NOTE: THERE ARE SEVERAL TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER!

THERE IS EXPLICIT DISPLAY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (slightly mild), TALK OF (ATTEMPTED) SUICIDE (vague), MOCKERY CENTERED ON SAID (ATTEMPTED) SUICIDE VICTIM (vague), EXPLICIT DISPLAY OF SELF-HARM (slightly mild) AND EXPLICIT DISPLAY OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE (slightly mild).

Please read with caution if you are uncomfortable with any of these things.

Thank you.

I do not own the following characters below:

Princess Briana Gem Sentry (mentioned) and Jake Sentry (mentioned) belongs to Sci-Briana17

Stormy (mentioned) and Poseidon belongs to GeekyCookie1

Side note: A segment of this chapter does reference Little Sister (written by Sci-Briana17) which goes into the life of Princess Briana Sentry (who belongs to Sci-Briana17), a book I highly recommend! Go check it out!

~~~~~~

Flashback

"Queen Twilight—"

"Detective, I wouldn't give this job to anyone and you know this," Twilight softly said, much to Axel's disappointment. He really wished she and her husband chose someone else.

Literally, anyone else for the job.

"But what if—"

"Axel, I've seen the articles. You care about your clients. I know you won't let any harm come to my little girl while you deliver Briana to a old friend of mine," Twilight softly assured him once more, eyeing the human with her compassionate eyes. It only made him feel more sick for what he was about to do.

"About that, I can't deliver her alone."

"Go on."

"If there is anyone who could cause harm to the Princess along the way while I provide your daughter a safe passage to Master Splinter at your request, then I must request my partner to come with me. There won't be an additional fee if you accept," he continued, gesturing to the dark-skinned girl with curly, medium-length hair and dazzling hazelnut praline eyes.

For this occasion, the girl kept her hair in a ponytail, cleaning her light beige glasses lightly before placing her glasses back on. Axel saw she was wearing a cashmere long-sleeve and beige jeans, softly grinning as he saw his partner chatting with Twilight's husband, King Flash, and one of the guards.

"Your partner... she's a bit young for the job, don't you think?" Twilight gently pointed out as Axel nodded, forcing himself to look away. "I know, but Your Highness, Xitlali is mature for her age. More importantly, she cares about the clients and well..." he trailed off, waiting until the Queen eyed him for him to continue.

"Xitlali has magical abilities of her own, so she would be able to know when the enemy is near," Axel finished as Queen Twilight stared at Xitlali from afar.

"When you two got here, my mother and I did sense some kind of magic radiating from your partner. Is it possible that your partner is...." Twilight trailed off as Axel shook his head.

"Equestrian? No," Axel answered at once. "Xitlali's magic is more chaotic than opposed to the refined form of Equestrian magic," he later explained as Twilight briefly nodded at his response. "Interesting. Well, since you view your partner so highly, then I don't see why you can't bring her along," Twilight stated in a kidding tone as Axel bowed to her.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Axel sincerely said, before straightening himself up once more. "Your partner... you seem to care about her greatly," Twilight chimed in, having observed the way he interacted with the girl versus the other partners he brought with him in the past, which caught the detective off-guard, who tried to play her comment off.

"Is she your daughter?" she followed up as Axel stared at Xitlali before politely shaking his head, once he faced the Queen. "No, Your Grace. She's just my partner and I'm just her mentor," Axel simply said, before pulling out a photograph of him, a dark-skinned woman and a light-skinned male.

"I do, however, have a son and a wife back home. The beautiful woman there is Serenity Carter, who has since taken my last name. The boy's name is Zane and his birthday will be approaching soon. I hope to finish this case and return home to him," he continued as Twilight "awww" lightly at the image. In the image, Axel is standing proudly with Serenity and Zane, who appeared fussy in the photo.

"He's adorable!" Twilight happily exclaimed, gushing over the image once more. "Well, if he's anything like you, I bet Zane will grow up to become a great detective like you," she later complimented as Axel felt his heart sink. He knew the Queen only meant her response as a compliment, but...

"Axel, what is this!" his wife cried out as Axel harshly snatched the file out of her hand, while his wife crossed her arms. "It's none of your business," Axel firmly stated. "Well, this became my business after I married you!" Serenity snapped, now looking at her husband firmly.

"I thought you were a ethical man, Ax. A person who valued his morals over greed, but lately? I don't even know who you are," Serenity solemnly continued, sighing as she shook her head. "You're always sneaking out and meeting with shady men like in those noir movies but I just... I... I don't understand why you're behaving like this," she continued once more.

"Who I meet with is none of your concern! Your job is to go to work and care for Zane. That's it," Axel harshly snapped as Serenity narrowed her eyes towards her husband, who was now looking at her with anger. She didn't mind, because she returned the look and emotion with effective ease, before her heart sank.

She wondered how their relationship ever got at this point. They were happy together, then Axel began to change. She knew that's when their relationship took a turn for the worse.

"What about our son, Ax? Zane looks up to you! What would he think if he knew what his father has become?" Serenity insisted as Axel darkly glared in her direction. "Zane doesn't need to know about what's going on and neither do you!" he snapped as Serenity stared at him.

"Oh, okay. Well, if it's not me and your son's concern, then I'm sure your partner would like to know," she suggested as Axel's eyes widened. "Come on, don't give me the look. Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?" Serenity lightly mocked before shaking her head.

"Axel, it doesn't take a genius to know the girl clearly looks at you like a father, but I would hate to see how that admiration shifts if she were to know the truth," Serenity stated as Axel glared at his wife. "Leave my partner out of this. Xitlali doesn't need to know about this. She doesn't need to know about anything," Axel protested in turn as Serenity eyed him suspiciously.

"Really? You don't think she deserves to know the truth about her mentor? That her idol has changed from a man of honor and an enforcer of justice to a low, vile and senseless corrupt man?" Serenity countered, trying to keep her voice even. "I know what's inside, Ax," she began as Axel glared in her direction.

"Why did you look inside?" Axel demanded at once. "Because I'm a cop, you idiotic hunk! It's my job to know when someone is acting suspicious," Serenity firmly stated at once as Axel kept his eye on her. "How much do you know?" he followed up, his tone darkly cold.

The shift in her husband's tone was enough to make Serenity's hairs on her neck rise, but she maintained eye contact with him nonetheless.

"I know that file involved a princess and some man who is willing to pay you extra if bring her to some kind of Foot Clan instead of a underground sewer like her parents had intended. Why the sewer, I don't really know, but look, that's besides the point!" she answered before sighing.

"That princess is just a little girl and I've seen men like him, Ax! You can't trust him!" she persisted, but Axel only scoffed.

"You'll be betraying that little girl's parents, Axel! They chose you specifically, Ax, because they trust you and your character. If you seriously take this man on his offer and give their daughter to the hand of the Royal couple's enemies, then... you'll be no better than your father."

In a fit of rage, Axel charged towards Serenity, whose eyes widened from the sudden change in her husband's behavior. She tried to speak, but when his fist made contact with her face, Serenity knew he had lied to her. As she took the hit, Serenity's eyes grew with fear when Axel pinned her to the wall.

"Don't you ever compare me to my father, you worthless wife of mine!" Axel darkly threatened as Serenity quietly chuckled before shaking her head. "My friends told you wouldn't change, that the devil doesn't bargain, but I chose you over them. Time and time again, I chose you and look at where we are at, Ax. I was wrong for not believing them," she began as Axel's eyes widened.

"Seren—" Axel began, a wave of remorse overwhelming him, his heart shattering at the sight of his wife's black eye. "You haven't changed at all," she tearfully admitted, bitterly laughing as she taser her husband, who fell to the ground in a profound fit of seizures. As the cop winced from the touch of her eye, she looked at her husband with great wave of sadness.

"Get out, Axel. We are done."

"Yeah, well hopefully Zane is nothing like me," Axel quietly mumbled to himself, taking the photograph as he gently folds the image and places the picture back inside his wallet just as Twilight is able to catch another image from slipping out.

"This one fell from your — Oh," she said, pausing as she stared at the playful picture of Axel and Xitlali, the two appearing very much like a typical father-and-daughter, even coming down to the lightness as Xitlali did little bunny ears on Axel while Axel stuck his tongue out. "Aww, how cute!" the Queen gushed, before returning the picture to Axel.

"Are you sure she's not your daughter, Detective? You two look pretty close to just be on a professional level," Twilight lightly teased as Axel shoved the image back inside his wallet, this time with less extensive care.

"It was just a stupid photo I took with her, that's all," Axel distinctly mumbled, catching the attention of the Queen who suddenly sensed a darker, hidden side of him.

"Do we have a deal or not, Your Highness? I'm running on finite time here and I need an answer now," Axel firmly stated as Twilight stared at him, noting a shift in his aura. She had the notion to decline, but given his reputation, the Queen chose to dock his behavior to stress from his previous cases.

"Of course, Detective. We have a deal."

~~~~~~~~

It was present time now and Axel could still recall the case, as if it only occurred last night. As he took out the image of his wife and son, Axel lingered at his family with an excessive amount of sadness as anger and regret festered inside of him. He should have never been the one to tear his family apart.

They were happy together — Axel was happy until he had to go and ruin everything by getting caught up in something he shouldn't have known. Worse, he got his partner involved and that... nearly broke him.

"Axel, where are you going? The Queen said the sewer is in this direction," Xitlali briefly paused to point to her left, while Axel froze, eyeing the gun in his right pocket as he shook his head. "I'm not going in that direction. I'm going right," Axel began, forcing himself to look away from the gun.

He could see Xitlali looking toward his direction, spotting a complex building in the distance. "That place?" she puzzlingly asked him. "But that's where—" she began, only to get cut off.

"I know," Axel simply stated, proceeding to grab the basket, but his mentee stubbornly stepped in front of the basket. "Xi, I'm giving you this one chance to go," Axel warned her. "Walk away and leave her with me. I can take care of this matter from here," he continued, but it was the sharp, cold tone that led her to stay.

"Don't make this more difficult for me than it already is, kid," he continued, but much to his disappointment, the girl wouldn't leave. "Axel, you're being irrational here. You told Briana's parents we were going to take her to Master Splinter and you agreed to keep your word," she distinctly pointed out, much to his annoyance.

"Well, that was never the plan, kiddo," Axel began as Xitlali cautiously eyed him, her eyebrow rising as she continued making eye contact with him. "What do you mean that was never the plan?" Xitlali slowly asked.

"So, I told the couple a lie, who cares? I was always planning on taking Briana to her cousin, Jake and the Shredder," he began as Xitlali eyed him cautiously. "Now, we're almost there. I just need you to give me the basket and I can do the rest from here," he continued as Xitlali blinked.

"Axel—"

"Now, Morales," he urged the girl as Xitlali picked up Briana's basket and nearly gave her to him until she pulled her arm back from him, keeping the crib near her. "No," she firmly stated as Axel scoffed. "What do you mean no?" Axel sharply asked as Xitlali stood her ground.

"I'm not going to let you give Briana up to her maniac cousin and the Shredder," she stated, much to his disappointment. "We made a promise to the Royal Family and I intend to keep that, even if you don't," she continued, eyeing him before picking up the basket.

"Come on, Bri. We are leaving," she told the sleeping princess, only taking a few steps when Axel placed the gun in the back of her head. "Axel—" the girl began, but he only shoved the gun into her skull.

"You know what I'm capable of doing, Xi. Just drop the basket and I won't pull the trigger," he stated, unsure of what her emotions were at the moment. Whatever she felt, it was clear Xitlali wasn't going to let him faze her.

"What if I choose not to listen and tried to teleport with Briana in tow?" Xitlali sternly began, her voice firm. "What will you do then, detective?" she followed up as Axel sighed to himself, pulling the trigger with the bullet in place.

"Then I shoot."

Axel tried to push the memory out, but the acidity of his guilt only burned brighter in his throat. The detective gripped his head, trying to fight against all of the terrible life decisions that led him here.

There were lots of decisions he grew to regret, but attempting to take the life of his own mentee was definitely somewhere in the top five list of the worst ones he ever made. He still couldn't wrap his head over how quickly Xitlali was willing to risk her life for the young princess in a heartbeat.

In the face of real danger, Xitlali didn't even flinch nor did she succumb to him, even when he put her life on the line. Most detectives he knew wouldn't have done any of the stuff she did and Axel was well, one of the detectives stupid enough to take orders from corrupted clients.

Still, if that alone wasn't enough to induce the girl into an detective, Axel didn't know anything at that point. If he had his job, maybe Axel would have been at her induction, cheering her on and bragging about her accomplishments to his co-workers, as though Xitlali had been one of his own.

But, no.

Axel might have switched sides at the last minute and aid his mentee escape, but he was still paying the price.

"For such a world-famous detective, you're really terrible at your job."

Looking up, Axel saw Soren and nearly laughed at the sight of him. "What happened to you?" he asked as Soren bitterly mocked the detective. "An aggressive sixteen-year-old is what happened to me," Soren angrily grumbled, which only sent Axel into a laughing fit.

"You let a sixteen-year-old beat you? A man with years of experience and a staff?" Axel openly mock in between his laughs, which only infuriated Soren more. "You try dealing with her then!" Soren angrily exclaimed. "She nearly killed me and I had no backup to help me!" he later snapped as Axel shrugged.

"Why would I want to help you when I barely want to be here?" Axel counter back as Soren glared at him. "Well, if you had done your job like you were supposed to and left with the money, you wouldn't be in this position, now would you?" Soren snapped once more as Axel groaned.

"Ugh, you are too much and I am in need of a drink," he stated, just as Soren grabbed his arm. "Oh, no you don't! You will be of use to me, so help me! If she comes back, I need someone to put the girl in her place!" Soren sharply ordered as Axel merely blinked.

"Why don't you just ask Jake? I'm sure he must have some energy to deal with your problems," Axel dismissively stated as Soren stared at him. "Are you insane? Do you want me to risk his health?" Soren questioned him, but Axel simply rolled his eyes from the guy's exaggerated nature.

"I figured you wanted to get rid of him faster," Axel pointed out with a shrug. "Y'all know since you secretly hate him and all that," he added as Soren blinked.

"As long as he serves as the Shredder's right hand? You must really be crazy. Okay, sure. Let me just kill him then send myself to my own grave," Soren sarcastically stated as Axel dismissively shrugged.

"You should do it. I get spared from dealing with him and you without having to kill you two myself. Two birds, one stone is what I say," Axel bluntly stated as Soren glared at him.

"No, you idiot. I'm not that stupid and besides, he's dead set on finding Briana, which wouldn't be my problem if you had just done your job!" he continued yelling as Axel blinked, his attention turning towards the two teenagers who had slipped inside. "Are you done or are you going to let two teenagers storm the Shredder's lair?" Axel added as Soren's eyes widened.

"That's her! That's the psychopathic sixteen-year-old I was telling you about!" Soren exclaimed, shaking Axel, who was not in the mood. "Now is your chance to redeem yourself from yesterday's failure!" he added as Axel pushed Soren away from him, piercing at the two girls.

"Ha! I'll let you embarrass yourself. I'll redeem myself some other way," Axel stated, preparing to leave when Soren forcibly grabbed his arm. "Nope! You get to follow me now!" Soren proudly exclaimed, dragging the detective, who only groaned to himself.

"I really need a drink."

~~~~~~~~

"Tell me again, what you brought us here?" Lillian asked, slipping through the hole as Aliya followed suit.

"Being here is repetitive, I know, but Soren is our only lead and if Jax had wanted to rid themself of the dagger and the gemstone, then giving these items back to the hands of the enemy would just about do the trick," Aliya explained as Lillian merely blinked, failing to know what to say.

Luckily for her, Lillian didn't have to say much. Unluckily for her, she and Aliya also came face-to-face with Soren, the guy her sister nearly murdered (not that she would have mind since he had tried to do the same) and Axel, the guy who had help her and Jax get access to Jesse.

"You're back," Soren began as Lillian merely chuckled. "Yeah, ready to get beat again?" Lillian mocked, ready to go when Aliya held her back. "If you're expecting an apology from me, you won't get one. But I can ensure the rest of your face will remain in tact if you answer our questions," Aliya negotiated at once as Soren crossed his arms.

"Fine, but the moment you attack, my bodyguard will strike and he does not show mercy," Soren firmly stated as Axel blinked. "You didn't tell me I was going to be your bodyguard!" Axel protested, the two arguing as the two girls stared at each other in confusion.

"Wasn't he the one that helped you and Jax escape?" Aliya whispered, gesturing toward the detective as Lillian nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't really expect me and Jax to trust him, right? The guy's human for crying out loud!" Lillian quietly yelled as Aliya stared at him.

"Lily, not all humans—"

"That one literally tried killing us," Lillian bitterly stated, pointing towards Soren as Aliya blinked. "Okay, but we invaded their property first. Oh and it doesn't help that I attempted murder when it came to him at least three times now," Aliya pointed out before sighing.

"We need answers and this was the best plan I could think up, given the circumstances, so if you have other ideas, I would love to hear them now," Aliya briefly stated as Lillian sighed before frowning. "Fine, but if those two try anything, I call dibs on bashing Soren," Lillian proudly stated as Aliya face-palmed herself.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" Soren asked, leading the girls around as Lillian and Aliya stared at the Foot Clan soldiers training. "Firstly, where is your staff?" she asked as Soren bitterly scoffed. "This is what remains of my staff," he began, showing the girls a purple gemstone with a few, taint cracks.

"It went missing last night and when I went to retrieve my staff this morning, all I found was this gemstone but still no signs of the scepter," Soren added before sighing. "It's a shame, but hey, at least I got my dagger back," he continued as Lillian and Aliya glanced at each other.

"Dagger?" Lillian repeated at once. "Yep," Soren answered, showing the girls the dagger of Atlas which was still in tact. "But you see, I've ordered to kill you two," he spoke as Axel's eyes widened. "I thought you wanted to fight the girl," Axel chimed in as Soren shook his head.

At once, Lillian shot Aliya one of her cold looks. "I thought you said not all humans are terrible," Lillian sharply mock as Aliya raised her arms. "Well, Soren is obviously the exception here. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Aliya asked as Lillian eyed her. "Close enough," she said, looking to see Soren running in their direction.

"You might have to hold on tight," Lillian stated as Aliya held onto her sister in the midst of the shadow hybrid drained the lights from the system, causing the lair to become pitch-black. While Soren tried fighting his way in the midst of the darkness, Lillian had found him first.

As such, the two fought in the dark while Aliya held the gemstone, which glowed in the direction of the detective, who was holding the dagger. "I'm assuming you want to fight too?" she deadpanned, but found herself genuinely surprised when Axel shook his head, who held out the dagger for her to take.

"I don't like my boss and well, you remind me of someone I used to know," Axel softly said, cracking a small smile. "I would take the dagger before I change my mind and I'm forced to track you down myself," Axel added, his smile fading as Aliya quickly seized the opportunity.

"Well, thank you...." she began, only to trail off. "Axel, Axel Carson," he said, holding out his hand. "Myra," Aliya said, shaking his hand. Every Avalonian knew better than to give a human their name and while Axel seemed trustworthy, she didn't want to risk the consequences of allowing a human to know her name.

"Well, Myra, something tells me we'll be seeing each other again," Axel stated as Aliya grinned. "Hopefully, it will be on better terms," she said as Axel laughed. "Yeah, let's hope," he said in the midst of Soren calling out his name.

"Sounds like you should go take care of that," Aliya chimed in as Axel nodded. "So long, Myra," Axel stated as she saw a salute from him before he went to assist Soren just as she felt Lillian grab her hand.

As the lights came back on, the two girls were now outside as Lillian excitedly fist-bump the air. "Yes! He's just as weak as when he was battling you!" Lillian happily stated as Aliya blinked.

"Uh... cool," she awkwardly feigned, not knowing what else to say as Lillian saw the girl with the gemstone and the dagger. "I completely forgot about the relics! How did you get them? Did you beat the human and put him in his place?" she followed up as Aliya cleared her throat.

"No, not quite," Aliya lightly admitted as she glanced back to the exit. "We uh chatted for a little bit and I actually think you owe me an apology because I was right when I said not all humans were terrible," she continued as Lillian scoffed. "Uh-huh, sure. I'll believe the day I see it. Until then, I'm still right," Lillian continued, her eyes widened when she saw a cloaked figure behind Aliya.

"Look out!"

As Aliya turned around, her instincts quickly sharpened as she was able to protect the gemstone... but not the dagger. As the dagger fell onto the ground, she quickly placed the miniature tracker on the gem in the middle of the sword, the tracker blending in with the gemstone's sea-form color.

Aliya made the effort to pick up the dagger, but when she was harshly shoved to the side, it didn't take long for Lillian to help her. "Aliya, are you alright?" Lillian asked as the girl rubbed her head. "For now," Aliya said as Lillian's eyes widened. "The dagger! We have to—" Lillian began as Aliya took out her tracking device.

"On it," Aliya smugly stated as she laughed before wincing. "Our thief took the bait, so now we can finally track our traitor and see once and for all the person responsible for sabotaging us," she continued as Lillian hugged her.

"You are a genius!" Lillian happily exclaimed as Aliya smugly smirked, deciding she deserved to relish in the moment. "Yeah, I know, but you are going to hate me if I'm right," she added as Lillian pulled away from the hug.

"Possibly, but I'll love you more when you are wrong and stuck doing my chores for three months," Lillian cheekily added as Aliya playfully rolled her eyes, now laughing.

"For your sake, let's hope I'm wrong."

~~~~~~~~

Several hours passed into the day and as the sun set, the figure glanced over their shoulder. Upon reaching the hill, the figure look over their shoulder once more before sighing in relief.

"I finally lost them," they mumbled. "It only took a couple of hours of sending the girls on a stupid chase," they added, mostly to themselves. "Well, it's about time," a voice stated as they glanced over to see the little girl.

"Mother couldn't make it, but she told me to tell you to shatter the dagger," the girl explained as the figure raised their eyes.

Staring at the petite girl in front of them, they saw her light tanned skin and unique white hair, noting her deep purple eyes before going to her simple light blue night gown and unique choice to be barefoot.

"Seriously? But this dagger is from two eras ago! Doesn't Narcissa think this should go to a museum or something?" the figure insisted as the girl crossed her arms. "Are you going to destroy the relic or should I go tell my mother you failed?" the girl persisted as the figure sighed.

"Fin—" the figure began, only to stop when the two heard a beeping sound. When the figure glanced down at the dagger and gently took off the tracking device, they groaned before taking off their cloak as they saw Aliya approach them.

"Wait! Don't — Jax?" Aliya began, only to stop as Jaxon held the dagger in their hand. "I was really hoping it was someone else, literally anyone else, but not you," she solemnly continued as Jaxon's eyes widened. "Y... You suspected me?" Jaxon questioned as Aliya bitterly laugh in their face.

"Yeah, I guess someone had to," she spoke as Jaxon glared at her in anger. "You're the one who put the idea in Libby's head! I knew it!" Jaxon angrily exclaimed, returning the bitter laugh as they shattered the dagger despite Aliya's best efforts to stop them from performing the deed. "Thank you. Just destroy the gemstone and you're all set," the young girl said before vanishing.

Now alone, Jaxon stared at Aliya, holding out their hand. "Erebus's gemstone. I know you have it, Aliya. Give it to me," they firmly ordered as Aliya crossed her arms. "No," she firmly stated, eyeing her sibling with great shame. "Aliya—" Jaxon slowly began, only to get cut off as the girl rejected their touch.

"You knew Jesse needed the relics and you purposely waited until we were close to finishing that you chose to sabotage us!" Aliya angrily snapped as Jaxon released a frustrated scream.

"Fine! Yeah, you caught me! I made a deal with the sea witch, but I was doing Jesse a favor!" they snapped, which only made Aliya more irritated by them. "Favor?" Aliya sarcastically inquired. "I was trying to stop Jesse from making a terrible mistake!" they angrily protested.

"The humans here are horrible! Jesse wouldn't last long up here and you know this! If I destroyed the relics, then Narcissa would help Jesse fall in love with me!" Jaxon angrily stated. "Jax, are you even hearing yourself?" Aliya questioned as she harshly laughed.

"Narcissa can't make Jesse fall in love with you, Jax! Not even powerful witches like her have that kind of power!" Aliya firmly stated, still maintaining her anger. "You fell for her lies, Jax, and she tricked you into signing the contract!" she added as Jaxon glared at her.

"Besides, it's not anyone's fault that Jesse doesn't love you!" Aliya continued as Jaxon shook their head. "Jesse does love me! Or at least, he would love me if he wasn't busy paying attention to you all the time!" Jaxon countered back as Aliya scoffed, before laughing.

"Oh my stardust. You are still jealous!" Aliya exclaimed with a dry laugh now. "You are so obsessed with someone who doesn't love you that you're willing to jeopardize everyone else around you, if it meant having Jesse to yourself!" she added, shaking her head.

"You're selfish, Jax."

"Selfish? No, selfish is you giving him false hope that he can actually survive up here!" Jaxon angrily countered back as Aliya crossed her arms. "No, I'll tell you what's selfish," they persisted, now pointing her chest.

"Selfish is you dragging everyone here on this so-called self-righteous quest because you can't see how tragically useless you are!" they continued, as Jaxon pushed her to the ground in a fit of anger. "You feel this need to have some kind of calling, but the truth is, you can't handle how incredibly weak you are, leading you to bring everyone down with you!" they snapped before laughing.

"You know what? Maybe you had drowned that night your wings were taken off, things would be better. Or better yet, if you had gotten your suicide attempt right on the first go, we wouldn't be in this situation!" they continued, eyeing the girl with pure disgust.

"Maybe, your parents and Stormy would actually be taken seriously if people knew they didn't have someone like you around to ruin their reputation. Heh, maybe Libby, Jesse and I would even be happier if we all knew you wouldn't be around to mess everything up, because that's what you do, Aliya," Jaxon rambled as their anger got the best of them.

"You are a jinx! You are nothing more than a screw-up and at the end of the day, you'll never amount to anything worth caring about!"

As they processed their words, Jaxon's eyes widened as they stared at Aliya, this time with remorse and regret. "Aliya, I... I got carried away with my words a... and..." Jaxon quickly began, attempting to help Aliya stand up, but she merely got up on her own, refusing to let Jaxon near her.

"You're a terrible sibling, you know that?" Aliya solemnly stated, now facing Jaxon as they could see the tears in her eyes. "I always expected this kind of behavior from Iris and even Jesse on several occasions, but you? I never thought you would be the one to do this to me," she said as she furiously wiped the incoming tears.

"Aliya—"

"Don't touch me!" Aliya angrily snapped, her voice cracking as she looked at her hands in disgust. "I got it, okay? I'm just a screw-up! I'm a jinx! I can't do anything right! I got it, so quit trying to apologize for things you clearly mean!" she exclaimed, stepping back from Jaxon.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you get your wish, but just for the record, Jaxon, I got the last say in this," Aliya bitterly stated as she laughed. "What do you mean?" Jaxon slowly asked as Aliya turned away from them.

"I wasn't the only one to witness your betrayal," she continued as Jaxon glanced over to see Lillian and Jesse as the two took off the invisibility cloak. "Atticus gave me his cloak, but I never knew what to do with it. Until now," she said, scoffing afterwards before shaking her head.

"Have fun with them," Aliya told Lillian and Jesse on the way down. "Li, wait—" Lillian began, but Aliya merely shook her head. Even when Jesse tried to stop her, it was no use as Aliya distanced herself from the two and ran.

"Li! Li, wait!" Lillian called out before glaring at her sibling. "Aliya was right. You are a terrible sibling," she said, slapping Jaxon, who rubbed their side of their face. "Come on, Jesse. Maybe if we're lucky, we can try to knock some sense into her before she does something stupid," Lillian stated, grabbing onto Jesse's hand.

"Jesse, wait! Jesse, you believe me, don't you? Everything I did, it was all for you!" Jaxon exclaimed, but Jesse only shook his head and followed Lillian as the two went down the hill. As they stood alone, Jaxon clenched their fist and went down the hill, deciding to go searching for Aliya.

Maybe, it wouldn't be too late to stop her.

~~~~~~~

"Selfish is you dragging everyone here on this so-called self-righteous quest because you can't see how tragically useless you are!"

"You know what? Maybe you had drowned that night your wings were taken off, things would be better. Or better yet, if you had gotten your suicide attempt right on the first go, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"You are a jinx! You are nothing more than a screw-up and at the end of the day, you'll never amount to anything worth caring about!"

As Aliya ran deeper into the darker parts of the campsite, she gripped onto her head, trying to choke back her own screams as she tried out-running the voices in her mind while dealing with Lillian, Jesse and Jaxon trying to find her. But while running from the group was easy, the voices were... harder.

"Tell me, how long do you expect your friends to believe you? It can't be for much longer. Especially when each of your friends come to their senses and realize what a terrible person you are. A liar, a thief, a crook, nothing about you is worth saving."

"I'm just saying, you've always been known as a troublemaker from the start. You are a natural born walking disaster, Aliya. Everything has go to wrong when you're around!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Aliya exclaimed, repeatedly beating both sides of her head in an attempt to get rid of the voices. When this failed and the voices amplified in her head, she gripped onto her head until she eventually fell to her knees, realizing that everyone was right about her.

"Stupid Aliya. You'll never amount to anything. All you ever do is make things worse," she mumbled, wincing when she felt something sharp cut her finger. As she glanced at her bag, Aliya stared at her finger as she searched for a bandage in her bag of pointless objects.

"This is so stupid. Even my own body is against me. I can't just heal myself like a normal Avalonian, no, I'm stuck having to wait," Aliya bitterly mumbled to herself, patching her wound before staring at the blood gush longer than intended until she realized she had wanted to hurt herself.

So she forced herself to patch the wound and tried to her mind focus on anything other than the idea of wanting to hurt herself.

"You're pathetic to the point where you can't even get your own suicide attempt right! Not only are you a failure at life, but you are a failure at death too! It's no wonder you can't do anything right! Ah, who knows? I'm sure if you try hard enough, you'll get it right on the second go."

"Fantastic. Now, my own mind is against me," Aliya mumbled to herself, toying with the iron knife in her hand. "At this point, what am I even good for?" she continued, taking off her gloves as she ran through the scars on her arms. Most were old and the recent ones were in their healing stage, but the scars would just remain on her skin since she engraved so many iron into her skin.

"Heh, I wonder if I'll have any luck bleeding to death," she mumbled, searching for any parts of her arms the cool metal hadn't touched and once she succeeded, Aliya pressed the iron blade into her skin, biting back the initial screams that came with using iron.

She knew this initial stage would pass, like so many times before this. She knew with time, this part of her arm would simply go numb each time she chose to inflict iron onto her skin. Finding fresh, untouched flesh on her arms was getting harder to find and Aliya knew it.

Eventually, she would need to start seeking out alternatives for her arms. But for now, at least, Aliya could breathe as the voices completely ceased. "No luck bleeding to death. Now, that's just a shame," she mumbled, wrapping her arms in an bandage binder until she had got the wraps tight enough.

From there, she placed her iron knife back into the bag and slid her gloves back on as though nothing had ever happened. "I can't do anything right. I'll show them. I'll show them all," she mumbled, before she caught her eyes on her tracker.

In a fit of rage, Aliya took out the gemstone before using the relic to destroy her tracker, watching as her hard work came undone but even that wasn't enough to give her some kind of closure.

"I can't do this anymore," she told herself as she stared at the waves crashing lightly into the night. "If I can't bleed, maybe I can drown myself to death," she continued, dropping her bag as she placed the gemstone back in her pocket, before pulling out a small cloth.

As Aliya stared at the purple fabric with the crystal heart in the middle of the cloth, she blinked, wondering why she was carrying around this random object. She felt tempted to discard the item, before her eyes widened.

"Oh, this was for Castor. I forgot he said he wanted a souvenir," she said before shaking her head. "I'm sure the others can give it to him," she said, placing the cloth back in her bag before taking off Castor's Avalonian necklace. "Thanks for getting me this far, Cas," she said, placing the necklace back in the bag.

After Aliya was convinced that she had everything of value taken off, she grabbed paper in her bag, found a pencil and scribbled her farewell thoughts before standing up. "Now, let's see if I can get this right," she told herself, taking a deep breath. Once she was ready, Aliya began climbing the tree.

"Heh, um, I hate to rude, but you've been staring at me longer tonight than in the few interactions we had prior. Is there something I should know?" Aliya softly pointed out, noticing Castor's hair glowing from her response. "No, there's nothing to know!" he exclaimed.

Aliya found herself chuckling before glancing down as she almost lost her grip, before she quickly caught onto the branch. "Just keep moving," she told herself, taking another deep breath before moving forward.

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

As Aliya kept moving, she found this tree becoming harder to climb and she considered herself to be a pretty good climber.

"Look. Aliya, you're more important to me than you think. If there's any chance I get to save you, I'm going to take that risk with you because you're worth being saved too.  Okay? Sometimes, it's okay not to be a hero."

As she grabbed onto the tree branch, Aliya groaned as she sighed in frustration. "Can I just have this? Please? Just let me have this!" she angrily yelled, attempting to climb back up when she felt the twig begin to snap. As she peered down, Aliya saw the water from below and swallowed hard.

"You know what, maybe I'm not ready to die," she told herself, deciding it would be best to back out. But by the time she decided she wanted to live, that's when the tree branch chose to break off. "Oh, you have got to be—" she started, only for the tree branch to break off completely.

"Kidding me!" Aliya exclaimed as the tree branch broke off completely, causing her to fall mid-air. "Maybe.... Maybe, this is for the best," she told herself, allowing herself to feel the wind for the first time as Aliya closed her eyes, feeling flashes of her life past by, leading up to this very moment.

~~~~~~~~~

When Aliya opened her eyes, she stared at her outfit, which now transformed into a white gown. "Huh, so I died after all," she said, finding herself fixated on her white, silky gown before staring at the scenery, which consisted of some kind of underwater kingdom.

"Wait a minute..." she began before groaning to herself. "Not again!" she exclaimed as Aliya sighed. "I'm drifting between life and death, only to get stuck in Poseidon's hall again," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands.

"Well, when an Avalonian is on the verge of dying and the incident is within the god's domain, then that particular god becomes summoned," a voice explained, but she didn't bother looking up. She knew his voice all too well.

"In this case, you are here because of your decision to—" he began as Aliya rubbed her face in annoyance. "Drown myself. Yeah, I got the memo," she said before looking over to see Poseidon's pained face.

"Don't give me that look, Poseidon! This wouldn't be a problem if you just let those kids drown me like they wanted!" Aliya exclaimed in frustration as she stared at the god shift into a human form. From his light skin, black hair and casual clothes, the god's human form looked so convincing, she almost mistook him as an human.

"But did you want to die, Liya?" Poseidon gently asked her as Aliya looked away from his yellow-amber eyes. "No. I was mostly scared and afraid. I mainly just wanted out," she truthfully admitted, rubbing her arms.

"Do you still feel the same way?" Poseidon continued as Aliya opened her mouth. "It would be mindful if you kept the truth in mind," he added, to which Aliya briefly closed her mouth.

"I don't see why you can't just let me die now. I mean, I'm already a drifter at this point, so does this stage really matter?" she argued, deflecting the question. "It's not your time and you know this. Challenge death all you want, but he'll claim you when he feels your time is right," Poseidon explained, much to the girl's annoyance. Accepting her defeat, she sat on the steps of his palace.

"So, once again, I can't live properly and I can't die correctly. I can't get anything right!" she yelled as Poseidon sat next to her. While she attempted to create distance between them, Poseidon stubbornly got closer, so she just gave up and tried easing herself to his gentle touch.

"Aliya, you get a lot of things right, but as long as you let your thoughts consume you, you'll never come to realize just how much you have to offer," Poseidon countered, touching her head in reference to her thoughts. "You're a bright person, Aliya. Don't let the world dim your light," he said as she sighed.

"You know, you're a lot more special than you think," he continued as Aliya found herself laughing. She wanted to be sarcastic, but Aliya was so tired, she just decided to humor his idea. "Okay, how am I special?" she asked as Poseidon touched her heart.

"You're a seeker, Liya. You seek the good in everyone and seek to change the world around you. Soon enough, you'll start to seek the truth about Avalon and once you find out, you'll learn something about yourself and who knows? You might get some friends along the way," Poseidon softly explained as she blinked.

"Until then, continue seeking out ways to change and open hearts around you. Avalon won't get it now, but trust me, Liya. One day, everyone will see just how valuable you are to this community," he advised her, before standing up.

"Seekers are known for defining their era, but something tells me, you'll do more than just define this era," he continued as he stood up, causing her to the same. "You'll create an new era and I know it will be in Avalon's greatest interest, so keep living, seeker. You still have a long way to go," he concluded, beginning to walk away.

"Wait, wait, wait! Poseidon, come back! I still have more questions!" Aliya called out as she saw the god returning back to his original form. "You'll figure everything out on your own time," he advised her, touching her heart once more before walking away as he faded from view.

"Poseidon!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon opening her eyes, Aliya coughed up the water in her lungs as she scanned her surroundings. Staring at the broken tree bench and back at her (now) wet outfit, she realized she was back in the human world.

As she tried to stand, Aliya found herself unable to maintain her balance, sighing in dread when she fell back onto the water. "Well, if there's a bright side to this, I'm not dead. That should mean something," she mumbled before she heard laughter not far from where she was.

Swimming closer, Aliya saw two eels fist-bumping each other using their tails. "Narcissa will be very pleased when she learns of Jesse and Jaxon's failures, Sure, she'll end up with two new victims in her deposal!" the eels spoke as Aliya quietly lowered her head to make sure she wasn't seen.

"Jesse, I get but Jax? They destroyed all of the relics, so why would they..." she began, before her eyes widened. As she quickly took out the gemstone in her hand, Aliya realized she was the reason they were going to fail because she had possession of the last relic: Erebus's gemstone.

"I know how to fix this," Aliya optimistically stated, staring at the gemstone closer. "I'll get Jesse and Jax out of this mind, the only way I know how to. Being reckless," she mumbled, taking a deep breath before hoisting herself up. "Hey, you two!" she called out as the eels looked in her direction.

"What do you want? Can't you see we are busy gloating over our mistress's approaching victory?" the eels greeted as Aliya refrained from rolling her eyes. "I want to make a deal with Narcissa," she said as the eels laughed. In response, she grabbed their tails and tied the two together.

"Will Narcissa see me if I give her this?" Aliya asked, ignoring their cries as she revealed Erebus's gemstone. "Y... Yes, but you would need someone to take you to her," the eels said in the midst of the pain.

"Then take me to her now or I send the sea witch your remains by chopping you two here. I'm sure she'll see me much faster if I took that approach," she threatened as the eels whimpered under her voice. "O... Okay!" the eels exclaimed as Aliya got the two freed from the knot she created.

"Just hold on to our tails and we'll take you to our mistress," the eels stated, snickering towards each other. From their laughter alone, Aliya knew the eels were plotting to get their revenge on her humiliating them, but in her defense, these were the same eels that attempted to drown her, so she saw her decision as fair.

She was also pretty certain Poseidon didn't envision her going back into the water after having survived her latest suicide attempt, but if what he said was true and Aliya really was a seeker, then she seek to help out her friends.

So rather she liked it or not, dealing with two eels who might potentially drown her again was a risk she was willing to make. "Okay," she said, preparing to follow their instructions when one of the eels wrapped themselves around her leg and pulled her into the water.

When Aliya opened her eyes, she coughed up water once again as the eels gladly freed themselves from her. "Our mistress, we brought you a new client," the eels spoke in sync, hissing as Aliya glared at the two, coughing once more. When she finally got her vision to focus, Aliya rubbed her head.

"Thank you. You two may take your leave now," she heard a voice say as Aliya shook her head and willed herself to focus. As the eels left, she spotted a woman staring at her as though she was some sort of novelty.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you," the woman said as Aliya sat up, wringing the water out of her hair. "Call it a surprise visit, I suppose," Aliya dismissively stated, about to wring out the other side of her hair when she saw the woman holding out her hand.

Out of courtesy, Aliya grabbed the woman's hand, taking note of her bony hand. As she stood up, Aliya saw the woman's pale skin and noticed her light sea-foam dress flowing from behind her. She noticed her hair reflecting a lighter shade of grey, but decided not to make her comments known.

"Thanks...." she began, only to awkwardly trail off as the woman blinked. "One second," the woman said, stepping away before coming back as she devoured a soul, her hair returning to its youthful black roots while her skin complexion became much brighter, no longer appearing pale but rather fair-skinned. "Now, where are my manners?" the woman asked before grinning.

"I'm Narcissa. Welcome to my realm, Aliya."