Happy Valentine's Day! Here's an update for you guys in celebration! Also, be warned, this is probably going to be the most angsty and violent book in this trilogy. Let me know if you ever feel that the rating should change...

Pappillie: I'd love to see your art! My gmail is aden8419, I don't really have social media, haha. I would gladly scream about how amazing you are to draw fanart, but I think that the Author's Note would be really long at that point!

I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Eventually the skies started to lighten, letting me know that it was time to take a break and go upstairs. Lloyd had not made any noise throughout the night, letting me train and practice. I assumed that I had managed to become intangible at a steady one minute and forty five seconds. It would take more practice and time to shorten the wait for intangibility.

Standing, I put the gear away and decided to think about re-arranging the boxes and shelves. It would be helpful, at least. Besides, it was something I could control. Unlike the rest of my 'free will,' I could choose where to put the boxes and what went in them. At least Lloyd was very conservative with his orders. He knew I didn't like particularly following his commands, but he's already crossed a line.

Burning anything from my portals easily put him on my hit list. Once I was free, he would lose things too. I wondered if there was any sort of picture he cherished, and how easy it would be to take it.

However, I only opened the chamber door and started my way upstairs. I glanced back to see if Morro was following, and he was. Yet, he looked exhausted, the chain rattling from his shaking. Stopping my ascent, I floated down to try and help Morro in any way I could.

"I'm fine." Morro growled as I approached, and I stopped in response. Glaring, I looked him in the eyes, daring him to try and say it again.

"I'm fine. Let's just go upstairs." He grumbled, and I turned away. If that's what he wanted so badly, then he could have it. At that rate, he would barely make it through the day or just collapse. When that time comes, I'm sure he'll tell me what's going on.

As I entered the room upstairs, Lloyd looked tired too. However, he was only mildly tired compared to Morro's trembling figure. A lone pan with a few pancakes in it was sizzling on the stove, with Lloyd standing by. He noticed Morro's exhaustion, and raised an eyebrow.

"Seems there are some long term effects when you're exposed to deepstone. You look like you might poof at any second." Lloyd noted, and Morro huffed.

"I'm fine."

"Why don't you take a look in the mirror I just got over there? This place is as furnished as it's going to get." Lloyd offered, and Morro sighed in annoyance. I looked around and noticed a few differences from last night. A small bathroom was installed, and other sort of kitchen tools hung around the room.

"Turns out my powers are useful for more than just blasting things. They can cancel out noise, and only really loud sounds take a good amount of energy to keep out. Turns out your 'training' might turn out to be more useful than I thought." Lloyd smiled, noting my curiosity. I only turned away to go look at myself in the mirror alongside Morro.

"I look fine." Morro muttered under his breath as I approached. I said nothing, adhering to my earlier plans. He would eventually tell me what was wrong.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I inspected myself thoroughly. I had not been able to see what I looked like in years. I had doubted much had changed, and I was right. My hair remained messy and just above shoulder length but had a slight green tint instead of a natural milk chocolate brown. The mark on my left shoulder was still dark green, alongside the large scar on my left leg. My face was not too different, but a slight discoloration of darker green hung around my eyes, but wasn't nearly as noticeable as Morro's.

My outfit was still green as it had been since I had turned into a ghost, basically looking like a women's sporting outfit. A covering sports bra and boxer-like underwear. I didn't worry about not being modest, since I found that I had gotten used to wearing less clothing and that I didn't really care anymore.

Turning away from the mirror, I looked at Lloyd. There was likely something he wanted us to do, but I saw the spark of recognition in his eyes. He knew Morro couldn't do anything, so I suspected that Lloyd would make us do menial tasks until he collapsed.

As Lloyd began to serve himself breakfast, I watched Morro wobble and sway in the corner, staring out at the ocean. Keeping my eyes on him, I saw his knees shaking more than before.

"Morro, would you take the pan off the stove? Put it in the small sink over there." Lloyd instructed, and Morro slowly followed the task. Just as Morro was about to drop the hot pan into the sink, he collapsed but the pan did successfully make it into the sink.

Rushing over, I saw Morro wasn't even breathing. While unnecessary for ghosts to breathe, it was still habit. If he wasn't breathing, than this was a big problem. Grasping at the burning collar around Morro's neck, I desperately looked at Lloyd.

"I don't know what to do. It isn't like there's an encyclopedia on ghosts." Lloyd glared. I huffed, and returned to looking at the collar.

"I'm not taking that off." Well, I suppose next time you're in danger, I'll just happily laugh and say 'screw you.' As I tried to push back Morro's hair, if it was possible, I felt myself all of a sudden being drained of energy.

I pulled my hands away, and re-inspected Morro's condition. No longer did he look completely exhausted, and more like one night of bad rest. Habitual breathing returned, and Morro's eyes started to flutter awake. I sighed in relief, he would be okay.

On the other hand, I felt tired as well. It was as if four hours of sleep were just taken away from me. Perhaps there was some sort of energy transfer, something that you couldn't do in life. While this was a temporary solution, I doubted that I could constantly empty and refill my energy reserves.

"W-what… What happened?" Morro slurred, and I looked at Lloyd to explain.

"You walked in here looking like you just got hit by a hurricane. You kept saying that you were fine, and I asked you to put the pan in the sink. You did it, but collapsed afterwards. Somehow, Skivvy, managed to revive you."

"Skivvy?"

"You're getting nicknames now. Why not adopt the idea that Skivvy used to have? Nicknames only mean no respect. Remember that, Subaltern." I frowned, my vocabulary was only so large. Until I had a dictionary or a thesaurus, I would not know what he was calling me. For all I know, he could be saying that I'm a flower or something.

"What? Too scared to say 'Morro?'" Morro taunted.

"Skivvy, every time he uses your original names, slap him hard. If you even think about him or yourself, think and write the names I gave you." Lloyd ordered, calmly putting away his dishes after finishing the pancakes.

"You're taking away her thought? Myrana-" I slapped Subaltern in the face, and he stumbled to the floor. Staring at the floor in shame, I realized that only Subaltern would be able to remember our original names. In my head, I would only be able to remember Skivvy until Subaltern removed the necklace from Lloyd's neck. It felt as if the original names were fuzzy and just beyond reach.

I wasn't sure if I even wanted to convince the Preeminent to not cause inter-realm war. This was a point I could not accept. If he truly wanted me out of his life, then he should've never tried to hold me here.

Tonight, I needed to get Subaltern out of here. If he could return to the Cursed Realm, then he may be able to raise up some forces. Unfortunately, I could not help Subaltern, but I could try to give him the right idea. Just escape when I'm distracted, and do it quickly. We were surrounded by water, it would be very easy for him to escape.

"You're going to pay for this. With your life, and every other life in this realm. It may not be at my hands, but I can guarantee you that Myrana-" Another slap,"will make you suffer."

Subaltern was right. I decided that Lloyd would no longer be named as such, but will be Revanche. I vaguely remembered the French word from a book in the library, literally translating into 'revenge.' It had another definition, I believe it was something about taking back lost land.

Both worked well, and Revanche would regret this moment. Three strikes, Revanche.

You're out.

Nighttime had fallen, and Revanche had only had us clean up and organize the lighthouse some more. However, I had seen Subaltern sneak a small protein bar that Revanche had left lying around. At this point, we were sitting in the room downstairs and Subaltern had returned to being exhausted.

He pulled out the protein bar and began to nibble on it. I chose to wait until he was finished before explaining my plan. I planned to have him jump into the ocean, and inform the Preeminent what was going on, if she hadn't already been watching. If anything, then he wouldn't have to be here at least.

Besides, I already knew Subaltern didn't like me all that much anyhow. My past was surely too much to bear.

"You're not going to let him go, are you?" Subaltern asked, putting away the protein bar. If he was willing to talk, then I was going to explain my plan. I held my hand out waiting for him to get the message that I wanted to use the memory sharing. It was personal, but there was no other way for me to talk. My mind had already been compromised anyways, there was no sanctuary left.

"You want to do that again? It feels really awkward doing this… And last time wasn't a good experience." Subaltern glared at the hand. I only shook my hand in an attempt to get him to consent to this.

"Fine. Just, don't ask for this again so soon. It's strange." He finally decided to allow the memory share, and he walked to grab my hand.

Ideas whizzed by as I got my plan across, and this time Subaltern didn't fly away so quickly. The plan morphed and fixed itself until it finally reached a solid agreement. Subaltern let go, and we were both taken out of our thoughts.

"I wish I could say that I'm scared to leave you behind. Instead, something in me tells me to take this opportunity, run and never look back. I know you can handle yourself. Yet, I still care about you. No matter how dangerous you are, there's something that keeps me here." Subaltern sighed, and I only gave him a sad smile.

Kai may have been the true fire element, but I was just as threatening.

"I'll make sure that I free you next time. Even the mighty green ninja won't be able to fight away a whole army." Subaltern promised.

"Not even someone like you deserves mind control."

How fitting, I supposed. 'Someone like me.' A menace, and yet there was someone worse than me in his sentence. At least tomorrow he would be free from this horrible place. There was no reason for him to stay here when he could leave.

Turning away from Subaltern, I shuffled away into a corner and began to practice using my powers again. Over and over again, a small gear clattered to the floor, and I kept my practice going. Subaltern only shuffled around the room, looking inside boxes and muttering little things about electricity and wiring.

By sunrise, my time had only shortened to a minute and forty seconds. Skills did not come in a day, after all. When I looked around for Subaltern, he was sitting on the other side of the room, looking even more exhausted than yesterday.

As I opened the entrance to the room, Subaltern stood up, wobbly and hunched. He stumbled behind me, following my slow movements up the stairs. I was very glad Revanche had never asked me to not help Subaltern escape. The fact that he hadn't, was key to this whole operation. Otherwise, Subaltern would have had to escape on his own.

"Weren't you able to find a solution?" Revanche questioned as we entered the room. I waved my hand back and forth, signaling that we had only figured out part of the answer. In reality, that was a lie.

"Can't you do whatever you did yesterday?" I was about to respond, when Subaltern made his own move. As he grabbed onto my hand, I felt all of my own physical energy draining. Faster than I could blink, Subaltern was diving out the window, and I was left on the floor.

My thoughts slowed, and I could feel a terrible ache all over my body. I could barely keep my eyes open, watching Revanche yell and jump out the window as well. An airy tornado formed around him, leaving only a slight breeze behind. Unfortunately, I couldn't focus. Pain spread all over from my scar, and yet I was too exhausted to feel it.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that Lloyd had performed airjitzu. However, the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes open was a bigger concern to my body, and so I relaxed on the floor. My eyes closed, and yet I remained conscious.

After a short while, I heard more yelling that was definitely from Revanche. Loud angry steps bounded into my immediate vicinity, and a sharp kick hit my side. Low waves of pain emanated from the impact, but barely causing any sort of discomfort.

More angry yelling that I couldn't understand came from Revanche. I could barely realize that I was still conscious. More and more vicious kicks hit my side, but I barely felt them. I wondered if this was an advantage to being a ghost. Pain wasn't really something I had to worry about, unless I touched deepstone or water.

Somehow, Revanche was kicking me swiftly and I could feel more and more energy being drained. Why, I wasn't too sure. There really wasn't much I could process. All I could really think of was black. I was barely awake, and sleep seemed just out of reach no matter what I tried to do.

Was this what it felt like to be out of control? Every moment passed by, and yet I couldn't remember them. Things just kept going forward, and Revanche eventually stopped yelling and kicking.

Slowly, I started to regenerate my energy. Revanche would walk around me, eating or just trying to do something with his hands. All I knew was that the plan must have succeeded, and that I was pushed against a wall. As far as I could tell, everything was going well.

After a good while, I finally felt energized enough to sit up and face reality. Once I did, I saw Revanche's angry eyes glaring at me from the other side of the room. While the punishment will likely be great, I felt that the gains from the mission was much more satisfying.

"Skivvy. You are to go outside, and let your legs soak in the ocean, for two days." Revanche ordered, and I gasped slightly.

Two days? Was he nuts? The pain would be immense! There would be no way for me to handle that!

"Now."

As I felt my scar burn, I knew I had to get this over with. There was no escape. At least Subaltern was able to escape by diving into the ocean and back into the Cursed Realm. It was what we planned, let him escape and leave me here, while he could plan getting others to attack Revanche.

Shuffling towards the still waters of the ocean in front of me, I sighed. Doing this was going to be painful, but nothing could compare to disobeying orders. This was the longer, but lesser of two evils. Besides, I couldn't disobey unless someone else forced me to. The loss of free will was truly an inhibitor.

Putting my legs into the water, I hissed and huffed as the burning began. However, I felt satisfaction. The war was starting. Whether it would turn out to be a war of attrition or an army against one, it would not end well for Revanche.

All I had to do was wait.

And so the two are alone... With Lloyd in his current state, what do you think will happen? Hehe!

I hope you guys liked the update, and I'll try to keep updating weekly or so, hopefully not longer than a week and a half between updates. There's more angst to come!

Review, favorite, follow, share, whatever. Happy Valentine's Day!