Thank you all for staying with me through this journey so far. I want to thank KaliAnn and Leopurda especially for keeping me posted with their comments. :)

...

So Halley didn't die after all.

She was very close to it, yes, but she didn't die.

It was dark. She opened her eyes and it was dark. She couldn't tell where she was or what happened but she got that underwater feeling. It filled her with a sense of serenity she hadn't felt in forever. She took a moment to just relax in it, to savor the moment. She was aware of a weight beside her, tilting her just slightly to the left. Halley came to the surface.

Why did she have to come to the surface?

Aching. She ached all over. Halley wasn't in her room, she noticed. There were curtains, beeping— painfully loud beeping. Halley inched her head to the side and saw a head resting on folded arms. Their steady rise and fall told her that they were asleep.

What the hell happened...

The memory slammed into her like a brick wall except it was probably more painful. The overwhelming shame bubbling within her was on the rise followed by a flurry of multiple emotions. As her mind recalled the event, her heart rate increased as if Angel was lurking somewhere in the room. The steady beeping of the monitor gained a faster pulsing, rousing the sleeping person.

Phil's eyes were bloodshot as he gazed at her sleepily. They widened as soon as they registered her.

"You're..." He breathed, his eyes had begun to water. "Allison," Phil called. "She's up." Halley saw motion from the corner of her eye, and figured that Allison must have been sleeping too. Soon they were both at her side, staring at her speechlessly. Halley averted her narrowed gaze. She couldn't stand to look at them. Not after...

A door swung open and footsteps came rushing over. A light turned on in the room and Halley flinched back.

"Halley..." She heard her mother's voice crack. There was a shaky sob and Halley couldn't couldn't tell who it was coming from in the room. She kept her eyes firmly planted on the pale blue blanket she was covered with, an effort that was a little difficult given that she was still out of it.

Arm were wrapped tightly around her and she immediately hissed, more aware of how bad her condition was. Her mother let go of her and Halley could hear her sniffing.

"She will be sore for quite a while, my Queen." The medic said. "Halley," she started in a slow, clear voice. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't respond. She didn't want to respond. Especially not with everyone staring at her. Halley changed the focus of her vision to the IV chord sticking in her arm.

There was a painful silence and Halley felt tears welling in her eyes.

"Let's give her some time to rest," The medic said. Halley was grateful to her when everyone agreed to leave.

The princess sat there for a long time staring blankly ahead. Her mind was empty. She unconsciously prevented the memories from resurfacing. It was after five minutes that her concentration broke and it all came tumbling back. Every single detail was there. Her mind went through the events of that night countless times in only a few moments and just like that, she broke.

Lava spilled down her cheeks and it seemed endless. Halley openly sobbed as she wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to be as small as possible. She wanted to get away from all this.

She was glad no one could hear her quite loud crying, and if they could, she was glad no one came in. She wanted no one.

Halley guessed she cried for about 3 hours as the sun was rising by the time she let up. On top of the emotions raging within her, she was exhausted, yet she couldn't sleep. She just...sat there.

Her doctor came in and saw that there was nothing left of her blanket but charred string. She wordlessly changed it and Halley continued to stare ahead. The doctor checked her, said a few words that Halley didn't listen to, and then left. Shortly after, her parents came in. They asked things like "How are you feeling?" and "Do you need anything?" She could tell that those were the only questions they knew she could handle. Still she said nothing, did nothing but stare ahead.

One parent was always with her from then on. They worked in shifts, trying to take up conversation and trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

Halley didn't want to talk to them. She didn't want them there.

The occasion where neither of her parents were with her was when Phil visited. He approached her timidly. Halley noticed out of the corner of her eye, he was rubbing at his arm.

"Hey, Hal..." He started. Her brother seemed to know that she wasn't going to say anything so he just sat with her, not saying anything. It annoyed her.

The other time her parents weren't present was when Allison visited. That was on he fifth day. Right off the bat, Allison had a completely different air about her when she came in. She seemed...angry. Her friend threw herself into the chair beside her and said nothing for about a minute.

"That doctor said we couldn't talk about what happened. She said for your sake we should ease into it. Bullshit." Allison spat angrily. "It's been five days. You don't even know what's happened."

She had to admit that Allison was right. Aside from the..."horrible thing" she endured, she didn't exactly know what had happened after that.

She heard Allison take a deep breath before starting. In a shaky voice she began, "The reception had started to end and I didn't see you anywhere. Damien said that you had been off with Angel or something. Then Tucker called me. I-I heard something weird, I-I didn't k-know..." Allison sniffed and seemed to pull herself together. "I stuck around for a while and I was about to go look for you when we all heard yelling. I ran to your room and..." She was crying now and didn't try and stop herself, "There was just so much blood a-and, you were on the ground... I got to you and you were barely breathing... " Allison let out a shuddering sob, "They said you barely made it. You needed a blood transfusion...Phil donated. He's been a wreck you know. Halley," Her friend threw her arms around her neck. "I'm so so sorry."

Halley's resolve broke and lava flowed down her cheek. Her expression hadn't changed, however. A part of her had been lost. Gone. Shattered. She could never get that part back. On the outside she could feel nothing, but on the inside, she was a storm of emotions. She told herself that she couldn't break.

Allison pulled back as lava dripped onto her shoulder. She pulled back with a yelp. There was no doubt Halley had burned her with all the lava flowing down her face. Her friend looked at her sadly before using her slime to heal her wound.

She sat at her bedside for about half an hour before she spoke again.

"You're hurting," She said. "I know you must be...if I could use my slime to heal you... Heal you emotionally...you know I would. Right?"

Her tears stopped falling at that, and she somehow felt a little better. Just a little.

...

They released her after about a week. She hadn't spoken at all. Everyone accompanied her on the long walk to her room. She was extraordinarily weak and was even still hooked up to the IV machine. While everyone was making suggestions as to how to get her back to her room, Halley simply slid out of bed, (she was a little stunned by how frail her legs were) grabbed onto her IV machine and dragged it with her as she left the room. They followed behind her, keeping themselves as close as possible in case she stumbled. Halley tuned them out, just focusing on getting to her own bed. Her entourage consisted of, her parents, Phil, Allison, and a couple of nurses. She had realized that neither Tucker or James had visited her. Halley vaguely remembered her vision all those months ago. She shook her head and pushed on.

The party stopped at her door. Allison hesitantly opened the door for her. Halley paused for a moment in her doorway. The entire room just felt...different. She had brand new sheets on her bed. (She liked her old ones better.) A new rug too.

Halley moved herself to her bed and the nurses helped her get situated. They took measurements and told her that they'd be back for the machine later on that day. Her mother put on a very fake smile and began speaking. Everyone awkwardly joined in on the conversation about how much Halley would enjoy her newly furnished room and her new wardrobe. Halley didn't acknowledge them one bit as she turned her face over into the coolness of her pillow. She fell asleep in no time and everyone left except for one who'd always stay behind.

She awoke almost 10 hours later. It was nighttime. The moonlight spilled out over her room. Suddenly she saw shadows, evil shadows trying to grab at her. Shadows with sapphire blue eyes.

She screamed and scrambled out of bed. Her heart was beating out of her chest and panic was taking over. She found herself in the middle of her room screaming and crying bloody murder. She had engulfed herself in flames by means to protect herself. Halley felt him all around her. She couldn't escape him. Hands were on her shoulders pulling her up and she fought and shrieked. He was saying calming words to her, she screamed louder. Looking back, "Angel" had looked a lot like her dad.

After that night, she was a wreck. She was constantly shaking, her gaze darting every which way as if Angel would come out of the shadows and take her. Barely a night went by where she didn't have some horrible hallucination that left her terrified.

One evening after her father comforted her to bed after yet another attack, Halley found herself wandering out of bed again and venturing out to her terrace.

She had danced on that terrace. It seemed like some far away dream now. Somehow, without even thinking she put a hand over a flowerbed. It ignited and Halley watched blankly as it all went up in flames. Somebody was there shortly after to pull her away from the raging fire. Halley wasn't allowed to be left alone for a while after that.

So the princess was confined to her room for weeks. No matter, she could still hear the rumors.

"The princess has lost it." "She's insane!" "Did you hear she tried to burn everyone in the castle alive."

She sat against a wall gazing at a flame she'd created. The curtains were drawn making everything dark and shadowy even though it was quite sunny outside. She hadn't taken care of herself in days. She felt like some hermit.

"Maybe I am insane Glossyrick." She commented in a far away voice. Her mentor had just returned from a two month long retreat. Halley wondered what his thoughts were coming back to such a mess.

"You're not insane." He said quietly. He was meditating, giving her the silence she wanted. She didn't mind his presence.

She snorted dryly, "They all think I am."

Glossyrick opened one eye and watched her playing with her flame, "What they think doesn't matter."

"Mm." Halley hummed. She extinguished the flame and leaned her head back against the wall. "I want it all to go away."

"I know."

"Everything hurts. How do I make it stop?"

The being sighed and turned his attention towards her, "Time, Princess. A lot of time."

She slid down to lie on the cold floor. Halley shut her eyes and tried to empty her mind. It was hard to do so with all the commotion going on downstairs.

"Gloss," She murmured. "What's going on?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea."

Halley pushed herself up and went over to retrieve her wand. She pulled the Book of Spells over towards her and flipped through the book.

"May I ask what you're doing?" Glossyrick floated over to her.

"The All Seeing Eye spell," She responded.

"That's a little extravagant don't you think? Why don't you just go see what's going on?"

For some reason, thinking about leaving her room scared her. The thought made her sick. She pressed on in search of the spell.

"Halley that's one of the forbidden spells, you shouldn't be using it."

She said nothing and memorized the incantation. Halley positioned her wand in front of her and began, "I summon the All-Seeing Eye, to tear a hole into the sky, reveal to me that which is hidden, unveil to me what is forbidden."

Halley felt her cheeks glow and a dark portal opened up before her. Inside she could see her parents in the throne room. They were having a heated argument with...James? She hadn't seen him in weeks. He looked calm despite her parents' disposition.

"James what are you even talking about!?" Her mother yelled. Halley saw that her eyes were red and her face was moist. She looked awful. Halley guiltily supposed it was because of her.

"I'm leaving." James said calmly.

"I don't know what's come over you," Her father said coolly. "But you are not leaving. You will stay here." Halley could tell her father was just as confused and distressed as her mother despite the tone.

"Jamie, honey, you can't..." Her mother's voice cracked and fresh tears streamed down her face. She walked up to her son and cradled his face in her hands. "You can't leave. Please."

There wasn't so much as a sympathetic glance when he responded, "I'm sorry, Mom."

The King practically exploded, "James. You will not be doing anything except going up to your room and staying there. We have too much going on to deal with your nonsense."

James met his father with an even stare, "No."

"'No'!?" He boomed. "I am your father. Your superior and you will listen to me. I am beyond exhausted and your attitude is doing nothing but add on to that, and let me tell you, I am not in the mood. To your room. Now."

James simply blinked and walked off in the direction of his room. Star sank down to the ground and sobbed while Tom stood still, hand covering his eyes.

Halley closed the portal, feeling nauseous. Everything was coming undone. She sat with a terrified expression on her face and Glossyrick helped her to bed.

Later on she sat up in bed looking towards the door. She felt some pull beckoning her outside her bedroom. She slid out of bed and padded to the door.

"Halley?" Glossyrick called. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just stepping out..." She mumbled.

Halley opened the door and stood in the hallway. There was nothing to be seen so Halley walked slowly down the hall, going nowhere in particular. She came down to the intersection when a shadow walked past. She let out a tiny gasp and stopped. Halley looked ahead and was met with a pair of lavender eyes. They held each other's gaze for several moments before he tore his eyes away and continued down the hall.

Halley made her way back to her room and was uninterrupted for the rest of the night.

The next morning, James was gone.

...

She heard that there were search parties for the missing prince. Her mother and father looked less and less like they were able to keep it together. Then they stopped coming for a while, instead sending a nurse to check on her every now and then.

"They're busy trying to find James." Glossyrick tried to tell her.

It's fine, Halley thought bitterly. I didn't want to see them anyway.

Phil came in for the first time in a while. He stood a distance away from her, like always, looking scared. Halley was standing with her arms resting on the sill of a small window. She waited for him to say something, but to her annoyance, he just stood there.

"Are you going to say anything or just stand there?" She snapped.

"I...no. I was... Halley..."

"For Eclipsa's sake just spit it out!" She whipped around and Phil look momentarily stunned. Her voice was hoarse from not using it much in the past few months, and Phil definitely wasn't accustomed to her rough tone. She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

She was so fucking tired of sorries.

"If I had just...I could have...it didn't have to—"

"Go away."

"What?"

"Go away." With all Phil's talk of "what if's" and "if only's", she began to feel dizzy. She needed him gone. Her brother gave her a heartbroken look and left.

That event marked the end of Halley's insanity phase and the start of her rage.

She stood at that small window all day, looking out at the kingdom below. She went back to not speaking, not even to Glossyrick.

Then her parents came one day. Both of them. That was terrible in itself.

"Good morning, honey." Her mother said. She could hear the anguish in her voice. After weeks of searching for James, they'd stopped just yesterday.

"How are you feeling today?"

They paused, even though they knew she wouldn't give them a response.

"Well we just wanted to tell you that... the trial is coming up, and... you're going to have to testify—"

Halley had been digging her nails into her palms the moment they came in, but when her mother mentioned the trial, she had a painful sensation as if someone had tied up her insides and yanked them as hard as they could. She collapsed with a pained grunt. Her parents were immediately coming towards her. She held one arm around her stomach and pushed herself up with the other.

"Don't." She bit out. Her parents didn't seem to hear her. "Stop!" She screamed. They stopped. Halley pulled herself up slowly. "I'm f-fine."

Regardless, her mother was at her side, lightly holding her steady.

Tom hesitantly continued the conversation, "The trial will be next week and we—"

"I don't want the trial."

She didn't have to look at them to see the shock on their faces.

"Halley," Her mother started carefully.

Halley slammed her fist down and a crack formed along the wall, "No. I don't want this fucking trial. I don't ever want to even think about this again."

A part of her regretted what she said, but the other part was seething with unchecked anger. There was another pull inside and Halley clenched the sill, almost making it crumble. She stood glaring at the floor, listening to her parents' footsteps as they left without another word.

That night, she couldn't sleep. The pull was relentless. With each tug, a stronger surge of anger coursed through her veins. Eventually, she got up and made her way over to her balcony. She threw back the curtains and tore down the wooden boards that had been placed.

Glossyrick stirred and Halley's eyes shot over towards the book. When the book stilled, she resumed quietly outside. The moon was full and low in the sky. Halley felt like she could reach out and touch it. Then she remembered the last time she'd seen a moon so beautiful. With Tucker. It had been four months and she hadn't heard anything from him.

Halley almost doubled over as she felt another strong pull. She stumbled over to the edge and planted her hands firmly on the rails, trying to even out her breathing. The princess clenched her eyes shut. She was suddenly aware of the rhythmic tugging, pulling all of her emotions to the surface. She was swaying as she fought them back down, but she was losing the battle.

One final pull had her crying out as she collapsed over the edge of the railing. Her vision was extraordinarily hazy and she felt her emotions take hold.

Her skin turned a bright red and she felt two extra pairs of arms sprout at her sides alongside a pair of dragon's wings. Her hair was swept off her back and twisted upward, turning green. She felt her teeth sharpening into fangs and her tail and horns growing longer. Her pupils disappeared with all three of her eyes becoming a glowing green.

Halley raised herself from the edge and clenched her fists. Flames sprouted from all six and she turned back towards her room. The book was still closed and Halley narrowed her eyes. She lifted one hand and placed a magic green aura around it. Figuring it would keep the book closed, Halley returned to the balcony and inhaled deeply.

The only things coursing through her mind were raging bloodthirsty thoughts and one name in particular.

Angel.

The princess shot into the air and set off at full speed. She remembered this form, at least some variation of it. When she was 14 she had her parents lock her away until her Mewberty passed. This seemed like an upgraded version. Her power had tripled. She'd never want this locked away. All the things she could do, people she could punish...

The pull came back. It wasn't as strong but it was there. Different this time. She shook it off and continued flying.

In no time, she was there. Mellport. She scanned the area with her heightened senses and located his signature from a small castle looking building. She landed on a tower right across from where she could sense him. The tiles crumbled beneath her. Halley crouched and looked into his room.

There was a light on and she could hear movement. He was there. There was no doubt about it. His window was open and Halley narrowed her eyes. She gave her wings a strong beat as to create a strong gust of wind. Sure enough, Angel came up to close it, but stopped short upon looking across at the neighboring towers and being met with a pair of glowing green eyes.

Halley stopped him before he could scream. She swooped into his room and pinned him down on the ground, covering his mouth.

"I'd refrain from screaming if I were you." She hissed venomously.

She slowly removed her hand from his mouth.

"What the fuck are you!?"

Halley huffed and held up a hand, giving off a small flame. Angel blinked and suddenly realization and horror came over his features.

She grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him to his feet. He still towered over her but she knew she had the advantage.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I-I..."

She tightened her grip around his throat, almost smiling as his eyes bulged out of his head. She released him with a shove, standing above him as he sat stunned on the floor.

"If you ask me, you don't deserve to live." She closed her eyes calculating all her power for a moment and just how long she'd draw this out.

"Why?" She asked. "Why did you do it?"

All he did was stare back as he trembled.

Her fists ignited, "Answer me!"

"I d-don't know," He barely whispered.

"Liar!" Her bloodlust increased she raised her right hands and Angel looked around him in a panic as he was lifted into the air. Tears of hot rage literally burned her cheeks and she closed her hands, "You make me sick. Do you know what I've gone through because of you? Do you know how much I've suffered? All because of you and all the other Mewmans are so fucking entitled. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of people like you. Now, you're going to pay." Angel writhed around in agony as her spell took it's toll. She took a step forward increasing the effects of the spell and she caught a glimpse of a mirror. Halley turned to it and instantly dropped Angel on the ground. Her eyes flickered back to normal for a moment before returning to green.

Angel was pale and shaking violently, when she turned to him again. Her sense was coming back to her. She couldn't kill him. What the hell had she been thinking!? Her bloodlust still lingered and she paced trying to decide what to do. Her tail thrashed behind her as two people fought a battle inside of her. She grabbed at her horns and whipped around to face Angel.

"Speak nothing of this."

Angel gave some semblance of a nod. Halley hesitated for a moment before casting a sleeping spell on him. She yanked the unconscious teenager up by his collar and glared at his sleeping face. His jaw was crooked and there were fading purple bruises on his face. Her left hands ignited again and she went to punch him in the face, but stopped herself. She turned her head away and tossed him on his bed. With that she did a sweep of the room to make sure everything was in order and escaped through the window.

That pull was back as she flew through the night. Her form was faltering. Halley lowered herself and another pull made her almost lose control of her flight. She was sent spiraling into some trees. The snow sizzled and melted beneath her. The princess was on all fours (Well, eights) trying to collect herself. Halley clenched the grass and gritted her teeth.

Why was it that she could never do anything?

Halley tore the grass from the ground and let out a frustrated scream. With that, she flopped back into the snow, her wings spread out. She looked up at the sky and saw a building in her peripheral vision.

She recognized this place now. She and Allison's spot behind school. Halley sighed and melted further into the snow. Although well into spring, a strange snowstorm had hit Mewni a month ago and just seemed to have stopped, leaving the land covered in thick white snow.

How was it that everyone else could just go on living when she felt stuck? Not stuck. No, that wasn't the right word... Destroyed was a better one. She was left broken way back 4 months ago and she had to watch as everyone else kept going.

Her eyes darted over to a frost covered plant poking up from under the snow.

A foxglove, she thought. Halley looked past the one and noticed that several more had started to grow.

They were just weeds, she thought bitterly, yet they were able to grow and flourish. She shot up and began to rip them from the ground angrily. After tearing up about a dozen or so, she gazed at the one that was left. Halley narrowed her eyes and crushed the plant with a wave a magic.

For some reason she cried after that. She curled up into a ball and sobbed for a reason she couldn't even begin to place. In the snow, she thought of the kids from the kingdom she met months ago. Hope, specifically. She wondered if she'd be scared of her, the princess she had admired so much.

Probably, something whispered in the back of her mind.

In a clear puddle of water, Halley looked at her reflection. Her eyes were a menacing green color and even her cheek marks had even changed from their normal fuchsia to that same piercing green. She brought a hand up to touch them. She looked like...a monster. If she scared people before, it was almost hilarious to think of what they'd think of her now.

In that moment, sitting in the muddy slush she had created, Halley never felt more alone. She crouched there for a while before a thought strung through her mind.

Halley pulled herself from the ground, not even bothering to wipe off the ice stuck in her clothes as her hair. Her green eyes started to glow and raising all of her hands towards the sky, a staircase appeared heading downwards. She flapped her wings and glided down into the entrance. Inside, there was a large open space. She knew this place well. She flew down a hallway and past a few rooms then finally into a large cave.

In the room sat one humongous throne and next to it was a much smaller one. Halley was happy to see her there gazing out at the Underworld. At the sound of beating wings, her grandmother turned around. Her eyes widened.

Halley?

"Hi Grandma Mellie." She could only manage a small smile.

You look...different.

Halley neared the Queen, "Yeah. You like it?"

Grandma Mellie held out a finger and Halley perched on it.

Of course I do. It's you.

The princess could only hold her semi-cheery disposition for so long. She looked away from her grandmother with a frown.

How...How have you been holding up, love?

Halley sniffed, knowing the tears were coming well before they began. She brought her hands up to cover her face as the tears flowed freely. She shook miserably.

Grandma Mellie brought her to her shoulder and Halley gratefully cried on it.

Yes I know. Let it out, let it out.

"I-It's been so awful, Grandma," she hiccuped. "And hard. I c-can't ever stop th-thinking about it. It hurts so much."

I know, I know, you poor thing.

"I can't even t-talk to anyone back home. I just feel so lost a-and broken and I h-hate myself for not being able t-to be there for them. Especially after James but I j-just can't." Another burst of magma streamed down her grandmother's shoulder.

Halley, for one thing, I'm proud you came to talk to me. I'm proud that you can tell me you're feeling this way, but sweetheart listen. What happened to you was despicable and repulsive and downright terrible and trust me I was beyond enraged when I heard. We all were. You have every right to take the time you need to recover. On your own time. Not anyone else's. None of this was your fault Halley.

"But I feel like it was," She mumbled.

Never say that. It was all that cretan's doing. Why he hasn't been publicly ripped limb from limb is beyond me... Perhaps they'll sentence it at the trial.

"There won't be a trial."

What!? And just why not? Did those vile people weasel their way out of it? Oh just you wait till I get up there—

"No Grandma. It was me. I called off the trial."

Grandma Mellie pulled Halley back to look her in the eye.

Halley why on Mewni would you do that? He has to be punished!

"I can't see him again. Ever. I don't trust myself to be around him."

What do you mean?

"I almost killed him tonight," She blurted out. "I couldn't do it this time, but what about next time? At first, emotionally, I didn't think I could handle him but now...now I'm afraid that I'll do what all those Mewmans are waiting for me to do. Just thinking about him turned me into this bloodthirsty...thing. I can't go through with it."

Halley...

Her grandmother looked almost heartbroken. Halley couldn't bear to look at her.

Love, I know you don't want to hear me say this, but you need closure. Your form now is due to some pent up emotions that won't be released if you don't finish this once and for all. We're all going to be there. For you. We'll get you through this okay? I promise we will.

Halley was terrified, of course, but her grandmother's words gave her a some sense of trust. She had to trust that it would be okay.

"Alright," Halley nodded.

Your bravery knows no bounds, love.

She gave her a tired smile. Her grandmother would always be the greatest.

Suddenly she felt her wings shrinking and strands of her previously gravity defying hair were falling into her face. The green glow of her eyes were flickering.

"I think I've gotta go now," Halley jumped into the air.

Right. You go and I'll see you in a few days. I love you.

"Love you too, Grandma." With that Halley exited the way she came and was able to make it back out into the snow before her form dissolved completely.

The princess sat up in the snow and looked down at her hands. They'd returned to their normal shade, but she could still feel the power buzzing inside of them slowly fading away. Halley let out a deep breath, watching it billow in the cold. She had the strength to do this. She had to have the strength to end this. If Grandma Mellie believed in her, then there was no doubt that she could. She let out another breath before rising and making the trek back home.

...