Chapter Thirty Three: The Troubled Mind

Raven, Kara and Aurora at a small cave that is hidden well behind a Red Waterfall that resembled blood to Kara. The cave was massive and was filled to the brim with shelves upon shelves of books and herbs. Raven didn't come here too often but this was one of first hideouts when she was exiled. She knew this place would be safe and would provide the time that she needs to finish the serum.

Kara and Aurora do their best to make themselves at home. " I'm impressed by your ingenuity Raven" Aurora comments. She had never expected Raven to have so many well placed hideouts. They were cozy and would do for the time being. " Thanks.." Raven replies, taking it both as a compliment and an insult. " I hope Shawn is going to be okay " Kara whimpers as Raven searches over a table. " He can handle himself, I promise you that. He wouldn't get himself into too much trouble" Raven had an unyielding faith in Shawn. She knew believed in him and knew he would make the best call that he could at the time. And that he would return as soon as he could.

Meanwhile Shawn and Gwen are teleporting to several hundred different locations trying to find Gabriel but having no luck. " Hard man to find..." Gwen rubs her eyes from the frustration she was feeling. " How bad is it..really...? " Gwen asks as Shawn stretches. " You mean Gabriel? We have never fought before. And he attacked me. And won" Shawn found it hard to admit considering he had never lost a fight before.

" He was tortured by your brother Jack for a long time. He was manipulated and beaten and broken. And then had a girl trying to use him to gain power...using concoctions on him under the guise that she was trying to wake him even though she had other plans. And..." Shawn turns to Gwen " He was in love with Kara and learned alot of things about her that broke his heart. So much so that he attacked her the first chance he got" Shawn felt horrible saying these things despite that they were the truth. Gabriel was his closest friend and he didn't want to think so badly of him but he also had to be honest.

" Damn..he really did go through alot. He sounds like one tough son of a bitch" She laughs at her own Joke though Shawn does not. " Okay look. I guess im gonna be honest here with you. I know we don't know each other all that well but I'm going to tell you my intentions" Gwen explains catching Shawn's attention.

" I want to meet Gabriel. I want to meet him for a couple of differences. Some of it is because I want to actually help him. And also, I want to ask him for a favor " She explains.

" I doubt he would be able to help or want to. But I want to ask if I can stay in the Lycan Kingdom. I'm hoping by helping him, he will offer me sanctuary. I do not wish to live in my parents castle anymore " She confesses to Shawn. " We have a different way of doing things. We don't share the same ideals and we don't share the same goals. But..they would have me killed if they knew of my plan. They have already tried to have me killed several times but think I am too stupid to know they put the hit on me. I know they want me gone but they also have their uses for me " She confesses. Shawn had no idea why she would open up to him like this. He didn't feel like she was trying to trick him and that was the strangest concept to him.

" If what you say, and you are able to help him. I have no doubt that he would help you. He has been through alot and right now things are different. But he has a kind heart deep down. So when you meet him, don't base your opinion of him off of what you see " this was the first neutral party he had met throughout this entire ordeal. Or at least, she seemed impartial. " Don't worry. I'm now that shrewd.

Meanwhile, Lysette had managed to contain the infestation better than the council could have ever hoped. Whilst they were upset that they had been displaced. They were happy to have a capable leader finally.

Lysette, was working her hardest to manage relations within the Kingdom. The tension had been so high from the stress of how things had been handled recently.

And somehow, since Santara had been removed from the Kingdom, things had become alot more peaceful. As she makes she finishes talking with some of the guards and organizing the proper defense measures for the kingdom, she made her way down the street. Passing by Victoria's Grave and stops to look over. She walks over and kneels down in front of it. " I am sorry young one. You had so much potential. And you would've made Gabriel so happy. One of my biggest regrets is not getting the chance to speak with you more as an adult. You've made your parents proud. Not only that, you've made this Kingdom proud. You died with honor, saving Santara. The highest honor..even if she was foolish. You still sacrificed yourself. And I want to repay you..but I can't right now. But in time, I will find a way " She smiles down at the grave, something Lysette was not knowing for doing, smiling. She stands back up and makes her way back to the castle where she finds that the roundtable had been removed. She ordered this to be done days ago but it was finally done. She saw the council as weak, full of cowards and a shoddy replacement for her sister and brother by marriage. She knew long ago that they never would've been able to do a proper job and that is one of the reasons she left the Kingdom. She had such a long life that she had lived. One that was unknown by most. And that is the way she wanted to keep things. She couldn't let just anyone in to her life. Not after the things that she had seen. The things that she knew. Everyone could be an enemy but she no longer felt the same anxiety that she use to feel for it. If she was to die right here, right now. She would be okay with that. She had made peace with herself and her life long ago. Even still, she had things she wanted to get done before she did pass on. And she was determined to make sure they got done. She was not going to go down without fighting no matter how much peace had been made with the reaper.

Santara had been walking for days, smelling foul and being tired and hungry. She had been exiled and she had been stripped of her wolf form. She had every intention of finding a way to get it back though. She wasn't sure how yet but she would find a way. She had no intention of finding a new home or settling down. She had a new mission. Taking down Kara was always going to come first but killing Lysette was almost equal to it. She didn't know where she was going, she instead just walked.

Gabriel and Gooblin arrive in cave of some sort. It was completely dark and Gabriel was beginning to feel as though he should have put more thought into going with Gooblin.

" This is home. Gooblin show you " Suddenly lights begin to fill the entirety of the cave and Gabriel can see that is standing in what looks to be a converted home of sorts. Most of the furniture looks like it was made poorly out of wood. None of which looked comfortable. Gooblin waddles around him and heads to a large shelf and pulls out and waddles over to Gabriel and hands him the book. " This show you. This how to bring friend back " Gabriel stares down at the book which is covered with a black leather and has no name on it. He opens the cover and finds a long lage of very small texts. From what he is able to tell, this seems to be some sort of spell book from what he can see.

" I can't do magic. So unless you plan on doing it, this is not helpful to me" which makes Gooblin smile even wider. " Come down" Goodblin motions for Gabriel leans down and he does reluctantly. Gooblin reaches up and places his hand on Gabriel's hand which knocks Gabriel unconscious immediatly.

Though he cannot move, Gabriel is trapped within his own mind now. He looks around and sees nothing but Darkness. He calls out for anyone but Noone responds. He was trapped for what felt like hours to him, with nothing but silence to comfort him. And that is when, out of the darkness, Steps Kara.

" You are still alive..? " Gabriel was slightly surprised despite the condition he had left her in. Shawn must have helped her. " Kara stood there in front of him, silent wearing a pure white dress which resembled a strapless wedding dress. She looked beautiful even though she looked so sad at the same time.

" You hate me.." Kara finally speaks out. Gabriel rolls his eyes, she sounded exactly how she use to. Pitiful and sad. " Of course I hate you. Do you realize what you put me through? " Gabriel asked, not being able to move any closer to Kara. He was frozen in place. " Of course I do. I have thought about it every single day. It wasn't my feelings that changed. It was yours. The only one you are truly upset at is yourself " her words danced around the room through an echo that lasted far too long for Gabriel. " You hate that you never told me how you felt. You hate that you thought you lost your chance. You hate that you walked away from me"

Gabriel grows angry at this. " I never got the chance- " he tried to reason but Kara wouldn't allow for him too. " You had plenty of chances but you refused too. It was always about what others wanted because you matter so little to yourself. It's why you want Victoria back " Kara looks to her side as Victoria steps out from behind her. " Victoria.." Gabriel gasps.

" You knew I would always be loyal to you. And you knew that I loved you. But I was the second option.. I was never Kara and never could be.." Victoria said as another figure stepped out from behind Kara. It was Santara. " I was using you. You knew I was. And there was nothing you could do about it. You felt helpless. Just like you always felt with Kara. You aren't broken. You are acting out because you didn't get what you wanted. Everything didn't work out in the end for you" Santara explained as Gabriel fell to his knees. " Oh boohoo, I lost my parents" Santata mocked. " I have to do what is best for my people and my kingdom" Victoria adds. " I have to be okay with you choosing her over me even though you never wanted her to begin with. Your heart was never with her " Kara reaches out to Victoria who disaapears. " And you never wanted to be King. All you wanted was me " Kara smiles as she waves her other hand and Santara dissapears.

A whisper comes from behind Gabriel as Jack leans his head down in Gabriel's torn ear. " You can never have her now...because of what you did. You took everything I did out on her and it wasn't even her fault" Jack laughed and placed his hands on Gabriel's shoulders. " You wish you had died " He stares deeply into Kara's eyes. " Because you can't live with the fact that Kara doesn't want you"

" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Gabriel screams as tears fall from his eyes for the first time in months. " She deserves better than me. She always has. I was going to do nothing but bring her down. I was going to dissapoint her. I can't...I can't be the man you thought I am Kara. " Gabriel looks up and see's Kara in Jack's arms. He wanted to move and stop it but again he was frozen.

" If that is true..then why would it bother you that I did find someone else " Kara smiles, looking at Jack with a seductive stare. " Because he is selfish. Because he is jealous. Because he doesn't want anyone to have you. Of course, he doesn't want to share but you...are so delectable " Jack leans foward and kisses Kara deeply.

" I SAID NO" Gabriel screams as his eyes begin turning completely Golden again. " SHE IS MINE " Gabriel charges at the two who dissapear the moment he touches them making him collapse onto the ground. " No. I'm not. And that is because of you Gabriel " Kara's voice echos throughout the darkness.

A few more hours pass, and Gabriel layed there, on the floor, not moving in the darkness. An arm reaches down and lifts him to his feet and Gabriel looks over to see that it is Victoria. " I will always help you stand no matter how many times you fall. You know that. But don't bring me back if you don't love me. I don't want to a second option anymore. I don't deserve that. Do right by me Gabriel. Don't bring me back into a world where I can't have you" Victoria dissapears as Kara walks around from behind him.

" You have to let me go.." Kara says in a hushed voice. " I can't...." Gabriel cries. " I've tried but I can't" Gabriel explains. He had tried the best that he could but Kara would always be there. In the back of his mind. " You don't love me. You love the idea of keeping me safe. And that is okay as much as it isn't. It isn't your job anymore though. You have to let me live my life and you have to live yours" Kara looks into his eyes, conveying a sense of understanding. " Bring back your Queen..." Kara dissapears again as Gooblin walks up to him from the Darkness.

" You have had a choice to make for most of your life. But you ignored it. You did everything in your power to walk away from it. And even when you told yourself that you did things because it was expected of you. You knew what you felt. You chose Victoria. You chose her not because she made the most sense at the time. Everything inside of you wanted to choose Kara but you didn't. This wasn't responsibility. This was the love that you had suppressed for a very long time. That is why when you lost her. You lost everything. You heard the words that Jack spoke and you grew so angry. This wasn't because you felt you lost your chance. This was because you knew you wasted your time seeing a falsity when the real thing was with you the whole time. You were mad at yourself. And now, you know you can't fix it. You can't go back and change the time you had wasted. But, a second chance is coming Gabriel. And I truly hope you a ready for it "