Ceasefire

This article matches about a PG-13 rating.

It is generally suitable for most audiences. Parental guidance is suggested, especially for children under thirteen years of age.

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“Faith, are you okay?”

A little girl was sitting in the back of a makeshift tent, staring at the ground. Her eyes were filled with tears, her tiny fists clenched with far too much emotion for a six-year-old.

“What do you think, Juniper?”

The woman sighed as she reached for the little girl. “I think you’re not okay, and I need to help you.”

Faith pulled away - hugs were the last thing she needed. “Of course, I’m not okay. If I was okay, this war would be over. My father would come back. My mother would wake up. My brother would come back.”

She gestured to the limp form of Connor, ribs visible and breath thin.

“But everything’s not okay.”

Juniper sighed, “Please, Faith…”

“Go away,” the little girl snapped.

The second the woman rushed out of the tent, she turned to her brother, passing over the meager amount of food she had left.

“Please be okay, Connor…”

Juniper sighed as she walked out of the tent, taking care not to open the flap too hard - after all, a blanket on sticks could collapse too easily.

A black-haired, green-eyed girl ran up to her. “No improvement?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

The girl turned away, dejected, and sat down next to her brother, writing something down. With each word, the pen dug harder and harder into the paper, and the words got darker and darker. Her brother only sighed - he couldn’t read.

Next to the two, an Ice Fairy was ranting on to her brother, the words being something along the lines of her wanting to enter the battle. Her brother only watched, fiddling with a complex sort of stone in his hands.

Three teenagers, a girl and two boys, were sitting together - half-arguing, half-talking. The youngest was clearly trying to talk, while the older two were snapping at each other.

A Storm Fairy was trying to talk to a boy with piercings and tattoos, but the conversation only got more and more heated… the boy looked like he was going to snap, while the fairy sighed, unable to help.

A cyborg was being comforted by a young blonde girl, the cyborg angrily incinerating blades of grass with a lightsaber while the girl spoke kindly and softly.

A boy was sitting away from the rest of the group, back turned. He was holding a pet in his arms, no people to talk to him - and he deserved it.

War was raging not a mile away from them, each explosion and yell rocking their tiny camp.

Would there ever be an end?

Kobe was holding Cloud Neek in his arms, silently sobbing. He had tried to do the right thing, but it backfired very horribly. So horribly, that almost nobody else would even look at him in the eyes anymore.

The little cloaked creature that Kobe was holding tried to console him, but the outcasted pet trainer couldn't understand its squeaks.

Kobe had wanted to run away, but he thought that the others might catch him and bring him back as usual. Why? Who knows? For all he knows, they might want him to suffer even more.

Opal sighed as she kept writing, half-poem, half-play. Either way, it was quite a tragedy.

Hei was trying to be alone, trying to run, but obviously, he couldn’t - not when Andrew was nagging on his every step.

”Just leave me alone, okay?” he yelled.

”Geez, I’m just trying to help. So what happened to your pa-“

The fairy leaped back as a blast of shadows came directly at him.

”Talk about my parents one more time and I won’t miss.”

Rai was still fiddling with his Vision, turning it about in his hands in an attempt to calm himself.

Glace continued to rant, her tail lashing more and more furiously as she continued, "...I mean Mom's fighting, why can't I? If she's so 'valuable' but she's still fighting, why shouldn't I?"

Her brother looked at her, gaze unreadable, "Glace-"

"Don't even start with that, Rai," She snapped, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

The Astral Fairy looked at the ground, a tear rolling down his cheek, "But..."

"Rai, just shut up already."

Hope and Nathan were still bickering with each other.

"For the last time, Nathan, dad would never kill someone on purpose."

"He would if he were angry enough."

"Guys-"

"Then tell me, what would make dad angry enough to kill someone?" Hope demanded, struggling to keep her trembling voice under control.

A man was trying to talk to another person, wrapping an arm around them only for them to pull away.

”Please, Jade,” Korathius sighed, “You do know you’re under my custody, right? I can take you back to that cell any time I want.”

”Then do it,” she snarled, “You’re too scared to. You won’t.”

”I’m not scared-“

“No, you love me, so you’re both scared and stupid.”

”Jade-“

The hybrid backed away, wishing she had something. A knife, a glass, a pair of handcuffs, something to hurt herself with.

”Get away from me.”

”I have to keep you close,” he said sadly.

”Okay, so torture me into submission. You won’t, so I’m allowed to do whatever I please.”

”At least until the wizards come,” Korathius reminded her. “And they’ll come soon, so if you don’t want to die, be on your best behavior.”

”You’re a wizard too, and you’re currently my captor, so you’re just as bad as them,” Jade snapped, “Go back to the children, they deserve somebody to watch them.”

”You need watching over too.”

”No I don’t. Now leave.”

The words were harsh, brutal, emotionless. They did the job… even if Jade wanted somebody to care, just for a moment.

She shook the thought away and went back to watching blackness contort inside her - clearly something was happening.

Hei was sitting next to Andrew silently, too silently. He kept tracing little circles in the grass below him, watching as shadows withered the green stalks.

The boy looked up to the tiny tent for a split second, wanting to talk to her…

Without a second thought, he slipped in.

”Hey, Faith.”

No response.

”You want a hug?” Hei asked quietly, kneeling next to the little girl.

She turned, tears in her eyes threatening to pour over any second. “How come Connor still won’t wake up? I want to play with him.”

”I do too. Maybe he wants to sleep a bit longer.”

”With Mom?”

“Yes.”

Silence.

”Will Mom ever wake up? It’s been months and months, and they’re not back yet.”

”My parents aren’t back yet either,” Hei sighed, “But mines might come back. Yours…”

”What about them?”

”They… might sleep for a long time.”

Faith turned away, a single sob slipping out. “Go away.”

”Faith-“

”Go away.”

The teenager reluctantly left, glancing back for just a split second at the tiny Connor, who could barely open his eyes.

”I hope he wakes up…”

Kobe was done crying, having dried tears on his face. Crying wouldn't help his situation, it'd only show weakness.

Cloud Neek had fallen asleep in Kobe's arms. The pet trainer smiled at seeing his pet.

Sometimes, the sight of Cloud Neek being cute calms him down.

Outside the tent, Raiden was still vaporizing the poor grass, Aurora futilely attempting to reason with her.

"Raiden, I'm pretty sure your dad had a reason-"

"What reason?"

"Well, he doesn't want you getting hurt, for starters-"

"Well, that's too bad, I can take care of myself."

"And he'll worry about-"

"He always worries about me. Too much, in fact."

"That's what parents do, Raiden." Aurora said with a sigh, "Worry and get defensive."

"Do they go as far as putting a tracking device on your f**king hairclip?"

"Language, and to be fair you have a habit of disappearing back in time."

The borg sighed, then looked up at her, "Why do you have to be so perfect?"

"What?"

"You're always defending the adults, being perfectly obedient, putting others before you..."

"Raiden, I'm not-"

"Really? Then how come you don't think for yourself for once instead of following your dad's footsteps?"

Only silence met her question.

Meanwhile, Storm had been listening in, before sighing and leaving to help Juniper handle things.

It seems even he failed at parenting.

Hei was going back to sitting alone and killing whatever was near him - Faith was gone, Connor was gone, his parents were gone…

His parents.

The boy sat up, sucking in a breath. Why didn’t he think of it earlier? He’d find his parents. He’d escape the place, let his mom hug him-

The painful jolt back to reality shocked him. What was he thinking? He couldn’t escape, his mother might not care when he found her, Storm might drag him back…

Hei curled into a ball, watching the fighting rage on. Nothing he could do.

Kobe decided to just leave, on the spot. He'd leave a note, telling the others not to look for him.

So Kobe put down Cloud Neek, grabbed his hand-me-down bag, and got out a journal.

The journal was to record Kobe's findings, but he decided to rip a page out of the journal.

He then got out a pencil and started writing.

Dear losers. I'm going to go travel since nobody wants me anymore. Don't bother looking for me, or warping me back, because even if you deny it, you secretly want me gone.

Get screwed, Kobe.

When Kobe finished writing that mean note, he left it where he was sitting. He picked up Cloud Neek and walked out of the tent.

Andrew was watching the fight, eyes squinting so he could spot the tiny dot of gray that flickered through the air.

He couldn’t stand it if another father figure died, if Kaminari followed through on the Wingfeather tradition, if he was left again on the doorstep…

What?

Memories, fuzzy ones, fractured ones, but memories nonetheless.

Doorstep…

Yells…

Wizards…

Mama…

No. No memories, thank you very much. Andrew forced them away and went back to watching the battle, ignoring the look Juniper was giving him.

Kobe had somehow managed to get far away from the tent without being noticed.

Then, Cloud Neek woke up. Once he figured out that Kobe was leaving everyone else behind, he started crying, so Kobe sat down with it.

"Don't worry, Cloud Neek. It's okay. This is for the better. Think of all the new friends we'll make!" he said.

Cloud Neek stopped crying but was still sad. Kobe only smiled. "You can walk with me for a while. How 'bout that?"

Cloud Neek nodded and followed behind Kobe as he walked further and further away from the tent.

Not far, at the faen's military camp, a crossed Ivory Fairy leaned against a tree, sulking.

An Ice Warden looked up from a map, sighing before walking over, "What's bothering you?"

He looked at her, amber eyes shining with annoyance, "Jade."

"The court made their decision-"

"And I made my decision."

She exhaled deeply, "Honey-"

The Ivory stiffened, "Please don't call me that."

"Alright, sorry, but do you really want to be the one forcing responsibility on Rai?"

"He can handle it," he responded gruffly.

"Maybe, if everyone he cared about stopped dying."

Silence, then, "I just don't think Jade will be able to listen to reason. She's just... too far gone."

Aly arched an eyebrow, "Who's talking to me right now? You or Shadow?"

Gale sighed, "Me."

"Look, I don't like Jade anymore than you do but I prefer you not sinking to her level."

"I am not-"

"Were you too far gone?"

"..."

"Just give her a chance okay? Remember your promise."

He rolled his eyes, "I only kill when they slip up. Which she already has."

"Insanity doesn't count."

"Fine-"

"Hey, would you stop flirting over there and give us a hand?" The interrupter was Ignis, dressed in military attire and standing next to a tired-looking Cyro - both holding crates.

Aly sighed before giving him a peck on the cheek, starting the Ivory, before running over the others.

Yet still, the craving to kill remained - and only one person could fulfill it.

The hybrid watched, green eyes smug on the outside yet disappointed on the outside.

How easy it’d be. Shadow’s taunts, nothing more than empty threats, the glisten of a knife, and she’d be with him. With the only person she loved.

Free from insanity, free from fear, from loneliness, and everybody would be happy. Even the people who said they loved her, the people burdened with loving her.

Korathius deserved better, Opal deserved better, Robin deserved better, Hilda, Juniper… everybody who still hung on to her should let go.

Yet she still wasn’t dead.

None if the regret shone through, though - on the outside, she was just smug and confident.

Did she want to survive?

He wanted her to survive, but did she want to? Yes… and no.

Suicide was out of the question, though. It was cowardly, it wasn’t what he wanted, it wasn’t what she herself wanted.

Jade only stared at Gale, mouthing, “I wish you could do it.”

Her actions did not go unseen by her husband, however, and she was immediately led away, green eyes still piercing amber.

Kobe and Cloud Neek made their way to a village. A lot of the villagers were friendly, or neutral at best, but some of them gave Kobe looks.

At the military camp, Gale watched the hybrid left, beginning to twirl a knife, he would occasionally turn it to face his own wrist, only to twist it away.

Don't.

Just this once?

It's petty.

He sighed, and lowered the knife, not putting it away quite yet.

Meanwhile, where the refugees currently resided, Rai was sitting on the ground, fighting back tears.

The war was all too visible from where he stood, but he didn't know, he couldn't know, what was happening to his parents. Where are they alright? Will they be alright? Will he ever be able to see them again?

The fact their current state was questionable was enough to tear a gaping hole in his heart.

He couldn't lose anyone else.

He just couldn't.

Opal was watching the fairy carefully, pushing away her notebook - and her emotions - so she could help Rai.

“You okay?”

He shrugged.

The girl swallowed every last bit of pain towards herself, focusing instead on him.

”You’re not okay, and you need help. Come on, just talk it out.”

Kobe walked through the village, greeting people left and right. Maybe, they hadn't heard of his reputation. Maybe, he could go a day without being bombarded with glares and insults.

Unfortunately, Kobe was stopped by two men who heard of what he'd done.

"Get out of our town! We don't need people like you getting it bombed!" one of the men said.

Kobe, not wanting to deal with this, simply walked away. Unfortunately, the man fired a spell at his back. Cloud Neek instantly started beating up the man, scaring the other man off, leaving Kobe to walk away.

Unfortunately, most of the villagers saw that happen and ran Kobe and Cloud Neek out of town.

Meanwhile, the fairy didn't answer to the girl, staring at a fixed point on the ground,

Opal was right, he wasn't okay.

Yet that doesn't mean he'll tell her why... not while Glace was near.

She sighed, then proceeded to grab his hand and drag him away, now a decent while away from everybody else.

Keeping a tight grasp on his hand and staring directly into his blue eyes, she asked firmly, “What’s the matter? Is it your parents? Glace?”

Opal knew far too much for Rai’s liking, the fairy squirming in her gaze.

He sighed, blinking back tears as blue eyes met green, "I'm worried about my parents... and your mom... and just about everyone. Glace says I'm being silly but I don't want to lose anyone else," the tears he tried so hard to hold back were flowing now, "Professor Greenheart and Hunter were enough, and then so many people probably lost people they love during this stupid war - and I don't think any of them deserved it anymore then I did. Yet what makes me feel worse? The fact that some of it was because of me."

The girl inhaled sharply, forgetting herself for a second as she yelped, “Don’t!”

Rai flinched at her outburst.

Opal flushed. “Sorry… it’s just… don’t talk about him. Please.”

She coughed loudly, forcing a smile on her face. “Anyway, it’s not your fault. This is war. You may have hurt people but you were angry. I saw what happened, and I saw how much you regretted this. So I promise you, you are not a bad person for hurting others when you couldn’t control it.”

On the words "couldn't control it" the fairy immediately resumed staring at the ground, yet managed a few words, "What if... what if they're not okay?"

Silence.

Then Opal took a deep breath, mustering the courage to manage words she herself found hard to believe.

”What if I told you nobody’s okay right now? You’re not, your parents aren’t, and neither is mine. But you need to do your part to stop this war, you can’t just sit and hope it all works out. Because no matter what, people die, but what really matters is what you do to help. Got it?”

The area went dead silent, everyone staring at Opal and Rai.

Rai got up, breathed deeply, then ran, needing to be by himself.

He had hoped Opal would understand... and she didn't.

So much for friends.

The wizard sighed. Great. She’d messed up the one thing she was any good at.

Suddenly, she was aware of the sob next to her.

”Robin, what…”

”Uncle… Uncle…”

The boy buried his face in her lap, memories back in full force.

Opal’s hand, the begging, the tears, the strange warm liquid hitting him, the confusion, the screams, the words…

”Kill him.”

He didn’t see what happened.

He didn’t need to.

Rai ran for a bit, slowing down once he reached the railing that surrounded Skywatch. Despite his state, curiosity overwhelmed him, and he leaned against the rail to look below... and regretted it instantly.

On the battlegrounds, fire began to overtake the wizard's side, Falling Star Smashes furiously being cast, the dirt being kicked up in an attempt to put out the flames. Wizards trained in Water Magic were pushed to the front lines along with archers, arrows sailing above the flames as it was being put out.

On the faen side, Slimes were repetitively casting fire spells to increase the blaze, controlling it so that it wouldn't become a threat to the nearby woodlands. Storm Fairies had begun some sort of weather manipulation tactic, gravity shifting to assist them in their efforts. Wind was twisted against the opposing side causing the fire to become more of a threat to the wizards. Promptly, Ice Fey lowered the temperature of the battlegrounds, creating some relief to the heat... with a cost.

The wind blew more furiously, forcing the wizards to have to retreat from the flames. As they did this flames smothered, Slimes, Merlings, and Fairies alike rushed in on the wizard army.

Slowly but surely snow and flora turned an overwhelming red.

Healers were rushing about in the tents, the only place where there was any sense of community.

Wizards and fairies alike were rushed onto cots, each side having the same motive - stopping the death.

However, that was hard to do, very hard.

Blood, intestines, burns, infection… sometimes, they could save them.

Most of the time, they couldn’t.

Elsewhere, a red-haired wizard, hair extremely unkempt since his capture, drummed his fingers on the stone wall of his cell. Each day that passed felt longer than the last, each nightfall a day closer to his execution. His thoughts cycled from Samantha and his friends in the war, to the refugees, his children, and Scarlet, all dead in the fire inflicted by the wizard army. An endless cycle of torturous thoughts that drained any fight left in him.

Footsteps met the Fire Warden, a wizard looking down on him with distaste.

”You were a wizard, you know. A respected one. Threw that all away to help those Faen, and now look what’s happened.”

Chase turned away, too lost in nightmares to say anything.

Unbeknownst to the warden, a group of three siblings and a white and golden-yellow dragon sat close together, fighting back tears from thoughts revolving around the war and their imprisoned father.

At the battlegrounds, a fairy rode atop a Mysticle, bow in hand and string pulled. The horse-like mount went in a straight line behind the wizard army, an arrow being shot every five heartbeats moving down the line.

As the frozen arrows sailed, they landed seemingly harmlessly between wizards in the first line, being scoffed at before spears of ice raised and sunk down the wizard battle lines similar to Spike Strike.

The fairy didn't bat an eyelash at the bloodbath that ensued because of it, cyan-streaked hair falling over their eyes as they continued.

Alongside the fairy was yet another threat… though the wizards hadn’t noticed him.

At least, until lightning fried their system, leaving the soldiers just smoking husks.

Kaminari lowered his hand, blocking the next few attacks by sending the wizards hurtling through the air and braining themselves on the ground.

His glaive sliced once, twice, and a wizard became limbless.

Up in Skywatch, Rai backed slowly away from the railing.

He only got a few feet away before crumpling to the ground, sobbing.

Why can't it all end?

An arm wrapped around him, Juniper having slipped next to him silently.

”I’m sorry, but this is just how it is. If you want to help, either fight or heal. And, frankly, healing is the hardest part.”

Her voice cracked slightly, but she pushed that away.

”Y’know, Rai, if the whole world was as good as you, this war wouldn’t be happening. But the world isn’t soft. The world isn’t kind. So soften it up, make it better, like a healer does. Don’t just sit there hoping - do something. Make an impact, and a positive one.”

Rai only shook his head, connecting the dots no one else seemed to see.

If he fought... if he healed... the war would only keep going, and he wanted it to stop.

“Why are you scared, Rai? What do you have to lose? What can go wrong? If you want this war to stop, stop it. Either that or you’ll be sitting around waiting for an end that’ll never come.”

Juniper sighed, looking the fairy in the eyes.

“You think life is a movie where it all works out? No, it isn’t… it’s messy, complicated, confusing, and harsh… yet somehow, you’re still staying pure. Inflict positivity. Spread your kindness. That’s the only way to end it.”

Meanwhile, a certain figure who everybody loves to hate was walking along weakly with his Cloud Neek, back to the tent where he ran away from. "Maybe I should've packed more things with me..." he said.

Opal watched the two silently… how was Juniper doing this well, while all she did was fail?

Back in the tents, a little girl was crying.

She had given everything she had to her brother, but still, he was getting weaker and weaker.

A weak groan disrupted her thoughts, her wiping away tears to turn hopefully to her brother.

”Connor?”

”Faith… Mommy…”

The girl sighed, running a hand across his protruding ribs and arms almost as skinny as her fingers.

”You’ll be okay, Connor. Mom will wake up. We’ll all be happy.”

He went back to sleep, too weak to do much else.

Faith blinked back tears, planting a tiny kiss on her brother’s brown hair.

”We’ll all be happy.”

Yet how long had it been since she was truly happy? Not the fleeting moments where she played and laughed, but truly happy.

The little girl searched her memories, but all that made her happy was her brother.

But then why was he sleeping?

Why wouldn’t he wake up?

Kobe walked all the way to the lower Bean-o-Vator. He arrived in Skywatch half a minute later. He didn't walk back to the tent. With his luck, everybody would be angry that he escaped again.

Back outside the tent, Rai was silent, not bothering to come up with a response to Juniper.

Pure? Yeah right, you're pure after committing homicide.

Kindness? Is there even anything left of it?

He sighed, self-hatred beginning to seep into his thoughts.

Juniper sighed, passing him a tiny rock before she left - incredibly smooth and a pale amber, just a shade light than his hair and tail.

”I remember you used to rock collect. It’s helpful being a child again.”

The woman got up and left, not quite done with Rai yet.

Meanwhile, a certain hybrid finally had her knife.

“Don’t do it,” a voice called from behind Jade.

She lowered the knife. “You don’t control what I can do.”

Korathius sighed, crossing over. “Please… stop hurting yourself. It’s not your-“

”Say it’s not my fault and I’ll be hurting you.”

”Jade-“

”Leave me alone, if you really ‘love me’.”

”I think you’ve forgotten what it means to love.”

She turned back to her knife. “I don’t want to remember, I don’t need to remember, it’s pointless to remember. Can’t you help the children?”

“Call them by their names for once.”

Jade didn’t respond, only stabbed the knife at her arm again, being stopped just in time by Korathius.

He sighed, wrenched the knife from her grip, and left… leaving Jade alone.

He’d regret that.

Elsewhere, metal blades cloak a teenager from sight as she peers from the roof of a warehouse over enemy territory.

Back at the refugee camp, a gray-haired wizard was busy shepherding an army of toddlers back to the children's tent, being visibly exhausted.

He eyed the group of teens and tweens nearby, sighed, and continued with what he was doing, having no idea how to console anyone.

Kobe decided to stop sulking and go back to the tent.

Unbeknownst to everybody on the battlefield, a war criminal had just joined them.

Jade had no armor, no weapon, no allies, nothing… nothing except a lust to kill.

What did she have to lose?

She wanted to die, so long as she took out enough people. It was a simple plan, really. Just killing as much people as she could, and whoever tried to stop her.

Plus, there was a certain elemental she wanted to find. But that was later.

Right now, kill.

And kill she did.

Everybody recognized her. That was the best part… the look on their face before she killed them.

Fear. Pure fear.

And a touch of helplessness. Just what she liked.

Beyond the border, the incandescent yellow and white of astral set a beacon of light throughout one specific building. It did not take long for Aria to begin approaching, with rooftop caution.

At the refugee camp, Storm noticed Kobe, phasing in front of him and holding up a note, "Care to explain this?"

Kobe hung his head. "Well, it's true. Don't know what you want me to say there." he said.

Instantly, a hand struck against Kobe's check, red remaining where he was hit.

"You idiot. If we wanted you gone we would of kicked you out ages ago. Sure, you've done some stupid stuff but there's always room for improvement - running away and doing stuff like this," he waved the note to make his point clear, "won't fix anything. I get people been hard on you, but you can convince them you're not that bad by doing little things. If you keep doing it they'll notice, and if they notice they might reconsider their thoughts on you."

"I kept doing little things, and they still think I'm a sociopath!"

Juniper sighed, “It’s okay. Let me talk to him.”

She grabbed his hand, leading the boy away… he wasn’t getting off the hook, because she had the lecture of a century.

Kobe sighed.

The second they sat down in the tent, Juniper gestured to the tiny structure, the bodies, the lack of food.

”Kobe, who caused all this?”

"That racist blonde lady that everyone hated."

“No, Kobe, who caused the fire? The anger from the wizards? Who ran away? Who acted like they were the victim, when really they were the aggressor?”

Anger was seeping into her words, Juniper barely able to keep a calm face.

"I did, and I acknowledge that I did, and I'm sorry for what I did, but nobody cares!"

Next thing he knew, he was being pushed to the ground by Juniper, the woman trembling with pure anger.

”Who killed Connor? Who killed his mother? Who killed the hundreds of refugees? You’re lucky I don’t keep you locked up for eternity while the people you hurt hurt you back!”

Storm was looming outside the tent, before bursting in alarmedly, "What do you mean 'who killed Connor', Juniper?"

She turned, still shaking.

”Connor is dying. I can’t tell Faith but he is. I’m trying, but…”

Juniper shrugged helplessly.

Kobe didn't respond.

He bit his lip, "Juniper stop blaming Kobe and come over here." The borg held open the tent flap, visible blue eye brimming with concern.

“Kobe, you deserve a lot worse than what you’re getting. People your age - like Opal or Rai - are trying to help the war effort, while you only cause more damage, and act like you’re the victim. Let me tell you the truth.”

Juniper was glaring at the shocked boy, looking over him.

”You’re nothing but a stupid, spoiled, petty, cowardly, brat. Now stay in here and I’ll treat any injuries you might have later.”

"Juniper," Storm snapped more irritably, "Come, please."

Elsewhere, multiple wizards lay knocked out on the roof behind Aria as she stealthily used her wings to skitter about the outer walls of the glowing building.

She sighed, following him.

“Look, I just can’t with the little-“

"Juniper don't," he kept going until they were a good distance out of earshot, before turning to meet her in the eye, "blaming a kid who doesn't know better won't fix anything. Now, I know you've been avoiding it so you can focus on others but... vent to me. I know you have a lot to get out and I want you to do it know, holding it in won't make things any better."

“Storm, I’m sorry, that was an outburst, I’m just…”

She yawned.

”Going to see what I can do for the refugees.”

He put a hand on her shoulder, "No, you're tired, you've honestly been through a lot, and you're overworking. Please just talk about it for once."

“I need to help people, they’re dying, if you want to talk talk to someone who needs it.”

Kobe was a mess. He kept repeating the word battle over and over again. Eventually, Kobe snaps, and pulls out a Gashapon capsule. "I've seen bigger threats than her from things that fit in my pocket!"

"And who says you don't need to talk to someone? Look, Juniper, there's no way I'm believing you're fine after Hu-" He caught himself, rewording his statement, "after everything that happened. You're distracting yourself with your work, even I can tell that."

“So what? So are you,” she protested, rubbing one of the dark circles under her eyes.

"At least I sleep, you don't."

“Calm down, I’ll be fine.”

There was a pause before she asked quietly, “Haven’t you ever been unable to save them? Haven’t you seen them die right in front of you? If I can’t save them, then… I shouldn’t help myself either.”

Meanwhile, a Luma-themed dragon tried to comfort a five-year old wizard who was slowly losing the will to live.

“Connor, wake up, please wake up…”

Faith sobbed into Scarlet’s white-orange scales, hungry, weak, destroyed… what was the point if they never woke up?

Storm breathed out deeply, looking off to the side.

"Dad!"

But flames burned too intensely, forcing the boy back.

He could do nothing, absolutely nothing.

The borg looked at her, gaze suddenly dull, "Yes... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't help yourself." He sighed, "It won't change anything besides making it harder for you to save the next."

“Bye, Storm,” Juniper muttered, walking away… she wasn’t going to talk it out.

He stared at her go, not going to stop her, then- "Juniper, wait." The tech wizard ran up to her, "If you won't talk it out... at least let me help you."

“Fine. If you want to watch children die right in front of you, follow me,” she said bitterly.

Storm was taken aback, but followed silently, mentally cursing himself for getting himself into this mess.

Meanwhile, Rai walked back to the others, the stone Juniper gave him in his pocket. He exhaled deeply before walking up to Glace, who immediately snapped at him.

"Where have you been?"

"I needed to be alone."

"And you didn't bother to tell anyone?"

The Astral Fairy stared at her, "Glace, I'm fifteen, I think I can handle myself."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

She looked at him skeptically before walking back over to Raiden, who was watching him with an arched eyebrow.

He sighed before sitting down on the floor, watching Aurora try to act as a peacekeeper between Hope and Nathan, who, yet again, burst into an argument.

Kobe had calmed down, and put away his capsule. He was just sitting on the floor, going through his pet book.

Cele saw Kobe and decided to walk over.

Kobe looked up, and saw Cele. "What do you want?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'what do you want'?" Cele said, kneeling down. "Let me guess, you got lectured."

"What do you think? I'm busy going through a crisis, and all the adults want to do is talk down to me! I know what I did was wrong, and yet the only person that tried to tell me how to regain my reputation was Storm!"

"Only person?" Cele said, tilting her head. "Because last time I remember, there was more than one person who tried to help you," she said, snapping her fingers.

"Oh really? Because last time I checked, everyone else hated me!"

"What you just said, made completely no sense. Do your parents hate you? Do Storm and i hate you. And does your dad's friend Ben and Fatima hate you?"

"Well, no..."

"Exactly."

"Well, everyone that doesn't have ties with me hates me!"

“I don't have ties with you, and yet here I am," Cele said.

"You're only saying that so you can get me while I'm weak," said Kobe, refusing to look in between the lines.

"So you're saying I don't care about you?"

"I don't know! You've never shown me any signs of affection!" yelled Kobe.

He sighed. "Just go away. I wanna be alone right now..."

"Affection?" she laughed, completely ignoring the 2nd line. "I'm not your relative or anything. Nor your sibling either."

"I said, to go away!" said Kobe, his voice increasing in volume.

"No, I'm not going away until you start being productive."

"I was doing just fine until you barged in!"

"Reading your pet book and putting away something is called fine?"

Kobe, already upset at all the crap that happened to him, summoned his Triptrop in a moment of rage, and ignorance.

Kobe did not calm down. "I'm gonna ask you one more time. Get. Out. Now."

"Stop, please."

The boy gave one look at Triptrop, and it used Forest's Hurricane.

Cele was slammed into a tree, and you could hear a crack come from her. She remained limp and didn't move at all, her eyes were closed and blood trailed from her arm.

Kobe finally came to his senses, and saw the mess that he had created. "Oh no! What have I done?! I gotta get her to a hospital!" he said.

He ran over to Cele, and held her in his arms. "I'm so sorry!" he said as he carried her to a nearby tent.

Kobe finally brought Cele to the tent where the others are.

"Guys! Cele was knocked against a tree! She's not moving!"

Back in the healing center, two figures stood, hesitant, outside an open flap.

Storm couldn’t even make it into the tents.

Moans, vomiting, blood, sobs, dying breaths… it was all far too much.

But Juniper strode in, so he had to follow.

Everybody noticed him, but nobody said a word. There was a much larger priority here.

Meanwhile…

“You could’ve done anything but lead that poor, innocent cat into the lava! It just wanted to escape from that Embershed so it wouldn’t be brutally murdered, for Harmony's sake!” Hope exclaimed.

”I told you, I did not do anything of the sort!” Nathan shouted back.

”Yes, you did! I saw it with my own 2 eyes!”

“No, I didn’t!”

”Yes, you did!”

“No, I didn’t!”

”Yes, you did!”

“Ok, maybe I did do it. I just wanted it to leave me alone.” Nathan admitted.

“YOU’RE AWFUL!” Hope screamed at the top of her lungs.

Juniper immediately rushed over to the first person she saw, not bothering to force on a smile - they knew it was too far gone.

“Your children are okay,” was all she could manage, all the person needed to hear.

The dying face broke into a smile - the last smile they’d ever make.

The woman kept walking, occasionally stopping to deliver news to the soldiers, to comfort a dying adult, to hug a child and tell them to keep hoping.

One nod was all it took for a message to be delivered, whether it was that someone was gone, or that there was still a chance.

Juniper dropped to her knees at a bed, whispered something in the ear of someone completely bandaged, and began the process.

It was like art, watching her work.

Unwrap certain sections and treat them, hold up a hand and have exactly what she needed delivered in a second, talk to the patient, and keep working.

Sometimes all they needed were a few words.

“You’ve been amazing.”

”You might get better.”

”Keep hoping.”

No lies. No “you’ll be okay”, no “everything is fine”, no fake smiles. Just acceptance and love, with nothing to stop it.

That didn’t mean the job wasn’t hard. It was, in fact, the hardest job someone could ever have.

”I’ll make sure the war ends.”

”I’ll miss you.”

”Now you can rest.”

It was gruesome, too… the blood, the burns, the vomit, the groans, the pus, and a lot more things nobody wanted to describe.

Juniper kept going, face stoney, fists clenched to hold back her emotion. People were dying, people were in pain.

Not fairies. Not wizards. Just people.

How was it that a room full of the dying could have so much love?

How was it that a bunch of healers could communicate the message that nobody else understood?

That everybody was a person.

Storm breathed deeply before catching Junipers gaze for a heartbeat, "What do you need me to do?"

“Talk to them. You’ll know what to say,” she answered quietly, not bothering to look up at him.

”Now you see why I push it back?”

The woman went back to work.

”Malnutrition. We can’t help. Keep your chin up, okay?”

“Your mother is waiting for you.”

”I’ll remember you.”

Words, so simple, could do so much.

Sometimes they needed a smile. Sometimes they needed a story. Sometimes all they needed was a hand to hold.

She could save them sometimes. A boy smiled as snowmelt treated his burn. A woman laughed as her bandages were removed. A baby giggled as their father sat up.

But above the smiles were dying breaths, last heartbeats, tears dripping off a limp body.

Everybody was a person.

But these people were dying.

Jax came back, holding a cat with small tufts of scorched fur and 3rd degree burns, running over to Juniper.

The boy stopped in his tracks, eyes wide.

But he still saw the chest rise and fall one last time.

Why did everybody die?

Why did this war keep going?

What good came out of this?

Storm watched awkwardly for a minute before noticing a child staring at him. The only seemed around six or so, a horribly flushed pale from fever. They were off in a corner, mostly unnoticed except for those who cared for them.

Inhale.

Exhale.

He walked over.

The borg tried to keep his voice steady and gentle, crouching next to them, "Hey there."

"...h-hi." Their voice cracked a bit from lack of speaking, the whisper of a voice hoarse.

"What's your name?"

"Dane."

"Mine is Storm."

They started to say something before breaking into a coughing fit, Storm handing them the glass of water that laid not far from their cot.

"Th-thank you."

"You're welcome." He glanced about, trying to find someone who could help, but everyone was occupied. He sighed before returning his gaze to the little child, "Where are your parents?"

"Asleep, well, that's what the lady told me, but I don't see them anywhere."

The borg found himself unable to manage any words, Dane staring at his sudden change in expression in confusion.

"I-is something wrong?"

"No, no, just lost in thought." He glanced off to the side, internal turmoil over whether he should say something.

"What are you-" the child yawned weakly, "what are you thinking about?"

"It's... not important. Seems like someone needs a nap though."

They sat silently for a bit, Dane half asleep before abruptly asking, "Can you-can you tuck me in?"

"I..."

"Mommy did it for me all the time."

Storm fell silently before tugging way too thin the blanket over the child, Dane smiling and whispering thanks.

The rise and fall of the child's chest slowed, Storm glancing up alarmedly, only to glance back and realize it was too late.

The final breath had been taken.

One more life was lost.

And yet Dane was smiling in his eternal sleep.

Only an unexplained fear kept the tears from rolling down the Storm Trainee's face.

Tears for the impossible eternity.

“Juniper…?” a voice said from the doorway.

She turned immediately, recognizing Opal’s voice.

”What’s the matter?”

The girl looked uncomfortable to say the least, but managed to lift the limp body she was holding higher.

”Can you take care of Connor?”

Juniper’s eyes widened, her rushing over to pick up the body.

The once-adorable boy was now a weak, deformed, mess of skin and bone.

”Do we have any food?” she called, swallowing emotion once more.

Nobody answered.

They didn’t need to.

“Mommy?”

Juniper blinked back tears. “Connor, it’s me. It’s… your mom.”

”Mommy. Hug?”

She clutched the little boy close, tears hitting his weak body. “You’ll be okay.”

”Sister?”

”She’ll be okay.”

”Where is she?”

”I… do you want to go to sleep?”

”No! Sister!”

”You have to go to sleep, Connor,” she whispered sadly.

”Sister…”

A little girl appeared in the doorway, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

”Where’s Connor? Where’s Mom?”

Juniper swallowed a sob before setting the little boy down, other healers soon swooping down to check on him.

”Mommy?” he cried.

She didn’t respond, only grabbed Faith’s hand and led her outside.

”Faith…”

”I know,” she whispered, tears falling again.

“They’re not sleeping, are they?” the girl asked, green eyes shining with tears.

Juniper moistened her lips, preparing for the worst talk she’d ever have. “They’re…”

“They’re dead, aren’t they?” Faith said, voice bitter and sorrowful. “They’re gone? They won’t wake up?”

“Faith…”

“They’re dead. Mom and Dad. They’re gone.”

”Faith-“

“Where’s Connor!” she scream-sobbed, “Is he dead too? Mom said she’d be back! Dad said he’d come find us! How come they won’t wake up?”

Faith crumpled to the ground, unmoving. “I want… to see Connor. One last time.”

“Connor…?”

”Faith.”

Juniper thought she’d felt sorrow before. Helplessness. But this…

All she could do was watch Faith speak.

”Connor, do you remember our house? It was small, but it was big enough for me and you. And Mom. And Dad. Remember how we used to play hide and seek in there? I could never find you. You were always hiding in the best spots. Like the fireplace. Or inside a cabinet. Yet every time I called your name, you immediately ran out and told me it was okay, that you were there.”

Connor didn’t respond, only gazed up at her with eyes full of so much emotion.

”Remember your birthday? We had no food, so all you did was eat the dandelions growing out of cracks in the sidewalk. I used to compare dandelions to us. Growing no matter what. Even in the cracks in the sidewalk.”

No sobs from Faith, only silent tears and a smile.

“But even dandelions wilt.”

Elsewhere, cold metal reflects Astral energy as a large elaborate table with an intricate staff-like design engraved within its center meets the eyes of Aria.

Kobe sat down after not getting an answer. "I'm so sorry Cele. I just got angry. Just don't leave me!"

Cele still didn't move, by now, her face had turned pale.

Kobe started tearing up. "This is all my fault, like everything else..."

“Connor? Do you remember?” Faith asked quietly, tears already beginning to well.

”Connor?”

Silence.

A tiny smile, the saddest one Juniper had ever seen.

The shudder of a last breath.

”Connor… say hello to Mommy for me.”

Faith planted a tiny kiss on his brown hair, tears mixing with the waves.

She closed his eyes, fishing something out of her pocket.

Looking up at Juniper, she held up a tiny half-wilted yellow flower. “Can you give this to him?”

She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I will.”

Even dandelions wilt.

“Faith…”

”Leave me alone,” the girl snapped, hugging her brother close. “Please.”

Juniper backed away, tears running down her cheeks.

Why did this war rage on?

Why was there so much sorrow in the world?

Why couldn’t adults see what a child could?

Why?

Kobe cried for help one last time.

Juniper sighed, turning to Cele.

”Kobe, what did you do?”

A pause while she bandaged the girl.

”Oh, whatever… she’ll be fine in a day or so.”

Juniper turned to the little girl next to her.

”Faith, are you…”

Only sobs answered her.

Connor was still clutched in the child’s grasp, her keeping him far away from the others.

Kobe hung his head in shame. "Guess you're gonna send me to the crowd, aren't you?"

Cele twitched.

“Kobe, you’re in serious trouble, but people are dying here, you’re not our biggest concern,” Juniper said harshly, turning to the next patient.

Far away, on the war grounds, a fairy flew through the air, lightning zapping anyone who got close.

Kaminari was exhausted from a straight day of fighting - the wizards and Faen alike weren’t backing down.

Below, a hybrid was scouring the grounds, determined to find a certain Ivory Fairy.

Every time someone got close, they were destroyed, whether by “borrowed” sword or by earth.

”You’re going down, Shadow,” Jade muttered under her breath, “You thought you could scare me? Thought you could scar me?”

Plants erupted through the battleground, hungrily reaching for the fairy that hosted the elementals.

At the very back of the battlegrounds, on the faen side, was the very Ivory the hybrid was looking for. The flags of the medical tents blew furiously in the wind, the rustle of leaves calming in the midst of the clash of a blade against blade, scream over scream, yell over yell.

Calming enough that one could track down the hybrid.

The Ivory Fairy's eyes were shut tight, legs crossed over each other as he sat at the base of a tree.

Yet he could still see.

The entire battleground was dark of course, but in the midst of the dark were the ghostly outline of every spirit, every soul, glowing bright in a mist-like shape.

Gold for Astral users, red for Fire, blue for Water, cyan for Ice, green for Earth, gray for Storm, and finally purple for Shadow.

The living were tainted white, while the dead were fading, only shining if they weren't able to move on.

Which were many, too many.

Slowly but surely he found who he was looking for, a single gold and green soul with the intent to kill.

Amber eyes snapped open, and gloved fingers tightened around the hilt of a dagger.

"Well, now I'm allowed to kill you, aren't I?"

Elsewhere, a time traveler's gamble yields interesting rewards.

Images and portraits line the walls of the well-lit room, and many of them detail names, faces, and statuses. The intricate staff design in the middle of the table is easily recognizable to Aria as the wicked weapon that belonged to Ariana before she was killed at the time traveler's wings and Jade's various sharp objects.

Quickly does Aria's mask take images and records of the room, her hands feeling out every nook, cranny, and compartment for anything suspicious.

Then she hears footsteps.

The battle was over in minutes.

When Jade lowered her hands, there was no more ground. Only vines and tentacles of Void.

A lucky few had escaped, but most everyone was suffocating under the mass.

She sighed with annoyance, as the Ivory still wasn’t there… but she was going to find him.

“Where is that thing?” she snapped, using her sword to cut her arm, smiling as Void filled the wound and a rush of power ran through her.

Another scar.

How many did she have now? Too many to count.

Gale was now leaning against the tree, waiting patiently for Jade to approach. His Vorplad Blade was now carefully gripped in his tail while he rested his now empty hand against the tree bark.

The hybrid appeared in front of him, scars marring her body.

”Shadow. Then kill me.”

"Oh not here, not like this." He inspected his hand boredly, before turning to walk off, "If you really want to die so bad... then you do it my way."

He chuckled before walking into the woodland, his intent clear - he was going to kill her... but she won't see him do it.

The hybrid glared back. “Why can’t you do it? What’s the harm in killing me now? If you really want to torture me, mindtrap me. Maybe you’ll hear my screams.”

Her voice didn’t quaver when she said that. She wanted to be tortured. Wanted something, anything, that could hurt her.

Meanwhile, Jax approached Juniper, holding the burnt kitten.

“I’m busy, Jax, people are dying, I can’t help your cat,” she snapped, working so hard tears were appearing in her eyes.

Jax put down the cat and edged forward. "Need help?"

Kobe woke up, and seeing Cele, and was disappointed that she wasn't awake.

Cele murmured something, muttering stop at the end.

Kobe immediately got up. "Are you awake?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"Oh, who am I kidding? I've taken away another life..."

Cele's hand twitched, touching Kobe's hand.

Kobe's face lit up.

Cele stirred, trying to get up but fell on the floor. "Ow..."

Kobe helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked?

"Yeah, I guess. What happened? Where are we?" Cele asked, looking around.

"In a hospital tent..."

"And before that...."

"Triptrop... No, I knocked you out."

"You? Yourself?"

"Well, Triptrop did it, but I told it to."

"Well, it's obvious. Because I saw a literal green hurricane coming at me."

"So, you're not mad?"

"Maybe."

"That's all I need to hear!" said Kobe, happily.

She tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," 2 things happened in Cele's mind. One, she realized she had a crush on Kobe. Two, she realized that there was a dead 2 year old 3 feet away from her.

Back on the fray of the battlefield littered with corpses, Jade was still facing Gale.

He didn't turn back, the hybrid being forced to follow.

The forested area cast shadows on the ground, the space being near fully dark beside the occasional lit spot.

Perfect for an Ivory to hide.

Perfect for a hybrid to be drowned in trauma.

Perfect for death to strike.

Jade inched towards the light immediately, before pushing away her emotion and focusing.

The occasional wisp of elemental light gave away Gale's location, only for him to be in another spot by the time one could get near.

It wasn't long before something sliced open flesh, four wounds bleeding similar to a swipe of a cat's claws.

Amber shone from the dark, before vanishing into the shadows again.

Jade winced, managing a brave face.

”Coward,” she muttered under her breath.

Instantly there was a flash of green as an emerald blade sliced her throat, aimed mere centimeters from a vital vein.

A voice hissed from the dark, the voice the hybrid seeked for, "The only coward here is you."

“You.”

Only a laugh met her.

Jade took a deep breath.

No fear.

No fear.

No fear.

”What, you’re going to kill me? You’d hate to get rid of such a valuable puppet, wouldn’t you? Well, go ahead and do it. Torture me. Hurt me. Kill me. You won’t be getting a reaction.”

She absolutely would not.

Hurt her? She’d already been hurt too much.

Torture her? Please, all trauma had been destroyed.

Kill her? Just what she wanted.

Shadow could do nothing.

"Sorry, no more Shadow for you," a British accented voice taunted as another wound opened up, from the hybrid's knee down to the joint of her foot. It was only deep enough to inflict hard, but not kill her just yet.

"How much abuse are you willing to endure... just to hear a voice? Don't you want to see her, kill her, punish her for all she did to you?" His chuckle had the taint of curiosity, purple glinting from the dark instead of amber.

“I didn’t do anything to you, why do you insist on making this difficult? And you’ve forgotten I’m a Voidwalker. You’ve forgotten I can hurt you now.”

A ball of Void hurtled in the direction where the voice had come from, yet it hit air.

A laugh resounded through the woodland, "And you forgotten I too, can twist the void. It's not that hard with Shadow's help. You can do nothing."

He was clearly having fun with this, giving her a few pitiful licks of what she wanted only to snatch it away.

“You say I can do nothing? Then why do you bother? Why do you try over and over to stop me to no avail? I can do a lot, Shadow, and you know it.”

Jade clenched her fists, more annoyed than scared. It’d take a lot more than that to get a reaction.

"Oh, but it's me again," His voice rang as a blade raked down between her shoulder blades, halfway down her back just between her wings. All he had to do was push the blade down a bit deeper to paralyze her, but he didn't, wanting to enjoy the fun of a new victim, "And what you can do is pitiful."

Footsteps sounded followed by the creak of a branch - he was moving to a higher vantage point.

“Gale, what do you want? If you want to break me, you know personally the amount of effort it takes. But one cut in your back and you’re out.”

"You won't understand," shadow magic festered in the hybrid's void-filled wounds, burning intensely, "not even Shadow understands, and she's in my head. Well, she is right now. And it doesn't take one cut, it takes... a bit more than that, not that I'll tell you."

“Oh, great, so you’re taking your own trauma out on me. What do you want? To feel better? To hurt me? To get rid of a threat? All three of those are solved with Shadow, so let me talk to her.”

The wounds hurt, and that only made Jade smile wider… just a bit more and she’d be with him.

"Oh no, I'm not quite doing that," his voice changed to a please growl as claws raked down her other cheek, a blur of gray and gold streaking past her from above.

"Sorry about that, where was I? Ah... yes, now I remember. You wanted to talk to Shadow correct?"

"Then come and get me." A second voice hissed, not carrying a trace of Gale's.

The outline of Shadow was visible just a few feet away, purple eyes glaring.

“Oh look, it’s the coward herself.”

Jade rolled her eyes, “I have a question, and a simple one really… one that’s been nagging me ever since you tortured a defenseless child.”

The hybrid smiled slightly as she recalled the days of torture, happy to be over it.

”Why?”

Instantly the mirage faded, the shadows dispersing and a voice ringing from behind the hybrid, "Boo."

The instant she turned he was gone again, purple gaze continuing to track their prey, "I was not expecting that... but it'll have to do."

A spear of ice materialized in the air, crashing into the ground. Ice began to work its way into Jade's system, shadow magic tainting it to deal with any void.

"Why are you doing this? To see... Hunter, maybe? Well, then you know nothing about death."

Ice scattered the area, perfect for him to pull his next stunt.

“Don’t you dare say his name, Gale,” she snarled, “You want to hurt me so bad, then have your fun. It still won’t change your life, it still won’t make you any happier, and I know that for sure.”

In other circumstances, the void would have consumed the shadow without second thought.

"No, you're right," his voice hissed, yet he still sounded pleased, "This won't change anything besides eliminating a threat... and giving me short-lived pleasure. Nothing makes me happy, not for a long time. It always ends too fast, you know?"

Shadow and Astral magic worked their way to the precisely placed ice, seemingly doing nothing...

Yet the form of Hunter appeared behind the hybrid.

No.

No.

No.

”Hunter…”

Tears formed for just a split second before vanishing, Jade burying her face in her hands to stop the emotion.

“Gale, stop!” she screeched, taking a shaky breath.

”You say nothing makes you happy? Then why do you bother inflicting pain on others? You’re nothing but a twisted coward, using other people to make yourself feel better. You’re weak. And illusions won’t work anymore.”

The image of Hunter faded, one expression visible before the illusion was fully recalled, a look of total and utter loneliness.

"Twisted coward, huh? Weak, huh? That's all you got? Pity... I was expecting more from you."

The fairy fully stepped into view, gaze unreadable, "I managed to break you, didn't I? It really only took one person? Hm, should've tried that from the start." He lazily turned a blade in his hand, keeping one eye on the hybrid and the golden mist in the air a warning of an upcoming fey step, "As I said, you didn't understand."

“Gale, you know you’re weak. If the elements didn’t choose you, where would you be? If you weren’t Keeper, where would you be? Torturing people with memories of their…”

Her throat jammed on the word loved ones.

”You know you’re being petty, then why do you keep going? You want to break me? I’m already too broken. So bring it on.”

He lowered the blade, exhaling deeply, "Where would I be? I wouldn't be a fis-" This time he was the one who couldn't finish, but he quickly shrugged it off.

He wouldn't care.

He doesn't care.

It doesn't matter anymore.

The Ivory rushed forward and stabbed the blade in her chest, amber gaze searching, "I actually thought this would be worth it... apparently not." He yanked out the blade and walked away, leaving the hybrid a bloody mess.

Yet unbeknownst to her, he missed her heart on purpose.

She'll live thanks to that cursed void... but broken beyond repair.

Why was this his life?

Jade forced herself to her feet, screaming after him, “I said kill me! You had no problem killing him, why can’t I join him?”

Tears were being forced back, yet only anger shone through.

”You act so confident, yet if someone kills the person you love, you’d fall apart too. How would you feel if I killed Alyss?”

His ears pricked, showing that he heard her, but showed no reaction and simply continued leaving.

A smile crossed her face.

“You’d care, wouldn’t you? Then you’d know how I feel. But by all means, walk away. All because you insisted on being petty, Glace and Rai won’t grow up.”

Still no reaction, but he turned to face her once he reached the very brink of hearing distance, "Jade, you can't break what's already been broken. Thankfully I was broken a long time ago."

Finally, the hybrid was left alone.

“Well, we’ve got quite a lot in common,” she muttered under her breath.

Jade walked off, not even sure where she was going.

It took all her energy not to cry.

Far away, a little girl was sobbing.

Connor was gone. Really. Truly. She’d never see him smile again, never hear his babble, never feel his arms wrap around her.

Faith sobbed until her tear ducts were empty, until she was too weak to move, until morning came. Yet the lonely ache never left.

Kobe had been sleeping. He had never left Cele's side.

Meanwhile, at the battlegrounds, an Ivory Fairy sat silently, cleaning the blood off his blade with the occasional sigh.

She hurt you more than she thinks she did, didn't she?

Shadow, shut up...

Still wish you can go back to being that little boy, Fishna?

Shut. Up.

Hmph, too late for that now, you'll never-

SHUT UP, B*TCH.

Language...

Tears threaten to flow, but they never did.

They couldn't.

No matter how much he wanted them to.

A sob resounded from under the fairy, him looking down to see Faith looking up at him, wide green eyes filled with tears.

”Who are you? Why are you gray? What’s your name? Where’s my brother?”

He stepped back, startled, "I..."

Why in the name of the Faen Nor is a child here?

Don't look at me, how am I supposed to know?

"...my name is Gale, and I don't have an answer to your other questions."

“Do you know why we die, Gale?” she asked, tears beginning to flow again.

“Do you know what happens after? Do you know why it hurts so much? Do you know when I can sleep too?”

"A child your age shouldn't be asking those questions... but yes, I do know."

“What do you know? Can you tell me? I want to find my brother. But I can’t.”

Sobs punctuated her sentences, Faith curling into a ball as she kept crying.

”I’m lonely.”

The words hit harder than they should.

Gale sat down next to her, gazing off to the side, exhaling deeply before saying anything, "I know a lot." And I know how you feel.

He fingered his knife, twirling it over his fingers, "Some spirits stay behind... not quite ready to leave to the next plane and wanting to watch over their family or having matters to attend to. A few can't leave and have to stay here, drifting and haunting until they can move on. The others move on to another place, a place the living can't reach... all you can do is hope they'll be happy and that you'll be able to join them... someday. I don't know why it hurts so much, I guess... it's because you care. I don't know when you'll be able to join them either, I don't think anyone knows until it happens. As for your brother... does he... happen to be a very small child with brown hair and green eyes?"

Faith nodded. “Why? Did you see him? Can you bring him back?”

"He's..." He gazed at the ground, muttering the next few words, "Right behind you."

She gasped, whirling around. Her face broke into a grin, eyes sparkling.

”Connor!”

Her face fell, replaced by confusion and sorrow.

”Where is he? I miss him.”

The fairy shook his head, sighing, "I can... see ghosts. He's there but..." He didn't even bother to finish, the last few words were already clear, you can't see him.

Faith sniffled, gulping back a sob.

”I want to see him. Can you show me where he is?”

Silence.

"I can try."

She sniffled, hugging her own knees - the only hug she’d ever have.

”Can you try? I’m lonely. And sad.”

He closed his eyes, focusing on the little wisp of gold light in front of him.

The temperature began to drop drastically, mist condensing where the ghost of the boy stood, light refracting in a manner that didn't require light... or shadow.

A string formed in his thoughts, him mentally giving it an unsure tug at whether this would work or not.

By the time he opened his eyes again, a little boy was staring at him wide-eyed, still semi-transparent, however.

"Did it work?"

Faith made an excited squeal, jumping up and down before turning to Gale.

“Thank you!”

The fairy gasped as she wrapped his arms around him before rushing to her brother.

”Connor!”

But… it wasn’t him.

Not really.

He was transparent, and didn’t look right, and had this ethereal aura that suggested he might dissolve any second.

Her face fell. “Connor…”

The sobs started coming again.

Eventually, the ghost gave the girl a sad smile before fading, the Ivory Fairy sighing from behind her.

His expression was twisted with discomfort, from both the hug and the fact he had failed, judging from her expression.

Faith cocked her head, wiping away her tears and giving him a tiny smile.

“Why are you sad? It’s okay. Thank you for trying, Gale.”

An awkward pause.

”Have you ever felt lonely?”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The fairy stared at the ground, avoiding her gaze so she wouldn't see his expression.

A child of all people, had managed to hit him where it hurt.

“Gale…? Are you okay?”

When he didn’t respond, she wrapped his arms around him again, saying, “It’s okay. Maybe Juniper can take care of you?”

He habitually cringed at the hug, mustering a few words, "Stop it... please."

Faith frowned. “Why? If you’re sad, a hug makes you feel better. Don’t you like having somebody who loves you? It makes you feel less lonely.”

"No... it doesn't," he breathed through gritted teeth, still trying to escape the hug, "It makes me feel worse."

She finally let go, sitting next to him.

“But it’s better to love people than to hurt them. Do you hurt people, Gale?”

Silence once again.

Finally, he managed one thing, "You don't want to know."

She kicked her feet in the air, staring at them before saying, “I watched my brother die in front of me, I can handle it. I don’t think you’re bad, though, Gale. If you helped me, I think you’re a good person. Even if you did bad things before, I can still forgive you, can’t I?”

"No... I don't think you'll be able to forgive me," he sighed, amber gaze dull, "I've..." The words refused to come out, a certain elemental hissing in his thoughts.

No.

“It’s okay, Gale. Everybody, even if they did bad things, can be forgiven. You don’t have to tell me what you did. Just don’t hurt anybody else.”

Faith sighed contentedly, eyes still staring up at the sky.

”But it’s nice knowing I’m not alone.”

Well she's stupid, isn't she?

Shadow...

You're not really going to listen to her, are you?

...

Well, it seems I'm going to have to fix that.

She frowned. “Gale? Are you… okay?”

No.

But the answer remained a thought, not a word.

A single forbidden tear found its way down his cheek, just as hell broke loose.

White hair darkened to purple, beginning from his bangs down to the tuft his braided hair ended at, eyes changing color to match.

No.

The thought was repeated again, this time directed at the elemental.

Yet she didn't listen.

He wasn't in control anymore.

Another impossible tear found its way.

Faith screamed, backing away.

”Gale? What… are you… what happened…”

She was too scared to manage any words, too paralyzed to run, so all she could do was watch.

”Gale! Help!”

"Hmph, this won't-SHADOW STOP-no."

The look the fairy gave the child wasn't his own.

Tears were running down Faith’s face now, of shock, of sorrow, of fear.

”Gale, what’s happening? Gale!”

But he couldn’t help her.

Yet, inexplicably, with the magic only a child could possess, she crawled over, and hugged him tight.

”I’m sorry, Gale,” she whispered, “And I forgive you.”

Almost instantly a searing pain filled the girl, Shadow Magic burning in a way it had done to one many victims.

"Fool. The first thing he ever told you was a lie, and yet you do this?"

The burn worsened, not quite killing her yet, but earning a scream.

A scream that no one would hear above the sounds of war.

“Gale, please!” she begged, tears soaking his clothes, “Gale, I’m sorry if I hurt you, please stop! Gale!”

Yet she didn’t pull away, didn’t run, didn’t hurt him. Only hugged him tighter and took the pain.

"He can't help you now," the elemental hissed, blocking out any trace of the fairy's voice.

The pain changed to that of a thousand knives piercing flesh, an illusion but painful nevertheless.

She was sobbing now, whispering, “Why? I never hurt you. I just want to love, why do you always hurt? Please…”

Faith clutched the fairy tighter, tears covering the area where they sat.

"Stupid, aren't you?"

The burn of Shadow Magic began to be lethal, only a matter of time before it'll be too late to do anything.

“Gale… please…”

Her sobs disappeared, her eyes fluttered shut… but one sentence was whispered through the haze of pain.

”I forgive you.”

Immediately, Shadow released her hold, the fairy's hair and eyes resuming their normal coloration as he crumpled to the ground, scarcely able to breathe.

It only took a few shuddering breaths until he noticed the limp body in front of him.

Faith was still hugging Gale tight, eyes squeezed shut and, despite the tears, a tiny smile frozen on her face.

The fairy paled once the pieces clicked, the word "no" being whispered over and over to an elemental's pleasure.

He could do nothing.

The last breaths were being taken.

The girl took a shaky breath, eyes opening.

”Why, Gale?” she whispered, voice so broken and full of pain.

There was no accusation, no hatred, no anger, just love.

The tears flowed freely now, the answer laughing in his thoughts.

Why, Shadow?

All he could do was shake his head, broken once again.

Shadow got what she wanted, didn't she?

“Gale…?”

Juniper spoke up from behind the two, eyes shining with mistrust and anger.

”What did you do?”

Next to her stood and all-too-familiar hybrid, blackish red blood coating her body. She was being treated by her sister, but didn’t seem to care… all she did was stare at the ground, jaw clenched.

Juniper spoke again. “Gale, did you hurt her? Is she…”

She couldn’t manage the word dead.

Only a sob answered her question.

After all this time... he opened up, he loved... and was broken again.

He lost control again.

Why?

She spoke up, this time gentler, “What happened? Is Faith alright?”

”He probably killed her,” Jade muttered bitterly, still not looking up.

He started to say something before closing his eyes and looking away, teeth gritted as he tried to hold back the upcoming shift in control, "No... Jade, I did-SHADOW, STOP."

The second control shifted back to him the crying worsened, regret visible in every aspect.

The hybrid backed away, nearly running were it not for her sister’s hand on her arm.

”Gale, I’m… I’m so sorry…”

Juniper failed to manage words, instead crouching down next to the limp Faith and pressing the dandelion into her hands.

”Give it to him, okay?”

She nodded, grabbing Juniper’s hand. “I’m scared. I don’t want to…”

”Shhh… it’s okay. Like falling asleep.”

Jax quietly stepped out from behind Juniper, approaching the limp body that was Faith, placing down a kitten with tufts of remaining black fur next to her. The kitten struggled to its feet, padding over to Faith and snuggling closer to the fairy.

A tiny giggle escaped her as she hugged it close.

”Kitty!”

Jax smiled slightly, watching the glee spread along Faith's face. It wouldn't last long.

She looked back up at the Ivory next to her, smiling.

”Gale, it’s okay. If you miss me, you can play with the kitty. Then you won’t be lonely anymore.”

Jade looked up at that, sucking in a breath when she saw her face.

Faith was the spitting image of her mother.

Jade knew her mother.

She’d killed her.

”Please…”

A laugh. Her laugh.

Blood.

Her eyes flew open, and before she knew it, she was kneeling next to Faith, shaking.

The little girl cocked her head. “What’s your name? I’m Faith.”

”Jade. Do- do you remember your mother?”

Faith nodded eagerly. “Why? Do you know what happened to her?”

”I… I’m so sorry. Faith, I…”

”Did you hurt her?”

”I killed her.”

The girl silenced, staring up at the hybrid for a second before sighing.

”I forgive you.”

That was it for Jade.

She got up and ran, this time nobody stopping her.

How many more times would she break?

Gale watched the hybrid go before looking back at Faith, just in time to see another ghost join that of her brother's. A woman, resembling both of them strikingly, seemingly... waiting.

Waiting for death.

Waiting for her to join them.

Waiting to be reunited again.

Why was life so bittersweet?

Faith sighed, hugging the cat closer.

”I’ll miss you, Gale. And Juniper. And you too, kitty.”

The cat meowed and wormed its way into her arms, licking her face.

One last giggle.

”I won’t be lonely anymore?”

Juniper nodded, blinking back tears. “Say hello to Connor for me.”

”I will. I’ll miss you.”

One last smile.

One last breath.

One last heartbeat.

Gone.

The kitten mewed inquisitively, rubbing Faith's face, warmth still evident. The kitten laid in the arms of it's new friend, limp in rest.

Juniper sighed, slowly picking up the body and carrying it away, laying Faith down in the tent.

She could’ve just been sleeping.

She wished Faith was.

But no, she wasn’t just sleeping, she was gone.

Was this all that war could do? Hurt and take and kill?

War was wintertime, and the dandelions had died.

The kitten clambered out of Jax's arms, walking towards the tent with Faith's body. It climbed inside, licking Faith's cold cheek before laying close beside her.

Juniper sighed, watching the kitten play.

She left the tent hurriedly, turning to Gale.

”What really happened? Not just to Faith - to my sister.”

Silence.

All emotion was pushed out of the way before he responded, "Shadow killed Faith, I have no idea what happened to Jade."

The last bit was nowhere close to true, but he had already got rid of the evidence - not a speck of blood was on his Vorpald Blade, and nothing else could give him away.

She kept glaring.

”I saw the amount of damage, I know she wanted to be tortured, and I know you’re a very good liar. Tell me what happened, I don’t need to know it all, just enough so I can fix her.”

"Look, for all I know, she hurt herself. I only carry one weapon, and does it look like I did anything?" He pulled out his knife, the emerald blade shockingly clean seeing how much damage it caused.

Juniper curled her fists. “I’m not concerned with physical damage. I’m concerned about whatever mind games you played with her, and I know you did something.”

"I've been here the whole time," he said with a sigh, "how am I supposed to play 'mind games' if Shadow was ki-" His voice caught on the word killing, the fairy having to push emotion down again.

It took all she had to control her anger.

”I know you did something to her, you-“

”Okay, Juniper, that’s enough,” a shaky voice called from behind her, the person clearly having been crying.

”Mom-“

“Enough,” Hilda sighed, stepping into view. “Don’t you have people to take care of?”

Juniper groaned and left, shooting a glare at Gale.

The second she was out of earshot, the woman crossed her arms. “Gale, what did you do?”

"If you want to know what I was doing so badly, why don't you check that book of yours? Or are you too afraid of what else you'll find?"

She sighed. “I’m… I can’t look in here without… without seeing… him.”

Hilda ran a hand over the cover, part of her wanting to flip it open, part of her wanting to throw it into a volcano and watch it burn.

”First you can tell me, and then I’ll see if you’re lying or not.”

"Oh, you know already... simply being the fishna you let me become." His words were bitter, his gaze more a glare as he watched her.

“Monster…”

Hilda took a deep breath before opening the book, trying hard not to flinch every time she saw his name imprinted over and over in the pages.

Gale knew when she found out… her face paled and eyes widened, then her fists clenched, then she sighed to calm herself.

”Why would you- how could you- why?”

The Ivory Fairy shrugged as if it were a casual matter, as if he didn't care, "I felt like it."

If he hadn't known the statement was a lie, he might have believed it himself.

He wished he did.

“You felt like it? Felt like torturing my daughter with Shadow, with your own words, then with him?”

She closed the book shut with a loud snap, wishing she could do it. Bring him back, fix her, punish the fairy that she thought she could trust, stop the war…

”Truly, I don’t know how I trusted you,” Hilda snarled, “If I could, I’d write you out of existence right here and now, along with Shadow, along with Ariana… you’re a parent as well, how do you not care what happens to my daughter?”

"I don't care what happens to my own family, Hilda. And really? You trusted me? I don't believe that for a minute." His gaze was now unreadable, based on his expression he seemed... bored.

“You really don’t care? I know you, Gale, even if I wish I didn’t, and I know you’d care.”

It was taking all of her energy not to slam the book open and do whatever she wanted, but she couldn’t.

”You’re a monster, and I don’t care how many times you get abandoned, your actions will never be excusable - and you deserve much worse than death.”

Shockingly enough he smiled, a sad twisted smile, "Finally, you got that right." The fairy turned to leave, tail swishing back and forth for balance.

Suddenly, he was knocked harshly to the ground, a quick blast of telekineses doing the job.

“You horrible- you monster- I’d kill you if I could. I can’t believe I cared about you, I can’t believe I didn’t wipe your name away from this book, I hate you,” Hilda snarled, voice frozen over. Anger had completely overtaken her, fertilized by sorrow, supported by pain.

He breathed out frustratedly, sitting up and gazing at her, "Then why don't you? The name part has already been dealt with, why don't you kill me then? We both know that I deserve it."

“I can’t, you know I can’t. Though believe me-“

He was knocked to the ground again.

”-I wish I could.”

He forced himself to his feet again, his amber gaze meeting purple.

Then he sighed and walked away, leaving the wizard alone.

Well, this is better.

Well, you can shut up then.

Gale glanced back but didn't bother to return and apologize.

Forgiving him would only make things worse.

Hilda glared at his back, not feeling just a bit of remorse. She didn’t care what he thought, all that mattered was that her son was dead, her daughters were broken by his hand, and that he was a monster.

Meanwhile, back in the tents, Opal was sobbing, being comforted by an equally distraught Juniper and a sympathetic Robin.

Kobe walked over. "What's up?"

The three immediately shot him glares so hateful he stumbled back.

”Faith and Connor are gone is what’s up. Go away,” Opal snapped.

Nearby, Storm was watching them, letting out a sigh as things played out.

"Aw man, the kids died? I'm so sorry."

“Go away!” she screeched, sobs louder. “Leave!”

Robin sighed and got up, whispering to Kobe, “Just leave them alone.”

"Alright..." said the trainer. He walked out of the tent, clutching a capsule.

The blind wizard went back to his sister, silent tears running down his cheeks.

Of course everybody thought they were crying over the kids, but the real reason?

An hour of searching, and still they hadn’t found Jade. She was gone. She clearly didn’t care about them.

Meanwhile, Rai was biting his lip as he urged himself not to get involved, Raiden and Glace standing nearby. Aurora, however, walked over to Opal and gave her a hug despite her protests, knowing she needed one.

Meanwhile, a young Storm fairy was talking to his father, the stories of war both terrifying and enthralling.

Jax sat, solitary, by Faith's tent, hugging his knees to his chest, forehead pressed down on them. Hope and Nathan looked at their brother sympathetically, sitting down beside him.

"I know we can't save everyone, but why must so many die?"

The two older siblings had no response. Jax accepted a hug from Hope, crying into her shoulder.

Rai's pointed, elven-like ears were perked from listening in, Jax's thoughts reflecting his own.

The fairy's fluffy tail was curled around him, turning over his vision his hands, over and over. Another person had died, another weight to be carried in his thoughts - two were enough, why did there now have to be four?

Why does he bother caring if it hurts so much?

Only silence meets his questions, accompanied by the cruel melody of crying, some of being his own.. and the rest being of others.

Too many others.

Opal was still sobbing into Juniper’s shoulder, a few words comprehensible.

”Mom… doesn’t care… miss her… weak… want to die… worthless…”

The woman could only hold her closer, and hope against hope that she could recover.

But it was pointless.

Nobody ever recovered.

Hope eventually said something. “I don’t know, Jax. Unfortunately, it might just be the circle of life.”

“The circle of life?” Andrew snapped, “You mean we die and die and die? If you ask me, life isn’t a circle - it’s a line, leading to the same thing over and over.”

Aurora glanced over from hugging Opal, sighed at her friends' sorry attempt at comforting Jax, and reached out and arm, the Water Trainee being pulled into the hug.

If only it could last forever.

Jax's sobbing subsided, shoulders still shaking.

A distance away, Rai was gazing at the ground, gaze unreadable.

He breathed deeply, blinking back the tears which refused ever so much to stop flowing.

He half expected Glace to have a harsh remark in store for him, but when he looked up... her gaze mirrored his own.

Kobe kept staring at his capsule. "All this fighting. I want it to end. I may like battles, but this isn't a battle."

“What’s the point in moping, people?” Robin shouted, startling everyone.

”Faith and Connor wouldn’t want you to cry, would they? They’d want you to keep fighting, to remember them, and to make sure all this death stops. So get up and do something!”

Kobe immediately got up. "I think we should battle them!" he suggested.

"Um, I'm pretty sure Faith and Connor wouldn't want us to die, either, Kobe," Nathan commented.

"Well, then why don't we just fire fireballs at them from afar?" said Kobe. "Then, they can see how it feels to be the source of EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM THIS WEEK?!"

As he said that sentence, it was very clear that he was still hanging onto having his reputation destroyed.

"You can't stop a war without a ceasefire," the group turned to face the voice, who in turn was Glace, "which is normally done when one side wants to surrender, as both sides are forced to stop fighting - basically what a ceasefire is, both sides agree to stop fighting. That is later followed by a truce, or in worse cases, a complete takeover - which I bet that dirty lot of xenophobic generals would do."

“Kobe, we can’t do that. Faith and Connor’s mother was on their side, remember?”

Opal conveniently left out the fact that Jade had killed her, instead continuing a bit more briskly.

”We’d be just as bad as… well… you.”

"How about we gaslight them into calling a creasefrier?" said Kobe, in a moment demonstrating his moral ambiguity.

"Ceasefire," Glace hissed in correction, "and this is warfare Kobe, that would be stupid."

“Well then how about we-“

Kobe’s sentence was interrupted by him getting zapped by a very annoyed Cloud Neek.

Robin crossed his arms.

”Why don’t we do something? Convince the other side, and if that fails, find somebody who can call a ceasefire, and then worry about our… own problems.”

"Actually..." Raiden looked thoughtful, "Kobe might have a point."

Glace's jaw dropped, "WHAT?"

"Obviously we follow through with Kobe's manner of carrying things out, but-" she began twirling a device in her hand, "-we can trick or blackmail the highest authority figure on the Wizard's side into calling a truce, meaning both sides will negotiate."

Cloud Neek squeaked in agreement, paying no mind to its trainer on the floor, covered in soot.

Juniper watched them, shooting glares at both Kobe and Raiden.

“Two children just died, and you’re all thinking of tactics like this? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Like I told Rai, make a positive impact, or you’ll be worse than the other side.”

Aurora was not enjoying the arguing, so she sat and watched, because she also found it a little interesting to see them discuss things.

"Honestly, I think the negotiating part made up for the trickery," Raiden muttered under her breath, clearly disagreeing with Juniper.

“I kinda don’t care about being worse than them. I mean, I didn’t start a whole war because I was a racist,” said Kobe.

"Well Ignis actually did blackmail someone and I don't see any of you scolding him for it," the borg snapped while crossing her arms.

“I’m down for blackmail!” said Kobe.

“I don’t know what Ignis did but so long as it didn’t hurt anyone I don’t care. And both of you, you’ll be hurting people just like Faith and Connor - who were, by the way, wizards, so they might as well have been on their side. I don’t want any of you going down my sister’s path.”

Kobe simply sighed, and threw a capsule on the ground. The capsule popped open, and a tiny ottoman with eyes and a mouth jumped out, and grew to the size of a normal ottoman.

Kobe simply sat down on it.

Raiden glared, "I never once suggested hurting someone. Is this seriously what this is all about? Sheesh, I'm not Glace."

"HEY!"

Kobe, Cloud Neek, and the Personified Ottoman laughed.

”All of you, shut up, there are people just like Faith and Connor dying, will more violence and hatred solve that? How many more children will fail to grow up?”

Behind the group an older borg sighed, walking up to his daughter, "Raiden, turn it on."

"But-"

"Just do it."

"But-"

"NOW RAIDEN."

She muttered something under her breath, avoiding looking anyone in the eye so they wouldn't notice a drastic change in mood.

Storm sighed once again before looking at Juniper, "Sorry about that. As for you Kobe," he turned to the boy, "Violence only makes things worse, for either the victim or the inflicter - sometimes both."

“Gee, I wish somebody told me that before Tarragon burnt down that village out of anger…” muttered the trainer.

The Storm Trainee shot him a look before saying, "We'll talk about that later."

Kobe simply sighed. Will I ever stop getting into trouble? He thought to himself.

“Storm is right. Now all of you, we’re figuring it out the proper way, and if there are any objections, we talk it out, instead of hurting anybody. Okay?”

Juniper met all of their gazes, face sterner than ever.

Then a branch cracked behind her.

“Well spoken, sis, no wonder Mom chose you.”

Jade stepped out from behind them all, dagger poised in her hand and ready to strike. ”Where’s Gale? We have… unfinished business.”

Juniper got to her feet. “Jade, don’t-“

”A healer and a babysitter isn’t going to stop me. I don’t care if we’re related, I’ll stab you here and now. Maybe no one will get hurt if you tell me where Gale is.”

Kobe backed away, but tripped on his Ottoman.

Storm took a protective step in front of the children, gaze cold, "We don't know where he is."

“Hm… do I have to resort to violence?”

Her voice dripped with amusement - she wanted to hurt somebody and, frankly, didn’t really want to hide it.

Juniper assessed her new sister, a healer examining a deformed body, searching for strands of hope.

Jade had gone from hero to villain… and there was no way to pull her back.

It was easy to break something, but impossible to truly put it together.

Kobe looked back at his two pets, getting ready for defense, only to find that they were hiding in fear.

"Jade, we don't know where he is, stop it before you're the one who gets hurt," static was present in the air, his tone steadily becoming hostile.

“Ah, here’s the difference. You care if I hurt someone. I… don’t. Obviously, I won’t try to fight you, all I need is one hostage from this plethora and I’m good to go.”

She looked around at the children as if they were nothing more than products on sale.

”Well, Storm? I really don’t want to hurt anyone.”

She was lying, of course.

"I am not-"

"I'll do it."

"What? Rai-"

The Astral Fairy stared at the borg, "I don't want anyone hurting anyone else."

A tentacle of Void immediately grabbed him and held him aloft in the air, completely trapped. another alarmingly sharp one was touching his neck - just a tap and she’d kill him.

”Where. Is. Gale.”

"Βλάκας." The Storm Trainee took control of the void tentacles, Rai being dropped to the ground and the other writhing away, "I'll say this one more time; We don't know where he is."

Jade rolled her eyes. “Fine. Where’s Alyss, then? I’m sure you know where she is.”

“Who’s that?” Asked Kobe, being an ignorant dummy.

The boy was knocked over face-first into the ground, earth having been uprooted from under him.

”Idiot. Aren’t you the one who sent the fireballs? The one who hurt people? People like my bro-“

Jade took a deep breath. “Where is she?”

Silence, then-

"Where do you think she is?"

“Where do I think she is? Fighting in the war. What do I want with her? Gale.”

His eyes narrowed, "You answered your own question, now leave us alone."

“Huh. Last question: where is he?”

”What do you-“

“Where is he? What did you do to him? WHY ISN’T HE HERE?”

Storm backed away in shock, Jade having gotten right in his face, eyes wide and fists curled.

"I..."

She backed away, exhaling.

”Sorry. That was…”

The hybrid walked away, fists curling tighter and tighter, sick voice in her head still whispering cruelly.

Don’t… calm down…

They hurt him. They killed him. They stole him from you. They deserve to die.

Stop…

Before she could even think, Jade slammed the cyborg against the ground, screaming, “YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM!”

Opal, Robin, and Juniper all backed away, eyes wide in fear.

”Mom…”

”Jade…”

Only a gasp of confusion came from Robin.

Nathan was the first to react, throwing himself at Jade, arms wrapped around her neck, pulling her backwards.

He was blown backwards so hard a snap could be heard as he hit the ground, several meters away.

”WHERE IS HE? WHAT DID YOU DO?”

Elsewhere, a time traveler desperately pummels messages into a holographic keyboard as she makes an attempt to exit from the window of what is now apparently a meeting room. The urgency of her mass picture upload clogs her mind as she prepares to jettison back to home territory.

Nathan curled up in a ball, drawing in shuddering breaths as he clutched his ribs, Hope running towards him.

Andrew rushed forward, yet he was held back by Juniper and Opal. Jade was dangerous.

Kobe got up, and sat down at a nearby bench.

Another twisted voice rises within the hybrid's mindscape, its horrendously unquavering monotony tying Jade to a metaphorical branch 50 meters off the edge of an equally metaphorical sanity cliff.

-Their pain means nothing, Warden.

The bite of the void screams into Jade's emotions, powering and increasing the caliber of her every movement.

-You exceed them.

The cold grasp of the nothing becomes a weapon, both inside Jade and taking form in the shape of a familiar blade within her hands. Once, the hybrid had used the original with nobility. Now, it was not so. That was a time that felt aeons ago.

-You have become more than we expected. Far more.

A time in which he was alive.

-Your assault will lure your prey, even if he is unwilling.

A time in which she had felt more than this rage and pain.

-Show them how you have risen.

That time would never come back.

Perhaps that was the truth that blistered the most.

Storm placed a hand to his throat, breathing deeply in a futile attempt to calm down. He lowered his hand and stared at the hybrid, getting up as his void-tainted eye let off a purple shine.

"Alright, we're playing this game."

“Yes we are, cyborg. If you want to hurt me, go on ahead. All I’ll get is more power.”

Jade’s voice was hers, yet it was unnatural, poisonous, vicious.

“You already killed him, what more do you want from me? You already broke me, what else do you need?”

Her voice rose, ending on a guttural scream, making Opal and Robin duck behind their aunt.

Static recurred in the area the borg and hybrid stood, the electricity generating in a pulse-like manner. With every pulse, the amount of generated electricity amplified, gradually increasing to a threatening amount.

All Jade did was sigh. “You know, that won’t have any effect on me. Now what did you do to him?”

Her only answer was the electricity arcing and giving her a powerful jolt as it snapped, "Oh, it would have effect on you."

“Answer the question! What do you want?” she screamed, Void magic rising around her.

The Void Magic only receded, a gloved hand responsible, "I want you to leave us alone. If you don't... well I can take care of that, can't I?" His normally cheery voice was shockingly cold, visible sapphire eye showing only anger.

“You can kill me, I don’t care, but you killed him and you have to pay.”

A bizarre mix of Astral and Void magic hurtled at the cyborg, fast and ruthless.

Both forms of magic were redirected, electricity concentrating and zapping Jade, blacking the hybrid out. The electrical energy recalled, Storm sighing, "Well that was thunderous..."

Opal blinked. “St-Storm… what… happened…?”

A terrified Robin was hugging Juniper’s leg, whimpering and shaking.

"I don't know, but your mother's fine, if you're wondering - well, physically." He gave Juniper a look, lip bit.

Kobe whistled for his pets, and they came out of hiding.

“No, she’s not fine. She’s nowhere near fine. D-do you know if it’s… permanent…?” Opal bit her lip, bracing herself for the worst.

He sighed, crouching and putting a hand on her shoulder, "No, it's not permanent, but I don't how long it'll last. Yet I promise she'll be okay... eventually."

“Eventually? You’re lying, aren’t you?” she snapped, “Mom won’t be okay and it’s all my fault.”

"Opal, I'm not lying it's just..." the borg exhaled deeply, "Look, Jade's been through a lot, for some people like me they recover quickly, but for others... it takes a long time for them to feel better, and even then... you don't really fully feel better, it's just still there, every time you go through something similar you remember it. A lot of people are going to feel like that when this war ends..."

“So… so Mom is gone? She’s… broken? Really?”

”Opal, please, calm down,” Juniper sighed, dragging the girl into a hug. “It’s not your fault, your mother may recover, and right now, you have a lot more to worry about.”

Elsewhere, a female, black-haired wizard received information about the hundreds of casualties in the past hour and lack of weapons. "May Ariana help us now," she sighed, teleporting away.

Storm sighed again, turning to face Jade's sleeping form and the wide-eyed children. He simply walked up to the hybrid and picked her up, carrying her inside the tent.

Juniper followed.

”Jade won’t be okay, will she? I can’t… can’t lose another family member.”

Storm stopped and looked at her, "Juniper, you won't lose Jade, I can assure you of that. People are broken sometimes, but they heal, even if it's not the same as before the outside, yet I promise you she'll always be your sister on the inside, always be the person you used to know, even if she doesn't want to admit it." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, attempting a weak smile.

She stared at the ground for a few second before saying quietly, “You saw the people in there, didn’t you? Even if they were mutilated, burned, bleeding… they were always pure on the inside. Yet Jade… she’s the other way around. Physical injuries I can heal. But how do I heal that?”

"Juniper, she's still in there somewhere, you just need to find her, find her past the mask she wears. Talk to her, remind her of the things she loved, and simply be there for her. The easiest way to help a person to feel better is to simply be their friend, to simply be there for them."

Another pause.

”But how? Who does she love that isn’t gone? Does she know how to love? Do I know how to love?”

Without waiting for an answer, Juniper kept talking, dispelling the knot of worry and fear and shame and sorrow and helplessness she didn’t even realize was there until it was gone.

”I lost my father before even knowing him… my mother‘s too scared to love me… my brother died when we should’ve had more time… my sister’s left to a fate far worse than death. I can’t do this, I can’t put us back together, not when we’re this broken.

“The people in there… the families had so much love for each other, even when they were dying. I spent every single sleepless night wondering how. How are they staying together, when we keep falling apart? At this point, I don’t even know what a family is, let alone how to fix it.”

She finished with a sense of melancholy and wistfulness, staring at the ground for a count of ten before she looked back up at Storm.

He gazed forward, choosing his next set of words carefully as he tried to explain it, "A family is a group of people who care about each other no matter what. They don't have to be related, they don't have to look the same, they just stick together. They may argue at times, they may fall apart at times, but the way they stick back together... is love. Loving no matter what they do, caring no matter what they do, forgiving no matter what they do, and hoping they do the same. Every family needs one person doing that, keeping them together through everything life might throw at them. As for how to love? All you have to do is care, care about someone, something, whether they're in the future, past, or present."

Her words were bitter, wistful, sad.

”Then I guess I don’t have one. All I can do is bring others together, but I can’t help myself.”

"You sure about that? Even if you don't realize it, you love the people you help, you love Jade, your mother, your father, your brother, and just about everyone - just by caring and helping them - and they're grateful for it, even if they don't admit it. You already made yourself a family Juniper, you just need to start calling it one."

She sighed, smiling slightly.

”Thanks, Storm. How do you know all this?”

Unbeknownst to the two, Nathan edged away upon hearing the word "father", beckoning to Jax, Hope, and inadvertently, Glace.

In the tent, Storm smiled back, sapphire eyes sparkling with playfulness, "Let's just say there's a gang of fools out there that I had to make a family out of."

Kobe walked away, not wanting to hear the conversation go on. Cloud Neek and Ottoman followed.

Suddenly the borg frowned, gazing at the messages scrolling at the edge of his visor.

The chatlog was frantic, messages pouring in with uncontrollable force.

"I FOUND THEIR MEETING ROOM"

"GET THESE COORDS"

"THERES A THINGY UNDER THE TABLE"

"MY SHIFT KEY IS BUSTED"

Multiple image files of the room all attached to the littered text, each with location detailed out specifically.

Storm glanced up at Juniper before chuckling nervously, "Do you think you'll be able to handle the kids on your own for a while? There's... something I need to do."

“Fine,” she responded, “And, Storm?”

He frowned, “What?”

”Thanks.”

The borg smiled, whispering "You're welcome" before rushing out the door, a flash of cyan following in suite.

Meanwhile, the very same person a certain hybrid was looking for walked on the edge of the woodland, observing the battle carefully. Amber eyes glinted with the light of the setting sun, the gaze burning with a wave of delayed anger.

They needed something to take it out on, but what?

The figure soon found their answer.

Not far off was one of the Wizard side's generals, stupidly standing close to the brushland thinking no non-wizard would be able to approach them.

They were so wrong.

No harm in doing a bit of good for once, no matter how immoral it might be, right?

Now we're talking.

A flash of emerald and gray occurred as a knife blade dug into flesh, tearing open tissue and sinew as it punctured a vital vein, blood rushing out and staining their clothing a warm red. As quickly as it happened the attacker was gone, the general bleeding out before they even got the chance to scream.

As the paling figure began to fall to the ground, the green blade flashed once more across the back of their neck, being pushed in out anger and hate as it broke bone and spinal cord.

A body thumped to the ground, dead.

The Ivory Fairy flew a foot off the ground, something he hasn't done in a long time, and inspected the body - relishing in the pride of a certain dark element.

People could hate him... but there would always be someone who found the ability to admire what he could do.

Someone who just happened to live in his head.

Shadow.

“Gale?” A familiar voice whispered, one that shouldn’t have been there.

The fairy turned, eyes widening when he saw the little girl.

Faith.

Her eyes were swimming with tears, the smile gone from her face. In her right hand she clutched a dandelion, in the left she held her brother’s hand.

“Gale, I told you not to hurt. I trusted you.”

“Faith-“

“Why didn’t you listen? I thought you cared.”

“I-“

“If you saw my mom, would you have killed her too?”

“Mama?” Connor mutttered.

“I-“

“I trusted you, Gale. I forgave you. And this is how you repay me?”

The fairy watched helplessly as Faith and Connor disappeared, but they would haunt him forever.

Going soft again, aren't you?

Shadow...

You don't need them, do you really want to trust again? After what happened last time?

...no...

Then you don't care.

But he did.

And a tiny part of him... wanted to.

One word cut through the despair, whispered out of pure hope, love, and faith.

”Try.”

Meanwhile, three siblings were quietly sneaking away, freezing as they heard footsteps coming from behind them, belonging to a certain Ice Fairy.

Elsewhere, cold metal heralds the watch of Aria as she scans for movement while clinging to the back wall of the building. 3 figures appear within, two armed and one approaching where Aria knew the table was.

It does not surprise her at all when the moving figure disappears into the floor under the table's position and begins walking underground.

Like boss, like simp, thinks the time traveler as she tries to map out the new tunnel network with the same scans.

Soon enough, she's hanging over the doorway of the building, wings crackling with KO-potential electricity, their tips poised to strike at the 2 remaining bodyguards.

Kobe was walking down a road, followed by Cloud Neek, clutching a capsule. “I don’t know why, but I have the urge to go to Pallet Pass.” He said.

"Where are you three going?" A yellow gaze eyed the siblings warily, belonging to Glace.

Meanwhile, a gray-haired time traveler fell out of a rift, following the instructions Aria had sent him.

"Uh-"

"Nowhere."

"Depends. You gonna help us or not?"

She crossed her arms, "Depends on what you plan on doing... but if it involves rule breaking I'll do it gladly."

"Cool. We're gonna break into a guarded jail and break our dad out," Nathan responded.

"That's it? No plan whatsoever?"

Meanwhile, Kobe and Cloud Neek made it all the way to Ben’s lab, in Pallet Pass. Kobe got out a key, and unlocked the door.

Inside the lab, there were papers everywhere, and a few interns were sleeping under their desks.

There was a computer that was on, with a picture of an Epic. There was also peanut brittle next to the computer.

Back in Skywatch, Andrew appeared out of thin air, muttering some colorful words under his breath as he attempted to disappear again.

"She has a point. What is our plan?" Jax asked.

"We sneak past guards, find dad, break cell bars, get out, don't die," Nathan said proudly.

"Oh hey Andrew," Jax said, waving.

Storm had ended up on the roof of the well-lit building, catching Aria hoisting the 2 incapacitated guards up onto the top of the structure. The younger time traveler hurriedly explained what was going on, still scanning the room for anything else.

"Okay, so i'm pretty sure whoever became High Chief Ras'eest just disappeared under the table, They've got another tunnel network below the building, likely another course to the prison area Ariana set up a while back. I've a hunch they've got your co-punster Fire Warden cooped up down there. If we infiltrate and follow from a distance, everything will be... probably fine." With her last few words, Aria hopped off the roof, landing softly on the dirt. She disappeared into the doorway, and began approaching the newly-flipped table.

A small hatch was closed beneath where the middle of the furniture would have been, the brown metal rectangle of a trapdoor unlocked and beckoning.

At Ben's Lab, Kobe took a look at a jar that was on Ben’s desk. It had electric energy inside of it.

He then looked at some other jars. There were jars filled with fire, jars filled with plants, jars filled with water, and ice.

After looking at some things in Ben’s lab, he decided to look at a computer which had some software that was ready to transfer. The computer had a note on it.

Dear, Kobe.

I already knew you would be here, and that you would try and download this app.

The app lets you summon capsules out of nowhere. Not the most impressive thing, but it’s easier than reaching into your bag every time you want to throw a capsule.

Also, me and Fatima are on vacation right now, so don’t bother calling.

Meanwhile, the children were still discussing a plan.

“We’ll make a actually good plan while we go there. Right, guys?” Hope asked, sounding just a little annoyed.

"Hey, my plan is good!" Nathan shot back.

“I strongly disagree. We’ve gotta be more strategic then that.” Hope declared.

Glace was arching an eyebrow, clearly skeptic.

Meanwhile, Storm had followed Aria down the trapdoor, beginning to have a very intense feeling of déjà vu.

The underground tunnel network was nothing short of a labyrinthine death trap, obviously having upgraded in lethality since the last infiltration. Spikes and spear traps jutted from the walls and floors, points poised for stabbing. Inconspicuous lanterns actually contained volatile astral spells, barely keeping from bursting out of their containers. The drone of what sounded like actual buzzsaws moved back and forth around the area, and the ceiling had now become stab-proof, which Aria frowned at.

All the while, empty and light footsteps echoed from the far side of the maze.

The four children, now accompanied by Rai and Aurora, their disappearances still somehow unnoticed by Juniper, crouched behind a conveniently placed and size rock, staring at the deserted entrance. "It can't be that easy, can it?" Jax asked.

“See! Jax knows what he’s talking about.” Hope quickly responded.

“Should we follow them if they ever go?” Aurora quietly asked Rai.

Meanwhile, after downloading the computer software to his phone, Kobe walked out of Ben’s lab, and into the distance.

Andrew reappeared.

“So what are we doing?”

Nathan jumped. "Stop doing that, jeez!" he hissed.

“So what are we doing?” he asked obnoxiously loudly, wings fluttering excitedly.

"Breaking into this jail to save our dad," Jax replied.

"Which we should already BE DOING SINCE THERE'S CLEARLY NOBODY THERE!" Nathan exclaimed.

“Yeah, I agree, let’s go! I’m bored anyway.”

“How are you-“

”Let’s go!”

“Breaking into a jail?” Said a voice. “Isn’t that illegal?”

"Irrelevant, now PLEASE, lets get goi-wait, Kobe?"

Andrew yelped, and a blast of lightning arced through the air, so powerful the stones around it were incinerated as well.

Kobe laid on the floor, covered in soot. “Nice to see you too, Andrew…” he said weakly.

He chuckled. “Eheh… sorry.”

"Alright, lets go," Nathan said impatiently, dragging Kobe along behind him.

Andrew rushed ahead, swinging his sword carelessly as he went.

Kobe got back up and shook off the soot. “It’s okay. I’ve been shocked before.” He said. “Anyways, breaking into prison? If I can get the place fireballed just for stepping over the border, what’ll happen to you guys?”

“He has a point.” Hope said.

Aurora and Rai decided to follow them.

The children burst through the door, meeting face-to-face with two guards about to take their shift. "Pfft-Larry, you getting a load of this? A bunch of kids just tried to break into a guarded jail," one of the guards snorted.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've seen all day, Bob. Hey, buddy, put that sword away! We don't want you cutting yourself!" Larry guffawed.

Andrew charged in and knocked “Larry” out with one quick blast of lightning, whooping as he did so.

"Whoa there, buddy. Calm down..." the other guard chuckled nervously, backing away. "You-you wanna put those death-infused lightning bolts away? It's a good idea if you ask me...and it's safer! Safe for me, and your friends. How about you run along back to your parents? It's not safe in this war...heh..."

Kobe grabbed a capsule, and summoned Tarragon. Tarragon burnt the guard until he was suffering from 3rd degree burns.

Andrew pouted. “Aw, I wanted to have him. Well, come on, let’s go find your brother.”

Below, two time travelers continue to follow the sound of footsteps, narrowly missing the occasional perfectly-hidden buzzsaw or spike.

The guard screamed, collapsing to the ground, rolling on the ground until the flames were put out. The feet of the children pounded around him and down the hall.

“YES! We won! To Chase we go!” Hope cheered.

Aurora and Rai hastily followed them from a distance.

Kobe and Cloud Neek ran down the corridor, zapping guards left and right, until they saw a small tree. “YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!” Yelled the irritated trainer.

Andrew blinked in shock.

”Uuuuuh… what?”

The two bulbous crowns of the small sapling teased Kobe, knowing full well absolutely nothing in Prodigia had the ability to cut down such conveniently placed small trees.

Nothing learns Cut in Prodigy Math Game.

Nothing.

The Y-shaped foliage and bark screamed Kobe's thoughts to life as the leaves somehow shined beneath lantern light.

Why, indeed.

“I am going to literally explode at this point.” Hope groaned, face-palming.

”What does this mean?” Aurora whispered to Rai.

“I can’t cut down that tree without a disk!” Said Kobe. “Then I gotta keep that pet around only for the purpose of cutting down trees!”

The hum and shing of blade and buzz droned below the larger group, and the footsteps of who was evidently the leader of the wizards echoed on both floors now.

“Wait, what was that?” Asked Kobe.

Andrew gave up and walked away, running facefirst into a remarkably large guard.

He backed away, brandishing his sword. “Woah, woah, woah! I-“

”Little kid, you don’t want to mess with Mr. Aspar Yeges. What are you doing here?”

The fairy busted out laughing. “Your name is Mister Asparagus?”

He reddened. “No, it’s Aspar. Now-“

He was laughing too hard.

A much younger guard approached the group. The big guard turned towards the smaller guard, eager to change the subject "You see, Junior, this is how you deal with intru-" the older guard was cut off, knocked out by Nathan's Dual Blade. "Junior" stifled a laugh. "Thanks for that, kids. By the way, if he wakes up, don't tell him, but we call him "Asparagus" behind his back, since he often smells like one," he snickered, walking off. In the distance, he could be heard muttering to himself, "I hate this job."

“What kind of idiot parents would name their child Asparagus?” Said Kobe. Cloud Neek was laughing.

“Your parents are legitimately the most uncreative people in this entire universe.” Hope snickered.

She was knocked to the ground by a meaty fist, the guard rolling his eyes and trudging away.

”I don’t get paid enough for this…”

“Good lord. Ever heard of keeping your hands to yourself?” She muttered, rubbing the place she got punched. She stood up after a minute.

Kobe continued on in another direction, leading to a corridor which didn’t have any trees in the hallway.

“Hopefully I don’t have to battle a lot of guards.” Said Kobe.

Battles were easy for Kobe, but after a while, they get tedious.

The others followed Kobe, but Aurora and Rai stood in a dark corner where they were attempting to keep themselves hidden.

”Should we leave so we don’t get hurt?” Aurora asked Rai in a worried tone.

Rai sighed, "No, if we leave, they'll get hurt."

Suddenly, two daggers were at their throats, while another person stepped out of the darkness.

”Who are these children?”

His voice was squeaky, high-pitched, and gravelly - not exactly intimidating.

Plus, he looked to be about four feet at most.

Aurora and Rai would’ve laughed if there weren’t two pea-green daggers at their throats.

Glace stared at the guards blankly, towering over them by at least 3 feet, "Are these guys serious?"

“I’m Peter!”

”I’m Evan!”

”I’m Alex!”

”And you are going down!” the three chorused, seemingly having rehearsed this beforehand.

They were standing on tiny boxes so they could hold the daggers to their throats, still having to stand on their toes.

"I think I'll call these guys...'The Peas'," Nathan snorted.

The three guards were instantly frozen solid, an Ice Fairy arching an eyebrow.

"Never mind. They're frozen peas now," Nathan laughed.

One of them pouted.

”Peter, we spent the whole day rehearsing this and-“

”Shut up, the child’s listening.”

”-but we didn’t even get to monologue!”

Meanwhile, a certain borg was pouting that everyone left her behind, before having to distract Juniper from her absent peers.

“Raiden what the-“

”Why don’t you go check on the other kids?”

”-where are-“

”WHERE’S THE FOOD? WHY, I’M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!”

Back at the dungeons, Kobe walked past them, and kept walking down the corridor.

The children glanced at each other before following, a bit overconfident from earlier.

The children ran around another corner, crashing into a VERY large wizard. They got back up, and looked up, staring in awe and fear.

“Wow, you’re fat!” Said Kobe, in an attempt to make the wizard upset.

"How many warts does this guys have?" Nathan asked.

"A lot," Jax whispered in response.

Cloud Neek started squeaking. “Oh, Cloud Neek said that you’re even fatter than those bears that block roads until you play flutes!” Translated Kobe.

The giant soldier picked up Ansat and Nathan, shaking them roughly before dropping them on the ground.

Nathan stared up at the ceiling, dazed.

"Okay, this guy looks like more of a challenge," Jax commented.

Glace fingered her Katana, "Can I just-"

"No."

"Rai, you're not in charge-"

"No."

"Oh come on, I'm older-"

"I said no."

Andrew interrupted by blasting the giant with yet another blast of lightning, which only tickled him.

Kobe tied some string to the giant’s feet. “I’d use my regular rope, but I left it at the tent.”

Rai stared blankly, "Would that even work-"

“It’ll work! It works in the movies!”

The giant snorted, breaking through the string with ease. "Seriously, Kobe?" Nathan sighed.

Jax's hands were enveloped in bubbles of water as he approached the giant, who backed away. Jax tilted his head inquisitively, taking a step forward, rewarded with a step back from the giant. "Huh." He fired the ball of water at the giant, who fell backwards in fear. The water collided with a wart, of which absorbed the water and promptly burst. "Okay that's disgusting," Jax commented, backing away.

Rai's nose wrinkled in disgust, but he tossed a small pebble to see if they were going to do anything or not.

Unfortunately, he misjudged how hard he could throw, the stone sailing and striking them in the forehead, eyes rolling back as they blacked out.

"Oops."

"Is-is he dead?" Jax whispered.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Great, so a blast of lightning doesn’t hurt him, but a pebble and a drop of water does?”

Nathan stared at the unconscious giant wizard with disdain. "I'm calling him Goliath the Cucumber."

"I think Pickle would be better," Rai informed him while cautiously poking the wizard with his staff, jumping back as another wart burst.

Kobe ran onwards.

Andrew followed, making a point of going just a bit faster than him.

Looks were exchanged before the rest of the children followed in suit.

Samantha.

Hope.

Nathan.

Jax.

Lane.

Aly.

Storm.

And hundreds of other faces flashed through his mind, each going through a horrific sort of torture, each dying in the end.

What was real and what was fake? What was plausible and what was just paranoia? Everything blended into a sick fever dream, despite his incapability to get fevers.

“Maybe I’m just getting a fiery passion for Sammy,” Chase muttered under his breath, yet the pun was halfhearted.

How many days had it been?

Surely his execution was soon, but when exactly?

It wasn’t death he was dreading, frankly, that was more of an afterthought.

All he could think about was his family…

And the fact that he was starving.

Meanwhile, the kids had passed several guards, none as intimidating as "Goliath the Pickle". The guards were, "Ms. Susblu Bary", "Robert" (who was a terrible guard, by the way), "Mr. Nehs Zer", "Perzy", "Steve", and a random child - presumably one of the guard's children - riding down the halls on a scooter.

Kobe kept running down the halls, until he found a boulder.

"Well isn't that just swell," Nathan growled, glaring at the boulder.

Kobe growled, and punched the rock, breaking it apart. It turns out that the boulder was paper mache, and that there was a guard standing behind it.

Andrew promptly conjured up a gust of wind, the guard fluttering about and crashing into the walls like that one piece of paper when your mom turns on the air-conditioning.

Kobe ran onwards, when he saw a whole bunch of guards. He summoned Tarragon, and it gave every guard 3rd degree burns.

The children dashed around turns, before finally reaching another corridor of cells.

At the end of the corrioder, two time travelers burst into the hallway, only to see the children.

The gray-haired one stared blankly before shouting, "AGAIN?" While the other looked... occupied.

Kobe had a knee jerk reaction, and sent out Tarragon. Once he realized that it wasn’t another guard, he recalled Tarragon back to his side.

Andrew disappeared again, footsteps and wing flaps being heard as he attempted to sneak away.

Down another corridor, a familiar fire warden's head snapped up. Storm.

"Oh hey Storm..." Nathan chuckled nervously.

"We're looking for our dad!" Jax chirped ever so helpfully.

The Fire Warden stood up, peering out his cell bars, looking down the hall, the best he could.

Kobe spun a capsule on his finger like he was a basketball player.

”While you guys save your dad, I’ll go take on the lady at the top of this place!” He said confidently.

“I’m just bored,” a voice said, muffled by what sounded like a cross between wind and white noise.

Kobe walked away, and towards a stairwell.

Instantly, a void tendril dragged him and Andrew back, Storm letting out a sigh, "We'll talk about this later, in the meantime..."

He glanced about before spotting a familiar tuft of red hair and walking up to the cell, "Aria, do you feel like picking a lock?"

The younger time traveler promptly responded by outstretching a mechanical wing, sliding a metal "feather" into the keyhole.

After some swift picking of the lock, the cell door swung open, Chase stepping out cautiously, as if he believed he was hallucinating. "Storm?"

"Dad!" The warden's eyes lit up for the first time in days as the three siblings ran towards him, promptly enveloping him in a group hug.

Cloud Neek squeaked happily, not knowing what was going on.

"Do you know any other borgs with gray hair?" Storm teased in response, "If so I might just storm off."

Andrew laughed. “Geez, you guys get mushy. My dad usually…”

His voice faded, the fairy turning bright red as he stared at his sword, running a finger across the faded inscription.

“Er, um, never mind.”

"I'm just surpr-no, shocked to see you guys! After seeing the neutral grounds, I thought you all-"

"Died? Apparently not. We'll have to be sure to do it right this time," someone said, their location evidently behind Chase.

Everyone stiffened, staring ahead in horror.

"Dad?" Jax asked, looking up.

Then he let out an ear-shattering scream.

Blade had cut through flesh, a black-haired looked in disdain at her badly aimed assault, turning on her heel, and deciding to leave him to bleed out. “You really thought the several guards you incapacitated wouldn’t come to my attention?” she taunted, briskly walking away.

Red began to soak clothing, profanity being said at a speed that shouldn't be possible as a cyborg rushed to stop the blood flow, lab coat being yanked off and torn as he messily tried to help the Fire Warden with the little medical knowledge he had.

The woman sauntered away, leaving her guards to take care of the children - she had a war to oversee.

Nathan glanced back and forth at Jax hunched next to their father and a rage-filled Hope, attacking their assaulters.

This is my fault.

I brought us here.

Dad's dying because we came here.

This is my fault.

Aria's Bladewings, meanwhile, scraped against the floor for footing. Soon enough, the young time traveler was somehow keeping balance, while barraging the general upper half of a guard with the blunt joints that connected all of the individual blades.

Kobe got really mad. “Man, I HATE people like her!” He then grabbed a capsule. “Tarragon, I CHOOSE YOU!”

He threw the capsule, and out popped Tarragon, ready to battle the guards.

A semi-transparent orange shield formed in front of Storm and Chase as Rai's vision bathed his circumference with light. His stomach churned as he dreaded another outburst, hoping no one else would have to get hurt.

Meanwhile, Glace looked all too enthusiastic to have an excuse to use her Katana.

Volts of electricity blasted from nowhere, three precisely done blasts rendering their targets - nearby guards - unconscious.

Tarragon roared, while Kobe stood behind it. “Use Flamethrower!” he ordered.

Chase sharply sucked in short, rapid breaths as the world slowly blurred around him, the one thing keeping his awake being the inexplicable pain coming from his right arm.

The lady, dubbed “Ms. Simp”, only smiled, watching Storm’s futile attempts to help the Fire Warden.

She - and, more importantly, her cause - were safe, and all she had was put the last pieces of her intricate plan into motion.

Idiots. They really didn’t see it?

Well, they were digging their own graves.

Kobe was oddly focused. To him, this was a game of chess, and he was winning.

”Okay, if the armor is made out of metal, then Tarragon’s fire blasts might superheat it.” he said.

His plans were disrupted by an iron sword digging into Tarragon’s scales, the dragon roaring to no avail.

An explosion of light, and the dragon collapsed, succumbing to the realm of unconsciousness.

It’d be quite hard to win this game of chess if his queen was gone.

Ice jutted from the ground in a circle around the group, impaling an unlucky few and forcing the rest back, an Ice Fairy being responsible.

Kobe was enraged. He put Tarragon back inside its capsule, and summoned Triptrop.

Two green tornado attacks later, and two guards were knocked against the walls, unconscious.

Andrew switched between defense and offense, using balls of wind to trap anybody getting too close to the little group and using lightning to blast anybody else.

He hovered in the air, nobody even noticing him, let alone striking him - invisibility was quite the asset.

Triptrop kept blasting people with Forest’s Hurricanes.

The guards were highly annoyed - where was the lightning coming from?

TripTrop was being attacked by Astral spells, but he was holding his own… at least for the time being.

Ice was being hacked apart by weapons and more Astral spells, the guards determined to get to the kids.

Kobe decided to summon Aquaster. Two pets are better than one, after all.

Aquaster used Downpourtral, and a bunch of water came pouring down on the guards.

Unfortunately, this had the added effect of making the ground wet, which probably has some unintended consequences.

Andrew held back a waterfall of colorful adjectives to describe Kobe, instead muttering, “Great. Just really fantastic. Truly splendid. How am I supposed to use lightning now?”

TripTrop hopped up to a guard, and just punched them. Did its fist hurt? Yes.

Was it worth it? Yes.

The guards slipped and slid a bit before rushing in on the children, before being blasted back by a barrage of Earth and Geo Magic. An angry-looking Rai flew just a foot off the ground, vision shining intensely as it warned of an upcoming burst.

The guards were blasted back again, skin turning purple and black from bruises and various cuts from being pelted in stone. Elegant patterning in the shape of the flower and star glowed in orange below the soldiers before sky and ground tore open, stone impaling and destroying as twisted Earth Magic brought down the wrath of the land itself.

It was only a matter of time until the fairy realized - he had done it again.

Aria allowed herself only small amounts of shock before she took off down the tunnels in pursuit of the new leader of the wizards. Her wings were but millimeters from scraping into the wall, but she was able to maintain that clearance.

Kobe spotted Aria, recalled his pets, and ran after her, also intending to dish out some pain to Lady Simp.

The two adolescents could hear the footsteps of their enemy, but the halls were getting progressively darker as they sped onwards. The low hum and repeated shk of buzzsaws and spear traps increased in crescendo, their sources invisible in the gloom.

“I wish I brought my Flashlight.” muttered Kobe.

Meanwhile, a certain borg had moved onto a set of incredibly profane vocabulary, grimacing at the sight of Chase's hand but managing to stop the blood flow at the very least.

Red stained both of the punsters' clothing, the Storm Trainee getting up and pushing his brace to the max as he struggled to hoist up the Fire Warden, noticing what was amiss, sending out a message on his visor.

_Chat Log_

SD (6:45 pm)> Aria, where's Kobe? And where the hell are you?

JW (6:46 pm)> Storm, where are you, where are the kids?

SD (6:47 pm)> They're with me... except Kobe. Please tell me you're able to handle one more patient - no, none of the kids are hurt.

JW (6:48 pm)> STORM, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, THEY COULD’VE BEEN HURT, THEY COULD’VE BEEN KILLED, WHY DIDN’T YOU TAKE THE KIDS STRAIGHT TO ME?! YOU LITTLE-

JW (6:49 pm)> Wait… what do you mean, “one more patient”? Please tell me it’s not major… and please tell me you can get out?

SD (6:50 pm)> THEY SNUCK OFF, I DIDN'T FIND OUT UNTIL A FEW MINUTES AGO.

SD (6:50 pm)> And to answer your question, Aria and I broke out Chase - the "Cheif Ras'eest" as Aria puts it did a number to him. I'm taking him and the kids to Skywatch as soon as Aria responds - don't worry, we can get out.

JW (6:51 pm)> What’s the injury? How bad is it? Where is it? I’m so lecturing you for hours when you get home.

SD (6:52 pm)> What if I just tell you it makes me glad I'm left-handed....

JW (6:54 pm)> STORM, WTF, I’M ACTUALLY GOING TO MURDER YOU, YOU CAN BET YOU’LL BE LISTENING TO ME RANT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

JW (6:54 pm)> Just get home.

AS/AJ (6:55 pm)> we're gonna go kick some ass

AS/AJ (6:55 pm)> if we're not home by 7:30, then we died to that racist [ENTITYCENSOR]

AS/AJ (6:56 pm)> the second one, not the first

AS/AJ (6:56 pm)> but that's okay, because we won't

SD (6:56 pm)> You are not under any circumstances dying, and if you do, I will use up all three of my fail-safes just to go to hell and kill you again - that is, if Raid doesn't do it first.

SD (6:56 pm)> I'll see you in Skywatch.

_Chat Log (Private)_

SD (6:67 pm)> Samatha, do you mind heading to Skywatch? It's about Chase.

SW WW (6:67 pm)> WHAT HAPPENED? IS HE ALRIGHT? IF ANYONE HURT HIM-

SD (6:68 pm)> Just meet me in Skywatch.

-Storm (Dream)chaser has left the chat-

The cyborg, now carrying the blooded form of Chase, bit his lip and stared at the kids before muttering, "Follow me."

The minute they exited the building a rift opened, the kids tumbling out into Skywatch where Opal, Samantha, Juniper, Raiden, and a cluster of pets lay in wait.

Storm stepped out more carefully as to not to trip over, Scarlet worriedly walking up to him and sniffing Chase.

Meanwhile, Aria deftly maneuvered and dodged around blade after blade as she zoomed through the hall, her mask guiding her every movement and most of her limbs nudging the less-technical Kobe to the right paths.

“I’m so glad we all are ok!” Aurora practically sung.

”Well, we weren’t gonna die.” Hope answered. “We’re stronger than that.”

The second everybody blinked in, Juniper and Opal started talking in the exact same tone of voice, lectures overlapping.

”You could’ve gotten yourselves killed!”

”What were you thinking?”

”You idiot!”

”You’re so stupid!”

”What happened?”

”You should’ve told me-“

They both quieted at seeing Chase, Juniper shooting a look at Storm. “Don’t think you’ve saved yourself from the lecture.”

The borg sighed, "I've been lectured a million times before, another won't kill me. Just help him, please."

Opal was kneeling next to Chase, tutting and shaking her head.

”Really, this is the messiest bandage I’ve ever seen.”

She got to work, muttering some rather flattering words under her breath.

”Why didn’t you get him around earlier so he didn’t lose this much blood?”

"Well for one, we were attacked by guards, for two, Kobe wandered off, and for three, I can't open a rift to or from that place, I have to be outside it."

Juniper said some rather colorful words about Kobe before going back to helping Chase, worry shining in her gaze.

Opal muttered something to her, making her wince, but all she said was, “Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Guess we’re gonna have three cyborgs now,” the younger girl murmured under her breath, being elbowed by Juniper.

"Wait, I never said I was going to-" he stopped at seeing the looks they were giving him, "...there is no way you're going to convince me to assimilate him."

The woman sighed. “His hand is bleeding out severely, as is his arm. The most damage will probably be inflicted around the wrist up to the hand, meaning really bad blood poisoning and no way to stanch the blood flow enough. I don’t have any ways to fix it, unless I amputate it.”

Scarlet trotted out of a tent that was still vacant, flapping her feathered wings to see what everyone was crowded around.

The dragon let out a roar of anger, as she stared at the bloodied mess that was Chase's arm, diving towards Storm and Juniper, talons outstretched.

The woman quickly dragged the Fire Warden out of the way, wincing as claws hit her ankle.

The pain she could handle, however.

The hopelessness she could not.

Chase’s operation would definitely be interesting.

Scarlet looped back, scratching at Juniper once more.

She pulled away, calming herself before kneeling next to the dragon.

”It’s okay. I won’t hurt him.”

Scarlet still wouldn’t listen to reason, however, Juniper barely dodging the blast of fire in time.

After dive bombing Juniper into submission, the growling dragon turned on Storm, standing in front of Chase protectively.

“Scarlet, calm down. Don’t attack these people. They’re your friends. They didn’t hurt Chase.” Hope told Scarlet as she slowly approached the dragon. It looked at Hope with a unidentifiable expression in response.

Scarlet's growling subsided as Hope approached her. She glanced back at Chase before giving into the trainee's pleas, walking towards the girl, placing herself by Hope's side, glaring at Juniper and Storm with looks of mistrust.

Juniper sighed.

”Thanks. Now let me heal Chase, or at the very least inspect him. Just brace for… disturbing images.”

Storm, meanwhile, sighed, gaze unreadable, "Fine. I'll do it, but only if his family agrees to it for him."

She shrugged. “Good enough. Samantha? Hope? Nathan? Jax?”

She waited for them all to be paying attention before she took a deep breath.

”I don’t know how to tell you this but I need to… to… kind of… cut off Chase’s hand…?”

Her last words were rather rushed, like she was forcing them out.

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Nathan exclaimed, voice rising roughly an octave.

Hope stared at her in shock. “You can do it, but I’m not gonna like it.” She said after a weird minute of silence from her.

Juniper rushed to explain. “He’s losing too much blood, we’re wasting time doing this, and there’s no other way - except bleeding out or letting him get blood poisoning, which would result in death.”

"You are failing to mention the other detail, which, may I note, you know nothing about," Storm said with a glare, rubbing the exposed metal on his right wrist self-consciously.

“Fine then, help me, but first I have to do the amputation.”

Her face was grim, Juniper telling Opal gravely, “You know, you don’t have to help.“

”I can.”

Robin crossed his arms. “Well, I can’t see what’s going on, so I’ll help you if you need.”

“Alright. Go on. I think I’ll turn around so I don’t have to look at this.” Hope responded. She then immediately turned, pulling Scarlet with her.

Aurora and Samantha turned as well. Aurora was shaking, as she really did not like seeing all this blood and this whole situation in general, and Samantha was crying hard.

Jax turned, quietly sitting with Aurora and Samantha, dried tears visible on his cheeks.

Juniper winced, muttering to the unconscious Chase, “I’m so sorry,” before holding digging into the bag she’d started bringing around and pulling out what she needed before leaning down and carefully cleaning out all the mutilated flesh and blood.

Warm blood was now coating Juniper’s hands, bits of pinkish and raw flesh peppered amongst it.

Anybody else would’ve wanted to throw up or run away, but she’d done this a hundred times.

White bone was visible, clearly cracked and bent. Chase’s hand was nothing more than an empty stump, pus and blood oozing out like a waterfall.

White foam was cascading over the ground now, mixing with the red of blood and the chunks of shredded flesh and torn skin to make a pool of pink with chunks swimming about in it, the world’s worst stew.

His exposed bone was covered in the pinkish mixture, strips of flesh clinging to it. Despite being splintered, the bone was hard and sturdy, yet Chase groaned in agony weakly when Juniper tried to adjust it.

Biological material, from tissue to tendon, continued to struggle and yet managed to flop like a dead fish on a string against the pressure on unnaturally warm calcium construct. Chase's flesh still was able to sustain the feeling of his pulsing rapid heartbeat, which, if you could only see his bloody stump, would be the only indicator of his life. The soupy mixture of various wounded bodily fluids only partially stopped whenever Juniper so happened to move her hands over one of the various open blood vessels or nerves- whatever anatomical equivalent to the brachial artery existed in the world of Prodigia was messily being closed. The oddly squishy sound of muscle, skin, and other flesh against Juniper's treatment was sickening if one was close enough to hear it. The stew of discarded meats and blood continued to pool, the messy outcome of the work resembling something like an incredibly bad butcher trying to slaughter an entire chicken coop with a blunt cleaver, the salmon-crimson coloration drying into a crusty maroon-brown rather fast. Never did success sound so bone-wrenchingly gross, and not many times was it in the color of red and greenish-yellow.

Storm glanced at the gathered group and exhaled deeply, "Alright, I really don't want to be insensitive but you're all going to have to go. Like, now."

He ignored the look Juniper and Opal were giving him, the borg rubbing his wrist out of nervousness rather than self-consciousness.

“No,” Juniper said calmly. “This is my patient. And I’ll need Opal to assist and Robin needs her for moral support.”

Meanwhile, Nathan was throwing up, a consequence of his choice to look at the operation. The rest of his family refused to look at Chase's operation, but didn't seem enthusiastic about leaving him.

"Fine, correction, everyone except Opal, Juniper, and Robin," his voice dropped to a whisper just loud enough for her to hear, "Listen, you made me agree to this, and I'm pretty sure none of them are going to be too happy after they find out what assimilation is."

“I don’t care, they can leave when they wish, but I’m staying,” Juniper said, still busy setting the bone.

Everyone stood up, Samantha being the only one braving a look at the mess behind her, more tears springing to her eyes as she whipped her head forward, briskly walking away. Everyone else followed, some being more reluctant than others. Scarlet fought against Hope's grasp, trying to reach Chase, but to no avail.

Aurora walked with Samantha, desperately trying to comfort her so she’d stop crying, even though she knew it was no use.

Storm watched them go before sighing, "Fine, I wouldn't have been able to cut myself anyway."

Opal winced, but managed to say, “What… what do you need?”

”Help me cut and shape his muscles.”

”Uh… o-okay…”

She promptly rushed away to gag and retch before coming back.

“Okay, Storm, what are you going to do? We’ve set his muscles and bones for the most part, the excess tissue and flesh has been pushed away, and most of the blood and pus has been drawn out. Hurry up.”

He looked off to the side, trying to figure out how to word what needed to be done, "It's not that simple. If I just jam in the component, it won't connect to his nervous system, and not to mention it'll most likely lead to an infection, if I'm recalling correctly." He sighed deeply, really not wanting to get to the next part, "A borg is injected with something called nanoprobes to eliminate the effects of the invasive component, however... what's the word for it? When you move blood from one person to another?"

"Blood transfusion."

"Yeah, he's going to need that, since the only ones available are frankly, in me."

Juniper shot him a glare, which was twice as terrifying, what with the gore covering her body, her bloodshot eyes, and the level of fury she had.

”STORM. DREAM. CHASER. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, WHY COULDN’T ANY OTHER BLOOD HAVE BEEN IMPLANTED, I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO SO MUCH PRICK YOURSELF, AND IF YOU EVEN TRY, IT’S NO PUNS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK-“

”Okay, Aunt Juniper, you’ve made your point,” Opal sighed.

The cyborg took a step back, tugging his shirt collar uncomfortably, "Um... I was kinda hoping you would do the pricking part but it seems like you won't-"

“You are not doing any blood transfusions and that’s final, what other options are there?”

"The only other option is for Raiden to do it for me, but in her case... I don't think it'll work," then he muttered under his breath, "and traveling to another dimension would take too long."

“Fiiiiiiiine,” Juniper groaned. “But don’t you dare overdo it or I’ll rip your head off and-“

”Aunt Juniper, maybe don’t finish that sentence…” Opal said, hiding a smirk.

"I won't, because you'll be doing it," he responded while plucking a syringe from her bag and holding out to her.

She shrugged, muttering, “You’re lucky I don’t wrap you in bubble wrap and stuff you in a safe,” under her breath before piercing his finger and letting the syringe slowly fill with red.

The minute she was done he yanked his hand away, managing to say one thing as Juniper injected Chase with the red liquid, "If I'm not back with the base implant in an hour, yell."

He dashed off, ducking into the doorway of the Skywatch factory, up the stairs, then shoving open the door to his flat, startling a Zipzap awake.

The borg darted into a small forgotten cottage and yanked open a drawer, rummaging through his messily sorted materials until he located basic metals and a few weld screws, just as Wattage flew in.

He swiped his hand across a glass-topped desk, a hologram of the rushed schematics he managed to pull together on his visor.

As he grabbed a fire relic and started heating the metal, one thing was clear - this was going to be a long night.

The second he left, Opal turned, amusement flickering in her gaze.

”You like him.”

Juniper reddened. “Don’t be ridiculous, Opal.”

”You’ve been even more overprotective of him, calling him an idiot more than necessary, freaking out over him-“

”Opal, shut up or you’ll be the one needing a prosthetic hand.”

The girl smirked. “Just saying.”

Back in the cottage, Wattage was watching as Storm went through the metaphorically painful process of threading mithril into wire, keeping his eye on the time reading out on the top left of his visor.

It was merely minutes until an hour was up when he finished the base for the component, having to open a rift to get back due to how long it took.

As soon as the cyan rift opened, Storm fell out face first, as if it was space-time's vengeance for him not falling on his face earlier.

“Uh… you finished?” Juniper muttered, edging away from Opal, who was shooting her a look so sly, she could’ve been the next Swiper.

He got up, awkwardly holding out an implant, "Sort of, I finished the base, but I'll have to make the rest of the component later. In the meantime, you're sorta going to need to jam this in before the wound starts to heal over."

She rushed to do it, face turning bright red when she shared a glance with Opal.

He noticed, but his expression only read confusion in response, he moved to step back into the rift, "I'll be back in the morning... you might want to move Chase into a tent." He ducked inside, the cyan tear in reality snapping shut.

The woman immediately rushed the Fire Warden into a healing tent, him having begun to stir.

”What…”

”Shhh…” she whispered. “Go back to sleep…”

”What-“

Juniper glanced at the tiny syringe next to her, examining it for a second before jabbing it into Chase’s arm.

He immediately fell limp, her tucking the syringe into her pocket after a moment of hesitation.

She got to work, carefully pushing the base in with perfect precision.

Meanwhile a borg was assembling a device with similar accuracy, messing with the holographic render ever so often before moving on to the next step. Wattage fluttered about, snatching the materials he needed and putting it on the desk he worked at.

Night changed to day, the cyborg having fallen asleep at his desk at some point, the finished prosthetic next to a tired Wattage.

A voice disrupted his sleep.

”STORM! WHERE IS THE PROSTHETIC?” A very tired Juniper called, yawns peppering her words.

Chase began to stir once more, trying to sit up.

She promptly jabbed him with the sedative again, examining the chunk of metal now attacked to his wrist.

Meanwhile, a certain Storm Trainee was startled awake, peeking out the window and seeing Juniper pacing impatiently in front of the medical tent. He glanced at the time, immediately cursing as he snatched the finished device from his desk and ran out the door, Wattage tiredly watching him go.

Scarlet streaked across the Skywatch grounds, having escaped Hope's grasp, headed straight for the tent Chase was in. She swerved around Juniper, entering the tent, standing in front of Chase, and growling at the exit.

Hope chased after Scarlet with slight hesitation, as she didn’t want to see her father’s current state. “Sorry.” She quickly said to Juniper as she entered the tent, and saw Scarlet. She tried to ignored her father’s gory body. Then, she tried to grab Scarlet, but she wouldn’t move.

Scarlet twisted out of Hope's grasp, edging closer to the Fire Warden behind her.

Juniper groaned, stifling a yawn as she grabbed the dragon and threw it out the tent flap, ignoring its shrill roars.

As the dragon shenanigans occured, a certain cyborg arrived at the entrance of the tent, stifling a yawn.

The woman scrambled to grab the prosthetic hand he was holding. “Thank God, he’s bleeding out and probably infected.”

"The first thing? Yes. The second thing? No." The borg adjusted the strap on his brace right-handedly, annoyed over falling asleep with it on.

The hand was fitted on Chase’s wrist now, Juniper adjusting it a bit more and checking his finger movements.

The Fire Warden started to stir again, but Juniper didn’t jab him again - just made sure he didn’t move too much.

Storm had stepped in the tent, his shirt stained from the events the night before and for once, coatless. He had his left hand in his pocket as he held a glove in the opposing, turning it over in his hand anxiously.

Meanwhile, completely and utterly alone, a boy sat under a barren tree.

No leaves, no flowers, no fruit, nothing. It was empty. Pointless. Forgotten.

Like him.

Hei hadn’t moved since the death of the only things that brought joy into his life - Faith and Connor - died.

Juniper or Opal brought him food.

He hadn’t touched it.

Aurora tried to talk.

He blasted her away.

Andrew tried to cheer him up.

The tiny purple burn mark was still on his elbow.

All he could think about were his parents.

Would Mira care? Would Winston care? Would anybody care?”

Hei never got his answer.

All he did now was practice magic.

His Astral spells were notably less powerful, but his Shadow ones had grown significantly.

Nobody was there to be proud of him.

Back in the tent, Chase opened his eyes, blinking away the haze brought by lengthy sleep. "What...what happened?" he mumbled.

Storm shot him a weak smile, but immediately looked bothered, "The Chief Rass'est, otherwise, Ms. Ariana Simp, tried to kill you. Good news, she had horribly aim, as for the bad news..."

“Um… don’t look at your hand,” Juniper murmured, nearly falling over. “But try to move it.”

Meanwhile, Hope was back with the others. She had Scarlet in her arms tightly gripped, and Samantha was pestering her by asking a bunch of questions about Chase through sobs. “Is he alright? Did he look he was gonna live? Did he talk to you? Was he awake? If he talked to you, did he say anything about me? Did it look they were taking good care of him? Was his body covered in bl-oh no, that’s awful! Did you see his hand? Is his hand ok?” She asked Hope in about a minute. Aurora stared at Samantha, frowning.

Chase reached for his right arm, recalling the erupting pain from the day before. Instead of warm human flesh, he felt cold metal. "What the-" He lifted his right arm, the glint of metal greeting his eyes.

"Well that's interesting."

“Can you move it? It’ll take a bit of time before it starts feeling natural, but…”

Chase raised the arm, opening and clenching the metallic fist.

Storm exhaled deeply, relief shining in his gaze, quickly replaced by anxiety, "Uh, great, now that we know it works-" He shoved a glove in Chase's hand, notably the left one, before saying, "Do you mind putting that on over it?"

A loud snore interrupted their talk, everybody swiveling around to see where it was coming from.

Behind them, an exhausted Opal was slumped over a chair, knocked out. She still clutched a bloody bandage in one hand and a half-empty bottle of water in the other.

”Poor thing, I doubt she got any sleep - and all the gore wasn’t helping,” Juniper sighed. “She was very helpful, though… so was Robin.”

The boy was nowhere to be seen, but there were notable sounds of water running and retching not too far from the the tent.

"Why? I think it's cool."

"Because-waitwhat-"

Suddenly, Scarlet burst through the tent flap, growling. "Oh hey, Scarlet!" The dragon looked delighted to hear Chase's voice, promptly trotting over and placing herself on Chase's lap, glaring at Storm. The dragon then turned inquisitively towards Chase's metal hand, sniffing it. Chase and Storm shared a questioning look before turning their glances back to Scarlet, who had started growling. "Uh, Scarlet-" The Fire Warden never got to finish his statement, for the dragon had started biting it angrily, chaos happily responding.

A few seconds later, Scarlet was being hugged by Hope outside the tent and under surveillance by Juniper.

"So..."

"Yes, I'll take the glove now."

A slightly green yet still grinning Robin rushed in. “That was gross!”

"That's one way to put it..." Storm had directed his gaze towards the ground, where a tired looking Zipzap sat, having padded in at some point.

Juniper looked up, glancing at Storm and jabbing a finger towards the outside of the tent.

The cyborg followed, noting that she walked for a good dozen feet before talking.

”Do you know where my sister is?”

”Uh… I shouldn’t really tell you…”

She did the big-pleading-eyes thing and he sighed.

”Tent up on a hill, secluded, fenced off.”

”I want to see her.”

”You really shouldn’t-“

Juniper placed her hands on her hips. “Is she restrained?”

”Well, yes-“

“Is she capable of hurting me?”

“No, but-“

”Is there anything about my seeing her that could be dangerous?”

”I mean…”

She raised her eyebrows.

Storm’s voice faded. “Alright, fine, you win. Just… she’s a little unhinged.”

”No, I had a little more something in mind.”

The woman held up the half-empty syringe of sedative in her pocket. “I want to fix her. Run some sort of operation on her, just to see if that Void is hurting her.”

”Are you-“

”Yes, Storm, I’m sure.”

He shrugged. “Well… don’t blame me later.”

Later, a very hesitant Juniper was standing just outside a tent that was entirely blocked off, a tiny sign sticking out of the ground in front of it.

LEAVE OR DIE

That simple warning - leave or you’ll die - was enough.

The woman swallowed her fear, turning to the cyborg next to her.

“If she tries to hurt me…”

“I can handle her, don’t worry,” Storm said, “I’m shocked that you think I can’t.”

The pun didn’t get a laugh out of her, not even a smile.

She exhaled deeply. “Well, here goes nothing.”

“What do you want from me?” the hybrid snapped the second Juniper stepped in. She sat in the back of the tent, utterly alone, wrists raw, bloody, and burnt from iron handcuffs yet again keeping her restrained. Her feet were bound as well, making sure she couldn’t escape - and making sure she couldn’t attack anybody.

“I guess… I just wanted to tell you I’m here-“

Jade snarled. “Nobody is here! Nobody cares besides him, and he’s gone! You killed him! You all wanted him to die!”

Juniper backed away, shooting a nervous glance at Storm. “Jade… that’s not true.”

“You’re lying, like everybody else does. Like he did!” the hybrid screamed, eyes wild, inhuman, crazed even.

“Jade, please-“

“Leave me alone, you bi-“

“Language.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

“I just want to help you.”

“Help how? By torturing me? By twisting me? By using me? Nobody ever helps, and you’re no different.”

Juniper reached for the tiny syringe in her pocket, wishing she didn’t have to use it.

“I just want to bring you back. The real you.”

“The real me? This is the real me, sis, you just can’t handle the fact that I’ve changed.”

“No, you haven’t just changed, you’ve become an entirely different person. A-“

She had to stop herself from saying monster.

Jade did it for her.

“A what, Juniper, a what? A monster? A psychopath? A Voidwalker? I’m all of those things, and proud of it. Now leave me alone.”

The woman bit her lip. “No. I’m not leaving you.”

“Fine, then stay here, try to bring back the ‘real me’. There is no ‘real me’, Juniper, this is me. And if you can’t deal with the truth, then try what you can, but I’m staying this way permanently.”

The words made her flinch, daggers cutting through the last threads of hope.

“You can’t be,” Juniper murmured, but her words were halfhearted.

“I am. Now leave before I make you,” Jade snarled.

She shot a nervous glance at Storm. “Please-“

“LEAVE!”

The cyborg glanced sadly at his friend. “Use it.”

She shook her head, blinking back tears. “I-I can’t.”

“You have to. There’s no other way, she’s going crazy-“

“Jade, please-“

“What are you going to do, kill me? Kill me like you did him?”

Storm sighed. “We didn’t-“

“Don’t you dare lie! You killed him, you tortured me, and now you try to say you didn’t?”

A maniacal laugh escaped her lips, making Storm flinch. “Jade-“

Juniper struck.

Knocking her sister over, she grabbed the syringe from her pocket, holding back the roaring regret inside her.

Jade’s eyes widened, then narrowed with anger, her struggling for just a second.

Then Juniper jabbed the sedative into the hybrid’s arm, hating herself for doing it.

Jade’s eyes held only insanity, anger, hatred, betrayal, a touch of regret and humanity.

Insanity won, just before she fell limp.

Meanwhile, Hei was leaning up against a tree, cracks of shadow magic spiraling through it.

"The tree didn't deserve that," Nathan called, approaching the Shadow Trainee.

“Go away,” he snapped, readying another blast of Shadow magic.

"You don't have to be like your parents, you know."

“I said go away!”

Hei formed a spear out of darkness, striking Nathan with the darkness and not even blinking an eye when he fell over, head inches from a rock that surely would’ve given him a concussion.

"Ah, screw it. My turn," Nathan growled, getting to his feet. The ground beneath Hei erupted in flames, albeit, it had no effect, for the boy was no longer standing there.

The wizard stepped out from the shadows and snapped his fingers, shadow-imbued crystals the size of bowling balls knocking him away.

“Leave.”

Nathan stood up once more. "I suppose you don't want to talk about your problems?" He pulled out his Dual Blade, charging at the trainee, dodging incoming shadow magic and slashing at Hei while unleashing his own flames on the wizard.

All he did was vanish into shadows again, crystallizing the boy and knocking him away with yet another ray of darkness.

”Gee, what gave it away?”

"Well, for one, the fact that you're treating everyone and everything around you worse than your parents did to you," Nathan shot back.

“How observant of you.”

Crystals zigzagged through the clearing, imploding every time they got close to Nathan and unleashing a relentless wave of darkness that consumed the boy.

“Now go away,” Hei demanded, staff raised to hit him again.

"Uh, not sure if you noticed, but you kinda trapped me in this."

Hei rolled his eyes and let him go, using the crystals to knock him to the ground before he walked away.

Nathan laid on the ground, breathing heavily. "I'm gonna just lay here for a bit."

Hei didn’t respond, having run away.

The wizard found himself huddled up in a hollow tree trunk, tearing off pieces of bark and throwing them away.

His parents loved him.

They’d be back for him.

They’d be proud of him.

They’d care for him.

Right?

Meanwhile, Kobe and Aria had gotten to the end of the booby traps, and Kobe had some cuts and scrapes all over his body.

Meanwhile, Juniper turned away, reminding herself over and over that Jade wasn’t dead - only sleeping.

But if she couldn’t be cured, then maybe…

Tears threatened to spill over, but all she said was, “Hopefully the problem is something physical. Too much Void in her system, or something.”

She faltered when she noticed the look Storm was giving her.

”What?”

”Nothing, it’s just… I’m a Voidwalker. And you’re acting like having Void in you is, well-“

”It’s not a bad thing, at least not for you - Jade just has too much in her system, I think,” Juniper rushed to explain, embarrassed. “It just has to be something physical. Something I can fix. It can’t be…”

”Permanent?”

“Don’t.”

Storm sighed, looking off to the side, "The worst injury is the one you can't see, no matter what you do - only feel." He took off his visor, needing something to fiddle with, "I don't quite know how to explain that to you, but I have a feeling you already know."

“But I have to fix her!” Juniper cried, burying her face in her hands.

”Please, Storm. Just help me. Make her a cyborg, use up all my blood, I don’t care, but she has to be okay, she can’t be… this… this monster.”

He took a step back, hands raised in defense, "Okay, this is why I didn't want you around when you had me assimilate Chase. That's not how it works." He breathed deeply, trying to make the next few words as gentle as he could get them, "Juniper, I get you want to help Jade, but I don't think this is the way to do it."

“But how?”

She was hysteric now, panicking.

“What if she doesn’t heal? What if she just stays this mindless, evil, monster? Do we just kill her? Lock her up forever? Keep her under sedation for the rest of her life? What, Storm, what?”

"She isn't staying like this forever, we are not killing her, she's not getting locked up forever, and you are not sedating her forever." He sighed, "Juniper, do you remember what I told you the other day?"

“What?” she muttered, staring intensely at the ground.

"She's still in there somewhere, you just need to find her, find her past the mask she wears. Talk to her, remind her of the things she loved, and simply be there for her. The easiest way to help a person to feel better is to simply be their friend, to simply be there for them." He responded, repeating it word for word, "That's what you need to do."

“But how do I do that? How do I do that when she acts like she wants to kill me when I step within ten feet of her?”

The borg stood there silently, before placing a hand on her shoulder, "That's for you to figure out, but... I don't think restraining her is helping you approach her."

“Fine, but I want to heal her. At least, I want to try.”

Without waiting for a response, she knelt next to her sister, carefully treating the burns on her wrists, wincing at the black scars.

”That’s… kind of scary,” Juniper muttered. “Like, I can’t touch it.”

Storm shifted uncomfortably at that, gaze darting to the floor.

“Sorry, Storm, really, it’s just…”

Then she screamed.

”Why is it moving?”

Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she backed away. “I… how do I fix this?”

He sighed, expression unintelligible, "You don't. Void is parasitic, at least, that's what RW tells me..."

Juniper was on the verge of tears now.

”But then… it’s permanent? What do I do now? I can’t…”

Her voice faded.

”Oh, hey, Opal. Robin.”

The two siblings stared daggers at her, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. They’d never looked so similar.

”So… care to explain?” the girl snarled.

”Your mother is-“

”Don’t. Don’t. She’s not fine. I know that. You don’t have to lie to me.”

”I-“

”What happened?”

”How do we fix her?”

”Is it permanent?”

”Will she go back to normal?”

”How do I tell Dad?”

Robin turned to Storm. “Do you know anything?”

The Storm Trainee glanced off to the side, unsure what to say, "I... uh..."

Both children avoided glancing at their mother, instead wheeling on Storm.

”Can you help?”

”Did you do anything?”

”Do you know how to help?”

”WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US?” They screamed, both getting more and more aggravated.

Juniper dodged the question. “How did you even find us anyway?”

In response, Opal nodded at the tiny mandrake sitting in the palm of her hand. “And I’m so telling everybody else.”

"Don't," Storm immediately snapped, "Juniper wants to help your mother but..." He sighed, "Nothing is as easy as it seems."

The two glared at him, but both sat down with a hmph.

Clearly, they were still angry.

Storm sighed, glancing at the sleeping form of Jade, who twitched, "...Juniper-"

“I want to fix her, at the very least I want to try,” she said stubbornly, crossing over and bandaging the dozens of scars… which had no effect, but nobody had the heart to tell her.

The hybrid stirred, opening her eyes and…

Blasting a Void tentacle at Juniper.

Storm barely manage to redirect it in time, saying some wonderfully profane words under his breath before he turned to Jade, unable to find the words to console her. After all, how do you console somebody who’s barely a person anymore?

Instead, he went with the one thing he wanted her to do, "Jade, stop."

“What did you do?” she demanded. “To me? To him?”

”Hunter-“

”DON’T!” Jade screeched, startling everybody so badly they all stepped back or, in Robin’s case, fell over.

”Don’t. You. Dare. Don’t you dare!”

Juniper tried again. “We didn’t kill…”

”Oh, so now you’re lying? You killed him and if you so much try to deny it I will kill you here and now, starting with the children.”

Opal burst into tears, while Robin stood shock still, unable to find words.

"Mom-"

All Jade did was send another Void tentacle at him, which Storm blocked.

The cyborg breathed deeply, staring at the insane hybrid, "Jade, you need to calm down. None of us killed Hunter, that was Arianna. And you are not hurting your own children."

“Liar,” she hissed, sending another blast of Void at him.

The void was instantly redirected.

"Jade, stop it. Please."

She got up, fists clenched.

”What are you going to do, make me? The only person here who has the nerve is Gale, and frankly I’d just love to see him again.”

Opal was sobbing into Juniper’s arms, while Robin looked like he was about to faint.

"How about this," he exhaled deeply, internally cursing himself hundreds of times over, "I let you go, and you can see Gale, but you leave everyone else alone."

Surely the fairy could handle her... right?

She smiled. “Last bit. Don’t come looking for me. Don’t try to ‘help’ me. And don’t hold back if you see me on the enemy side.”

"Fine, but if anyone else tries to help you, you can't get mad at me."

“Oh, no, I’ll just be rid of them.”

She strode away, ignoring the sobs of her daughter, the weak gasps of her son.

Just as Jade was about to cross the border, a voice spoke up behind her.

"Going somewhere?"

"Hilda?"

"Who else would it be?" she asked, blinking furiously.

"What do you want?"

"I… I don’t really know."

"Then leave, I'm busy."

Not far, a perfectly camouflaged ivory had perched atop of a tree branch, arms and legs positioned similar to a cat, tail lashing for balance. Mild amusement flickered in his amber gaze as he watched the two, clearly planning to watch chaos unroll.

"But... Jade, I love you, and I don't want to have to see you like this... I miss him too."

Amusement turned to jealousy, grip tightening to the point wood splintered and dug into skin.

“You’re the one who called me a mistake. Leave me alone, I don’t want you. You didn’t want me either, so consider this a fair trade.”

"My only mistake was calling you a mistake," Hilda responded, her purple gaze... sincere.

Now the ivory's tail was lashing more and more out of anger than for balance, each swish in the air carrying increasing hatred.

“You don’t want to see me like this? Then don’t see me at all.”

"That wouldn't change anything but hurt you more."

Jade backed away, green streak in her hair beginning to fade and thin.

"You don’t want to love me. Love somebody who wants to be loved. Besides… even if you did care, which you don’t, you’d only hurt me and you."

The purple-robed wizard took a step forward, "But I do care, I do love you, and I want to."

It took the hidden Ivory every fiber of his being not to call her out.

“Then you’re an idiot.”

Jade turned around, green mist swirling around her as she Fey Stepped away.

All green faded from her hair.

A decent while away, a ginger-haired fairy awoke, a rush of power running through him. His green streak was thicker and more saturated now… which could only mean one thing.

"Oh, no…"

A British accented voice hissed from the dark, being heard by the wizard, "Hypocrite."

The creak of a branch marked Hilda being left alone, a hatred akin to the fairy's coursing through her.

That monster was the reason she lost Jade.

Yet she could do nothing to him.

Meanwhile, Juniper, Storm, Robin, and Opal had returned to the others just in time to see a panicked Rai rambling as the others tried to calm him.

Opal was hysterically sobbing, barely able to breathe through the tears.

Robin had started to panic, screaming into his hands and choking on his own breaths.

Juniper was crying silently, all while a rather stunned Storm watched.

Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get worse, a black-haired, blue-eyed wizard walked in, shocked.

"Where’s… Jade…"

Rai managed a few words. “Gone. My fault…”

Korathius stared at the boy in shock. "Opal, Robin, Juniper, is this…"

He didn’t need an answer - the sobs sufficed.

The wizard stared at them, unable to find any words…

And then collapsed.

Rai had curled up in a ball, hugging himself and sobbing as Glace stood awkwardly next to him.

Aurora attempted to comfort him, only for it to be futile, leading to the Astral Fairy pushing her away with a fluffy ginger tail.

Juniper rushed to help Korathius into a cot, the wizard exhausted from fighting a war and coming back only to realize his wife was gone.

“Opal, Robin, calm down. Please. You’re barely breathing.”

It was true - they were both hyperventilating so badly their only breaths were gasps and then more sobs.

Storm was looking at the ground as he collected his thoughts together, sending out a message on his visor, instantly followed by his notifs blowing up. He took off his visor and shoved it in his pocket with a sigh, a single thought dominating it all.

I let Jade out.

This is all my fault.

Juniper kept working, despite the tears, the exhaustion, the guilt.

She sat down next to her niece, letting her collapse into her arms and keep crying, half screaming, half sobbing.

Robin was being similarly comforted by Andrew, the young fairy shooting a nervous glance at his father.

Kaminari was huddled in the corner, eyes wide, body rigid, one hand squeezing his glaive hilt as hard as possible.

He wanted to do something, but what?

Meanwhile, Hei had begun to walk back to the tent, gasping at the sound of crying and screaming.

When he rushed in, nobody noticed him, the purple mark on his cheek, or the fact that his hair was mostly purple now.

That was for the better.

It was long before both wingbeats and footsteps were heard in the clearing, Luce and Aly setting foot just as the rest of the wardens and trainees teleported in, all bearing equal looks of alarm.

"Mom!"

Rai had immediately stumbled to his feet, rushing to the Ice Warden and receiving a desperately needed hug as he sobbed into her shirt.

Kaminari was pacing now, he’d dealt with death before - and the only thing he could do was try to help.

”Do any of you know exactly what happened to Jade? How did she…”

He couldn’t manage the word.

“…do any of you know anything?”

Luce was fiddling with his tail nervously, "That's what we came to found out. Wasn't she here with you...?"

“I don’t know… do we even know if she’s, y’know, d-word?”

Abner, who was standing near Aly, promptly responded by pointing at Rai, who was still crying a lake.

Chase finally stepped outside the tent, looking around, eyes resting on Rai. "I don't mean to be insensitive or anything, but what happened?"

Opal had started screaming now, her throat raw and sore. The cries were a hundred times swords than any sound imaginable, pure agony and sorrow encapsulated in a ridiculous amount of decibels. Next to her, her brother had both hands clamped around his ears to block everything out, as if that would help.

Kaminari forced a smile on his face, blinking back tears. “But how do we know she didn’t, she isn’t, um…”

A monotonous voice arose within the Shadow Warden's mind, taking opportunity.

-Tell him that I won't let it happen. Not yet.

The Dark Fairy tensed up, expression twisted with discomfort, "Erm..."

The group turned to Luce, who tugged his shirt collar.

"Uh..."

Abner arched an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"The uh... well um..."

"Luce, just spit it out already." Lane snapped, eyeing Chase, expecting a pun.

"The void said she's not dead." The Shadow Warden immediately buried his face in his hands, even the tips of his ears red with embarrassment.

-Good enough.

The presence within Luce's mind retreated, but left behind some odd sense of being watched.

Certainly, something more was happening, and the psuedo-elemental intended to know it all.

Elsewhere, metal blade narrowly misses metal blade and deftly dodges spinning metal blade as Aria and Kobe delve ever deeper into the prison network.

“Gee, I wish I had my map.” said Kobe.

"Maybe if the maps were a bit more 3 dimensional... watch the sawblade on your right," responded Aria.

It felt as though they were closing in on the footsteps, but at the same time, it was like whoever was running was allowing it to happen...

“What sawblade-“

Kobe’s question was answered when he almost ran straight into the sawblade.

“Alright, hold up.” Said Kobe. He pulled two sticks from his bag, and started rubbing them together.

Aria sighed, unclear whether at Kobe's near miss with death or at his inefficient attempts at light. "I'm not even sure you can generate enough friction for that to work, dude."

With the time traveler's realization of Kobe's inability to actually see in dark places came a magnification in the Cybernetic Mask's light output. Wherever she now looked was illuminated.

"Keep moving- we're getting closer, and it's not my responsibility if you turn into a kebab," remarked Aria.

Kobe put the sticks away. “Out of all the times to knock down Tarragon…” he said.

The footsteps ahead slowed down exponentially, until they stopped. The two adolescents would catch up within the next 30 seconds, but a sense of foreboding filled every single inch of the tunnel network as they advanced.

“This reminds me of that time I went into a cave. Every two steps, I would get attacked by bats, and I was all out of bat repellent.” said Kobe.

"Maximally repulsing... bats are kind of gross."

The hallway gradually became lighter and lighter as they advanced until the corridor opened up into a large dome-shaped room.

One figure stood at the far end, wicked staff drawn in preparation.

Footsteps resounded at the exit behind the figure- reinforcements.

The time traveler readied her Wingblades, eyes narrowing behind the mask. She looked at Kobe, nodded a confirmation to battle, and turned back to the enemy.

"Get ready to rumble, you racist simp!"

“Good evening,” she said casually, examining her nails. “Should I surrender now or do you want to play around with your weapons and slaves first?”

“You should probably surrender. I mean, without your guards, you stand no chance!” said Kobe.

He grabbed a capsule.

She rolled her eyes. “Stupid as always.”

Keeping her hood on, she flicked a hand at him and sent the capsule flying, along with the boy.

”You really thought my ridiculous copyrighted guards were the real obstacle? Well, it seems I overestimated you.”

Kobe landed on his face, but got back up.

“Time to battle!”

“Really?”

She dug a tiny control out of her pocket and flicked a button, the entire room becoming pitch-black… along with some hisses indicating she had surprises along the way.

”Find me if you can…”

Smoke filled the hallway.

No, not smoke.

Gas. Poisonous gas.

Kobe held his breath, but it clearly wasn’t going to be enough to stop him from choking.

"You should work for an anti-smoking agency!" quipped Aria, her wings already busy redirecting the gas to a corner of the room that was furthest away. A spreading cyan dome extended from her mask, thoroughly scanning the area.

It gave Aria great alarm when the red overlay that was supposed to outline their enemy flickered and died in her sight.

Suddenly, the walls and floor faded and disappeared… at least, that’s what it looked like. They were standing on nothing.

A hundred versions of Ms. Simp were standing around the room, each wearing the same smug smirk.

Then Kobe vanished.

Wait, no… Aria vanished.

The two were flickering out of sight, each thinking the other was being held at staffpoint by Ms. Simp.

“What’s going on?!” yelled Kobe.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

A hundred rocks were falling now, crushing him… but suddenly they were on fire, and people were screaming…

Kobe’s arms were red, his entire body aflame, and more people, illusions, were screaming… he was on fire.

He’d set this flame off.

The illusion was vivid, as if real- the smoke was likely causing the hallucination. Aria looked towards Kobe from her patch of free air, seeing his apparently blank expression staring off into the ceiling.

"Kobe! Are you awake!?"

Kobe started screaming in pain.

”Stop burning me! Do you know who I am?!” he yelled.

Outside of the hallucination, there was no sound except for the beating metal wings and the sound of moving smoke.

Suddenly, Aria was yanked backwards, tied immobile by invisible forces.

“Where did you come from? Why are you here? Who are you? Answer those questions for me, and you’re free to go.”

Meanwhile, another version of Ms. Simp was facing Kobe.

”I know full well who you are. A person even worse than me. A person who caused the death of hundreds… and now you’ll die the way they did.”

Kobe then got the smart idea to roll around, so it would put out the flames.

”I did it by accident. Stop making yourself look better!” he said.

Unfortunately, the ground was covered in shattered glass, edged jagged and sharp.

Kobe yelped, unable to do anything. Waves of fire were pummeling him, skimming his face, but if he moved, he’d die… so all he could do was lie there, glass piercing his skin.

"I'm not falling for your LSD tricks, degenerate. I'm beyond your understanding," hissed Aria through her teeth. She tried to scan again, but found that she didn't have the mask.

Nor the hood.

Or the wings.

She was... she was just a normal human.

"...what did you..?"

Kobe was just laying there. He had cuts and bruises all over his body.

”I wanted to be the very best, but now I’m gonna be in the hospital.” He said.

Kobe started to tear up.

“Just showing you who you really are, without your silly getup.”

Her voice vanished.

Aria was alone.

Eventually, Kobe just ignored the pain. His mind was in other places.

”Man, I’m never gonna see Cele again… That’s what sucks the most about this!”

“Oh, no, I’m not killing you. Just making sure you don’t resist. I need recruits, after all.”

Hearing the word recruits, Kobe got an idea.

If he had pretended to join Lady Simp, he could take down the army from the inside.

Even though there were a lot of flaws in his plan, Kobe decided to stick with it.

"Hey! Simp! Where are you!? Just because you stripped a minor isn't the only reason you should go to lockup!"

Aria's yells echoed, yet no response was heard.

Just the empty sounds of returned soundwaves.

"You... coward..."

Soon, the time traveler's voice died out.

How was she going to worm her way out of this?

"Man, Raid and Storm are going to yell my brains out if they find out..."

There was zero response, but Aria could’ve sworn she heard an incredibly faint, almost nonexistent, laugh.

This isn't real, thought Aria.

I can't be here. I'm still in the chamber. And... even if I don't have the wings, I can still use my Storm magic- charge the smoke and static it elsewhere.

So how am I supposed to wake up?

Kobe was struggling to get up. Every movement he made hurt like hell.

“So, you’re not the smartest… but you are ruthless. You don’t care about others. You’re just what we need, Kobe.”

“Stop gaslighting me! Unlike you, I can actually feel remorse.

The only thing you feel is hatred and attraction!” replied Kobe.

By now, he was on his hands and knees. It still hurt, but he was getting there.

“I felt once. I cared once. Then he tore me apart. Haven’t you felt the same way, Kobe? That everybody who’s ever wronged you should suffer forever? We’re rather alike, even if you deny it.”

“Heh, big difference. You’re a psychopath, I didn’t know any better!” said the trainer.

“That’s a very thin line, you know.”

“Yeah, well at least I’m still capable of keeping on the side of good. What I did was an accident. What you do is gonna get you sent to hell!”

Back in the tent, Opal was screaming into Juniper’s arms, Robin had passed out from crying, and Kaminari was still pacing, swinging his glaive at the air.

Outside, Storm was fiercely interrogating Luce, Aly was attempting to comfort Rai, Lane was still shooting Chase a death stare, Samantha was hugging Chase out of relief, and Abner, Sea, and Ignis, were confused over how Rai became Earth Warden if Jade hasn't died.

A wizard wearing purple turned away, dejected.

She forced the tears not to fall as she made her way back to the tent, lost completely in memories.

Hunter’s body.

Jade laughing while she fought.

Both of them, staring at her with more hatred than she could ever have imagined.

A bundle of cloths, crying, a tiny gray-skinned fairy watching her with betrayal shining in his gaze-

Wait…

Hilda’s eyes flew open, her rubbing her forehead to push back the whirlwind of memories.

Secluded by the woodland, the very same fairy she had just thought about watched her, his amber gaze showing disinterest.

Tears started falling, despite her attempts to conceal them, hide them, stop them.

Tears turned into sobs, which grew and grew until she was practically unable to move, sobs coming again and again and again.

The Water Trainee approached Raiden, who had secluded herself from the rest of the group. "Why don't you try to comfort Rai?"

"Why don't you?"

"I think he'll appreciate it from you more," Jax replied, gesturing to the newly crowned Earth Warden.

Raiden arched an eyebrow, clearly skeptic, "Really? I doubt that."

Jax mimicked her expression. "Really? I doubt that. Just talk to him or something," he said, walking off.

The borg sighed before walking over to the Astral Fairy, purposely going as slowly as possible.

"Hey..."

The sniffling form of Rai glanced up at Raiden, devastation pooling in his sapphire gaze.

"You alright?"

The fairy shook his head.

Raiden shuffled uncomfortably before finally saying, "This isn't your fault, you know."

Aly sighed, "That's not quite why he's upset."

"Then..."

"Jade."

The borg looked back at Rai, "Rai, she's not dead."

"But why would she quit being a warden?" He choked out in response.

"I... don't know..."

Meanwhile, Glace had gotten quite annoyed with Opal's sobbing and stormed right up to her, grabbing her friend by the collar and shaking her fiercely, "YOU IDIOT. Jade's not dead, so stop wailing like a 2-year-old and get your sorry [BEEP] out there. Are you really going to wait for her to actually die?"

Juniper moved to help Opal, but the girl pulled away.

”No, Glace is right, I’m being childish.” Gulping back a sob, she continued. “I should go help Robin.”

With that, she rushed away, not meeting anybody’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Kobe had managed to stand up on one knee.

“Persistent. You know, you would make a good soldier. I want you, Kobe.”

False warmth filled her voice, filling the void in Kobe’s heart that he’d born for far too long.

He was wanted.

“Sorry, but I don’t…”

Kobe’s voice trailed off.

He was wanted.

Kobe was unsure of what to do.

The glass and fire vanished, leaving him alone… with the woman standing in front of her.

Bruises, burns, cuts, and blood covered his body, but he was alive.

”Come here, Kobe,” she said softly, like a mother reaching out to her child. “I’m sorry.”

Kobe walked over. He was too hurt to think correctly.

In the parallel illusion, Aria now knew something was wrong.

Elsewhere, Jax had set out searching for his brother and Hei. He found Nathan lying on the ground, staring into the sky. Jax looked down at his brother, casting a shadow over Nathan's face. "You okay?"

Nathan squinted, his eyes adjusting to the sudden change in light. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Any idea where Hei is?"

"Why?"

"Well, judging by the fading purple marks all over you, you probably battled him and lost miserably."

"Okay okay, he went somewhere over there," Nathan said, gesturing to the distance in front of him. "He's not willing to talk, though."

"Worth a shot, though," Jax said walking toward Hei's general direction.

After a while, he found the Shadow Trainee, huddled under a tree, now enveloping torn pieces of bark in shadow magic.

“Go away,” he snapped, hugging his knees tighter.

Jax sat down in front of Hei, shoving down the panic that threatened to burst out when purple energy sparked between his fingertips.

“I said leave me alone, I guess being unable to take a hint runs in the family,” Hei said, staring at the ground. Completely purple hair covered his eyes, and the Shadow and Crystal tattoos on his arm were pulsating with black-purple and lavender, whereas the Astral ones had faded.

"If it will make you feel better to know the fact, your parents do care about you."

“I know. But I just want to make them proud. And besides… none of you all want me anyway.”

"If we didn't want you, none of us would have tried to talk to you."

He didn’t respond, but the hole inside him only grew bigger.

They’re talking to me to pity me… they’re laughing about me behind their back…I’m worthless and they know it…

Jax waited for a response, soon seeing that there wouldn't be one. "And didn't Storm and the others try to take custody of you, believing Mira and Winston were mistreating you?"

“Hmph, they didn’t care either. Just pitied me. I’m sick and tired of being pitied, so why don’t you leave?”

Kobe sniffled as if he was crying for the past few minutes.

She smiled, but when Kobe got closer, she stepped backwards.

”It’s about time I tell you my name. Call my Lady Stephanie. Steph if you’re close.”

“Uhh, okay, Lady Sim- Stephanie.” replied the trainer.

But was this really the right decision?

It was, but not in the way that’d you’d expect.

The lady smiled before turning away.

”Oh, and one last thing. Follow me.”

Kobe did follow Lady Simpanie.

The two walked into another room, where a paralyzed and gear-free Aria was staring at the sky, shaking.

”Do you know how I did this?”

“N-No.”

“Simple.”

She snapped her fingers, Aria’s gear reappearing fro a split second before it disappeared again.

“Telekinesis and Astral illusions, along with some of our newest technology. We can do much worse than this someday… with your help. Trap people in their own minds, like others have to me - and to you.”

Kobe took mental notes.

“Find a guard, show him this-“

She shoved a plastic card into his hands.

”-and he’ll show you to a room.”

“Alright. Can you heal my Tarragon first?”

“Let the thing toughen up itself. It’ll heal,” she responded dismissively, turning on her heel and stalking off.

Kobe sighed.

Slightly larger movements in Aria's hand-twitching were the only signal that she was about to do anything at all outside of the illusory realm.

Within, the time traveler focused all of her energy into breaching her own mind- to embrace the steel and return to full consciousness, maybe take back her stuff on the way out.

Kobe let out Tarragon. It was still knocked out, but it was breathing. That’s really all that mattered.

Meanwhile, a hybrid was pacing the edge of a forest, cursing herself for not thinking things through.

She’d donned a new weapon - a black version of her former sword, with Void tendrils instead of vines and Void crystals instead of the regular emerald blade.

Jade ran a hand across one of her wounds, watching blackness writhing inside her.

”How do I become a Voidwalker?” she murmured to it, letting the darkness coil around her finger, rather like a snake twisting its way around a branch.

”How do I save him? Bring him back? How do I keep going?”

No answer.

How far was she away from the refugee camp? Jade needed to find a way to the Void, but how?

And why?

That second bit was pushed out of her head, because, well, she didn’t really have an answer.

Meanwhile, Hei was still sitting in his tree trunk, halfheartedly tossing the now-purple bark at Jax while he dodged.

Jax continued dodging. "You wanna come back to the camp now or...?"

“No,” he snarled, throwing another, significantly larger, chunk at him.

Jax stepped to the side, avoiding the tree bark.

Meanwhile, a certain ivory lost interest in watching Hilda, making his way along branch to branch. Ever so often he would stop and spirit seek before altering his course.

Finally, he reached a small clearing in the forest where a particular hybrid stood, or should one say, particular voidwalker.

“What do you want?”

He blinked slowly, mildly surprised she had noticed him, "Question is, what do you want? I know you weren't content with our, ah, last appointment." An emerald blade was being turned over in his hand, leaning the other hand against the trunk of the tree where he was positioned.

“Well, I’m sure you want something in return. But… I want to go to the Void. And I still want to talk to Shadow - though I know that won’t be happening.”

"If you want to go to the void so badly, you're talking to the wrong person," he replied while boredly inspecting his knife.

“And who should I talk to?”

"Storm."

Jade rolled her eyes. “He’ll just say no.”

"Then why are you trying?" The fairy responded, still indifferent, "If you can't get there?"

She sighed, blowing now entirely-brown hair out of her face. “Fine, it’s worth a shot. Why are you here, anyway? You want to kill me? Kill me like you did him?”

The change in her voice and face was startling, Gale’s eyes widening just slightly as Jade stalked towards him, green eyes burning with hatred and black sword being slashed with far less precision than her usual strike.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?”

The ivory quickly regained his composure, eyes narrowing, "I did not kill Hunter, but seeing how much he matters to you... I wish I did. As for the other thing," he spun on his heel and walked back into the brushland, "I can arrange that."

-No.

OI, SHUT UP YOU-

Don't worry, I won't kill her.

...are you seriously-

Shut up.

The Voidwalker backed away, hands pressed to her temples.

“It doesn’t matter what you wish, all that matters is he’s gone and you killed him. All that matters is that he’s DEAD!”

Jade took a deep breath to calm herself, murmuring something undistinguishable under her breath.

Back at the tree marked with large, purple marks, Hei had grown tired of throwing bark at Jax, and Jax had grown tired of dodging. "So...do you want to find them?"

"Who?"

"Your parents."

“No, leave me alone.”

Yet his words were halfhearted, and he had swallow the excitement that built up in him for a second.

Jax sighed, standing up and walking away. "Then I'll bring them to you," he whispered under his breath.

Meanwhile, Tarragon had woken up. Sitting next to it was Kobe, who had fallen asleep.

“Kobe, wake up. I need to get you to the wargrounds immediately, Lamplight Town’s been destroyed. We’re moving bases to Firefly Forest.”

Kobe woke up.

He then had a problem. He needed to make sure that nobody who knew him was there. He also needed to sabotage the plan.

Aria continued to focus while looking like she was seizing up, trying to regain control of her motor functions.

Kobe got up, and put Tarragon back in its capsule.

He turned to Lady Simp. “Can you wake Aria up first? I think I heard her saying something about her surrendering.” he said.

The mentioned young time traveler now had relative control over her extremities, able to move her hands with less twitching.

“She can fly. Don’t you think that’s a valuable asset to have?”

Lady Stephanie rolled what was visible of her eyes, tracing a pale finger across the edge of her hood. “You’re reminding me why I don’t recruit children - or idiots, for that matter. Hurry up!”

Kobe tightened his bandana and walked out of the room.

“Good boy. I’ll be teaching you how to use your slaves now. Take them with you.”

"Slaves?"

“Those monsters you keep around. They could be useful.”

Calling Kobe’s pets slaves is one of the ways to make him really angry. He decided to ignore it for now, since he had to make the plan work.

“Come on, it’s time you learned how to drive.”

“Drive?”

She shot him a smile. “We’ve been progressing in technology.”

“Uh, alright.”

She grabbed his hand, not in a kind manner, but more like she was dragging an item around.

Kobe kept stumbling, so she pushed him aside.

”Weak,” Lady Stephanie scoffed, just as the two reached a large and entirely empty room… except for the huge automobile in the center.

It was rather like a modern-day car, however it was shaped more like a box, had no wheels, and seemed to glow in the light.

“Wow! What is that thing?” asked the trainer.

“I call it a rac. It’s like a carriage… but much better.”

“So I’ll be driving that thing?”

“I’ll be showing you how to do it.”

Kobe ran over to the “rac”.

“Wait - you’re not responsible or smart enough, let me do it.”

Rats… thought Kobe.

The woman sighed, taking a second to assess the many controls before getting to work.

The car swirled in a spiral before it drove forwards.

Kobe was contemplating trying to take the wheel for himself.

“Don’t,” she snapped as he leaned in.

“You don’t understand how easily this slips out of your control, or how to properly work it. I can see that look in your face, and hunger’s one of the most recognizable expressions. So don’t try.”

Kobe sighed and sat back.

The “rac” went in a few tight circles before stopping, Lady Stephanie walking out.

”Well, are you ready to try? I take it you were watching?”

Kobe blushed. “Oh, um… yeah, totally!”

Kobe hopped into the driver’s seat, and took the wheel.

Luckily for him, he had been paying some attention, he knew how to start up the car, and put it into drive.

Kobe started up the car, grinned devilishly, and ‘accidentally’ drove the car into a wall.

Then the car exploded.

Kobe screamed as falling and fiery shrapnel covered him, burning him, choking him, destroying him…

Then everything cleared, and Lady Stephanie was standing over him, disappointed and scornful expression frozen on her face.

”Failure.”

“What the hell?! I almost burnt to death, and you’re here calling me a failure?!” Yelled the trainer.

“I thought you were watching, Kobe. I thought you were capable. I guess not.”

She sighed solemnly.

”But I won’t punish you. I just hope you come to realize what you did wrong and what you could’ve done better.”

The second Kobe left the room, she snapped her fingers, making the wreckage disappear.

“Idiot.”

Kobe walked over to Aria. “Man, is she ever gonna wake up?” He asked himself.

He walked away, and started pondering his next move.

Aria's awareness had increased, being able to hear and see the outside world- just unable to move most of her body.

Kobe then thought of a flaw in his plan.

What if somebody recognizes him, and his reputation goes way down.

This was pretty much inevitable.

The thought of people thinking that he actually switched sides made Kobe start panicking.

This is bad! People will start noticing me, and then they’ll throw eggs at me, then I’ll have to run away again…

A minute later, Kobe was on his knees, crying.

“Kobe, what are you doing?” Lady Stephanie’s voice called.

She placed his hand on his shoulder, glaring down at him.

”Be good. I’m all you have. Who else can you turn to? Think about that, then decide who you want to be loyal to.”

She watched him walk off, smile finding its way across her face.

Kobe snarled, and clutched one of his capsules.

He then put it away, fearing that he’d be beaten down.

She would still get a taste of his only friends, only later than now.

“Just think for a second, Kobe. I need to check on our prisoner.”

Kobe didn’t respond. He only glared.

“Come on, Kobe. Go on. Tell me who cares. Tell me who you can trust, who you can rely on, who will stay by your side. Tell me.”

“Nobody…” he muttered

“And what am I for? I care, Kobe.”

“If you cared, why did you call me a failure after I crashed that rac?! That doesn’t sound like someone who cares!”

“Because you did fail me, Kobe. I expected better. But…”

She heaved a sigh.

”I guess you aren’t good enough… yet.”

Kobe sighed angrily.

Was his worth being defined by a racist Simp who doesn’t even matter?

Yes and no.

“Come on, Kobe. I need to check on our prisoner, looks like she’s regaining consciousness.”

Kobe followed Lady Stephanie, fingers wrapped around a capsule containing Tarragon.

“No. You go back to your room,” she snapped.

Kobe held the capsule even tighter before storming off.

Lady Stephanie rolled her eyes before turning to Aria, snapping her fingers and shaking the cyborg out of her daze.

”Idiot.”

In his room, Kobe was just getting more unhinged. “What does she know about care?! I almost die and she calls me a failure?!” he yelled.

He summoned Cloud Neek, and told it to follow behind him.

Meanwhile, a devastated Opal was talking to her father, each of her breaths shaky and ragged.

Robin was sleeping peacefully behind the two, blissfully content… at least until he woke up.

”So you’re telling me she’s not dead? Just…”

”Gave up Wardenship. Which means something big.”

Korathius sighed, one hand stroking a Rukus. “I should’ve done better. I was the one with her all the time, I should have helped her more, I should have-“

”You should’ve what? Saved U-Uncle H-Hunter? You couldn’t have.”

”Right, because I was pacing in Skywatch like a fool!”

He ran his hand across the Rukus so hard fur was yanked out, the monster squealing in discomfort and flying away.

Opal watched it fly in circles, eyes far too old for someone so young. “No, you couldn’t have done anything. Even Storm couldn’t do anything. Everything was bloody, and-“

”Opal, it’s okay,” Korathius rushed to help her, hugging the girl close. “We’ll get through this. We have to.”

Not far, a certain Astral Fairy leaned against the railing surrounding Skywatch, watching the events occur below.

His gaze was clouded with guilt, guilt that the island was now stuck with an incompetent Earth Warden, and that horrid thought, the thought that this was somehow his fault.

Maybe if he had done something... maybe if he had stopped Arianna from killing Hunter...

But they were just maybes, it was too late for him to undo those mistakes.

Aly always told him he was just a kid, he shouldn't worry about those sorts of things, but he did.

He did because he wasn't good enough.

He wasn't good enough that he had the control to not hurt those people.

He wasn't good enough to save Hunter.

He wasn't good enough to be a Warden and didn't deserve it.

He wasn't good enough to be a trainee to begin with.

He'll never be good enough.

And this is all his fault.

“Rai?”

The fairy looked up, quickly looking back down again when he saw Juniper.

”Rai, stop it. None of this is your fault, you couldn’t have stopped anything, and if you continue blaming yourself, nothing will happen.”

She was staring firmly into his eyes now, one hand squeezing his arm.

”Glace is right, you’re being whiny. If you really think this is your fault, fix it, don’t just sit around moping. How do you think I feel every time a child or a mother or a dying fairy who could’ve had so much more life to enjoy dies right in front of me? But I’m not moping around or just watching, I’m still healing, still trying. Rai, you need to toughen up. You need to keep pushing, you can’t just give up when things get tough. You’re Earth Warden now, Rai, meaning you take up responsibility. You don’t run away from your problems. You help maintain balance. And… you learn how to fight.”

When he opened his mouth, she continued talking, only fiery determination showing in her eyes.

”And honestly? I’m really proud of you for working so hard, and if Jade wasn’t broken, she’d be too. So would Hunter. So would Jacob. And so are your parents. You can’t do it all, but you can try.”

Yet her words seemed empty to the fairy.

There was no reason for anyone to be proud of him - he was a failure.

Every so-called achievement was the result of another's action, not because of his own.

He obviously hasn't tried hard enough, otherwise, there would be no reason for his current train of thought.

Yes... he could always try, and he would... "Fine."

...yet he knew he would never meet the standards.

She sighed, giving him a hand up.

”Come on. You need sleep.”

Rai reluctantly let her lead him back to bed, thoughts still swarming.

“You want me to stay with you?” Juniper asked softly, sitting down next to him on a cot. “Where are your parents?”

"Busy," he muttered glumly, beginning to fiddle with his vision.

Aly had to leave as quick as she came, no one knew where Gale was, and even Glace was busy arguing with Raiden.

Anger flickered across her face for a second before she calmed.

“Rai, what’s the matter? And don’t you dare tell me ‘nothing’.”

"But it is nothing, nothing of importance to you."

“Rai, just tell me, I won’t judge. And I won’t stop you, either.”

Juniper continued watching him, purple eyes staring directly into blue.

“Come on Rai, you need to tell someone.”

He sighed, "No, I don't."

She only stared back at him before finally speaking.

”You know, you remind me a lot of Opal. Both of you work too hard. Both of you are ridiculously stubborn. Both of you don’t want anybody caring for you. But at least I can care for her. Look, you need somebody to talk to, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat resounded from the entrance of the tent the two were in, the hybrid and fairy glancing up to see Raiden awkwardly standing by the entrance.

"Um... Juniper, how about I talk to him?"

“Fine, but if he doesn’t talk, call me,” she said before getting up, shooting a look at Rai before leaving.

Meanwhile, Kobe was sneaking around the base, with Cloud Neek behind him.

At Skywatch, Raiden watched Juniper go, before awkwardly turning to Rai, "So..."

No response, only silence.

The borg shuffled her feet before trying again, "Um.. is anything bothering you?"

"No."

"Well, Juniper thinks-"

"I don't care what Juniper thinks," he snapped in response, avoiding her gaze.

Raiden ruffled her hair nervously, glancing off to the side, "You're sounding a lot like me right now, which is saying something."

The Astral Fairy sighed aggressively, "I still don't care. Nothing is bothering me and that's the end of it. Well, besides the fact no one leaves this at rest." His statement was punctuated with a glare towards the tent entrance, where Juniper loomed as she eavesdropped.

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed before leaving, clearly not planning to drop the subject.

Meanwhile, Aria was releasing an unrelenting stream of wonderful insults directly into Stephanie's face.

All she did was smirk.

”I can easily make you go back there. First, precautions.”

Another snap of her fingers and Astral ropes held Aria in place, her barely able to breath, let alone move.

”Where are the other cyborgs?”

Kobe snuck around corners trying to find some weapons, or enhancement items.

”Some protein would be nice…” he said.

Aria's voice was strained, but she still retained a smug expression. "Choking? That's a little kinky..."

Kobe kept creeping around corners with Cloud Neek. Every guard that saw them got an electric punch to the face.

“Is it? Answer the question.”

Kobe continued on, leaving a trail of knocked out guards behind him.

He had a cold, emotionless face as he walked down the hallway while his Cloud Neek killed some guards.

Lady Stephanie was going to pay.

"What was the question again?" Aria's smug face was doing absolute wonders on the good old emotional fuse.

Cloud Neek had managed to kill every guard in the hallway, and Kobe didn’t notice.

All he could think about was killing Stephanie.

She sighed, fingering the edge of her hood before snapping her fingers and sending smoke into the room, her hurrying to escape whilst holding her breath.

”She’ll have to accept me if I kill all these people! Then, I’ll kill her! Then we’ll see who’s the failure now!” said Kobe. His eye twitched.

"I know how to not do your drugs now!" yelled Aria from the other room, eyes sparkling cyan in the smoke.

The bright irises didn't dart up.

There was an issue.

Stephanie didn’t respond, only turned away to find Kobe.

Kobe stopped walking, and broke down again.

What if I can’t prove myself? What if everyone laughs at my attempts again?

Kobe once again started crying.

Stephanie reached the boy, standing over him and glaring down.

She sighed. “Stop crying, you’re not helping yourself.”

She turned away, muttering barely audibly, “Weak little idiot…”

Kobe growled.

”I’ll show her yandere [Whale Noise]!” he said. He picked up Cloud Neek, and walked back to his room.

“Just keep pushing… keep going… keep working…”

Jade angrily stabbed her sword into the ground, smiling as black-purple overtook the forest, the plants all withering and dying.

Nobody deserved to live.

Nobody.

Another cry of frustration as she stabbed her sword at a tree, watching it fall completely.

A nest fell next to her feet.

With no hesitation, she stamped the eggs out, laughing at the mess… even if she didn’t really know why.

Yet just as quickly, the laugh faded into a scream, Jade burying her face into her hands.

“My name is Jade Landcrafter… I am a Voidwalker… the world is going to pay. My name is Jade Landcrafter… I am a Voidwalker… and my brother is DEAD!”

The words slipped out of her mouth unwillingly, her mind spiraling and collapsing again.

Another scream escaped her, her stabbing the sword into the area just below her wrist and rubbing the black blood against her cheek.

Who was she?

What was she?

Why was she?

What was her purpose?

“My name is Jade Landcrafter… I am a Voidwalker… everybody is going to pay…”

Another stab, more blood coating her face, her arms, her body.

Jade watched the black liquid spool and swirl, mixing a finger around in it.

The forest was laughing at her.

The world was laughing at her.

Everybody and everything… out of the millions, billions, trillions, of things she’d seen…

Not once had she seen anything reliant. Anything strong. Anything perfect.

What was the point of it all?

He wants you to survive…

But I hate him for that! I hate him, he’s stupid, he’s evil, he’s-

You’re stupid. You’re evil. You’re the one who hates yourself.

Jade was clutching her head so tightly blood was beginning to pool where her nails dug in, like war paint, like a body marking, like a scar.

Who was she?

What was she?

Why was she?

“Everybody is going to pay. Including myself.”

Under her, Void was thrashing like crazy, uprooting trees, killing animals, breaking rocks.

The world would pay.

Yet still no tears fell.

An insane mixture of laugh, sob, scream, and garbled mess of words escaped her as she continued destroying the area around her, the sound that would never end.

“My name is Jade Landcrafter… I am evil… nobody cares… nothing matters…”

A good distance above the ground, a gray fairy smirked, an unusually smug expression plastered on his face. It wasn't long before he flew off, but not one, but two dark elements chuffed in the hybrid's insanity.

Farther away, Jax wandered about in the former refugee camp. "Mrs. Shade? Mr. Loot? Are either of you still here?" he called.

There was no response, except for a few mutters and then silence.

Back at Skywatch, Rai had forcefully shoved Raiden out the tent - even Juniper, when she tried to go in - demanding to be left alone.

The instant he was left alone, however, loneliness washed over him, a single tear rolling down his face.

Loneliness turned to anger and hatred, another drop of saline liquid striking the floor and melting into the first.

The anger was directed toward one person, himself, channeling the hatred into a crueler form - the hatred towards oneself.

A thousand angry, resentful thoughts swarmed his mind, each one resulting in another drip, drip, drip until a small puddle had formed on the floor and the river stopped.

The anger, the hatred, the underlying loneliness closed in on the little fairy, to the point he needed to get it out.

He hid his face behind his hands as he curled into a ball, the Earth Warden eying the lake of tears.

A single hand thrust out.

The glow of astral surrounded it first, telekinesis doing its thing, but it was gradually replaced by blue, every drop of emotion being channeled into the elements.

The puddle levitated slightly, forming a bubble of water, before the light changed to cyan, freezing over with self-doubt and hatred, the little bit of love and joy being drained out into the cold.

A sphere of ice crashed to the floor, shattering, joined by drops of red as claws dug into skin.

I'm not good enough.

I'll never be good enough.

"Y-you guys there?" Jax asked again, stammering.

A few more whispers were heard.

”Can I-“

“No.”

“But he’s-“

”Yeah, just go.”

"Who's there?"

No response, just a groan.

Bubbles of water formed around the Water Trainee's fists.

They immediately dissipated, a scoff being heard and a mutter that sounded an awful lot like, “Weak.”

Jax tossed a water ball in the general direction of the voice, followed by the male voice hissing in frustration, while the source of the female voice scoffed on the other side of the clearing.

Mira stepped into view first.

”What do you want?”

"I-I want to take you to Hei," Jax responded, still startled.

“And I say no. Bye,” she responded, already turning away.

"But he really-"

"I said no."

"Mr. Loot?" Jax asked, turning to Winston.

“Yeah, gotta agree with my wife here. Bye.”

The second they were out of his earshot, Winston muttered, “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to see him again…”

”We agreed we’re not subjecting him to the same fate our parents did to us. Though I do want to…”

”Just once?” he begged, wrapping an arm around her.

Mira rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

She called to Jax, “We’re coming but on our own accord. Where’s Hei?”

"Skywatch," he responded, a smile beginning to form.

The two followed, fingers twined so tightly their knuckles were were white and they could barely move their hands.

And when Mira placed her head on her husband’s shoulder it was natural, sweet even. The tiny kiss that followed was even more romantic.

But all Jax could remember were Hei’s sobs, Mira’s scolds, Winston’s yells.

They may have loved him, but they had a terrible way of showing it.

Rain pitter-pattered on just about everything, rolling down leaf after leaf of the Rainwood Trees and filling Skywatch with a soothing melody. A sound similar to bells resounded whenever the droplets of water struck the Rain Berries hanging from luxurious branches.

A Water Trainee and two wizards teleported into the clearing.

In the middle of the clearing, unseen by the refugees due to them retreating into the tent, was a ginger-haired boy wearing a white and yellow cape, obscuring a pair of golden wings.

His eyes were shut tight, one hand clasped in the other as he stood there, allowing himself to get soaked.

Eventually, he moved right his foot in a clockwise semi-circle around him, golden light beginning to waver in the air. He moved his hands away from each other, enough that his fingers were still clasped but his palm exposed.

As the water began to pool in his hand, the gold changed to blue, the falling rain condensing into a translucent ring around him. He slowly moved his hands apart, allowing the water to roll of his hand into the other, moving about so the movements of the water around him would be mirrored.

After a good minute doing this, he spun around in a movement so that the captured droplets were scattered onto the ground, one leg put forward and one arm stretched out behind him, the water manipulating with his movement.

Sapphire eyes snapped open.

The water mirrored the movement of splashdown, casting around him instead of on him. Instantly, the water recondensed, forming the patterning of a star and flower around him before folding upwards onto itself as he crossed his arms into an “X”.

The water came crashing down above him before being flung outward, forming multiple varying bubbles in the air.

It was then he noticed the three wizards watching him, mouths agape.

Mira instantly shut hers closed, scoffing, while Jax rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

It was in the moment of lost concentration that self-consciousness and hate took over, water freezing in shattering into pieces as it crashed to the ground, some pieces flying from impact and cutting the Earth Warden’s legs in a reminder of failure.

“Mira was that necess-“

The wizard was too busy laughing. In between wheezes, she managed to say, “Wow, amazing! Really just fantastic! Would you like your participation award now?”

Winston was elbowing her, yet she kept going.

“You want real water magic? Try this.”

The water around them pooled and changed color, soon melting the leaves off the trees with a hisssss.

“That’s acid right there. Try that, fairy.”

When Rai didn’t move, Mira rolled her violet eyes.

“If you want to learn harder elements, you better toughen up. How are you supposed to learn Storm Magic? Fire? Shadow?”

“I-I’m not-“

“Not gonna learn them all? I get it. Not everybody’s up to the task. Not everybody can handle it. Not everybody’s good enough.”

The words burned Rai more than any acid ever could.

"I..."

Rai looked at the ground, watching the blood run down his legs and onto the floor, mixing with water.

His tears were unseen in the rain, thoughts resounding once more.

I'm not good enough...

It wasn't long before the fairy turned, orange tail lashing and peeking out from under his cape, then dashed into a tent, ignoring Jax shouting for him to come back.

He only heard Mira's laughs.

He stumbled onto his cot, sobbing regardless of the looks the others gave him, red beginning to drench the makeshift bed as Juniper ran over.

Everybody whirled around to glare daggers at Mira, who shrugged.

”Hey, how else is he supposed to learn? With encouragement and support? Psssh… that gets you nowhere.”

Meanwhile, a teenaged boy was rushing towards his parents, brushing by Rai on the way.

Hei barely even noticed him, however, all he did was run to his parents, stopping the second he was in their field of view.

”Hei?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but next thing he knew he was being hugged to death by both his parents.

They held the embrace for roughly a second before the two let go.

”Mom, Dad-“

Winston heaved a sigh. “Hei, you can’t stay with us.”

All the blood drained from his face, then it rushed back with a pulse of anger.

”But-“

“You know we aren’t the best parents, Hei,” Mira chimed in, wiping her eyes. “We can be rather… harsh to say the least.”

Hei expected himself to protest, to beg, to show him how good he was now. But all he said was, “You’ll visit?”

Winston smiled, hugging him again. “Every day. So long as Juniper and Storm and whoever’s adopting you let us.”

“And you have no excuse to miss it, young man,” Mira added, studying his nearly-entirely-purple hair, minuscule streaks of dirty blonde still noticeable. “And it seems like you’ve been busy.”

Hei smiled. “Very.”

In the tent, Aurora had scooted over to Rai, placing a hand on his arm, "Rai?"

No response, only sobs.

She sighed before wrapping the fairy in a hug, "Hey, it's going to be okay."

Juniper sat down next to him as well.

”You can’t listen to Mira, you know that? She hates everybody… except for Winston and Hei. She wants to tear you down.”

Opal, meanwhile, was bandaging his bleeding legs, occasionally muttering some not-so-kind words about Mira.

The Astral Fairy met Junipers gaze between sobs, swallowing before asking, "But what if she's right?"

“But she’s not. No point in all these what-if’s, Rai.”

He fell silent, but it was easy to tell the fairy didn't believe her.

Opal sighed, looking up from the bandages. “Rai… don’t listen to her. Mira may sound like she’s right, but she isn’t. I guarantee that. And besides… she’s trying to change you into a far worse person. What she did with the water? That wasn’t something you’d do. And it isn’t something anyone should do.”

Outside, Mira was now interrogating Chase aggressively about his new glove.

Storm was hurrying to do something when he saw Mira, stopping dead in his tracks.

Noticing Storm in her peripheral vision, she turned to Storm.

"I know you had something to do with this, so I will ask you once. What. Is. Under. The. Glove."

"Gotta hand it to you, you don't know when to quit," Chase joked from behind her.

“You shut up, what are you hiding?”

When she noticed Storm, she opened her mouth to speak, Winston interrupting.

”We let Hei go, happy now?”

Mira only glared at him, clearly not caring about their height difference.

Storm stepped back, chuckling nervously, "Well someone's heated today-"

The two glared at him with their purple gazes before Mira asked, “Well, what’s under his glove?”

Wattage glared back at Mira from her perch on the Trainee's shoulder, while the borg awkwardly ruffled his hair, "Um... er... eheh..."

"Why do you care so much?" Samantha demanded.

“Because he could be hiding something,” Winston and Mira responded, perfectly in sync. They didn’t even look surprised.

Samantha simply glared daggers at Mira and Winston, Chase slowly edging her away before she lashed out at someone.

The two glared back, the tension in the air feeling like electricity. They were just about to go from glare-fest to full-on fight when Hei interrupted.

”Er… Mom, Dad…”

The two tensed a bit at the names, turning down to him and saying simultaneously, “What?”

”It’s a bit personal, but I promise he won’t hurt anyone.”

”Hmph, that’s not a guarantee,” Mira said. “But fine.”

Upon hearing Hei say that Chase wouldn't hurt anyone, Storm, Samantha, and Chase, shared a look, resulting in Chase scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Kobe was sitting in his room. All he could think of is the word failure.

Lady Stephanie didn’t come, none of the guards came, not even his Cloud Neek, who he’d lost in the chaos.

He was alone.

Nobody wanted him.

And it was all his fault.

Kobe tried to rid his thoughts of the word failure, but every time he tried, it only intensified the thoughts.

Hours went on, the sun setting in the sky and moon rising, and still Kobe was alone.

His room was tiny, a huge pure white space the size of a closet, no bed, no windows, no seating, nothing. Just a harsh fluorescent light on the ceiling.

He was huddled up in the corner, head buried in his arms, shaking from hunger, lack of sleep, and barely concealed sobs.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door creaked open. Lady Stephanie glared down at him, gaze harsher than the light.

”Get up. I’ve prepared your slave.”

”But I’m-“

”You’ll get food once you’re good.”

Kobe held back a yawn, but his exhaustion did not go unnoticed by her.

”And you can sleep, too, if you listen.”

Kobe simply nodded. Anything to get him out of that room.

“It’s ridiculously stubborn, but we’ve been finding a purpose for all the pets - this one will make good on the front lines.”

“Okay…” said Kobe, weakly.

The lack of food had really taken a toll on the trainer.

She nodded. “It’s hasn’t been submissive, so we decided to use you. Maybe then it’ll properly listen.”

“Which pet was it again? I can’t remember…”

She ignored him, snatching up his hand and snapping, “Get up,” when he stumbled.

Eventually, he reached a large stable, where monsters were being forced into paddocks. Screams and harsh words, along with various animal noises, most of them of agony, filled the air.

One particularly angry Cloud Neek was resisting the net that had been tossed around him, yet it squealed in delight when it saw Kobe.

The boy was shoved harshly forwards, him stumbling and falling, fighting to get back up.

”What… happened…”

”We need your monster to fight for us, get it to listen,” Lady Stephanie snapped, pulling him uncomfortably to his feet and clutching his arm like a bag of groceries.

Cloud Neek kept trying to talk to him.

Kobe eventually whispered to Cloud Neek.

”I’m getting the feeling that Lady Stephanie doesn’t actually care about my well being.”

“Kobe.”

”Y…yeah?”

Her voice was softer when she spoke. “Don’t fail me, Kobe. I was gracious to keep you - and not to use you like I am the cyborg.”

“O-okay…” said Kobe.

Cloud Neek was not having this, and zapped Kobe.

“Kobe, please, control your monster.”

“I’ll try…” said Kobe, covered in soot.

Cloud Neek was about to shock Kobe again, but the trainer stopped him.

”Cloud Neek, sometimes you just need to be obedient and maybe you’ll get independence every once in a while.” he said.

Lady Stephanie smiled at that. “Good, Kobe.”

Kobe’s stomach growled.

”Can I please eat now?”

She rolled her eyes and handed him yet another plastic card.

”Find a cafeteria.”

Kobe sighed and walked off.

I’m not gonna get any food today, am I? he thought.

A bizarre mixture of hissed whispers, hoarse singing, strangled screams, broken sobs, and maniacal laughs rang through the forest, Jade continuously stabbing at herself or the trees, face set and almost calm, in stark contrast to the hellish sounds that were escaping her mouth.

Her breathing was heavy, like she had just run a mile… and she might as well have.

Blood stained the shredded grass, torturous noises echoed about, sword cut through everything.

She was leaving a scar on the world.

Payback.

Meanwhile, Aria's eyes continued to dart in various directions as she struggled against the astral ropes, hands slowly becoming free enough to charge the smoke and move the ions elsewhere.

Kobe stumbled around the halls, trying to find a cafeteria.

Eventually, Kobe passes out from a lack of food or sleep.

The next thing he knew, he was being stuffed in a closet, a voice hissing, “Shut up.”

”Wha… wha…?”

”Shut up! Do you want to be caught?”

A door was slammed behind him, Kobe opening his eyes just barely to make out a trio of teenagers, all roughly his age, glaring at him.

He scrambled for his pet disk, but it was gone. Panic started to build up, but it was replaced by hunger.

“Who… who are you?”

One of them shrugged, tossing her raven braid. “Ravena.”

”Zayden,” a dark-skinned boy chimed in. “And this-“ he elbowed the shorter, black-eyed, black-haired, nearly identical, boy next to him. “-is Braxton.”

“We’re refugees, taken in by Lady Brielle just like you,” the girl said, adjusting her posture as she stood with her hands on her hips.

”Who’s… Lady Brielle…”

She rolled her gray eyes. “You know, her.”

”Y-you mean Lady Stephanie?”

“Is that the name she chose to tell you? Well, just refer to her as ‘The Lady’, it’s easier.”

Kobe’s entire mind was now a mess of confusion, but he managed to whisper, “I’m hungry…”

Zayden nodded, passing him a handful of crackers, a meager amount for someone so starving. “And keep quiet.”

Braxton didn’t speak, but hugged the boy’s leg a bit tighter.

”What are you doing…”

Ravena rolled her eyes again, holding up a plastic card identical to Kobe’s. “Good enough? You can trust us, at least right now.”

Kobe munched down on the crackers, having not eaten for at least 15 hours.

The three shared a glance, two black gazes meeting a gray one. Each held shock, disbelief, a touch of amusement, like three owners staring down at a mischievous and oblivious puppy.

”…you ate that without checking for poison,” Ravena muttered, mouth agape.

”And he didn’t ask any questions,” Zayden added. “He won’t survive a week in here.”

“I haven’t eaten since this morning. I’ll take what I can get.”

All there of them now held back smirks, Zayden and Braxton especially looking ridiculously alike.

”How long have you been here?” Ravena asked, twisting the edges of her braid. “Clearly, not for long.”

”Told you we should’ve waited until he needed it,” Zayden muttered, running a hand over the younger boy’s hair.

“What are you talking about?” asked Kobe, being oblivious as usual.

At that, they had to hold back giggles.

”Okay, yeah, he needs us. Won’t last an hour longer,” Zayden chuckled, now hoisting up Braxton, so presumably the two were related.

Ravena had begun to pace circles around Kobe. “Tell me how you got here.”

“So me and some other kids were breaking someone’s dad out of jail, when I saw this other girl run down a tunnel. So I followed her, and we both got caught by “The Lady”. She said she’d treat me well if I joined her, but she lied!” said Kobe.

Zayden nodded. “Been there. I was lucky Braxton was been allowed to survive. But your story lines up - we definitely heard commotion a couple days ago, and Lady Anya- I mean The Lady was very smug, but also angry.”

“And who are your allies? Are they your friends? Are they here? And, more importantly… what made her choose you?” Ravena asked, still pacing around him.

Kobe shrugged at all the questions, but hung his head at the last. “I… I was a failure…”

”So was I,” the girl snapped. “Even though I could do this.”

She snapped her fingers, a perfectly done beam of light striking the hair off of Kobe’s arm, her precision incredible.

He gasped. “How…”

”I can do a lot more tricks. Survival ones. And Zayden here-“

”I’ll show off, thank you very much. I can do this.”

He whipped Kobe’s pet disk out from a concealed pocket, showing off the way it caught the light and showcased each pet he had inside.

”I’d be able to do a lot more if it weren’t for the lack of materials,” he said sulkily, opening up a section and fidgeting with the wiring.

“Oh well. What can ya do?” he said, despondent.

Zayden kept fidgeting with it, highly annoyed.

“Ugh… it’s good technology too.”

He went back to bouncing his brother in his arms, smiling at Ravena.

Kobe spun a capsule on his finger, barely paying attention to anything going on around him.

“Anyway, why did she choose you?” she asked, going back to toying with her hair.

“Probably because she lit me on fire, and put me in glass shards, but I’m still alive. She also said something about the fact that we’re both hated.”

“But she chooses people with special talents. Or people who can be useful to her. You must be something - even if The Lady keeps saying you aren’t,” Zayden said, his words somehow both offensive and comforting.

“Well I do train powerful monsters that can destroy stuff…” said Kobe.

They all nodded in understanding. Braxton giggled at the idea, the first sound he’d made in front of Kobe.

“I even have a wyvern in the capsule I’m holding!”

Zayden nodded again. “I saw it, it’s programmed in.”

“Alright, glad we’re clear on that.”

An awkward silence filled the room, Ravena shifting from foot to foot on her toes while the boy began tossing his brother in the air, his delighted squeals quickly being hushed.

The silence was broken by the pet trainer.

”Can I go now? I have a dome to burn down.”

They all shook their heads. “You won’t survive.”

“I literally have a giant Wyvern under my command. I think I’ll be fine.”

“No,” Ravena said quietly. “You won’t.”

“And why won’t I be?” asked Kobe.

She narrowed her eyes. “You’ll get yourself killed… but go on ahead, I don’t care that much either way.”

Kobe walked out of the closet, Tarragon’s capsule in hand.

Zayden made a movement as to stop him, but he was held back by the girl.

”Don’t,” she hissed.

“Fine.”

Kobe ran through the hallway, trying to find where Cloud Neek was.

Instead he ran into the very angry Lady… Stephanie? Brielle? Anya?

Kobe yelped as he was grabbed harshly, her glaring into his eyes with a striking ferocity.

“What do you want now?!” yelled Kobe.

Elsewhere, static electricity surrounds and overcomes gleaming cord.

Smoke disperses out of the door, spreading throughout the hallway in crackling plasma.

All the while, an adolescent... cyborg (much to a certain entity's realization) potato-sack hops towards a returning EM signal in a rather secure room.

“I want you to stop being such a failure. A disappointment. An idiot. No wonder your friends gave up on you.”

Her eyes narrowed further before she snapped. “I guess I’ll need to do a little something now.”

Kobe gulped.

Whatever she was gonna do, it would hurt.

Kobe gulped.

Whatever she was gonna do, it would hurt.

Kobe was on the verge of tears.

Meanwhile, Ravena was having a progressively heated argument with Zayden.

”I told you we can’t help-“

”But he-“

”He wouldn’t have lasted anyway, frankly he deserves what’s coming for him.”

”Ravena!”

”What? I’m not wrong.”

”But we need-“

”No, we need to survive in here. We do not need to rescue a stupid little boy.”

”Need I remind you I rescued you? You’d either be dead from the war or dead from the gas if it weren’t for me.”

Ravena quieted, gritting her teeth before spitting out, “Fine, Zayden.”

He smirked. “There we go.”

“Wh-what are you going to do to me this time..?” asked Kobe.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Lemme guess. You’re gonna lock me in my room without food or water, or you’re gonna execute me, or you’re gonna slap me.” said Kobe.

She smiled, making him shudder.

”You clearly haven’t felt the cruelty of the world. No… I’ll need some bait for the war.”

The Lady hissed on the word bait, sending Kobe squirming to run away, but her grip was too strong.

Kobe was sweating, although some of that sweat was tears.

The Lady made a harsh laugh and shoved him away. “Don’t struggle.”

Somehow, the two people standing in the hall managed to not actually notice the hovering, crackling, incredibly kinetically active green smoke creeping down the corridor towards them.

Kobe fell to the ground, gripping his capsule.

There was only so much abuse a 12 year old can take.

The creeping smoke maintained its anonymity, able to keep going strong down the hall.

Kobe stood up.

“I’ve had it with your abuse! I’m striking back!” He yelled.

And yet, somehow, the two figures still managed to SOMEHOW not have any form of awareness or alertness to the incredibly active threat floating into the area.

Kobe summoned Tarragon , but it didn’t attack, as it noticed the smoke floating around.

The woman cursed under her breath and backed away, yelling a command into a device before snapping it shut.

Kobe didn’t notice the gas, until Tarragon had to roar at him about it.

Meanwhile, Aria was forcing the heavily reinforced steel door on what was apparently the control room of the main arena to go haywire, using the chopping motion of it opening and closing to cut the Astral ropes. After fully freeing herself, she slipped inside and shut the door behind her.

Kobe recalled Tarragon, and held his breath.

The gas crackled and warped, free particles hissing against skin and scale. The hallucinatory effects didn't help, either- and collateral damage was a given.

Kobe blacked out.

The Lady sighed deeply, simply dropping Kobe, drinking some form of elixir with an iron stopper, and walking away.

Kobe just laid there, not wanting to move.

So what if there was gas about to come and get him?

Kobe didn’t care.

Was this his fate?

Was this game over for this twelve year old?

Then, two pairs of hands dragged him away, a spray of clear gas countering the noxious green fumes and giving Kobe a bit of breathing room.

Two Astral spells were cast, the gas receded further, and Kobe was shoved down the hall and into a room.

The only thing he could manage to say was, “Why… why are we in a bathroom?”

Ravena sighed, like she was already regretting her rescue of him. “Because it’s safe.”

”But it’s a boys-“

She reddened. “Shut up, okay? God, I should’ve left you to the gas.”

Kobe sighed. “Well it’s better than my own room, that’s for sure.”

Zayden, meanwhile, was grumbling about, “Wanted more time,” and “Study that gas.” His brother was clinging to his arm, swinging off it occasionally.

“Damn gas. When it goes the [Dolphin Noise] away, that’s when I’ll kill The Lady.” Muttered Kobe.

A distance away, where war raged on, an arrow of astral was let loose into the battlefield.

Earth Fey was dotted across the faen army now, mostly providing immediate healing instead of actually fighting.

The Faen's archers were in the fourth line, strategically placed so that they would be in an elevated area and have a good bit of defense.

Arrows were let loose with astounding sync and accuracy, dotted with a few misses and delayed shots coming from the wizards on their side. This was met with glares from their fellow (faen) archers, but the wizards and fey alike continued their grim work wordlessly, watching arrow after arrow cause another soul to be lost.

The wizard front liners carried swords, a few of the faen showing the same preferences, but a few select fey wielding a larger, heavier weapon - sporadically dashing in front of their allies and swinging the blade with unspeakable force, causing fifty or so of the enemy side to fly back from the impact, breaking bones and being rushed away by healers - a claymore.

This sporadicalness was planned, rendering the faen somewhat more unpredictable and a force to reckoned with.

Every so often the familiar gravity manipulating orbs were sent out, both sides knowingly retreating, but a few of the wizard army being caught up in the sick twisting of gravity from the lack of warning the faen army had.

When the globes retreated, frigid ice seeped through the ground and impaled the enemy side, and Ice Warden and General were responsible, matching blue eyes filled with a tinge of regret and overall lack of humanity.

The troops were being electrocuted or hopelessly trapped by balls of wind, then skewered by the seemingly petite weapons of the Storm Fey.

Fire raged on, consuming any remainders, however the wizards had some tricks up their sleeves.

Blasts of Astral magic incinerated everybody who got close, the occasional All-Out Attack or, even stronger, Focus Spell obliterating anybody within a several mile radius.

All the wizards were armed with iron, iron arrows successfully incapacitating the fairies.

Soon, Astral Fairies were pushed to the frontlines, manipulating the enemy's Astral Magic and trying to keep it from causing havoc - even Lucas and Abner were there, a few lines back for technical reasons, but there, grim-faced and trying to keep the blasts from taking one too many lives.

Telekinesis, ice, and gravity manipulation slowed or stopped the iron arrows, but a few still hit their targets.

All of their efforts would prove to be futile.

Death had raised its scythe.

After a good bit of combat, shadows rippled, multiple corrupt dark fairies surrounding the wizard army in a semicircle, Luce being among them.

There were a few smirks and rude remarks, the enemy force clearly priding in their Astral Magic, but the Shadow Warden's gaze was dismissive, his robes marked with ancient runes making him look overall... intimidating.

A dark mist rolled over the opposing force, Shadow Magic consuming and burning everything it touched - except the Dark Fairies who rushed in and attacked in the midst of the chaos.

The wizards were forced to retreat - but not surrender.

Black and purple scarred bodies littered the field, burnt by the dark element till death.

A small victory that would mean nothing in the long run.

A bloodbath that will only invoke more hatred.

Meanwhile, amongst the horrified yet still persisting healers, sat two children.

“Opal, are-“

The girl forced on a smile. “I’m fine, just taking care of Robin.”

Juniper set down her basket of supplies. “Opal-“

“Don’t ‘Opal’ me, I’m fine.”

“I know you’re worrying about your mo-“

“Don’t.”

”Now you’re sounding like Jade. You have to talk about it, y’know-“

“DON’T!”

Juniper sighed, leaving to go work.

Opal went back to her writing, hugging the poems and scattershot stories and random stanzas to her chest.

Robin appeared at her side, silently accepting her hug. No tears fell, no matter how much they pressed on.

“She doesn’t get that I am talking to someone, Robin,” she murmured, inky point slashing through paper. “And besides-“

”Yeah, yeah, Mom’ll be fixed,” the boy said, hugging himself as he stared at the ground, face obscured.

Then he muttered under his breath, “Yeah, right.”

Then, there was the sound of a sonic boom, then the sound of a thud, and then the sound of coins clattering on the ground.

”Oww… I hate beanstalks…” groaned a voice.

Nearby, Rai, was clutching an annoyed, dark blue cat, who Aurora and Raiden had talked into comforting him... through fluffy methods.

Meanwhile, a Storm Fairy was complaining to absolutely nobody, clearly angry he didn’t get to fight in the war.

A blonde wizard was silently helping all the patients, her smiles and hugs just as helpful as any remedy Juniper could offer.

Meanwhile, Kobe bouncing a capsule against the walls of the bathroom, clearly bored.

Eventually, the capsule popped open, releasing Aquaster.

Ravena simply blasted it unconscious, while Zayden gawked at Kobe, black eyes wide. Is he were a cartoon character, he would’ve had steam coming out of his head.

Instead, he settled for screaming, “ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! THAT WAS A DELICATE AND HIGHLY ADVANCED PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT I MODIFIED FOR YOU! DO YOU SEE THE SYSTEMATICS! THE ENGINEERING! THE CODE! AND YOU JUST-“

“Your nerd is showing,” the girl commented.

He wheeled on his friend. “OF COURSE MY NERD IS SHOWING THIS IDIOT-“

”Okay, okay, quiet, we’re gonna get caught. Go take care of Braxton or something.”

“Relax, it’s just a gashapon capsule. It can be put back together.” Said Kobe.

“NO IT CANNOT I RAN IT OVER AND YOU PROBABLY BROKE A VITAL-“

“Zayden…”

He harrumphed and crossed his arms, backing away and shooting Kobe a death glare.

Ravena smirked. “Congratulations, idiot, you’ve made your only hope of survival hate you even more than I do, which is saying something.”

The trainer frowned. “You hate me?”

”Oh, wow, you’re even dumber than I thought.”

“Hey, stop calling me an idiot! I have feelings, and a name, you know!” Said Kobe.

“One, those aren’t really a necessity, and two, you’ll have to earn that.”

“Tch. You guys are jerks…”

She smiled. “Comments like that aren’t helping your case, y’know.”

“Yeah, well comments like that only prove my point.”

Ravena turned to Zayden. “Why did we rescue him again?”

The boy smiled, tossing Braxton in the air. “You were just as feisty when I saved you.”

”Hmph, that’s different.”

”Is it?”

”Anyway…”

She turned to Kobe, looking him up and down. “Well, let’s see if you’re if any worth.”

Kobe shrugged.

“Battle me,” she snapped.

“Here? In the bathroom?”

”Don’t ask stupid questions.”

“Alright.” Said Kobe.

He clutched one of his capsules.

”Arbite, I choose you!” He said.

Kobe threw the capsule onto the ground, then out popped Arbite, who had evolved a day earlier.

It was immediately blasted by Astral magic so strong it would’ve melted entirely had it not been for its fast reflexes.

“Arbite!” Said Kobe.

Arbite was laying on the ground, but it floated back up.

”Use Shadow Ball!”

Arbite put down its scythe, and held its hands out in front of it. It fired off a ball of dark energy.

Another blast of Astral magic dissolved the ball of darkness the Arbite distracted and not noticing the other ray of light directed at him from behind.

“Arbite! Watch out-“

It was too late, Arbite hadn’t noticed in time, and got blasted, flying into a wall, making a loud thud.

As Kobe recalled Arbite, he clutched another capsule.

Ravena didn’t react, but looked up at him, eyes glowing with amusement.

”The Lady chose you for a reason, didn’t she?”

“Yeah…” said the trainer. He threw another capsule up into the air, summoning Tarragon.

Two Falling Star Smashes were directed at it, but she was clearly holding back, and the dragon simply ignored them, roaring at her and sending columns of fire, which she barely dodged in time.

“Alright, Tarragon!” Said Kobe, enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Aria scoured the controls over the arena for any form of release over her gear. 5 minutes of this went by before she realized that the whole set was hanging suspended in midair directly behind her. She equipped the tech, flexing her artificial appendages to warm up, before going out the door and in the direction of the smoke.

Tarragon flapped its wings, sending a huge gust of wind towards Ravena.

The wizard sidestepped easily and bided her time, not casting any spells - clearly, she was preserving her Mana.

Tarragon stomped, causing the ground to shake.

On the outside, it was becoming more obvious that something was going on inside the bathroom.

Ravena rolled her eyes. “Careful. Quiet.”

A series of Light Waves started striking Tarragon, a new ray of light appearing every time he managed to fend one off.

“Tarragon, get a hold of yourself!” said the trainer.

Tarragon kept struggling, but eventually managed to get in a Volcannon or two.

Ravena backed away, blocking or dodging all of Tarragon’s attacks.

Suddenly, a guard walked into the bathroom with a newspaper in his hand.

”I don’t get paid enough for this-“

The guard was engulfed by a Volcannon.

Ravena cursed under her breath, awkwardly using a Prism Blast on the guard and unceremoniously shoving him into a closet just outside the bathroom.

”Hmph, we’d gone two weeks without being caught, too…” Zayden groaned, scowling.

Tarragon took the opportunity to strike.

It sent a beam of fire hurtling towards Ravena at an astonishing speed.

The girl gulped back a yelp, being blown backwards. A stray ray of Astral magic knocked Tarragon unconscious, Ravena groaning as she got up.

“Tarragon!” yelled Kobe. He put Tarragon back in its capsule, and sent out Triptrop.

The girl crossed her arms, sulkily staring at the ground.

”Fine, you’re decent. It was pretty smart to attack me while I was distracted.”

“Damn right!” said Kobe.

He recalled Triptrop.

She smirked. “That’s nice.”

Kobe sat back.

Zayden smiled. “Okay, so you like him now?”

”Never said that.”

“What was that?” asked Kobe, who heard part of the conversation.

“Nothing,” they said simultaneously, Zayden shooting a teasing glance at his friend.

“Hi,” his brother whispered, Braxton looking shyly up at Kobe.

"Hey, kid," replied Kobe.

“Don’t call him ‘kid’, he’s twelve,” Zayden snapped. When Kobe looked shocked, he practically spat, “What? He’s short, and he’s a little…interesting. Does that change anything?”

“No, but I just thought-“

The boy only glared at him. “If it matters, I’m fourteen, and Ravena is thirteen.”

”Fourteen now,” she corrected.

”Oh, yeah.”

Kobe sighed.

“Well, it’s about time to get food, isn’t it Zayden?”

The teen nodded, still scowling at the ground and hugging his brother close.

“Man, I wish I could find a goddamn cafeteria.”

“Oh, I know where one is. Or rather, Braxton does. Come on,” Ravena said, coiling her raven braid over a pale finger.

She promptly sauntered out, leaving no time for him to catch up.

Zayden tugged at a necklace Kobe hadn’t seen before, a tiny choker with a mysterious symbol on it - the Astral symbol, but gray and with the points chopped off. He hid it under his shirt when he noticed the trainer watching, squeezing his brother’s hand and hurrying out.

Kobe followed them out the door, carrying his capsules in his arms.

Meanwhile, a teenaged boy was talking quietly and hesitantly to the Astral Warden and his daughter, pulling purple bangs over his eyes.

Meanwhile, Winston, now wielding a metal detector, had been edging towards Chase's glove, unnoticed.

Wattage was perched in a branch in a tree, just above Chase.

Not far, watching Hei, Lucas, and Aurora, was Storm, hearing every word regardless of being outside the normal hearing range.

“I don’t like talking-“

Aurora squeezed his hand, making Hei sigh.

”Fine. I know she cares, but - I can’t, I can’t.”

Another hug from the girl, and a smile from the Astral Warden.

Silence before he spoke.

”When I got this tattoo, Mom made me ink it in again. Using Shadow magic. With no compresses or anything. And I couldn’t leave my room until I was finished. It took me a week.”

Storm, who was still listening in, began to twist in object in his grasp repetitively, expression unclear.

“N-never mind, I’m fine,” the boy muttered, getting to his feet and trudging away.

A few yards away, Winston was creeping towards Chase, flipping the switch to his metal detector, rewarded with aggressive beeping. The storm-elemented pet above leaped into action, hissing as it attempted to divebomb Winston. "What in the-" The Fire Warden was cut off as he felt a tug on his arm, followed by yells from the crystal smuggler behind him, who was waving the brown glove wildly in the air as Wattage scratched and scrabbled for it. The loud commotion turned every head their way, rewarded with gasps from everyone.

“What the hell is that?” he snarled, inspecting Chase’s prosthetic hand with a mix of repulsion and fascination, like it was nothing other than a batch of stolen crystals, something he could exploit.

A white and orange blur streaked across the clearing, tackling Winston and snarling, smoke coming out of the Luma hybrid's flaring nostrils.

The wizard only blasted it away, rolling his eyes when it turned to attack again.

“You all really don’t know how to train monsters, do you?”

The dragon slashed at Winston with it's front talons, followed by a gust of flames.

Another whoosh of Shadow magic, and the flames disappeared.

For a moment, Winston looked scared, but once the smoke faded, he was back to his usual smug smirk.

“Do I really need to fight? Or worse, call my wife?”

The two pets assaulted the crystal smuggler once more, Wattage retrieving the glove and handing it back to Chase, who slipped it back on, but not before a certain, outraged wizard saw what was underneath.

Mira.

“What is that?” she snapped. “A weapon? A gadget? Some sort of homing device?”

Mira stepped forwards, harshly yanking the glove off, knocking Scarlet into a tree when she tried to attack, and studied the parts.

“Hey, uh…” Chase started.

”Oh, shut up.”

A fireball was launched at Mira, a feeble attempt - by her standards - extinguished by a half-hearted ball of water. The robed wizard looked up, met with the stare of an irritated Nathan. "Hey! Leave my dad alone!"

“Just tell me what that thing on his hand is!” she snapped back. “And besides, I’m playing fair right now.”

"Explain 'fair,'" Nathan retorted.

“By fair I mean I’m not absolutely destroying you, besides all I need is an explanation of what the hell that thing is.”

Nearby, Storm was several shades paler than normal, nearly as pale as Jax. After a bit, he took a deep breath and made his way to the scene, stepping between Mira and Chase, "I think you can figure out the answer to that."

“Yes, I know what it is, but what does it do?”

The Storm Trainee didn't move, his more or less sapphire gaze locked on her purple, wariness all too noticeable, "What does my brace do?"

“Probably keep you alive,” Mira said begrudgingly. “And I’m sure it has a lot of uses besides that.”

"In a sense, but it generally just helps me move my arm," Wattage had padded up to the borg, glaring at Winston - Scarlet doing similar from next to Chase.

“So what else does it do?” Winston pushed.

His wife shrugged. “Probably - wait, where’s Hei?”

Storm frowned, glancing towards where Lucas was, "He was with..."

Both wizards buried their heads in their hands, each muttering something along the lines of, “Irresponsible idiots…”

Storm crossed his arms, "HEY! And note the idiot in this case would be Lucas over there, not me."

That was met with a look from the Astral Warden and his daughter, both of which were ignored.

“Oh no, you’re all idiots,” the man grumbled. “Especially the Astral Warden.”

He mimed gagging. “Ugh.”

"Why don't you- nevermind, we need to find Hei," Storm muttered, picking up Wattage and allowing the Zipzap to perch on his shoulder.

“Great. Within ten minutes of us giving him to you, he runs away.”

The borg glared at him, "We don't know if he ran away, he might just want some time alone." Muttering angrily and foreignly, the Storm Trainee marched off, speaking to Lucas briefly before dashing in the directing the Astral Warden had last seen Hei.

Both wizards followed, muttering unintelligibly under their breaths.

Far away, a Voidwalker was slashing her sword through a humongous twenty or so foot tall oak tree. One slash, two slashes, three, and the entire thing fell to the ground, uprooted by the power of the Void.

Not a single part of the tree hit the ground - bark, leaf, and everything in between had been vaporized. Birds flew into the air, each being taken down by Void tentacles.

Jade stared at the mark where an entire ecosystem once was, feeling a familiar yet unnerving feeling rush through her.

Adrenaline ran through her veins, a twisted smile had crossed her face, her sword was wet with sap.

Would it change anything if she was cutting down a human?

Honestly? No. In fact, she was almost wishing for the sap to become blood, for the life lost to be that of a human’s.

Everybody wronged her.

Everybody hated her.

Everybody hurt her.

And she’d do much, much, worse to them.

Meanwhile, a gray fairy watched, amber eyes shining with mistrust and a cold determination.

No, I won’t kill her.

But why not?

Shut up.

Answer the question.

I’m busy right now.

A whirl of magic, and suddenly Jade was being restrained by Shadow tentacles, dangling eighty or so feet in the air, glaring at Gale.

“What are you doing?” she snapped, not the least bit surprised.

The fairy smirked. “Sorry, but you’re a threat.”

“Aww… thank you!” she mocked, sneering. “Now let me go.”

He only raised his eyebrow, “Wrong choice.”

The tentacles vanished, and she was plummeting towards the ground, a frustrated yet bored expression frozen on her face.

More Shadow magic caught her just as she was about to hit the ground, making her smirk wider.

“Too scared to kill me? I knew it.”

Gale landed on the ground, looking her up and down - no, there was some careful consideration, he was inspecting her. “Actually, quite the opposite.”

“Really?”

In the blink of an eye, a blast of Void magic hurtled at him, making him sidestep… but just as he did, the earth sank out from under him, a different blast of green stabilizing the ground as he flew a foot off it.

He retaliated quickly, a hundred or so needles of darkness zooming at her, piercing her arms, her face, her legs, her body.

Jade snarled, blocking them with a black forcefield, then condensing it and blasting it at Gale, who simply Fey stepped out of the way.

He sent another barrage of needles, this time even more brutal, forcing the Voidwalker to the ground.

They kept going and going, stabbing at her relentlessly, until Jade could hardly move, her lying on the ground, forearms slammed against the grass to keep her head from hitting the ground. The Voidwalker’s breaths were ragged, shaky, shallow… but they were existent.

A smile appeared on Gale’s face, him turning to leave.

“So, what, you’re just going to leave me here? You do realize that’s idiotic, right?”

“Well, no, but it goes to show - if you ever come close to me I’ll kill you.”

“Looking forward to it.”

The fairy walked away, tail lashing behind him as he whispered a response, "As well as I, more than you can imagine."

A response that went unheard.

Meanwhile, Kobe was running through the hallway. Before getting food, he had to take a detour to go and find Cloud Neek.

“Be quiet,” Ravena snapped, tugging on her sleeves now - she never seemed to stay still. “And don’t you dare look for your monster.”

“Why shouldn’t I? I can’t leave him with The Lady!”

“We can get it later,” she said dismissively. “Or you can run and risk your life.”

Kobe sighed. “As long as we’re getting him,” he said.

“Never said that.”

Zayden didn’t speak, all he did was follow his brother through the far too complex hallways and stairways.

“Whatever.” said Kobe. He tightened his bandanna.

Braxton waved them over, pointing to an empty cafeteria room.

”There’s some food in there, usually,” Zayden explained. “Just be quiet.”

“If it means I don’t have to talk to you, I’m all for it.” muttered Kobe.

“For once, we’re in agreement,” Ravena murmured, pushing the door open.

Kobe walked inside, and saw a tray of food, just sitting on a table. It seems that somebody had no time to eat.

Zayden held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t. It could be a trap. Just grab something from the side and run.”

Kobe looked towards what looked like a salad bar. He wasn’t a fan of salad, but he’d take what he can get.

The others snatched whatever they could without really looking at what they were, then immediately made a break for it, conveniently leaving the trainer behind.

“Hey!” said Kobe.

He would have ran after them, but he hadn’t eaten, so he sat down, and looked at what he grabbed.

The three kept going. When Braxton stumbled, the others - even Ravena - dragged him along.

”Hurry up!” the boy whisper-yelled, pulling his brother to his feet.

Kobe was eating as quickly as he could. Every guard that entered the room would receive a Forest’s Hurricane to the face, courtesy of Triptrop.

Eventually, they reached their familiar hideout, a huge abandoned supply closet with a futon tucked in the corner.

Ravena slammed the door, leaning against it and panting.

Zayden collapsed on the bed, rubbing his eyes. “Ugh…”

Then he gasped, sitting up. “We forgot the boy!”

”Kobe,” she corrected.

The wizard raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care?”

”Just saying.”

”Mmhm,” he responded, smirking when she glared at him.

Kobe finally finished his salad, and ran out the door with Triptrop, who had finished killing at least 10 guards who wanted food.

There was one problem. Kobe had no idea where to go.

So he just decided to run to the stables.

Just as he was curved a corner, he ran directly into a person.

A guard.

A whole horde of them.

His screams were silenced by a rough hand.

Triptrop blasted away some of the guards, but was overwhelmed by some more.

Static crackle faintly resounded in the cafeteria, before fading.

Within the smoke causing the noise, Aria was veiled, invisible in the static and gas.

Eventually, he reached a huge and rich room - where The Lady sat casually, leaning against the armrest on her throne.

”Hello, Kobe.”

Kobe stayed silent, but it was made very clear that he was angry.

“Oh, don’t give me that face… all of this is your fault.”

“How many times have I heard that before?” scowled the angry pet trainer.

“And never has it been a lie. The world needs to be rid of idiots like you.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“A genius?”

She shrugged, crossing her arms.

”You don’t even know my name, whereas I know everything about you. Especially your multitude of weaknesses.”

“Yeah, whatever, you punk [whale noise] loser.”

“Idiot. Kill him,” she said dismissively, waving a hand.

Kobe took out a capsule, and out popped Tarragon, who had recovered from its previous fight.

”Burn them.” said Kobe.

Tarragon charbroiled some of the guards, while Kobe simply looked down.

The pets were now being dragged away.

”Stop it!” Kobe snapped, pulling away from the guards. “Don’t-“

The Lady slid off her throne. “I am the one controlling you. And-“

She was blasted in the face by a Light Wave, Ravena smirking.

”That was satisfying.”

Kobe, despite the fact that he knows that The Lady was knocked down, charged at her, and started punching her in the face.

”You locked me in that closet of a room, you mistreated my pets, you starved me, you deprived me of sleep, you called me a failure! You definitely deserve to die!” he yelled.

Zayden pulled him back. “Get out of here!”

Kobe snarled. “I’m killing her, and that is that!” he said.

The boy shoved him to the ground. “Idiot! Fine, kill yourself for all I care, it was Ravena who-“

He stopped himself just in time, preoccupying himself by fumbling together some gadgets.

The girl in question had started freeing Kobe’s pets, determinedly not looking at either of them.

Kobe got up, but didn’t keep beating up The Lady.

He wanted to get her at her best, to prove to her that he wasn’t a failure.

Meanwhile, Aria was successfully noping the f**k out of there. Calmly and controlledly, she moved with the poison/hallucination gas, making sure it wasn't able to reveal her. She inched back into the arena, took two glances around, and then full broke towards the exit before anything could happen.

She was 5 steps out of the door when she remembered Kobe existed.

"Aw, sh*t."

The door locked behind her.

"AW SHI-"

Kobe walked out of the room. His pets followed him.

Zayden harrumphed, glaring at Kobe before rushing out of the room, curses being muttered at an astonishingly profane level under his breath.

Ravena caught up, breathless. “You’re welcome. I freed your pets and saved your life, the least you could give me is a thanks.”

”Maybe a kiss would suffice?” the boy teased.

Kobe’s pets groaned at his terrible joke.

The girl blushed furiously, elbowing Zayden just hard enough to knock him over.

Kobe didn’t say anything. His face, however, looked as red as a beet.

The two walked away, Ravena finally breaking the silence.

”Well, I can’t believe we rescued this idiot, now we have to run away.”

Kobe and his pets walked in a different direction. But something was off.

Sure, The Lady no longer owned him, but he still felt very upset.

It was a mixture of anger and sadness.

Aria, meanwhile, paced outside the door, occasionally scanning or zapping the door to locate its power source. However, the power couldn't be overriden by her own Astral magic, and her attempts at making a rift inside were somehow repelled by an ornate Astral barrier field surrounding the area. Eventually, with heavy shame, she knew she had to find some assistance.

_Chat Log_

AA/AJ (TIMEZONE UNREADABLE)> hey so i lost kobe

AA/AJ (TIMEZONE UNREADABLE)> like i literally cant find him rn

AA/AJ (TIMEZONE UNREADABLE)> i got locked out of the building hes in and i cant open it

AA/AJ (TU)> plz help

AA/AJ (TU)> check my visor signal for coords ig

Kobe walked towards the exit, but found out that it was locked.

”God. [dolphin noise]. Dammit!” he said.

Aria immediately rushed back to the door at the sound of Kobe's voice, her own speech dripping with worry at the surefire lecture she was going to get the moment (if) they got home.

"Yo, dude! The door's completely locked on both sides! There's a control office left, straight, left of the back hallway of the arena! Slam the controls until this thing opens!" the time traveler shouted into the metal frame, hoping at least the directions got across.

Aria proceeded to sit down next to the door and waited in silence, willing the entire cosmos to get the pet trainer out alive so she didn't have to get an entire lifetime's worth of earful.

Kobe followed the directions to the control panel, and ordered Tarragon to burn it.

Tarragon did so, and the whole panel melted.

A loud ka-chunk signaled the opening of the lock, steel sliding out of the rectangular frame to allow passage.

Unfortunately, the destruction of the control panel also might have set every single person in the entire f****ing facility on red alert, as crimson alarms blared and glared in every hallway.

Zayden immediately wheeled on Kobe, screaming, “WHAT THE [explicit]? I WILL [explicit] YOUR [explicit] LIKE A-“

Ravena placed her hands on her hips. “Braxton. And Kobe…”

She exhaled loudly, watching her friend pick his brother up with ease.

”Hopefully your strange friend isn’t a complete idiot.”

At Skywatch, a certain Storm Trainee noticed an interesting series of messages displayed on his visor - in which, a certain time traveler had forgotten to mention was now a false alarm.

_Chat Log_

SD (11:45 am)> You did WHAT?

SD (11:45 am)> HELL BORN MOTHER**** SPAWN OF A *****

SD (11:45 am)> ARIA, YOU'RE GROUNDED, AND I DON'T CARE THAT I'M NOT RAID.

As the furious borg was met with the challenge of creating an excuse to ditch Mira and Winston, a blue-furred cat, followed by a younger brown-haired borg, were sneaking off.

A black/rainbow-haired girl stepped in their path, glaring at the two with bloodshot eyes. “What are you two doing?”

The cat glared before sitting down, licking a paw while exchanging a glance with Raiden, who answered, "Stopping this sh*t. Before you say anything about this being stupid, it's only a matter of time before things get worse. I overheard some of the adults talking, and both sides started to play dirty - they poisoning each other. Poisoning."

“Oh, no,” she laughed, popping a bubble and pondering her next words before speaking. “I want to come with you. Oh, and I bet Ro-“

”Yep, I’m coming too,” the blind wizard said, popping out from behind her.

”We’re coming. Whatever we can do to help our m-mom.”

The cat put down its paw and stared at them, skeptical based on its yellow gaze.

Raiden, however, paid little regard for its concerns, "Fine, you can come. Better than going alone with Glace."

The cat promptly arched its fur and hissed, fangs bared and claws digging into the dirt.

The borg turned to it, crossing her arms, "What? The plan still works is they keep their mouths shut."

The siblings glanced at each other, shrugged, and both muttered, “Sure. Let’s go.”

”What is your plan, anyway?” The girl asked, tugging on one of her backpack straps over and over.

"A two-hundred-year-old fairy and a ceasefire," Raiden replied, stepping out of the way of a swipe from the blue cat, "In reality, all we're doing is sneaking into the Faen Military Camp, track down one fairy who has a chance of killing us on sight, and get him to help us to convince the the wizard side to talk. Sounds easy enough?"

Another pause, in which Robin kept tugging on his sister’s arm and begging, “Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-“

”OKAY, OKAY!” Opal snapped. “I hate this plan so much, but fine.”

The borg smiled slightly before turning to the cat of a mountain lion cub, who snarled.

"Are you going to show us the way or not?"

This was responded with a well-timed swipe across her ankle before the feline turned and padded off, tail high in the air. Raiden cursed under her breath, but followed, the two heading towards the bean-o-vator in a manner that required sneaking behind trees.

A lot of trees.

Opal could manage well enough, her occasionally stumbling but staying on her feet most of the time.

Robin had fallen face-first roughly a dozen times, grumbling the whole way about, “Stupid trees, stupid, stupid, eyes…”

By the twelfth time, his sister ended up grabbing his hand and pulling him along, snapping at him to shut up when he protested.

”I’m tired of hearing you complain-“

”But you’re complaining!”

”I’m older.”

”YOU SUCK!”

”Shut up!”

Raiden turned and glared at them, but kept going.

When they managed to reach the bean-o-vator, somehow avoiding getting caught, Raiden angrily slammed the button to close the doors and turned to them.

"If it wasn't for the fact everyone's busy looking for Hei we would've been caught ten times over thanks to you idiots. Do me a favor and shut the hell up before I decide to bag you two in a rift."

“It’s not my fault I can’t, y’know, see,” Robin snapped, waving a hand over his face and “accidentally” hitting Raiden in the process.

“You’re bleeding!” Opal said, burrowing in her backpack and sticking a band-aid over her brother’s elbow.

”It’s just a scratch.”

”Well, next time you can bleed out,” she grumbled back, dodging another swipe from the cat and adding, “Some friends you are.”

"I heard that," Raiden snapped, "As for you Robin, you could've just accepted help instead of complaining the whole way."

The bean-o-vator door conveniently opened again at that point, allowing them out into the woodland before another snarky remark (or swipe from Glace) could be put into effect.

Both siblings rushed out, before Opal stopped and asked, “Wait… where are we going?”

"I already told you, the Faen Military Camp. Now come on before someone notices us, we aren't in the clear yet." Raiden responded, continuing soon after answering.

The two followed, the elder with grace, the younger with… a whole lot of “Ow!”’s.

They continued through the woodland, following a blue cat who seemed to be purposely leading them down the most difficult paths possible.

Just when they were about to burst about the amount of branches they were smacked by and rocks they tripped over, the mountain lion cub stopped and beckoned ahead.

Blade clashed against blade, arrows after arrow was let loose. Nearby, a faen and wizard fighter were engaged in singular combat, the specific crystal fairy boredly watching the wizard launch attack after attack, easily blocking each with their polearm.

It wasn't long before she stabbed them in the chest, spear protruding from the wizard as they crumpled to the floor.

The fighting continued, gravity shifting and a purple mist occasionally filling the field - which lead to both sides fleeing... except the dark fairies, who didn't seem to be affected, slay fleeing wizards in cold blood.

When the mist faded the two sides collided again, the wizard archers switching to iron arrows, and the faen using those made of lead - both sides trying to neutralize the other.

Red stained the ground.

Eventually, the fighters receded, faen and wizard healers walking to body after body, trying to save those they could, but too many were already long dead.

To the far right, a few wizards patrolled, looking confident despite dwindling numbers. On the far left was the faen army, where ice and fire fey patrolled, armed and clearly not hesitant towards killing any intruder.

The formerly green grass had been stained with a reddish-white liquid, limp and horribly disfigured bodies peppering the ground.

Fey screeched in horror as their wings were torn from their bodies in an attempt to gather fairy dust and severely wound their enemies at the same time.

While there were many dead wizards, there were more injured Faen… many of their ranks having to treat the fallen.

Crushed wings, torn tails, and gruesome limbs were scattered about, nobody knowing who they belonged to.

Somewhere on the battlefield, there were some coins and blood on the floor. There was also skid marks and small flames.

It seems like a certain wizard was rushing through the battlefield trying to deliver a package.

Opal was swallowing the bile in her mouth - she’d seen much, much worse at the healing tents. Robin, meanwhile, was blissfully oblivious, only calling for them to find the Faen military camp.

A certain blue cat had flinched slightly at the sight of the battlegrounds but showed no other reaction as it shepherded the three other children to the left, still obscured by the woodland but heading toward the faen military camp.

They snuck around the back, peeking out to the sight of two Ice Fairies arguing in front of a tent, one having a cyan streak amid blue hair and the other wearing silver and blue, white hair falling over a tired gaze.

Unmistakably, they were Aly and General Cyro.

“It’s Glace’s mom and that general,” Opal whispered to Robin. “Glace, what are you doing?”

The cat didn't answer, not being able to, and instead sat down, watching the argument in what could only be amusement.

After a good bit of arguing, Aly stormed off, clearly having enough of the conversation, while Cyro simply sighed and ducked into the tent.

Almost instantly, Glace leaped to her feet and padded up to the tent, glancing back to see if the group would follow.

Opal rushed after her, pulling Robin along.

“This better be helpful,” she muttered under her breath.

The interior of the tent was shockingly organized for something that had to be set up so recently.

Luckily, the tent had dividers, a broad area supposedly for meeting with other generals and an isolated area where they can only guess where Cyro was. A table with questionable durability was at the center of the area, mostly questionable due the amount of angry sword slashes hacked into the wood, the wrecker of havoc leaning against the wall, silver blade having shining pattern with a frigid aura. On the table was a napping, suspiciously familiar, salamander with a small blanket atop it.

It was also cold.

Way too cold.

Glace padded right up to entrance of the private section, but not before being stopped by a husky that well towered the feline. The children tensed, clearly expecting a classic cat-being-chased-by-dog-senario, only for the blue cat to be licked in the face - to it's despise.

That's when the husky noticed the others, approaching with ears flatten and a deep growl.

“It’s a dog,” the girl remarked in surprise, reaching out a hand and surpassing everyone - including herself - when it licked her all over.

"Yes, Mishka's a dog, is there a problem with that?" Standing outside the entrance of the private area was a cross-looking general, holding an annoyed mountain lion cub that had snuck in the minute they were distracted.

“Oh!”

Gulping back her shock, Opal muttered, “Er, no- no problem. Sir. Wait, no- General. Uh… we came here to see if we could call a ceasefire? If it was possible? Ask Glace, I guess.”

He sighed exasperatedly, tail lashing in displeasure, "It's not that simple, and you children aren't supposed to be here to begin with." That sentence was ended with a glare at the cat, who glared back.

Robin spoke up before his sister could stop him, the boy staring Cyro down - despite the major height difference.

”Well, here’s a rewording - stop beating people up and maybe help the dying for once! No good comes out of this war, anyway, we can all see that. Or do you just like blood and gore?”

The wizard was standing on his toes now, still glaring, fists clenched. “And if you don’t want to stop this war, then you can-“

Opal stepped in front of him, blocking any attack she was anticipating. “Sorry, but my brother’s right. We’re ending this war and nothing you do will stop us.”

The expression that was plastered across the General's face was just about as neutral and annoyed one could get, his tone showing the increasing annoyance at having to deal with children in the middle of work, "I never said I want war, I don't like it any more than you do, or any more than anyone else, for that matter. Do you think I don't care when someone dies? Well, I'll have you know I'M WRITING THE NOR DAMNED CONDOLENCE LETTERS." Cyro exhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand, "Look, I tried multiple times to talk things out with the other side, and I was taught how to handle diplomatic situations - but did it work? You're just a bunch of kids who shouldn't be here, and your parents would have my head if they knew you were on the wargrounds for Ice's sake."

“Well my parents are good as dead so I don’t care if you bring us back, we’re either stopping this war or stopping this war!” Robin called, trying to get around his very persistent sister, the two having an “argument” with their eyes.

”What my idiot of a brother-“ Opal started, ignoring the glare he sent her, “-is trying to say is that there’s no other choice besides getting all of this to end.”

The Ice Fairy leaned against the table separating them, "Well I'm bringing you back either way, and do you want to know why? I don't want to write one more letter telling one more parent that their kids are dead, and for a reason as petty as yours," his fist made contact with the table, the wood notably cracking a bit under the pressure, "If you dare come back I will personally make sure you're assigned KP duty for a week. I do not want you nearly getting killed getting to the enemy side, only to escalate things further. You're not even fairies, you have no idea why this happened to begin with."

“Actually, I know full well because I was there, my uncle-“

Robin cleared his throat.

”-never mind, point is END THIS STUPID WAR!”

Cyro arched an eyebrow, "You're demanding for me to do the impossible. One person alone cannot stop a war as large as this one."

“Fine, there’s five of us, a lot more of you count everyone back at camp,” Opal responded. “Would that be enough? We have a lot of refugees as well - fairies and wizards alike.”

"And an army can't stop it either," he stated paradoxically, expression unchanging, "an army can only convince one person to speak, and then a white flag is raised. That is when two persons, or a council of persons, stops the war in a ceasefire and treaty. We're still stuck in the middle of the convincing part, and until whoever is leading the wizard side is convinced, this war cannot end without them being killed."

“Well, I think we know who’s leading the wizard’s side,” she said confidently. “Either way, we end this here and now, and you help.”

It was ridiculous, comedic almost - an immensely capable general with extraordinary physical ability against two teenagers, one of which was blind, and the other of which lacked much fighting ability. Yet the way both of them glared at him was fascinating almost - hoping, believing, trying against all odds.

Maybe, though… they just had a little bit of faith left in them.

Cyro stared at them for a few good minutes - in which Glace, who was on the table, took the opportunity to groom her fur - before the General sighed, walking over to the side of the table and grabbing sword leaning against it, sliding the silver blade into the sheath hanging from his belt. "Fine, but if you die I will go to hell just to kill you again - and mind you, Bonfire is already hell for me."

Raiden stared on blankly, shaking her head with a tsk, "You idiots are crazy, but hey, you convinced the grouchy grandpa of grandpas."

The Ice Fairy promptly glared at her at that, clearly not enjoying that title.

The two beamed.

“So, how do we start?” Robin asked. “Because I didn’t think we’d make it this far, if I’m being honest.”

Cyro gave him a glare that not only would have withered flowers, but trees and vines and bushes as well.

The boy didn’t back down - probably because he couldn’t see the Ice Fairy’s dagger-eyes.

The general gripped the hilt of his weapon to the point his knuckles turned white, "We are going to wizard side, fighting past what could be multitudes of guards if they don't want to talk, generally commit a few war crimes, then knocking sense into their leader, all while avoiding being killed. And this is just because you don't want to wait for the cycle of war to run its course."

The siblings high-fived. “Sounds perfect!”

Robin immediately got to work restringing his bow, while his sister dug around in her backpack, looking for something useful, and coming up with her wand, a pocketknife, a half-empty pack of band-aids, crumpled tissues, and a handful of cough drops.

”Meh, those’ll work.”

Raiden, Cyro, and a now non-cat Glace promptly facepalmed in unison, startling each other.

Raiden spoke first of the three, "They're worse than my dad..."

Glace skeptically arched an eyebrow, "Is that even possible?"

"Have you met my uncles?"

"Fair point."

“So, general, let’s get started?” the girl asked, pushing her glasses up.

"I highly prefer if you just called me Cyro..." He sighed before heading towards the tent flap, "Mishka, keep an eye on things for me," the Husky immediately sat down with a bark, "as for you four, I think it's best if we go around through the woodland, that way we can stay unseen until we're near the entrance to their base."

The siblings nodded eagerly, rushing out to the woods before Cyro could say another word.

The fairy sighed before following in suit, Glace and Raiden tagging along.

Opal rushed from tree to tree, occasionally popping a bubble - much to Cyro’s fury.

”Don’t you dare-“

Pop.

”We’re going to get caught thanks to you-“

Pop.

”Shut up-“

Pop.

It was only when Glace made a swipe at her when the girl stopped, only to realize Robin had tripped roughly three dozen times.

With what felt like an eternity, the group overlooked the main entrance to the wizard base, where alarms were still blaring due to a certain pet trainer's shenanigans.

Robin groaned, covering his ears. “God, that thing better shut up soon!”

At the irony, every single person swiveled around to glare at him and his sister.

The wizard was oblivious, just adjusting his sunglasses.

There were guards screaming as they were on fire.

At that point, the blind wizard was wishing he was deaf as well, his hands clamped over his ears and him groaning in annoyance.

There were screams of pain, as well as roars from some monsters, as the trainer was trying to catch them.

There were leaves and flames everywhere, and there were some puddles where there weren’t flames.

Robin was not the only one bothered by the noise, Cyro and Glace had their hands clamped tightly over their ears, the sound more deafening than annoying.

Raiden sighed exaggeratedly before stamping her foot on the ground, an electrical shockwave being sent out and promptly disarming all forms of wizard technology within the radius.

The borg inspected her hand, "Really, their tech is pitiful. They'll be stuck in a blackout for about an hour until they realize someone overloaded everything."

Guards were being blown out of the door by a flap of wings from a very angry Wyvern.

“Why haven’t we won yet? And how did they win the last time around?” Opal asked.

Cyro raised his eyebrows at her wording, but only said, “Strength in numbers. And some… interesting tactics. War crimes.”

It was complete pandemonium inside of the dome. All while the pet trainer was just standing near the door, watching his pets maim the guards.

Outside, the group was taking opportune and sneaking inside, ice smothering flames enough for them to travel safely.

Occasional blasts of light fried the guards easily, Ravena landing with perfect poise next to Kobe.

Meanwhile, an ecstatic whoop resounded from the building.

Zayden’s voice screamed, “OH MY GOD IT WORKED!”

The girl frowned, pausing her onslaught for a second to call back, “WHAT?”

”THE TECH’S BEEN DISAB- aww, there was interference.”

A pause.

“Wait… INTERFERENCE?”

Ravena facepalmed while her friend tried to figure the tech out. Her muttering, “Idiot…” under her breath.

“Tarragon, use Wyvern Rage!” Yelled Kobe.

Tarragon opened its mouth, and charged a shockwave attack.

Not far, Raiden, Opal, Robin, Glace, and Cyro were making their way past a few guards within the building. Arrows, blasts of astral, and a few more shockwaves all made up the wizards' (and borg's) fighting style. Cyro was making use of his sword, only seeming to have to make contact with the opponent once to slay them instantly... most likely having something to do with the aura the blade had. Meanwhile, Glace was mostly fighting dirty, not hesitating to give her opponent a swipe in the face.

Opal was doing astonishingly well with just a three-inch long pocketknife and her pet dragon slithering around. Any guard who got too close for comfort was cut down by blasts of Astral magic and a whirlwind of leaves, along with a tiny blade.

Robin took the far range, letting his sister cover him with zero worry while he relied on the sounds of the enemy, just one arrow required for taking down a guard. It was too easy, really, they were so loud… the boy could practically visualize them in his mind.

Meanwhile, a black-haired, brown-skinned boy rushed out from the facility.

”Somebody tampered with the tech from the outside,” he said frantically, squeezing his brother’s hand tightly. “It’s crazy powerful, and also really unnatural.”

Tarragon fired the shockwave, paralyzing some of the guards.

At Skywatch, a certain Storm Trainee finally managed to ditch Mira and Winston, only to bump into Juniper and discover who else was gone.

It was only a matter of time until the borg tumbled out of a rift just outside the building, dashing inside and mostly just phasing past the guards - stunning them when needed.

It soon became clear that the groups were on a collision course.

Flames, bursts of water, tornadoes made of leaves, electricity.

One thing would be made very clear to the wizard army.

You shouldn’t mess with the master of monsters.

Aria now had went into action mode, joining the fight by repeatedly slamming people into the floor until they were unconscious. The smoke still surrounded her, rendering her immune to physical attacks lest one wish for hallucinations and toxins in their bloodstream.

It wasn't long until two siblings, a young cyborg, and two fairies stepped into the same room as Kobe, Ravena, Zayden, and Braxton.

The girl looked everybody up and down, gaze harsh, while the boy was too busy tampering with a circuit board.

Braxton spoke. “I remember you!”

Robin blinked. “How would you-“

”From the television, remember? We saw a clip of the refugee camps?” He tugged on his brother’s arm. “Remember?”

”…no… I’m busy…”

“You-“ he pointed at Glace. “-you were a cat. And you had a brother. And you-“ he pointed to Opal and Robin now. “-you were the kids of the killing lady.”

Both siblings scowled at that, the younger moving to slap him, but the hobbyist held him back.

While all the talking was happening, there were screams of pain, and the sound of thunder in the background.

Cyro gazed at the horde of children with a neutral expression, "I have no idea what's happening here but-"

He didn't get to finish before Raiden made a snarky remark after glancing over Zayden's shoulder, "That'll get overloaded in the slightest occurrence of Storm Magic and there's not waterproofing so it can easily get short-circuited. On top of that, it'll overheat in a matter of seconds."

The boy blushed, glaring at the cyborg. “Who are you? And, besides-“

He twisted one of the tiny knobs, nearly breaking the delicate piece on the process. “-it’s a lot harder doing this when I have no material, and a certain idiot decided to chuck his pet disk around like a basketball.”

”What’s it for?”

"Oh, nothing, nothing you should care about. Now who are you?"

"Raiden, and you're overthinking this." She reached down, grabbed the disk, to Zayden's despise, and messily reconnected one of the wires that had become unsoldered before returning it, "There, it's still badly made though."

“Okay, Raiden, get away from us.”

The boy pulled his brother closer, snapping to Ravena, “Can we kill them now?”

The girl smiled. “Frankly, they don’t seem so bad. You need to be a bit more accepting of criticism.”

He glared daggers at her. “Like you’re any better, now blast them with your stupid magic.”

"Tarragon, Cloud Neek, Triptrop, Aquaster. Stop. We sent them a message already." said Kobe.

Cyro glared at Ravena, "If you dare blast anyone who's not one of the guards, we'll have an issue, and frankly, we'll gladly leave you alone, we have things to do anyhow."

“And I have zero reason to trust you,” she retorted. “Clearly, if we fight, I won’t win, but I still need some information.”

“And you could explain why your friend is soooo good at tech,” Zayden grumbled, purposely yanking out the wire that Raiden had fixed and rewiring it himself.

"Is that jealousy?" Raiden stated, arms crossed.

Cyro ignored the last two remarks. holding Ravena's gaze, "They want to convince, so to speak, the wizard leader to call a ceasefire. I'm tagging along to make sure they don't get killed, as well as... dealing with the situation when they fail."

"We won't fail," Glace informed him with a cold stare.

Opal nodded along. “And you’re not stopping us either.”

The two teenagers and the younger boy studied them for a second before stepping aside.

The gray-eyed girl spoke up before they could leave, though. “Oh… and I’m assuming you know Kobe?” She jabbed a thumb in the direction where said trainer had gone. “Now go call a ceasefire.”

Zayden's machine suddenly spat out sparks as it zapped the holder, who yelped in pain, much to Raiden's amusement.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the building, a Storm Trainee ran down the halls, a weak electrical pulse moving down the hallway in front of him before recalling - acting as a form of electroreception.

He was moving gradually towards a certain time traveler, who still failed to update him on the situation.

Kobe walked out of the dome, all of his pets following him.

Aria slowly turned around at the sound of the footsteps, flicking a body off of her Wingblades. As Storm came into focus, she allowed the charged smoke to hover behind her instead of surrounding her, visibly concerned about how much she was going to get talked to death.

"Um... if you're here to talk about me not telling you that the alarm set off, I was busy trying to save multiple people from enemy territory, so..." The younger time traveler shrugged, but the movement was unfocused and shaky. Nonchalantness had nothing in the face of someone Aria knew for a fact talked to Juniper, and that alone scared her.

One second, two, then, "You did WHAT?"

Evidently, the borg hadn't known about the alarm part, especially because a certain younger borg had disarmed it.

A tendril of Void magic formed in the air as he began to speak, "First you run off, next you lose Kobe, then you fail to tell me what's going on, and now you tell me YOU SET OFF AN ALARM? Not to mention committing a few war crimes judging by the dead body you tried to hide from me," the Storm Trainee exhaled frustratedly as a pressed a hand to his forehead, "If it wasn't for the fact not only Kobe is missing, but Raiden, Opal, Robin, and Glace are too, I would deal with you here and now." At that, the now tentacle of a void tendril dissipated, the voidwalker glaring at his fellow time traveler in displeasure.

Aria glanced nervously at the floor, muttering something like "okay i get it" in a surprisingly small voice. The younger time traveler inched away, slowly making the smoke veil return- once it was complete, she took off into the far hallway, occasional movements signaling static shocks towards the few remaining guards that tried to deal with her.

With a sigh, Storm followed at a safe distance, once again releasing a pulse of electricity to see where he was going.

Meanwhile, Glace, Cyro, Robin, Opal, and Raiden were having much more trouble navigating in the dark, Raiden having to walk in front with her saber while Robin had no idea why the others were complaining.

“Seriously, what’s the matter?” Robin asked.

”We can’t see,” the cyborg responded.

He harrumphed, crossing his arms. “Oh no! What a nightmare!”

"Well sorry, but we can't echolocate like you can- oh wait." A pulse of electricity was sent out, being recalled after a bit. "Three doorways on the right, two on the left in the next... ten meters?"

Glace stared at her blankly, "Are you telling me YOU COULD'VE DONE THAT THE WHOLE TIME-"

"I forgot, okay?"

"Idiot..."

Opal facepalmed in the darkness. “Come on, let’s go.”

Now making better progress, the group continued on, until Raiden stopped in the middle of her tracks.

“Oh, look, more children,” a voice said loftily, The Lady holding back a laugh as she assessed them. “Pathetic.”

At the moment, a generator sounded and the lights conveniently powered back on, revealing a smug looking woman standing just in front of them.

Cyro glared at her from the back of the group, having connected the dots.

The Lady only watched. “Oh, look, a ‘general’ committing war crimes. You’re just as bad as that hybrid.”

She spit her words out like they were bad-tasting in her mouth, sneering.

"I haven't committed any war crimes yet," he informed her drily, "we're just here to talk."

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for them to start.

Nobody spoke for a good five seconds, before the hobbyist shoved her friend on front of her, muttering, “Glace, it was your idea.”

The Ice Fairy glared before turning to the Lady, hands on her hips and looking overall intimidating - not that hard seeing she was already annoyed.

"Look, I put it simple, you agree to a ceasefire and talk things out like civilized people instead of potentially committing genocide, or else."

"Or else what?" She responded with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

"Or else you can say hello to hell as we force your second ranking officer to surrender for you."

“One, you’re a child, don’t try to intimidate me, two, this is war, not a playground, and three, my second-ranking officer is… occupied.”

Glace glared more profoundly, "I am not a child."

"You're not an adult are you? Then you're a child."

The Ice Fairy harrumphed, tail lashing angrily.

Cyro bore look of bemusement, but it was quickly replaced with concern, "Occupied as in...?"

“Occupied as in I don’t like having any threats to my status. And don’t even try to fight me, I have a plethora of guards that I’m very willing to sacrifice - along with a few tricks.”

She hissed slightly on the last word, tiny smirk appearing on her lips.

"In other words, dead," he replied with an unrevealing expression, fingering the hilt of his sword, "I'm mildly surprised at your stupidity in not choosing a new one within a day of their death, assuming they weren't out in the battlegrounds earlier. Then again, what else are you to expect from a sapan? Though I normally don't think lowly of your species, your ability has become... questionable."

The Lady opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted.

"Ah, well, that's not the topic at hand. If you wish, we can discuss the matter of a ceasefire, as that would be the smart thing to do - having your blood freeze your organs inside out is not a quick and painless death." His tone shifted to that of a threat, the feeling of algor filling the space, "Your guards are not a threat towards me, and would only be a petty waste of resources. I do recommend talking, but in all respect, it's your choice."

“I seriously doubt your kind could ever manage peace. Need I remind you of the last war that happened, one caused by a Dark Fairy?”

He crossed his arms, "Dark Fairies are banished from their tribes - what they do or say does not qualify as a representation of our species. We held peace well before you wizards came along - you're way more troublesome than the humans before you."

“What my ancestors did doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s happening currently. And what’s happening is pushes in technology. A powerful reign. Growth of our population. A paradise where my people can live in peace.”

That was answered with a laugh, not from Cyro, not from Glace, but Raiden. She was doubled over with laughter, cheeks pink from how hard she was laughing.

"Technology? Technology? Do you think this pathetic piece of junk is important? Do you think it matters? You think it'll lead to you being the alpha species?" She burst into laughter again, unable to control herself, "Who do you think sent you to the dark earlier? Who do you think made Skywatch? Who do you think made the tech which actually works? I'm surprised the fairies even pity you people enough to reason with you, if I were them, I wouldn't stall the war to talk things out, I would take control and knock sense into you the hard way. Do you know when this place was a paradise? Ten million years ago, when the lot of you were nonmagical and technologyless. You can't create a paradise without harmony within the existing species and peoples, a quick peek at other dimensions proves that."

“The fairies lost the last war, they will lose this one. And besides, I’d rather not use savage means like you are, robot. Other dimensions are meaningless, so go scamper off to them if you’d like.”

"Ah, I wouldn't say that if I were you," Raiden replied, gaze darkening, "And Cyro, would you kindly inform this idiot how the wizards won last time? I have a feeling a trip to the past would end badly."

Cyro crossed his arms, but answered willingly, "The wizard side kidnapped a fairy, scarcely eight years old, and forced them to kill off half the faen army for them - it was the only thing that kept them from losing. Keeping in mind, there is no fairy with the capabilities of that one in the current generation, and a fair fight would lead to your loss."

“Exactly why I can’t call a ceasefire. If you savages took over, this island would collapse. Why are we the dominant species? Don’t try to deny it we are - it’s because we’re intended to be so.”

"Oh, but I think you're the savages. You'll torture your own children if they were accused to be a fey." Cyro replied almost emotionlessly, "If you're really the dominant species, how come you're weaker? Slower? Stupider? Physically incapable of surviving without your tools and technology?"

“Then why are we the ones reigning over you?” she responded. “I don’t deny you have extraordinary abilities, along with a certain… ruthlessness we can’t replicate. It’s something I’ve been trying to do for years.”

"Because we let you," he responded coldly, "and we've decided we had enough of watching you mess up, and want a say in things as well."

“I seriously doubt any of you savages know of mercy or generosity.”

"Mercy? Done all too often. Generosity? Where do you think Fairy Dust comes from? As for you presenting those traits... when have you done that for that? Forcing us to the cave systems and torturing without reason?"

“We have become stronger than you, after the abuse you gave us. There is an extensive history of you abusing us and not the other way around, it’s why we’re taking control - yet again you attempt to steal and abuse power.”

"You mean changelings? And have you ever stopped to give thought to why we would do such a thing seeing how protective we are of our own? And for your information, we stopped doing that centuries ago." Cyro resumed gripping the hilt of his sword, knuckles turning white from how tight he was holding it.

She exhaled deeply. “No, your other things. From the hatred and toxicity of the Dark Fairies to the fury and rage of the Fire Fairies, you all are not exactly known for your ability to do good.”

"Again, the Dark Fairies do not represent our species, and Fire Fey are the spawn of dragons, they show much similar behavior to wizard-dragon hybrids, how come the judgement is only directed towards them?"

She sighed.

”Your people have been just as bad, the Storm Fairies kill on sight, the Creek Tribe is immensely possessive of their land and allows no passage… I could keep going, but I’ve made my point.”

Barely concealed from vision was the cyan rift that heralded two time traveling jack***es munching on movie theater food, looking on with great interest.

"The Creek Tribe has reason to be possessive, and there's no reason for wizards to pass through there. As for the Storm Tribe, their distrust towards humans was caused by your actions, and it'll only worsen if this war doesn't stop." He responded calmly, with a bit of confidence that was near unreasonable seeing how the Lady targeted every flaw.

“And yet you criticize us for similar reasons.”

He fiddled with his sword again, "However, our distrust is the result of your racism, not the other way around. It is the existence of the human race that brings out the bad of other creatures, it's almost as if you exist solely to bring chaos, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. All your arguments can be invalidated, why do you try?"

”And our racism is the result of your abuse. We’re not blameless, but neither are you. The only way to sort this out is continuing the path we are on.”

"We have never purposely abused you, but I will admit to my kind committing wrongs. And no, your racism isn't the result of any of our actions, but your lust for power. Billions of years ago some fool of a wizard thought it was a genius idea to enslave a fairy for personal gain, and look where are now. This path will only lead you further in the course of your own destruction." His voice did not waiver once, he was the one who knew the facts in this situation, all the Lady had to back her up were centuries of lies and overgeneralizations.

“Then why do you resist? And again, ancestry doesn’t matter, or should I hold you responsible for the actions of a certain Dark Fairy?”

Cyro sighed, "As it happens, I am not related to that Dark Fairy, if you were to hold ancestry against me, it will be futile. Yet I am not holding you responsible for the actions of the past, only for continuing them without trying to see things from your so-called enemy's perspective."

Meanwhile, a pet trainer was running back to the dome, with all of his pets in tow, trying to find a first aid kit for his Triptrop.

The boy skidded to a stop, being halted by a girl with raven hair and gray eyes.

”Kobe, what are you doing? We’ve got to get out of here.”

“Triptrop needs a first aid kit! Its fist is bleeding!” replied Kobe.

“Nobody cares! It’ll survive, but we won’t if you barge in there.”

“Do you think I’ll just let him bleed? Triptrop is crying!”

Kobe gestured to a whimpering Triptrop, who was being comforted by Cloud Neek.

“And you’ll be crying if you even think about going back there, idiot!”

Ravena rolled her eyes, turning to Zayden. “Told you he’d disappoint me.”

“Takes an idiot to know an idiot!”

Kobe and his pets continued onwards, leaving the others in the dust.

The girl crossed her arms, glaring in the direction where he ran. “Weakling.”

“Just leave him alone, you shouldn’t get so attached anyway,” he responded, clutching his brother so closely Braxton seemed to melt into his body. “Let’s get out of here.”

”Where?”

Zayden shrugged. “Far away.”

”Again?”

”Again.”

Kobe dashed into the dome, with his pets in tow, and stole a nearby first aid kit from an infirmary. He then heard some arguing coming from a nearby room.

The Lady and Cyro will still talking, making the other children quite bored. Obviously, they didn’t complain, but Robin and Glace were on the verge of doing so.

Kobe was about to leave, but the second he heard The Lady’s voice, he stopped.

He wrapped Triptrop’s fist with a bandage, and walked towards the voice.

The Lady and Cyro were on the verge of full-on arguing, Kobe feeling a rush of adrenaline in his mind. There was no thinking, no pause, just pure anger and a need to do something.

Kobe burst into the room.

“Looks like someone’s ready to get their butts kicked in a battle!” he yelled.

The guards immediately swarmed in, the kids leapt to their feet and got ready for battle, The Lady slipped away, and Cyro groaned.

In the distance, a girl screamed, “YOU IDIOT, KOBE!” before being hushed by their friend.

Kobe whistled, and then, Tarragon ran in.

”Think wisely. You can either leave, or get killed by my fire breathing Wyvern.”

The wizards attacked.

Tarragon was taken out first, a plethora of Astral blasts doing more than enough to the poor wyvern.

Three arrows cut through the air, each one hitting precisely where it needed to, Robin smiling at their groans of pain.

A series of guards were knocked to the ground, Opal practically dancing between them and taking care of a good amount.

Kobe ran up to Tarragon and kneeled down next to it.

”Tarragon…” he said.

He put the Wyvern back in its capsule, and stood up.

”Now you’ve done it!”

Then the trainer jumped out of the way as a ray of light came directly at him, the burn on his ankle sending tears to his eyes.

”Get up!” the girl snapped as she landed gracefully next to Kobe, pulling him to his feet. “You’re in so much trouble-“

She leaped out of the way of a Light Wave, doing a handspring and knocking out… or worse… the caster.

Kobe wiped his tears, and sent out Aquaster.

Aquaster fired Torrents at some of the guards, sending them flying against the walls.

Cyro let out a long and heaving side before promptly freezing all the guards, glaring at Kobe profoundly.

Opal was beginning to laugh, elbowing Kobe and murmuring between giggles, “Juniper’s gonna murder you…”

Kobe didn’t care. All he was doing was looking at Tarragon in his capsule.

The girl snapped her fingers loudly to get his attention. “That’ll get patched up easy. Let’s get back home, this was a huge fail.”

She looked like she was about to add, “Thanks to you,” but instead dragged him away.

Kobe tried to resist, but just gave up after two seconds.

Cyro sighed before muttering, "We should get back before anyone notices we're here." He dashed down a hall, Glace and Raiden shooting looks at Kobe before following.

Cloud Neek, who was following behind Kobe, stuck its tongue out at Glace and Raiden.

Opal grabbed her brother’s hand and rushed after them, still giggling.

It was only a matter of time before the group had to dodge out of the way of two ion cannons, the amount of combined electricity unspeakable.

The casters were a certain borg and time traveler, Storm staring in disbelief before saying, "...Cyro?"

"Don't ask," the fairy snapped grouchily in response.

Raiden and Glace fidgeted nervously, in which in turn the Storm Trainee facepalmed.

"Raiden, you're grounded."

"But you don't know-"

"It's obvious, as for you-" Storm turned to Aria, who was edging away, and grabbed her by the ear, "You're not getting away with anything."

Kobe grumbled about how he’s only 12, while Cloud Neek was mocking everyone else.

The second everybody managed to step out of the territory and into the forest, a certain furious hybrid was ready to scream.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?”

Storm winced, stepping forward and placing a hand on the very angry woman’s arm. “Juni-“

“STORM YOU ARE NOT ESCAPING THIS, I HAVE TEN PARAGRAPHS RESERVED JUST FOR YOU.”

The cyborg winced, stepping back while Juniper did her thing.

“What were you thinking? Were you even thinking at all? First you lose Aria and Kobe while breaking Chase out of a maximum security prison-“

“The guards were pushovers. Weak as veggies,” Raiden muttered.

She turned to her, purple eyes flashing. “Then how did you lose not one but two people in the process?”

That shut the teenager up.

“Storm, you were the adult, why didn’t you do anything, they could’ve been killed, Aria’s being treated for lung damage right now and it’s entirely your fault! And you can bet the second she gets back I’m unleashing every single lecture I can at her-“

Storm raised his hand. “Er… Aria kinda hates being lectured-“

“Then maybe she should’ve thought things through. Storm, this is ridiculous, you’ve been nothing but idiotic this entire time, you didn’t think at all!”

The cyborg shrank under Juniper’s glare, fidgeting awkwardly, unable to defend himself.

“First you take children to a guarded prison, lose several of them and get them nearly killed, get Chase’s hand stabbed in the process, then you have the just brilliant idea of LOSING THEM AGAIN AND LETTING THEM RUN TO THE ENEMY SIDE?!”

“I wasn’t trying to lose them-“

“Well then you’re either lying or more idiotic than I thought. And you must have passed that down to Raiden!”

The young cyborg snapped to attention, staring aggressively at her feet, cheeks bright red.

“Young lady, how could you have even considered marching into enemy territory and demanding a ceasefire like that? Did you think of the dangers? You ridiculous moron, I’d think since you would be just a bit smarter than your father but NO-“

“It was Glace’s-“

“Oh yes, thank you for the REMINDER!”

The Ice Fairy flinched, cringing when Juniper turned to her.

“HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO STUPID? Invading enemy territory, thinking you can just call a ceasefire, suggesting this ridiculous plan, you could’ve died, your friends could’ve died, you’ve all been hurt, all because of your idiocy-“

“But Opal-“

The hybrid crossed her arms. “I’ve spoken to Opal about this, she’s explained herself and kept you all from dying.”

“Lucky,” Robin grumbled.

He immediately regretted it when his aunt wheeled on him next.

“And you, tagging along with them, thinking it’s so cool to RISK YOUR LIFE FOR A TERRIBLE PLAN, listen to your sister, young man, and maybe you’ll not NEARLY DIE EVERY TEN SECONDS!”

Juniper sighed, her throat raw. Just in time, a green-eyed, glasses-wearing, teenager rushed in, passing her a cup of tea.

Her aunt sighed gracefully. “Thank you, Opal.”

After a long sip, she started off again, this time louder and harsher than ever.

“CYRO, DON’T THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE A CENTURIES-OLD GENERAL YOU CAN ESCAPE THIS.”

The fairy looked stunned, glancing at Storm as if to ask, “what do I do?”

The cyborg shrugged.

“TAKING CHILDREN TO ENEMY FACILITIES? COMMITTING WAR CRIMES DESPITE BEING A GENERAL YOURSELF? LETTING THESE CHILDREN NEARLY DIE? I suppose generals are chosen for their stupidity now, it’s a wonder you haven’t become the leader of the world with how much of an idiot you are.”

Cyro struggled to find words, completely shocked by Juniper's lecture and unable to find anything to retort with.

“ALL OF YOU - YES, EVEN YOU, ‘GENERAL’ - ARE GROUNDED. THREE WEEKS IN THE INFIRMARY AND IF YOU TRY TO PROTEST I’LL BASH YOUR BRAINLESS HEADS IN.”

Cyro stared at the furious healer for a good five seconds before stating, "I'm going to have to decline."

"OH NO YOU WON'T-"

Before she could even proceed in her lecture, Ice Magic swirled around the General before collapsing in on him, the fairy vanishing once it cleared, a sense of algor where he had stood.

However, noticeably, there was a trail of quickly melting ice, which if one was somehow capable of following it before it melted all together, one would stumble into the faen military camp, an icy patterning forming on the ground before a fairy burst out of it, surrounded in quickly fading cyan and ice.

A nearby fairy arched her eyebrow, looking somewhat smug, "Talking to Juniper didn't go well, didn't it?"

The white haired fairy glared at her, "Shut up, did no one teach you to respect your elders?"

"That's your fault," she replied in a singsong voice, inspecting her hand.

The General grumbled before marching into a nearby tent, off to write more condolence letters - a punishment in itself.

The hybrid glared at empty air, muttering, “I am destroying that little bi-“

“Language, Aunt Juniper,” Robin murmured.

“ALL OF YOU. INFIRMARY. NOW.”

They grumbled, but she wasn’t backing down. Finally, with a large amount of complaints and groans, they trudged off to the infirmary, being screamed at by a still very angry Juniper.

“AND IF YOU BANDAGE EVEN ONE WOUND WRONG YOUR TIME IS EXTENDED BY AN HOUR, SO BEST YOU MAKE NO MISTAKES.”

Cloud Neek started squeaking angrily.

"Actually, Juniper, it was my ar-" the Fire Warden cut himself off, faced with withering scowls from Juniper.

"Huh, you shut Chase up without batting an eye," Lane commented, ignoring the look turned on him as well.

Cloud Neek kept angrily squeaking, trying to cuss out Juniper.

Kobe didn’t stop it. It was hilarious.

The monster yelped as Juniper turned to Kobe, making the boy cower. She was screaming now, towering over him.

”YOU RECKLESS IDIOT, YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH TRYING TO HURT THE ENEMY WITHOUT GETTING YOURSELF-“

She shut up when she noticed his bleeding arm and the weak Tarragon in his pet disk, immediately rushed to bandage him with the gauze tucked to her side, muttering a whole lot of words like “idiot”, “murder”, “failure”, under her breath yet still panicking whilst healing him.

Juniper gave him a second to breathe before going back to screaming. “AND WHAT HAPPENED BACK THERE, WHY DIDN’T YOU RUN TO ME IMMEDIATELY, YOU FOOL-“

Another messy gulp of tea, and more yelling, which went on for what must have been at least forty-five minutes.

“WHY ARE YOU BLAMING ME?! I WAS MISTREATED BY LADY SIMP OVER THERE, I HAD ENOUGH!” he yelled back.

Cloud Neek squeaked in agreement.

“THEN IF YOU WERE BEING MISTREATED WHY DIDN’T YOU COME TO ME?!”

She sighed deeply, noticing Kobe’s tears threatening to spill over and his sniffles. “Fine. I’ll heal your pets, okay?”

Kobe turned away.

”No, they’re MINE! You can’t heal them! I’ll kill you if you do!” he said, being stubborn and ignorant. His eyes were still filled with tears, when they started rolling down his face.

“No! You’ll just lock me in a closet! I won’t let you!”

Kobe started hyperventilating.

Meanwhile, a certain time traveler flexed her metal wings in discomfort as she sat on a cot. Being gassed did not agree with her respiratory system, but she was able to remain uncoughing most of the time.

Kobe held Cloud Neek tight.

”You can’t make me! I’ll make him zap you if you do!”

“Fine, fine.” The healer flung her hands in the air. “Go back to the tents, okay?”

She waited for him to trudge off before rushing into a tent, glaring down at a suddenly very quiet and shy Aria.

Kobe simply couldn’t be reasoned with. He ran away with Cloud Neek while crying.

The healer crossed her arms. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, young lady?”

As Storm, comedically, was also forced to assist with bandaging and failing miserably, a blue cat was crouched to the floor and stalking out the tent, only to be snatched up by a child and torturously cuddled. Raiden had grouchily accepted the punishment, but with the sparks in the air about the borg, most requested that someone else tend to them.

Robin was being assisted by his sister, yet his lack of vision made it all the more heartbreaking when he felt the last breath shudder under his shaking hands.

With a sigh at failing once again to bandage a wound properly, Storm glanced at Juniper, "Do you really plan on making me stay her for three days? Because you know this is as bandaged as this is going to get if I'm the one doing it."

Aria didn't say anything out of habit, knowing that either route would lead to the same outcome.

Juniper sighed, rubbing her forehead to ward off a headache. “Okay, Storm, you can go.”

She turned to Aria. “So… WHAT THE ACTUAL [explicit]?! YOU LITTLE [explicit]! FIRST YOU THINK IT’S A GRAND OL' IDEA TO SNEAK OFF AND KILL A SIGNIFICANTLY MORE POWERFUL PERSON WHO CAN CALL GUARDS AT ANY SECOND, THEN YOU TRY TO SNEAK OUT ONLY TO BE GASSED-“

The healer buried her head in her hands. “Oh my god…”

"I don't think that exists in this universe..." The young time traveler's hands tightened around the edges of the cot, knuckles white. She glanced around as if there were an escape from the lecture.

“You are grounded, young lady, and-“

She paused, sighing deeply. “Okay, whatever, I’m just happy you’re alright, get out of here.”

Meanwhile, Kobe was curled up in a ball, next to a tree, angry tears rolling down his face.

Storm, who was already at the entrance of the infirmary, watched Aria trudge out before exchanging a quick glance with Raiden and leaving.

Meanwhile, a gray fairy was slipping out of the woods, completely calm.

“Where is my daughter?” A brown-haired woman snapped the second Gale stepped into view, her stalking right up into his face.

“I don’t know,” he responded immediately.

“I know you know, you hurt her, if you killed her I’ll kill you too!” Hilda screamed, purple eyes shining with tears staring into cold amber.

“You’d never get the chance.”

“I hate you!”

The fairy inhaled sharply, taking a rigid step back. “Well, that’s something else we have in common.”

Gale's tail lashed back and forth as he added on, "And I don't know where she is."

“I know you’re lying, I can use this book anytime I want, I-“

The woman took a deep breath, clenching her fists and taking a long pause in which she imagined her former friend being stabbed brutally to death before she unclenched them.

”I can kill you if I want to - which I do - you know. I will murder-“

Another deep breath.

Back to picturing Gale being stabbed to death.

”Just tell me.”

"I'm not lying," he responded disinterestedly, "I did see her, however, i don't know where she went after that. If you really want to use that book of yours, go ahead, it won't change the fact I'm telling the truth."

Silence, broken only by the flips of the book.

When Hilda spoke again, her voice was deathly calm, an unnerving smile beginning to etch its way across her face.

”So you stalked her, then hurt her, then left her to die - so you might as well have killed my daughter, and-“

A sweep of telekinesis knocked Gale to the ground. “-I will kill you.”

The Ivory got to his feet, tail lashing furiously for balance, "Didn't you say I deserve worse then death not long ago?"

“You do, you little-“

Another deep breath.

“I wish I’d killed you a long time ago,” she hissed under her breath. “But I can’t.”

"Oh, so you were bluffing? Classic, coming from you."

She clenched her jaw, staring the fairy down. “You know I’d kill you, you also know I can’t. My job goes over… everything else. Like it does for you.”

Her voice caught slightly, a sob being forced out of the way - all that mattered at the moment was destroying the person who hurt her children.

The Ivory fingered the sheathed knife in his pocket, wanting to fiddle with it, "Even your children?"

Silence.

He continued, "Oh, but I don't prioritize my job over everything else, I'm not quite sure what I prioritize, but it's not that. However," the fairy paused briefly, gaze unreadable, "you don't prioritize your job over everything. There's one thing you hold higher - four things, actually, but it dwindled to two, and I don't mind it dwindling to none. Yet, unfortunately, I won't be the one behind that, it seems they're doing a good job of it themselves."

A pause.

Then, her hand shaking, Hilda slammed the book open and moved to rip a page out when…

Her body relaxed and she flung the book down, glaring at Gale with more hatred than a human body could even hold.

“If you even touch any of my children…”

"Noted, but I know you won't do anything. You were too much of a coward to stand up to Florian, to apologize to those you've abandoned, I doubt you have the courage to rip that page."

The mention of… him… made Hilda tense, a flood of memories, of anger, of hatred, so much hatred, too much hatred…

All she said was, “You know what he did to me, I couldn’t resist. I apologized to them, but I’d never apologize - or care - about you.”

"So I was right?"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." However, the look he was giving her said otherwise.

A cold smile found its way across her face.

”I don’t care about you Gale, I never did, I never will. You really are a fishna, aren’t you? And I don’t love monsters.”

His expression was unreadable, but the fairy breathed deeply and turned to leave, fists clenched tightly.

Another sweep of telekinesis, then another, then another.

Hilda couldn’t contain the smile now, couldn’t stop herself from attacking Gale over and over and over.

Frankly, she didn’t want to.

“Nobody cares about you, and for good reason. I was right to hate you, Austen and Florian and all the Wardens were right to die on you, every single person who’s ever bullied you, they were right to do as well, and your mother was right to abandon you.”

With each word, she flung him back and forth, each time more aggressively. Every single drop of anger, of hatred, of sorrow - from Austen to the Wardens to Florian to Hunter to Jade to Juniper - all of it was taken out on this one monster.

He didn't once fight back, accepting the abuse.

Yet there was a limit to how much one could take.

A sweep of Astral blocked off her next attack, the elemental energy sweeping outwards as a barrier formed.

Hilda looked smug, jabbing one more insult, "Who's the coward now?"

"Who's the liar now?" He responded in an equal tone, wincing slightly.

“I’m not lying, though. I’ll always hate you, Gale. And anybody who doesn’t is a fool.”

"You are lying," he stated as he got back to his feet, pain shining in his gaze, "and you're a hypocrite. If a fishna should be hated with reckless abandon... then how come you don't hate Jade? And if everyone hates me... how come there are fools who bother to care?"

Each of her words were spat out with repulsion.

”My daughter is not a monster, and for those who care about you, well I’m just glad I’m not one of them.”

"You're living in a world of your own," the Ivory responded, leaving.

This time he broke into a run, managing to get away before she could try anything else.

Yet he couldn't get away from her words.

Nice to know forty-three years of hate weren't in vain.

Hilda watched, tiny bits of guilt beginning to seep in, but they were destroyed by the reminder of her children.

Of the pure devastation she felt when she saw Hunter’s dying face, the one thing she dreaded most of all.

Jade screaming at her, broken, insane, murderous, loveless. A fate worse than death.

Juniper hadn’t talked to her in what must have been months.

And deeper, lower, under the layers and layers of hatred and guilt and love and regret.

The body against hers, sharp pain, fear, anger, love, regret, helplessness, so much more.

But there was no point wondering.

Meanwhile, Kobe was sitting by a tree, while his Cloud Neek was playing in the grass.

The word failure kept surrounding Kobe, as well as Juniper yelling at him for the umpteenth time.

The troubled Pet Trainer clutched his head, and groaned.

“Hey,” a voice whispered behind him.

A girl sat down next to him, watching a spiral of light swirl in her hand.

The two sat in silence for a good twenty minutes before Ravena spoke.

”It’ll get better.”

“Will it really get better when The Lady has managed to get away scot free?”

The spiral of light hit the ground, incinerating the ground beneath it.

”I was the one cowering in the walls of my prison, and I couldn’t do anything about her. You want to compare lives, idiot?”

When he was silent, she scoffed.

”I thought so.”

“Fine… I guess we could launch an air strike on her base. My uncle has some bombs in his lab, and a plane on the roof.”

Ravena laughed, elbowing him in the ribs and smiling when he yelped, “Ow!”

”You’re such an idiot,” she said, smiling. It was like an owner watching their puppy chase its tail. “Well, go on ahead with your ‘brilliant plan’, I can’t wait for you to get in yet another prison that I’ll have to bust you out of.”

“Prison? On second thought, I think I’ll just prank her,” said the pet trainer.

Ravena rolled her eyes. “I keep telling you you’re an idiot, so let’s try more words. Fool. Buffon. Halfwit. Imbecile. Moron. Jacka-“

She stopped herself, pausing again. “Heh, this is kinda fun.”

“How many times are you gonna insult me today?”

She grinned wider. “Lighten up, jeez.”

Kobe sighed. “Y’know, I actually feel kind of better now.”

“Thought you would.”

“Th-Thanks?”

Ravena tossed her braid, snickering when it whipped Kobe in the face. “Yep, I know, I’m a genius.”

Kobe smiled, even though the braid hit his face.

He just felt like smiling for some reason.

This feeling was new to him.

She got to her feet. “I’m gonna go find Zayden now, bye.”

The teenager sauntered off without another word, yet the second she was out of earshot, a grin spread across her face.

“What an idiot…”

Kobe looked at her leave, mesmerized.

Then, Cloud Neek walked over, pointing to its stomach.

”Oh, right.” Said Kobe.

He reached into his bag, and pulled out some potato chips. He opened the bag, and poured it in a bowl he stole from the base.

Cloud Neek ate happily, while Kobe sat down by the tree, and took a nap.

Nathan walked up to Raiden and Glace. "So what's up with you guys?"

Raiden glared intensely at Nathan, a similar look coming from the blue cat next to her.

Nearby, Rai rolled his eyes at his sister's dilemma, then resumed trying to focus on keeping a bubble of water from freezing over.

Opal was half-writing, half-slashing her pen through the paper. Her notebook was an inky, shredded mess, a few words being noticeable.

Next to her, Robin was restringing his bow again, focusing intently on his task to avoid anybody else’s gaze.

“I’m booooooooooored,” a Storm Fairy groaned, ignoring the glares everybody sent his way. “What? Kaminari’s still in the war, Robin’s being boring, and I’m boooooooooored…”

Meanwhile, a certain Voidwalker was stabbing her sword into her arm.

Over and over.

Each time, Void healed it, yet there was now a gaping hole in her forearm where writing black-purple sat.

Jade glared at the area where it was, pacing back and forth as she chipped black blood off her body.

The sword missed her body and hit the ground, a sudden guttural scream resounding through the forest.

She couldn’t control the laughs now, the memories flooding back in full force, pulling her around like a toy. Like a puppet.

Her body hit the ground, the last drop of human she had left shattered, Void writhed again inside her.

The next thing Jade knew, she was glaring at the refuge tents, staring down at her sword, pulsating with black light.

One step closer.

A woman gasped, clutching her book to her chest. Purple eyes stared directly into green…

“Jade?”

“Get out of the way,” she snapped, “Or I’ll kill you too.”

"Jade," Hilda repeated, this time sounding a bit... desperate.

She barely managed to dodge the Void tentacle that went straight towards her, so fast and sharp it easily would’ve pierced her neck and killed her.

”Jade-“

The Voidwalker didn’t turn back, only kept walking, looking for something… someone.

A blind wizard’s eyes widened. “Hey, hey, hey, Opal?”

”What?” the girl asked vaguely, not even looking up from her notebook.

”I could’ve sworn I heard Mom…”

Without waiting another second, she leaped to her feet and ran out of the healing tent, ignoring Robin trying to catch up.

”Mom!” she cried, running faster than she even realized was possible, tears appearing in her eyes, and…

Nothing.

Jade looked even less like the mother Opal knew than she had before. In fact, she was barely recognizable except for her telltale scars… which had expanded to the point where she was more Void than human.

The girl far too young to bear her burdens could only watch in shock, not even reacting when a Void tentacle slammed her to the ground and a trickle of red began to leak out of her temple.

She was so engulfed in this… this image of a monster, one that used to be her mother.

No. No, Jade still was her mother, and nothing would change that. No hatred, anger, or insanity could get in the way of hormones or DNA.

But still, mothers were good. Kind. Caring. Loving, at least towards their children. Did genetics really matter when the broken person in front of her didn’t care?

The whistle of an arrow broke her train of thought, Opal dragging herself to her feet and lifting a stunned hand from her head, shaking from the red liquid dripping off of it.

She shook her head to be rid of the shock. She’s seen much, much, much worse in the infirmary, but her own mother nearly killing her was just too much.

Another arrow zoomed by, her jaw dropping when it was Robin who was attacking her.

No, he wasn’t attacking Opal… he was attacking his mother.

“I HATE YOU!” the boy screamed, tears treating down his face. “YOU’RE NOT MY MOM, AND I WISH YOU WOULD DIE!”

Jade watched boredly, flicking a hand and smiling ever so slightly when a burst of Void magic knocked Robin to the ground.

Opal was still in shock, unable to do anything, not scream, not sob, not whimper, all she did was stare up at her mother - at least, what was left of her - and feel the mixture of warm blood, leaving a metallic taste when it hit her tongue, and salty tears run down her face.

Kobe woke up, when he heard Cloud Neek squeaking fearfully.

”What’s wrong, Cloud Neek?”

Apparently, Cloud Neek was collecting acorns, when it heard a loud boom.

”Don’t worry, Neek. It’s only a cannon.”

"Opal, what are you-"

The owner of the voice stopped mid sentence, Rai taking a step back. Not far was Raiden and Glace, having come at seeing them run off.

The girl whimpered in response, blood matting her dark hair, only coming to when her brother brushed by her, charging her again at Jade.

”YOU’RE THE WORST-“

An arrow.

”-MOTHER-“

Another one. Luck was on his side - the Voidwalker had just sent a wave of darkness that would surely have killed him had it not been for his impeccable hearing and echolocation.

“-EVER!”

Robin had run out of arrows, and ended up hitting her with his bow, sobbing and screaming unintelligible words.

He was knocked aside yet again, a killing blow about hit when…

Opal tackled her brother, barely getting the two of them out of the way of Jade’s strikes.

Rai looked on in semi-disbelief, voice scarcely a whisper, "...Jade?" He didn't dare approach, fingering the glowing gemstone hanging from his belt.

“UNCLE HUNTER!” the archer screamed as a last resort, immediately regretting it when Jade turned to him.

The voice that spoke next wasn’t hers. “If you dare mention him again you’ll be the one joining him.”

”How could you? He’s your son!” Opal screeched, protecting Robin with her body. “And we’re your children, if Dad weren’t fighting in the war-“

Another blast of magic silenced her, the girl having been struck so hard she fell unconscious, blood pooling around her limp body.

Almost instantly, a semi-transparent barrier formed between the children and Jade, letting off a slight orange glow as Rai ran up to the siblings. Hesitantly, Raiden ran up to them as well, muttering something along the lines of "if that idiot gets himself killed..."

The Voidwalker turned to them. “Get out of the way, I won’t hesitate to kill you too.”

Static crackled in the air near Raiden, the borg glaring, "Oh no you won't."

Jax stepped out of a refugee tent, a roll of bandages, a little unraveled in his hands. "What is goi-OH MY GOODNESS, MS. WISHSTONE, OPAL NEEDS HELP!" Jax exclaimed, dragging the hobbyist away from the chaos, ducking as he did so.

Jade paid no mind, only cut through the two forcefields with ease, boredom even.

A few yards away, “Ms. Wishstone” was running towards the grounds, trying to ignore the squirming in her stomach. But she had a feeling she knew what this was about…

A second later, her fears were confirmed, Juniper taking only a second to assess the going-ons. Like analyzing a body.

Seeing what was left to save.

”Jade, stop,” the healer murmured, stepping forwards. Her voice grew stronger. “Get away from the children-“

A maniacal laugh cut through her sentence. “Children? Their age doesn’t matter, nothing matters because he is DEAD!”

Juniper stepped back slightly, mouthing to the others, “get out of here,” before taking another step towards Jade.

”He’s my brother too-“

“Don’t even start with that,” she snapped. “This isn’t a pity party, this is revenge.”

”Opal and all the other children - your children - had nothing to do with this,” the healer snarled, fists beginning to curl when she noticed the limp form of her niece.

Rai glanced at the form of Jax before looking back at Jade, sweeping his hand through the air and causing a small circle of orange to form in the air, "Jade, stop, please."

Juniper stepped in his path. “Don’t.”

He hesitated.

”Rai, don’t,” she repeated more forcefully. “Or you’ll be just as bad as her.”

“Just as bad as her…” a voice said from behind them, dangerously soft.

“Now I’m the bad guy, aren’t I?” Jade laughed. “What’re you going to do, Rai? Kill me? Hurt me? Just like your father and mother? Go on ahead. I dare you.”

Meanwhile, Jax was frantically running about, medical supplies in his arms.

The Astral Fairy glared at the hybrid but sighed, sweeping his hand through the foreign elemental energy and shattering it.

"Okay so if you won't do it-" Concentrated electricity blasted Jade back, a borg being responsible.

She barely managed to block it in time, contracting the Void she used to create her forcefield and sending it at Raiden.

”ENOUGH!” Juniper screamed, aiming Astral magic at Jade - not to hurt her, just to get her attention… at least for now.

”IF YOU TOUCH MY- THESE KIDS ONE MORE TIME I’LL BE LOCKING YOU UP FOR ALL ETERNITY.”

Raiden arched an eyebrow at Juniper, electricity still arching in the air around the borg.

“Sorrysorrynothing,” she mumbled, determinedly not meeting the cyborg’s gaze.

Nearby, Glace fingered the hilt of her katana, eying Jade warily, "Hello? Guys? There's still an insane hybrid over here."

“Just get out of the way,” she responded, lifting a Void tentacle.

"Ha," the Ice Fairy smirked, "no thanks."

She fey stepped, reappearing uncomfortably close to the hybrid and slicing through the void tentacle swiftly. Her free hand was enveloped in cyan, ice forming in the air and the temperature dropping drastically with every breath.

The ice disappeared just as quickly, being replaced by tendrils of darkness that hoisted her into the air and flung her to the ground, one going straight for her heart, Glace barely dodging in time.

Through gritted teeth, ice protruded from the ground in the shape of a stockade, Glace getting back to her feet.

Once again, spears of ice began to form in the air, but it wasn't that which landed a blow.

Astral-infused stone pelted Jade, the stone being neutralized, astral still making its point.

Standing angrily near his sister was Rai, the tell-tale circle of geo-energy before him, rune-like markings circle as elemental energy concentrated once more. Behind him, water began to concentrate in the air, some freezing over, some remaining unchanged, but all having glowing traces of astral within.

Clearly, the next barrage would not contain mercy.

More Void blocked his attacks, Jade unable to focus - not when a certain wizard kept shooting arrows at her.

A blast of pure Astral cut through the Void Magic, Rai dispersing the geo-energy and redirecting it to his now unsheathed staff. A translucent blade of geo formed at the end, renderning the weapon a polearm as wisps Astral energy were present about the fairy.

The Voidwalker sighed, blocking his attacks again before backing away - she wasn’t looking for a fight with a child, all she wanted to do was find Gale.

Rai watched her go warily, still gripping his staff tightly, too tightly.

It was not until Jade left his range of sight did he sheath his staff, heart racing.

Juniper sighed. “This is going to end very badly…”

Raiden redirected the electricity around her and approached Juniper, "Where do you think she's going? I honestly think it's pretty stupid just to let her run around like that."

“Well, we can’t incapacitate her, at least without casualties, so the best way to do this is-“

”KILL HER!” Robin screamed.

The healer frowned at her nephew. “Are you-“

”NO, I’M NOT OKAY, I HAVEN’T BEEN FOR A WHILE NOW, THANKS FOR NOTICING.”

Behind them, Opal began to stir, Juniper quickly rushing over to heal her despite her protests.

"You can't just kill her, at least, not without doing it three times." Raiden muttered under her breath, fiddling with a device as she gazed at the ground.

“THEN I’LL KILL HER THREE TIMES. MORE, IF I HAVE TO!”

”Okay, Robin, calm down-“

”I AM NOT CALMING DOWN!” he screamed. “Mom- Jade- is dying and that’s final.”

"Well no one's dying except other people unless you find her," Glace pointed out while dispersing the remaining Ice Magic.

The healer sighed. “We can’t just kill-“

”I don’t see why we can’t,” the archer snapped, chin quivering to hold back tears.

Opal hung her head. “I… I hate to admit it, but Robin’s right. Dad’ll be mad but…”

She clenched her jaw, fists curling.

”All that matters is taking Mo-Jade down.”

Meanwhile, a certain Ivory Fairy had already found the targeted hybrid, watching Jade with a smirk.

“Your son’s very… interesting,” she said casually, but Void was already beginning to coil around her hand.

Amber eyes changed to purple, the void being diminished instantly, "What is this about?"

“Just do it. Nobody else will, you’re the only person who’d kill willingly - except for your wife, but I’d rather not talk to her.”

Unbeknownst to the Ivory, Jade was having quite the struggle keeping herself in check. The last confrontation she had with Gale was setting what remained of her mental health back immensely, because the monster of memories was still roaring inside her, consuming her, breaking her far beyond repair…

Each word held back a scream, each breath hid a laugh or a sob or whatever insanity would bring her. It was taking everything she had to separate reality from twisted imagination, the mental walls she was setting up beginning to collapse with every heartbeat.

"And why should I kill you? Besides temporary pleasure." He was twirling his Vorplad blade, twisting it between his fingers just before the blade could knick them.

“Why not? You didn’t have any problem-“

Jade’s voice began to rise, her taking a deep breath to calm herself, calm the monsters.

”The point is, you’ll be getting pleasure, ridding yourself of a threat, helping your children, and-“

The Voidwalker’s voice was suddenly white noise in the fairy’s ears, his now-purple eyes glued to the ghost hovering next to him.

”Hello again, Gale,” Faith whispered.

He said nothing, but the Ivory stopped twirling his blade and gripped the hilt.

She frowned, appearing next to him and sitting in the air, as close to him as she could get without dissipating.

”What are you doing? Why are your eyes purple? Are you alright?”

"Not now, Faith," he hissed under his breath, the words sounding forced.

“You always say not now, and…”

She noticed Jade.

”Isn’t that the person who killed Mom? What are you doing?”

The fairy exhaled frustratedly, keeping his voice at a whisper, "Yes, it is, and she's trying to convince me to kill her. This isn't the time to talk."

Faith’s eyes widened. “Don’t do it. Please. I hoped you would listen to me, Gale.”

When the fairy ignored her, she kept pushing.

“Don’t you care about me?”

More than I like to admit.

He didn't answer, simply ignored the ghost, and observed Jade, "I really don't see the point, you're already bringing wrath upon yourself - I only intercede when necessary. Yet if you want to be tortured, then you can come to me."

She exhaled deeply. “What were you doing?”

"Oh, nothing, nothing you'll want to hear." He eyed her smugly, a lie already thought of and ready to be dropped.

“I think that’s for me to judge, Gale.”

She stepped closer, making Faith’s ghost hover backwards.

”So tell me.”

"Oh, just a ghost that was pestering me, I don't think it'll matter much to you." His tail flicked back and forth, altering the position his knife was in slightly, somehow managing to keep a neutral expression.

Jade sucked in a breath, trying to control the monster in her mind… yet it had been held back far too long.

All it needed was one push, and it could take over.

“And who was the ghost?”

"Hunter, pitifully pleading for your life," he spat in evident disgust, not of the trace of the lie noticeable - unless you could see ghosts.

The Voidwalker backed away, closing her eyes, taking a deep breath…

And slammed Gale against the ground in a chokehold, eyes burning with an inhuman hate.

”YOU KILLED HIM! AT THE VERY LEAST KILL ME TOO!”

What remained of her mental stability, of the walls she’d set up to differentiate reality from insanity, collapsed.

Rationality, humanity, compassion… reduced to nothing but thoughts under the power of sheer insanity and helplessness.

Jade was a puppet again, this time trapped in her own mind.

The monster was writhing inside her, howling with joy, with triumph, with victory. Yet only hatred seeped through, a hatred beyond anything conceivable to the human mind.

This much hatred could truly break a person.

And break it did.

In the precisely planned moment, the knife was jutted upward into Jade's chest, the Ivory Fairy fey stepping a short distance away and trying to catch his breath.

Meanwhile, a screaming Robin was being held back by his aunt, the boy unable to see reason at all.

”Robin, please, calm down…”

“WE NEED TO KILL HER!”

Opal interjected, carefully enfolding him in her arms and whispering, “Please… for me… calm down.”

He seemed to deflate, only sobbing into his sister’s arms and murmuring, “We’re… we’re orphans…”

“Dad’s alive,” she said hopefully, forcing on a smile and blinking back her tears.

Just smile and maybe it’ll be real, the girl reminded herself.

Maybe.

”And how will he react to this, Opal?” Robin retorted, gesturing to the people around them. “You think he won’t abandon us?”

”Just smile,” was her only response.

The blind wizard squirmed it of his sister’s grip and dashed for the area where his mother had gone, just over the hill.

He barely made it to the peak when a tentacle of Void magic knocked him down, hitting him brutally.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Robin was just a bloody mess now, the killing strike about to hit when a Storm Fairy appeared out of nowhere, Andrew tackling his friend and vanishing again.

Suddenly, a nasal voice screamed, “NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA! HUNTER IS DEAD!”

The voice in question was Kobe, holding his nose to disguise it.

The boy hit the ground, having been completely and utterly crushed by the weight of Void tentacles.

Jade rolled her eyes, turning back to Gale and readying another strike.

Kobe’s eyes were literal swirls.

No pupils

No sclera

Just swirls.

A girl gasped as she appeared on the horizon, black braid swinging behind her. She knelt next to Kobe, snapping, “You idiot! What happened?”

“I tried to turn Jade away from the gray fairy guy that was always putting my dad in detention…”

“Jade? Gray fairy guy? I…”

Ravena sighed. “You’re bleeding, you know that? Like, badly. Here.”

She created a tiny ball of light, letting it hit Kobe and radiate around his body, healing the injuries.

“T-thanks…” said the pet trainer.

“Now where’s this Jade? I’m going to beat her ass so hard-“

She fell silent when she noticed the darkness gathering over the hill, a certain Voidwalker being the cause of it.

”Oh sh-“

”Language,” Kobe said weakly.

”Sorry.”

“Yeah no, she caused me to bleed just by being slammed by tentacles. How could you fight that?”

“True,” Ravena sighed, frowning at the ground.

“Do you wanna just sit here and talk?” Asked Kobe.

“Sorry, can’t,” she responded, not really looking at him.

“Okay.“ he said.

Kobe looked in front of him, and behind him.

”I don’t really know where to go now…”

Ravena hesitated before shrugging and saying, “You could come with us.”

Kobe thought it over before saying, “I’ll consider it.”

She gave him the tiniest and yet most genuine of smiles. “Hope you can.”

At the source of the void magic, a gray fairy narrowly dodged out the way of a void tentacle, shadow magic enveloping it and snagging control.

The purple streak in his hair turned yellow, but his eyes remained purple, "I thought you wanted me to kill you, not the other way around."

Astral magic blasted Jade back, the amount of energy showing a sense of sheer fury, presumably at the two elements now yelling at each other in his head.

Jade grit her teeth. “Frankly I wouldn’t mind either. You’re not the only one with voices in your head.”

"At least they don't have a mind of their own."

Elemental energy concentrated near the fairy's neck, a blade of astral being drawn.

“I wish mine didn’t,” was the last thing she managed to say before insanity rushed in again, Jade attacking him with even more ferocity.

He was ready, instantly rushing forward and swinging the elemental blade, knocking the hybrid back.

Jade attacked again, Void tentacles reaching from all directions.

Control was quickly snatched, the void tentacles shattering into elemental particles violently, to the point it was like walking through a void version of Ka-pow Cabbage.

The Void particles obscured Gale’s vision for just a second, Jade slashing her sword at him in a wide, wild arc.

Thankfully, she missed, the fairy blocking the next swing of her weapon with his claymore.

Not far, the children were making their way to where they assumed Jade went, all while an Ice Fairy took charge of an army, a black-haired woman doing likewise.

“Robin ran off and now-“

”Calm down, Opal.”

”WHAT IF SHE KILLED-“

”Calm down, Opal.”

”OH MY GOD SHE KILLED-“

”CALM DOWN, OPAL.”

Raiden and a blue cat stared at them annoyedly, before the cat resumed, displeased, tracking the said persons.

Gleaming steel shot sunrays across the sky as Aria blatantly ignored Juniper and Storm's commands, quickly being obscured by a veil of otherworldly darkness emanating from the abyss-driven hybrid. Not too far behind the kids were a Trance state Cloud as well as Raid, both having wanted to watch the battle. They tore a rift into the ground, the cyan spacetime tear reopening at the area that served as the arena for fairy and voidwalker.

All the while, the black beast resting in both combatants' minds squirmed with ever-increasing power, egging them on with even the smallest of phrases.

-She's a monster.

-Endangerment to your kin.

-Slay the Keeper. He is to blame.

-Rend.

-You will not forget me.

-Exhume this curse the other brings upon you.

Gale's expression was mixed with distaste as he struck Jade with his weapon, the hybrid being knocked back and immediately sending out void tentacles, which he once again diminished.

Shut up, you. I want no part of your mind games.

Finally, you act sensi-

That applies to you too.

Hmph.

Unfortunately for her, Jade’s already-shattered mind could not avoid Void’s call.

-Kill him like he did your brother.

-He is to blame.

-Voidwalker.

-Break him like he broke you.

Not a trace of sanity remained, each strike from either her or Gale sending yet another barrage of fake memories, twisted creations of insanity and pain.

She killed Hunter.

Hunter hated her.

Everybody hated her.

Kill or be killed.

The Puppet Master was back.

Shadow was back.

Darkshade was back.

Every nightmare in her mind was real now, every face that haunted her loomed everywhere she looked, every voice that was once a whisper was now a storm of fear.

No escape.

No escape.

No escape.

In the moment of the hybrid's distraction, the Ivory balanced his blade, both hands gripping the hilt, and slammed Jade with the weapon with enough force to kill.

She hit the wall with a sickening crunch, falling limply to the ground.

Void did its twisted work, using up a failsafe to heal and repair.

The fairy walked up to her limp form, plucking the knife Jade failed to notice and looking on with distaste as void filled the wound.

"You got your wish, at least, a third of the way in."

He flew off, just as the hybrid began to stir again.

She barely seemed to react, only stared with empty eyes at the sky.

The Voidwalker was quiet…

And then an earthshattering scream resounded through the field, her curling into a ball as the screams went on.

Sobs without tears, laughs without humor, unintelligible words, yet there was not a soul in sight.

Her sword stabbed into her arm over and over, over and over, over and over, in a futile attempt. The pain was dull, muted under the crushing weight of fear.

Eventually, the screams faded, as only weak, ghastly, animalistic sounds came from the Voidwalker, a prolonged cry for help that reached no one.

A distance away, the children had tensed at hearing screaming, before picking up in pace, Juniper looking as if she was about to break into a run.

Opal was still flailing, screaming, “SHE KILLED HIM, SHE KILLED HIM, SHE KILLED HIM-“

In the distance, there was a loud zapping noise. It seems like a Cloud Neek had gotten frightened.

Then, a pet trainer, covered in soot walked over to the others.

”Do ya mind keeping it down? You’re scaring my pets over here!” he said, completely unaware.

Juniper shot the pet trainer a glare, but only said, “Get out of here, I need to find my…”

Her voice caught.

”Jade. I need to find Jade.”

“Whatever. Just don’t scream so damn loudly. I’m trying to sleep, and you’re scaring Cloud Neek!”

“That wasn’t us, that was her, and she’s either been hurt or insane - or both.”

“Fine, fine, but scream again, and I’m sending the Neek over.”

As Kobe said that, Cloud Neek glared at them.

“Please, if your stupid Neek even touches us, I’m blasting it into next week and lecturing you again.”

Kobe stuck his tongue out while raising his pinky finger.

Juniper only walked away, ignoring her building worry and focusing only on finding her sister.

Kobe went back to his tree, and fell asleep.

Cloud Neek followed him, and fell asleep on top of his stomach like a puppy.

The blue cat that was Glace made a sound that could only be a sigh before padding in front of the group, doing the unwanted job of the actual finding.

It was not long until traces of elemental residue filled the area, a short distance away the place where a certain hybrid and Ivory had sparred.

A shaking figure was curled up with her back to them, weak and sickly sobs reverberating through the grounds.

Raiden frowned, "Is that... Jade?"

The healer’s eyes were wide, but she only said, “Has to be… but be very gentle, we’re dealing with a Voidwalker here.”

Raiden cleared her throat.

Loudly.

All while glaring at Juniper intensely.

She blushed. “I mean, an insane one. Who tried to kill all of us. And her own family.”

The borg muttered something about "unspecific idiots" before walking over to Rai, who had been fiddling with his staff nervously the whole way there. The feline form of Glace sat patiently near Juniper, waiting to see what the healer's approach would be.

Juniper didn’t respond, all she did was stare with mouth agape at the limp form of her sister.

“Robin’s in trouble,” Opal snapped, already rushing over. “And I don’t care if I have to hurt her.”

Rai stared at her alarmedly, "I don't think that's-"

Too late.

Juniper stepped closer, saying in a hushed voice, “Jade? Are you-“

“GET AWAY FROM ME!”

The hybrid stepped back. “Please-“

Jade scrambled to her feet, Void magic swirling around her, was it their imagination? Or were faces swirling in them too?

”GET AWAY!”

A blue cat dashed in front of Juniper, arched its back, puffed up its fur, and hissed as it stood between the two adults in a side shuffle.

Jade was panting, backing away from the others and unleashing wave after wave of darkness, murmuring unintelligibly under her breath.

A geo shield infused with Astral Magic warded off the Void Magic, Rai running up to Jade and Glace.

“Enough with the act,” Opal snapped from behind them. “We’re not letting you go, and we’re certainly not refraining from hurting you.”

Her words were brave, but she and her voice were shaking, her skin pale.

”LEAVE ME ALONE!” the Voidwalker screamed, eyes wild and utterly inhuman.

Rai edged toward Opal, tail lashing profoundly, "Opal, I really don't think you should get any closer. Do you even see Robin here?"

“I…”

She crossed her arms. “Fine. But that doesn’t mean we’re letting you escape!”

Jade didn’t even seem to notice her daughter, only kept her eyes glued to a tiny spot in the darkness surrounding her. Faces melted back and forth around her, each one grotesque and horrific.

Raiden frowned, tone dripping with sarcasm, "I admire your stupidity and all that but she's not moving. I doubt she'll escape any time soon."

“Well, if you want her to waltz off and kill more people then-“

”Opal, I’m tired of saying this, but calm down,” Juniper sighed, looking her sister up and down. “She won’t be able to hurt any of us, at least not now, but…”

The healer shrugged. “She’s also, y’know, a little…”

She gestured at Jade, who was now clutching her head, half-groaning, half-screaming. “Strange.”

"Hey, if it makes you happy I'll keep the shield up," Rai stated while gesturing to the semi-transparent barrier, "but we should go find Robin before he actually gets hurt. Maybe your Aunt can stay here and keep watch...?"

“I get the feeling she’s going to murder me.”

"Eh, as long as you don't do anything stupid..." Raiden shrugged, "You'll be fine."

“…that is no guarantee.”

The borg arched an eyebrow and gestured to the translucent barrier, "Well, there's no guarantee she's going to break that."

Juniper bit her lip. “True, I just don’t want to be alone with… her.”

The Voidwalker still didn’t react, but she’d looked up now, glaring at the glowing forcefield with a mixture of hatred, anger, determination, and hidden fear - like it was the cause of all her problems.

Or maybe she was glaring at them.

"Fineeeee. Glace can stay with you."

Instantly, the mountain lion cub launched herself at Raiden's leg, swiping and biting at her ankles, eventually being yanked off by Rai.

“No, I’ll stay,” Opal said, fists clenched. “I don’t care about her.”

Rai hugged the feline form of his sister tightly, tail flicking back and forth, "...but-"

"Rai, there's no point," Raiden informed him with a sigh, "Let's just go look for Robin."

The girl nodded, glancing back at her mother before quickly turning away. “Go find Robin, and then we can both kill her.”

Raiden's sapphire gaze was unreadable, but she turned on her heel, gesturing for Nathan, Jax, and Hope - who were at the back of the group - to follow along with Rai and Glace.

After getting a distance away, Raiden sighed, "We should split up - this place is huge."

Aunt and niece watched them go, the second they were out of earshot Juniper asking, “So how do you really feel?”

She shrugged. “It’s a lot.”

”And by a lot you mean…?”

Opal dodged the question. “Well, what about you? Surely you’re not comfortable seeing-“

She shot a glance at her mother and immediately regretted it, trying to block out the image of a sobbing, slightly laughing Jade.

“-that?”

The two didn’t speak for a while, until the older healer said, “Well… the worst part is that I can’t fix it. There’s nothing I can do. Storm says she isn’t gone for good, but-“

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Storm? What about him?”

”Whatever. The point is, what are you going to tell your father?”

”I… don’t know.”

"I call that direction," Nathan proclaimed, dashing south of the group.

"I guess I'll go look for Robin that way," Jax said, pointing southeast.

"I'll go with Jax," Hope said.

Glace swatted at her brothers arm, causing Rai to drop the feline with a yelp, and dashed off to the west.

Raiden sighed, "Great, now I'm stuck with you. Come on."

She grouchily trudged to the east, the Astral Fairy awkwardly following.

"Robin?" Jax called, Hope repeating the call.

Meanwhile, Opal had turned away from her mother, focusing on watching her Mandrake scuttle back and forth in her hands.

A loud shhhhk made her turn, but it was too late—the forcefield had already been breached by a shocking amount of Void, her cry for help silence by a tentacle wrapping around her.

Juniper, in the spur of the moment, cast an All-Out Attack, making Jade stagger and drop Opal, who leaped to her feet and rushed to help her aunt.

Falling Star Smash…

A barrage of Void needles…

Supernova…

Darkness snuffing out the light..:

The two fought, yet they still couldn’t take down the vengeful Voidwalker, both being knocked out within a matter of minutes.

Jade didn’t hide her laugh, didn’t conceal their cries for help.

Attract them.

Animals right to a trap.

The dark elemental within Jade's mind returned, its monotone, droning voice dripping with inviting allurance.

-Soon, they will come.

-The blood you can spill already fuels you.

-You transcend need for the title he bonded to you long ago.

-Become more, Nullslayer.

Nathan walked around, occasionally calling out Robin's name, pausing as he heard the crunching of fallen leaves. "Robin?" he called, approaching the crunching.

Meanwhile, a blue cat's ears pricked at hearing the shouts, doing the equivalent of scoffing and continuing on its way.

However, it only managed to get a few steps forward before turning back into a certain Ice Fairy, turning on her heel, and running in the direction of the sound.

In the opposing direction, an Astral Fairy and borg paused in their tracks, exchanging a glance.

Rai's tail lashed nervously as he met Raiden's gaze, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think-"

"-that those idiots found a way to break a damn shield made of material from another f**king dimension? Yes."

"LANGUAGE! ...and I wouldn't exactly word it-"

"Oh, shut. Let's go before they get themselves killed."

The Fairy sighed at watching her run off, then darted after her.

”Over here!” a voice—Andrew’s—called.

Another weak groan came from their direction, Robin muttering, “I hate her so much…”

The two were hidden behind a series of trees, Kobe, Ravena, Zayden, and Braxton not too far away. The archer and pet trainer were being treated, all while a certain techy wizard glared at Kobe, muttering something under his breath.

Kobe simply grumbled. “Well this day went to sh*t quickly…”

“Oh, shut up, you’re lucky we don’t chuck you to the wolves-“

”Zayden,” Ravena said, shooting him a look.

”Hmph.”

Kobe sighed. “I’m gonna gut check the next person that comes over!”

Meanwhile, an Ice Fairy already made her way back to a certain hybrid, spying from a tree.

Not far, a borg and Astral Fairy were making their way back, an interesting usage of profanity being grumbled by Raiden.

They barely made it in time, black waves having sliced the forcefield open. Two tentacles held an unconscious Juniper and Opal, Jade bearing several new wounds from their resistance.

Her gaze was completely hostile when she noticed them. “There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you hadn’t heard the screams.”

“Let them go!” Glace snapped, reading an ice spell. “Now.”

The Voidwalker simply knocked her over, the ice dissipating. “You stand no chance.”

“Not true,” a fairy snarled, squeezing his vision hard.

She inclined her head. “Make one move and they go…”

One Void tentacle sliced dangerously close to Opal’s throat.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Rai cried. “You’d kill your own sister? And your daughter?”

“I’d kill you too, if it makes you feel better,” was her only response. Not a hint of remorse appeared in her face, on the contrary the tentacles holding Juniper and Opal squeezed them a bit tighter.

“Fine,” Rai spat, blood beginning to trickle down his arm from how tightly he was squeezing his vision. “What do you want?”

“I want many things. But from you… I want something simple.”

The Ice fairy stepped in front of her brother, cold gaze rivaling Jade’s. “And that is?”

She prepared herself for a shock, a cruel demand, something that would either hurt or kill one of them. Yet she still wasn’t prepared for the Voidwalker’s next words.

“I want your brother to come with me.”

Narrowed green eyes glared directly at Rai, Jade going on to say, “He’s powerful, imagine what power he’d have if he were converted.”

The fairy flinched. “I’d never become a Voidwalker.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Raiden swallowed hard, speaking up. “What if we called Storm?”

“You’d never get him in time.”

She crossed her arms. “You sure about that?”

“Yes. Or would you rather I kill your friends?”

Two spears of Void flicked across the healers’ necks, thin lines of red appearing.

“Just a little more and they’d be dead. Rai is coming with me.”

“No!” he snapped. “I can’t believe I cared about you.”

“I can’t believe it either,” she said. “You currently have… four elements. A fifth one—a powerful one at that—would make you very useful.”

“What if I refuse to use magic?”

“Again—you don’t have a choice. What about this is so hard to understand?”

“I’m not coming with you!”

“Leverage, power, usefulness. You more than suffice. Now come or I kill these two.”

Rai looked at Glace and Raiden, gaze pleading, before hesitantly walking up to the voidwalker.

Raiden ran her hand through her hair, seemingly a nervous action but careful to touch her hair clip in the process.

In Skywatch, a certain Storm Trainee at noticing a notification on his visor, swearing profoundly as he opened a rift and rushed into it.

Luckily for her, Jade hadn’t noticed, instead all she did was trap the young fairy with another Void tentacle, not even blinking when he yelped in pain.

A thin smile spread across her face. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Cyan formed in the air as space and time tore open, a certain tech wizard tumbling out, "RAIDEN, WHAT THE F**K DID YOU- ...Jade?"

“Oh sh-“

A stream of wonderfully profane words were muttered under her breath, the Voidwalker dropping her sister and daughter and backing away.

“AYO WHAT THE-“

Storm blinked. “Kaminari how did you-“

“JADE WHAT THE FREAK DON’T BE A BAD PERSON ARE YOU OKAY-“

”Gee, what do you think?” the cyborg grumbled.

“…yeah, no, she’s not okay,” the fairy said.

As remarks were being made, Rai squirmed in the grasp of a void tentacle, trying to worm his way out.

Storm glared at Jade at noticing, gripping a device tightly, "Jade, put him down, now."

She glared back, holding her gaze for about five seconds before the fairy dropped to the ground, him quickly scrambling away.

“There. Now leave.”

Kaminari crossed his arms. “Nuh-uh. I don’t want to make you come with us, but…”

"You're coming with us," Storm finished for him, voice firm.

Jade stepped back further. “No, I’m not.”

It was taking all she could not to fall apart instantly, yet she couldn’t hide the quiver hidden in her voice.

“Leave. Now.”

The monster was roaring with delight, awaiting just one trigger, and it would unleash its rage. No matter how badly she wanted to fight back, all it would do was make her lose her fragile sense of control, and all that could do was break her further.

The Storm fairy stepped forwards. “None of us want to hurt you-“

A hysterical laugh, hiding her scream of agony.

“Oh, none of you want to hurt me! That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. You’ve already hurt me, don’t act like you care, don’t act like you’re innocent, not when my brother is dead. Not when you killed him!”

The borg exhaled frustratedly, "How many times do we have to tell you none of us killed Hunter-"

That was it.

Void magic immediately sprang to action, Jade furiously attempting to defend herself from the others. The look in her eyes was wild, crazed, insane… matching with the half-screams, half-sobs of anger and agony.

Storm stepped back before regaining his composure, exhaling deeply as his void-tainted eye let off a shine. Instantly, control was snatched from Jade, the Void Magic fading.

“Get away from me,” the Voidwalker snarled, fingernails digging into the hard dirt, caked with soil and dried blood.

When they didn’t relent, she paused, murmuring quietly under her breath, “Please.”

Kaminari frowned at that, turning to Storm. “Are you sure we have to do this? We’ll hurt her, and ourselves as well. Plus..”

His gray eyes found the ground. “She’s kind of…”

The Storm Trainee sighed, "I'm sorry, but no."

“LEAVE!”

When Storm advanced, she ran, panting frantically. Random blasts of darkness were aimed at him, Jade jerking away when he got closer.

Screams escaped her, ones of fear, of anger, of panic.

And… for some reason that only her twisted mind knew, a bit of joy.

The borg redirected the Void Magic, sighing aggressively as he chased after her.

Meanwhile, Rai had gotten to his feet, edging near Glace and Raiden and ducking behind them.

Opal and Juniper had begun to stir, the latter sitting bolt upright when she noticed the situation and scrambling after Storm, calling behind her shoulder, “Take care of Opal, find Robin and Kobe, and don’t you dare interfere!” before reaching the Storm trainee.

As soon as she was after earshot, Raiden inspected her hand, "Does anyone feel like disobeying?"

Rai fiddled with his tail nervously, "I don't think-"

"Gladly," Glace responded, ignoring her brother.

The Astral Fairy buried his face in his hands, "Oh my god..."

The hobbyist groaned, looking up. “Never thought I’d say this, but yeah, we’re breaking the rules. Jade’s dying and my aunt is being an idiot.”

"Right, let's go," Raiden turned to leave only to bump into Rai, whose arms were outstretched to keep them from leaving.

"There is no way I'm letting you-"

"If you don't I'm telling my dad you bribed me into letting you go-"

"OKAY, FINE."

A certain Ice Fairy glared at the Earth Warden, "Let you go where?"

"Um..." Rai shuffle his feet and chuckled nervously, "Let's just go-"

Opal followed, murmuring, “Why do you care so much?”

Rai frowned. “What do you mean?”

”Why’d you try to stop them from going after Mo- Jade? I thought you’d have wanted her to die, or at the very least suffer as well.”

"It's..." The fairy twisted his tail between his hands, wincing and letting it go, "...complicated." He sighed, "It's just that... after Greenheart died... I was afraid of losing someone else. I got a bit overprotective about my parents, and I wouldn't even leave Glace alone for more than a minute. Eventually, my mom talked to me about it and I managed to get over it a bit... but then Hunter died and..." Rai noticed Opal flinch, but paid little mind to it, "I freaked. I mean, I didn't make it obvious but I freaked out. My mom's fighting in the war, no one knows where my dad is, and Glace is always trying to sneak off and fight. I can't lose anyone else, no matter what they did. I just can't." Tears ran down his freckled face as he turned his vision over and over in his grasp. He refused to meet her gaze, and looked... broken.

She didn’t speak.

“But my mom’s already lost. She’s worse than lost. Isn’t it best just to…” The girl swallowed. “put her out of her misery?”

The two walked in silence for a little longer, the faint screams setting the mood rather well.

After a second or two, the fairy snapped at her, "NO!"

Opal stepped back, surprised by his outburst.

Rai immediately looked at the ground, rubbing his arm awkwardly, "...sorry. It's just... she can't be like this every. She won't be like this forever... maybe... she just needs a little help." His words were desperate, the warden's blue gaze pleading.

She sighed, deciding not to burst his bubble. “Fine. But you’ll probably change your mind when you see her… insane.”

He frowned. “Haven’t I already?”

”No, she puts on a brave face in front of you. In front of all of us. But when she’s alone, in the dark, her mind won’t function. It’s…”

Silence and the distant screams made up for lost words.

Rai shuffled uncomfortably, "Glace and Raiden would gladly leave us behind, we should probably hurry up."

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Voidwalker was continuing to run from Storm, not even realizing where she was until she stumbled right into a war front.

An Ice fairy immediately noticed her, sliding her sword under her neck before Jade could even right herself.

”What are you doing?” Aly hissed.

The hybrid didn’t respond, only hit the fairy with a blast of Void magic and ran.

The warden reached for her forearm, Jade jerking away and screaming, “DON’T!”

”What are you doing-“

”LET ME GO!”

”I already-“

“STOP!”

She frowned. “Are you okay…?”

Yet Jade kept screaming, dropping to her knees and sobbing without tears, entire body trembling and convulsing. Blackness radiated around her, thrashing about to ward Aly off.

Weak Astral Magic warded off the void magic, the Ice Fairy perturbed but taking a hesitant step forward.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Jade screamed, sending blast after blast of Void to get the fairy away.

She barely managed to dodge, feeble Astral Magic concentrating and blasting the voidwalker.

It shouldn’t have affected her, yet Jade curled into a ball on the ground, shaking and screaming. Spasms ran through her body, like some sort of intense seizure brought on by trauma and insanity.

Aly took a step back, gripping the hilt of her blade tightly. Her gaze was unreadable, and the blue particles in the air warned of the upcoming feystep.

At that moment, Glace, Rai, Raiden, Opal, and surprisingly Juniper stepped in, mouths agape upon taking in the scene.

Jade was curled up on the ground, shaking and screaming, the Void around her turning into a sort of protective cage that both kept others out and forced herself in.

The adult wheeled on Aly, snapping, “What did you do?”

“…is that what she looks like when she’s insane…?” the Earth Warden asked Opal out of the corner of his mouth.

She was too torn to speak, part of her wanting to help while part of her wanted to grab a knife and stab Jade in the heart.

Not far, a cyborg swore profoundly as he neared the battlegrounds, stopping when he caught sight of the group surrounding Jade.

A mix of profanity from a multitude of languages was being spat under the borg's breath as he broke into a sprint, trying to get to the spot before anything worse happened.

Meanwhile, Nathan approached the source of the multiple voices, barging into the open, immediately punched in the gut by Kobe. He doubled over, groaning. "What was that for?!"

“I said I’d punch the next person that walks by me. Unless it was Ravena, she’s safe from it.”

Nathan drove his fist down on top of Kobe's skull, walking away, clutching his stomach and walk to a rock on the other side of the small clearing and sitting down. "So who are you guys?"

“That almost tickled!” said Kobe, while clutching his head.

Nathan glared at the pet trainer, blasting him with a Falling Star Smash.

Kobe fell over, but sat back up. “You blast stars like a little girl!”

Kobe was being lethally stupid, as usual.

“What did you do? Traumatize her? Terrify her? Hurt her? What?”

Jade turned on her side, pulling away when her sister—or anybody, really—tried to get close.

"...maybe the terrifying part?" Aly responded precariously, backing away from Juniper.

“ARE YOU INSANE FOR ATTACKING THE INSANE PERSON YOU HEARTLESS B*TCH I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU A HUNDRED TIMES OVER AND-“

”Aunt Juniper…” Opal said tentatively. “We need help…”

The healer shot a death glare at Aly and turned to her niece. “What’s the matter?”

In response, she pointed to Jade, who looked immobile, yet jerked away when her daughter reached for her.

“She won’t move. Or speak. Or do anything really. Besides sob.”

Aly let out a little sigh of relief, before nearly toppling over from being hugged fiercely by Rai. Glace loomed nearby, indifferent and more focused on Jade.

The woman bent down. “Uh.. Jade? Hello? Are you…?”

No response, except for the way the hybrid winced, like she’d shone a bright light in her eyes.

Juniper reached over and…

The Voidwalker pulled away, snarling in her direction before seeming to brace herself for an attack, cringing for a count of ten before turning her back to them again, trembling harder than ever, weak sobs growing slightly louder in volume.

She blinked. “Um… wow.”

Footsteps sounded behind the group, belonging to a dyspnea-inflicted tech wizard. Through heaving breaths, he managed to rasp out the words, "What... Happened... Jade..."

“I don’t know,” the healer responded, eyebrows knit with worry. “Or, well, I do, but it’s not…”

Opal squeezed her aunt’s hand. “Just say it.”

She swallowed nervously, managing only two words. “Jade’s… gone.”

Meanwhile, Hope and Jax had been wandering through the forest. "Should we just teleport back to Skywatch?" Jax asked.

Hope immediately shushed him. "Listen."

Shouts and cries of pain could be heard, rather loudly, as if they were very, very close. "Is that the war?" Jax asked, venturing towards the commotion.

"You're not supposed to walk towards the war!" Hope exclaimed. Jax, however, didn't listen, walking further towards the battlefield. "Jax! Come back! You're going to get yourself killed!" The Fire Trainee sprinted towards her brother, quickly yanking him back, but not before he got to take a traumatizing peek beyond the trees. Wizards had lead-tipped spears jutting out of their chests, gasping for their last breaths of air, and fairies screeched in pain as iron arrows rained down on them. Only small patches of dead, shriveled, brown grass were now visible, the rest either lost to the chaos of war, or hidden under dried blood and bloated bodies. Dismembered limbs and splinters of bloodied bone peppered the ground, constantly stepped on by the warriors as healers tried to save those grasping onto threads of life.

Back in their clump of trees, the kids were staring hostilely at each other, with the exception of Robin, for obvious reasons.

Ravena cleared her throat. “So, introductions, I guess. I’m Ravena. That’s Zayden—“

The boy looked up, nodded, and went back to fiddling with a few wires.

”-Braxton-“

The boy pointed at Nathan. “You. You’re Nathan Nightwhisper. Your older sister is Hope Flamewhisper, the Fire trainee, your little brother is Jax Watermaster, the Water trainee, your dad is Chase Flamemaster, the Fire Warden, and your mom is Samantha Waterwhisper, the Water Warden. Your dad was in prison where we lived until he got busted out, and now the army’s after him and his friends. And you-“

He turned to Robin with large, enigmatic brown eyes. “-you’re the insane girl’s son. Jade Landcrafter. The one who everybody wanted to kill.”

The wizard tensed.

”Your father is Korathius Beastcarer. He used to work at the Coliseum before systems changed, he fought with his pets, and he married your mother seventeen, nearly eighteen years ago.”

Silence filled the room.

“Er… shall I move on?” the girl asked, twirling her braid between her fingers. “So, that’s Kobe, you already know him, I think… and that’s… actually, what’s your name?” she asked Robin.

”Robin. Nice to meet you.”

Not far down the battlefield, Storm straightened and wiped the sweat off his face, metal plating briefly exposed before his bangs fell back into place. He briefly met Raidens gaze for staring at Juniper, "You can say that when she's dead - which she's not. Don't go around being a ψευδοπροφήτης."

When she gazed at him in confusion he sighed, "False prophet. Ψευδοπροφήτης means false prophet."

Juniper shook her head. “Well, find a way to fix her then.”

Meanwhile, farther up the battlefields, the children's conversation ongo.

“Not so nice to meet you…” grumbled Kobe.

This time, he was shut up by Cloud Neek, who delivered a jolt of electricity to its trainer.

Nathan goggled at Braxton. "Wait, how did he-"

"You were on the TV."

Robin sighed. “Could you please not call my mom a crazy lady—“

He stopped himself, frowning at the air.

”Actually, she kind of is… I hate her, but then why do I…”

The rest of his words were only heard by himself.

Meanwhile, a frantic Juniper was pacing back and forth, snapping at anybody over even the slightest provocation—and unfortunately, that somebody was usually Storm, who responded with his own flurry of Greek.

Opal didn’t do anything really, just stared at her mother with a bit of love, a bit of hatred… but mostly, she was confused.

Jade still wouldn’t move, or speak, or so much acknowledge the others unless they got close. A sort of cage of Void magic had formed around her, preventing others from getting in, and herself from getting out.

Rai watched Jade from behind Aly, bearing an incredibly mixed expression. The most noticeable emotions of the mix were pity and fear, both of which failed to go unnoticed as Glace took a step near him.

Meanwhile, Juniper was getting more and more stressed, nearing catatonic.

”STORM, HURRY UP AND HELP ME!”

”How am I supposed to help you?”

”JUST DO SOMETHING!”

”Γ*μησέ σε!”

”I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU SAID, BUT YOU’RE GROUNDED.”

Raiden facepalmed, "He said fu-"

"DON'T YOU DARE," Storm immediately snapped at her before noticing the look Juniper was giving him. "Eheh..."

“MY SISTER IS DYING—OR WORSE—CAN YOU ALL HELP FOR FIVE SECONDS?!”

The healer buried her face in her hands, too frazzled and stressed to cry.

The two borgs exchanged a glance before Storm sighed, "She's not dying... but to be honest, I'm not sure what's happening to her."

“Answer; she’s completely broken down,” Opal interrupted. “And there’s not really anything we can do.”

She didn’t even sound sad—in fact, her voice was rather matter-of-fact. Yet her red, puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks said otherwise.

The Storm Trainee bit his lip, expression unreadable. Rai was gazing at Opal with a similar expression, followed by glancing at the floor and fidgeting with his vision.

Juniper finally spoke, looking up and…

Her heart dropped out of her chest.

”Where… where’s Jade?” the healer asked warily, inspecting the now-empty cage of Void tendrils.

The Voidwalker was completely and totally blindsided, leaving a line of dead bodies behind her as she rampaged through the battlefield, both Faen and wizard falling behind her.

A smile crossed her face, but she wasn’t smiling. Void was.

Just then, Hope and Jax teleported to the Faen military base, where they started, Jax trembling in his sister's arms. Hope looked at each of the members of the group, all bearing negative expressions. "What happened?"

Elsewhere, a group of children sat in a forest clearing, glancing at each other in awkward silence, broken by Nathan.

"So...Robin, everyone else is looking for you. You wanna go back now or...?"

The boy nodded, immediately jumping to his feet and running off, blushing slightly when he ran straight into a tree.

"You okay there, bud?"

“I’M BLIND YOU IDIOT-“

He groaned and ran off.

"WE STILL HAVE MAPS, Y'KNOW. AND THAT'S THE WRONG WAY!" Nathan yelled.

“TOO BAD! ALSO I CAN’T READ MAPS!”

Luckily for him, he managed to stumble into the Faen tents, where Fire and Ice Fey immediately trained their weapons on him.

”He’s with us!” Juniper called, rushing over to give the wizard a hug. Yet he pulled out of her grasp, snapping, “Where’s Mo—Jade?”

The woman tried to force on a smile, but she wasn’t fooling anybody. “Eheh… about that…”

"I COULD HAVE JUST TELEPORTED YOU!" Nathan yelled, having followed the blind wizard.

Nearby, Raiden yet again facepalmed, muttering, "Idiots..."

”Raiden, my sister’s leaving a trail of dead bodies, help!” Juniper snapped.

"What am I supposed to do? Send everyone into unconsciousness?" She paused at seeing Juniper's expression, "...you can't be actually considering that-"

“Would you rather her kill half the battleground and then die herself?” she responded. “Just do something.”

Grumbling, the borg raised a foot and stamped it on the ground, a crackling electrical shockwave being sent out and quickly overtaking the battlefield.

Storm Fey and a few select wizards that partitioned the Storm Element remained unaffected, but the main matter of concern was the fact Jade had somehow fended off the electricity with some sort of a void shield.

The electricity recalled rapidly, condensing in the air and amplifying gradually before Raiden dispersed it, having caught the attention of leaders from both sides of the field at this point.

“OH [BEEP]ING PIECE OF [BEEP] I’M GONNA [BEEP] THAT [BEEP]’S [BEEP] [BEEP] LIKE A [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP]ING A [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP].”

Storm frowned at Juniper. “And you said I couldn’t curse.”

“[BEEP] YOU STORM IF THE WIZARDS GET JADE SHE’S WORSE THAN DEAD, SHE’LL GO [BEEP]ING INSANE AND WE’LL ALL DIE. DON’T YOU [BEEP]ING CARE, I CAN’T FIX ANYTHING AND IF YOU DON’T HELP ME YOU CAN [BEEP] MY [BEEP].”

Opal started with wide green eyes at her aunt, muttering, “Okay, maybe that’s enough…”

The Storm trainee exhaled deeply, "She's already insane εσυ σκύ-"

"DAD," Raiden immediately snapped.

"Hypocrite..."

“Fine, but believe me, she can get worse, and if those [BEEP]ING wizards get their hands on her she’ll either die or become…”

The healer shuddered. “I’d rather not think about it. Just do something.”

Aly cleared her throat, "Well.... I could get her and bring her back here-"

“Try,” she said, burying her face in her hands.

Cyan patterning formed in the area the Ice Fairy stood, the forming ice swirling about the fairy before collapsing in on itself, a trail of Ice left as the fairy promptly reappeared just in front of Jade, ice showering outwards.

The Voidwalker attacked immediately, movements quick and unnatural—she was a puppet to her own mind.

Aly staggered back before regaining her composure, her cold gaze narrowing into rectangular slits and flicking her wrist so that her usual blade may form in her grasp.

"Alright, we're playing this game."

Spears of ice condensed in the air, only to be neutralized by void, resulting in the fairy choosing to switch to mundane combat.

Meanwhile, the group nervously spectated alongside varying people.

Storm furrowed his brows, fidgeting with a device, "They're fighting."

Jade sliced her sword at the warden, elongating it to wrap around Aly’s weapon and pull it back. Unfortunately for her, she was weakened from her previous attacks, and she was at risk of imminent death, should insanity and Void strike more brutally.

Meanwhile, Juniper was yelling her head off.

”OM MY [BEEP]ING [BEEP] CAN NOBODY DO ANYTHING RIGHT, I’M GOING TO GO OVER THERE MYSELF AND [BEEP] HER [BEEP] SO HARD—Opal, sweetie, thank you for the water—SHE’LL BE [BEEP]ING MY [BEEP].”

The Ice Warden twisted her blade counter-clockwise, enveloped it in a faint veil of Astral, and slashed it in an arc, cutting through the void restraint and nearing the voidwalker gradually with furious lacerates.

She dodged and stabbed, yet her movements were even more hesitant now, Jade soon recovering and switching back to full-on puppet mode.

With a precise upward movement, Aly blocked the hybrid's blade with her own, the traces of the luminescent element coating her iced blade eating away at that of void.

“OH MY [BEEP]ING GOD, STOP,” the healer called, having rushed down the hill. Slipping over dead bodies and slick blood, she made her way over, grabbing Aly’s wrist. “Please. You can’t hurt her.”

The Ice Fairy looked at her in surprise, but that was quickly replaced with solicitude as she abruptly slammed Juniper to the ground, a void tentacle lashing where the two had stood.

"I would love to argue with you, really, IF JADE WASN'T TRYING TO KILL ME."

Aly got to her feet forthwith, clearly not afraid to hurt the voidwalker... or cared for it.

The healer curled her fists. “Stop now, she’s not in control of herself. If you really think attacking her will help, you’re dead wrong.”

The fairy heftily cut through yet another void tentacle before meeting Juniper's violet gaze and snapping, "Look, do you think I haven't tried being peaceful? For goodness sake, even if she wasn't like this, she'll gladly kill me. She hates me, or are you oblivious to everyone but yourself and her?"

Aly sliced through another tentacle, anger and annoyance visible with every movement.

“I know she hates you, you hate her too, but that doesn’t mean-“ She groaned. “Oh whatever. Just don’t kill her, please. Incapacitating her is enough.”

"I never planned on killing her," she responded in a ticked off singsong voice, only to be followed with a foul outburst, "YOU LITTLE BIT-"

The fairy plunged her sword upward, spearing a tentacle that loomed just above the warden.

“Stop, please, I can’t-“

Jade’s words weren’t directed at Aly, but they were just a hint of her real self… before she stabbed at the Ice Warden again, escaping her trauma-riddled state for only a second.

The Ice Warden did not hesitate once, swiftly blocking Jade's attack and flicking her weapon in a matter that forced the hybrid to drop her weapon.

More darkness surrounded the two, trapping Aly in and thrashing her about violently, Jade simply creating another sword.

A blast of Astral cut through the dark, striking Jade to the floor.

"STOP. IT. NOW."

She looked up at him, face lighting up with first joy, then panic, then dread, then freezing over with hatred again.

“What are you going to do, kill me?”

Her voice was mocking, amused, slightly bewildered. Which only angered the fairy further.

His normally kind gaze pooled with fury, his hand cutting through the air as a familiar translucent circle appeared before him, vision shining brightly to warn of the awaiting burst.

Part of him screamed not to hurt Jade any further, but a smaller, somewhat overwhelming part of him wanted to. Wanted to hurt and destroy.

Jade immediately attacked, knocking Juniper away when she tried to stop her. Tentacles bound Rai tightly, the fairy unable to cast magic at all.

Or so it seemed.

Astral magic gradually poured outward, dissipating the tentacles enough for him to squirm out of their grasp and drop to the floor. He was mostly gasping for breath, seeming vulnerable before Astral-infused Water Magic condensed in a circle around him, shooting outward in a vehement manner, managing to not only drench the circumference but neutralize the remaining Void Magic.

The young fairy got to his feet, drawing his staff and holding it point down by his side, geo-energy drifting from his vision and condensing at the tip to form a polearm-like weapon.

-Do not let this impede you.

-You cannot be stopped.

-Not here.

-Not now.

-Not to them.

Jade staggered, one hand clutching her head and the other still sending Void tentacles at Rai.

Stop. It.

-Don’t you want revenge? Don’t you want justices? Don’t you want to avenge… Hunter?

Please-

A single tear made its way across her cheek before her scars writhed in joy and she attacked again.

Astral Magic violently tore through the Void Tentacles, the fairy rushing the hybrid and striking her with the polearm of a staff, the geo infused blade digging into flesh.

Familiar circular patterning formed in the air, vision shining immensely as the sheer amount of Astral Magic concentrated around the fairy formed wisps in the air.

The Voidwalker winced as yet another wound filled with a black substance, another way for it to control her.

Yet she was powerless to resist—all she did was attack Rai with more ferocity.

Every swipe the hybrid made towards the radius of Astral Magic surrounding the fairy resulted in Void Magic burning and dissipating into nothing - even that inside of wounds.

Earth, Ice, and Water Magic - even stone formed by Geo - pelted and blasted the hybrid back in a ruthless barrage, and if you were at a high enough point, you would notice the magic continuously formed a patterning of a flower and star, death brought by twisted beauty.

She paused, taking in the situation…

And then attacked, leaving no room for her own defense.

Black Void had surrounded the fairy entirely, blinding him and blocking all attacks.

However, this vantage point was short-lived as Astral burned through her attacks yet again.

His tail lashed furiously, his vision shining intensely before... diming?

The ground below Jade tore open in the patterning of a flower, while semi-transparent Geo energy formed above her in the patterning of a star.

Pillars of stone spiked up while Jade was pelted from above, diminishing a failsafe in a matter of seconds.

She held his gaze for two seconds, then…

Started laughing.

Blood ran down her body, wounds cut open, yet pain was an afterthought under the inexplicable joy of death.

”Thank you, Rai. Just do it once more…”

Her vision glazed over.

”…but I’m its puppet. I’ll always be its puppet.”

”RAI WHAT THE [BLEEP], WHAT THE ACTUAL [BLEEP] YOU [BLEEP]ING [BLEEP]-“

Juniper sighed. “Somebody restrain Jade, she’s still got a failsafe left and I’d really rather not my last sibling die. And then Rai and I are having a very long talk.”

Rai, however, didn't seem to hear that comment. The fairy was trembling, a hand being pressed to his forehead as if he was fending off a headache. Nearby, Aly had gotten to her feet, walking over to the Earth Warden and gently prying his Vision from his grasp, the orange gemstone fading to gray.

She then glared at Juniper, "I rather not have you scold Rai over something you don't understand, and no, I'm not saying that out of rivalry."

At the edge of the battle field, a general from the Drake Tribe glanced at Cyro, "Isn't that your-"

"Not. A. Word."

“Fine, you’re right, I’m sorry.”

The healer walked over to her sister, taking a deep breath. “J-Jade?”

The Voidwalker didn’t respond, only stared ahead with a vacant expression.

”Oh f**k. Jade? Jade, please, get back to normal-“

”This is normal.”

”Okay, that’s creepy-“

Her green gaze flickered for a second, her turning to Rai. “Please, do it again, you did it before-“

Another shuddering breath, and her expression glazed over yet again.

Aly protectively pulled Rai closer, glaring at Jade immensely.

In a matter of seconds, a certain borg phased next to them, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FU- ...are they okay-"

“Nobody is even close to okay,” Juniper said. “Also, somebody restrain Jade, it’s a matter of time before she goes all crazy again.”

“Don’t. Just…”

The Voidwalker shuddered. “…you can’t do anything to me. Hurt me? More power. Kill me? I’d love that.”

Storm eyed Jade unsurely before a rift opened below the hybrid, dumping her in all too familiar pocket dimension.

“OH MY F**KING GOD WHAT DID YOU-“

Juniper buried her face in her hands. “I won’t even ask.”

"A pocket dimension where it's impossible to die." Storm informed her bluntly, "This isn't her first time in there..."

“…you do realize you are absolutely stunting her mental health, right?”

"Well do you prefer me electrocuting her for what? The fiftieth time? There's a limit to how much electricity one person can handle-"

"Well you can handle plenty-"

"That's different."

Aly arched an eyebrow, "You two argue like an old married couple, are you sure you're asexual Storm?"

At that, the borg stared at her intensely, "You did not just mention that out loud."

Juniper blinked. “Um-“

Meanwhile, a certain hooded and cloaked woman was staring smugly at Cyro.

”So that’s your daughter? Huh, I wonder where she got those genes from, certainly not you.”

"No, but her mother would gladly claw you to death for saying that - and she's not a fairy." Cyro responded, gaze unwavering, "So, still want to pretend to be the dominate species when you're acting like a coward?"

Not far, Rai was staring at the ground, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Tears stung, him furiously trying to scrub them away before anyone noticed, especially Juniper.

“Rather, this proves something. Your people—the hybrid-“

Her nose crinkled in disgust.

”-the murderous fairy, and your daughter are all dangerous. Savages. Disgusting. How could we win a war against people like that, people with no remorse?”

Next to them, Ignis and the Drake Tribe General exchanged a glance, Ignis speaking first, "You did not just say that."

She shrugged.

Cyro clenched his fingers into fists, before sighing and unclenching them, "That 'murderous fairy' as you call him is my grandson. I'll have you know we've would've been worse off if he and my daughter hadn't stepped in. Since you're so confident that you can't win, why do you bother arguing over a hypocritical point instead of just ending this?"

She sighed. “No, you’re right, this entire war is wasteful. So many people falling to the hands of savages. I’d love to call a ceasefire, but, well…”

The woman shrugged nonchalantly.

”I don’t see much of a point.”

"Why not?" The Ice Fairy asked skeptically, gaze unreadable.

“If we lose, we lose. I myself don’t lose anything, and neither does my cause. If we win, we win. Whereas if you lost, you’d be subject to far worse treatment.”

"So, you want to continue a war... just so maltreating my kind is JUSTIFIED?"

By now, the attention of multiple people had been caught, none of them trying to be discreet about eavesdropping on their leaders.

Zap!

Electricity sparked from a Cloud Neek, its angry trainer standing behind it.

The Lady nodded. “And don’t act innocent, I know what you all are really like.”

She turned on her heel and walked away, yet soon ran into a smirking wizard.

”Hello, Lady Anya,” Zayden said, fiddling with something under his shirt.

Kobe smirked. “Heya Zayden.” he said.

Meanwhile, Cyro was gripping the hilt of his weapon furiously, "THAT'S IT. I'M KILLING HER-"

Ignis and the Drake Tribe General raised an arm to stop the infuriated fairy in unison, however, it was evident neither actually wanted to stop Cyro from doing something stupid, yet had to.

Cloud Neek released another blast of electricity, all directed at The Lady.

She dodged and cast an Astral spell, which was redirected and smacked her in the face.

”Lady Brielle, too,” Ravena called. “So which one of you wants her?”

“I call it.” said Kobe.

He took out a capsule, and threw it into the air.

Out popped Tarragon, and it looked mad.

The girl pouted. “Come on, Kobe, she’s abused you for what? A week? I get a turn.”

”Approximately,” the Lady said, not looking nervous in the slightest. “And I recall I kept you around for several months, Ravena, and you were even more of a failure than I anticipated.”

The wizard sneered, yet fear shone in her gray eyes. “I-“

”Hiding under Zayden’s wing all the time, running away from your tasks, choosing to save even the most useless of people.”

The Lady glanced at Kobe when she said that.

“Like your little Braxton.”

Zayden flinched. “You-“

”I kept him around for leverage, of course, and it paid off wonderfully… at least for a while. But why am I sitting her monologuing? When I could be…”

She snapped her fingers, Astral magic clouding the area. “…elsewhere.”

Kobe snarled.

”Go jump off of a bridge, you psychopathic b*tch.” he said,

“Aw… it’s not psychopathy. It’s strength.”

Kobe reached into his bag, and pulled out one of his daggers.

It was immediately knocked away, the Lady laughing through the yellow fog.

”You really are a failure.”

Kobe covered his ears.

”Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP. SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

Back in the rift, a certain hybrid was curled up on the ground in fetal position, shaking.

She was too weak to cry, too tired to scream, too exhausted to do anything except stare at the swaying grass and lie limply on the ground.

Everything she had was gone.

There was no point.

She was destroyed.

Crushed.

Empty.

A weak wail began to fill the otherwise soundless landscape, accursed and animalistic.

Wails turned into screams, each part of her screaming pain, agony, insanity, sorrow…

She wanted to die.

Why couldn’t she die?

It would be better if she could just die…

Yet she could never escape the eternal torment.

A British-accented voice shook her out of her stupor, the hybrid slowly opening her eyes and flinching away when Gale’s cold expression came into view.

“Leave me alone-“

A tentacle of Shadow smashed her right in the face, leaving a trickle of blood dripping from her nose.

“I’ve been left alone too many times.”

Another hit.

Then another.

Then another.

“And I’m done with that.”

“I… I didn’t do anything to hurt you…” Jade croaked out, coughing blood as she struggled to her feet.

“Oh, you did quite a lot.”

Before Gale could attack again, however, the Voidwalker blasted him with what seemed like an incredibly powerful Void variant of Starbit Blast.

He dodged easily—her movements were still slow and sluggish from her previous weak state—and retaliated with triple the amount of force, Jade becoming a bloodied rag doll on the floor.

“What do you want with me-“

“I want a lot of things. From you, I want blood.”

This time, he didn’t strike, only took his time walking over and looking down at her like she was a dead enemy. Disgust, hatred, and mild fascination mixed on his face, hatred winning over quickly.

Gale flicked a hand, watching smugly as the shimmering mirage of Hunter Landcrafter appeared.

The sound that escaped Jade wasn’t earthly—a guttural cry of longing and melancholy too heartwrenching to belong in even this world of pain.

She reached for him, the mirage soon disappearing under her fingers.

The Voidwalker crumpled to the ground, managing one word. “Why?”

Gale didn’t respond, but the smile crossing his face was answer enough.

Yet the smug smirk faded when he looked up, a tiny girl staring at him with complete and utter betrayal.

“Gale, why?” whispered Faith.

"I..." The fairy turned his attention away from her, forcing himself to focus on the current situation.

The girl shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I trusted you, Gale.”

I don't hear you, I don't hear you, I don't hear you-

Yet, you do, unfortunately.

Shut up you-

Yet the dark element had a point, and tears threatened to spill.

“Please, Gale? I…I’m sorry…”

The little girl floated towards him. “Are you okay?”

Meanwhile, a weakened Jade was shuddering on the ground, too heartbroken even to cry.

Tears that would never fall.

The Ivory didn't respond to the present ghost, not knowing what to say. Was he okay? No, he definetly wasn't, not for years.

She vanished again, leaving Gale alone.

He was always alone.

Instead he turned his attention to Jade, attacking her again and again and again, needing something to help with the pain.

Not long after, as Storm, Aly, Rai, and Juniper made their way back to the others, a certain hybrid was forcefully ejected from a pocket dimension - fully bound, gagged, unarmed, and magically restrained - the doing of a very annoyed Ivory.

Back to the other plot, Mr. Knockoff Ash Ketchum- I mean Kobe was covering his ears, while yelling at The Lady.

She only laughed. “Well, former captain Zayden, I can’t believe you sank so low.”

The boy clenched his fists, pulling on his necklace so hard the string began to dig into his skin. “I’m not-“

”Excuses, excuses. You’re weak. When you could’ve been strong.”

A whimper resounded from behind the tech wizard, Braxton burying his face in his brother’s arms.

The Lady smiled. “Finally, I can dispose of your brother.”

”DON’T. YOU. DARE.”

“If you’re done with your monologue, I wanna battle!” said Kobe.

You could really feel the anger in his voice.

“And I don’t, weakling. See you later.”

She turned to leave, waving a hand to clear away the smoke…

And found herself face-to-face with Ravena.

”Don’t-“

A Falling Star Smash.

”-call-“

Another one.

”-Kobe-“

The Lady dodged, sending a Prism Blast which was redirected.

”-weak.”

All the Astral energy around them condensed into a Super Nova, which crashed into the ground, about to kill the Lady…

Yet at the last second, Ravena dissipated it, leaving her shocked—but the woman recovered quickly.

”So you are weak.”

Kobe was in awe, but then came back to his senses.

“Hehe. She really is awesome!”

“I’m not weak-“

“You couldn’t kill me. Couldn’t kill or hurt anyone. It’s why I killed-“

“Don’t,” Ravena hissed, trembling. “Don’t you dare-“

“-your parents,” she finished smugly, laughing and sidestepping easily when the girl screamed and attacked.

Kobe charged at The Lady, dagger in hand.

She dodged and cast a spell, taking full advantage of everyone’s emotional state.

Kobe fell backwards into Tarragon, who proceeded to fire a beam of fire at The Lady.

She blocked it and fired, Ravena starting to recover and straight-up tackling the woman.

Cloud Neek jumped in, sending off some intense electricity.

Not far, Cyro sighed frustratedly, "Well, would you at least let me go after her now?"

"I would love to, but no," Ignis replied grouchily.

"In that case-"

Cyan energy formed in the air before collapsing in on the Ice Fairy, him teleporting before the others had a chance to react.

The two remaining firey generals exchanged a glance.

"Should we-"

"Do you want her alive?"

"No thank you."

At where the Lady was facing the children, cyan patterning and a sense of algor filled the clearing as ice sprayed, the fairy seemingly bursting from the ground.

“And that’s my cue to leave-“

Kobe growled like an animal, in half frustration and half anger.

He threw his dagger onto the ground, he was gonna have to get better weapons that this.

Cyro unsheathed his sword, the odd, glowing patterning somewhat more disturbing then usual, "Ah, but no, you'll be staying here."

A wall of ice formed around the area, the fairy's white tail lashing angrily.

She crossed her arms, sighing aggressively. “Do it, and it’ll prove you’re just as savage as I thought you were. Icetalon indeed.”

"I am not falling for that." He took a step closer to her direction, "You call me savage, but you want to waste the lives of hundreds of people just to torture the innocent? No, if anyone's worthy of bearing that blasted name it's you."

“Well then, kill me and let’s see what happens.”

“Tarragon, set the ground on fire.” Said Kobe.

Tarragon initially refused, but then decided to set the ground on fire, just so that Kobe wouldn’t be mad.

The fire quickly went out.

"Oh, I won't be the one killing you." The patterning on Cyro's blade shone slightly brighter, a light breeze messing with the Astral mist, "Norishna Kee."

Instantly, the Astral fog and glowing patterning on his weapon faded, the Lady crumpling to the ground.

Ravena watched, eyes wide. “Okay that was… wow.”

Kobe looked at Ravena.

”If it’s alright with you, I’m gonna hide out with you.”

“I… sure-“

She was interrupted by Zayden furiously grabbing Kobe, dragging him across the battlefield until he was out of earshot, and slamming him against the ground.

”So.”

”Eheh…”

“You and Ravena…”

The wizard laughed under his breath. “Been quite a while since she cared for anybody. And somehow you, with your cockiness, idiocy, pets you cower behind, and pathetic slogans managed it?”

”I-“

”I will be watching you very closely and if you touch her too hard I’m destroying you.”

“Uhh, alright.”

Cyro ignored the two and sheathed his blade, looking indifferent, "I strongly dislike messing with this aspect of magic, yet I dislike being compared to my parents even more." He glanced at the children, "What were you even doing near her to begin with?"

Ravena looked up. “You don’t even want to know.”

The Ice Fairy frowned but said nothing else before cyan swirled around him, soon teleporting behind the two fiery generals.

Ignis didn't even bother to face him, "How did it go?"

"Well enough that a ceasefire is going to be called," the fairy responded, picking up the husky that trotted up to him.

A distance away, an Ivory finally decided to show up, being startled by a hug from Rai, Glace being indifferent as usual.

A few yards away, five people were sitting around a single figure, each with varying expressions.

Juniper spared no time for emotion, only stared at her sister with a vacant expression to hold back the tears.

Hilda was glaring murderously at Gale, barely concealing her sobs and focusing on flipping through the pages of her book, wishing she could use it.

A stunned Korathius was weeping silently as Opal explained the past events, him bearing plenty of new wounds for hours in the battle.

Robin was bawling his eyes out, barely even taking the time to breathe between the sobs.

And Jade herself…?

All she did was struggle against her bonds, glare at pretty much everybody, and occasionally break down and start sobbing without tears—then screaming gutturally through the gag—then laughing so hard she began to convulse—then just shake silently and bear the fear.

Over and over.

No escape.

Aly had noticed the looks Hilda shot at Gale, talking a defensive step towards him.

Storm was standing near Raiden, eventually clearing in his throat, "I don't want... I don't want to be insensitive but... what now?"

Days flew by, weeks even before an Ivory Fairy walked to the edge of all too familiar chasm.

There was no sign of the things that laid here before, only whispers of the wind, ghosts, and memories anticipating what would happen next.

The battle had finally ended, and the dead were being mourned, yet the fairy had one thing to attend to, something that he had to attend to - his one and only known responsibility.

He exhaled deeply, a streak of green forming from a tip of his bangs down to the tuft of his braided hair, his eyes turning a shade of mossy green-tinted with amber.

It was silent, not a living soul around., at least, until, a wave of green-tinted magic was blasted out over the chasm, forming a semi-transparent platform.

A distance away, atop a hill, a few of the Wardens watched, however, some were absent.

The Ivory stepped out onto the platform, rock-forming below every step and spreading, runes of Earth Magic present around him.

Green changed to yellow.

He brought one hand in front of him, pinching a thread of Astral Magic and pointing the unpinched fingers towards the ground. He brought the other hand just above his head, pinching the second string of Astral from seemingly nowhere and bringing it down to the first.

Then rapidly, he moved both hands, quickly and elegantly drawing out an image, a memory, a place, a refuge. Even with the outline it still wasn't cone, the elemental energy in his grasp changing time to time again, coloring in a vivid image, the chasm soon filling with stone and the Earth Magic fading.

The Ivory exhaled deeply as he neared finished it, shattering it the second he was done before anyone - or ghost - could see the completed work.

Astral Magic drifted in the air around the fairy, before he walked forward to where the drop of the chasm would've been.

Nothing happened for a minute, but then Earth Magic concentrated, cut stone, and contributed to the mist.

The same happened with the other elements - Fire, Water, Storm, Shadow, Ice - all of them contributed to the growing mist, the growing mirage, the growing replica of the image.

As the light shone through the elemental particles, and multiple colors danced on the ground, the Ivory smiled slightly, then like a child blowing on dandelion fluff, gently blew a powder made from condensed elemental energy off his palm.

The mirage became real.

A building that has fallen so many times, remaining near unchanged after millennials, poetically standing against the changes the island went through every minute.

Carefully, hesitantly, the fairy closed his eyes, stretching out his hand and drawing one more image in the air before thrusting it upward, the structure floating once more.

Not long after, the fairy climbed to the top of the hill, joining the gathered Wardens.

Rai had sat down, watching with an incredibly mixed expression - guilt... incompetence... familiarity... and an overwhelming determination shone in the mix.

Nearby the Trainees and a few others joined them on the top of the hill, expressions varying but none containing joy.

As the Academy leveled with the hill - and eventually Shiverchill - the gathered wizards and fey couldn't help but turn their attention to a field in the distance, specks of stone littering it.

A graveyard.

A woman and two children stood amongst the graves, standing out amongst the stone and earth.

“Come on. Pick a flower.”

Robin frowned. “Why?”

“We want to decorate the graves, don’t we?”

Half an hour later, they had tulips, marigolds, roses, bluebells, chrysanthemums, carnations…

Each stone slab got one, yet they still didn’t have enough flowers.

Death always outnumbered love, always destroyed beauty, always overtook life.

Juniper stopped at one of the stone slabs, actually two separate people.

While everybody else had fanciful flowers, they only had too bright yellow dandelions, tied together at the stem.

FAITH and CONNOR

It was a moment of complete rush when she reached over and carved something else into the slab, using Earth magic for the first time in quite a while.

FAITH WISHSTONE and CONNOR WISHSTONE

Bloom again in the spring.

The tears hit the soil, Juniper not bothering to conceal them.

Hopefully, they’d bloom again.

Hopefully.

Navigation

[v · t · e · ?] Roleplays Libra's Scale Series Roleplays: Libra's Scale  •  Libra's Scale 2  •  Libra's Scale 3  •  Libra's Scale: Eternity's Gamble Extras: Libra's Scale: Extras  •  Libra's Scale 2: Extras  •  Libra's Scale 3: Extras  •  Libra's Scale: Eternity's Gamble: Extras Wizard School/Camp Roleplays: Wizard School/Camp Extras: Wizard School/Camp: Extras The Academy's Secret Roleplays: The Academy's Secret Extras: The Academy's Secret: Extras Rap Battles Roleplays: The Ultimate Rap Battle: Chris vs Aizawa Extras: The Ultimate Rap Battle: Chris vs Aizawa: Extras Magical Girls of Prodigy Island! Mission 1: Save the Boys! Roleplays: Magical Girls of Prodigy Island! Mission 1: Save the Boys! Extras: Magical Girls of Prodigy Island! Mission 1: Save the Boys!: Extras The Return of the Wardens Roleplays: The Return of the Wardens  •  Kyōju No Wakai Hibi  •  The Crystal Queen  •  Shadow's Rising  •  The Wardens Renowned  •  Xenophobe  •  Warfare  •  Ceasefire  •  Void's Reign  •  Light's Fall  •  Greyshift Coronation  •  Filia Umbra  •  Ground Zero  •  Faen War III (ROTW AR)  •  The Crystal Warden  •  The Restoration of the Wardens (ROTW AU) Extras: The Return of the Wardens: Extras  •  Kyōju No Wakai Hibi: Extras  •  The Crystal Queen: Extras  •  Shadow's Rising: Extras  •  The Wardens Renowned: Extras  •  Xenophobe: Extras  •  Warfare: Extras  •  Ceasefire: Extras  •  Void's Reign: Extras  •  Light's Fall: Extras  •  Greyshift Coronation: Extras  •  Filia Umbra: Extras  •  Ground Zero: Extras  •  Faen War III (ROTW AR): Extras  •  The Crystal Warden: Extras  •  The Restoration of the Wardens (ROTW AU): Extras A Normal Picnic Roleplays: A Normal Picnic Extras: None Other Roleplays Roleplays: Ansat to the Max  •  Bittersweet  •  Elemental Divide  •  Final Life  •  Hide-N-Seek  •  Into the Caverns  •  Lost Past  •  Pet Trainer, Portal Chaser  •  Prodigy Funny Laughs  •  Prodigy Summer Olympics  •  Rickroll Member Box - The Origin  •  The Magic of Imagination  •  Sound of a Roar Extras: Lost Past: Extras  •  RQT Roleplay: Extras  •  Elemental Divide: Extras