You were staring blankly at the ground, struggling to process what had just happened between Alex Wilder and Nico Minoru. You and your friends returned to the secret sacrifice room where Chase found the hidden camera. You scratched your nails on your palms while clenching your fists even harder than before, oblivious to the possibility of blood dripping on the floor.

The voices of your friends were drowned by the voices in your head.

'I thought you weren't jealous?'

'I'm not jealous.'

'Poor you. Lying to herself every single day.'

'Get out of my damn mind!'

As a series of hazy whispers meandered through your ears, your head jerked to the side. Nuclear explosions, riots, small missiles, and needles began to appear in your mind, accompanied by kissing sounds that made you want to rip your ears out of your skull.

Nico turned to you and saw that you were straining to retain your composure. She didn't know what was wrong, but she could tell you weren't feeling well since you saw Alex and her in her room a few days ago.

Gert, who was sitting beside you, stopped talking and checked on how you were doing. "Hey, hey, (Y/n)."

You clasped your hand against your mouth to contain your cries or screams from coming out.

'You're insane...'

'I'm not insane... you're making me insane!'

'I'm you.'

'Are you?'

"(Y/n)!" You flinched, and your eyes went wide as you stared at your friends, who were looking at you in worry. "Sorry for shouting your name." You looked at Alex, who apologized and set his laptop down.

"We know our parents' murder hijinks are scaring you, (Y/n)." Gert placed her hand on your back. "It's scaring us too."

You stared at her for a moment before looking at Alex's laptop. "Wh-What... what did you find in there?"

Alex glanced down at his laptop and sighed. "The footage is being offloaded onto a server somewhere, specifically storing it at Wizard Computers: the most hacker-resistant network on the planet."

'Nico's parents' company.' You looked at Nico, who gave you a nod of acknowledgment. "Then we have to find a way to get it."

Nico nodded in agreement. "(Y/n)'s right. It's actual evidence of what our parents have been doing."

"Maybe there's an explanation." Chase justified and tried to defend everyone's parents' actions. "I mean, they have to be doing all of this for a reason, right? What if they have a good one?"

"Good reason to kill kids." Molly sarcastically muttered.

"Chase, come on." Nico sighed.

Chase shook his head. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but..." He shrugged. "I don't know, I was with my dad before, and it just made me wonder. What if we're missing something here?"

"I mean, Chase, can you honestly think of a single reason to justify their actions?" Alex asked. Chase went silent, he couldn't think of a reason. Chase knew Alex was right.

You and Nico returned home after the meeting and investigation. Nico insisted you go to your room because she had to sneak inside Tina's office and return the staff in its case.

You walked into your room and collapsed on your knees. You didn't want to have this life. Having powers and being an adopted child of the Minorus, who just so happened to be one of the most powerful people in the city and murderers. You wanted a simple life.

But not everyone gets what they desire.

You'd had enough of crying every night when you awoke from nightmares that you couldn't remember after a few hours. You were sick of crying every time you had a random mental breakdown. You were exhausted.

Crying made you feel fragile and weak. And you didn't want that. However, things were always so overwhelming to you that you couldn't conceal your emotions any longer and had to burst them in your room where no one could see them.

You cried even harder than before, gripping your hands to your chest. You used to feel useless until you found you have more powers than merely casting illusions, which you had no idea existed. Was it the necklace's fault? You couldn't tell.

You ended up getting into bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling, your bedsheets soaking wet from your unending tears. Frustrated, you curled up into a ball and ran your hands through your hair. In desperation, you sat up and dug your fingers across your neck, feeling suffocated.

'They're not your friends.'

'No, they said they are.'

'They're not your family.'

'Stop, please!'

'You want me to stop?'

You nodded eagerly.

'Give me your powers and take the Staff of One to me.' The voice slightly changed. You finally learned that the voice that kept on arguing with you wasn't yours. 'How did you get into my mind?'

'Your mind's easy to enter when you're still young. Couldn't really get to your sister.'

'Nico?'

'Oh, sorry. Your other sister.'

You shook your head and lightly punched your head. "Go away..."

'I don't take orders from you.' You gasped when you suddenly stood up with no recollection of doing so. 'I can easily take control of your body, so be thankful that I chose not to.'

You breathed heavily as your head turned to your mirror nearby. "You've been in my mind since I moved here, terrorizing me. Haven't you done enough?"

'I'm your friend here, dear.' The voice soothed. 'Sorry for being harsh. I'm just helping you see the truth. It will always be me and you.'

"I..." You tried to argue back, but you didn't know what to say.

'They're not your friends, honey. They'll only use you if they need you. Have you ever thought about why they never invited you to their secret meetings when they talked about their parents' wrongdoings? Because they never think about you in the first place.'

"They never did..." You reprised but shook your head and wandered around your room. "No, no. Th-They let me join sometimes! I..."

'Because you happened to be in the same place as well. It's always unintentional.'

You whimpered as you sat down on the ground in defeat. The voice in your head was right. If you weren't at Alex's house in the first place, you wouldn't have known about the grownups' secret meeting. It was never on purpose.

The pendant was eventually broken in half. From the shattered gem, you noticed a blinding plasmic red light or energy, as well as smoke. The light engulfed your entire body when you stretched out your hand to touch it. As you were carried into the air and the crimson light swept through you, your eyes widened, and your mouth hung open.

Your eyes flickered back and forth between red and blue before settling on one color: blue.

Several memories have finally resurfaced, and you have a clearer picture of your past. You yelled in agony, loud enough to startle Nico and her mother who were having a conversation in Tina's office at the time. Your eyes returned to normal, and you landed with a loud thud on the ground.

Tina and Nico dashed into your room, Tina's daughter still clutching the magical staff in her hands. Tina noticed Nico in her office and calmly explained that Nico was always going to find the magical staff. She insisted her daughter keep it for the night.

Your door was unlocked, much to Nico's relief. Nico and her mother walked into your room and saw you unconscious on the floor. "(Y/n)!" Tina yelled as she knelt down and cradled you in her arms. "What happened to you?"

Nico searched around your room and discovered your necklace resting beside your foot. She took it and noticed that your necklace's pendant jewel was broken. Nico paused for a second, then tucked the necklace into her pocket and walked up to your side, worried.

"I have to call a doctor," Tina stated. "She's not doing too good."