Author's Note: Thanks a lot, all you reviewers. xxxMusarockz, Neon Night Light and jfreak13, as well as those anonymous Guests. Also, all you guys that favorited and followed and commented. On with the real stuff. Thanks for reading. Hopefully, this will be the third last chapter. I can never tell, though.

He shrank away instinctively when Layla came into the light.

Her features were clouded in darkness; the pale, yellow bulb creating shadows across her face, making her dark ringlets appear to have a life of their own. Her eyes were not angry. They were sad.

"It was I that put those photos in Musa's way," he admitted, voice choked with emotion. He was not sure what to feel at the moment. Fear? Guilt? Frustration? Anger? He did not feel any of these things, or perhaps he was feeling a combination of them, so he couldn't pin down one clearly.

Layla nodded. "Oh," she replied. Her voice was flat.

"Why are you here?" He tried to fight the panic that surfaced with his words.

Layla sighed and settled down on the cobblestone floors next to the cell. Just an inch away from where he could lean over and touch her. Just in case.

"I am here to hear your side," she answered, evenly. Jared was surprised.

"Why?"The words burst from his lips.

"Because I feel partially responsible, as I was the one who called you for the wedding—"

"What about breaking my heart, or does that not count?" His tone was bitter. Layla sighed. She had decided, on her walk down the stairs, as to how she would approach this. She didn't really need to be talking to Jared, he would be executed, anyway. But she was trying to prevent that. Why? Because Nabu would have not liked that. He always felt Capital punishment was too harsh a judgement for any crime. It had been the first amendment he would make to the laws when they had come back from their honeymoon. Tears began to form in her eyes as she remembered Nabu. She added the fact that Jared was Musa's best friend to the list, and also added the cause of the Curse of the mermaid. It had been coming to her as soon as Jared had admitted his involvement with the photos. Because Jared had been the one, albeit inherently, who had clearly showed Layla that she loved Nabu and Nabu loved her. This finally had shifted the perfect balance between duty and love between them. And the Curse had taken its prisoner, Nabu.

She had decided to leave Alberta out of the conversation, too. She was not sure who else she had told, but if she was smart, the numbers wouldn't be more than a two or three, if anyone at all.

"I'm really sorry about that," she said, cautiously. She would have to be careful. She didn't want to give away the fact that she was lying.

"You don't know how it feels, do you?" he asked her. She regarded him questioningly. "To lose someone you love."

She narrowed her eyes.

he understood her meaning and held up his hand, "Until now, I mean," he finished, quickly. "I just had to let you know how that felt."

She gritted her teeth, the long buried anger rising up inside her. "by killing him?" she snapped.

"I did try other methods, like the photos, you know," he continued. He seemed to like the feeling of finally confessing all his secrets.

Layla growled angrily. "I wish I could tie you to a tree and whip you senseless."

He looked up at her, innocent surprise in his eyes. "Well, why don't you?" he asked her. "After all, you are the princess. What you say is practically the law."

"Nabu wouldn't have liked it. He hated violence."

"Nabu," he snorted, "He really loved you, and did you know? I even tried my best to get him to postpone the wedding."

She gasped. "What did you say?"

"Relax, I just asked him if it wasn't too early, and he just gave me this straight look and said 'no' without any hesitation."

Her lips began to tremble. She had fought the few silent tears till now, but the sobs threatened to come out. So Nabu, unlike her, had no perceptible doubts. It was just me, wondering, unsure, fickle. And that's why he's dead. She knew she was being daft. The reason for Nabu being dead was not her, but this idiot. She had invited him for muse…but he had ended up thinking she was someone else because of Sky's cousin. What a tangled web. Musa, Jared, Sky, Nabu, Alberta and her. Add in the Curse of the Mermaid, Sammeria, and things got down right supernatural. Of course, our very bodies are bloody supernatural. Layla groaned, as she remembered the wording of the curse the ancient Mermaid had put on the royal family of Tides, ""You will never be able to pick a suitable partner, never again marry for love. If you do, the marriage will be sure to end, one way or the other."And that's what had happened. Her husband was dead, and it was because she decided she loved him, really loved him. She was sure she would have gone against her father, mother, even the whole of Tides to be with him. The balance between duty and love had tipped, with love winning. And that was what had killed Nabu. How bloody ironic.

Jared was looking at her as she closed her eyes in frustration, gritting her teeth and pulling at her hair. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked, softly. Even gently.

And that was when she realized that there was another thing she had neglected to add to this messy, ludicrous web of simply nonsensical events and people and things. They were coming down the stairs, their voices muted with passion, the kind that comes when your mouth is sore from doing other things. She felt sick as the horrible fact registered itself.

Because she had left out the revelation of all revelations. That Riven was her brother, and therefore, a member of the Tides' royal family. And he and Musa were definitely not thinking of duty when they had gotten together.

They arrived to find Layla holding her head. Riven rushed over to her, while Musa rushed over to Jared. Jared's sholders immediately straightened as he recognized her. He reached a hand out to touch her, and Musa grabbed it. But she did not squeeze. She did not shake. She twisted. Jared screamed as she let go just in time, before she broke something.

"You filthy bastard!" she yelled at him, her voice filling the entire prison. There was nobody else there. All criminals usually resided in the Omega dimention, but Jared hadn't really been tried, yet. "How dare you!"

His face twisted into a pained grin. "Ow, that hurt," he grumbled, a look of mocking resentment on his face. "Is that how you greet a friend on his last day alive?"

"We are not going to execute you," Layla mumbled, softly. Riven had taken hold of Layla's hands. He's not the brotherly type, but nonetheless, a start, Musa thought, as she noticed. She was glad she knew, now. Or else she could almost feel a temper tantrum rising.

Jared looked at the other two, surprised. "Oh?" was all he could manage to say, before he modulated his voice to hide the emotion he was feeling. "Get away from my girlfriend, lover boy."

Riven's eyes bulged as he stood up swiftly and made his way, in one quick motion, towards Jared. For once, the prisoner was glad of the bars, because it meant that Riven couldn't get him.

"She's not the one responsible for—"he began.

"Ow! I-I think I broke my finger," Layla interjected, butting in. when Riven turned around in surprise, she summoned him with a long, graceful finger. Maybe it was that blood was thicker than water. Maybe it was just the fact that Riven knew Layla better than he had thought. Perhaps, it was that Musa had told him something more about Layla than he had realized; but he understood exactly what Layla meant. Don't tell him about Alberta. He thinks I am Alberta, and I want it to stay that way. We need to talk. All this was conveyed with one, slim brown finger. And a glance that said 'shut up' better than if she had yelled it out like his girlfriend.

Riven had always been a fast thinker. He made a quick bee-line towards Musa, and gave her a raw kiss. He grabbed her ass equally roughly. She gave a startled yelp, as he knew she would. "No Snow globes," he mumbled into her hair. Her yelp would cover any hint of a pretence. He knew she would understand.

"I think I need to get you upstairs," he declared to Layla then, moving up to her. She nodded and led the way up. Riven, however, was mistaken. Jared noticed immediately.

"Something's wrong," he announced to Musa, who turned to him, a look of mixed emotions filling her.

"You mean, you think they are having an affair?" she asked Jared, her voice trying to sound timid and innocent.

Jared grinned and shook his head. "No, Musa, that's not it, the guy is obviously crazy about you." He waited for a second. "You know, it was me, who put those photos in the Ladies Room."

Musa gasped. She hadn't put the events together; Nabu's death had glossed over everything else that had happened that day. "It was…" Jared nodded. "I shot them, too."

She wasn't sure how to react, of course. Nabu's death hadn't really sunk in, though she had seen it in the tears of Layla, the stooping of Riven's shoulders, the sigh of Bloom. But the most embarrassing moment of her life…it had been Jared's fault. She knew it was selfish, but she was really angry, then.

"You…you…" She tried to say it.

He nodded sadly, "it was me, I'm sorry."

"I wish they kill you," she said, flatly. "I hope they make you bleed."

Before she could fathom what was happening, Jared had burst into tears. Now, she had been doing it all day, but she didn't know how to handle other people when they cried. Plus the bars made it impossible to do any comforting but for words. She would run away. That's right. Jared didn't deserve to live, anyway, he had killed Nabu. The kindest, nicest, gentlest creature alive. And she had thought of Jared as being all of those things. Well, she had been wrong. She critically took in his slumped shoulders, his defeated expression and sad eyes. He was broken.

"Why did you do it?" she asked him sharply. Because she knew she had wanted to ask the question. It was the reason she hadn't lleft with Layla and riven, because, let's be honest, who wants to be alone with a murderer? Someone who wants to ask him a question. A question you don't want to ask in front of anyone else. And Riven, her Riven, knew that. And that's why he had run off with Layla. Well, partially, anyway. She didn't know why Layla had chosen to so obviously break a finger at such a convenient time. Not even a nail, but a whole finger. What a bad actor.

Jared was regarding her with a queer expression. "Hasn't Layla told you about being the love of my life?" he asked, unhappily. "No snow globes", Riven had said. That meant don't tell them about Alberta. Alberta. She turned the name angrily around in her mind. Why did Riven care about the tramp, anyway?

"Yes," she said, finally. "She has. But why kill him?"

"I don't know what came over me," he admitted. "I saw a knife. Thought I'd give them a scare, but I knew I actually wanted him dead before I even saw the knife. I just- I just- don't know," he finished, lamely.

Musa tried to say something, but he went on. "I-I just feel so alone. Like nobody cares about me. I don't have anything those girls like in me. I don't have anything special. It's been one breakup after another, usually with just one or two dates. Layla has been the longest-running girlfriend, ever since, ever since…you." He finished the last word hesitantly.

Musa shifted her eyes guiltily. "But you killed-"

"I know," Jared said, shakily. "I know I did. But I only did it because I really, really loved her. "

Her sceptical glare sent him over the edge. "You have never been there, Muse. You've always had something to lose. Your kingdom, your dad, your boyfriend. Me, I had nothing. Don't you realize that when I killed Nabu, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into? I would do it again, in a heartbeat—"

"Enough!" she clapped her hands over her ears. "Stop! Don't you realize that if you love someone, you have to be happy if they are happy, no matter what?"

Jared was laughing hysterically then. He was sitting down, his vibrating face held between his trembling hands.

"Where do you pick up such bullshit, Muse?" he chuckled. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Love is selfish. Period."

And though the angst romantic rebelled inside her, she realized he was right. It was the reason her blood boiled in her veins when she saw Riven and Alberta together, in any capacity. She knew he loved her and all, but when he showed anyone other than herself affection, she couldn't stand it. Even Layla. And in that moment, she didn't want Jared to be executed. Because she knew she might do the same thing if she had been Jared and Layla was Alberta. And that was the worst part of it all. Because who Jared thought was Layla, was in fact Alberta. And she couldn't tell him because Riven had decided to protect her.