I can't believe Kabos would try to pull something like that, Adriana thought in disgust as she led her horse back into the stable. Lucas had left to see to some other business after they had failed to take down the barrier. He's the one who broke Dawn, and now he's over here trying to convince me that she's planning something terrible. He's such a---

        Her thoughts were inturrupted by a knock on the stable door.

        "Can I come in?" James asked quietly. 

        Adriana turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. James was such a familiar figure, someone who was capable of making her feel safe and comfortable wherever she was.

        "I'm sorry." she blurted out suddenly, remembering her harsh words from earlier. "I'm sorry."

        James looked taken aback.

        "You're sorry? For what?"

        Adriana took a deep breath.

        "For being so rude earier, before Lucas and I left. I was out of line and I wish for your forgiveness."

        James smiled slightly.

        "You don't need to be so formal." he laughed, coming closer. "It's still me."

        "Exactly!" Adriana exclaimed, walking past him and exiting the stable. "It's you! You're someone who has been there for me since the second we met, and I've been nothing but sour to you in return. I'm sorry." she continued to walk around the castle, trying to hold back her tears. Nothing was going according to plan, nothing was working out. Dawn was still in the Forbidden Forest, no one could take down her barrier, Lucas was off fighting some magical being, as was his job, and Adriana couldn't get any of her thoughts to exit her mouth coherently.

        "Adriana, wait." James grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. "I'm not angry with you."

        "Well, you should be." Adriana replied, turning and walking around the castle until she was sitting on the front steps, her head resting in her hands. "Everyone should be angry with me. I failed. I'm done for. Dawn is gone, and I don't know how to get her back, or how to prove to anyone that she's still her regular, good-hearted self!"

        James sat down next to the princess, trying to decide what to say.

        "Ad, listen to me." he finally stammered out, taking her hands in his. "You didn't fail. How could you possibly fail? You're one of the most amazing women I've ever met in my life. You're incredible. Just the fact that you were willing to go back multiple times to try and save Dawn even when she wasn't responding to you is both brave and amazing. You're a brilliant person, and I can't even begin to comprehend how you could possibly think otherwise."

        Adriana smiled sadly.

        "Thank you, James. You're a wonderful friend."

        James felt as though he had been punched in the gut. A wonderful friend? Why couldn't she see that he was more than that, that he was willing to do anything for her? What did he have to do to show her that he---

        "Oh my---"

        And just like that, the world went black.

***

        "Surprised?"

        A lithe blonde head followed the trail of smoke and fading lightning, emerging from the ashes to reveal none other than the Dark Princess.

        "Dawn!" Adriana cried out angrily, "What did you do?" she turned away from her sister, all thoughts of reconciliation vanished as she bent over James' motionless body.

        "That's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you, Adriana." Dawn cackled, fire blazing in her sunken eyes.

        "What?" Adriana looked up in utter confusion. "What are you talking about---"

        But she didn't managed to spit out another word before she was blasted backwards, hitting the stone steps of the castle with a thud. Her head spun and she could taste blood on her lip. 

        Another blast came hurtling towards her, but this time Adriana was ready, and she met the black light midway with light of her own; the brightest, whitest light she could possibly muster out of her body. The two energies crashed into each other, creating an overwhelming circle of light that momentarily blinded Adriana. She couldn't see Dawn on the other side, but she could hear her screaming something terrible, something about how Adriana was a traitor and a sorry excuse for a human being...

        "What?" Adriana called around the light, feeling her heart drop with every word her sister screamed. "What are you talking about?"

        Suddenly, the energy from Dawn disappeared and Adriana watched as the white energy struck Dawn in the chest, causing her to stumble, but not to fall.

        "What am I talking about?" Dawn repeated softly, her whisper as terrifying as if she were still yelling, "What am I talking about?" she laughed quietly. "I'm talking about you, Adriana. You, and how you can't possibly begin to understand the pain I've been in, the pain that you put me in."

        "Me?" Adriana asked, confused out of her mind. What did she do to Dawn? One day she had woken up and Dawn was gone, vanished into thin air. "I've done nothing but help you! I've been trying to reach you ever since you left, I've been trying to get to you---"

        "So that you can hurt me again?" Dawn snapped, cutting Adriana off. "I can't believe you---"

        "What did I do? What did I do that was so incredibly detrimental to you?" Adriana cried out, exasperated. "If I remember correctly, Kabos is the one who betrayed you! I was the one trying to save you!"

        "No, you betrayed me!" Dawn yelled, "You were scheming with him the whole time! And now? Now, you go off and find a man for yourself? After all the terror you put me through? After all the pain, after all the lies?"

        What in the world is she talking about, Adriana thought to herself as Dawn continued to ramble on about all the terrible things Adriana had done to her, Kabos was the one who tried to take her powers. I was the one trying to stop her from trusting him, I didn't do anything to her. Who put these thoughts in her mind, who turned her into this monster?

        And in that moment, Adriana realized that it hadn't been a who. It had been a what.

        The fear. The fear that Dawn had felt, the fear that she had been betrayed, the fear of her entire world being shattered, the fear of feeling that way again. The fear had turned her Dark. The fear had pinned Dawn against the world, the fear had turned her heart into stone and her eyes into those dark spheres, had turned her into this monster that stood before Adriana, completely sure of the fact that it had indeed been the person she had loved most who had betrayed her.

        Oh my...oh my gosh. I have to stop her. I have to end this.

        I have to end Dawn.

-----

A/N: Sorry this was short and stupid, and sorry I haven't updated in three weeks. I've been so busy and I know that's always my excuse, but holy crap can things pile up. Plus I had major writers block, which is never fun.

I promise I will be better, but I also wanted to thank you guys. I had one of the crappiest days that I've had in a while today, and I felt like no one could really flip this day around. But then I logged onto Wattpad, determined to update for you guys, and I see all the comments on Spiral and Shattered, all the votes and all the kind messages you guys leave on my wall and in my inbox, and I can't help but smile. The fact that you enjoy my writing and want more updates, want to talk to me, and take time out of your day to bother with the things that I do, really means a lot to me. Thank you guys so much, you're the best readers/friends I could ever have.

As always, comment to let me know what you thought of this chapter and what you want to happen next (maybe it'll help me get through this continuing writer's block). Thanks for reading this long freaking message.

-Katherine