CHAPTER 23

THE END OF EVERYTHING: PART 1

“In a shocking turn of events, it appears that Reighley, better known as, Loverboy R, pushed Jim Young across the finish line!” Destiny announced.

“It’s better this way.” Reighley thought. He was completely and utterly exhausted. Every muscle in his body was telling him to collapse.

“I thought you wanted to slow dance with the girl you liked?” Jim questioned.

“I do,” Reighley said. He then walked towards the stairs and made his way down the pagoda tower. Jim was blown away at what had just happened. He didn’t know people like Reighley still existed. The world Jim was used to was cutthroat. It had to be since everything was business-oriented. Even though he had won the race, Jim felt like he had lost as he watched the back of Reighley slowly disappear down the stairs. With no choice, he pulled out his cell phone and called his assistant.

“Susan, it’s Jim. I need you to push the meeting to tomorrow. I’m spending tonight with my family.” Jim said and hung up the phone on his assistant before she could respond. He knew that it was bad for business to reschedule things, but tonight was different. It was his daughter’s sixteenth birthday and after everything he had just gone through, he wouldn’t miss it for the world. Knowing that the situation was still rocky between him and his daughter, Jim did the only thing that he could think of to get her to talk to him. He got out his phone and texted her.

Meanwhile, Sarah Bellum was captivated by the zombie run, it had made her lose track of time. She looked at the watch on her left wrist and knew it was time to make her move. She immediately walked towards the area with all of Freya’s gifts. Her vision told her that she could take one without any major issues. She walked past the table with many of the gift bags and nonchalantly grabbed one while passing by. She then quickly made her way towards the exit.

“Okay Sarah, remember what you saw.” Sarah encouraged herself. On her way, she was stopped in her tracks.

“Hi, Sarah! Long time, no see. How are you dear?” Prismarine asked.

“Hello, Aunty Prim Prim. I’m doing fine.” Sarah greeted with a fake smile. She knew this was coming, but she still didn’t enjoy speaking to any of the Young Family.

“What do you have there? Is that your gift for Freya?” Prismarine asked.

“Oh, this? Yeah, but I forgot the card for it in my car. I have to go run and grab that real quick.” Sarah explained.

“Oh well, you can leave the gift on the table. I’ll make sure Freya doesn’t open it beforehand.” Prismarine suggested.

“No, that's fine really. I would rather I give it to her in private.” Sarah was trying desperately to flee. She knew if she was caught stealing from her cousin her life would be over as she knew it.

“Alright, and you need to start taking better care of yourself young woman. I don’t wish for you to end up like my sister.” Prismarine said with concern.

“Yeah. Will do.” Sarah nodded. Like a punch to the gut, those words cut into Sarah’s soul. “Like you actually care,” she thought to herself. Sarah proceeded to head toward the door so she could escape in her vehicle. She drove herself here in her early 2000’s Chevi. Now was the perfect time to leave as most of the crowd seemed to have gathered at the runway. Okay, just one more obstacle. I can’t be spotted by Freya. Sarah while walking outside knew that Freya was leaving the property for one reason or another. She saw the girl exiting the side entrance and heading towards the streaming setup. Curious, she decided to use Presage on the birthday girl. The vision showed Sarah, Freya’s up-and-coming bad future.

“I see you’ve changed a lot.” Sarah thought. Finally, she arrived outside and she knew this was where the misfortune was going to occur. Her vision warned her that she was going to trip and fall and break the items stolen in the bag she had just stolen while going down the steps of the entrance. So she gently placed the bag on the ground and then turned towards the two security guards at the entrance.

“Hey, don't mind me,” Sarah said as she hurled herself down the steps as if she had jumped off a cliff. This was the trick to her thievery. As long as something bad happened to her that was similar to what she had seen by the end of the vision, she could circumvent the ending. Sarah tumbled down the steps until she reached the bottom and caught herself.

“Hey! Are you okay?” The guards asked with heavy concern.

“Yep! Perfectly fine.” She gave a thumbs-up while still on the floor. She was exhausted, bruised, and scraped, but she did it. She had survived the future she had seen. She walked all the way back up the stairs, grabbed the gift she placed down, and walked toward her car without any further issues. Once at her car door, she looked back at the entrance of Fiore Gemello, and with one final thought, she departed.

“Sorry Freya, but tonight isn’t going to end well for you.” Sarah thought while leaving the party.

Freya didn’t know how to feel. Part of her was angry, while the other half was scared. She knew deep down that she didn’t have to slow dance with her dad, but also knew that if she didn’t then she would end up making Reighley upset with her after he tried so hard to get the two together. Freya, in desperate need of guidance, grabbed her best friend Destiny and pulled her away from the stream setup.

“Destiny, what- what do I do?” Freya asked.

“Well, he did win, so….” Destiny shrugged.

“I’m serious. I don’t think I want to be anywhere near him right now.” Freya said.

“Do you really hate him that much?” Destiny questioned.

The question caught Freya off guard. She was at a loss for words. Although he hurt her deeply, she couldn’t call her feelings towards her dad hate. She was just upset that he had been gone for so long. For the entirety of his absence, she had missed him. Then, when he finally came home, instead of giving her the attention she needed, he threatened everything Freya had been working towards up until now.

“Of course, I don’t hate him. He’s my Dad.” Freya answered quietly.

“Then dance with him. I get that you were mad at him for separating you from everyone, but I think it’s time you stopped running away from your problems. Whatever you decide, I’ll stand by your decision.” Destiny advised.

Freya stopped and considered everything. She still didn’t completely know why Reighley pushed her dad over the finish line after working so hard. She wanted him to dance with her first. To show the whole world just how serious she was about Reighley. She was torn on the decision to make until she received a sudden text from her father.

Jim: I canceled my meeting.

“Canceled? Does that mean he’s staying? Well to be honest…. I’m surprised he stayed for as long as he did.” She wondered if it was Reighley’s doing.

Meanwhile, Donald and Guinevere were hiding away inside a van that was parked nearby. She had been watching the race from inside and was enraged at the fact Reighley threw the race.

“What on earth does he think he’s doing? The finish line was right there. Why’d you have to go and lose on your own terms? Don’t tell me… you wanted the bounty all for yourself?” Since she assumed Reighley was greedy, Guinevere guessed Reighley must have thought eliminating himself from the game would make him the prize winner. She couldn’t feel anything other than cheated. She had gotten what she wanted, but not the way she wanted it. She was supposed to be reveling in the fact that Freya had completely lost, but the look on her face when Reighley got eliminated was all wrong. She had paid a fair amount of pocket change for the bounty on his head, yet no one managed to take him out except for himself.

“Why, why, why? Why her!?” Outraged, Guinevere began to knock equipment around in the small van. “What makes her so special? Is it her hair? I can change my hair to red. Why go so far for her? It doesn’t make any sense. She’s the worst!”

“Madam Guinevere?” Donald said before being interrupted.

“Don’t get me started with you! You were supposed to eliminate him! Why do I even keep you around? You’re useless! Get out of my sight! You’re fired!” Guinevere yelled at Donald.

“I… I understand. I’m sorry… I wish I could have been of more use to you Madam.” Donald nodded and exited the vehicle. Before he closed the door behind him he wished to give Guinevere one more piece of advice. ”Might I suggest you tell the boy how you feel?” Donald advised and then took his leave.

She hadn’t even processed what she had just done. She looked at the only remaining ally she thought she had and watched as he turned his back to her, both physically and emotionally.

Guinevere used Reverie on the butler, reading the thoughts above his head. It read, “And after everything I’ve done for you…” Donald thought. Soon, he was out of earshot and Guinevere was left alone.

“Fine, leave! I’ll do this myself! It’s not like that will work anyway! I already know how he feels. Anyone could tell that by now.” Guinevere’s tone began to settle down. Her shouts reverberated in the van causing even the silence after to seem loud in comparison. The rush of anger inside her turned into overwhelming loneliness. “Besides, he can see right through me... He would know that I wasn’t being genuine.” Guinevere answered as if someone was listening to her, but no one was. She was alone just as she always had been. What Guinevere wanted more than anything was for someone to put up a fight for her. To stay, even if she told them to leave. To accept her as a whole and show unconditional love. Not even her parents did that for her. She had hoped that Donald was that someone, but she was wrong. Frustrated, she looked down at her phone and checked the results of the voting.

(BOUNTY TO ELIMINATE REIGHLEY SUMMERS FROM THE RACE: 5,000,000 Yen.)

(35,902.00 USD.)

(Place Your Bets)

(34,231 WIN | LOSE 15,456)

Somewhere along the race, even the audience started believing in Reighley. At the end of the race, the people who won the voting were awarded a free subscription to Guinevere’s SocialLight page for a month. As a subscriber, they would get access to exclusive streams that wouldn’t be posted on her main account, as well as custom stickers they could use in her chat. She had hoped that this event would increase her growth on social media, allowing her to surpass Freya. She quickly checked her analytics and to some degree, it worked. She had a spike of five thousand followers, but that still brought her nowhere near the amount of followers Freya had.

“I’m always losing to you. Everyone always caters to you.” Guinevere said with resentment. She was looking at the livestream of Freya’s party. It had a camera just switched over to Freya before Destiny began to announce the next event.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! I am happy to announce that we are moving on! That’s right. It’s time for the Ballroom Dance! I’m sure I don’t need to tell you where to head next. The dance will commence in twenty minutes, please use that time to freshen up. We have showers prepared for those who competed.” Destiny said. Not all hope was lost for Guinevere. She still could continue her plan. She just needed to get a chance to talk with Reighley alone.

Ulysses had been waiting for Reighley inside the locker rooms. He had already finished showering and instead stayed because he needed advice from his best friend. Reighley walked through the doors looking like a corpse.

“Dude, did you get turned by the zombies? You look terrible.” Ulysses said.

“I feel even worse.” Reighley groaned like an undead and nodded. His movement was sluggish. He was given a ride back to the locker in a golf cart, but even the walk from the cart to the locker room felt like an extra mile to him. The locker was filled with plenty of people who ended up losing the race alongside Reighley. Ulysses didn’t want people to overhear him so he got close to Reighley and whispered to him.

“I want to ask Lily out. What should I do? I’m nervous.” Ulysses asked.

“What? Why are you nervous? She’ll say yes for sure. You have a guarantee.” Reighley encouraged. He used Insight on his best friend and noticed that the flaming aura he was so used to seeing was but an ember in comparison.

“That’s the part I’m nervous about. What if she says yes? What do I do after that? How do I have a girlfriend?” Ulysses was starting to get flustered.

“To be honest, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer you, but still, I think you’re overthinking it dude,” Reighley said.

“Funny… Freya told me the same thing” Ulysses mentioned. “Still I want to do it, but I’m just not ready.”

“Here, I’ll go do it,” Reighley said, as he began walking past Ulysses towards the exit of the locker room. It was as if the objective gave Reighley newfound strength. Ulysses began to realize that Reighley was serious when he had almost reached the door.

“No! Wait!” Ulysses began panicking as he stepped in front of Reighley, blocking his path. “You can’t do that. I’ll look like a loser. I would die of embarrassment.” Ulysses pleaded.

“Then man up. If you don't, I'll do it for you.” Reighley threatened.

“Fine! I’ll- I’ll do it. Just please don’t ask her out for me.” Ulysses said.

“Good. Now excuse me while I go to recover in the shower.” Reighley gave Ulysses a thumbs up. “You got this bud. Tell me how it goes.” Soon after, Reighley walked into a shower room and began to sulk. “At least one of us gets a happy ending.” He thought as he crouched down with a bittersweet smile.

Lily was waiting for Ulysses and Reighley just outside the entrance to the locker rooms. She figured she could tackle two things at once. She wanted to congratulate Ulysses, and also speak with Reighley to inform him that Guinevere was up to no good. Eventually, Ulysses walked out of the locker room and Lily caught his attention.

“You were amazing!” Lily rushed over to Ulysses embracing him with a hug.

“Lily!?” Ulysses didn’t know where to place his hands. “Is it okay if I hug her?” Ulysses thought to himself.

“I knew you wouldn’t lose,” Lily said. “And even if you did, that wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Hah… thanks.” Ulysses awkwardly scratched his head until he realized that Lily had changed out of her clothes. “What happened to your dress?”

“Umm… it got ripped. Don’t worry about it.” Lily lied. She noticed Ulysses' arms were hovering dormant as if lost in space. She knew he needed the small push, to let him know it was okay. She whispered teasingly, “If you can't hug me back then our dance later on tonight is going to be a bit awkward.” She grabbed onto both arms and wrapped them around herself. Ulysses began blushing as red as the sun.

“I thought it looked great on you.” Ulysses complimented.

“Your apocalypse outfit was pretty neat too.” Lily smiled.

“I was trying to look cool for you…” Ulysses replied.

“Dummy… you don’t need to change a thing.” Lily squeezed Ulysses.

“Someone told me recently that I need to live up to my potential.” Ulysses hugged Lily back. For a moment he began to wonder where the two stood and what type of relationship he and Lily had. “Is this alright? A girl like this wouldn’t wait outside to hug me if she didn’t like me. I feel like, if I asked her out, things would work out, but that’s scarier than being rejected. Should I do it? Reighley said if I don’t he’ll do it. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened… Both Freya and Reighley told me I had been overthinking things. Okay Ulysses, tell her how you feel.” Ulysses was feeling abnormally courageous. He attributed it to the fact that he had defeated his brother and put his father in a Full-Nelson. Briefly, after the race was over his father told him he was proud of him as soon as he had been let go. It had been the first real praise he had received from his father since he picked up cooking.

“If not now, then when?” Ulysses encouraged himself. The thought of confessing caused Ulysses' heart rate to accelerate to new heights. He opened his mouth to ask the question and he could feel his adrenaline spike as fear and hope seeped through him simultaneously.

“Ulysses, are you okay?” Lily said, looking upward deep into his eyes. She could feel his heart racing. He had his mouth slightly opened but had yet to say a word causing Lily to become embarrassed by how long she was being held.

“Lily. I like you.” Ulysses confessed. Words began pouring out of him in a rush. “I like everything about you. The way you’re beyond thoughtful, and how you like my cooking so much. I like how you know exactly what I mean even when I can’t get the words out the right way. I like the way your blue eyes remind me of the sky and the way your hair reflects the light of the sun right off of it. I like how beautiful and kind you are, and how you see the best in me, even when I don’t. I know that this isn’t an ideal place or time, but I need to know… Lily Monet, will you go out with me, just us, like on a real date?” Ulysses asked.

Stolen story; please report.

“You sure mentioned my looks a lot.” Lily teased.

“I- uhh…” Ulysses was stumped.

“I was waiting for you to ask,” Lily mentioned. “Yes. I will go out with you. On a real date.” Lily chuckled. She thought the way Ulysses stumbled upon his words was cute. Although she was remaining calm on the outside, feeling butterflies was the only way Lily could describe how she was feeling. Her heart had skipped a beat when he spoke.

“Congrats you two!” Freya said with excitement. Her sudden appearance caused Lily and Ulysses to let go of each other due to the surprise. They couldn’t look Freya in the eyes and were stunned with embarrassment. The embarrassed silence between the two of them was nearly palpable as both Ulysses and Lily refused to look at one another. “Now we can go on a double date.”

“Yeah…” Ulysses nodded uncomfortably. For once, he was grateful for his social awkwardness since he knew that there weren’t any double dates after tonight. He was determined to be the best friend that he could be. It was his duty to keep the secrets of his brothers.

“Have you guys seen Reighley? I feel like I haven’t got to see him much tonight.” Freya said.

“He’s freshening up,” Ulysses replied.

“Well… if you see him, tell him I need to talk to him. It’s important.” Freya explained. She had been getting antsy at this point. She didn't know why but she could feel Reighley slipping away from her with each passing second. She wanted to talk with him about their future more than anything. Freya knew how she felt about Reighley and how he felt about her, or at least she hoped she knew how he felt. Some part of her had a sneaking suspicion that Reighley had been avoiding her all evening, but she wouldn’t let him run away. They need to have an honest talk about where their relationship stands after tonight. Deciding to push it off until the two danced together, she walked away from the new couple with a nervous look in her eyes.

Eventually, Destiny announced that it was time for the Ballroom Dance, and all the attendees made their way to the ballroom that was located in the northwest section of Fiore Gemello. She surveyed the crowd looking for the headliners that would be making the biggest splash of the night. She first noticed Freya, who was waiting on the dais next to a booth that had DJ_Destiny icons all over it. She appeared to be looking for Reighley to show up amongst the crowd. Destiny then spotted Elise and Lily talking to Herald, and after a brief discussion, the three split up while on high alert for someone. She found Jim waiting off in the corner rehearsing words to himself, and then saw Ulysses towering awkwardly on his phone while by the punch bowl. He was looking for someone while using his cell phone to text. Isabelle was still commentating about how awesome the race went, going over highlights. She was so involved with the role of commentator that she took the lead as host. Destiny's surveillance had to come to an end as she needed to leave the streaming booth to rescue Ash from being hit on by a now romance-hungry Deven Stallik.

During all of this, almost everyone had the same question on their mind.

“Where is Reighley?” They thought.

Meanwhile, Reighley had just put his suit back on. He was looking at himself in the mirror, still unable to look himself directly in the eyes.

“Things haven’t changed one bit...” He muttered to himself. He heard a buzzing sound from his phone. He had received a text from Ulysses.

Ulysses: Hey. Freya wants to talk to you. She said it’s important.

Reighley: Thanks.

He closed his phone, placed it in his pocket, and made his way out of the locker room. Waiting there for him was Guinevere, who ambushed him. She had managed to sneak back into the party and found Reighley out of coincidence. She pulled him the furthest away from the ballroom against his will.

“What in the!” Reighley yelped.

“Shut up and come with me!” Guinevere threatened.

When the two were finally alone Guinevere realized she was holding Reighley’s hand and became flustered, letting go immediately. She used Reverie to read Reighley’s thoughts.

“I don’t have time for this.” Reighley thought.

“So, I’m not even worth your time.” Guinevere thought.

“What do you want?” Reighley asked. He was on edge. “Please, I’ve already worked so hard. I just want the day to end already.” It had been the first time in a long time that Reighley had complained out of frustration.

“Just be quiet, will you? I just need to talk with you for a minute.” Guinevere explained.

“Make it quick,” Reighley ordered. “I’m sick of this girl.” He thought. Those thoughts cut a deep wound in Guinevere’s already gaping heart.

“This… is for you.” Guinevere held a card towards Reighley.

“What is this?” Reighley was puzzled.

“5,000,000 yen. You won it since you eliminated yourself. This is what you wanted right? That’s why you dated Freya. It was for the money, wasn’t it? Now you don’t have to be with her anymore.” Guinevere was shaking. The anxiety she was feeling sank to the pits of her stomach, making her almost want to throw up.

“I… don’t know what to say,” Reighley said. For once he actually didn’t feel gross by receiving money from someone. He did go out on his own terms, so it made sense that he won the prize for his bounty. “I guess she’s not all that bad…” He thought. “It’s true that I started dating Freya because she paid me, but that isn’t why I stayed.”

“Please just take it.” Guinevere extended her arms outward. “It’s not a trick or a trap. I’m not deceiving you. You earned it.”

Reighley finally looked Guinevere in the eyes using Insight on her while accepting the card and pocketing it. He braced for the cold wasteland he had known her for. Yet instead, he was greeted with the feeling of cold isolation. Something he knew far too well. Guinevere’s aura appeared to be a silhouette of someone desperately holding onto dear life as a vicious blizzard was actively killing them. He had never experienced loneliness to that degree, despite his escapades in Juvy. Guinevere looked at Reighley as if he was the only source of heat in one hundred miles.

“Now that you're basically single… would you go out with me?” Guinevere asked. Deep down she knew what the answer was going to be, but part of her wanted to try asking anyway because Donald had suggested it.

“Guinevere… I’m flattered really, but you don’t want me.” Reighley said.

“But… why?” She asked

Reighley didn’t have to search very far inside his heart to find the answer he was looking for.

“Sometimes… We fall in love with the wrong people. I’m not that person for you or anyone.” Reighley said with saddened eyes.

“But you have to! Otherwise, I’ll tell everyone that Freya paid for you to date her. I’ll ruin her whole career!” Guinevere threatened.

“Guinevere. Don’t do this.” Reighley said.

“I’m out of options.” She replied. “My parents, they don’t speak to me unless they have to. Even my butler left me. I have no one.” The sheer isolation caused Guinevere to break out in a cold sweat. She was getting desperate. The shock to her body stimulated a feeling of anxiety she had only felt one other time in her life. “She’s always taking things from me. Even… back then.” She finally remembered what had happened.

“Back then?” Reighley questioned.

“She died. My one and only friend. The only one who didn’t leave me by choice. Ivory” Guinevere answered. The memory of the girl in the casket became clear as day. It had been so devastating to her, that she attempted to block all memory of it as a sort of self-defense mechanism to maintain sanity. “The first time I met Freya was at the funeral of my first and last friend.”

This was a time before Guinevere’s family was filthy rich. The Pendragons were by no means poor, by any standard, but they were always looking for opportunities for their big break. They often jumped through hoops and kissed the behinds of anyone they needed to in order to network. The opposite was true with Ivory’s family as they were incredibly wealthy due to owning a lucrative mining company that specialized in rare gemstones. The family also ran and owned a famous jewelry company. However, Ivory was very ill and couldn’t leave the house often due to her sickness. The Pendragon family found out about this and contacted the family setting up a playdate between their children. From the onset the two children became inseparable.

Nine years ago… The two girls were in Ivory’s parent’s jewelry room. The family sometimes took a personal interest in an exceptional stone. They had a small stone-cutting polishing station built on their property. They also had a vault of such stones kept in reserve in case of an emergency. Seven-year-old Ivory was climbing on a ladder to retrieve the family's latest acquisition. She had opened a case containing a necklace and pulled it out.

“Isn’t it pretty, Guin?” Ivory asked while holding up a chain with a neon blue gemstone on it.

“I don’t think we should be in here. We are going to get in huge trouble if we are caught.” Guinevere said.

“This necklace has a gem on it. It’s called a Paraiba Tourmaline! It’s super rare!” Ivory said excitedly. She then held it out to Guinevere.

The light from a nearby window refracted off the gemstone into Guinevere’s eyes. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever set her eyes on. It was a radiant cut gem. Symmetrical and without flaw. It was as if she was looking into the ocean and all of its beauty.

“It’s… perfect.” Guinevere gazed upon the stone in awe of its wonder.

“No, something's not right. I think it needs to be worn by someone.” Ivory said. She began placing the necklace over Guinevere. The gemstone rested gently around her neck.

“There! The perfect stone next to the perfect friend.” Ivory said with a smile.

“Hey! What are you two doing in here!” Ivory’s mother shouted after bursting through the door.

The sudden startle caused Ivory to jump, slipping off the ladder she was on. She fell and landed on her ankle. A quick snap was heard as the girl let out a scream.

“Ivory!” Her mother yelled, dashing towards her daughter. When she got near Guinevere, she recognized that she was wearing the necklace. “Take that off, you two shouldn’t even be in here!”

After a quick rush to the emergency room, Ivory was told she had broken her ankle. Guinevere felt to blame. She riddled herself with guilt for her friend getting hurt. A week had passed and Ivory was still in the hospital. Guinevere thought it was weird that they didn’t discharge Ivory after putting a cast on her leg. It wasn’t until three weeks later that she finally saw Ivory again, still in the hospital and completely bedridden. Before she went inside to speak with Ivory, Ivory’s parents sat her down outside. They needed to explain something important to her.

“Cancer?” Guinevere asked.

“Yes… You see, Ivory is very ill. She has been for a long time. That’s why she can’t go outside very often. But don’t worry, we have the best doctors in the world helping her right now.” Ivory’s dad said. “But… it’s not looking good.” he thought. Guinevere read the thoughts that appeared above his head and began to worry. She didn’t exactly know what cancer meant at the time and how devastating it can be to someone and their family. Soon after Guinevere went inside the room where Ivory stayed.

“Hey, Guin.” Ivory greeted with a smile. Her beautiful ivory hair was completely gone. She was being treated with chemotherapy.

Several months had gone by with no change in her recovery. Things had only gotten worse. Guinevere wanted to celebrate her birthday with Ivory so she visited her in the hospital. The two were left alone in the room, by request of Ivory.

“Happy Birthday Guin!” Ivory greeted.

“Thank you… I wish we could go spend it together somewhere. I want to take you to Distracto Land and all sorts of other places! When can you get out of here?” Guinevere asked.

“The doctors say they don’t know,” Ivory answered. “But it’s okay since I have my best friend here with me. That makes it all better.” She smiled.

“Ivory…” Guinevere had been visiting weekly. Ivory was the only person Guinevere could find comfort with.

“I have a gift for you,” Ivory said. She pulled out a small bag and handed it to Guinevere. “I asked my parents if you could have it since you liked it so much.” Guinevere opened the bag up and looked inside. There was a small keepsake box with a note saying, “To my perfect friend.” The handwriting was barely legible, but Guinevere appreciated that Ivory wrote it herself. When Guinevere opened the box, inside was the Paraiba Tourmaline necklace. It made Guinevere speechless.

“Are you sure this is alright?” Guinevere asked.

“Yeah. Whenever you put it on, think of me, okay?” Ivory said.

“Okay!” Guinevere hugged Ivory and the two enjoyed the evening together. A week later, Ivory died. Guinevere screamed in agony when told about the loss of her best friend.

When the funeral finally came, Guinevere broke down in tears in front of the lifeless corpse of her former friend. She looked over at Ivory’s parents who were sobbing beyond belief and they glared back at Guinevere with contempt staring at the gift their daughter gave her. Using Reverie she read their thoughts.

“I can’t believe I let you near our daughter. You were just using her!” Ivory’s mom thought.

“How dare you cry fake tears over her! You weren’t even her real friend.” Ivory’s dad thought.

“What? I… don’t understand. How could they think that? Ivory was my best friend!” Guinevere thought to herself. “Why would they think that about me?” She looked at Ivory one last time before her parents guided her back to her seat while she was still crying. Off in the distance, another child was sobbing hysterically. So loud that it caused Guinevere to stop crying.

“Mother… who is that?” Guinevere asked about the child.

“That is Freya Young, the girl who gets anything she wants.” Guinevere’s mother explained.

She was friends with Ivory as well. However, Guinevere noticed something was different about this girl and the way others treated her. When Freya began sobbing, Ivory’s parents, as well as other families began surrounding her in order to comfort her. Including Guinevere’s parents, leaving Guinevere sitting all alone.

Guinevere’s parents knew who the child was and used this opportunity to meet Jim and Prismarine Young. They had been networking instead of mourning, getting terrible glances from Ivory’s parents.

Finally, when the funeral was nearly finished, Freya went over to Guinevere, who was devastated. She attempted to start a conversation with Guinevere since she was the only girl around the same age as her.

“That’s a pretty necklace,” Freya said.

“YOU CAN’T HAVE IT!” Guinevere screamed. The fear that Freya would take what was hers caused her to instinctively hold on to the necklace.

“Guinevere! Be nice to the girl, she was only complimenting it.” Guinevere’s mom reprimanded. Freya began crying, as up until that moment, no one had ever yelled at her like that before. The commotion caused Jim and Prismarine to approach and see what had happened and Guinevere’s father used this chance as an opportunity to introduce himself.

“We’re so sorry about our daughter. As you can see she is quite distraught over Ivory.” Guinevere’s dad apologized, bowing over and over to Jim and Prismarine. He shook Jim’s hand and then turned over to his daughter and grabbed her wrist, hurting her while pulling her aside. “Guinevere!” He whispered harshly, “That girl is the daughter of a very important person. Don’t ruin this for us! Just play nice with the girl.” He then turned back to Jim and shook his hand once more.

“Again, we’re sorry about our daughter's behavior. She’s an odd one.” Guinevere’s dad said. “More like a freak.” he thought, as he reflected on his daughter’s uncanny ability.

“It’s quite alright. Everyone seems to be on edge.” Looking to change the subject, Jim pointed out the necklace on Guinevere. “Say, how much was the necklace? That’s quite the piece there.” Jim asked.

“Oh Jim, is now really the time to be talking business? We’re at a funeral for goodness sake.” Prismarine reprimanded.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Jim responded.

“You have quite the eye there Mr. Young. Are you perhaps interested by chance? It was a recent acquisition. A very rare and exceptional piece. I’m sure it's nothing out of your pockets.” Guinevere’s dad said as if he were a salesman. It was as if he was possessed by a spirit of greed.

“I see. Well, I was just curious so I could buy one for my daughter.” Jim said.

“Here, take my card. I’m sure we could work something out.” He offered with an unpleasant grin.

A week later Guinevere’s necklace went missing.

“Dad! Mom! Do you know where my necklace is!?” Guinevere asked. The moment she saw it was missing she rushed over towards where her parents were sitting at the dinner table. They both had smug self-satisfied expressions on their faces.

“Oh, you must have misplaced it. Here… we’ll help you look for it.” Her dad reasoned. With no thoughts of thievery above them, Guinevere took his word at face value not thinking about the conversation that transpired at the funeral. No matter how long and hard she searched, they never ended up finding her necklace.

As the years went by the necklace remained lost. Guinevere never got over her guilt and shame for losing it. During this time the Pendragon family continued to accumulate wealth with the now found help. They ended up starting their own jewelry business with the help of connections through Jim Young and eventually bought out Ivory's parents' company. Their new brand was called The Pendragon’s Hoard. Due to her family’s success, Guinevere reentered Freya Young’s social circle. The Young family had invited the local stockholders to a dinner banquet. It was a celebratory dinner to the continued success of Slowsoft’s partnership with neighboring companies.

Guinevere was heading towards her dinner table when Freya walked past her. While she grudgingly admired the girl’s outfit she came to an abrupt halt. Her body went rigid as the plate she was holding slipped through numb fingers, causing it to shatter on the ground. Freya was wearing Ivory’s necklace.

The sound of shattered glass hitting the floor snapped Guinevere out of her shock.

“You stole it!” Guinevere attacked Freya, attempting to take the necklace off of her, and violently pushing her to the ground.

“Guinevere! Stop! That’s her necklace.” Guinevere’s mom said.

While having Freya pinned on the ground Guinevere stopped after hearing what her mother had said.

“Huh? What did you say?” Guinevere’s heart almost stopped. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. That was most definitely her necklace. There was no way she wouldn't recognize it. She collapsed on her lap still straddling Freya. While her father pulled her off of Freya, her mind shattered into a million pieces. The last remaining reminder she had of Ivory was gone. “How could you?” She looked at her father. As she recalled the smug self-satisfied smile he had on his face when she originally lost the necklace. Hatred filled Guinevere’s heart. “How could you!” She screamed.

Guinevere glared at Freya with violent intent. Freya had a confused horrified expression on her face and Guinevere couldn’t help but feel completely disgusted by her.

What was worse was that the necklace matched Freya’s aquamarine eyes. Like it was made for her. It looked truly immaculate on the girl. It was as if fate approved of the transgression against her. This was the worst-case scenario for Guinevere. The anxiety in her created a fight-or-flight response. In order to not have a mental breakdown right then and there, Guinevere blocked the memory of Ivory in her mind. She began to withdraw into herself as a blank expression came over her. She had to, or else she would have done something irreversible.

After her outburst, her parents took Guinevere and left the banquet early. The entire time she was kicking and screaming until finally, something snapped. She went limp in her parent's arms as she was hauled away from the dining hall. She had begun to withdraw into herself as her rage slowly curdled up inside.

“You lied to me.” A cold voice pronounced. Guinever’s parents gave an involuntary shudder as they turned to look at their daughter. The look she gave her parents made them feel unsettled.

Guinevere’s mom “Are you hearing yourself right now?" she stated, "You're the one who lost their mind in front of some of the most prominent business people in our country! You are being very selfish right now. Complaining as if some rock were more important than our livelihood. I’m sure that poor girl that you attacked doesn't go out of her way and try to put her whimsical wants over the betterment of her family.

“I agree. That girl never caused any problems for her parents and she always does what she’s told. You need to start acting more like her! Besides, You should thank me! I’m doing this for your future. We can always get you a new necklace when we're rich.” Guinevere’s dad said.

That was the last straw for Guinevere. The amount of emotional turmoil she was faced with, caused her to mentally age several years in an instant. Never again would she take someone for their word. She needed revenge. She needed her parents to feel as bad as she was, and she knew how. She had the secrets her parents had been hiding from each other. The ones she had been reading above their heads for years. The bad things she had been told to keep quiet about. That was how she would control them.

“Betterment of the family!?”, Guinevere sneered.“ Do you know what would be better for the family? If you weren’t cheating on mom with your business partners' wives, or if mom wasn’t spending all her time stealing things actually went to work. Wouldn't it be better if someone found out about that? Hey Dad, wouldn’t all of our lives be better if I went ahead and told your coworkers what you’ve been doing? Oh, and Mom, wouldn’t it be better for our family image if I contacted the police and showed them where you keep all the things you’ve stolen?” Guinevere threatened.

Their daughter was unrecognizable with the crazed look she now had in her eyes. Both parents were horrified by the monster they had created. Terrified, they knew they had to tread very carefully if they wished to keep their volatile daughter in check.

Back in the present… Guinevere finished explaining the past details of her life to Reighley, leaving out the part about her being able to read minds.

”I’ve been alone ever since. After that, no one cared long enough to stick around. People rotated in and out of my life. I can’t even remember their faces.” Guinevere said.

“I can't imagine living with such terrible parents. It must have been awful being alone for that long without having someone to trust. If there was ever someone who was in need of a hug, it would be this girl.” Reighley thought. After reading his thoughts with Reverie, Guinevere leaped into Reighley’s arms.

“I knew you would understand,” Guinevere said, hugging Reighley.

“Hey! Hold on,” Reighley said, trying to extricate himself from her desperate clutches.

“Reighley, I want to understand you as well… please, would you tell me? Tell me what Insight is?” Guinevere begged.