After the battle, the group decided to split up. Riven and Katarina went with Taliyah to find Ren and Ezreal, Ahri and Miss Fortune disappeared, nowhere to be seen while the rest of the team carried Sophie to her house. Thankfully for them her parents weren't home so they could drop the student in her bedroom, after all there would be a lot of questioning if they saw their daughter wearing a strange outfit, a pair of wings and a horn. They went to her bedroom on the second floor and helped Jinx to gently drop the injured guardian on the bed.

¨Out of all the things that could've happened, this was not one that we thought about…¨ All of the girls except Sophie were in her regular selves' version

¨Will she be okay?¨ Lulu asked, looking at both Janna and Lux.

¨She will, her body is drained of energy and needs to rest. However…¨

¨Janna, what is that about her humanity?¨ The leader looked at the advisor ¨Should we worry as well?¨

¨To put it short, Sophie is now like me or Taliyah. As you remember the difference between any of you and me is that we are a different type of Star Guardians, I am a star while you are humans or yordles who fused with a star to receive that power¨

¨I remember some sort of contract back when I talked to the First Star¨

¨For me it was like a tea party!¨ Lulu said cheerfully, although her happiness faded away after looking back at Sophie.

¨Back to the point: Regardless of that fusion you were still part human and that was the dominant part. Sophie got her humanity stripped away and… well she is changing right now¨

¨Is she dying?¨ The voice of Jinx was almost quiet, serious but sad yet no tears came from her eyes.

¨No, although she might feel different without her humanity, the fact that the way she is now is her true self…¨ Janna sighed, truly this was something she was seeing for the first time.

¨I need to know…¨ The cyan haired slowly turned her head to look at the two blondes ¨Is there any way we can recover her humanity?¨

¨I…¨

¨Is there a way?¨ The rebel started to get impatient, she turned her body and held the girl by the forearms ¨Janna, please… is there any way to save Sophie?¨

¨I don't know¨ That answer broke Jinx's heart, the advisor saw it in those bright eyes who gave more information than it showed ¨This is the first time I've seen this happening, I suppose we can get her humanity back if we kill that archer… Unless…¨ For a moment the hope returned for the guardian ¨I know this sounds crazy but… we could give her another person's humanity¨

¨I'll do it then¨

¨What?!¨ The rest was surprised, Jinx's sacrifice was unexpected and while she was in a relationship with Sophie no one would've thought she would go to those limits.

¨I really don't care about my humanity, just take it and give it to Soph. That's all I want, I want her to be safe, I… I did this to her¨ Jinx just broke down, she collapsed on the bed, hugging the unconscious guardian, letting her tears fall.

¨Even if we were able to do it we don't know the repercussions it may cause… we should go with our best option, to kill that archer¨

There were a few seconds of silence, the rest of the girls looking at Jinx who was crying over the support's unconscious body ¨Let's go¨ Lux suggested ¨We need Sophie to rest¨

¨I'll stay here a bit longer¨ The other guardian wiped her tears, laying on the bed to the side of Sophie ¨Just go¨ Without saying anything else the rest of the team left the bedroom and then the house ¨I'm sorry Soph… I'm so… so sorry for what I did…¨

…

¨So how do you feel?¨

¨Surprisingly I don't feel any different¨ Ren was now fully conscious, he was sitting on the bench with Ekko to his side while Ezreal was walking back and forth. The former president looked at his arm and it was still infected, more than before and it advanced to his shoulder. Before it was a lot of veins and many dark spots but now it was fully transformed and almost impossible to hide it ¨However…¨

¨You really showed that thing who was the boss¨ Ekko was excited the entire time, seeing a friend of his fighting against one of the Dark Star monsters was beyond badass ¨Yo, Ez why don't you sit down?¨

¨It's Taliyah, she's been gone for a while, after all the rest of the team seemed to have problems as well¨

¨Then go, I'll keep the prez safe¨

¨Yeah but what if that's their plan?¨ Ekko tilted his head after the blond mentioned that ¨The Dark Star, what if their goal is to split us even more?¨

¨Guys!¨ The three of them turned to where the sound of voice came and saw Taliyah with both Riven and Katarina following her.

¨Are you all right? What happened at the academy?¨

¨We were attacked¨ Katarina started ¨The Dark Star we fought was powerful and was able to take on all of us, we defeated it but Sophie got injured, her humanity is gone¨

¨Her what?!¨

¨The rest of the guardians took her home¨

¨We must go¨ Ren stood up but Riven immediately pushed him back down, forcing him to be seated as she looked at him with a frown on her face ¨Riv come on it's Soph, we gotta help her¨

¨You are not going anywhere until you explain to me what happened to your arm¨ He looked down at the appendage ¨Taliyah told us something but I want to hear it from yourself¨

Ren sighed ¨We were attacked by one of those Dark Star things, I was about to die so I had to give in to the voice I was hearing. It took control and killed that monster, after that I… returned you could say and we were waiting since then¨

¨Anything strange? Do you hear those voices again?¨

¨No… and it was just one voice, it does not have a name but I feel it will return¨

Riven walked away, her back facing the ex-president ¨We tried to protect you, we talked to the Star Guardians to save you from this but it seems that no matter what happens it just… it happens¨ The white haired crossed her arms and turned to look at Katarina ¨What should we do?¨

¨What do you mean what should we do? He's your boyfriend!¨

¨Fine…¨ She looked back at Ren who was having a closer inspection at the arm ¨It seems inevitable but whatever you do, do not give control to whatever is inside you¨ Riven smiled and extended her hand ¨Can you walk?¨

¨Yeah, I can¨ He grabbed her hand and stood up only to be met with a hug from the warrior ¨What is this?¨

¨A hug…¨ She whispered and slightly moved, still not releasing him but looking at Katarina who did not seem happy, she shook her head and while there were no words between each other, the white haired knew what her friend meant. After leaving a kiss on his cheek the couple were holding their hands ¨Let's go, I'll take you home¨

And the two of them started to walk in the direction of Reginald's home, the other students just looked at them as they were leaving.

¨I warned her about it… it's going to be difficult when the time comes…¨ Katarina whispered to herself as she turned, pulling her phone and walking away after a tiring day.

Katarina and Riven know something and are not planning to tell the others, so far the `Entity´ is nowhere to be found but it will come back to haunt Ren. On the other hand the Star Guardians suffered a huge blow with this, will they recover? Most likely but Sophie will suffer consequences which will be seen in the next chapters.

And that is not only for this chapter but also this year! I'll post one more chapter of the Persona story and then I'll be taking a break from writing until next year (yeah we are like 15 days away from 2020 but I'll be going on vacations until February)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to follow fav and review, I'll be happy to read everything and answer whatever I can!

Last of these for the year, then I'll update the link: discorddotgg / 7ZUptrJ (of course the dot should be replaced with a . )

This is it for now. Hope you follow the chapter next year because it will finish, after all we are in the middle of the arc. Until then this was Tourvelix wishing you merry Christmas and a happy New Year! I bid farewell and as always:

See you in the next chapter ;)