And suddenly, reality came crashing down.
It was as if Dawn's brain went into hyperactive mode. The thoughts whizzed around in the few moments that Kabos poised the power depleter above her head.
"Hey, you're Dawn, right?"
No one else had approached her the night of the Spring Dance like Kabos had. No one had had the courage. What made Kabos different? She had always thought it was his natural goodness in noticing a princess wandering around by herself. But it wasn't.
"Word travels fast around this part of the village." he had said when she had questioned how he knew about Adriana being in the hospital before she told him.
"Oh, this? Nothing. Just a gift from my dad a few years back." he had said when she had spotted his bright turquoise hankerchief in the exact same shade of blue as the picture she had seen in the book.
Why else would he have smothered her with compliments, with gifts, with "love", if not to turn on her in her time of greatest sorrow...which he had inflicted?
Why would anyone do something so terrible, so heartless, so detrimental?
Ariesia was the rival kingdom, and the two were unable to be reasoned with in terms of power.
She remembered the other parts of the book, the parts that talked about the Troya, the parts she had merely skimmed over, uninterested. But now she remembered snippets from the paragraphs, their goal of destroying Gregoria once and for all, their secrecy and cunning.
Kabos's words echoed in her mind.
"Love is a weakness."
Of course it was. But not to Kabos. It was a weakness to her, to her sanity, to her mind...it was a weakness to her entire being. And Kabos knew that. He had known that from the beginning.
Everything was suddenly making sense. It was all coming together, but at the same time Dawn's world was crumbling apart. The world that she had loved, had relied on, for so long, was gone. It was done, over, finished...just like her life would be if she didn't act fast.
She heard the swoosh of the power depleter as Kabos brought it down, but she was already moving, her body working without any help from her traumitized brain. She slipped nimbly off of the bed and rolled onto the floor, tears falling freely down her cheeks and hands shaking as she pushed herself back up.
But as the sense of betrayal and devastation grew, as did Dawn's power. She felt it rising within her, just like it had when she had fought with Adriana. But instead of being fueled by anger and disbelief, it was fueled by the complete and utter sadness that welled up inside Dawn and refused to go away.
Kabos grinned slyly.
"Oh, so you want to play like that?"
Dawn heard a loud gunshot from the next room over and a loud thud from just outside the house.
"Father!" Kabos yelled, coming closer.
Dawn backed away, towards the door, but was knocked in the back as Phillip barged into the room, eyes ablaze.
"I just shot the other princess." he informed Kabos before appearing to notice Dawn for the first time.
"Why is she concious?" he yelled at his son, grabbing Dawn by the throat.
"She slipped away before I could stick her." Kabos replied. "Don't worry though, I'm sure she'll be very cooperative."
Dawn didn't even hear his words. All she could think about was the gunshot, the thud of a body outside, and the fact that her sister was now dead.
Now anger joined the sorrow, fueling her power as never before. She felt it surge within her with such force that she thought she might literally explode.
"HOLY---" Phillip exclaimed as Kabos got closer, letting go of Dawn. She felt the power settle down as she slipped out of Kabos's path and ran to the other side of the room. She looked and saw that Phillip's hands were badly burned, and touched her neck gingerly. The skin was white-hot, and Dawn winced as her fingers touched it.
"You little---" Kabos muttered, starting towards her with Phillip on his heels. But Dawn was ready for them. Keeping her eye on the door behind Phillip, she kicked Kabos square in the jaw, causing him to fall to the floor in pain, and punched his father in the gut, not waiting to see if they would follow her. She blasted the bedroom door off of its hinges and ran out, followed by stomping footsteps and Phillip's growling voice.
"You're not getting away that easy." he growled, snatching the gun off of the table and aiming it at Dawn's head.
Dawn didn't even think twice before running towards Phillip, ducking so that the bullet sailed just over her head, and grabbing the gun out of his hand. She twirled it in her hand until she was holding the barrel of the gun, and slammed the handle into the top of Phillip's skull, knocking him out cold.
She was just about to turn around when Kabos emerged from the bedroom, holding his jaw with one hand and the power depleter with the other.
Dawn aimed her fingers at him, summoning her power to make him pay once and for all.
"Dawn, wait."
She stopped at once. The voice was so familiar, so perfect...so Kabos. It was the Kabos she knew and loved, not this monster of a human being standing before her, jaw bloodied and eyes set and hard.
But then the eyes softened, and Dawn felt her heart going out to him.
"Dawn, please..." Kabos whispered, his eyes pleading with her, "Please. I love you. I'm sorry for what I said. He made me do it. I would never hurt you like that. But now that he's out...Dawn, I'm so sorry. You've gotta believe me, you have to take me back...please. I'm begging you." he drew closer and closer until his lips softly touched hers. "Please." he whispered.
Dawn almost did. She almost gave in, almost gave in to the pounding in her heart that was telling her that he was just under the influence of his father when he had tried to hurt her, that kissing him would make it all better, that he would be hers forever.
And then she landed in reality.
She felt the point of the power depleter graze her arm as she pushed Kabos away, angry with herself for even considering his "apology". She heard him curse under his breath as she made a beeline for the door, threw it open, and found a very unexpected sight.
Adriana, Skylar, and a young man she didn't recognize stood at the door, poised as if they were about to knock on it.
"I thought you were dead." Dawn cried out, embracing Adriana.
"I thought you were dead." Adriana replied, laughing slightly. "But as much as I would love to exchange sisterly pleasentries, the guy who I warned you was out to kill you is now coming to kill you."
Dawn broke out of Adriana's arms and turned to face Kabos. But she wasn't ready in time.
Kabos came running out of his house at full speed, ramming right into Dawn and knocking her to the ground. Dawn struggled under him, trying and failing to push him off of her.
"You're not ruining this for me." Kabos spat out vicously. "I've been your personal slave dog for months, pretending to be in love with you. It wasn't fun, and now I'm getting what I want."
Another weight landed on Dawn before Kabos could even get the power depleter in the right position. But as soon as it had come, it was gone, and it took Kabos's weight with it. Dawn scrambled to her feet, feeling her dress rip as she stepped on it. Her shoes had been lost in Kabos's bedroom as she had tried to get around Phillip. Looking around, Dawn saw Kabos being pinned to the ground by the boy who had been standing with Adriana and Skylar.
Adriana's hand slipped into Dawn's and the two looked at each other encouragingly, understanding what they had to do to get rid of this vermin. Taking deep breaths, they both closed their eyes.
Power seemed to swirl from their joined hands and spiral up to the rest of their bodies, giving them warmth and determination. The power intensified and burned hotter, until both girls opened their eyes simultaneously and looked right at Kabos.
They could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what was happening.
The young man who had been with Adriana and Skylar jumped off of Kabos. The process started with his fingers and spread to his hands, arms, and torso. His legs were next, followed by his feet and toes, and finally, his face, until Kabos's entire body was shimmering with a light mist of glitter and light. The light grew brighter and brighter, Kabos's face grew angrier and angrier, until the light flashed out, taking Kabos and the power depleter with it.
"Did you just...banish him?" Skylar asked in awe.
"I...I think so." Dawn replied slowly, her eyes fixated on the spot where Kabos had been just moments before.
"Dawn, what happened in ther?" Adriana asked quietly.
"I don't really want to talk about it." Dawn replied, and the warmth she had felt from working with together with her sister suddenly disappeared, to be replaced by a cold, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh, okay." Adriana replied, her voice just barely betraying her disappointment. "Well, I guess we can head back to the castle now."
"No." Dawn said. The three others looked at her in confusion.
"No?" Adriana repeated.
"I need to be alone." Dawn whispered, her eyes filling with tears and her face turning red. "I...I'll be back."
She ran off, towards the castle, towards her home, her heart empty and her hands cold. She felt her heart beating but she didn't feel a bit of warmth or strength from it. Everything was cold, everything was black, and everything was wrong.
---
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update!! I really wanted to make this chapter perfect, and I've literally spent HOURS writing and re-writing it so that I could do this incredibly important chapter justice. So, it would be AMAZING if you could leave a comment below letting me know if you liked it!!
THERE'S ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT!!! I'm also looking for people to make a cover for the published version of this book (yes, I will be publishing it), so PM me if you'd like to submit one :)
What do you think's going to happen in the final chapter?
Remember to vote, comment, and check back for the next (and final!) update!!
-Katherine