Chapter Twenty-One

I was on one of my patrols through Nesidy, accompanied by Flynn when Tulio approached us, hiding beneath his cloak.

"So, do anything fun last night?" Tulio inquired as we took a detour through an alley way. So far nothing out of the ordinary or sinister made an appearance.

"I dunno. Just hung out," I replied with a shrug.

"With Hans?" Tulio questioned.

"I wouldn't do that," Flynn said in a warning tone.

I frowned and came to a halt, turning to Tulio. Since we were safe from any prying eyes, Tulio lowered the hood of his cloak. "Why is that any of your business?" I asked. He leaned forward, and grasped my chin. Heat crept up into my face, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said releasing me, "Just, uh, checking for pimples, dimples, spaghetti sauce."

"Spaghetti," I repeated, then realized what had happened, "were you spying on me?!"

"I told you it was a bad idea to spy on her," Flynn muttered.

"You were spying on me, weren't you?!" I angrily demanded of Tulio, "You've really crossed the line!"

"Not you! I was spying on Hans! He's so obviously working with Siren!" Tulio retaliated.

"And you're not?!" I snapped at him, "That's just it, isn't it?! The only way anyone could like me is if it was a part of a plot to destroy me?! You're such an asshole!" I said shoving him backwards. Fuming, I turned and walked out of the alley, leaving the males behind.

"Aralyne, wait!"

Right as I exited the alley, Tulio and Flynn had caught up to me, the former grabbing hold of my arm.

"Will you leave me alone?!" I shouted, trying to pry his hand off me, but he held firm. "I am done with you!" My cry had gotten the attention of everyone on the street. Tulio's cover was blown, and everyone began speaking at once.

"It's Tulio!"

"What's he doing back here?"

"Isn't he still banned from Nesidy?"

"Looks like he hasn't learned his lesson!"

Tulio ignored them and yelled out, "What is wrong with you?! One minute you're fighting to be with me and the next you're fighting against me! What do you want from me, Aralyne?!"

"I want you to make a choice! Good or evil!" I shouted.

"It was your idea for me to spy on the villains!" he snapped, shaking my arm, "I've been doing the best I could to keep their trust while still remaining loyal to you!"

"Loyal?!" I shrieked, tears now stinging my eyes. "You crossed the line by turning Danny into one of THEM! I lost my best friend because of you! How can I trust you after that?! Make a choice NOW, Tulio! Me or Siren! Which is it?!"

"I can't answer that," he said through gritted teeth. The tears were now flowing down my cheeks as I gazed up at him.

"Fine," I muttered. From my back, Excalibur began to spark with electricity and it shocked Tulio's hand. He cried out in pain, releasing me.

"Aralyne, are you all right?" Hans demanded rushing to my side and taking hold of my hand.

"Get away from her!" Tulio shouted, shoving Hans back.

"Stay out of this!" Hans retaliated, "She's already made it clear that she no longer trusts you!"

"And what makes her think she can trust you?!" Tulio snapped. "She doesn't know you like I do! She doesn't know what a manipulative piece of shit you really are! In fact, you're just like the others!"

"At least I'm not a traitor to the kingdom!" Hans cried out.

"I wouldn't have been banished if it weren't for you! After all I did for you when you were small, that was how you repaid me?!" Tulio shouted.

"I never wanted the crown like you did! I just wanted to be accepted!" Hans exclaimed.

Both men were red in the face, and somehow their argument seemed to have gone off track.

"And where did that get you?!" Tulio demanded. "From what I've heard, they're still treating you the same! I'm the one that looked out for you! I was the only one that cared about you! You were supposed to have my back, not sell me out!"

"Why? Because it's what brother's do?" Hans snapped, "Well, look at who raised us!"

I gasped, staring between the two of them. Brothers?! The list of Southern Isles Princes went through my head: Alcott, Kit, Thomas, James, Vincent, Luke, Henry, Marcus, Miles, Louis, Eugene, Hans, and an unknown brother. An unknown brother that was not allowed to be mentioned within the kingdom. The pieces finally connected together. Tulio was the missing prince from the Southern Isles!

After her minions' little slip up with the last Aztec Skull, Siren decided to take the whole matter into her own hands. After doing a bit of research, she had located the last eleven skulls. All she needed to do now was go retrieve them. Then she would be ever closer to ridding the world of all heroes.

Before she could transport herself to their locations, Eric entered her private study.

"What?!" she snapped at him. This had better be good!

"I apologize for the intrusion, Siren, but I thought you would like to know that Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is in our part of Incantationen."

"Hans?" she repeated, her eyes narrowing. That's right. That royal pain had failed her, and he had managed to escape her wrath by being sent back to his own kingdom. The Crystal Skulls could wait just a bit longer. There was business she had to attend to - punishment she had to dish out.

"That's excellent news, Eric," said Siren with an evil sneer as she strolled up to him. "Why don't we pay our little prince a visit?"

"I thought you might say that," Eric said with a smirk. "He's in Nesidy right now trying to spend a bit of time with Aralyne."

In a puff of black smoke, the villainess transported the both of them to the middle of Nesidy.

Tulio and Hans's argument had developed into a full blown sword fight, the two of them throwing insults at each other while trying to slay each other. I was about to rush in and break it up, but I suddenly heard screaming. For a horrifying moment, I thought there was another zombie attack, but it turned out to be worse. Siren and Eric had appeared, and people were running for cover.

"You," I said, removing Excalibur from my back and pointing it at her.

"Calm yourself, you little twit! I'm not here for you," she said using a finger to push the blade aside. "I'm here for Hans, but it looks like he and Tulio are in a fight to the finish. I'll just observe for now."

"Get out of here!" I commanded, swinging Excalibur at her. She simply looked bored as she raised her hand and sent my sword flying from my grasp. It landed point down in the street some distance off.

"Do shut up. I want to see how this ends. If Hans wins then I'll be allowed to punish him for his failure in Arendelle. But if he loses, well then he'll be dead, and no longer my problem."

Crying out in frustration, I tried punching her in the face, but Eric jumped in, grabbing my wrist. He smirked before lifting me up and tossing me down the street. I skid against the road and looked up in time to see Tulio become disarmed. Hans now raised his sword, ready to kill. A cold dread suddenly swept through me. As angry as I was with Tulio, I didn't want to lose him! I couldn't lose him! Without a second thought, I jumped to my feet, flew between the brothers, and stood facing Hans.

"Don't!" I commanded. "Please, Hans, don't hurt him."

He froze and stared at me. Something seemed to have died in his green eyes. He lowered his weapon and let it drop to the ground with a clang. "You still choose him over me?" I didn't say a thing, but stood my ground. "I see. In that case, do me the honour of giving me one last kiss, and I shall leave you alone forever."

"If you lay one finger on her -" Tulio began, but I shot him a shut up look and he fell silent. I faced Hans once more.

"I had come here hoping that you would have changed your mind about us," said Hans moving forward, "but I guess it was just a silly wish." He gently grasped my chin. My heart started racing. This isn't how I wanted it to end, but if having Hans leave meant saving Tulio's life, then I was prepared for this final kiss. His lips connected with mine. It was sweet and gentle. Hans broke the kiss and whispered into my ear, "If I can't have you, then nobody can."

"ARALYNE, LOOK OUT!"

There was a great amount of pain, and I gasped. I looked down with wide eyes to see a knife sticking out from my ribs, blood soaking my clothes. Hans yanked the knife back out, and before he could do any more, Flynn rushed forward and punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. My knees felt wobbly and I collapsed. Tulio caught me from behind to keep me from striking the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no," Tulio muttered, holding me in his arms as he sank to his knees. Hot blood was now gushing from my wound.

Someone else was gasping. Someone else was in great pain. I looked around to see Siren was hunched over. Her scarlet eyes were wide in shock. Her hands were placed upon her own ribs, and blood seeped between her fingers. What happened? Did someone attack her, too? People were talking amongst themselves.

"Did you see that?"

"When Aralyne got stabbed, Siren became injured as well."

"Does that mean they're connected?"

"If we kill one, do we kill the other?"

What? Connected?

For the first time ever, I saw fear cross Siren's face, and she suddenly vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Eric had been left behind, staring in surprise at the spot where Siren had been just seconds ago. An evil grin suddenly spread across his face and he laughed maniacally.

Everything began to fade into blackness, and I could hear Tulio's voice calling me from a great distance.

"Aralyne! Stay with me, Aralyne! Come on, open your eyes! Don't you dare die on me! Aralyne...!"

Someone had managed to alert Captain Phoebus of what had happened, and he arrived with a couple of his guards to take Hans away. Everyone was too distracted by what had happened to pay any attention to Eric. He had managed to leave the scene without being confronted and began heading back towards the villain castle. To continue calling it Siren's castle would be ridiculous since soon she'll be gone along with Aralyne.

For too long, he and the other villains had been terrified of Siren and the power she possessed. Whereas they all had dreams of power, or revenge, (or in Cruella's case a twisted mind to skin puppies), Siren was pure evil. She had taken pleasure in torturing, and killing just for the sake of it, and it didn't matter who was on the receiving end, either. And honestly, they were all tired of her bossy nature. They just didn't say anything because they didn't want to end up like those zombie-like creatures she created.

When he arrived, he wasn't that all surprised to find Siren was missing from the large group of villains hanging out in the Great Hall. He was still laughing hysterically, sounding much like a hyena when he barged in.

"And what has got you in such a good mood?" asked Jafar.

Eric sobered up long enough to tell them what had happened over in Nesidy. With each passing word, the villains all had matching grins plastered upon their faces.

"So if we kill Little Miss Aralyne," said Shego, her hands glowing green in anticipation, "then we also kill Siren."

"If my theory is correct, the same could be said the other way around," Eric replied.

"Is anyone even willing to test out that theory?" inquired Gantu.

"I think it would be easier if we just attacked Aralyne," Jafar replied, "She's much more vulnerable, especially if we can manage to get that blasted sword away from her."

"We're speaking as if Siren and Aralyne are still alive," Shere Khan put in, "According to Eric, the latter was just stabbed and Siren vanished. How do we know that they haven't already perished?"

"There's only one way to find out," Eric said, another bout of laughter coming up.