to say, but... You looked so genuinely heartbroken and I... I thought if I could try to surprise you with a second opinion or at least get the investigator to give another glance at what happened to Jaxon, I... I thought I could maybe raise your spirits a bit if I was able to get some good news about their whereabouts." she slowly explained before he listened to her sigh.

"So every night after I made sure you were asleep, I would run your local healing stand up until it was time for me to head to the Institute. There, I would train extensively until mid-afternoon as I would leave the Institute and come straight home to check on you after I was done. I would keep an eye on you until later on in the evening, when I finally got to you to sleep. Once I saw that you were asleep and you weren't going to wake up, I would sneak out to your stand and do the same thing again." she further added on, now causing his face to simultaneously soften and fell at the way she spoke.

"Mija..."

"Sometimes, I would even try to get an odd job or two from anyone who was willing to take me on just so I could try to raise enough and I think I finally had just enough to speak to the private investigator again, but then everything happened and given what I did, I doubt they want to be associated with us, much less me. So, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to discard any type of interaction we had with them to try to save himself." she then followed up before she solemnly sighed.

"Mija..."

"I'm sorry. I guess I should've told you, but when the induction got closer and you were looking to be in brighter spirits, I... I couldn't stand the thought of seeing you lose your happiness, so I thought I could try to capitalize on it while you still had it. But... I guess it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"Mija—"

"The knighting induction ended horribly and I doubt that private investigator will follow up on Jaxon's situation after this, so my efforts were simply in vain just like the way I thought I could actually make a difference and how I thought I could be accepted after years of rejection." he heard her solemnly continue as he saw her turn away from him and look toward the skyline in the distance.

"At the end of the day, it was all going to be same thing. No matter what I do or how hard I try, I'd still found a way to mess it up because everything I do just seems to lead to pain and suffering. I mean, that's just how I've always been and I thought I was done with that, but surprise. Tonight is no difference because once again, I managed to bring about pain and suffering." he heard her further add on, now turning to look at him as she gave a tired but solemn chuckle.

"Mija..."

"So... maybe, everyone is right about me. Maybe..." she began to say before she trailed off and sighed before she proceeded to continue her response.

"... Maybe, I really am a monster."

"Mija!"

When she looked at him from the sound of his voice being extensively louder, he then solemnly sighed.

"You're not a monster, so please don't call yourself that because it's not true. Okay? You are the farthest thing from one and I don't ever want you to hear you refer to yourself as such because you're selfless, you're caring, you're compassionate, you're open-minded and you have more empathy in your heart than all those so-called heroes back home combined." he sincerely told her as Issac gently held onto her shoulders.

"Okay? So, if anyone's a monster, it's whoever chose to frame you for the murders of King James and Queen Morgana. They are the monster, not you, and when we find out who was behind it, we'll make everyone see that too because I refuse to let you be remember by those people as the royals' murderer, their traitor, their villain and their monster."

"Baba—"

"Not when you're so much more than that." he sincerely finished as he saw her blinking at him for a bit until he saw her eyes soften. "Thanks." she softly but quietly told him as he gave her a earnest smile. "You're welcome." he softly said, only to stop when he recalled the fact that she hadn't slept in nine days.

"Hey, you've had a long night and I think it would be best if we—"

"No, no, no, no, no." she firmly insisted, knowing what he was going to say as she pulled away from him, which led him to frown as he huffed.

"Mija—"

"I can't sleep." she confessed as she heavily sighed. "Every time, I try I just—" she attempted to explain, only to cut herself when he saw her light amber eyes change to a bright honey golden color as he blinked.

That's new.

"Mija?"

When she seemed to hear him, he saw the bright honey golden gleam in her eyes vanish as he saw her regain the natural light amber color in her eyes again as she held her head and wince from whatever it was that she saw.

Seeing how she was reluctant to sleep and recalling the same feeling he had when he was in her position, he then sighed as he looked at her.

"Okay. I guess sleep isn't happening then." he said as he heard her sigh in relief. "Thank you." he heard her earnestly say as he began to chuckle.

"Oh, you didn't think you were getting what you wanted now, did you?" he slyly countered, now observing the way she puzzlingly blinked at him before he saw the realization dawning on her as she gave a tired huff.

"You were waiting for this moment, huh?"

"Maybe..." he lightly said before he trailed off as he saw her exhaustively sigh. "Come on, baba. Please—" she pleaded and as he heard the tiredness and the desperation in her tone, he then sighed as he looked at her.

"Mija, you know I would if I could, but you know the rules."

"I know, but—"

"If we're staying up, then you're learning a thing or two from me just as I had to learn a thing or two from you." he softly reminded her as he saw her sigh before she tiredly nodded.

"Okay, but only if I get to ask you something." she said as he was a little bit hesitant to comply, but when he saw her tired state and thought about all the things she did for him, he nodded, seeing how the least he could do is be truthful with her.

"Okay. What do you know?"

"Okay well, I got to thinking and I noticed that she's been referring to the word destiny a lot and you don't really do that, so... How come you're not destiny-oriented like her?"

"I'm not so destiny-oriented, mainly because I try not to think about it." he sheepishly answered, rubbing the back of his neck before he sighed and sat down on the ground. Moments later, Issac heard her footsteps trailing and as he looked up, he saw his daughter sitting beside him as she mutely stared at him with curiosity.

"I usually try to avoid thinking about destiny, because aside from the fact that your grandmother made it a habit of drilling the concept into my head as a kid, I just never liked the whole notion of our life being decided for us." he added, no longer rubbing the back of his neck as he saw her puzzlingly blink.

"If you don't like it, then why did you go through with what your mother and her right hand had wanted you to do?"

"Because it was what destiny dictated of me." he answered as he sighed. "Sometimes, you don't have a choice when it comes to destiny, mija. Sometimes, you just have to do what is expected of you... even if you don't really want to do." he added as he saw her huffing at his response.

"Say what you want, but there's always a choice."

"Mija—"

"Wait. Before you say anything, just... just hear me out." she insisted, interrupting him as he gave a heavy sigh before he nodded.

"Okay. I'm listening."

"You say there's not a choice when it comes to destiny, but we all live with the choices we make, right?" she began as she huffed. "I mean, neither of us can change the things we've done. Just as we can't change who we were yesterday or in a past life or in your case, ten centuries' worth of lifetimes, so we essentially live with every choice we've made." she added as he slowly nodded.

"Yeah, but—"

"You claim you have to do what's expected of you when it comes to destiny, but that's not true."

"Mija—"

"Destiny doesn't get to choose what you do, that's you! Baba, that's all you! Good or bad, that's all you because only you get to decide who you are and what you do because when it all comes down to it, everything comes down to a choice." she continued, interrupting him again as Issac quietly looked at his daughter.

"Every choice that we make is one we cannot undo. As such, we live with the choices we make, but what truly matters isn't the choices done beforehand but the choices we make right now. Those are the choices that matter because only we get to decide that for ourselves and that's something destiny will never be able to do because it cannot simply control your life. For it to control your life, you have to believe that it is and that's how it gets you. So in a way, destiny is not this phantom, supernatural thing that guides our life. It is guided by a choice — the same way our life is driven by the choices we make." she further added before she paused and kept going.

"So while you may think that there's not a choice, there is. Okay? In spite of what your omi, her right hand and what anyone decides to tell you, there is always a choice and if I have to keep telling you this until one of us gets sick of hearing it, then fine. I will, because you should at the very least be aware of the other options you have available to you and not just the options the Lady Bone Enchantress, her destiny-enabling right hand and everyone else try to enforce onto you in the name of 'destiny'." she finished before he saw her eyes divert onto the ground as he listened to her sigh.

"I'm sorry. I know it must be annoying to hear me talk like this, but—"

"Mija, you have nothing to apologize for and it's not annoying." he softly said as he saw her eyes turn away from the ground and back at him.

"Really?"

"Yep, because if anything, it helps to be reminded of the other options I have, so thanks." he had softly answered before he began ruffling her hair a bit, which made her giggle as he lightly kept going at it, resulting in more giggles from her.

"Alright, alright, stop it! If you keep going at it, I'll be stuck having to fix every strand." she tiredly but lightly insisted in a playful manner as he chuckled. "I think you would look great if your hair was slightly out of place, but then again, I think you always look great no matter how you look." he semi-teasingly but truthfully told her, pulling his hand away from her hair right as he saw her stop giggling.

"Come on, apá. You can't seriously think that."

"Of course, I do."

"So, you're going to tell me I look great even with all of the bruises and scars I inquired tonight?" she sarcastically asked, but he pretended not to be aware of her sarcastic tone as he nodded at her question.

"Of course!" he perkily answered as he saw her puzzlingly stare at him. "Uh, baba, I wasn't really being serious, you know. I was just—" she attempted to quickly explain, but he interrupted her as he earnestly looked at her and smiled.

"Even with all of the bruises and scars you inquired tonight, mija, you still look great." he then truthfully told her as she lightly shook her head and gave a small smile. "Well, thank you apá and for what it's worth, you look great too." she softly told him as he smiled.

"Thanks."

"Though, you would admittedly look better once you got some consistent sleep because once you did that, then we can start getting those eye bags of yours reduced. So... you should start building on that by heading to bed now." she insisted as he shook his head.

"No can do."

"Baba—"

"Mija, you know the rules. If one of us is awake, then we both stay awake." he reminded her as he saw her huffing at his response. "Ugh. Who came up with that rule again?" he heard his daughter ask as he chuckled.

"That would be me. I came up with the rule when you were little, but we chose to reinstate the rule again to get the other to sleep." he lightly answered as he heard a light sigh. "Oh, right." he heard her say as he saw Aliya moving closer to him.

"Well, thanks for staying up with me anyways." he heard her softly say as he smiled. "Sure thing." he told her as he saw her smile at him before she turned to face the city's skyline. As she did, he quietly continued to smile at her and began to stroke her hair. As he did though, his smile fell as he turned away, no longer looking at her now. However, he kept stoking her hair while he began to speak once more.

"When you—" he began before cutting himself off as he huffed. "When I—" he attempted to try again, only to cut himself off once more as he quietly gave a light chuckle and sighed before he took a deep breath and tried again.

"When you were little, you took pride in not having nightmares the other changelings your age did. So, when your mother came across a red-colored orchid on her way from work, she asked one of her friends about the meaning and when they told her it was a symbol of bravery, she decided to bring it home to you because she thought of your brave nature and believed you should have a flower to match your spirit." he softly began as a fond smile formed on his face.

"When she told that and gifted you the flower, she began calling you her little scarlet orchid as a homage to your bravery and you took great pride in the nickname because you loved being seen as brave." he softly continued before he sighed again as his smile fell.

"But when that night happened, you started to have nightmares about the things Marcellus and his friends did to you, even though none of us knew it was them at the time since you couldn't remember what happened to you on that night." he further added before he sighed once more.

"Anyways when your nightmares began and you got scared, we would try to ask you what was wrong, but since you didn't like the idea of not being brave, you would simply brush off your nightmares and tell us you were okay as you didn't want us to worry about you." he continued before Issac sighed again.

"So after we checked on you, you decided that you hated the idea of us worrying about you, so if you ever felt like you were about to have some kind of nightmare, you would quietly tiptoe and make sure we were asleep. When you saw that we were asleep, you would sneak up to the roof of our cottage-house and stay up all night watching the stars because you often dreamt of being able to one day touch them and the stars provided you with that feeling of comfort." he added as he sighed.

"Well one night, I just happened to be awake and you had just done your usual nightly routine, but you forgot to factor me being awake into your routine, so when I saw you weren't in your room, I immediately began looking for you as I was afraid something had happened to you. So, when I couldn't find you inside the house, I went to go check to see if you were outside and as soon as I did, that's when I found you on the roof of our cottage." he continued as he quietly sighed.

"So, I went to sit by you and you freaked out because you hadn't anticipated me being awake, but eventually you calmed down and after I asked why you weren't sleep, you tried to make a few lies to satisfy my question. Only, I knew you were lying and I kept saying your name until I eventually got you to tell me that you weren't sleeping because you were suffering from the nightmares you had about that night for quite some time, but you never told any of us because you were afraid of being seen differently by us and you didn't want to lose the sense of bravery you had." he further added before he sighed.

"So, you felt that the best decision was to avoid sleeping altogether, because if you didn't sleep, then you didn't get scared and if you weren't scared, then you were still seen as being brave by all of us." he further added before he sighed.

"After you told me that, you started to feel embarrassed as you didn't — and admittedly you still don't — like the idea of being vulnerable, so I tried to take your mind off of the matter by asking about the stars." he then added as he lightly chuckled, having recalled the memory.

"As soon as I posed the question, you immediately became excited and as you told me about all of the stars we were seeing, I began to stroke your hair while I listened to you happily teach me about the stars." he softly said as he began to fondly smile and softly sigh.

"So, we stayed on top of that roof for the rest of the night and the very next morning, your mamá and your aunt found us asleep there. They say you were sleeping on my shoulder and they say I was asleep holding you. Either way, when we woke up, they asked how we got there and I was initially going to say we were stargazing since I imagined you didn't want them to worry about you, but you said you had a nightmare about that night and talked about how I comforted you." he softly added on as his smile grew.

"You explained how you didn't want to lose your sense of bravery and how you didn't want them to see you differently from the nightmares you had about that night, so after you told them what you told me, it was then that your aunt gave you your next nickname."

"My aunt?"

"Mhm. Because a few days after that fateful talk, she came across a lotus flower on her way back home and curious, she asked her friends what the meaning of the flower was and after they told her it meant emerging victorious after facing adversity, your tía decided to bring it home to you because after she thought back to what you said, she had believed you should have a flower to match your spirit." he softly answered as a fond smile formed on his face.

"When she you told that and gifted you the flower, your aunt decided to call you her little lotus flower as a reminder of the way you still retained your bravery after the situation you endured. After that, you took great pride in the nickname she gave you, because you loved how it made the nickname still made you be seen as being brave while acknowledging the tragic night you endured." he softly continued before he softly chuckled.

"Your mamá felt horrible about the nickname she gave you and she wanted to change it, but you said no because you loved it as much as you loved Aunt Stormy calling you her lotus flower, so it was only then that your mamá decided to keep referring to you as her little scarlet orchid." Issac fondly followed up before he smiled brighter at the memory and chuckled.

"But yeah. After that, if you ever had a hard time sleeping, you just came to me and we would go up to the roof, talk about the stars and I would stroke your hair until you fell asleep or until both of us fell asleep." he added on, softly chuckling again before he sighed. "We kept this going until Jaxon and Lillian came. Then, you pretty much stuck with them and gradually phased out of my help. From there, if you had any trouble sleeping, you pretty much slept with them. Well, until you started going through things again. That's when you stopped and when the tragedies came, that's when your struggles started to resurface." he further added, his smile fading as he sighed again.

"Now, I don't know when you stopped liking the idea of me stroking your hair so much, but that always seemed to help you sleep in the past, so I figured—" he briefly continued, but when Issac felt his hand was no longer stroking her hair, he was confused by the change and cut himself off right as he felt a light thump on his left shoulder.

So after he felt the thump and turned back, he see her sleepily leaning against him as he quietly smiled at the sight and gave a light chuckle.

"Still works." he proudly but quietly said as he lowered his arm and after he moved a tiny bit, he saw her head leaning closer towards him. Smiling at the sight, he held her close for a few, brief moments before he began to gently scoop his daughter into his arms. As he did, he was careful to not drop her as he made his way back to the balcony door that led to the guest room.

Gently removing his arm from his daughter for a bit, he lightly nudged the door and heard a light creak that [thankfully] didn't alert his daughter or their family friend as it had alert him just now.

Sighing in relief, he continued to hold onto his daughter and quietly closed the door from behind him before he began approaching the left side of the bed. Once he got there, he placed her just slightly over the spot where he slept. Then once she was on the bed, he began to climb onto the bed himself and sat upright as he quietly smiled.

"I don't know how I ever ended up having you for this long, given my cursed luck and the way we lost everyone around us, but I am so glad I did." he softly said as his smile grew. "Because I don't think I could've made it through all those tragedies and the losses we endured without you." he quietly confessed as he sighed.

"Much like how I couldn't have made it through this night without you because when I wanted to give up or give in to what everyone had told me, you reminded me who I was and you motivated me to keep moving forward and I just wanted to say thank you." he softly but sincerely followed up as he turned to see his daughter soundly asleep.

"Thank you for protecting me when I didn't think I was worth protecting. Thank you for choosing to side with me when I didn't think I was worth the cost of you giving up everything. Thank you for saving me when I didn't think I was worth saving. Thank you for still seeing me for who I am despite the fact you had every reason not to see me as such. Thank you for accepting me... and thank you for not giving up on me when you had every reason to." he sincerely but quietly told her as he continued to see her soundly asleep, which led to him softly smiling before he sighed and stopped when he recalled the shadows' words.

"You're going to need your daughter's help to gain control of yourself just as she has helped you done tonight, of course, but even then, Aaliyah won't be able to help you forever now as in time, you'll eventually succumb to the darkness and learn to embrace the shadow within you."

As he glanced at his palms and saw the black flickers of his shadowy magic surfacing, he glanced back at his daughter and solemnly sighed as he knew the shadows' words would come true one day. After all, his reoccurring nightmare told him that much when he always found himself in the sea of black abyss, where cold, undead hands would proceed to pull him under until he became submerged in the black, ink-like sea.

The outcome was always the same: the darkness always won.

So, he knew he couldn't escape the darkness that awaited him much like the nightmares he'd try to outrun.

In the end, it was all the same.

He was bound to the darkness and the darkness was bound to him. He knew he would fall to the dark and he would embrace the shadow within because he was born of the shadows and it'd be the shadows where he would most likely die.

He knew he couldn't escape it as he sighed and began to think about how his teetering toward his dark intentions and balancing his emotions started.

"I know my whole ordeal between wanting to embrace my dark intentions and balancing out my emotions began tonight, but... if I'm being honest, I think it truthfully started when your tía died and grew when your mamá's death occurred. I think I tried to suppress the way I felt then, but it became harder to do when your sister's disappearance happened and when Jaxon disowned us and left, I... I think that's when I just lost it and that's how my powers returned." he quietly began as he sighed, turning to look away from her now as he glanced at the palms of his hands, which were now covered with the black flickers of his shadowy magic.

"They stemmed out of my grief I felt towards losing our family... but it grew from the resentment and anger I harbored throughout the years and I knew how I could get, so... so that's why I chose to push you away when I did. It was because I... I didn't want you to know that your dad was this rage-driven, destructive person, but in spite of me trying to push you away, you stubbornly kept finding ways to get through my barriers. Just as you were doing tonight before I managed to get you to start making your way to the Heartdome for the knighting induction."

He paused then before another sigh came out.

"I... I know I haven't really been the same since we lost everyone and if I'm being honest, I know I would have fallen to the darkness after Jaxon left because I was just feeling so lost from all of the tragedies and having them disown us like that.... it just broke me." he solemnly confessed before he sighed again.

"But the only reason I didn't fall to the darkness then when my powers first resurfaced that night was well... you." he further confessed and after he said those words, he saw the shadowy black flickers of his magic fading. "You always find a way to keep me centered and I..." he initially said, before he trailed off as he turned to face his daughter again and smiled.

"... I'm grateful to have you not just as my daughter, but as the light in my life, because I know if it weren't for you, I would have fallen to the darkness long ago. So, thank you for being the light to my darkness." he sincerely but quietly told her in a soft tone as he gently moved a bit of her hair to the left, having noticed the way that some of her hair was covering her face, namely her eyes.

When he was done, he pulled his hand back and as he continued to watch her sleeping state, he smiled softly at the sight.

"I love you, mija."

After he said those words to her and turned away from her, he tried to sleep then. But despite his attempts to sleep, he just kept feeling this strong, overbearing sense of restlessness. So when he assumed sleep wasn't going to happen for him, he sat upright and quietly huffed to himself for a bit before he stood up and chose to look at the two girls from afar as he leaned against the back of a wall near the window and lightly crossed his arms.

When he looked at their family friend and saw she was still soundly asleep, he smiled softly as he knew the fire faerie had done a lot for them, so he was especially glad to see her getting the rest she deserved as his smile grew. "She looks peaceful like this." he softly noted, when he heard the shadows snickering, which made him huff as he saw the shadows swirling around him.

"You know, it won't last, Brisha. In the end, your omi will get what she wants out of the girl." the shadows told him and not long after they spoke, he found himself recalling what he saw after he touched her and a outline formed around them...

Not long after he touched her and the outline formed, Issac found himself in a black abyss until the landscape changed to reveal a hazy, sunset sky with scattered clouds across the sky before he saw someone hunched over.

As he stared at the hunched over individual, he blinked and a second later, he saw three different-colored flames {orange, purple and red specifically} surrounding the hunched down individual as the three flames all seemed to resemble some sort of ring.

It was only then as the flames grew, did the imagery change. So very quickly, he found himself face-to-face with a dark electrifying blue flamed silhouette of...

"Ember?"

When Issac looked on and saw the dark blue flamed silhouette of their family friend turn to him at the sound of her name, he noticed a pair of large-white glowing eyes staring back at him for a moment before the silhouette gave a screeching shriek.

As the silhouette screeched, the flames expanded as he was only met with the expansion of the large-white glowing eyes and the equally large-white glowing mouth before he was consumed by the shriek of the silhouette version of the fire faerie...

"So, you know it's pointless to stop her when—"

"Hey, now hold on. As long as she doesn't get the six items to forge her bone mech for her plan, then she won't need Ember." he quietly told the shadows, who only snickered at his response.

"True, but you forget, princeling. Your omi is clever. She's always been clever, so she'll no doubt end up having a way to get her hands on the six items for her bone mech and once she does, all she'll need is the—" the shadows countered when he interrupted them.

"I know." he quietly but firmly said, interrupting the shadows as he heavily sighed. "I know." he quietly repeated, but his tone became softer now and almost remorseful as he sighed again at their response.

"So... are you prepared to do what comes next when she succeeds in forging her bone mech and more so, are you prepared for the consequences that will follow?"  he heard the shadows asking as they gave a light chuckle."Because once you do this, there's no going back." the shadows had slowly added on, cautioning him now as he huffed.

"Well hopefully, it won't come to that point," he quietly but sharply stated, now glaring at the shadows before he heavily sighed. "But, if push came to shove and it did get to that point..." he added until he trailed off. After he did, he took his focus away from the shadows and looked at the fire faerie, who was soundly asleep as he quietly sighed.

"... I'm prepared to do what comes next when she succeeds in forging her bone mech." he then quietly but firmly finished, clenching his fist now as he looked away from Ember and looked back at the shadows. "Just as I'm prepared for the consequences that will follow." he added, retaining his quiet but firm tone as the shadows chuckled.

"Well, good luck, princeling... because you're certainly going to need it." the shadows snarled as they quietly but cryptically chuckled before they vanished. When the shadows left, he quietly sighed and as he looked at the fire faerie again, a sense of dread and guilt began to form as he heavily sighed and glanced away from her.

"I just need to find the items before she does. If I can do that, then she can't form the mech and I will keep Ember safe from her clutches..." he firmly told himself before he trailed off and sighed. "... But if I can't get the items, then I have to do whatever it takes to stop her, even if..." he added, yet when he glanced back at the fire faerie again, he trailed off as he felt his sense of dread and guilt returning before he forced himself to look away as he sighed.

"You know what, I'll cross that bridge when I get there." he quietly but firmly told himself as he then sighed. "For now, I just need to ensure that I can get the items before she does." he added as he sighed again.

Not wanting to deal with the sudden dread and guilt he felt in regard to the fire faerie, he then turned his focus to his daughter and when he did, he noticed she was shivering.

Seeing how he could distract himself by finding something to cover her up with [as he placed her on top of the comforter and he had no desire to wake her up when he knew she needed the rest], he began scanning the room until he spotted a thin, medium-length salmon-color blanket right at the edge of the bed.

Perfect.

So as he walked from his spot and approached the edge of the bed, he retrieved the blanket and once the blanket was in his possession, he began to approach his daughter, careful not to make any loud, sudden noises along the way.

Upon reaching his daughter, he unfolded the blanket and nearly draped the blanket over her when he heard her faint sounds of distress. So as he lowered the blanket, he noticed that she was starting to toss and turn in her sleep as he quietly frowned.

Guess I'm not the only one with nightmares tonight.

Quietly sighing at the thought, he then sat at the edge of the bed with the blanket in tow as he turned to his daughter, who continued to toss and turn while her faint sounds of distress went on.

Deciding to comfort her, he began to touch her, but as soon as he went to touch her, a pale blue-colored rune with ancient Celestial symbols projected itself above his daughter's sleeping state as his eyes widened from the sight of the rune's slightly deepen fractured state. Once he saw the state of the rune's condition, his frown deepen as he heavily sighed.

"I know it didn't look like this when I checked earlier, so how did it get worse?" he quietly asked, now tapping on the rune, which then dispel onto his daughter as the transparent fractured pale blue rune enter her body.

As it did, a faint light blue, almost teal-like glow formed over her before disappearing as the glow and the rune were no longer seen right as the shadows began to snicker.

"Do you really want to know?" the shadows tauntingly asked as he turned to see their snickers persisting while they swirled around him. Confused, he thought to ask the shadows what they meant when he started to hear his daughter speak.

"No, no, no..."

When he looked back, he saw his daughter tossing and turning persist as she looked to be more distressed.

"Stop..." he heard her mumble, her voice desperate and pleading as his heart sunk at the fear he heard in her tone.

So when he saw that she was still tossing and turning in her sleep and her mumbles persisted, he cautiously moved closer to her and took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't startle her as he began to reach out to his daughter.

However right as he got close to touching her, he saw her abruptly open her eyes and gasp as he lower his right hand in time to see her sitting upright. When she did, he saw the sheer panic on her face, to which his face fell as soon as he saw the evident fear.

It was a fear he suspected only grew when he saw her heavily breathing and clutching onto her light-grey short-sleeve sweatshirt as she spoke once more.

"I... I... I didn't... I didn't..." he heard her frantically but desperately say, repeating herself as he heard her voice low but frightened. The sight made his frown deepening further as he slowly moved closer.

"Mija—" he gently and very softly began, but as soon as he went to touch her, Issac quickly cut himself off when he heard a small yelp come out of her. Not long after, she began to jump at the sound of his voice.

Mentally, he scold himself for startling her before he sighed and began to look at her again.

"Hey, hey. You're..." he quietly began to assure her in a gentle tone, only to trail off when he saw her eyes staring back at him.

When he did, he saw her eyes briefly flickering from her natural light amber hue to a light blue, almost teal-like hue. Initially, he panicked from the sight but when he saw the light blue, almost teal-like hue in her eyes briefly switched to a bright honey golden hue, his panic then turned to curiosity and concern at the sight. He was about to call out to her, but right as he was about to, he saw her eyes reverting back to their natural light amber hue, causing him to blink at what he saw.

"... Okay." he slowly finished right as he saw her mutely but frantically grab onto her head, as if she thought she was still in her own nightmare.

"I... I... I didn't do it..." he heard her heartbreakingly confess, gripping tighter onto her hair as his face fell since he knew she indirectly confirmed what he suspected, so it was then that he took another deep breath and internally pray that he wouldn't startle her [again] as he began to look at her once more.

"Stop... Stop... Stop please..."

"Mija?"

"Ah!"

When he saw her release her grip on her head [and her hair], he started to sigh in relief until he saw her jump again and look at him with her frightened eyes before the fear quickly turned to desperation.

"I... I didn't... I didn't—"

"Mija—"

"I didn't do it." she repeated as he saw tears welling in her eyes now. "Please. Please. You have to believe me. I... I didn't... I..." she heartbrokenly began to add before she trailed off, still seemingly caught up in her own nightmare when he spoke.

"Hey, it's okay. I believe you." he softly and earnestly assured her as he saw the desperation, the fear and the tears in her eyes start to subside as she slowly blinked, having still not recognized him.

"Y... You do?"

When he heard her speak with hesitation and uncertainty, he felt as though a sword had just ran through him as he listened to her say those words, but he pushed past the way he felt as he gave her a slow but reassuring nod.

"Yes."

"B... But w... why?" she puzzlingly stammered, her voice shaking as he saw her looking at him in pure disbelief. "W... Why do you believe me when e... everyone seems to think otherwise?" she slowly asked as his heart sank at her words. "Because you're innocent." he softly told her, but she only mutely shook her head at him, as if she still didn't believe him.

"H... How can you think I'm innocent when I'm nothing more than a villain?"

When Issac saw her eyes welling up with tears again as well as the disbelief and the doubt in her eyes persist, his heartache for his daughter ignited into anger as he hated them for calling her a villain when he knew it wasn't true.

So after forcibly taking a deep breath to calm himself down, that's when he began to speak once more.

"I know you're innocent, because I know you're not a villain, mija." he softly answered, retaining his gentle and calming tone and emphasizing on the fact he wholeheartedly sided with her as he saw her disbelief and her doubt in her eyes flicker to realization when she finally recognized him from the nickname.

He knew that much when he saw the tears subside again as her eyes softened not long after he spoke. From there, she began to softly smile before he saw the doubt resurfacing as he saw her smile drop almost as quickly as he saw the doubt return.

"B... But—" she began, almost stammering over herself and looking frantic when he gently held onto her face, causing her to cut herself off as she mutely looked at him.

"Mija, they can call you all the names and labels they want and it wouldn't make a difference to me, because I would still believe you." he softly assured her, still retaining his gentle tone as he saw her frantic look subsiding as it flickered to uncertainty.

"Y... You would?"

"Yes, because you're my daughter and I trust you more than I trust any of them." he truthfully answered as he smiled. "Okay?" he softly followed up and after he spoke, it was only then he saw the uncertainty subsiding from her eyes.

So once he saw the look was gone, it was then that he stopped holding onto her face as he saw her slowly nodding.

"O... Okay." she softly but earnestly told him before she began to yawn. "S... So, I'm okay?" she tiredly asked as he softly nodded. "You're okay." he softly answered and after he said that, he saw the drowsiness slowly start to resurface in her eyes as he softly smiled before he began to frown at the word, not quite liking it.

"Actually, you're more than okay." he added on as he saw her tiredly blink. "How so?" he heard her curiously inquire, her voice becoming a soft whisper and when she spoke, Issac's frown had faded with his soft smile returning. "Because you're safe." he earnestly answered as he saw her drowsiness growing, but in spite of that, he saw a soft, drowsy smile surfacing on her face as he earnestly smiled at her.

"Safe?"

Maybe, it was because she looked so tired or because he wanted to comfort her, but either way, he found himself speaking these next words before he had time to process what he said.

"Mhm. You're safe because we're home."

"Home?" she sleepily repeated and as he saw her drowsy smile grow, it was only then that Issac remembered their home being burnt down to the ground as the conversation came back to him now.

"Burn this place to the ground."

"But, sir—"

"Burn this place to the ground." the Captain firmly ordered, repeating the command again as Darian nodded. "Yes, sir." the latter reluctantly answered as he recalled the Captain's smirk.

"If he wants to steal our scroll and run off into the night, then we'll simply leave him with a parting gift." the Captain continued as he slyly chuckled.

"Besides, that little thief had it coming and soon, his daughter will get what's coming to her." the Captain sharply added. "Him along that freak daughter of his are both a menace to our kingdom and it's about time that this kingdom saw the two for who they really are, so burn this place down and leave nothing but ashes," the Captain continued as Issac saw him look at Darian.

"Got it?"

"Yes, sir..."

"Good," the Captain stated as Issac saw the knight locking eyes with him now.

"Now, light it up!"

When he finished recalling the conversation, his heart fell as he heavily sighed and began to rub the back of his neck. "Actually, mija..." he initially began before trailing off as he sighed again at what he was about to tell her. "... There's something I need to tell you." he slowly added, having now finished his previous response as he sighed.

"About our home, it's—"

"I like home..."

When he cut himself off at her response and saw her drowsy smile growing while her eyes were sparkling in fondness, he chose not to finish his initial response as he didn't have the heart to go through with what he wanted to tell her. As such, he chose not to correct her, not wanting to see the look die out in the way he knew that it would, if he were to tell his daughter the truth now in her current state.

I'll just tell her in the morning. Besides, she'll be more awake then and she can process the truth better than if she were like this.

"Me too." he softly said and as he turned back to look at her, he saw her trail off as she began to sleepily sway towards his side. As such, he moved closer and caught her as she tiredly crashed into him. As she did, he glanced back at the thin, medium-length salmon-color blanket he had held onto and proceeded to drape the blanket over her.

After he did, he assumed she would've wrapped herself further into it as he removed his hands from the blanket. Rather than that happening though, he saw her drape some of the blanket on him, causing him to lightly shake his head at the sight as he softly smiled.

"Buena noches, mija." he warmly whispered as he saw his daughter smile softly in her sleep and slightly move a bit before she stopped. "Buena noches, apá." she warmly whispered in turn and as he saw her drift back to sleep, he proceeded to hold her close. As soon as he did that, he saw her smile grow a bit as his smile grew too until he thought back to her words she said while she believed she was still in her nightmare.

"H... How can you think I'm innocent when I'm nothing more than a villain?"

As he replayed his daughter's words in his head, he was then reminded of what Ambrose told him in regards to Aliya as the Senior Fae's words began playing in his head.

"Ah. I see I struck a nerve, so clearly you must know she's never ever going to amount to your wife's memory just as you know she's never going to amount to being a hero because Aliya is nothing more than a villain and that is all she is ever going to be."

As soon as he finished replaying those words in his head, Issac felt a growl wanting to come out but when he felt his daughter turning a bit in her sleep, he stopped as a heavy sigh escaped him before his eyes drifted back to her.

As she slept, he moved her hair over to the side a bit and smiled as he stopped and pulled his hand away from her. "She looks so peaceful." he softly but quietly noted, when he heard the voice in his head chuckle.

You do know this is the calm before the storm, right? I mean, this isn't going to last because as soon as His Royal Highness or Ambrose or even Shiron announce her as a wanted fugitive, she'll be hunted down with everyone trying to kill her in an attempt to claim her bounty. Oh and even if she survives, she still has the famous Crownsguard to worry about. Plus, given how the seeker is on the Crownsguard—

"He won't stop at nothing until he rids himself of her." he bitterly finished, recalling what he had heard the seeker say in his nightmare [or vision, he wasn't quite sure].

"For now, I have the staff and I intend on using it to vanquish them once and for all, so watch out demon spawn." the seeker said as Issac recalled the way he dryly chuckled.

"The shiszi might have helped you escape now, but I will finish what my ancestor started all those years. Then once I'm through with you, I'm going to complete what I started with the shiszi and eradicate my monster once and for all." he heard the seeker determinedly vow before he saw a sinister gleam formed in the knight's eyes.

"So, look out Brisha because this... oh this..." the seeker darkly threaten before Issac saw the knight trailing off as a confident and cocky chuckle came about him. Not long after, he noted the way Marcellus sinisterly smirk as he looked up, staring directly at him in spite of the fact he couldn't see him.

"... This is only the beginning."

"In his eyes, she's a monster and the way he sees it, he has to vanquish the monster just as his ancestors did, but of course, he's not the only one who sees her that way. Everyone does, so should he succeed in killing her the way he had nearly attempted tonight then—"

"She'll be remembered as such while Marcellus gets the kingdom's praises." he bitterly finished, interrupting the voice in his head as he recalled the words Marcellus had used moments before he had succeeded in preventing the seeker from killing his daughter.

"You might have brought pain to the innocent people of Fairytopia with all of the murders you committed and brought terror and destruction towards the kingdom of Avalon, but tonight, it will all come to an end when I, Marcellus Nero Braveheart, deliver the finishing blow to put an end to your wicked reign."

As he heard the seeker valiantly speak, he saw the way the seeker began to raise the sword higher as Marcellus aligned the sword with the shiszi's heart.

"So begone with you, wicked beast, and go back to the shadows from which you came!"

Issac felt another growl wanting to come out of him then and he would have likely succeeded if it wasn't for the fact that he felt his daughter lightly turning before she moved closer. When he glance down and saw her soundly asleep still, he decided to lightly stroke her hair as he began to feel the uncertainty of his daughter's situation dawning on him.

🎶 It's dangerous, this life ain't safe 🎶

I wasn't strong enough to protect her mothers just as I couldn't protect her little sister and Jaxon knew that. That's why they really disowned me. It was because I failed to be the father that they needed me to be. I said I would keep them all safe, but that turned out to be a lie. I couldn't keep any of them safe and because of me, they're all gone....

When he heard his daughter's light groans, he snapped out of his thoughts and glanced down to see she was still soundly asleep as a soft smile formed over him.

... Everyone, that is, except her.

As he glanced at her and silently watched as she turned, he noticed a blade mark on her throat when he recalled the way Marcellus placed his sword's blade directly on his daughter's throat.

"She's a nuisance; a villain who's been plaguing this kingdom ever since she came to exist. So really, Slivanus, if you think about it, we're really doing Fairytopia and the kingdom of Avalon a favor by eliminating the monster now before she can do more harm to our home."

As the seeker-knight's words echoed back to him, he started to sharply clench his left fist as the thought of the mere seeker ignited his anger... but in his anger, Issac realized it was the way he saw his daughter's life on the line that made him panic. It was then that he thought back to his conversation with the shadows while he was still trapped in the force field his daughter set up, having wanted to protect him from getting captured.

"What do I have to do?"

"The question isn't what you have to do, princeling, but rather what are you willing to do?" the shadows pressed as he promptly began to open his mouth, but the shadows stopped him from answering.

"Before you answer, princeling, think very carefully about what your answer is because once you say what your answer is, it will define you from this moment forward."

After the shadows spoke, his eyes went to his fists before he looked at his daughter, having known what he was going to do then as he spoke.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to ensure her safety." he firmly but truthfully answered as he slammed his right fist against the force shield, having been determined to save her in spite of what the consequences that would entail of what he said [or did] next.

"Just tell me what I need to do." he sternly added, now shifting his attention from his daughter to the shadows that subtly smirked at his response.

"Release us." the shadows promptly stated as Issac stared at the shadows swirling near him and beneath him, he glance at them and back at his daughter before he lowered his head as he knew this was the last opportunity he had to reconsider, because he knew once he agreed to release them, he couldn't go back.

He knew the risks that came with letting them out just as he knew what would happen to him if he agreed to release them. He could easily prevent the risks from occurring and save himself by simply declining right here. The shadows would still be contained and he would still {mostly} be in tact, but as he thought of his daughter, he knew he didn't care for the risks or how he turned out, because he knew he was going to whatever it took to ensure her safety... no matter what happened along the way.

So with his mind set and his decision finalized, Issac proceeded to lift his head up and looked at the shadows in front of him, knowing what he needed to do.

"Done."

When he heard his daughter lightly stir in her sleep, he snapped out of his thoughts as he moved her hair a bit and smiled at the sight of her.

I was willing to protect her from Marcus when he nearly tried to suffociate her to death just as I was also willing to protect her from Marcellus when he wanted to eliminate her. I did whatever I could to keep her safe.... or at least as safe as I could, because I was determined not to lose her then...

🎶 And nothing's certain but the moves I make 🎶

... Just as I'm determined not to lose her now.

So as he continued to look at her, he took a deep breath and stroked her hair once more as his smile faded a bit with him taking on a more serious approach to what he was going to say.

"Aaliyah, I know you can't hear this and I don't really expect you to hear this, but I vow to not let anything happen to you. Okay? Whatever I have to do to ensure your safety, I will do it because I am determined to do whatever it takes to keep you safe..." he quietly but determinedly vowed to his daughter but as he ushered his words to her, his light honeysuckle eyes started to switch to a light blue, almost teal-like color.

"... No matter the cost."

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

"You want to know who the Shadow Prince is?"

As soon as she made the question known, he saw the monster looking at the shiszi  before he saw the monster glancing at him, his shon, the Senior Fae, and Prince Marcus before he saw the monster looking at the knights that clearly outnumbered them.

From there, he saw the monster looking back at the shiszi as he heard the monster mischievously chuckle and excitedly clench his fists.

"Oh, I like where this is going..." the monster excitedly chimed in before trailing off as he saw the shiszi glancing at her monster. "You want to show them?" she follow up as he saw the monster chuckle.

"Oh, trust me..." the monster had excitedly answered before trailing off as everyone saw his light honeysuckle eyes flicker toward a light-blue, almost teal-like color.

As soon as his eyes changed color, the monster began to mischievously smirk as he [in addition to everyone else looking on] noticed a whirl of light blue, almost teal-like shadows began to swirl around the monster.

"... I'd love to."

After the monster said that and he saw the whirl of light blue, almost teal-like shadows swirling around the shiszi's monster, he noticed the way the monster's light blue, almost teal-like eyes glowed brighter amidst the shadows swirling around him.

Not long after the monster's eyes glowed brighter and the shadows engulfed him, he [along everyone else in attendance] saw the monster shooting up into the air as his physical form became replaced by a glowing orb of pale blue sparkling matter that led him to believe the monster was tapping into his celestial shadow magic.

So as soon as he reached the top of the ceiling wall of the pantry room, the Director saw the monster's sonic wave dismantling the room as everyone shield themselves [well minus the shiszi, who was forced to rely on her hands as cover] from the impending damage.

When the room crumbled and the walls fell down completely, everyone saw they were back in the palace's hallways as he heard his shon gasp.

"How is she doing that?"

"That's not her doing, trust me. The shiszi is still magic-less. What you're seeing is just the by-product of our shiszi having the Shadow Prince as her father." he clarified, chuckling a bit from his shon's stunned state regarding the shadows surrounding the shiszi as he saw the debris stop, resulting in everyone else lowering their shields as the shadows swirled around the shiszi before they left, leaving her on her own once more.

As he looked up again, the Director saw a quick swirl of pale blue sparkling matter spinning around the ceiling-less pantry room [which no longer existed, thanks to the demon spawn] before the Director saw the pale blue sparkling matter dramatically land back onto the ground, which quickly began to shake and somewhat crack around the matter's landing once the powerful impact was made.

So as he [along with the knights, his shon, the Senior Fae, Prince Marcus and the shiszi] balanced themselves to avoid falling over, everyone looked up to see a trail of light blue, almost teal-like sparkling, shadowy mist quickly disperse to reveal a massively, gigantic light blue, almost teal-like gorilla roaring as it slammed its fists into the ground, causing the ground to shake at its impact once around.

Almost immediately, everyone's jaws dropped as they were genuinely dumbfounded by what they were seeing as the shiszi's monster took on a healing faerie form and the next, he was this...

"... Giant gorilla."

Upon finishing his recollection of the monster's unnatural ability and mumbling the last of the recollection to himself, the Director intensively looked through a few files of the Shadow Prince at his desk in his office.

Looking at the monster in his false Avalonian healing faerie form, the monster in his Shadow Prince form and the various light blue, almost teal-like animals obtained from the kingdom's mirror-cams as he viewed the images from his multi-mirrored, holographic screens.

As he kept panning through the images, he began to look perplexed and rather disturbed by the images on his screens... namely as he chose to center his focus on the animals appearing on his holo-mirror screens.

The Director knew such a feat should be impossible, but somehow the Shadow Prince was able to take the form of not just an Avalonian [like he expected] or that of a Celestial [which made sense as the prince was the last one of his kind] but that of animals too!

He assumed it might've just been a Celestial thing, but as he glanced at the various animals on his screens, the Director couldn't shake off the notion that there was more to those animal-like forms the Shadow Prince seamlessly pulled off.

It would've been one thing if he knew where the monster's powers stemmed from, but he didn't. Then again, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised, given how the Shadow Prince managed to hide discreetly under their radar for a good thousand years.

So, he wouldn't put it past the monster then if the shiszi's father was shrouded in more secrets... secrets, he knew, held a dangerous and disastrous outcome for them. As such, exposing the veil behind the prince's unnatural ability became more dire than ever before as the Director kept on trying to figure out just how far those powers of his went back... and what the extent of those powers truly were.

What else are you hiding, Brisha?

"Director, sir?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he felt tempted to growl but refrained from doing so in addition to the way he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the sight of his squire, who opened the doors to his office as he glared in annoyance.

"The press conference is going to start soon and—" his squire formally added, but he cleared his throat to mask the irritation he felt toward his squire at the moment for having interrupted him from his intensive research.

Research that could've [very well] benefited the kingdom in regards to what the Shadow Prince truly was as he felt there was more to the prince than what any of them knew, having believed what they had only scratched the surface of what they knew about the demon from the events occurring from the aftermath of his long-prophesied return.

So while he knew the monster was a Celestial and the last shadow demon occulust of his kind, the way the prince's eyes unnaturally glowed back at the pantry room made him uneasy as he had never seen anything like it. Plus with the transformations that followed moments after the strange glow in the monster's eyes occurred, the perplexed nature of these two specific events only made the Director become gradually on-edge in regard to the Shadow Prince...

"Director?"

Pulled back out of his thoughts, he was promptly reminded of the squire's presence as he sighed at the sight of them.

"Please inform the Senior Fae and His Royal Highness, I will be there in a few minutes." he said as the squire nodded and slightly bow to him. "Yes, sir." his squire said, ceasing his bow, but he noticed that the squire didn't directly take their leave as he cleared his throat.

"You are dismissed, Squire." he briefly said, but for whatever reason, his squire didn't move as he mutely stared at his squire, having recalled this peculiar action earlier at the locker room.

Huh.

"Squire, did you not hear me?" he followed up in a calm but threatening-like undertone that no doubt made the squire's nervous state intensify. "I said you were dismissed." the Director then repeated as he saw them meekly squeaked.

"Y... Yes, D... Director. S... Sorry. I'm h... heading out n... now." he heard the squire nervously tell him as they began to turn away from him and start to leave his office when the squire abruptly stopped and paused; their back facing them as he heard the squire take a deep breath before they spoke.

"Actually... we need to talk."

It was then that the two knights he stationed beside him cleared their throats.

"Royal Squire, the Director has made his—"

"Alone." the squire firmly but quite sternly added, now turning to face him and his two knights as he puzzlingly stared at the squire's strange behavior.

What has gotten into them?

Regardless though, he decided to adhere to the squire's request as he silently motioned for the knights to leave. So as the two knights left the room, he saw the doors closing behind the squire as he saw the squire watching their departure. Then once the doors were shut, that's when the the squire stormily approach his light beige and white-polished desk.

As his squire made their way to him, he closed his holo-mirror screens right as he glanced up to see them coldly and quite angrily stare back at him; a far contrast from the nervousness he saw the squire display just a few moments ago...

"Squire—"

"Did you swap her sword?"

"Squire—"

"Did you conspire with the Senior Fae to plan out the royals' death and set her up?" the squire firmly pressed, now standing dangerously close to invading his personal space before they had seemed to remember their place as he saw the squire put some distance between them.

"Squire—"

"Um, am I interrupting something here?"

As he and the squire turned to see the prince bursting through the doors and looking at them as the young prince entered his office, he then cleared his throat.

"No, Marcus. In fact, you came just in time because they were just about to—"

"Your Highness, he and the Senior Fae are lying to you and I have proof of their deception!" the squire firmly exclaimed, now interrupting him as he saw them pull out their white-and-golden stylized mirror compactor before he saw them toss the device to the prince, who successfully caught the item as the prince puzzlingly blinked.

"Marcus, are you going to entertain their lies when we know what we saw?" he briefly spoke, keeping a calm tone yet the Director proceeded to sharply glare at his squire when neither of them were looking at him. He did this for a bit before he stopped as he saw the prince flicker between him and the compactor in his hand.

"I—"

"Your Highness, please. I know I'm just a simple nymph, but you have to believe me when I say that Aliya couldn't have murdered them because she has always faithful and devoted to their cause. She wanted to make their vision of a improved Avalon come true just as she wanted to help you expand that vision because she genuinely cared about these people just as the two royals did." the squire hastily interjected, now interrupting the prince as they sighed.

"Plus, she would've done anything to protect your parents just as she would've done anything to protect you because she took the oath seriously, but more so, she viewed you and your parents as a extension of her family—"

"The family she lost." the Director bluntly interrupted as he saw the squire shoot him a cold glare before turning back to the prince, who frowned at the squire's words.

"Squire, accusing my parents' advisor and the kingdom's founder of being the culprits behind my parents' deaths when we all know the shiszi was the one behind their deaths is—"

"If she's the murderer like he and the Senior Fae claim to be, then why did she her risk her life for you the way she did back at the Heartdome when the Shadow Prince was about to attack you? I mean, if she was truly a murderer, then she would've left you to die and let the prince be the end of you, but she didn't and that's because she was determined to uphold the oath to protect you in spite of the fact you had just nearly tried to execute her moments ago." the squire interrupted as they paused before they continued.

"She knew you saw her as your parents' murderer yet she remain committed to protecting you anyways because she was willing to put her life out on the line for you before she let anything happen to you." the squire passionately added on as they crossed their arms and sighed then.

"I know you have every reason to believe she did it and you can choose to ignore me and the proof in your hand. That's perfectly fine, but we both know she was willing to do that, not to simply follow through with the oath but because she genuinely cared for you in spite of the newfound perception you had of her." the squire continued before they sighed again.

"So, before you decide to make the bounty for her death known at the press conference, just think about how much Aliya meant to you and your parents because you and your parents certainly meant a lot to her. Not as her higher superiors or her kingdom's leaders but as her honorary family. A family I know she would have protected and defended to the bitter end."

"How?"

"Because she defended you in spite of what you thought of her. If that doesn't prove her loyalty to you and this kingdom, then I don't know. But what I do know is that she's innocent and if you want to give me a chance, then the proof is in there." the squire finished as they made their way to the doors.

"By all means though, the choice to look or not is yours, but if you believe in justice just as they had, then I suggest you think twice about what you saw because not everything is as it seems."

With those words, the squire promptly left and closed the doors behind them as the Director made a mental note to deal with the squire after he dealt with the prince, who he saw glance over to the doors before looking at him and back at the compactor.

"Marcus—" he began but as the prince opened the compactor and looked at the footage that the squire captured, he saw the prince silently watch on before he saw the royal's coffee-brown eyes slowly look at him.

"The squire was telling the truth. Aliya isn't the one who killed my parents, it's you! You killed my parents and you worked with the Senior Fae to make it happen!"

"Marcus—"

"I... I called Aliya a liar. I... I called her a traitor and I... I gave her the shiszi mark when it was you and Ambrose who should've gotten the shiszi mark instead!" the prince sharply snapped as he saw the prince now closing the squire's compactor and holding the item in anger.

"I said so many things to her that should've gone to you and him and now, everyone is going to think she's the one responsible for killing my parents when she's not!"

"Marcus—"

"Ah, Director! There you are! The press conference is about to start soon and I noticed that you and His Highness weren't..."

When he and the prince turned to see the Senior Fae walk in on their conversation, he saw the Senior Fae closing the door behind him as he glanced at the two.

"Um, am I interrupting something?"

"No. In fact, I'm glad that you're here because you can get to hear this before I announce it at the press conference." the prince firmly said as he saw the Senior Fae's confusion.

"Hear what?"

"Oh, nothing much, really. Just how I'm about to make it known to everyone how you conspired against the kingdom and tarnished the reputation of one of the brightest knights this kingdom has ever seen by framing Aliya for two murders she didn't commit." the prince answered as he saw the Senior Fae's eyes widen from the assertiveness in his tone.

"Kid—"

"Oh and don't worry. Your partner over there isn't getting off the hook either because I'm about to make it known to everyone on how he also conspired against the kingdom, played a vital role in tarnishing the reputation of one of the brightest knights this kingdom has ever seen when he swapped out her sword for the one that killed my parents." the prince added, turning to look at him as a bitter gleam glistened in his eyes then.

"Marcus—"

"How could you do this when my parents trusted you? Both of you!" the prince heartbreakingly asked, now looking at both of them as he sighed and promptly stood up. As he did, he began to cross his way over his desk and began walking with his back turned to the two.

"Before my wife died, she would tell me of a nightmare she had ever since the night of my son's gifting ceremony. The nightmare always begins and ends the same, she said. She would find a crack in the wall and she would yell out, but... no one would listen. So, she would try to fix the crack herself, but it only grew and grew and grew until the cracks became too much for her to handle. The wall, she says, would crumble and as she looked, she could see monsters pouring out..."

Stopping in front of a cabinet display with a white and golden diamond-shaped button, he then saw the Senior Fae joining him, hiding the button from being seen by Marcus as he continued to speak.

"After my wife's death, I took her nightmare as an omen for what was to come if Aliya became a cadet in the Institute as a result of her win in the Trials of Avalon, so a few days before the press conference took place—"

"The Director and I tried to convince your parents to reconsider their stance on the girl's win as we knew they would've gone through and made her a cadet in spite of what everyone thought of the girl. We tried to get them to not question the word of Magnus. Just as—"

"We tried to get them not to question what has kept us safe for a thousand years as the mist and the wall is meant to protect us in the same sense that—"

"The hierarchial system is designed to ensure the harmonious and peaceful balance between our kingdom and its inhabitants just I intended the system to be. It was designed to honor the great goddess Thena's wishes of maintaining peace and through this system, Fairytopia along with the other three kingdoms in Avalon has been able to not only maintain that peace, but to flourish as a result of the system as well."

"You killed my parents and framed my friend for it because you couldn't come to terms with the fact that his system, his idea for the wall and the mist hiding us isn't helping, it's hurting us!" he heard the prince sharply exclaimed, gesturing to the Senior Fae now as the two glanced at each other and back at him.

"Kid—"

"Marcus—"

"STOP!"

As the prince silenced both of them, they saw the prince's coffee-brown eyes darken as he stood tall and assertive now.

"How about Your Highness for a change?" Marcus firmly snapped at them as he and the Senior Fae glanced at each other and back at him as their expressions soured.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like Your Royal Highness?" the Senior Fae slowly but angrily snapped as he nodded. "Or better yet, how about Your Esteemed Faultless Majesty, perhaps?" he slowly but angrily followed up as he saw the prince puzzlingly staring at them in silence before he and the Senior Fae saw the realization dawning on Marcus, who began to laugh.

"Oh my gods! I can't believe it took my parents' death and my friend being wrongfully accused for me to see the truth of just who you two really are!" they heard the prince say as another chuckle dryly came out of him.

"I have tolerated you and the founder's arrogance for far too long and maybe I, like my parents and everyone else here, might've even encouraged it, but that ends now because tonight, I'm redefining where we stand and that starts with reminding both of you of your place." he firmly stated, moving closer to them now as he firmly crossed his arms.

"Oh, and where exactly is that place when you're talking to the two most powerful people in all of Avalon?" he and the Senior Fae sharply countered as they saw the prince subtly smirking at them.

"Right here."

When he and the Senior Fae saw the prince pointing to the ground, they looked up to see Marcus sternly looking at them now.

"On your knees, kneeling to me."

Mutely glancing at the Senior Fae and back at the prince, he and the Senior Fae then got on their knees and kneeled to the prince, who sternly continued to look at them as he spoke.

"Well, what do you know? You two are not the most powerful people in all of Avalon and do you want to know why? It is because you two are nothing more than mere servants to the kingdom of Fairytopia." the prince firmly and quite harshly stated as they heard Marcus dryly laugh.

"So you two might've killed my parents, but so long as I'm standing, I will be your ruler. Now and forevermore. Or at least until I find a suitable replacement for the throne, but while I rule in my parents' place for the time being, you two will be nothing more to me than my servants because that is exactly what you two are: servants." the prince added, his voice cruel and disdain before he glanced at the compactor and back at them.

"Or at least, you two were servants..." they heard the prince mumble before he sighed. "Now, it seems you two are not even meant to be that because when I'm through with exposing the lot of you two, everyone will know the truth." the prince firmly added as he saw the Senior Fae slowly stand up.

"Kid—"

"It's Your Highness to you, founder... if that's even what you are, seeing how it seems as though I can't trust anything that comes out of your mouth." the prince sharply spat, their tone toward the Senior Fae cold and venomous when he glanced back at the cabinet display and back at the prince, whose focus was still set on the founder.

"Kid, I know you're hurt by our deception, but I promise you it was never meant to be this way. We tried to get them to listen to reason, but they refused! They insisted this kingdom needed change and believe letting Aliya hold the sword would be the first step towards achieving that change, but allowing her to hold the sword was the first crack in the wall." he heard the Senior Fae tell the prince as he kept his back to them and quietly bent down.

"I mean, kid, you said it yourself."

"Only because I didn't know the truth then! Had I known the truth earlier, I would've never said that! Just as I would've never called her father a monster or ordered their arrest because they are not the ones this kingdom should be fearing!" he heard the prince firmly counter and as he bent down, he pressed a dark, lime green diamond-shaped button, revealing a secret panel in the display cabinet.

As he did, a secret panel connected to the display cabinet opened and as he slid the cabinet to him, a iridium sword baring the mark of the royal family's seal and showcase the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ice] was seen inside.

"This whole time, my parents and I believed in you and Shiron. We trusted you just the same as everyone else when really... we shouldn't have trusted either of you. Because while we called Aliya a traitor to her people, it turned out that the real traitors... were hiding in plain sight. So while your partner called her father out on lying to everyone about being the Shadow Prince, it seems as though you and him are no better than the prince who nearly tried to kill me." he had heard the prince continue before the boy heavily sighed.

"Then again, he only attacked me because I tried to kill his daughter since I believed she genuinely killed my parents... but now, I see that's not true and I owe her an apology. Just as this whole kingdom owes her an apology." Shiron heard the prince continue, listening to the boy take a deep breath.

"We called her a murderer, but that's not true. She's not their murderer just as she's not our kingdom's traitor or our villain or our monster like Issac, who isn't even a monster now that I think of. I mean, the only reason he even attacked was because he saw that his daughter was in trouble and he wanted to protect her." he heard the prince say, now coming to the monster's defense as he internally rolled his eyes.

"Just as you and Shiron would have done for your kids if they had been in her position." he heard the prince add as the Director mentally debated on that matter before pushing the thought aside as he look back at the sword once more.

"So no. Aliya and Issac are not the villains and monsters we made them out to be because the only villains and monsters I see are you and Shiron. You two are the real threats to Avalon and once the people learn the truth of what you and him did, everyone will come and see you two for who you really are."

"You know, it's a shame you said that because I really liked you, kid." he heard the Senior Fae tell the prince as he stood up.

"We're sorry." he heard Ambrose genuinely began as he heavily sighed. "We really are, but..." he heard Ambrose added before trailing off as the genuine nature of his apology shifted to that of a darker approach.

"... We just can't have you getting in our way. Besides, you were never going to truly rule in your parents' place because you're not fit to rule." Ambrose further added as he heard the prince scoff.

"And what? You think you are?"

"Oh no. See, I don't think I'm fit to rule. I know I'm fit to rule and I would make a better ruler than what you could've possibly done in your parents' place. Just as I know I'll be a better ruler than your parents ever were." Ambrose arrogantly countered as he saw the prince laugh in defiance at the Senior Fae's statement.

"Ha! You think you're fit for the throne, but guess what? If I ever had a successor, I would never pick to you in my place because you just seek to suppress the people where they stand. You'd rather keep our traditions and watch the people suffocate under your system than admit that your system is flawed. Just like your ideas for the wall and the mist has led us to think we have to be depended on you, because you can't stand the thought of losing control." he heard the prince sharply counter before they heard the prince dryly chuckle.

"No. If I ever had a successor, it would be Aliya because unlike you, she actually cares about the people even in spite of the fact that everyone hates her. She's willing to make the changes you are not and if anyone could be a better ruler than my parents, it would be her." the prince then finished as they saw him grip onto the squire's compactor.

"So, after I go expose you two for the liars you are and clear my friend's name, I'm going to find her and her father, remove her shiszi mark, apologize to them and convince them to come back to Fairytopia. When I succeed, I am going to reinstate her knighthood and together, me and her are going to make a better Avalon and once that is all and done, I'm going to name Aliya as my heir and successor to my throne." the prince further added as they saw his smirk.

"That way, I know I'll be passing the throne over to someone who actually cares about these people's way of life and not some power-hungry, close-minded, arrogant and manipulative fae whose only real focus is on his own legacy and his way of life." the prince further continued as he saw the Senior Fae cryptically chuckle to the prince.

Once he heard that, Shiron seemed to have set his mind set as he retrieved the sword from the secret panel and quietly closed it.

"That's not happening." Ambrose firmly stated as the prince dryly laughed. "Yeah, how so?" the prince sharply challenged when he glanced back at the sword and back at the prince in front of him.

"Because you're not getting in his way of the throne and neither is she."

Making his existence known again, he saw the Senior Fae and the prince turn to see the sword in his possession as they saw the young royal gasping at the sight in front of him.

"Is that her—"

"I'm sorry."

As soon as he said those words, he ran the sword through the prince's stomach, causing him to drop the compactor as they saw the prince stumbling back. Marcus tried to remove the sword but couldn't as they saw him wobbling over to his desk, knocking things over before he fell onto the ground.

As soon as the prince fell, he and Ambrose approach the staggering prince, who gradually began to drift towards unconsciousness as the two proudly smirk at the sight.

"So, yes. I made the plan to frame the shiszi by having everyone think she killed your parents—"

"Just as I simply executed his plan and succeeded in framing her, because Magnus and Aureus did whatever it took to keep the monsters out..." he continued, taking over from the Senior Fae before trailing off as the two looked at each other and back at the prince, their smirks growing wider at the sight of the boy's weaken state. "... And so will we." Ambrose finished, right as the prince fell unconscious then and there.

Once they saw the prince was no longer moving, Shiron dropped his smirk as a heavy sigh came over him in regard to the young prince he had just slained.

May Magnus forgive you.

It was then that he noticed the prince releasing a statue he crafted of Magnus as he picked up the tiny figurine and placed the craving back on his desk before he spoke.

"Do you think Marcus has a chance of remembering anything about us—" he began, turning to face the Senior Fae, who promptly shook his head and cut him off.

"Nah. With how deep you ran that sword, I highly doubt it."

"Then, what do we do with him?"

"Well, given his fatal injury, I doubt he'll survive the wound and the higher chance Marcus has of dying, the better it'll be for us, so... let's just discard him in some city in the surface realm." the Senior Fae casually answered as he blinked.

"Okay, but... where?"

"Paris."

"Paris? Really?"

"Why not? I doubt anyone would find the prince there and besides, if he survives and can't recall anything, then... he can have a chance to live out his life like he always wanted and who knows? Maybe, he'll even meet someone there."

"You can't be serious."

"Well, do you have any suggestions?" Ambrose sharply snapped but as he opened his mouth, he then stopped as he closed his mouth and looked away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now come on and help me look for a portal. The sooner we discard his body and the sword, the faster we can move on with our lives."

So as Ambrose began walking away, he took it upon himself to pick up the unconscious prince and followed the Senior Fae through his office as they searched for a portal within the second level of his office, bringing them below the kingdom now while their search continued.

"I know I saw a portal here somewhere..." he mumbled as Ambrose rolled his eyes. "Are you sure about that? Because seeing how this search is going, I think it's safe to say that this is going no—" he heard the Senior Fae counter when he gasped.

"There!"

As the two approached the back-end of the underground level of his office, the two saw a white-and-gold stylized mirror-like portal covered in dust and cobwebs from years of going unused, to which he proudly smirked and turned to the Senior Fae.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, whatever. Just get ready to discard the boy and the sword when I pull up the location." the Senior Fae stated as he turned to see the founder activate a panel control near the mirror portal. As Ambrose turned on the white-and-gold panel, Shiron glanced up to see the mirror gradually swirling before the swirls became more rapid. After a few moments and some clicking from the Senior Fae in terms of the strokes on the panel, he saw an image forming in the portal before it fully formed and revealed a dumpster behind some bakery he couldn't quite get the name of as he blinked.

"You want to discard him... at the—"

"Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie? Yes."

"Why?"

"Because what kind of idiot is going to look at the back of some unsuspecting bakery?" Ambrose pointed out as he blinked before he shrugged.

"Eh. I guess it'll do." Shiron simply said and as he flung the boy [who still had the sword attached to his body] over the portal, he and Ambrose saw him land in the dumpster as there were some sounds they assumed to be bags, making the landing softer than the two had expected, but they accepted it all the same.

"And... it's done."

As Ambrose deleted the location from the panel control and shut down the portal, the two saw the back of Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie fading and returned to its default state before turning off as he turned to see the Senior Fae smirking.

"There. Now, our secret is safe and we got rid of the prince." Ambrose confidently stated as the two began heading back to the entry level of his office.

"You know, if you were going to do all of that, I could've just killed him alongside his parents and spared us the trouble of dealing with him."

"Eh. You could have, but I thought the boy would've been fully remained under my control, yet I guess my effects must have weared off of him somewhere along the way." Ambrose further said as the two reached the top of his office.

"So about that compactor—" he further added, but not long after he spoke, he saw Ambrose's eyes gaining a hazel brown hue as he turned to see the ground morphing around the squire's compactor and crushing the item to bits. After that, he saw the ground pull the broken parts making up the once-formed compactor with it before the ground returned to normal with no sight of the squire's compactor anywhere.

"Done."

When he looked back, he saw the hazel brown glow switch back to the founder's dark purple eyes as he puzzlingly blinked.

"How did you—"

"I'm gifted in more ways than one." Ambrose promptly said, interrupting him now as the founder gave a light punch on his left shoulder.

"Now come on. Your shon is waiting for us at the press conference and if we don't get a move on, then we're going to be late." he heard the Senior Fae lightly tell him, yet as he saw the founder flew past him, Shiron could've sworn he saw a clear crystal attached to the founder's gemstone that contained the essence of pale golden liquid before it quickly dawned on him that it wasn't just some liquid but...

Blood.

"Shiron! Are you coming or not?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he saw Ambrose already opening the doors as he blinked before he quickly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm coming!"

Pushing the crystal containing the blood of a earth-wielding faerie out of his mind, he activated his wings and began catching up to the Senior Fae. Yet as he did, he couldn't help but think that maybe the Shadow Prince wasn't the only one with secrets because from the looks of things, it looked as though Ambrose had his secrets too.

Secrets, he knew, could benefit him in the long run or secrets that could very well...

Be the death of him.

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

"Oh! There you guys are!"

As he and the Director reached the throne room, the two saw the soon-to-be Captain sighing in relief at their arrival.

"I was beginning to think I would have to keep stalling forever!" the future Captain followed up, chuckling a bit before he poked his head a bit and stopped as his joking, playful demeanor turn to concern when it dawned on him that someone was missing.

"Where's the prince?"

"Oh. The prince—"

"The prince sacrificed his life to save me after I nearly experienced a unfortunate run-in with the squire." he heard the Director say, observing as the Captain's face fell.

"What? But you... you—"

"I know. I gave them a better life and brought them up from their common savagery upcoming, but it seems as though, the shiszi corrupted them as they believed the founder and I somehow framed the shiszi and they were so confident in their belief that they—"

"Attempted to kill him right then and there, but the prince pushed your father out of the way and took the hit meant for him." Ambrose finished, interrupting the Director, who silently mouthed 'thanks' to him as he mutely acknowledged his thanks before looking back at the future Captain, whose face retained its fallen state.

"So, where's the squire?"

"We don't know. Our guess is that they were scared of getting caught, so they ran." he heard the Director tell his shon, who solemnly nodded.

"Oh."

"But don't worry. We'll catch them and when we do, we'll make an example out of them just as we are going to make an example out of the shiszi when we get a hold of her." he softly assured him as the Director nodded.

"Exactly. For now, you just have to stay strong and focus on the task on hand. Okay? Let us worry about the squire. Alright?" the Director softly added as he saw the father's boy nodding at what he was saying. "Okay." he heard the future Captain say right as they heard the press calling out to them.

"Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah, I—" he heard the boy say, preparing to trail behind him when he saw the Director cut him off as he gently held onto his son's shoulders, causing the latter to look at his father.

"Hey. Remember. You might not be the direct descendant of Magnus Braveheart, but the blood of Magnus runs through your veins all the same because you embody his spirit. So own it and show them you were meant to be Captain, even in spite of those who think otherwise. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm proud of you, Jesse, and I could not have asked for a better shon than you." he heard the Director warmly tell his son, pulling him into an affectionate hug as he saw the future Captain smile and return the hug.

"Thanks."

Deciding to let the two have their moment, he then chose to venture onwards as he pulled the curtain aside and when he did, he found his daughter excitedly standing at the podium as she turned to greet him.

"Dad!"

"Hey, Kira." he softly greeted, referring to the girl by a variant of her real name as he dropped the curtain and caught his daughter in his arms, lightly spinning her around before he gently placed her down.

"Any luck in catching the shiszi and her monster?" she asked as he shook his head. "No. They got away from us, but they couldn't have gone far. Especially with the monster's prophecy." he then added as he saw his daughter nodding.

"Any luck with their friends?"

"Me and Crystallia got Nancy, but I'm not sure about Rhys, Chepi or Ember. Though from what I'm hearing so far, the shiszi apparently kidnapped the fire faerie and forcibly dragged the girl along with her and her monster."

Huh. So they took the girl with them after all. Interesting.

"Well, thank you for getting Nancy at least." he softly but quietly told her as she warmly smiled at him. "You're welcome." she softly but quietly said, right as the press started to make themselves known.

"Senior Fae! Senior Fae! Senior Fae!"

"Good luck!" he heard his daughter say, lightly hugging him before rushing back to the left side of the podium, where she stood with Crystallia, the two girls excitedly chattering among each other as he smiled at the sight.

"Senior Fae! Senior Fae! Senior Fae!"

Turning his attention back to the Avalonian press that persistently called out to him, he then approached the podium right as the Director arrived. As he did, he saw the Director standing beside him as they shared a secret smile.

"Director! Senior Fae! Where is His Royal Highness?"

As the excitement dialed down and the press eagerly awaited their answer, he then saw the Director stepping forward to speak as he cleared his throat.

"It is with my deepest regrets and sorrows that... I announce the death of His Royal Highness, Prince Marcus of Fairytopia."

As Shiron spoke, he saw the press gasping at the news and demanding answers as he saw the Director breathing before he went back to addressing the press.

"Yes, it is with a heavy heart that I announce he was taken by my very own squire, Alexis Swyer, who, corrupted by the shiszi and falling for her deceiving lies, murdered the prince, who had nobly sacrificed his life to save me by pushing me out of harm's way. In the aftermath of their crime, the squire fled, but fear not because me and my men are going to do everything in our power to find them and make an example out of them for what they did to the last heir to the throne."

"With the prince gone, who is to lead us now?"

As he saw the reporters looking on with curiosity and panic, it was then that he saw the Director quietly nod to him and watched as he stepped back. Seeing this as his sign to take over, he then stepped forward to the podium. As he did, he saw the press and the audience looking on at him as he spoke.

"People of Fairytopia, I know King James, Queen Morgana's deaths has wounded us deeply, but the loss of their son, our prince, is a greater injustice." he began, now evoking their grief as the Senior Fae sighed.

"Because with the Director's squire taking the last heir to the throne, they have sought to leave us without a leader. Just as the shiszi taking the royal's parents was meant to be her opening message to try to sow discord among us. A task the shiszi unfortunately succeeded in through the squire she corrupted as Alexis had killed the prince in the shiszi's name," he continued as Ambrose briefly paused to allow the people to grieve and bemoan their losses before he went on.

"However, it would be a disgrace to let King James, Queen Morgana and Prince Marcus' legacy die out and allow the kingdom they love to get lost in the darkness. A darkness that the shiszi brought upon us when she forged the great tragedy and brought about the return of a enemy we've long believed to be dead..."

When he spoke and touched his necklace, a thin misty trail of scarlet, pinkish red energy surge through the crowd as their eyes began to reflect the color of the mist he brought about. As he saw their eyes reflecting that of the mist, he heard their anger crescendoed upon him after he spoke the next words.

"... The Shadow Prince."

As soon as he usher the monster's title, the anger he intensified toward the shiszi through his mist became heighten in the audience in front of him.

"This is her fault! She caused the Shadow Prince's awakening in killing our royals and now, she got the nymph to take our prince too!"

"Yeah! Because of her, there's a monster on the run and who knows where they are! A traitor to us all, she should've never held a sword because commoners cannot be trusted to protect us!"

"Yeah! The only ones who can protect us are the descendants of the elite knights and the first-class elites making up our Heroes of the Realm! They are the ones who should be protecting us just as tradition intended! Not that wannabe knight who never had a real place here!"

"Yeah!"

It was here that he motioned for their cries to cease and the people in the crowd obediently stopped; their eyes faintly glowing a misty, scarlet pinkish red hue before returning back to normal as he subtly smirked at the sight before he dropped the smirk and began to address them once more.

"I know you are all upset. I know you all want justice for what the shiszi did to our royals and the role she played in the prince's death. Just as I know you all want to see her monster captured to prevent him from finishing what his mother, the infamous Lady Bone Enchantress, started all of those years ago." he began before he briefly paused and continued.

"I am aware of these things and though it is a heavy burden to shoulder, I am willing to humbly take up the battle that the shiszi and her monster brought upon us in James, Morgana and the prince's names. I will fight for you — all of you — in their names and will become not just your ruler..."

When he trailed off, he heard the chatter spark among the press and the audience as he turned to see Shiron presenting him with a golden, circular-shaped crown with two distinctive lines; a simple but modest crown he thought was fitting for the image he wanted to project to the four kingdoms watching him.

As he kneeled, he saw Shiron holding the crown above him before glancing down at him, as if he was almost hesitant now.

"Are you sure you really want to do this? Because, it's not too late to—"

"Trust me, Shiron. I was born to do this, so stop acting nervous and just crown me already."

Staring at him, he saw the Director's eyes flicker in annoyance then before the look faded as he saw the Director nodding.

"Okay."

After he spoke, he saw Shiron positioning the crown on him. As soon as the crown was secured, he then turned to face the crowd [in addition to the press], finishing what he started.

"... But as Avalon's Protector of the Realm, a title belonging to the gods and the goddesses, but will now be claimed by me as your new King of Fairytopia!"

There were mumbles of uncertainty then for him to lead them when he was already deciding to take up an additional mantle that was solely reserved for the gods and goddesses who helped their kingdom grow. He heard their mumbles and it bothered him, because he had created the kingdom with his bare hands.

After all, he was the reason Fairytopia existed, so if the other gods could make the other three kingdoms be as they were today, then he [going with this logic] viewed himself not just as a ruler or even as the people's saving grace, but rather a god and one of these days, they were all going to see him as such.

For now, obtaining the throne was just the first step to claiming power he felt he had long been overdue. But the throne was more than that as the throne had just simply served as a stepping stone for him on his quest to obtain the god-like status Ambrose felt was owed to him because he did just as much — if not more — for these people and the kingdom than the gods ever did, so what made him any difference from the gods they called upon?

Nothing, because in his eyes, he was a god.

He just had to get there and then, once they saw him as such, he would have it all and no one would stop him from having what he felt was owed to him because he stood by the sidelines long enough.

So, the time for taking what was his was now and he was just getting started.

"Protector of the Realm?" he heard Shiron quietly whisper as he ignored the stare the Director was giving him. "You didn't say that when we were planning this!" he heard the Director add, speaking in a hushed tone as he lightly brushed off the Director's words.

"Relax, Shiro. It's just a title I felt I deserved. That's all." he quietly assured him, briefly facing him before turning back to face the people.

So as he touched his necklace again after facing the people, he saw the mist returning to their eyes before returning back to normal as the commotion ceased.

"Yes, being King of Fairytopia and the Protector of the Realm will be hard work but I am willing to put in the work because nothing is more important to me than ensuring that you all get the justice you deserve."

As he spoke, he saw the press and the audience in the throne room cheering him on now, as though there had been no sight of uncertainty toward him in the first place. The sight of this brought a bright smile to him, before he stopped as he knew what would have to come next.

"But I cannot do this alone." he continued before he briefly paused and resumed speaking to the crowd in the throne room.

"While it is true that I am getting help from the newest members of the Crownsguard from the knighting induction and their Captain, Jesse Äarons, it's going to take more than just them to fight the battle ignited here tonight by the shiszi and her monster with their actions." he said before he took a deep breath and continued.

"For this kingdom and our realm to truly experience peace, we must bring down the villain and her monster once and for all, but first we'll need to rebuild the portals. A task that cannot be done without the help of all of you." he briefly added, now pausing momentarily before Shiron continued for him.

"This task will be hard and it will be draining, but Magnus and Aureus did everything within their power to keep the monsters out of our kingdom and now, it is our sacred duty as Avalonians to carry on their legacy in ending the root of our fugitives' dastardly ways before the traitor and her monster become not just the demise of our kingdom, but the destroyers of our way of life as we know it."

"Yes! Like the Director said, it will take all of us to drive out the evil and the darkness they casted upon us, which is why as I am asking you, the people of Fairytopia and the dear citizens making up our beloved realm of Avalon, to be part of this fight and rise up to the occasion by helping us rebuild the portals. But more so, I ask that you continue to help by assisting my men in locating the infamous Shadow Prince, Brisha Hakimi and the shiszi." he further added, pausing for a bit before he continued.

"Which is why my first proclamation is this: once the portals are fully functioning and we can go in between realms as we have done beforehand, a bounty of 50,000 Acos will go into effect for the capture of the infamous Shadow Prince. In addition, a bounty for 45,000 Acos will also go in effect for anyone that brings the head of his daughter, the infamous shiszi as her villainous and destructive nature cannot reign anymore!"

"Yeah!"

At the sound of their excitement, he smirked and leaned closer to the podium, now feeling much more confident for the battle that waited for him with the people on his side. "So, I guess there's only one thing left to do then." he swiftly said and as he sent a nod to the Director, he then watch as the Director went to retrieve the new Captain, who silently stood on the sidelines on the right side of the podium [not wanting to interrupt or say anything to draw attention away from him or his father].

When Shiron retrieved his son and brought him beside them, he saw the love fairy glancing at his father and back at him as he grinned, knowing the Captain had been listening to all that he said.

"Care to close us out, Captain?"

As he touched his necklace then, he saw the love fairy's piercing brown eyes gaining a misty, scarlet pinkish red hue before the glow switched back to his natural eye color. A prideful but sinister smirk formed on his face then before the smirk faded. Once his smirk faded, the king then saw the Captain nodding before turning to face the people.

"Citizens of the Realm! The shiszi and her monster might have gotten away from us tonight, but now it's time for you to rise up like the heroes you are and show these monsters they messed with the wrong kingdom!" Jesse loudly announced, catching everyone's attention [if the love fairy hadn't done so beforehand] as he saw everyone looked on.

"Yeah!"

"So, who's ready to stand with the King's Crownsguard and do their part to help restore peace to our kingdom and our realm?"

"We are!"

"Yeah! Let's get them!"

"Down with the monsters!"

While the crowd continue to chant and cheer at the fact they were going to play a part in saving their kingdom from the villainous shiszi and the monstrous Shadow Prince, the newly crowned King of Fairytopia [and newly minted Protector of the Realm, if one felt inclined to refer to him with his second title] smiled because now, he was seeing his hard work pay off. But more so, he was smiling as he felt his plan coming together.

After all, he now had Fairytopia wrapped around his fingers, he possessed the throne and he was not only king, but the protector of the realm too! He finally had everything that he could've ever possibly wanted and yet...

He wanted more and though it was only the start of his reign, he already knew he could obtain it once he held the Incendius Flame's vessel, the Iblis demon's vessel and Unagami's vessel under his control. Just as he also knew once he had those three vessels, he could expand on his power once he found the mythical Great Beast of old tale who was capable of causing massive amount of destruction.

But, he was getting ahead of himself because he knew before he could find the three vessels and the Great Beast, he had to get his hands on the Shadow Prince.

A task he knew should've been achieved the moment the kingdom's previous heir ordered his men to seize the monster as the Shadow Prince hadn't put up a fight. So, it was apparent that the monster was going to let himself be captured, but right as they were about to get him, the shiszi just had to intervene!

So, naturally when he saw the shiszi jump in front of her father and stop the guards from seizing him, he knew she wasn't going to listen to a command from him [and much less anyone else] to hand her father over.

Having known that much from her action along, he then thought to use the girl's situation to his advantage by swaying the monster's daughter over to his side and manipulate her in the hopes that she would willingly hand her father over to him.

He thought it would've been easy to get her to turn on him as he had dangle promises to restore what she lost as a result of her father and painted him as horrible as he could, hoping that with everyone echoing the same sentiments on the Shadow Prince, she would come to see that they were right about the monster she was defending.

But before she could make her decision known, the monster stopped her and having mistakenly believed the monster was trying to perform a last-ditch effort to save himself, he stepped in and put an end to the monster's attempts.

Ironically enough though, he wished he hadn't because when the monster admitted that he was trying to help him, he realized the monster bought into his lies. Though completely not planned, it was a concept he was willing to go with as he knew how close the shiszi was to the monster, so he believed if the monster could get through to his daughter, then she would be more willing to hand the Shadow Prince over to him at her father's request.

Unfortunately, what hopes he felt from the Shadow Prince's unexpected participation to his plan died when the shiszi quickly shut down her father's attempts as she made it known to her father [and to an extent, him and everyone else] then and there that she had no intentions on handing him over.

He knew it the first time she said it that she was serious, but he played stupid and when he ask, she swiftly responded the same way.

They both knew she was crossing a line then [and he even said that], but out of the simple fact she was friends with his daughter and the fact that he was close to her mother [who he wished chose him over the monster and the traitorous mind seer], he tried to give her a second chance as a way of getting her to see that she was making the wrong decision.

But, much like that stubborness aunt of hers, she was persistent in standing her ground and not only made her decision known again, she also made it known that she hadn't bought into any of his well-thought out lies... much to his annoyance. Then again, he wasn't surprised as the shiszi was too much like her mother and her aunt in the sense that neither of them had bought into his lies.

Her father, to his credit, usually tended not to believe his lies much like his [now deceased] wives until he attacked the latter on a personal, emotional stance. When he did, he found the monster more willing to believe him, which he now knew had been the reason why he felt 'compelled' to help him as he preyed on the monster's insecurities and made him believe he would be a better service to his daughter if he wasn't around to make things worse for her.

So knowing he couldn't get through to her verbally [or even emotionally] then, he switched gears to focus on her father and began relentlessly talking about the monster's daughter to provoke him into snapping.

He thought if he could show her father as a monster, she'd have to see the truth in his words and turn her father in then.

Annoyingly though, the girl knew what he was trying to do and held her father back, essentially keeping him from doing what he needed him to do. But in spite of her attempts in stopping her father, he managed to get the monster to snap when he insisted that the girl would always be a villain.

As soon as he said that, he got the monster to do what he needed him to do. So, when Marcus stepped in, it only got better as he wholeheartedly believed the monster would've struck the prince right then and there... At least, that would have happened had the shiszi not intervene again.

So not only did she stop the monster from attacking the prince [and to an extent, him], she had even managed to pull one more trick up her sleeve when she used the last bolt of the hilt of her broken sword to destroy parts of the Heartdome. It was then they discovered that she escaped with the monster in the midst of the chaos she devise, causing the Crownsguard and the royal guards to embark on a royal-wide hunt for them.

A hunt that initially went nowhere in their favor until things surprisingly took a turn when they were able to catch the shiszi and her monster in a moment they hadn't anticipated. Getting the Shadow Prince then should have been achievable with the odds stacked against the two. Not to mention, the whole being surrounded by knights ordeal.

It should have been easy, but in spite of his confidence in the matter, the shiszi and her monster put up a fight and he [much like Shiron and Marcus] were forced to evacuate.

The next thing he knows, the shiszi successfully managed to escape not only from the kingdom but the entire realm itself with her monster and recently learned from his daughter that Ember was taken too. A decision he found interesting, but as to why he found the fire faerie being the one that went with them intriguing, he wasn't quite sure...

Either way though, tonight made it apparent that as long as the shiszi was alive, she would keep being a hindrance to what he had planned. So, he knew she needed to get her out of the way for several reasons, but the main one being that he could finally get a hold of her father if she wasn't around to stop him.

So, if he had any chance of making his plan a success, then he knew they needed to learn of their whereabouts. A task that the shiszi complicated with the escape, yet in spite of the setback Aliya created, he knew he would be successful in getting what he wanted. The king just needed to find them and once he did, he could start working on his plan and this time...

No one was going to stop him.

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

"Wanted for the crimes she never committed and wanted for the mere fact that many viewed his existence as a threat to their way of life, my—"

"—Our."

"Huh?"

Glancing beside them, Jaxon saw their sister [whose real appearance was still unknown to the reader] crossing her arms as she stared at them.

"You might be the one narrating here now as the Storyteller, but she is just as much as my sister as she is yours, Jaxon, and it would do you some good not to forget that."

Seeing how the matter personally affected their sister, a flash of guilt arose in their eyes as they began to nod.

"You're right. I didn't even think to include you and I'm sorry for that." they sincerely apologized as a bright smile surfaced on their sister's face. "Alright, I guess I can forgive you for making your careless mistake." she playfully said as she lightly chuckled. "Just don't let it happen again." she added, now lightly punching their shoulder as they chuckled and nodded.

"Haha, alright Libby. It's a deal." they lightly and truthfully stated as they smiled at the sight of their sister's smile growing brighter.

"Good. If you do it again, I'm bringing dad into this and we both know how he gets." their sister warned in a semi-teasing tone as they awkwardly [but then somewhat bashfully] cleared their throat.

"Alright, Libs, come on. That's not necessary. We don't need to bring dad into this..." they then insisted in a slightly annoyed tone before bashfully trailing off as their sister simply giggled at their reaction.

This made them huff because while they might've been the kingdom's Storyteller and viewed as this realm's Keeper of Stories, their importance in the kingdom did not unfortunately give them immunity over everything.

So although they were famous in the eyes of the kingdom, their father still saw them as the little fairytale-loving fae who tended to think what they knew was best for them and sometimes had to give the Storyteller a reality check when they tended to go too far on things.

It was something that they found annoying when they were younger, but something they have since come to appreciate.

However that did not mean they loved getting scolded by their father and the lectures they got that followed soon after as the lectures were only worse than the actual scolding itself! So they, much like their sisters, tended to do what they could to steer clear of enduring his scolds and his lectures whenever possible.

"Hmm... Okay. I guess I don't need to bring him into this... so long as you keep your word." their sister lightly but semi-playfully told them as they sighed in relief before a lighthearted chuckle came out of them.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"So, am I good to continue?"

"Yep!"

"Thank you." they said at last, semi-sternly eyeing their little sister, who simply giggled at them as they lightly shook their head at her reaction and smiled. "Now..." Jaxon followed up, trailing off as they proceeded to resume the sequence for the story.

"Wanted for the crimes she never committed and wanted for the mere fact that many viewed his existence as a threat to their way of life, our sister and our father found themselves on the run as the hunt for them charged on. But luckily, they weren't alone as their family friend tagged along in an attempt to keep them safe." they began as their sister nodded and after looking at them in a pleading manner, they sighed at the look and reluctantly nodded.

"Go ahead, Lib. Just don't let me regret it." they softly said as they saw their sister's eyes light up at their answer, to which she grinned brighter once more.

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the best sib ever, Jax!" their sister had graciously gushed, lightly rushing in to hug them as they chuckled at her excitement. "You're welcome, Lib. Now, go get a move on before our readers start losing interest and leave from the sight of all this sappiness." they teasingly and lightly followed up, to which they saw their sister giggle before it was her voice that the readers heard as the story resumed.

"Co-narrator here, dear readers, and yes. While a certain fire faerie tagged along in an attempt to keep her family friends safe and our sister's quick-thinking allowed the group to evade an arrest from the kingdom's seeker/chosen one, she manage to secure a win for them. But in spite of the small victory she had over the kingdom, the people were determined to get their justice and see her face retributions for the crimes they believed she committed." she added, picking up where they left off as she glanced at them.

"Go on. You're doing great." they softly said, happily standing on the sidelines now, but to their dismay, they saw their sister shake her head. "I can't do this." she confessed as their face fell at her words, believing that she was simply being self-conscious as a frown overcame them.

"Libs—"

"Not on my own, at least. I mean, I indicated that I was a co-narrator and to be a co-narrator, you kinda need the main narrator to be beside you, so..."

As she sheepishly trailed off, their frown had dropped as a lighthearted, airy giggle escaped their lips. "Say no more. Your sidekick has arrived!" they cheekily announced, now lightly sliding into their sister's personal space as she lightly shoved them out of her space.

"You are not my sidekick, dork." she insisted, but they only brushed off her words with a slight, factual grin. "Uh, yes I am." they matter-of-factly stated, to which she lightly nudged them and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Jax." she stated before she briefly chuckled and looked at them once more.

"Anyways, do you mind picking up where I left off?"

"Yep!"

"Thank you." she softly said and as they did as she asked, it was their voice the readers heard as they proceeded to resume the story once more...

"Just as King Ambrose was determined to obtain more power and deepen his grasp on Avalon by finding the vessel of the Incendius Flame, the Iblis demon and Unagami as he believed that the three vessels could allow him to do more. Much like how he knew having the Great Beast under his control could allow him to strengthen his power in a way that would rival no other."

"But first, he knew he needed to get his hands on our father for the first phase of his plan as Ambrose had believed our father's uniquely incredible but vastly overpowering abilities—"

"Say what you want, Lillian, but my abilities are not overpowering!" their father could be heard defensively protesting nearby, interrupting their sister as the two siblings looked at each other and chuckled amongst themselves.

"Sure, dad. Keep telling yourself that." the two cheekily said, giggling for a bit before Lillian had continue onward, ignoring their father now as though he hadn't said anything in the first place.

"—were extremely beneficial to him and his cause, so he wanted to harness those powers from our father in order to have those unforetold abilities for himself." Lillian finished, wrapping up what she said prior to their father's interruption as they nodded.

"Yep! Just as he wanted to start searching for the vessels with his focus on the Incendius Flame first as its flames were said to hold immeasurable power to whoever is able to bend the flame to their will, but he wasn't the only one who wanted to have our father and the Incendius Flame as back in New York City, a certain enchantress was determined to see her destiny through in spite of our sister's vows to stop her."

"Yes. She knew our sister could very well derail her from her plans as she had already shown to her tonight. But having been imprisoned for so long and having a second chance to finish what she started all those years ago, she knew she couldn't let our sister get in the way. Not when the Fates were generous enough to give her another opportunity to achieve her ambitions of having this world, Avalon and the rest of the realms begin anew in a clean slate and freed from all of the imperfections she had seen corrupt worlds before her."

"Mhm. You said it best. It was a destiny she was determined to achieve, but such a destiny with a vast importance was something she knew she couldn't achieve on her own. Though she had her right-hand devotedly at her side ready to serve her at a moment's whim, she knew that he alone was not enough to help her achieve her goals. No, if she was going to get what she wanted, then she knew she needed help and luckily for her—"

"—but unluckily for our sister, our father and their family friend, she managed to find that help in a form of a struggling mutant demon empress, who had just suffered a detrimental blow to their plans as she resided in the sewers deep in the city to lament on yet another loss they endured..."

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

"UGH!"

As a demi-demon mutant with reddish skin and large-slit hazelnut light brown eyes stood in the middle of her space within the sewers, they were seen wearing a magnenta-colored dress with a light copper trimming laced onto the dress. In addition, her dress was adorn with a series of slik-like web designs they had spun by using whatever leaves she could acquire when they were first in the sewers. The sleeves on her dress were long and though they used their slik to fix the tears on her sleeves, the sleeves still appeared to be very ripped from their latest encounter in facing her enemies, causing her to huff at the sight as they crossed their arms.

"Those pesky turtles, Boy Danger and Captain Violet just had to foil my plans of taking over the city... again!"

As the demi-demon mutant angrily growled at their loss, she then found themself holding onto the gemstone of her dark blue amulet before they glanced at her amulet and growled again as she pulled the amulet off in her anger.

"It's his fault I got banished here to this wasteland surface realm! Him and those stupid heroes of his!" she sharply exclaimed before they heavily sighed. "If Aureus and those stupid wayfarers of his never came across my kingdom on that stupid journey of theirs, I would've been happily ruling my kingdom and being the Queen I was born to be, but no! They just had to intervene in my affairs and stage a revolt for the people, my people, to turn against me!" they angrily added as another sigh followed.

"I had it all. I was the Queen and now, look at me! I'm stuck here on this nowhere planet with a bunch of nobodies!" they further added, dryly laughing now as she sighed once more. "Stupid seeker, stupid monk and stupid wayfarers. It's their fault I got banished here and losing to these five teenage mutants and those meddling human heroes they call family." she further added as the bitterness and resentment in their tone became evident the longer the demon mutant went on.

"A embarrassment I never had to face as back in my day, I was still ruling above my iron throne. Queen of Mean, Mistress of Cruelty and the Wicked Empress, they all called me. Titles I once worn with pride, but gone are the days those titles graced me. No. Now, I have been reduce to the Ant Queen, which I suppose is fitting, seeing how I am meant to look like a mutant weaver ant, but still!"

"My empress, we know you are upset by this loss as are we, but the time for you to get revenge against those heroes will come. These things just take time."

As she turned to their human servants, she scoffed at their responses. "Time." they dryly said as she bitterly chuckled. "It seems like that's all I've been hearing from you three and yet for as long as I've captured you lot, we've only been in the same outcome. Losing to those seven teens time again and again." she further added as they sighed again.

"Still, it just..." she continued as they sighed and trailed off, turning away from her servants as they cast their attention onto the sewer itself, which was spun with a series of slik-like nests as she sighed again.

"... It can't be over."

"It doesn't have to be."

As she and her three human servants jumped at the sound of an intruder, the four were quick to pick up on the intruder's sickening sweet but almost eerie tone. As the intruder giggled, she cast a look to their servants, who mutely held onto a baton, ready to come at her defense. It was then she began to address their mysterious guest in the hopes of drawing the intruder from out of the shadows.

"Who said that?" she began, only to be greeted by giggles as she growled by the gesture. "Show yourself!" they firmly snapped and it was then as she turned to face the sewer walls that she [in addition to her servants] saw the image of a menacing shadow projected onto the walls, which were now darken with a light blue, almost pale-like color. A color that also strangely went with the shadow's eyes as strange, eerie whispers followed suit making a series of odd noises before the shadow vanished.

When she and their servants looked, the four saw a pair of glowing light blue, almost pale-like eyes staring back at the group, amidst the darkness before the glow mysteriously vanished out of sight as their intruder spoke.

"My apologies, my esteemed empress." their intruder began, the whispers trailing behind their guest before the whispers cease the moment their intruder emerged out of the darkness and in the light.

"I didn't mean to frighten you or your loyal subjects." their intruder continued and as she [along her servants] looked on, they saw a warm-beige skinned girl who looked no more than fifteen as the girl worn a simple white floral-imprinted blouse with a dark blue, almost black flowing, long skirt. Furthermore, the child's jet-black hair was done in a braided updo, her hair held together by a light blue, almost pale-like colored bun holder that seemingly looked normal. But had she and her servants looked closer at the clip, they would've noticed that the bun holder depicted a skeletal-like appearance...

"I just thought I might be of service to you, my liege." the girl followed up, grinning unnaturally as she stepped forward and held her hands together in a strategic manner.

A sense of wariness dawned on her then, but they dismissed it as the queen simply scoffed at the child's response.

"Service, huh?" they snarled as she crossed her arms with their servants mutely standing at the control panels and looking on. "Do I look like the Shredder to you and employing children to do my bidding?" she followed up before she scoffed once more before they saw the child's simple confusion at her response, which baffled them as she blinked.

"The Shredder, my liege?"

"He's—" she initially said, attempting to answer the girl's question when she cut herself off and dismissed the matter altogether.

"Whatever. Who he is doesn't matter." they insisted as they crossed their arms and stared at the child once more. "What matters is this: who are you?" she promptly followed up as they saw the girl smile more naturally now as if the question delighted her.

"I am simply someone who believes the great Ant Queen has been casted from her throne for far too long and deserves to be restored to their rightful place as Queen once again." the girl began as she sharply crossed their arms, having believed the tone of the child's voice was too sweet as if this was a game to her and they didn't buy into it.

"Yes. I believe that once you rise, then you will see the final destruction of the turtles, Boy Danger and Captain Violet. Something no one in the mortal realm will perceive. Not even this Shredder person you speak of and once they have all been disposed of, you will be able to focus on what you really want: revenge against Aureus Braveheart." the child added, but her tone was not only too sweet again but formal at that as the queen realized there was something simply unnatural about the child.

They just... didn't know how to describe it.

Either way, the child was creeping her out, but when she brought up Aureus, their suspicions of the child turned to anger as she sharply took a baton from one of her servants and sharply held the item against the child, who mutely stared at her in a indifferent manner while she scoffed at the girl's response.

"Look, child. I don't know who you are or how you know of Aureus Braveheart, but if there's one thing I know, it's that he and his stupid heroes torn me from my throne and banished me here while he took everything I had! So what makes you think that it'll be so easy for me to get my revenge on him when no one has seen him?" they then sharply followed up as the girl gave yet another sickeningly sweet chuckle.

"Well, I thought you could use this for a start." the girl simply answered before she unclasped her hands and revealed a light blue, almost pale-colored vial with a skeletal head sealing the vial as they blinked at the sight.

"Huh. I haven't seen one of those in quite some time, so how did you, a mortal, get your hands on one?" she followed up, lowering the baton as they saw the girl simply ignore her, looking at her small sewer space they attempted to make into a cave of some sorts with equipment and a few gadgets scatter throughout the area when she saw the girl look at the center of the sewer-like inspired cave space.

"May I?"

Although she didn't say anything, the girl approached the center of the cave and as they looked on, they saw the girl open the vial before she poured the liquid into the cyan mutagen they held contained in the furnace. It was then that they saw the liquid in their canisters take on a bright, light blue, almost pale-like color as the pipes reflected this same hue.

Not long after, one of the larvae above the sewer's ceiling opened and revealed a mechanical ant surrounded with a brief electrical, light blue and almost pale-like charge to the robot as she gave a smug chuckle, clearly impressed by the sight as they chuckled.

"Alright, Miss Enigma, what's the catch?" she followed up, deciding to ignore the suspicions they had of the girl as they saw the girl simply smile. "Oh, I don't have a catch." the girl insisted as she scoffed and crossed their arms at the girl's answer.

"Yeah, right. Everyone has a catch."

"Maybe, but I'm not one of them." the girl insisted, now turning to face her now as she stepped forward and smiled brightly. "No. I only wish to see you fulfill your destiny. That is, if you'll have me..." they heard the girl say before trailing off as the queen looked at the child and pondered on the matter.

Huh. Maybe, Shredder might've been onto something when he acquired kids for his Foot Clan.

Although she still had her reservations on the child, seeing what the child could do caused them to overlook these suspicions as the queen smirked.

"Alright, kid. You got yourself a deal." she cheekily said as she smirked. "Welcome to the team, Miss Enigma." she followed up as she saw the girl smile and kneel before her.

"Thank you, My Queen. I won't disappoint you." the girl graciously said, before she stopped her kneel as she promptly stood up, but had they looked at the girl longer, they would've noticed the girl's eyes briefly gaining a light blue, almost pale-like glow to them and the sinister smirk that followed soon after...

Smiling now, a flicker of light blue, almost pale-like flames briefly formed on the girl's palm and once the flame appeared, it morphed into a projection of a light blue, almost pale-like cube-like artifact with a series of runes none of them could read [much less understand] as the queen [in addition to her human servants] blinked at the sight.

"I'm sorry. How is that supposed to help me achieve my destiny?" she dryly asked, mocking the relic before they blinked. "Actually, here's a better question: what is it?" they promptly followed up as the girl simply smiled.

"This, my Queen, is the celestial primal cube and it is one of the six powerful relics we need for you to achieve your destiny." the girl briefly answered as she paused before she continued. "But to obtain this primal cube, it has to be retrieved from here." she further added, suppressing the projection of the relic with her hands before she removes her right hand.

When she does, a new projection in her left hand is shown as the projection no long displays the primal cube, but rather a ice rink near the subway station in the city as they smirk at the sight of the ice rink.

"Midtown Ice Rink, huh?"

"This should be interesting." one of their human servants muses when the other one huffs at the sight. "Interesting, yes, but the ice rink is always populated. We'll never going to obtain the relic if there's people constantly going in and out of the rink." one of her human servants pointed out when a smirk forms on the last of their other human servants.

"Then, perhaps this sounds like a mission for me."

When she glances at the last servant that spoke, their eyes turn to the light-skinned male with jet-black hair who seem to be in his mid-twenties to early thirties. Wearing a scientist lab coat over his reddish and light brown shirt, the male completes his attire with black pants.

"Atari, what makes you think you can do it?" the other two servants asked, now looking at him as Atari adjusts his light brown frame glasses and smirks at them.

"Well, I've been working on a little side project that should help us deal with having less people to prevent us from getting a hold of the relic. The only problem is it requires magic and—" Atari briefly began, walking to the furnace and pulling a holographic image of the concept of people freezing {or crystallized, it was hard to tell} at the sight of a game designed for cellphones when he's interrupted by the girl, who smirks.

"Perhaps, I can be of service to you."

So as Atari holds his phone and projects the app titled Freeze Bug onto the holographic map he projected, the girl touches the app and as soon as she does, the app gains a light blue, almost pale-like background with crystal-like designs forming at the edge of the application itself as a smirk comes to Atari's face then.

"That should suffice, no?" the girl asked as Atari nods. "It will do greatly, thank you. Now thanks to you, Freeze Bug will become a sensation and the more people click on it, the less trouble we will have to deal with in the long run, so thank you again." Atari further answered as the girl has a smile on her face then. "You're welcome." the girl softly said as a smirk formed on Atari's face.

"I guess that brings only one question to mind..." Atari began before his smirk grew. "Have any of you heard the story of Freeze Bug? No? Well by tomorrow morning, everyone will know and that primal cube relic will be good as ours!" he sinisterly followed up, now bursting out into a fit of maniacal laughs with the three mutely looking on.

Her and her servants had continued to look at Atari before the Queen turned to the girl, taking her attention away from the scientist now as a smirk grew on their face.

"So.... When do we start working on this destiny of mine?" the queen followed up as they turned to the girl, who continued to smile. "My Queen, with Atari's app a success, we can start working on your destiny..." the girl began to answer before trailing off as a smirk formed on her face then and there.

"... Now."

****

"The rise of the Lady Bone Enchantress was here and with her rise came about a dangerous game of destiny involving six powerful relics."

"Yes and with King Ambrose and the Captain getting the people to invest in the rebuilding of the portals to search for their whereabouts, our sister and our father didn't known that in this very moment, their troubles were just getting started because this..."

"... This was only the beginning."