“You are saved today little bird. For the knight has slain the dragon, and saved the boy. You were completely and utterly useless, Icarus.” The witch whispered into my ear.

Embedded on the crystal walls were scenes from each fight, I watched as Stryder and Zack fought Jormungand. Then next to that came the fight with Leo and Elo. The witch was right, in the end, they didn’t need my help at all.

“That’s right Icarus, they may have been able to defeat Elo early on too if it wasn’t for you. You thought you knew best, and that thought process got Zack killed.”

The ice block around me cracked and soon shattered. I fell face-first onto the floor and heard the Witches cackle all around me.

“Failure, failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure,failure.”

My witch’s voice bounced all around me. I looked around desperately for the source, but I couldn’t see anything. My heart started to pound against my chest, and the air got thin. I started to pant and tried to just ignore it. Then, the lights snapped on, and took my breath away.

“B-but how?” I mumbled.

“You should’ve just left us alone bird poop!” I heard Zack roar from behind me.

I turned around, and my stomach twisted into knots when I laid eyes on Zack. His dark green eyes peered into my soul, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I took a step back, and my entire body trembled. There was a gaping hole in his chest, that leaked blood from it like a broken faucet.

“I-I’m sorry I just-”

“You wanted to prove you mattered right? Look where that selfish confidence got you? That’s why I left ya know? Because you’re so selfish!”

I chewed on my lip and tried to keep my body from shaking. Then, I turned around and faced the voice. Be strong, Jack taught you to be strong.

I looked up from my hood, and my eyes met my father’s. He looked tired, yet I could see the fire of hatred in his eyes.

“You were so selfish, that’s why I left your mom. Because you were a terrible son. Only focused on how you felt.”

Even though this wasn’t the first time I heard it, the words still made my body tremble.

“Yeah, that’s why the family hates you. Because you made dad leave me.”

I heard the voice from my half-sister speak up, and I turned toward her.

“Sis I-” I tried to speak but she cut me off.

“No, don’t say it. Your not family, you’re a leech.”

“Not to mention careless, you let me get that money Rushon.”

Tears came down my face, and I started to pant again. No, I don’t want to look.

“What’s that? Can’t even look at me? Just like before when you weren’t looking hard enough. You gave me the money I used to end myself Rushon.”

“I- I didn’t know!”

“Is that really your excuse? Tell that to my parents!”

"These tricks won’t gonna work on me!” I roared.

"Don't get the wrong idea little bird. These are just your own thoughts and feelings, personified. No tricks here. This is all just you.”

After she spoke, all the apparitions started to chant.

"Failure!"

"Failure!

"Failure!"

"Rushon! Are you there! Are you okay!?"

Suddenly all the voices came to a screeching halt. I wiped my eyes and looked around, and nothing was there. Was that Aella’s voice?

"Rushon! Tell me if you’re okay!" She screamed again from a walkie on my side.

I reached back to it, then answered it.

"Y-yeah I'm fine."

"Oh thank goodness, I hadn't heard from you in hours. Is everything alright? You don’t sound okay.”

"Yeah, I wasn't needed here after all," I muttered.

"What are you talking about-"

"Can you give Jack a call for me? I need to investigate something."

"Well hold on-"

I took the batteries out of the walkie and took a breath. Maybe, maybe Stryder would be better suited to have her by his side instead of me. I took a breath and looked around the room. Right, the power was back on. I looked out one of the small windows down here, and I saw it was night. The visions she showed me were in the daytime, so was any of that real? Was she just messing with me again? Wait the powers back on, that means that it couldn’t have been an EMP, or maybe I don’t know how EMPS work that well..

"Rushon!" I heard Lux squeak from the closet.

She opened the door and fell face-first onto the floor. I walked over and held my hand out to her.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, is someone else here? Did the boys come back yet?" She asked.

I felt my stomach churn as she asked me that. Zack's face came into mind. Did he really die?

"I'm not sure, it might be best if you-"

I pulled my hand back. Wait, what if I'm wrong again? What if that vision was true? Maybe I should take her with me, she is a nurse. But what if the vision was a lie, and the area is still dangerous?

"Icarus?"

"I- I umm think.."

I looked away from her and scratched the back of my head. My phone rang loudly and snapped me back to reality. I took it out and looked it over, it was Jack.

I answered.

"H-hey."

"Icarus, I finally got your message. I’m back at the Beowulfs apartment, what the hell’s going on!?”

“I have Lux with me, and she’s safe. Go to the downtown area, you’ll find the Alley of justice there, I think.”

“You think? Dude are you okay?”

“I-I’ll bring Lux there.” I quickly hung up the phone.

I took a breath and relaxed. Right, Jacks here, he’ll know what to do now.

“Icarus? What’s going on?”

“We’re going to the city, come on.”

“You did it to prove yourself to him, didn’t you little bird?” My witch whispered into my ear.

I turned toward the voice, but nobody was there but Lux.

“Icarus, are you okay?”

Did I imagine it? Or was my Witch actually doing something?

I chuckled.

“Who knows,” I muttered.

…

“Oh no..” Lux mumbled as we grew closer to the destruction.

I carried her in my arms, as I hopped on the air down to the scene. Once we were close enough to Zack’s body, my stomach dropped. The visions were true, he really did die.

“Zack! Zack!” She shrieked and struggled to get out of my arms.

I let her go once we were close enough to the ground. She stumbled but managed ran over to him. She put her head to his chest, then to his neck. I saw the color drain out from her face as she realized the truth. Tears came streaming down her face, and she grabbed a hold of Zack’s shirt.

“Why! Why!” She repeated it over and over again.

The pit in my stomach only grew deeper as I watched. Should I go console her? Do I have the right to go do that? I took a step forward.

“How could you face her? After all, you may have gotten him killed for your pride.” The Witch's voice whispered to me.

“Why couldn’t it have been me..” I mumbled.

“Yo!” I heard Jack call out from behind.

I turned and saw Jack walking over, he had two snowmen carrying Stryder and Leo to us. From out the corner of my eye, I saw Elo peeking out from the alleyway. Jack seemed to notice as well and held his hand out to him. I used my wind to throw my voice toward him.

“Relax, it's Elo, he helped stop Jormungand,” I called out.

Jack lowered his hand and nodded. I walked over to him but I didn’t look up at him.

“So Icarus, what’s the plan here?”

I opened my mouth but immediately closed it again. Don’t, you’ll just mess things up again, Just let Jack handle it.

“I-I don’t know, what do you think we should do?”

I looked up at Jack finally, and his eyes got wide as he stared at me. Then, right beside him, was my WItch. Who smiled ear to ear. Her fiery hell eyes stared deep into my own, and I looked away again.

“Icarus-”

“Stryder!” Lux cried.

We both turned toward her and watched her run over to the snowman. Crap, I was taking him away from Lux now! Should I say something about checking the immediate area? Maybe even teleporting would be good to do if the electricity is back on? What if that’s the bad call though? What if It leads to someone seeing everyone maskless and hoodless. Wouldn’t that make Jack’s job harder and-

“Look, check the perimeter with your wind. See if we have any witnesses, once we’re in the clear or you spot someone, will warp out of here. In the meantime, I’m going over to her. I’ll trust you about Elo.”

Trust me?

“I-I don’t know, well I think I’m sure about it. So far that vision I saw was right, but maybe I missed something. Maybe my head got it wrong.”

“I-If it’s any consolation to you two, I can’t really move anyways,” Elo called out and dropped next to some rubble.

Jack nodded to him and looked back at me.

“We’re gonna have a talk after this,” Jack said right before he ran off to Lux

“This is why he left you, all you do is disappoint him.” I heard her whisper again. “You know he wasted his time training you. He should’ve been here from the start, maybe the extra training would have saved them.”

Just ignore it, just ignore it. I took a breath and walked over to the outskirts. I decided to start with the buildings, walking around abandoned places always calmed me down. When I got inside I took a moment to breathe and just explored, not a single soul in sight. Once I got to the third floor, I sent my wind out to sense for people. That’s when her whispers finally came back.

“You should’ve called Jack sooner, you made that mistake.”

“You should’ve just called Arthur and told him your concern. But you wanted to prove you can be a hero too.”

“Now someones dead. He’s dead, because of you! Lux is crying because of you!”

“Your parents divorced because you weren’t good enough, you lost Jack as a mentor because you weren’t worth anything! And now you’ve gotten someone killed because of your failure! Oh wait, this isn’t the first time is it?”

My heart started to pound again and Theseus’s face came into my mind. Flashes of his lifeless corpse flooded my mind. I fell against the wall and my heart rammed against my chest. I started to sweat and my lunch tried to come up. The image of Theseus was burned into my mind. Then that Witch started to laugh.

“Aww you just can’t save anyone can you?”

I grabbed the wall and started to ram my head into it. I wanted it to stop! I wanted it all to just stop!

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

“I can make it right, my child.” She whispered.

I stopped banging my head and felt something cold running down my face. I looked forward and I saw the red stain of blood on the wall.

“W-what?”

“Come outside in the Alley. If you wish to die, and in exchange for your life. I’ll bring back what was taken from them.”

“You mean, trade my life for Zacks?” I asked.

“Of course, after all. Haven’t you noticed?” She gestured toward the window.

I got up and walked over to it. The blood trickled down my face and blurred my vision. But I could see it clearly. Jack and Lux over by Zack’s body.

“He’s gone and forgotten all about you. You’re just holding him back, and you know Aella would be better off with Stryder. Your death would finally make your life matter.”

I blinked and suddenly I was in the alleyway. The witch stood before me with a wide grin. Her dress flowed in the breeze, and her eyes didn’t show hell this time. They were just lifeless and clear. She slowly held her hand out to me, and for once. I felt sure of something again.

Yeah, the world would just be better off without me, wouldn’t it? Maybe now, everyone can be happy. I started to laugh, and tears came down my face. Aellas face came to mind, then my mother’s. Then finally Jacks. Mom might even get back with dad, my sister won’t hate our family any more, and Aella can find so much more without me.

Just when I was about to shake her hand, a cold hand snatched my wrist away from her.

“Just what do you think you’re doing here?” Jack growled.

I looked over to him, but I immediately looked away.

“The boy seeks retribution for his worthless life by sacrificing it for my child.” She hummed.

Jack growled.

“I dare you to call him worthless again.”

“Oh? The mighty Jack frost, or should I say, Jack Frey?”

“I don’t care what deal he wanted to make. He’s not making it with you!”

She chuckled.

"Don't fool yourself, Mr.Frey. You only care about this boy because he reminds you of your late sister. You're just afraid to lose that again. Just replace him like you did her. You already haven't you?"

My body ran cold. A replacement huh? Was that all I was?

"No, no one can replace Anna." He took a breath. "Rushon is his own person, and I believe in the person that he is. He endures for others so they don't have to feel pain. He does everything in his power to save others even if he's mocked nationwide." He let go of my arm. "I believe Rushon will be better than all of us. He's ten times better than me, then Stryder. He'll be the one to change the world around him."

"Zack died because of my failure Jack! I'm not a hero! I'm a failure! A mistake!"

"No, you're not. I talked to Lux about everything, there's nothing you could've done better. Sometimes in life things just don't work out, no matter how hard we try. There's no point in sulking in the what-ifs. Just learn and move forward."

"But-"

"Have you forgotten what you did for Aella? Do you think she'd smile knowing you killed yourself!? Do you think Stryder would be happy to know you did this!? Do you think I’d be happy!? I didn’t train you because I had to ya know. I did it because I believed in you. So don’t go wasting everything you fought for because of some stupid Witch!”

"Without you calling me out, I never would've tried to save my brother." I heard Leo croak from behind.

It made my body shake to hear his voice. I turned back around and saw Elo carrying Leo over his shoulders. He looked battered and bruised, but he still faced me with an intensity in his eyes.

"Leo.." I muttered.

"You are the reason we made it this far, and I don’t say things to be nice. That’s just the fact of the situation. Lux would’ve been taken, Stryder would have been killed by Vergil, and dad would’ve caught Val and Alexis.”

“You were a factor we didn’t take in, you alone are the reason things didn’t work out. You're the first person since Gilda and Rex who made my father panic like that.” Elo spoke up.

Then the witch burst out into laughter. She swung her hands, and everyone vanished. Then, everything seemed to get brighter. I looked up, and the sun had come back to life.

"Well, little bird? Will you try and spread your wings made of wax? Or will you choose to drown in the sea?"