Notes: Hey guys, sorry for the late update, end of the semester is getting crazy. Thanks for your patience, and enjoy

Kai POV

As I sing the smuggler brings his wand up to his head, a blank look in his eyes and a blissful smile in his face. Distantly I hear someone shout my name, but I don't acknowledge them.

The smuggler's wand touches his temple, and he murmurs one of the few spells I know.

"Obliviate." There is a small burst of white light and the man collapses.

I don't stop singing, but I do pause to admire my work before moving on to the next wizard.

"Kai, stop!" Reluctantly, I turn towards the voice and see Newt watching me with horror. Why is he giving me that look? I'm doing this to save him. Does he not see that I'm saving all of us? They can't hurt me, or any other creature again. I glare at him, and he flinches.

I stop singing for a moment, and Newt slumps in relief. His voice is thin and his eyes are glassy as he tries to shake off the enchantment enough to talk to me.

"Kai don't do this. Please, please, if you do this you can't undo it. Please. Don't become a monster." He pleads, and I tilt my head.

Monster!? I am not the monster here, they are. These wizards… they're the ones torturing innocent creatures. How can he defend them? How can he place these cruel wizard's safety above the safety of the beasts he claims to love?

"Kai. You don't need to hurt them. Just put them to sleep and we'll collect the creatures and get out of here. Okay?" Newt asks desperately.

"And let them go free? So they can capture more beasts and hurt them? No. I won't let that happen." I growl, and open my mouth to sing again.

"KAI PLEASE!" Newt screams, clutching the bars of his cage tightly, tears streaking down his face. "This isn't you! Kai, you would never hurt anyone, I know you wouldn't! This isn't you, you're a good person, Kai!" He insists.

I give him a cold smile.

"That's where you're wrong, Newt. I'm not a person. I'm a siren."

I turn away from Newt, back to the other wizards who are just coming out of their dazes, and I hum a low melody. Simultaneously, the smugglers pull out their wands and hold them up to their heads.

"Obliviate." The spell rises through the air, as it is cast dozens of times. There's flashes of white light, and then there's intense pain and the world goes dark.

When I wake up I'm no longer at the warehouse. I'm strapped to a chair, gagged, and sitting in what seems to be the backroom of Alexios' shop. What happened? Where's Newt, and why am I tied to this chair? I look up and see Clarisse sitting at a corner table flipping through some old books.

"Mmm!" I try talking to her, but I can't because of the gag. Why am I even gagged? Clarisse looks at me, and stands up.

"Finally awake I see." She says, watching me with distrust. I frown and try to look at around. Where is Newt?

Clarisse must notice, because she gestures to the door.

"Newt is taking care of the creatures. The thunderbird is causing a bit of a trouble. I will go get him," She walks out of the door, and I am left alone.

I don't understand, why am I being treated like this? I thought they liked me. Why would Newt let them treat me like this?

A few minutes later Alexios opens the door and steps into the room. I sit up straighter and try to catch his eye to figure out what's going on, but he keeps his gaze firmly on the ground as he takes Clarisse's now unoccupied seat.

"Mmph! Mwm!" I try to talk around the cloth in my mouth. What is going on?

"Why did you do it Kai?" He asks suddenly, looking up to glare at me. I go still, trying to think what he might be talking about.

The warehouse. We were at the warehouse saving the creatures. Slowly, the memories come back, hazy and unfocused, with an almost dreamlike quality. The gag in my mouth suddenly makes much more sense.

"Newt doesn't want to talk to you right now." He tells me, in his usual matter-of-fact way. I start making more muffled sounds, and Alexios walks over to tug away the gag.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry! Please, let me talk to Newt, I—"

"Stop. Newt doesn't want to talk to you, and frankly, I don't blame him. What you did was cruel, and unnecessary."

"Alexios, you don't understand. When I was—When I was singing… it's hard to control yourself. It's seductive, not just to the people listening. Having that much power at your disposal… It makes it hard to think." I explain desperately. He studies me with a detached coldness.

"I know exactly what that's like, Kai. You think you're special? You're not. You forget, we're wizards, we have unlimited power at our fingertips. Of course we're tempted by it, we just make the decision not to succumb to it. That's the difference between good wizards and dark wizards." He says bluntly.

"But I'm a siren. I'm a monster, Alexios. I don't have a choice." I mutter bitterly.

"Shut up!" Alexios snaps, whirling away from me. "Everyone has a choice! You're a rational, sentient being, are you not? You have thoughts and feelings, and strengths and weaknesses! So, you have a weakness for power, so what?! So do wizards, hell, so do muggles! Don't use that "inherent evil" nonsense on me, Kai. Of course you have a choice!" He spits, pacing back and forth agitatedly as he speaks.

I grit my teeth and instinctive anger rises in my throat in response to his accusations.

"No, I don't! I remember, Alexios! I remember from before, before I met Newt, before I was captured! Only bits and pieces, but when I started singing again I remembered what it was like before! I remember the high that comes from tearing down ships, from controlling people, from taking what I want and leaving destruction behind! How can I come back from that?! How can I come back from what I just did? I made my choice long ago." I say, and I don't realize I'm crying until I taste the salt of tears on my lips.

Alexios stands halfway across the room, watching me with something akin to pity.

"It's never too late to change, Kai. You can still choose not to be a monster. You can choose to be human." He says softly, and slips out the door, leaving me alone once more.

By the time someone comes back, my neck aches and my hands have lost their circulation. When the door opens, I'm expecting it to be Alexios again, but to my surprise it's Newt.

I stare at him in silence as he walks over to me. He stops and stands a few feet away, his gaze firmly fixed on the ground. Hesitantly, I open my mouth to speak, but Newt holds up a hand and I remain quiet.

"I'm doing the talking." He says, and I nod in acceptance. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Kai. I'm sorry I put you in such a dangerous position, I'm sorry you were put in another cage, even though I promised it would never happen to you again. I'm sorry. But Kai…I don't trust you."

He says it quietly, almost like he wants to soften the blow, but even so, I barely keep from flinching at his words.

"I trust you not to hurt me. Even when you were… controlling everyone else, you didn't try to control me. I trust you not to hurt my creatures, I know you love them. But I don't trust you around anyone else." He tells me, his voice strangely empty.

I want so desperately to apologize, to beg his forgiveness, but he told me not to speak, and I doubt he would want to hear it anyway.

"We're going to America." He says abruptly, and I look up at him in bewilderment, completely thrown by the change in subject. "Technically, we're going to New York, but then we'll go to Arizona to drop off the Thunderbird. After that, I'll take you to Hawaii. Sorry you'll have to wait, but the Thunderbird needs to get home as soon as possible. Don't worry though, it should only take a few months." Newt explains, and my heart grows colder and colder as he talks.

That's it then. After we take the thunderbird home, he's done with me. He no longer wants a monster like me. I've messed it all up, and there is nothing I can do. I look down at my lap, and let my tears fall silently. I thought he truly cared for me, but I guess he cared for the creature not the monster.

"I'm sorry to do this Kai." He says, much quieter this time. "I'm sorry this happened, that I put you in such a difficult position, and I'm sorry I can't trust you anymore. I want to forgive you and believe you won't do that again, I just—I can't stop replaying it over and over in my head. I begged you to stop and you didn't. Why?" He looks at me this time, his eyes deep blue and full of hurt.

I think back to when he first found me. He was gentle and kind, and his blue eyes were warm and understanding, and I wonder how we got to this point. How did I mess up so incredibly that now he's watching me with suspicion and fear? How could I have done that to him?

"Newt… I'm sorry. I really, truly am. I just… lost touch with who I was. Who I want to be. I'm sorry I did that. I know I hurt you, and I know I can't change what I did, but I can promise I won't do it again. I don't expect you to believe me, but I promise, and I'll spend an eternity proving it to you, if that's what it takes." I whisper, and I mean it; from the depths of my soul, I know I will keep that promise, if only to see Newt smile at me with the warmth and kindness that he once did.

Newt's POV

How did everything go from good to bad so quickly? One minute we were saving creatures, holding hands and being happy, and the next we were here. Me, standing over Kai, telling her I don't trust her anymore, and her, tied to a chair, making promises I can no longer believe.

I want to. I want so desperately to believe that the Kai I know is still here, that she hasn't been consumed by a lust for power, but all I see when I look at her now is the cruel, calculated look in her eyes as she ruthlessly tears people's memories from their minds.

I want to believe her, but I can't suffer through that again. So, I distance myself. I try to avoid looking at her, to avoid showing any kind of hurt or sympathy towards her. I should never have let her get so close, it's just better to stick to my creatures, who can't talk and make things complicated.

"Right." I murmur in response to her empty promises, and step away. "We're leaving in a few hours, I just have to pack up the creatures and make sure the Thunderbird will be alright."

Kai nods, her lovely gray eyes looking bloodshot and watery, and it makes my chest ache. Then I remember what they looked like when she sang, vicious and black as the sea in a raging storm, and I push aside the feeling.

I walk to the door to leave, before pausing against my better judgment to look back at her.

"Kai…" I start, and she glances up at me. "I'm holding you to that promise." I say, and exit quickly, too scared to stay and watch the spark of hope light up in her eyes.