A/N: Happy U.S. Independence Day! I would like to thank my reviewers: starrscar19, scarletanna, TPATFan16, chloemcg, and Chipmunks Are My Thang. I would also like to thank my readers. I honestly hate this chapter, it was very hard to write, but I hope you guys enjoy it. If not, that's fine too.

Questions & Comments:

Chipmunks Are My Thang: No. Mama Odie tried, but it can't be done (at least in my story). Since she was born with it and it's not a spell, it can't be fixed by voodoo magic. And no, Ray and James aren't affected by the same thing. They were conceived when Tiana and Naveen were human, so it wasn't a problem.

chloemcg: You're right, it is the second. But I'll get into that later.

TPATFan16: Don't worry. Their relationship isn't going to be like that for much longer.

Disclaimer: Disney owns all Princess and the Frog characters.

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Where Loyalty Truly Lies- Chapter 2: Confusion

As the sun was setting, Mae gathered up her working materials and headed home.

Mae was a hard-working woman who thought of nothing but her 16 year-old son, Samuel, and how to provide for him. Since the day she found out she was pregnant, she had done everything in her power to protect her baby from unwanted attention.

His father was never in the picture. He was an evil man, and she was glad that he was never in her son's life.

However, she couldn't help but feel grateful to him for giving her something so pure and innocent.

"Mae!"

Mae turned and saw it was her good friend Nellie shouting through her open window.

"Sam's gotten into trouble again." Nellie yelled.

Well, almost innocent.

"What did he do this time?" Mae asked, although she already knew.

"Pick-pocketing. He almost succeeded this time."

Mae sighed.

Lately, Mae could see that Sam's knack for troublemaking expanding. It wasn't just pick-pocketing; he did all kinds of things. That was what worried her. She refused to let Sam be any more like his father, or like her past self for that matter.

She gotten to her poorly built house a little while later and started on dinner. About 30 minutes later, she heard the door shut with quiet precision.

"I don't know where you think you're going." She heard a loud sigh, and turned to see Samuel walking towards her.

"Sammy, I don't why you keep doing this. This is the sixth time this month. Mark my words, someone isn't going to care that you're only a teenager, and you'll end up dead."

"Mom, don't worry. I'm sure Nellie told you, I barely got caught. I swear to you, next time, I'm not going to get caught."

"That's not the point! Pick-pocketing is wrong. If you really want money, get a job. You see paper boys a lot younger than you. They're getting money the right way, and they don't have the possibility of dying."

She sighed before continuing. "I just don't want to see my pride and joy in a bad situation. It breaks my heart that you keep going behind my back to do the very same thing we talk about you not doing."

"Mom, I'm not going to die. I don't know where you get this from."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"Not today." She cupped her son's cheek. "I love you. Don't ever forget that."

He reached up and grabbed her hand. "I love you too, Mom."

She smiled. "Good. Now get washed up for dinner."

V+-+V

"'You wouldn't understand.' What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked himself as he washed his hands.

Lately, he had noticed his mom becoming more anxious every day. But she didn't want to tell him why.

Not only that, but his mom seemed unwilling to share anything about her past with him.

Sometimes when he would ask, he could visibly see her warring with herself, so it was good to know that some of her defenses were tearing down. If he kept asking, he would know a little by next week.

He smiled at the thought, but a frown came to settle on his face when he thought about the previous discussion.

It's not that he wanted money for himself. His mom pushed herself way to hard when it came to work. He just wanted a little extra money for her, so she wouldn't have to work as hard.

Sure, he could easily find a job, but pick-pocketing was just way too much fun. He had been doing this for years, and he was just now starting to get better targets.

Today, for instance, one of the owners of that restaurant, Tiana's Palace. The man, Naveen, was a prince and he had a lot of money to spare.

To be honest, Sam had been watching this guy for a while now, and today he seemed distracted.

What better time to strike than that?

However, Sam had been careless and got caught. He probably would have to give up on the prince, but there were better targets, like the La Bouffs and the Breauxs (A/N: Charlotte's in-laws).

He smiled.

"Tomorrow." he said. "Tomorrow, I'll do it."

With that, he decided to ignore his mother's advice once again.

V+-+V

The next day Mae had finished her work early and went to Nellie's house.

"I guess it's time." Mae said to Nellie.

"You should have done this years ago. It's only natural for a child to want to know about his parents."

Mae thought about the conversation she had with her son last night.

"I suppose you're right. I mean the more he knows, the less likely he is to repeat the same mistakes." Mae said.

Nellie nodded.

"I agree. However, are you sure that he won't get into this? I mean, you did."

"Regardless, he can't get into what his father, you, and I have. Look where it got us. Without these necklaces, we fear for our lives."

Mae and Nellie instinctively grabbed at their necklaces.

Mae took hers off and studied it. She had no doubt that the necklaces had protected them for all these years. ***

"If you see him, can you give it to him?" Mae put her necklace in Nellie's hands.

"Mae, you can't be serious. You'll die."

"Yes, but it's either him or me, and you know that I would gladly give my life for my son's."

The two women tearily embraced and Mae went home.

V+-+V

"I actually did it!" Sam yelled while running home.

The infamous Mr. Eli La Bouff didn't know hit him.

Passing by Nellie's house, he had heard his name.

"Nellie, I finally-" Sam cut off his sentence when he seen Nellie's eyes, which were red from crying. "What's wrong?"

"Family stuff." Nellie said dismissively. "But listen, Mae wanted me to give this to you."

Sam looked at the necklace in his hands.

"Okay, why couldn't she give it to me herself? Where is she?"

Before Nellie could answer, Sam heard an earth-shattering sound in the direction of his house. Both Nellie and Sam looked and saw multi-colored lights above where Mae and Sam lived.

They both ran to the site. The house looked as if nothing had happened but Nellie knew better.

"Don't go in there Sam, Mae's gone."

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened."

"Mae's dead, Samuel. I wouldn't lie to you about this. Come with me, I'll explain everything."

With raised awareness, she grabbed Sam's arm.

"Come on, we're not safe here."

Sam didn't resist as Nellie pulled him to her house, but he couldn't stop looking in the direction of his own. Now, he was deathly confused.

Nellie shut the door and locked it tight when they got to her house. She also looked out of the window before shutting the curtains.

Nellie turned to see Sam staring at the talisman of his mother's necklace.

"There used to be three of us, you know." Nellie said to Sam, gesturing to the necklace.

"I know I should tell you, but for now it might be safer if you were kept in the dark. I can tell you this though: Beware the shadows. Keep the necklace with you at all times; it'll keep you safe. Um, you can stay here for as long as you need to." she patted his shoulder.

"Good night Samuel and I'm sorry. She loved you, she always will."

Nellie left him alone in the living room.

V+-+V

Sam went for a walk, still confused.

His mom was…dead? Beware the shadows? The necklace will keep me safe? What did this mean?

He had no idea that things would go from so right to so wrong in a matter of hours.

He took the money out of his pocket, and threw it into the street; all of it was useless now.

He felt sick. He couldn't believe that his mom, his greatest supporter, was gone. He had no one now.

With that last thought, the tears came. It took all the willpower he had to stop crying. His mom wouldn't want him to be sad.

He continued walking, and stumbled across something unbelievable.

V+-+V

A huge mask appeared in the center of a dark room. Smaller masks and shadows followed suit.

"Another is dead. There is only one more. When the last dies and the sacrifice is made, we will finally be able to take control. We're almost there."

With that, everything disappeared and the room was cast into darkness once again.

V+-+V

A/N: I hate writer's block. I really don't know why this chapter was so hard to write. I understand if you guys don't want to review. Hopefully, this will be the worst chapter of the story. I'll put up the next chapter of the story whether I get reviews or not, but reviews would be appreciated.

***-The necklace's talisman is the Saturn Seal of Protection. It protects against hexing, curses, bad fortune and black magic.