The last of the storm drifted away as the noon-day sun sparkled across the treetops, lighting the Haven in a glow of gold and silver and waking Tink from her uneasy slumber.

Or, more accurately, the unexpected rattle of something outside was what awoke her, though she wanted to believe it was the sudden silence that befell the woods. "Urgh," she groaned, turning over and pulling up her blanket to go back to sleep. "Terrence, we've talked about this. No waking me up before eight, would you? Go find something less destructive to do until I get up."

"Uh...Tink?" Terrence spoke, his voice so close that Tink nearly leaped out of her skin. She shot up like she'd been electrocuted, finding him glancing up from his own dazed, state of comatose from the position in the corner that he had so dutifully taken up when the others had left the day before. "That...wasn't me."

Suddenly, they were both wide awake.

"But..." Tink began slowly, heaving herself up and grabbing her shoes as she continued to think aloud. "If that wasn't you, then..."

"Tink," Terrence hissed, grabbing one of Scarab's needle-point swords and moving quickly to the door, ushering her behind him. "I think there's someone in the Haven!"

"Yes, well, don't stab them!" Tink exclaimed, rushing up behind him to take the blade away from him before he could take out an eye. "It's probably just our friends! Scarab said they wouldn't have any trouble finding the bracelets!"

"Even so, you'd think they would give us some kind of warning before they just come barging in," he complained, even as Tink lowered the sword and Terrence heaved the door open. Both winced at the bright sunlight as it bore down heavily on them, but they pushed through, scanning the opposing garden for familiar faces.

No one was there.

"Uh..." Terrence said slowly. "Hello?" When he got no reply, he cautiously reached behind him. "Tink," he hissed. "Give me the sword."

"Okay, but why?" the blond asked, doing as he asked and peering around the doorframe with a frown. "Who's out there?"

"Someone whom you would do well not to point a weapon at," came a soft voice from right behind them. Both jumped and spun around, Terrence already brandishing the sword protectively in front of them, to find an unfamiliar girl gazing back at them. Her hair, black with a single streak of gray, was pulled back in a messy attempt at a braid. It matched her eyes as she stared on, unphased by the sparrowman's actions. "Not unless you are intendingto use it, son, and quite frankly, despite how much you want to pretend to be the hero here, you don't have it in you." She smiled weakly. "So, why don't you put it away before I have to make you?"

Terrence faltered, shifting his weight, holding his hand steady but breaking his fierce staring competition. "Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here?"

She snorted, rolling her eyes and snapping her fingers. Instantly, the vines encompassing the thatched rooftops of the cottage sprang to life, launching themselves down on the two blonds, latching onto Terrence's weapon and his wrist, yanking the two apart and sending the blade clattering to the ground.

Terrence yelled out, but before he could even move to fight back, the girl waved the vines away with another flick of her wrist and the plants recoiled once more to their proper locations.

"Now," the girl said, appearing weary the longer she stood there, "does that answer your question, dust-keeper?"

"Yeah," Terrence wheezed, grasping his wrist with his good hand and stumbling back beside Tink. "Yeah, I'm good."

Tink continued to stare at her, the pieces of the puzzle sliding into place; the quiet demeanor, the discomfort she could sense radiating off of her, the way she'd so effortlessly controlled the plants despite her blatant brown and black attire-the tell-tale sign of Scout-talent. "You're Asha!" she gasped, receiving a confused frown from the girl in question. "I...I recognize you!"

"I'm...sorry," Asha replied, looking her up and down. "I don't think we've met...?"

"You're the one Scorpion was in love with!" Tink rattled on, not noticing Terrence's confusion or the way Asha flinched at the mention of her lover. "The one from the book!"

"The old Protector?" Terrence guessed and Asha threw him an unimpressed glance for his choice of phrasing. "The one before Queen Clarion?"

"Yes," Tink answered for them both. "But...Asha, what are you doing here? I thought you were out proving the existence of humans living here in Neverland! Did you find them?"

"Oh, I found them," Asha replied, pushing her way past them and resting against the hut, her breaths rapid and cut, as though she had just been flying from a long journey and hadn't even thought to stop and rest at any point in her quest. "But then I felt the shift in the balance; the darkness and the light. As a trained Protector, I can sense things like that."

"And...what did you see?" Terrence asked carefully.

"The light is fading," Asha answered. "It's being consumed by anger, fear, and bitterness. I came back in the hopes of finding the cause of the sudden shift and stopping the rapid decline before it sends all of Neverland into a tailspin."

Tink's hands flew to her mouth and she gasped as she twisted to face Terrence. "It's Bobble," she breathed fearfully. "Something's happened to him! Terrence, we have to go and find him right now!"

Asha frowned. "Wait...who?"

They both ignored her, the dust-talent scooping Tink's hands into his own and leaning in close. "Now, wait, let's not jump to conclusions," he urged. "I'm sure Bobble's just fine. He's with Scarab. She'll protect him. That's why they were going to find the bracelets in the first place! There has to be another reason for Asha's visit, right?" he glanced up meaningfully, but the scout-talent wasn't playing along.

"Wait, did you say they were going after the bracelets?!" she cried, heaving herself back up, wings standing straight up as fear lit her eyes. She lunged for the sword Terrence had lost, twirling and sheathing it into her belt. "What in the world is your friend thinking? Doesn't he know how dangerous that is? Those bracelets are way too powerful for anyone to handle separately! That's why they were hidden away in the first place! Hollow forbid anyone try to wield all five!"

"Why?" Tink demanded uneasily. "What would happen?"

"Try starting with the entirety of Neverland swallowed into an infinite black hole, followed shortly by the entire world!" Asha wailed. "Death and Life should always remain in a perfect balance but never should they be in the same vicinity! The Bracelets are the physical embodiments of just that! They have the capability of nullifying any Protector's powers for good, but the repercussions are immeasurable! Every action has a consequence and this might be the biggest mistake your friend has ever made!"

"Shade?" Scarab repeated, her voice trembling as she subconsciously pulled Bobble behind her. He could feel her hands shaking and he knew he was just as bad. It shouldn't have been possible. He had seen Shade die. He had been the one to drive in the knife. So, how was the sparrowman standing there, alive, without a single sign of a wound?

The evil fairy's eyes wavered on Scarab for a long moment before his gaze drifted to Bobble and the bracelet he was holding close to his chest. "So," he sneered, his voice colder than Bobble remembered. "I see you convinced the beast to give it to you. Interesting. That makes my work of retrieving it much easier. Now, instead of taking down one of fairy-kind's greatest enemies, all I have to do...is kill the two of you."

"I don't think so!" Scarab shot back, snapping out of her horrified stupor and sliding into a defensive back-stance, her hands already igniting with electricity. "You'll never take the bracelets from us, Shade! And to get to Phineas, you're going to have to go through me!"

Shade growled, copying her actions, the flames leaping to his fingers as he grinned, his face illuminated by the casted shadows. "Very well, Scarab. If that is your wish. Protect the runt as long as you want but I will take all five bracelets and I will get what I desire. You are merely an obstacle, one I can easily remove whenever I want."

"I'd like to see you try," Scarab fired back. "Phin, FLY NOW!"

He needed no convincing for that. His wings were already two steps ahead of his brain and he shot for the exit without a second thought. At the exact same moment, Scarab launched her attack, scattering lightning all across the cavern. Shade laughed, throwing out an arm and redirecting the electricity away from him. Two bolts whizzed past Bobble's head and exploded into the uneven rocky ceiling instead. Small rocks tumbled into his path and he narrowly skittered around them, racing out of the cave and taking cover outside behind a collection of boulders, ready and waiting for Scarab to be right behind him.

The bracelet burned in his fingers and he carefully juggled it to his other hand, acutely aware of the faint blistering he was receiving as he anxiously waited for his friend to appear.

A clash of lightning and flames illuminated the cave and he fearfully watched as the fight waged on inside, immensely grateful not to be a part of it, but fearing for Scarab and feeling guilty for not being there at the same time.

No, you have to stay safe, he reasoned with himself firmly. Scarab needs you to keep this bracelet away from Shade no matter what.

But he'd left her in there with a fairy who had proven himself capable of taking a life if it benefited his purposes and an unconscious dragon who could easily come around at any moment and incinerate them all.

Some hero he was.

What would Tink do in this scenario? Probably rush back in blindly and put herself in unnecessary danger without a plan or course of action or any idea of how to help. Vidia? Silvermist? Rosetta? Fawn? They would all do the same. They would be the heroes of their stories, something he didn't know if he could be anymore.

Fire exploded from his left, sending him retreating to safety and rethinking every aspect of his life choices. He wanted to call out to Scarab, to run back in and make sure she was okay, but he knew it would be a mistake. She had told him to escape and save himself. She was counting on him to trust her instinct. Besides, she knew Shade better than he did. She would know if she could handle him on her own.

I'm here to make sure he doesn't get the bracelet, he reminded himself. Scarab can take care of the rest of it. She's leaving this part up to me.

But, why then did he have the sense that something was...wrong?

He could hear the fight progressing inside. He knew the two former lovers were still battling it out, but something wasn't right. Someone was hurt.

He didn't know how he knew that. The only sensation that wasn't typical for him was a slight burning sensation in his arms and wrists, but that was only from holding the bracelet for so long, right? It wasn't like he could feel other fairy's pain for anything...

Oh, that was exactly what it was, wasn't it?

"The Protectors are all connected," Scarab had told him once, when coming to see him after he'd been unconscious for several days. "They can feel each other's emotions. Their anger, their sadness, their pain. That was what made us such an incredible force once upon a time. We always knew how the other was feeling."

She smiled as she slowly came to sit across the darkened room from him. He had recalled the way she had uneasily moved, almost as though her guilt was threatening to send her bolting the other way and out of the room entirely. She hadn't been herself then, but that had been perfectly understandable. She had just seen the fairy she'd loved ruthlessly try to murder Tink and obliterate the Hollow. He could hardly expect anyone to be all right after witnessing something like that.

"I'm glad you're okay, Phineas," she'd said, truly sounding like she meant it. "I knew you would be, but it's reassuring to know that that connection has survived all of these generations. I won't stay long. I'm sure your friends are going to be breaking down the door to see you any moment now, but I wanted to make sure you knew that you would be welcome to come back to the Haven with me-once you've healed, of course. It's...been a long time since I've had anyone to talk to and...well...if you ever want help learning to control your gift..." She trailed off there, smiling weakly. "But I can sense your heart lies here in the Hollow," she said slowly. "I can't say I understand it. I wasn't fortunate to have friends like yours when I was young, but I am glad that you do. They really care about you, more than I think you realize. Trust me. I can hear what youcan't anymore." She tapped the side of her head pointedly. "They love you. Don't ever take that for granted."

He promised and then she was gone as quickly as she'd come, back to the Haven where she would be safe from the numerous questions the other fairies would have later once their senses returned to them. Of course, the Queen had handled the majority of those, having become well-versed in creating excuses on the spot. Still, there had been some (Terrence being one of them before Tink finally confided everything in him) who had found it odd that they had no recollection of any of the eight friends or their locations before their memories disappeared, or how Bobble would have gotten hurt at work when none of them remembered seeing him in the workshop. He had been repeatedly confronted by fairies of all talents (and, in Nyx's case, confronted a total of three times), subtly (and sometimes, not so subtly) asking what he remembered about that day and where he had been when everything had gone 'dark'. Each time he recited the same verse he'd learned in case of problems just like this one.

"The last thin' I remember was the workshop," he lied through his teeth, hating every minute of it but knowing the alternative was much scarier. "I must've blacked out there at the table. The next time I awoke was in the healin' win'. I suppose I must have fallen on somethin' and broken my arm somehow."

It wasn't clear if any of them actually believed that spider's web and he knew that he was probably the worst one to try and come up with a convincing fib. At least he hadn't been forced to lie to Fairy Mary, the one he ultimately had the hardest time keeping in the dark. But with Clarion's approval (and a not-so-gentle nudge), he'd told her everything. She'd been shocked, but she'd also understood why he'd done it.

"If it was your choice to protect yourself by hidin' amongst the tinkers, then that means you are just as much one of my guild as you would have been had the ceremony destined you to be," she'd told him. "And I am honored, Phineas, because you are one of the kindest, and most hardworking fairies I have ever had the pleasure of teachin'. It doesn't matter to me what magical abilities you have. And in the end, you will do what is right, no matter what. I know it."

You will do what is right...no matter what...

He had to go back in. He had to help Scarab. She was fighting for him. Kyto had been right! He couldn't just leave her behind to save himself!

Hastily, he scrambled back over the boulders, rushing back to the entranceway in time to see his friend get blasted into the wall by a particularly powerful blast of light. The bracelet, detecting his emotions, instantly burned through the thin metallic layer, causing him to hiss and almost drop it. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" he yelled, holding up the weapon and watching as it began to glow and sizzle in his grasp.

Shade whirled around at his command, the energy from his previous attack still very much alive.

"Phin..." Scarab groaned, not having the strength to lift her head and face him. "No..."

"Foolish tinker," Shade sneered, his attention diverted from his previous battle at the sight of the very thing he desired. "You should have ran when you had the chance!"

"I said, leave her alone!" Bobble repeated furiously. "This is what ye want, isn't it?" He held the bracelet at a distance, a feeble shield against the slowly approaching Protector. "Stay back!" he cried, his voice shaking. Cautiously, he began to side-step toward Scarab, holding on arm out in an attempt to return her protective stance even as she continued to lay there, too winded to rise. "This has the ability to strip ye of yer talents, aye? I will use it, so just get away from her!"

Shade laughed. "You really think you can steal my power as easily as that? You really still don't get it, do you? Go ahead. Try it. You wouldn't be the first."

His hands shook as he stepped defensively in front of his guildmate. The power was ready to boil over...he could feel it. He couldn't contain it any longer. There was too much anger, too much rage. The bracelet turned bright red, a perfect match to the flames dancing around his fingers, and he panicked. "No, stay back!" he cried. "I didn't mean it! I...I don't know what this thin' would do to ye!"

"So, what?" Shade sneered, continuing his approach, not at all phased by the tinker's attempts. "Why do you care what the bracelet does to me? You're just like all the others. You hate me too. No, it's worse than hate." He paused, as though grasping for the answers within the younger Protector's head. "You pity me. How stupidly naive. But I don't need your pity. The bracelet will be more than enough!"

He threw an arm out to the side, summoning a burst of fast-flying talent and knocking Bobble out of the way, sending him crashing to the floor halfway across the cavern. The bracelet flew from his grasp and landed with a clatter near the base of the mountain.

"Perfect," Shade hissed, already rushing for the fallen prize.

Bobble groaned, sitting up and blinking away the stars bursting in front of his eyes. He saw where Shade was going and he gasped. "NO!"

And that was the last straw.

The fire leaped from his hands before he had a moment to think about what he was doing, lunging forward and barrelling into the Protector just as he reached for the bracelet. Shade howled, recoiling from the bracelet and pulling his cloak closer to his body as he spun out of the way of the remainder of the blast.

"Bad move, sparrowman," Shade sneered...and then Bobble realized his mistake.

In his desperate efforts to protect the bracelet, he'd left Scarab entirely vulnerable.

"Wait, no!" he screamed, scrambling up and summoning another set of powers to his hands. He didn't even bother to look to see which one it was as the world spun out of focus.

Shade was on top of her in a moment, so quick that neither of them had time to react. Scarab was certainly too weak to fight back but her eyes opened one last time, for just long enough to see Bobble running as fast as he could toward them. "Phin..." she breathed, yanking her bag from her shoulders with the last of her strength and tossing it across the ground toward him. There was a loud jingle as it crashed into a loose series of boulders and came to an abrupt halt at his feet.

Their eyes met for a moment and for the first time, he could see it; what he hadn't been able to before...regret.

"No..." he gasped. "You didn't..."

She had. Even from where he stood, he could see the familiar glint of metal from the confines of the small bag.

Is that...?

"I...I don't understand..." he began, but she only stared at him as Shade's magic began to encompass them both.

"I'm so sorry," she mouthed.

There was a flash of black light, so sudden that Bobble yelped and fell back, shielding his face from the implosion.

The darkness faded once more and when he found it safe to open his eyes, Shade and Scarab were gone.