Chapter 18: Downward Spiral

Kagami looked around Jared's bungalow, where the man in question was tearing through his study in search of the Book of Prophecies, "Where's Gina?"

"Out on the town," Jared replied, not even turning to look at her. Objects were flying around the room as Jared was now looking under the desk. Kagami didn't know what he was looking for but figured that if he was using his powers this way, it wasn't good. And maybe it was connected to what Amhar had said mere days ago.

"We need to keep her here. Amhar said—" That got Jared's attention, and he got up, using all his height to his advantage. Kagami never thought she could be scared of the man who she considered a brother. Still, the combined factor of his uncharacteristically tossed and spiked hair and the beginning of swirling in his eyes, highlighted with red, made her take a step back. Regardless, she would never get used to the fact he had short hair right now.

"Who cares what Amhar said?!" He snarled, "He's a child." Kagami held her ground,

"So were we when we started."

"We were older than he is," Jared scoffed, turning away from her and now using telekinesis to take apart his desk, "Not like that did much good. Look at where we are now. Almost everyone we knew then is either dead or slingshot across the multiverse and probably hates us."

Kagami narrowed her eyes, hands on her hips, "You are aware that at least half of this crazy family wants Gina's head, right?"

"Yeah, but if Kelly didn't kill her, they won't either." That was a good point, she figured. She was still shocked to this day that the mage hadn't done unspeakable things to Gina—even if Gina was killed by Iku later, Kagami was always grateful to Kelly for that mercy—but that didn't make her any less worried.

...

Where was the damn book? Jared had left the thing unattended for a couple days, trying to help the others find the culprit who poisoned Roxas. Of all the kids physically thirteen and under, Roxas was probably the one he hated the least since he was the most level-headed when his curiosity didn't get the better of him. But now the fucking book was gone.

Amhar was his first thought for the culprit since Kahu's spawn knew about the book and had seemed to take an interest in it, but Amhar had an alibi with Zoe. So he assumed the culprit was whoever poisoned Roxas and blew up Kaylee's ship.

He had sent Gina out with some money, to ask Harrison—who thankfully was one of the few to not want Gina's head on a spike—to give her a ship so she could go out on the town for a bit, so he could tear apart the house, just in case he had forgotten to put it in his desk, and had left it somewhere.

But he should have known the moment he assured Kagami that Gina was fine that Joselyn would run in, eyes wide as though she was frightened.

"What is it, Joselyn?" Kagami asked worriedly, and Jared's hopes plummeted when his daughter had a spark of something unreadable in her eye as she said,

"It's Gina."

To brace himself for what was to come, Jared peaked into Joselyn's mind.

"Finally, but Jared's not going to be happy. At least someone else did it before I snapped and did it. Jared would never forgive me."

"What happened?" Jared asked, but he already had a pretty good idea of what had gone down. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice taunted him, saying Joselyn was the culprit of what he was about to see and knew he was going to read her mind.

Joselyn gestured for them to follow, not saying a word, and Kagami broke into a sprint after the girl, while Jared used magic to stabilize his leg and walked at a more comfortable pace. Camille appeared next to him,

"What is it? I felt distress from you." He sighed, having forgotten she could feel his emotions through their bond.

"I don't know, but I already know it's not going to be pretty." He looked down and saw his hand entwined with hers,

"Well, best to get it over with. Come on, before Kagami leaves us in the dust." Jared nodded, knowing that even if this was what he feared, it couldn't be visually that bad.

He was wrong. Very wrong.

As his mind tried to process what his eyes were seeing, he wasn't sure he could take it if Joselyn had done this. Then again, even when she had Iku in her, this wasn't anything like how she...

In the supply warehouse, there were five different stacks of boxes, each a different height. On those boxes was one of either Gina's legs or arms, with her severed head on the center stack, with her horrifically mutilated torso nailed to it, and it looked as though the skin had been peeled off slowly and in strips. There was an obscene amount of blood everywhere, and the smell of it all would be sickening to anyone who wasn't used to seeing large amounts of blood.

As the others arrived, Jared started invading the minds of everyone to find the culprit. But he came across nothing and almost screamed in frustration when he was quickly booted out of people's minds, no longer as powerful as he had once been, able to hold someone's mind like putty in his hands.

Kagami let out a bloodcurdling shriek as though she was being murdered as she saw the disturbing sight. But Jared smirked a little because he had had enough foresight to do that drawing thing Kelly mentioned, so he was able to slip into the chain to see who had murdered her...

Only to become even more enraged when he saw Gina's attacker was smart, and the first thing they did was attack the eyes from behind. The thing to confuse him was when he forced himself into the attacker's head—which was hard to do since he hadn't seen a face—and found nothing except endless blackness and an unfamiliar screaming.

He was pulled out of it when he tasted blood in his mouth, meaning he shouldn't have pushed himself like that.

His mind began to wander. Harrison had inventions able to block psychic power, meaning he had sent Gina's killer a godsend of a weapon, even if it was unintentional. He was too trusting in the homicidal maniacs he called family—though, to Harrison's credit, his two spawns were the lesser of insane since Eli was a diplomat, and Camille was Jared's mate so he couldn't think ill of her.

Even without his powers, Jared was going to find out who did this to Gina. If it was Joselyn, he didn't know what he would do or react. But if it was anyone here and not an outside force, they were going to pay.

OoOoO

Eli walked into Hana's room, "Hey, Han, I need to talk to you about something." Hana turned from where she was playing with Ramsey,

"Ya?" He handed her some files and newspapers,

"I'm not accusing you of anything, but have you heard about this?" Hana read over the journals, saying she was a demon and a monster at her core and had bene horrifically slaughtering people and carving up their bodies. Three examples were shown in papers.

One victim's chest was slashed several times, and part of the stomach looked to have been mauled by a dog. When she looked harder at the marks, Hana found the wounds were made to a Roman numeral code, spelling out her name.

The second victim was a girl who couldn't have been older than thirteen, with blood coming from her skull, saying blunt trauma was probably the cause of death. Her eyes were also crushed in further post-mortem mutilation.

The third victim, a Fae woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, was the worst, for it seemed the culprit had the goal of finding out if a human can die of an internal hemorrhage without rupturing any organs. Looking at the photos, the killer had beaten their victim's left arm without breaking the skin. When this did not work, the death was caused by loss of blood, with her right leg and left arm cut off. The right leg was discovered in the bathtub later. The left-arm was never recovered, and her right arm and left leg splayed out in a way that resembled the hands of a clock.

Hana felt sick, and looked up at Eli, then thought to the scene of the crime with Gina, "Eli, I swear, I didn't do this." She grew increasingly frantic, "I hadn't even known—" Eli pressed a finger to her lips,

"I'm not mad, because I know you didn't do this. You're my best friend, Han, you were there for me when nobody else was. I'm telling you about this because it came to my attention the other day, and with the way that Gina was killed... the killer is going after you, trying to break apart the stone wielders."

Hana nodded, smiling a little, "Thanks for believing in me, El."

"Thanks for keeping me alive during our time with Douglas." Eli replied, "But for your own safety, I've gotten you a room in Galowen, okay? Psychic and Kagami are going to be on a rampage until they find the killer, and I don't want these false accusations against you getting you murdered."

Hana hugged Eli, "I'll pack a bag. But I'm gonna go clear my name, not wait around for Jared and Ami to calm down. But I didn't hate Gina all that much, she certainly didn't deserve," she shuddered, "I don't even want to think about that."

"Agreed. Besides, you've got an alibi in Amhar, right? The time of the murder seemed to be an hour or two ago, and the kid was with you. Speaking of which, where is he now?"

"Said he wanted to practice magic with Aelin and Adrien." Eli nodded, crossing his arms since Adrien and Aelin had been practicing with their contradicting powers to grow stronger. Adrien, with the power of the wind and air, could choke out Aelin and her flames, so she was working on being able to use her magic regardless. Amhar did need the practice.

Eli felt a jolt of rage down his mating bond with Zoe. She had left in the night without explanation, and he called to her, "Zoe?"

"That bitch has been drugging Felix when we visit! She locked him up, and he got taken!" Eli clenched his fists, rage coursing through him. Then he softened,

"Felix is back home, his wings are fixed too. Maybe a healer took him?"

"Well, good. Please go check on Felix, I need to pulverize some bitches."

"Go ahead, but bring the girl, Hatsune, here safely. She seems to be a close friend of Felix." He felt an agreement from his wife and then went to check on Felix, who was sitting bedside with Kaylee. Quantic Jared was sitting there too, but he didn't seem to be fully there, which was to be expected. Eli placed a hand on his son's shoulder,

Felix looked up, "Oh, hey, Dad." Eli softened, sitting down,

"Come on, son, fly with me." Felix looked at his wings, brightening a bit with a sparkle in his eyes that Eli hadn't seen in years. It had been so hard, spending so long without his eldest son around. He still remembered the day he had seen Zoe and Adrien in disguises to hide their celebrity status, pushing a little baby in a stroller. Had that really only been ten years ago? Now that baby boy had grown, both with sped up aging and his own experiences, into a fine young man.

They stepped out of Jared and Kaylee's home—where Kaylee was being kept since there wasn't a designated hospital on Alynthi. Eli floated in the air, holding his hand out to his son, who spread his wings wide and took flight.

Eli fumbled a bit since he didn't use his powers like this all too often, and knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself if he was falling, but this was a relaxing time with his son as he found out who had healed his wings. Eli owed that person many thanks.

Felix laughed, taking Eli's hand and pulling him upward towards the clouds, "Come on, Dad!" That smile, which had been lost for so long.

Once they were far above, Eli looked down and could see so much from up here, and the wind in his brown and silver hair was surprisingly appealing. He turned to Felix,

"Felix, who healed your wings?" Felix grinned,

"Pops' ex-boyfriend."

"Wait, what?" Eli gasped, as a memory, flew back at him.

"Unca Dori! Unca Dori! Unca Dori!" Two-year-old Eli ran into the arms of a young man standing next to Kelly.

"Dorian..." Eli rubbed his head before thinking back and remembering.

Dorian Nanami. The one who attacked Quantic Jared was... the same man who he considered an uncle in his toddler years?

Eli turned to Felix with wide eyes, but this time when he was looking at him, he saw pure turquoise eyes with black swirls in place of the usual blue-violet. It was only there for a split second, but Eli knew his son had made a horrible mistake in letting himself be healed by Dorian.

"Felix, by any chance, did he ask anything in return for healing you?"

"Yeah, to run errands for him occasionally, something about Void. It seems like a pretty sweet deal in exchange for my wings and freedom back." Eli took Felix's hand,

"Felix... Dorian might have been Kelly's ex, but... he's not a good person. Not anymore, at least. You've made a huge mistake." Felix's eyes widened,

"Dad... how would you know that?"

"Did you see Jared's legs? They're robotic, just like the rest of his lower half. Dorian did that."

"Well, it's because he's cursed." Felix replied, "I want to help him, Dad." Eli sighed,

"I know you do, Fe." He cupped Felix's cheek, "But you need to understand this deal is going to bite us all in the ass. I'm sorry, but I would rather you be unable to fly instead of a slave to a madman. We can take you to Amenity to fix your wings the right way, but you have to release your end of the deal."

Felix had tears in his eyes, looking away, "I can't. I can't betray him." Eli was unsure if he meant betrayal meant death, or he was literally incapable, but he sighed, hugging Felix and slowly lowering them both to the ground,

"We'll find a way, and fix your wings without any crazy mages involved, okay, Fe?" Felix nodded meekly,

"Kaylee's gonna punch me when she finds out I made a deal with the devil."

"At least you know that." Eli guided him back home, "I'll talk to Cam and your mother whenever she gets back. But for right now, I'm gonna keep you with Grandpa, okay? He's going to look you over and see what exactly Dorian did and if he can start controlling you at the drop of a hat." Eli saw fear in Felix's eyes as the boy obediently followed.

OoOoO

Amhar laughed with glee, sparring with Aelin and Adrien, trying to work on mastering his powers. He wasn't great with offensive tactics, but he found teleporting around and tiring them worked remarkably well. But he actually wanted to learn to fight, especially after what he heard happened to Ms. Gina, and the growing darkness he saw around not only Elaine and Psychic Jared. And for the first time since getting these eyes, he had seen Ms. Alexa, and the amount of black surrounding her was frightening. Was it because she was an assassin?

Trying to focus his powers, he managed to create a blade of... black? With who his parents were, that came as a surprise. Maybe he did have some of Iku's abilities? He decided that it didn't matter as the weapon protected him entirely from Aelin's flames, but he was fighting someone older than him, and another who was a former superhero.

Sometimes it was hard to tell Adrien used to run around a city in skintight leather, and Amhar hadn't even been alive for that. And after Dorian attacked and Adrien sent amnesiac Marinette away for her own safety, there was nobody who would tell him. Aunt Zoe knew, but she didn't often talk about it.

But right now, with Fae strength giving him the same enhanced agility, endurance, and speed as any Miraculous wielder, he was a force to be reckoned with. It was clear, Zoe—and by extent, Kelly—trained him. Long and messy blonde hair flowing around him, tousled by the wind he could command, he looked more like a teenager than the father of two kids, having lost one in a war. The only way Amhar could tell was the bags under his eyes, and those spring green eyes which reflected suffering beyond anything Amhar had known in his young life.

Amhar's eyes widened as he realized the blade in his hand, now charged with energy, had sent Adrien's mind into the past. Aelin knew this was all sparring, a game, and Amhar was young and inexperienced. But Adrien was looking at him in rage.

"Kahu..."

He wondered if he hadn't been told the truth by his mother mere days ago, would this have been how he found out who his father was?

Not that it mattered as Adrien bared his teeth, revealing elongated canines, and went for the kill, behaving more animal than Fae, summoning long claws instead of his natural fingernails. Oh no. He had forgotten Adrien could shapeshift.

As Adrien swiped down, he teleported a few steps away, too scared by the change in his surrogate uncle to speak. He tossed the blade away, where it ceased to exist. Aelin seemed to have realized what Adrien's PTSD had turned him into and stood between the former superhero and Amhar.

"Adrien! Snap out of it!" She pleaded, "This is Amhar, not Kahu. We're just sparring, and he's practicing with his powers, remember?"

Adrien blinked a few times, "Zoe?"

"Aelin. Zoe's my Mom, remember?" Amhar blinked. Had Adrien really gotten mentally sucked into the past? Or Adrien was back and was just noticing the resemblance Aelin shared to Zoe, including her eyes. She wasn't a carbon copy like Zoe was basically a female version of Kelly, sharing a decent amount of traits with her father, but Aelin could be mistaken for a younger Zoe.

At that moment, Adrien seemed to relax, but Amhar was still unsure, backing up when Adrien came closer because he could see a little blackness around him. He still didn't know what it meant, just that seeing as Psychic Jared was becoming increasingly angry and aggressive as the darkness around him grew, it couldn't be good.

It was a curse, not knowing what this power was. If Amhar knew, what happened next, fearing for his life, wouldn't have happened.

He shrunk back, raising his arms to brace himself for impact. But he heard something shoot out of the ground, and then a scream from Aelin. Amhar looked up nervously, and screamed himself, for black rocks in the shape of spikes with indigo veins had shot out of the ground and skewered Adrien through the abdomen. He coughed up blood, and Amhar instantly tried to make the rocks go away.

Aelin started running for help as Amhar still worked on that, and it took all his focus, because the more afraid he got, the farther it pushed into Adrien, widening the hole and blood staining the smooth black rocks. Amhar wanted to throw up and tried to calm himself down. He was supposed to be able to save lives, not take them!

Eventually, he shrunk the rocks enough to be able to get Adrien off it and immediately went about trying to heal him, ignoring all the blood and the organs and bones he could see. He could see Adrien was dangerously close to death, but Amhar knew he could revive the dead.

He held his small hands on both sides of Adrien, trying to push his healing power into him, but to no avail.

"You can't undo the damage you've caused," a dark voice whispered into his mind. He wondered who it was, fearing it was his dead father here to taunt him, but he didn't focus on that as Aelin brought the rest of the Sommers family, and it seemed Hugo and Catra had come too.

"What happened?" Camille asked Amhar calmly as Harrison worked with Eli and Amelia to get Adrien on a stretcher to get him to the lab to see if there was anything that could be done. Amhar felt a tiny flicker of hope because if Harrison could keep Quantic Jared alive after getting cut in half, he could heal this. That was what he prayed was true as he looked up at Camille with teary eyes. He saw her gasp quietly and wondered what had unnerved her, but Adrien could die, and it was all his fault.

"I-It's my fault. I didn't mean to, I'm sorry," he ran off, ignoring the screams of his family for him to wait, and he felt himself shift, something he hadn't known before he could do. All he knew was he needed to hide, to get away, too dangerous to be around his family until he knew what he was, what his eyes meant, and how to control his powers.

They probably hated him now. Adrien's breakdown was proof they all knew who his father was, and he feared that was all the adults had ever seen him as. It was certainly true with Psychic, who had only pretended to be the father to keep his enemy close.

Amhar gasped when the Book of Prophecies he had asked Roxas to steal from Jared, and he hugged it close, deciding to use it for answers.

Where to go? Where can I go where nobody will hate me for my father?

A portal opened before him, and Amhar froze where he was floating in the Lanes Between, wondering if this was a good idea. Well, he could sense his own power from the portal, so it couldn't be too bad, right? He went in and instantly found as though he was in water, where he frantically swam up, protecting the book as he went, and gasped for air, finding himself on a beach with dark grey sand, and the water was almost black, reflecting the nighttime sky.

Crawling out of the water, only to find himself completely dry, Amhar saw a house and ran towards it, only to find the place empty, looking lived in, but it hadn't for a while. In the corner of what he could only assume was a living room, he saw two cradles for infants, and when he went up the stairs, he noticed there was a familiarity to this place.

This was where Zoe, Eli, and Jared had stayed when they were banished to the Dark Realm, where Zoe gave birth to Roxas and Aelin. That meant he was in the Dark Realm. Well... at least if he was here, nobody would find him. After all, his mother had died trying to find her way here, so that meant getting here wasn't all too easy.

But he knew that just in case it was more accessible now, he couldn't stay here. But he got a look at himself in the cracked mirror. His hair was entirely turquoise, but now both of his eyes were molten gold. His attire was completely different, no longer a casual t-shirt and jeans.

He wore a black jacket with silver cords through the sleeves and open shoulders, and strings were attached to each lapel and tied in front to keep the garment closed. The sleeves fit somewhat like a loose shirt and extending slightly past the wrist. He wore a midnight blue hakama with hints of indigo at the bottom, which included the small board on the lower back. He sported a silver belt over his other garments.

He tried to shift back but realized he didn't know how. But at least the darker colors—not including the gold eyes and bright turquoise hair—would help him blend in.

He left the house and clutched the large book to his small chest, deciding to look around, but it seemed the terrain was bending to his will, such as the thorns in the rotted away forest parting for him.

"Hello?" He asked meekly, seeing flowers that blossomed in the moonlight were growing under his feet, as though he was bringing them to life.

It was beautiful here, the softer shade of things revealed by starlight. There was a sense of belonging here that Amhar couldn't place.

He continued to walk until he came across what seemed to be a village with beings he hadn't seen before. Some of them looked human, others were not humanoid in the slightest. It took all of two seconds for some of them to notice him and brighten visibly. He shrunk down nervously,

"Um... hi?" He put a hand to his mouth when he realized he had been speaking a different language there that he had never heard before in his life.

The closest one, seemingly a woman, ran up to him, "Cosmo?"

"Amhar," he said meekly, "I-I'm n-new..." The female cupped his cheek,

"You don't know what we are, do you?" Amhar shook his head, relaxing a bit, "We are the Kikleon. What is your lineage?"

"Eden Imelda Carpenter and Kahu?" He cursed himself for being inaccurate about which of the two halves was his parent, but in his defense, most people just considered Kahu to be his father.

Everyone around them gasped and bowed. If Amhar could feel any more awkward, he would be, especially as they all started referring to him as "your highness" or "sire" or "my lord." Was this... this was Iku's former kingdom, wasn't it? This meant that, now that he thought about it, even if he had specified Vita, he was next in line for the throne.

He was pulled along by the female who had first approached him, and brought into a castle with thorns around it, "E-Excuse me, what's your name?"

"Oh, where are my manners, your majesty? I'm Raimdyr." They stopped in a bedroom, which looked like a mansion in and of itself, already being cleaned by servants. His eyes widened as it really sunk in that he was heir to the throne, and from what was happening around him, they were preparing for him to be king. He was physically seven years old! No way was he ready to be a monarch! Well... the Kikleon seemed to have lived without their ruler for countless years, and they were doing fine, so how bad could it be?

He already knew the second he thought it that the thought of "how bad could it be" was a huge mistake and now just his luck, he was going to be leading a war against an omnipotent demon or something along those lines.

He was brought from his thoughts—which involved an alarming amount of fire, blood, and explosions—when Raimdyr was holding to things in front of him.

"My lord, your swords." Amhar gazed up at the two massive swords, identical except one had a hilt of dark and another of light. Raimdyr held up the dark one, "This was Iku's, the sword of destruction with an ability said to kill a hundred warriors with one strike, while Vita's is the sword of life which was told to bring back a hundred with one blow. Vita's sword had a unique property in it that it can not harm or kill any living beings. However, it can cut and vanquish creatures from the realm of the dead. In the world of the living, its power lay in the fact it can resurrect the dead and heal the wounded." She handed the two weapons to Amhar, and they shrunk to a manageable size for him, where one was placed in a sheath, one at each hip.

"And now for your crown." Amhar cocked his head,

"Coronation?"

"Not unless you want, sire. The plan was a quiet ceremony and then addressing yourself as our king on a balcony." Amhar decided he liked that option better in favor of coronation and vows and such.

His eyes rested on the crown, which was closer to a circlet thankfully because he was pretty sure he would have tipped over if it was an actual big crown. It was shining silver with a moon opal colored in turquoise and indigo in the center.

He nervously took the crown and placed it on his head. It was a little too big for him, sitting crookedly in his hair, and he smiled a bit, following Raimdyr to the balcony, where the people—his people—were standing below.

"I..." his whole body trembled because he was scared out of his mind of being a monarch. But what would happen if he refused his apparent birthright? The Kikleon below all looked up at him with adoration and love, and suddenly, all that fear vanished, and Amhar felt he had finally found where he belonged. If Iku had been the Queen before him, they weren't going to fear him. Maybe they would even cherish his powers. "My name is Amhar Adaranth," he remembered seeing the surname on one of the tapestries in Vita's castle, so it stood to reason that the name was his actual surname instead of the stand-in Darbonne name he had been given, "And... I guess I'm king? Look, I can't promise anything about greatness, because I'm a child who doesn't know anything, but with your help and teaching, I promise I will try my hardest to do the best for my kingdom." He didn't know what he was going to say, but then was shocked to hear someone shout,

"Long live King Amhar!" The one shout turned into a chant, and Amhar felt himself blushing awkwardly, but he knew, deep down, that he had just found where he belonged.

OoOoO

"What happened?" Joselyn asked, seeing Adrien in stasis with a gaping hole in his torso, and she saw Psychic Jared was staring grimly, as though he already knew. Harrison sighed,

"Amhar developed another power, and Adrien just so happened to attack him after having a PTSD breakdown, so..."

"Amhar did this," Jared said, his voice abnormally monotone for the situation. Joselyn was a little worried about that but supposed that after seeing the horrifically mutilated corpse of his recently-resurrected friend, he was bound to be emotionally drained. She saw his eyes were swirling with multiple colors. Still, there was no denying the actual swirling, meaning he was getting sick—whether mentally or physically, she couldn't tell, because either could be possible at this point.

Alexa crossed her arms, looking down at Adrien, "Jared, Amhar's a kid with growing powers. You should remember when you first got your powers and had no control over them, and understand what the kid's going through. We can't blame him for this." Amelia nodded,

"Yeah, should we call Zoe and Eden to explain that Amhar's run off?"

Jared stared at them all, not emoting in the slightest, "Call Zoe, since she's closer to him. Eden doesn't give a damn about that boy, so why bother her with that?" At this point, Camille was worried too, and held Jared's hand reassuringly,

"Jared, are you okay?" It was clearly rhetorical, because with the events of today, no, Jared was clearly not okay. Joselyn understood that. But that didn't change the fact she was worried.

"I'm fine," Jared replied, "I'll be better when this mess is resolved. Come on, Cam, Joselyn, let's go find him."

All of Joselyn's red flags went up, but she still followed him, confident enough in her own abilities and mental shields to hold her own if necessary. But she saw Camille was nervous too.

"Something's wrong," Camille whispered to Joselyn as they got in a ship, "He's not letting me in down the bond, and he only does that if he's doing something, I'm not going to approve of." In response to that, Joselyn messaged Rhydian, telling him to take Roxas and any other injured he could get in the ship, and get the hell out of dodge.

Out of nowhere, Jared landed the ship on a barren landscape that Joselyn recognized. The place they had fought Kahu, Joselyn's spark ignited, and Jared and Camille's bond clicked.

"Get out," Jared said, his eyes closed, and Joselyn knew that whatever was going to happen, it wasn't good. Camille noticed that too, and they both refused.

"Tell us what's going on, Jared," Camille demanded with more anger than Joselyn had expected towards her fiancé.

Suddenly, they both screamed as Jared extended his hand and used telekinesis to launch them a decent thirty feet away before blowing up the ship. Then a semi-transparent chartreuse-colored force field appeared around Joselyn and Camille while Jared was on the outside.

Only then did he open his eyes, and they had slit pupils, while his irises were swirling, yet also a glowing black.

Camille started using her magic against the forcefield, only for a pulse to send her staggering back.

"Struggle all you want," Jared said, "But neither of you will be leaving this place until this is done."

Joselyn wasn't sure what hurt more. The realization of what Jared was going to do. Or the fact she had come home only to be betrayed by the man she had considered as her father. She was so hurt, so livid, that she couldn't think of anything to say that would express that.

Camille had no such issue, and it was clear she had no plans to be sappy about this, and she glared, attempting once again to get free. She scoffed,

"This is a joke, right? If so, you've got a sick sense of humor, Jared."

"No, this isn't a joke. I'm doing what's best for us. I won't let them hurt either of you." Camille put her hands on her hips, her entire body trembling with what might have been sorrow or rage, Joselyn couldn't tell.

"Did it ever occur to you that this plan of yours will hurt us too? If you do this, I will never forgive you. Mate or not," she placed a hand on the forcefield, "I will kill you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. But this is for the best." His wings came out, only now they were clearly corrupted, tainted by the urges he was planning to act upon.

Joselyn didn't know what happened next, as everything went black.

OoOoO

Quantic Jared sat down next to Kaylee's bedside, pouring himself some tea as if he did it every day, going through the motions like the hands upon a clock. As he drank the beverage, hoping Kaylee would soon recover enough that she could wake up, he mused that though his choice of drink felt right, a part of him knew it was wrong, as if another hand had moved him.

He didn't know why today of all days had him having a borderline existential crisis over his choice to drink tea, but why had he chosen it? It wasn't like he had a taste for this kind of tea, and it wasn't part of a script like acting in a play—out of character, but somehow not a shock. If he was putting this weird feeling in terms that would be understood, he felt like a software program caught inside an endless loop. Just bad code that kept repeating.

He wasn't even surprised, let alone felt any fear when he felt Dorian behind him. "Did you cause this?" He asked bitterly, knowing he didn't have to specify when his severely injured sister was lying on the bed right in front of him. "Or did I?"

"I did nothing," Dorian replied, "At least nothing to harm her. Whether you did it or not, I can't say, because I wasn't there. As for your situation, I can tell you understand what's happened to you, being turned into nothing except a pawn upon the board, and I've won against you."

"Controlling me or not," Jared turned to him, not wanting to give this man the satisfaction of seeing how helpless he felt upon getting confirmation of what he feared, "You won that first day in the mountains, and you know it."

Dorian shrugged, hands in the pockets of his jeans, "I suppose you're right, I've always been a step ahead. But I wouldn't be giving you enough credit if I didn't point out you were with me most of the way. Because of that, I'll give you a neat little tidbit that I played upon the Psychic's fears. For his mate and daughter's safety, he became the very thing he swore to destroy, and my power just grows from here. You've played your part, and now you have one final thing to do."

"Be a martyr?" Jared asked calmly, standing, "You'll never get away. The others will know what you've done." Dorian only laughed in response,

"Maybe, but seeing as you're going to die tonight, I don't see why that concerns you. And look outside," he gestured out the window, "The New Moon is tonight, meaning you won't have your little Hanyou's luck to help out." Dorian looked at the clock, and Jared stormed outside, mostly because he knew Dorian was going to follow him, and he didn't want that madman near his sister. He didn't fear death, but there was a terror at the idea of what Dorian could do to Kaylee while she was vulnerable.

He could almost see his remaining life flickering and humming, growing fainter as each painfully slow second passed. How long did he have left? Considering Dorian was here in person, he knew not to hope for more than five minutes tops. He looked down at the scar on his forearm in the shape of an X, meaning he was a living tracker. Dorian said Jared was going to die tonight, but did he mean that literally or figuratively?

He scoffed, before starting to laugh hollowly. Even to his own ears, the sound was unnerving. He knew Dorian was watching him as the laugh grew dangerously close to a sob, but he couldn't stop himself—it was all just too funny! The stone wielders able to destroy Kahu had been beaten from the inside. Dorian had been thorough in this, making sure rebuilding was next to impossible. Sixteen years of living alone in a mountain must have given him lots of time to go through countless schemes to see what worked.

The message of the stone wielders falling sent was like a closing door, denying access to hope for those in the multiverse who looked up to them as heroes. That was it. Dorian was going to win if he was honest about his progress. Or maybe the loss of their weakest member would make the rest of the team stronger, replace him with someone better. After all, Gizmo had been the original choice for the Amethyst.

He was pulled from his laughter when he felt a pulse of magic that he quickly recognized as that of his Other, and the ground cracked under him, but whether that was due to his own magic or the other Jared's he didn't know.

Jared's breath caught in his throat, making it hard to breathe, before realizing he was no longer in control of his body. Starting from the corners of his eyes, his vision was getting darker, until he felt himself drift into nothingness with open arms.

...

Dorian watched as the young man's eyes changed to pure turquoise with black swirls, losing everything that made him Jared Brock. Now, he had been reduced to an extension of Dorian, his puppet, his Void.

It still had Jared's memories and knowledge. And his utter lack of control over his body made him a much stronger fighter, and his brains added onto Dorian's abilities and influence.

He grinned, teleporting to his home mere seconds before Psychic Jared threw up a barrier around Alynthi to prevent anyone from leaving.

Despite himself, Dorian shed a tear as the turquoise strings came from his fingertips, attaching themselves to an illusion of the young man he currently controlling.

"A minute more..." he whispered, before casting his first command.