Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Aladdin characters, nor do I own the settings involved with them. I only own Alisha, Jerky, Zadesh, Sabin, Brone, Daniel and Aatif.

Chapter Twenty Five: Cracking Mask

Genie met the group outside the city the following night. He cocked his head in confusion when he saw the group was missing a member.

"Where's Alisha?" he asked Malcho.

With a grin, the serpent tilted his head up, as if Genie's answer was in the sky.

Genie curiously followed his eyes, and then his mouth dropped. His answer was actually in the sky!

Alisha was gliding over them like a hawk, mentally counting her wing beats like Malcho had told her. She leaned to the side, turning in a half circle towards the ground. Tilting her wings slightly down, Alisha began to descend. She aimed for a spot to land. She waited until the perfect moment and landed neatly on her talons, needing to take a knee to hold her balance, between the group and Genie.

Panting a little, she looked up at the jaw-dropped and smiled.

She stood up, rolling out her sore shoulders. "Not too shabby for a beginner, right?" Alisha said, stretching.

Genie couldn't hold back a cheer. He took Alisha into a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning around and around with excited praises.

"I knew you could do it, Aly!" the excited djinn cheered. "I would do a better celebration but I'd end up waking the whole city!"

Had Alisha not been suffocating in his tight hold, she might have been just as excited. She grunted: "Choking. Not breathing." Her voice a little dizzy from being spun around so fast.

Malcho had to intervene.

"Genie, I am sure mi amiga is flattered, but I think you are smothering her with a little too much praise."

Genie, realizing what the serpent meant, quickly let go of the dizzy Alisha and apologized. She laid limply on him as she took in deep breaths, grateful to be able to breathe again.

As they sneaked back into the city, Alisha promised Genie she would tell everyone all about her flying later in the day, after she and Jasmine returned from looking for her mother.

The whole party was exhausted by the time they got to the palace. Alisha was fast asleep as soon as she got into her bed, and Malcho and Jerky passed out together in his spot under the tree. Even Carpet was flying like a rag caught in the wind as he and Genie headed for Aladdin's hovel.

Morning came too early for Alisha, but she managed to heave herself out of bed, eat breakfast, tend to Malcho's injuries and search through the city for her mother with the same unshaken determination. But finding no traces of her mother, once again, brought on the exhaustion for Alisha.

Jasmine noticed it as they were leaving the Market Place. Seeing Alisha in such a sunken state clenched her heart. Normally she would offer her words of compassion to lift her hopes, but it seemed even those were starting to lose their effect.

Luckily, Jasmine thought of something else —

A few hours after returning to the palace, as she and Malcho were pleasantly talking, Genie suddenly appeared before them. He asked Alisha how she felt about eating dinner outside.

Her smile of excitement lasted, even as she helped set up outside. It didn't take long for Genie to have all the food ready and on the table. The harpy and Jerky settled in a spot beside Jasmine, while the rest of the guys sat on the other side.

The only one missing was Iago, who had silently refused. Just the thought of being near Malcho made his feathers start to molt.

The Quetzalcoatl kept a good distance away from the group, despite the annoying parrot's absence. He made himself comfortable with his back facing them, tuning in and out their idle chatter.

"Tell us, Alisha," Jasmine eagerly asked, "how did it feel flying for the first time?"

"Well…"

She paused a moment, thinking of the right words that could describe her unusual and memorable flight. Alisha looked around at everyone, sort of surprised to see almost all of them were anticipated. Her cheeks brightened a little, and she wasn't sure if it was a flush of flattery or timidity.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how to describe it." She admitted, glancing to the side. "I suppose it was kind of like…learning to walk for the first time. You try and you fall, as simple as that. Try, fall, try, fall…"

Alisha brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I started to think there was no way I was going to get it," she went on, "until all my practice finally paid off. But it didn't go exactly as any of us had expected."

Noting their curious and intrigued expressions, Alisha explained.

"Malcho had me start by trying to fly from one branch to another. And what happened was, I guess, the opposite?"

Aladdin asked, "What do you mean?"

Alisha answered coyly as she lightly shrugged, "I…sort of flew above the oasis."

"Really?" Genie gasped, leaning over the table, his face a mixture of curiosity and zeal. "You flew over the oasis?"

Alisha nodded, astonished by Genie's reaction.

"That's impressive for a first-timer, Alisha." Aladdin complimented.

Alisha raised a brow at him. "It is?"

"From the perspective of someone who can't fly: then yeah! That's definitely an accomplishment, if you ask me."

Alisha's cheeks brightened. She didn't think it was as astounding as they were thinking…but then again even Malcho seemed quite impressed, judging from the smile he had on his face. He started encouraging her to fly just a little higher above the trees during her second round of practice, also saying she could go higher than that if she wanted.

She could thank that little bit of advice for today's soreness.

"As wonderful as flying is," she admitted, rubbing a tender muscle on her shoulder, "I hate how sore it's made me. Every muscle from my wings and up was like jelly after I landed."

"I bet," Genie chuckled. "You looked like you could've slept for days last night."

"Seriously?" Alisha laughed, followed by Aladdin and Jasmine's laughing joining in.

It was collective, in sync like a choir of bells. Alisha looked around at their happy, smiling faces. She noticed how incredibly…good she was feeling. All the thoughts that had been weighing on her before now were pushed into a corner far in the back of her mind, too far for her acknowledgment to reach. There were no cares — no worries, no doubts and especially…

No Zadesh.

There was only this gladness that was flowing inside her, all because of them.

But her eyes couldn't help but drift beyond them, on to the one person who she had started staring at when he wasn't watching lately…. Alisha understood Malcho's distance, enough so to keep from questioning it. But that didn't mean it never bothered her — not from annoyance, but of worry. His far distance was alien to her at times. She had grown to miss the time they spent together during their days sheltered by the oasis.

Now it seemed the hours in the day were scarce when they were together. There just weren't enough hours anymore.

Her smile faltered slightly.

It was Jasmine who was the first to notice her abrupt silence.

"Alisha?"

The harpy eyes fell on the table. She fiddled with her glass of water, for it kept her from looking back at Malcho's direction.

"Malcho was a great teacher." Alisha said, the brightness in her smile slowly returning as she thought back to Malcho's encouragements.

"A great one, actually," she glanced at their faces, noting their slight surprise. "Malcho was more patient than I thought he would be. He wasn't pushy or unkind in the slightest. If there was something I wasn't getting and I started losing confidence because of it, Malcho would say things like: 'We'll skip that for now and go back to it later', or he'd say: 'Do the best you can do.' He thought it would be better if we learned at my own pace. That way I could learn without getting discouraged."

"That's good," Jasmine said with a smile. "As your teacher, he should understand those things in order to teach you without making you lose confidence."

"Honestly, I never took Malcho for a mentor-type of snake." Genie admitted, glancing over towards the serpent.

"I admit," Alisha said, "he doesn't look like one at first glance. But I suppose it's good to be wrong about things like that."

Now that she learned to fly, Alisha was glad Malcho had talked her into it — just like he'd said. It was almost hard for her to think she had blatantly refused the notion a first. There was still so much more she wanted to learn. She craved them in excitement. It was a strange feeling, but a good one.

As if a part of her always wanted to learn.

Alisha looked over at Malcho again. He still kept his distance. Although he wasn't too far away, Malcho wasn't close enough either. But Alisha didn't like the distance, even though he was still in visual range.

"Malcho!" she called, leaning forward on her knees. She had caught the group by surprise.

Malcho, his attention snagged, moved his head around just the slightest.

"Aren't you lonely over there?"

He shook his head without saying a word, and then drifted back into his thoughts.

Alisha didn't hide her disappointment as she sank back down. He could have at least considered the offer for a few moments….

"He likes being by himself a lot, doesn't he?" Aladdin asked, leaning forward comfortably on the table.

"Yes," nodded Alisha. "He's good at keeping a pretty far distance from others. It was one of the first things I learned about him after we met."

At the beginning Malcho maintained a gap between him and Alisha, a gap which he refused to fill. But she didn't really mind so much. Alisha had still thought Malcho as an intimidating presence during this time, so the more distance between them then the better.

It wasn't until the day after her nightmare that Alisha unknowingly started creeping into his gap, sometimes without knowing. She had become drawn to him, in some inexplicable way. The gap had become irrelevant. To her, at least. Malcho didn't let it down as quickly as she had, but it became smaller with each passing day. And here they were now.

Now he was far away all over again.

"Just as I thought," Aladdin said, glancing over to Malcho for a moment with an unsurprised look.

Alisha blinked at him, cocking her head to the right a little.

"He keeps to himself a lot when you're not around." The young man told her. "What's funny is he doesn't blatantly ignore anyone that tries to talk to him. He'll be brief and straight to the point, but he's not rude. It's kind of surprising, actually. It's good, too."

Alisha's brow crinkled inquisitively. "You've spoken to him?"

"Yeah," answered Aladdin, "once. Just a little while ago."

His demeanor changed somewhat as he answered. Alisha noticed Aladdin becoming solemn, and he remained very still on his cushion. She watched his hands fold together, kept close under his chin.

Alisha, out of a curious whim, looked around at everyone else. She could tell, judging by their faces, this was news only to her. She looked back at Aladdin, now confused and stumped altogether. Why was he mentioning this now? What happened when they spoke? Why was Aladdin being so serious all of a sudden?

Then her gaze went past him to land on Malcho. While he idled in the land of obliviousness, she inwardly fretted. What did Malcho say? The possibilities of answers were endless. But if he — as Aladdin stated — wasn't at all rude, how else could he have been?

"You want to know what we talked about?" Aladdin asked her, but she shook her head.

"I do," Alisha confirmed, "but let me hear it from him first. If you don't mind?"

Aladdin made no objection, and they eagerly changed the topic to something more pleasant. They retired as the sun started going down. After Alisha helped clean up, she decided it was time to talk to Malcho.

He had put his head down at some point during their clean up. He lifted himself up before she walked up beside him. Alisha silently hoped for the possibility that Malcho had been waiting for her, but rationality threw and stomped the thought into the dirt and told her it was just his sharp senses.

"That was an invitation for you to join us, you know." Alisha told him, leaning her side against his coils.

"I know, and I appreciated it." He said, giving a sincere grin.

She didn't drop the discouragement in her eyes.

"Then why didn't you come over?"

"You know I don't like socializing."

Malcho's response was too nonchalant to be legit. Alisha crossed her wings, giving the serpent a firm stare.

"Malcho, be serious. Please."

He studied her stern look, catching the slight hint of irritation in her remark. He gave her a solemn look, having an idea as to why she was upset. Malcho had listened in on their conversation when Aladdin brought up their unpleasant conversation. He was grateful he hadn't told her what they spoke of, but he still felt resentment for it being mentioned at all.

Malcho let out a deep sigh through his nostrils. He hadn't the slightest intention of telling Alisha their topic of discussion that day, but it seems Aladdin had given him no choice.

"Whatever questions you have," he said, unafraid to show his dread, "I can explain."

Alisha was going to be mad, he could already see it. Talking to Aladdin on such a sensitive topic of himself had brought out the Malcho that Alisha hated, that she feared. There was no way to tell her what happened without mentioning every part of it. Even the parts he hated the most….

Alisha, her stern expression softening, gave Malcho her complete focus. She could tell, judging by his serious response, that this was going to be difficult for him. A wall had fallen, and Malcho wasn't sure whether to let the rubble be or rebuild it.

"...Just tell me everything." She said, her voice light and gentle.

Malcho paused, trying to think of where to start. When he found the best possible place to begin, he went on to tell her of that day. He told her of how he and Aladdin went from having a "casual" conversation and into the emotionally unsettling event it turned into.

She told herself not to get angry but once Malcho got to a single specific part, anger was almost an instant reaction.

Alisha was — somehow — able to contain it. But it wasn't easy, and Alisha was waiting for it to slip at any moment, if Malcho said the wrong thing.

"Why would you say something like that, Malcho?" she demanded, trying her best to keep her temper in check.

"I was only trying to get a point across." He answered. "That was all."

"You used your vengeance as a threat!" she exclaimed, baffled by his response. "What kind of point were you trying to make with that? That they can't trust you no matter what? Malcho, everyone here has been polite and civil towards you. Don't ruin that."

"They are only doing it because that is their end of the bargain. It's all fake. I-I know it is."

Malcho didn't mean to hesitate in that moment. Strangely, the sentence didn't seem so wholeheartedly as he wanted it to. Something had vexed him in that moment to cause him to hesitate like that. He sounded so...so...

"You don't sound so sure about that." Alisha pointed out, as if aware of the trouble Malcho was going through inside.

His eyes slightly widened. Hold on...Malcho was in doubt of...himself? Impossible! He was never wrong about these things. Malcho knew how that royal and that street rat thought of him. He hadn't done anything to change their minds.

All this "hospitality" was a façade, the act of a deal. He was sure of it.

It had to be...

A deep, aggravated exhale from Alisha caught Malcho's attention. Her wings were folded again and he saw the frustrated look on her face. She scowled at him.

"Honestly...trying to get you to see you're wrong is like-like trying to move a brick wall."

With that said, Alisha turned away from him.

Malcho blinked at the harpy, slightly confused. "Amiga..." he murmured.

She ignored him, refusing to look his way.

"Why do you treat everyone like they're your enemy?" Alisha asked. She truly couldn't understand his kind of mindset. True, she wasn't fond of humans before her recuperation at the palace, but at least she found herself steadily growing out of that conception.

There was numerous differences between people like Zadesh and people like Jasmine and Aladdin. She was beginning to see those differences now. So why couldn't Malcho?

Malcho only stared at her, at a complete loss for words. All that was left between them was a weighted silence.

"...It's getting late." Alisha said, simply out of a whim to speak up and break the quiet. "I think I'm going to head inside for the night."

Malcho, sensing her discomfort, reached his wing out...but he never touched her. It hanged in midair, his black feathers inches away from her back. Then he drew away, gently. Something was telling to keep a distance, to keep out of the invisible bubble she had put up.

But he still didn't want to part ways with things ending like this.

He tried to stop her.

"Amiga —"

"Goodnight, Malcho."

Alisha headed for the palace entrance, leaving Malcho alone with the silence. He watched her walk away, hoping she would stop to spare him even the tiniest of glances. She went inside; his hope shut outside the door.

Malcho rumbled, shaking his head. Great. Now she was mad at him. Perfect.

A few hours passed.

Malcho was still steaming over Alisha, her words rattling his brain like a maraca.

"Why do you treat everyone like they're your enemy?"

He couldn't get to sleep when his mind was a cluster of thoughts. He just couldn't get those words out of his head. Why did Malcho view these humans as his enemies? That was exactly what they were. His enemies.

It was clear Alisha was just simply being defensive of the humans, but she became so frustrated. There had to be more to it. Malcho just couldn't wrap his brain around it.

He sighed, and then growled in agitation. Malcho was good at many things, such as brainstorming evil schemes, stealth, physical combat, the manipulation of words, noting emotions in one's spore, catching a lie, reading facial expressions and body movements — and those were just off the top of his head. And he was self-taught no less!

However, Malcho found females to be elusive. He knew how to be charming and sincere towards them, even a simpleton could do that. He also knew some females would easily look past that.

Alisha was a deep thinker, like Malcho, but with thoughts he hardly considered. Alisha's mind was advised by one's emotions and thoughts, versus Malcho who considered outcomes of actions and benefits for himself. She was so sensible of others, and a puzzle to Malcho.

He rumbled again.

I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut. Malcho thought, as he realized there was no way he was getting any sleep tonight.

A noise diverted Malcho's attention towards the palace. He caught the sight of a figure heading his way. His heart leapt for but a moment, believing it was Alisha who was visiting him. But as the mujer approached, and her scent filling the air, Malcho inwardly deflated. He couldn't help but raise an eye crest in surprise at his visitor.

Malcho had never been confronted by another ruler before, especially a human leader. He had made it apparent to avoid humans, and he made sure they made it apparent to keep away from his kingdom as well. As the Princess approached Malcho — with such a levelheaded, confident stride — he almost felt unprepared for her to address. He shook it off easily.

Then Malcho noticed the hesitation as she stopped a few feet away, keeping a distance that was comfortable for the both of them. He even managed to catch the glimpse of the Princess' momentary awe as she looked upon him. Malcho's chest would have puffed out pridefully with a boastful grin from amazing a royal with just his great self alone — were it not for his immense confusion by her very late and very sudden visit.

He started flicking his tongue to scent the air for other redolence. He didn't like this. Why was the Princess meeting him alone, and late at night no less? An important royal such as herself would have multiple guards by her side, whether she was approaching a creature like Malcho or not. This made no sense.

The Quetzalcoatl mentally prepared for action. He didn't doubt the Princess bared a grudge after he attacked not just her kingdom but her mate as well. Malcho occasionally observed human behavior out of sheer curiosity, and he was surprised by the similarities between his kingdom and their own. He remembered once witnessing an invasion from an armada from afar. The village they struck never saw the attack coming. Things, such as their food and goods, were ruthlessly taken by the armada, and they left the villagers with nothing but a wreckage.

Not long after, once they gave themselves enough time to recover, the villagers readied and plotted for a battle to wage against the invaders to take back the things stolen from them. Malcho didn't stick around to see if those people accomplished in their goals. Seeing the resemblances between his world and the humans' made him sick.

Their territory had been unmercifully assaulted by outsiders, and the villagers were more than ready to make sure it never happened again.

Malcho had invaded and attacked the Princess' territory without any sort of warning. He wouldn't put it past her if this sudden visit was a means for a surprise attack.

Then, as if she had read the thoughts rushing inside his mind, she told him:

"Everything's all right, Malcho. We're alone."

Malcho studied her, flicking his tongue out once more. He put up a calm front so she wouldn't catch sight of his doubt.

"Aladdin told me that the guards make you nervous." The Princess said. "So I told them to leave us be unless I say otherwise."

He blinked and he narrowed his eyes slightly with suspicion.

"That is very...considerate of you."

"I promised so, did I not?" The Princess replied, earnestly. "We will follow our end of our agreement as long as you continue to follow yours."

"I hope that is not why you are meeting me under the cover of night alone."

Malcho wanted to get straight to the point. The sooner he learned why she was here, the sooner she would leave and this would all be over and done with.

Despite this, however, the serpent couldn't help but wonder why she was even here. Although, now that Malcho was actually thinking about it, he had a nagging suspicion...

"No," answered the Princess.

Malcho watched her hand wrap tenderly around her other arm, becoming slightly hesitant again. He did his best not to snort or roll his eyes as she paused, obviously trying to find the right words to explain herself with. He had to be polite and patiently wait for her to speak...otherwise he would never hear the end of it from Alisha.

Malcho, thankfully, didn't have to wait that long.

"Malcho, I am...concerned about something." The Princess told him, maintaining a respectable, kind voice as she spoke. "It's something I have been concerned of ever since we decided to let you stay with us."

Malcho didn't show any form of question or surprise.

"About the future after my recovery, yes?"

The Princess met his stare, sympathetically, and nodded.

"Aladdin told me that...you may still fulfill your goal of taking over the Valley of Thundra after you have recovered."

A vein pulsed when Malcho heard the name. "The Valley of Thundra". Malcho clenched his jaw to withhold his venom.

That title sounds more and more uncreative the more I hear it.

"And now you are here to confirm your suspicions."

The Princess' disheartened expression almost made Malcho sneer. As if he would fall for such a pitiful display. He knew she didn't truly care if she had hurt his feelings.

If this was an interrogation, she went off with a lousy start.

"I have reason to be suspicious, Malcho." The Princess reminded.

"Yes, that you do." Malcho agreed.

He had to admit, his respect for the young royal grew. Not only did she confront him alone, she was also standing tall and keeping ground.

She would have made a very honorable alpha in the jungle.

But Malcho was holding his ground just as strongly, and nothing in the world would make him give it up.

"Thundra is our friend, Malcho. If you do anything to harm her, you will find yourself facing a much more serious punishment."

Malcho couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Exactly. So why would I be foolish enough to tell you if I was?"

Did she honestly think he was that stupid? That he would confess to his plans of returning to the rain forest to take back his throne? Not even a child would fall for something so ridiculous.

"I would expect honesty from you." The Princess firmly responded. "Especially since you are a welcomed guest within our walls. The least you could offer is the truth."

Malcho didn't faze under her hard stare. His words were cold.

"I do not recall honesty being apart of our little agreement."

The Princess didn't hide her scowl.

"All you asked of me was well-mannered behavior. Nothing more. Oh, yes, and to enjoy my stay. Just as you requested, Princess."

The Princess became silent, giving Malcho a disapproving lour of disdain. He gave himself a mental round of applause, even having the gull to smile out of self-satisfaction. Awful as it was to admit, Malcho was somewhat enjoying this. He wasn't afraid to remind the Princess that she wasn't addressing a simple-minded creature.

She was in no place to make demands at him. He asked nothing of her. She offered her home as shelter, and had it not been for Alisha's sake, Malcho would have rejected her offer without a second thought. And he had done nothing to jeopardize the citizen's safety, just as the Princess had wanted. Malcho was in the clearing.

"You don't even realize what will happen if you do decide to go back, do you?" The Princess said, almost with disbelief.

"That is of no concern to you." Malcho mildly snapped almost instantly.

That seemed to struck a chord with her, and then she suddenly snapped protectively.

"Alisha is my concern!"

Those words jolted and froze Malcho. He blinked at the Princess, his eyes growing wide.

"Are you honestly willing to hurt her like that?" the Princess demanded, her glare now fully aflame with anger.

Malcho felt his blood start to run cold, and his heart began throbbing. Something began bubbling inside him, fueled by the fire in those words. Hurt? Hurt Alisha? His jaw clenched tightly as he returned his own glare at the Princess.

"Do not." He warned.

"If you intend to steal back the medallion for your own malicious purpose, you will put Alisha's life at risk with the millions of others. Knowing that, are you really going to go through with it? Even after everything you two have been through?"

Malcho had to look away to keep from spitting out his venom. His jaw clenched tighter, and his glare grew darker.

The Princess went on, giving his discomfort a cold shoulder.

"Alisha did everything she could to convince us that you weren't just another monster we had to slay. She told me herself there is good in you, and all we needed was to take the time to get to know you. But right now all I see is just some beast that wants nothing more but the attention and sympathy from others to make himself feel good."

Her words stabbed like razors slowly slicing into his heart. Malcho stayed strong, masking his pain with a face of clear consciousness. He was determined to wear it until the very end.

Malcho needed to keep it on.

However, he didn't count on the Princess becoming merciless.

"Can't you realize Alisha's gone through enough?" she demanded, her voice manifesting the silent sound of her heart breaking as she recalled the scars on the harpy's back. "How she's managed to stay strong after all that, I'll never understand. But I know — for a fact — if you so much as even attempt to take revenge on Thundra, it will crush whatever is left of Alisha's heart."

Malcho felt another slice from the razor, this time it was powerful enough to bring cracks to his mask.

"I know it will. And I can't stand the thought of that happening, especially knowing there wouldn't be anything I could do to help her. So that's why I am here now. I need to know if you're really worth Alisha's trouble."

When Malcho neither looked or responded to her, Jasmine continued.

"Even Aladdin believed you weren't all that bad, thinking there had to be good in you, if you were willing to protect Alisha the way you did before without any hesitation. That was why he stood by Alisha and helped vouch for you. He said the Malcho he met in the past maybe never would have done that for just anyone. Had it not been for the both of them you wouldn't be seeing daylight every day."

"I didn't —"

Malcho had to cut himself off, otherwise his mask would have shattered. He had no other choice but to keep quiet — now that his own words threatened to betray him. He couldn't afford to let his façade shatter now.

The Princess paused to see Malcho's reaction. He merely glanced towards her without saying a word.

She waited to hear him respond — inwardly hoping he had something to say that would clear most of her foreboding worries — but then Malcho looked away. Her hand tightened into a fist at her side.

He was being callous. Whether he meant to be or not. Callousness was universal, no matter its shape or form. Malcho turning away from her, showing no ounce of emotion, was a cold callousness.

Jasmine made sure not to let her anger manipulate her words.

"I'm starting to doubt if you even care for Alisha."

A chord inside of Malcho rattled. His eyes snapped back at her, burning with a protectiveness as fierce as a forest fire. She had no right — no right to stand there and make such an assumption!

"What would you know?" Malcho demanded, surprisingly keeping most of his venom under control. "You weren't there at the beginning. You couldn't understand a damn thing about her and I, or even of that little rodent! Life was better when it was only the three of us!"

She never witnessed all the things that took place before they came here. She would never understand the happiness Malcho felt when Alisha was around. What was there for her to understand about him when he was nothing but a monster in her eyes?

Jasmine was taken aback, astounded by the vast emotions brimming from the once stolid serpent.

"Alisha is naive," Malcho said, his heart wrenching, "but she saw something inside me, something not even I could see."

Malcho solemnly shifted his gaze to the side. His mind was afloat with memories of Alisha's smile, of her laugh and of the kind words she had given him. He clung to them tightly, like how a child would to a parent. They were his only comfort in this moment of distress.

"She has put so much trust in me." He said. "More than I would have asked from anyone. And she did so willingly, just from getting to know me. Even after she learnt of who I really am, Alisha didn't let that come between us."

His eyes narrowed, his heart gripped by the invisible hand. He shut them, trying to block out the pain aching in his chest.

"...Then why do you still want the medallion?" asked the Princess.

"Once you've tasted power," Malcho answered, "you become a slave to its glory. And the more power you have, the stronger its grip gets."

Malcho didn't want to admit it aloud...he was afraid of breaking the bond he'd made with Alisha.

He felt compelled to cherish and protect their friendship with every ounce of his core. She was his first true companion, after so many years he spent alone. To let something so precious fall into a sea of flames would be devastating. But where one part of him craved for companionship once again, there was the other part of Malcho that still desperately yearned for his throne.

To once again be called "Malcho the Great".

He hated it, he hated it more than he understood. He feared this limbo would drive him to do something he knew he'd regret, which made him feel even worse.

"You need to decide what means the most to you." The Princess told him. "This bond you have made with Alisha, or your throne."

Malcho couldn't hold back his snort. If only that were easier done than said...

"I can't help you with a situation like this, Malcho." She said. "Just as it seems I don't need to tell you something that you haven't told yourself already."

"No..." Malcho solemnly agreed. "No, you can't."

"...Do you want to know what I think, Malcho?"

The Quetzalcoatl sighed quietly and gave the Princess his full attention.

"I believe you already know which decision is better. You're just unsure of what will happen if you accept it."

I highly doubt that.

"And why do you believe that?" he asked her, his uncertainty written in his tone of voice.

"Because you're afraid."

Malcho blinked, unprepared for such a bold and honest answer.

"You're afraid that you might have found someone who you cherish more than you ever did with the medallion. Alisha is a person, not an object. Objects can't doubt you or itself, but a person can."

He didn't like this, her words were ripping into his chest with the razor. The smooth slices now felt like slashes from a sword.

"You have made your point —"

"A person's feelings change all the time."

"Stop —"

"Objects can't reject anyone."

"Please —"

"And you don't have the heart to be selfish with Alisha and stop her from rebuilding her life."

Malcho had to turn away from her. The pain had gone down into his stomach, making his breathing heavy. His throat felt thick and he started to feel a familiar burning behind his eyes. Malcho wasn't sure what he was feeling at this moment. He felt plagued with hundreds of different emotions at once.

One thing Malcho knew for sure — none of these emotions were positive ones. Physical pain was luxury compared to this.

He felt a vibration in the ground; the Princess had taken a step closer to the serpent.

"Malcho,"

He wasn't expecting her voice to sound so tender.

"I understand your point." He said, his voice deep. "So leave me. Please."

He needed the space to sort this out. He needed to be

"...I want your decision by tomorrow." She told him, after a pause. "You have until then, no longer."

Malcho began to feel vibration after vibration from the ground. He was sure she had left when they stopped, until he heard:

"You mean a lot to Alisha, Malcho. Please keep that in mind. Please, Malcho."

He could hear the plea in her voice, and it made his chest feel even heavier.