When Alice was finally finished her dinner with Hansard she trailed back along the castle corridors she'd come through, wondering how anyone could mistake this dreary, cold, and heartless place for a family home like the Kray's had. And she prayed that Ellion had understood what she'd done for them - for him - back in those caves.
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Alice saw what they were trying to do. She saw how her friends had used comforting Valkyrie as a cover-up for coming in contact with one another. Ellion hadn't understood it yet. He was standing meters away from the others. Saracen, Gracious, Donegan, and Fletcher were already linked up and the others were tensing.
If they were going to survive this they needed to escape and she had the feeling she wasn't the only one who saw what they were doing. So, she took a few steps towards Ellion, forcing her features into an emotionless façade, but hoping he could see her pleading for him to trust her through her eyes.
"I did what I had to do." She repeated. "I'm doing what I have to do. I'm going to keep doing what I have to do until there's nothing left to do it for."
"Who are you?" he whispered, looking at her through narrowed eyes and she felt like an alien again. The boy who'd made her feel so welcome, made her feel like she belonged, now looked at her like she was from a whole other planet. The boy who'd always understood her, always felt like he knew her now looked at her like she was a whole other person and Ellion suddenly had no clue what she would do next. No inkling towards what she was thinking. He looked at her and saw nothing of the girl he thought he knew. "I don't know you."
"I guess I'm back to mystery girl, huh?" she said back silently.
"I don't know you." Was all he could say again, shaking his head at her.
And abruptly he was yelling at her mercilessly. "I don't know you! I trusted you! I thought you were on our side, I thought you cared about us! About me! I LOVED YOU!" he roared and she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face as every piece of her soul crumbled inside her. "I was wrong. I was wrong about everything! I was wrong to love you."
"Ellion, please..." she begged him. "Please, try to understand."
"I think I've wasted enough time trying to understand you!" he yelled and she glanced over her shoulder to see Hansard smiling.
"See Alice? You'll never belong with these people. They don't get people like us. The only place you're meant to be is with me." He said tenderly and she shivered. She didn't want him. She wanted Ellion. But she was pretty sure he hated her now.
She looked to Valkyrie, not knowing how her sister was thinking Alice deserved what she was getting from Ellion and about how the vision was slowly coming true, although not in the way she'd expected. Ellion had yelled at Alice relentlessly while she cried in the vision as well, only at the entrance to the caves rather than deep in them.
The others were joined together now, all of them, staring at Ellion eager that he would get the hint and see what was going on. But Vivi figured it out before he did, unfortunately.
"Oh, I see what you're doing. You're all going to teleport away, sneaky Mr C!" she cried out laughing and Alice's face dropped. She took the last few steps to close the gap between her and Ellion rapidly and reached up to give him a hurried kiss, whispering "This is the last thing I can give you." And she shoved him into the rest of the group. "GO! Teleport, Fletcher, GO!" she shrieked and she unfolded her wings, shielding the group as best as she could, teeth bared and turning the other who opened fire with all sorts of magic.
"Obviously he hasn't gotten the hint yet." The corners of her mouth twinged upwards. Alice ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe I had to try different tactics."
"Tactics. Funny word to use for this situation." He looked over her shoulder and saw Ellion looking on with rage.
"Everything is about tactics. You have good ones and you win." She stated and the song changed to a slow dance.
Tactics. Everything was about tactics. So, she needed good ones. She had a plan. It was crazy, but she had a plan. Alice didn't like what she was doing, but she knew it was the only way to win this. She'd known what was going to happen down in those caves long before she'd entered them. She'd foreseen that Hansard would use his control over her to turn the group against her and force her willingly back onto his side to free the Unnamed and win the war that was coming. After he'd controlled her to kill her own Father she remembered what she learned and figured out how he controlled her. By using her given name. So, she did the only thing that would free her of his commands completely. She'd chosen a name.
