“Huh?!” I practically shouted. “But, he was at Finn’s party yesterday! And in class with us this morning!” How could Maverick be part of the staff? And how had Marge figured it out? To think he was playing us this whole time! Ugh, not that he actually knows what he’s doing.

  “What are you talking about?” Marge scrunched her face in confusion. “There’s no way he’d be caught dead associating with us unless it’s to detain us. He specializes in discipline. Did you recalling your memories somehow make you forget this?”

  “I don’t remember this either.” Finn shook his head. “I’m with Ella—we just sparred yesterday in my room. And I remember the look on his face when Ella was taken out of the classroom.”

  “Maverick was the one who dragged her out, right?” Aidan had walked over to us. He seemed equally as confused as Marge.

  “Your memories are different from ours.” Finn looked lost in thought. “Does that mean… Avaline has the ability to change our thoughts whenever she pleases?”

  “Only if we’re under her control,” I explained. “Asir told me that once we recall our memories, the same person can’t use mind control again.”

  “Well… We’d better find Maverick fast,” Marge said. “If she has him working for her, there’s no telling what he believes right now!”

  We all nodded at each other and were about to head out the door when Aidan stopped us. “Wait, do you think we should take a nap first?”

  “A nap?” I blinked.

  “What if Maverick has access to his magic? There’s no way we can take him on right now!”

  “The others didn’t have magic, so I think it’s safe to assume Avaline wouldn’t trust him with his,” Finn answered.

  “She trusted him enough to make him part of her staff.” I crossed my arms, lost in thought. “That must mean she trusts him to a certain extent. Aidan’s idea isn’t bad, but we don’t exactly have time for it either.”

  “No, we’d be better being safe than sorry,” Marge said. “If Maverick has magic, we have no hope of beating him while we’re this weak. I’ll keep watch and wake you if he tries to kill you in your sleep or something.”

  The three of us looked at each other hesitantly, but eventually agreed. Part of me felt like I was the one who should keep watch, but I supposed if it came down to it, I was the only other Ethereal.

  We decided to nap in my room with Marge keeping watch at the foot of the bed. The stress of being caught and what we might have to face kept me up. If only Starlett were here to put me to sleep… Wait, why were there flashes of wharracks in my mind? And why were they leaping over fences?!

  “In your world, you usually count sheep to fall asleep, don’t you?” Finn whispered from behind me. It was weird sharing a bed with him and Aidan.

  “It’s a thing, but I don’t think anyone actually does that,” I confessed.

  “Oh… Then what would you like to see while you fall asleep?”

  “Um, nothing.”

  My thoughts suddenly became a void. That wasn’t what I meant!

  I couldn’t remember how much longer it took for me to fall asleep, but I was woken by Finn gently shaking me.

  “We’ve been asleep for two hours; we should probably get going,” he said.

  “Two hours? Is that really enough?” My stomach started to rumble. I’m already hungry? Finn closed his eyes, and when he opened them, a pink fruit appeared in his hand. “How did you do that?! I thought only Maverick could do that?”

  “Maverick does it by teleporting food to us. The kitchen isn’t far away, so I figured I’d give it a try. I guess it worked.”

  “So you’re saying he steals food every time he does this?”

  “More or less.”

  “That checks out with him not giving a—”

  “Can we get some fruit too? Or was this all for show?” Marge crossed her arms and leaned against the bedpost.

  “I-I was planning to share!” Finn sputtered. It was funny how scared Marge could make him.

  Finn teleported fruit one after another, which was a much slower process than Maverick making a bundle of fruit appear. “I’m trying my best!” Finn’s voice sounded pleading, and I couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m not an Ethereal, let alone one that specializes in teleporting.”

  Once we finished eating, it was time to look for Maverick. I opened the door slightly and peeked out. Well, we didn’t have to look very far. He was walking down the hallway. I quickly closed the door and turned to the others.

  “He’s right there, isn’t he?” Marge asked, and I nodded.

  “Uh, how exactly are we going to get his memories back?” I asked. “I mean, he has his thoughts protected.”

  “Well, first we knock some sense into him.” Finn punched his open palm with a closed fist, making the rest of us wince. “Then we drag him around with us. If we can get to the rest of the palace, maybe he’ll remember on his own.”

  “Are we really going to have to fight him?” Aidan frowned.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “That’s up to him.” Finn crossed his arms.

  “Still, we should try not to hurt him,” Marge added.

  “That’s also up to him.”

  We opened the door and filed out one by one. Maverick must have heard our steps because he turned around. This time, he was wearing a black body suit, much different from the beige jacket Avaline had him wearing earlier.

  “There you are.” His voice sounded different—deeper, more serious.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t think to check my room.” I crossed my arms.

  “Honestly? None of us thought you were stupid enough to hide there.”

  Okay, then.

  He summoned his sword, and Finn took a step forward. I quickly extended my arm in front of Finn, blocking his path. I took a deep breath. Maybe we didn’t have to fight. “Do you remember the time when you trapped me in a plastic tube? I’m still mad about that, by the way.”

  Maverick’s expression morphed into one of confusion before settling back to serious. “You’re trying to trick me.”

  I shook my head. “You took advantage of my claustrophobia. It was quite mean.”

  “A-and remember the time when you forced me to train with you? I was shaking for the rest of the day!” Aidan added.

  “Remember when we sparred? Yesterday?” Finn chuckled. It was still crazy to me that we had different fake memories.

  “Please, you gotta remember the fangirls, Maverick! The fangirls!” Marge shouted.

  “You’re just saying words now.” Maverick rolled his eyes. “You’re trying to get me to lower my guard, which I’m not going to do.”

  “Then I guess we’re going to have to fight.” Finn summoned his lance.

  “But you’ve never won against Maverick before!” Marge interrupted. “Not even once!”

  “Thanks, Marge. I really appreciate that.” Finn forced a smile. I hate to admit it, but Marge had a point.

  Maverick stood with his sword in what I assumed was a defensive position. Finn rushed at him with incredible speed, but Maverick pushed him back with his sword. The two were locked in place, weapon against weapon.

  The tip of Finn’s lance glowed with a fire I could’ve sworn was growing. Was his plan to use the fire to consume Maverick…? I couldn’t explain it, but I had this sinking feeling in my stomach as I watched the two of them fight. I didn’t want either of them to get hurt. There was no way Maverick would hold back, so I knew Finn wouldn’t hold back either. Still…

  Marge ran down the hallway, her feet sliding as she turned to get behind Maverick. She threw her yo-yo and wrapped the wire around Maverick’s legs. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want Maverick to get hurt. She pulled on the wire, but Maverick stayed firm in his position.

  Ugh! A blast of light blinded me, and I struggled to tell what happened next as bright spots clouded my vision. I could hear metal against metal, along with grunting, but I was still struggling to see! I was starting to get jealous of Finn’s mind-reading ability. He got a heads up, and I didn’t! I supposed Aidan giving away the plan would make it much less effective.

  “Are you so weak that you need their help?” Maverick smirked as he pushed back against Finn’s lance. The latter was evidently struggling to keep his balance, with Maverick’s comment only worsening it.

  “I can take you on my own! Stand down!” Finn called out to the rest of us. Oh no… I always thought it would be Maverick’s ego that got him killed, not Finn’s. “Shut up.”

  A dragon made of fire curved around the tip of Finn’s lance—stunning and beautiful. It made me jealous that I didn’t have a weapon of my own. I wondered if I’d be able to imbue my weapon with an element once I could actually summon the stupid thing. Probably. Though, why had Maverick never done so?

  Finn ran down the hallway with Maverick cautiously walking behind him. Finn didn’t bother waiting for him to catch up as he ran up the side of the wall and turned around, using his momentum to keep himself horizontal. He leaped in the air and kicked Maverick in the stomach as his lance took the brunt of Maverick’s attack.

  Maverick fell backwards but got up with an unnatural speed, blocking Finn’s next attack. Finn carefully maneuvered his lance over and over with such grace that it almost looked like his lance was dancing. The beautiful dragon soared and dove around Maverick’s sword, though it never quite seemed to hit its target.

  With one hard push, Maverick sent Finn stumbling backwards. Finn used this to his advantage as he stabbed his lance into the floor, singeing the concrete. He used his momentum to spin himself around, kicking Maverick in the process. As he jumped back down, he pulled his lance free and continued his onslaught of strikes.

  “This doesn’t look good,” Marge whispered to me.

  “It doesn’t?” I tilted my head to the side. “Finn seems to be keeping up with him.”

  Marge shook her head. “He’s defending himself, sure, but he hasn’t really gotten a hit on Maverick. Not to mention, he’s using a lot of ether keeping that fire going. And he constantly drains ether by reading minds.

  My stomach sank. At this rate, it was a battle of endurance. If Finn went down, Aidan would probably be our next best chance, but…

  I glanced over at Aidan. He was entirely fixated on the fight, but I could see his hands trembling. He had fought Maverick before once, but he was also a lot stronger then. The fight also ended in a draw, so Aidan winning this time seemed unlikely. Why did Maverick have to be stupid powerful?!

  When I glanced back up at the fight, blood was dripping from Finn’s mouth. Maverick looked like he was barely breaking a sweat.

  “Just admit you’ve lost.” Maverick twirled his sword in his hand, taunting Finn.

  “No.” Finn’s grip on his weapon tightened. “I’ll admit I’ve never won to you—not once. Maybe it’s a fool’s errand to try now, but what choice do I have? I’m the only one who’s fought you before! Dammit! I wish you’d just wake up and remember we’re all on the same side!”

  “You can’t trick me with your words. If you’re going to side with this traitor, then you must die. Those were Her Imperial Majesty’s orders.”

  The two clashed again, but this time Maverick’s movements were faster—cleaner, like he was holding back before, and he landed several hits on Finn. My heart plummeted into my stomach each time Finn screamed. His lance was stabbed into the ground, the fire long since extinguished. The weapon was the only thing stabilizing Finn as he pulled himself up to stand. He was covered in blood, and his hair was matted down to his face so that I couldn’t see his expression.

  Still… Still, he tried to pull his lance from the ground. Stop! Just stop already! You’ve done enough! If you keep going, you’re going to get yourself killed! He shook his head, ignoring all my internal shouting at him. Ugh! You really can be stupid at times!

  And so can I.

  I ran in front of Finn and extended my arms, blocking the two from continuing to fight. “Maverick, supposed servant of Her Imperial Majesty,” I shouted. “I challenge you to a duel.”

  Maverick looked me up and down as if my existence somehow insulted him. It probably did—he didn’t seem too happy when he kidnapped me. He probably felt even more insulted with his memories altered, probably thinking I wasn’t worth his time. Actually, no, Maverick with his memories intact would definitely think that.

  “Then draw your weapon,” he said, his voice skeptical and unamused.

  “Um… I don’t have a weapon…”

  “Is this some sort of joke?” Definitely insulted now.

  “J-just lend me a sword or something!” I sputtered. Not that I had any idea how to use one—it was just to make me look cool, or something.

  He conjured, or what was probably in reality, teleported a sword. He tossed it in the air, and I barely caught it with both hands. It was also much heavier than I expected. I should’ve asked him for a rapier. Holding the heavy sword in my hands made me remember how heavy the situation was. This wasn’t my friend anymore. Well, at least he didn’t remember being my friend. He was going to sincerely try to kill me while I sincerely tried not to kill him. Why do my friends always end up trying to kill me in some way? “I would never try to kill you.” Awww, thanks.

  “Prepare yourself, traitor.”