What-oh shit...Mom.

"W-What?" I demanded, gasping for air, "You were struck down by father-you were killed!"

"I still live in the amulet."

I looked at my necklace. It was still around my neck.

Dread racked my mind as everything hit me like a battering ram. I had been too naive back then to realize that by using my mom's necklace in the necromantic ritual, I had bound my soul to my mother's and in doing so, her corrupted soul (due to my stupidity) had begun to steadily harm me. I also failed to realize that seeing my father again awoke the dark spirit of my mother. I realized all of this in one terrifying moment, and I ripped my treasured necklace off from around my neck and threw it as far away from me as humanly possible. With its departure, the voices faded.

I attempted to steady my breathing, but my nerves got the better of me. I sunk down to my knees and started sobbing. I was overwhelmed: first, I run into my father, then I find out my mom is a malevolent spirit that has been slowly tainting my soul. Not cool, man.

I didn't notice that Luna had followed me outside until I felt her gently shake my shoulder

"Helix? What's wrong?"

Her voice was calm and even-toned, which gave me the strength to choke back sobs and mutter: "The necklace- it's possessed."

She looked into the alleyway and saw my necklace. She shivered when she sensed its corruption. She then took her necklace off (Which had a crescent moon on it) and put it around my neck: "There." She murmured. "This necklace used to belong to my mother, but she gave it to me to help me cope with the nightmares I suffered from when I was younger. This should help you."

I guess it was out of relief, but I embraced her.

"Thank you," I murmured. "You didn't have to do this."

She smiled warmly, "Think of this as a repayment for Brooksvale."

I loosed a shuddering sigh and felt more than a few tears leave my eyes. "Oh bother...It's a terrible day for rain..."

"What do you-?" Luna began, only to look at me and bow her head. "Indeed it is."

We just stayed there in silence, then I stood up and sighed, "What am I going to do? My father knows that I'm alive, and I'm still an exile. The mark on my face says it all."

"It'll be okay," she assured me.

I looked at my necklace as it still laid on the ground, "What do we do about my necklace?"

Luna picked it up and wrapped it in a piece of linen she removed from a satchel she was wearing at her side. Luna now wore the robes of a novice. They were a light shade of gray, and there was a hole in the back for her tail.

Her ears twitched, "Someone's coming," She whispered.

Dorrian appeared in the entrance of the alley, eyes wide, "Mayday-."

My father then appeared in the alley. Dorrian looked helplessly at me from behind him. My soul went cold again, and fear radiated off of me. Luna stood in between me and my father. Without meaning to, I covered my mark of exile. -My eye- and squirmed. All two hundred scars on my body burned as if they were freshly made and had never healed.

"My necklace did this to me," I realized, "Dear gods..."

"I know Helix is an exile here, but you will not touch him," Luna declared in a soft voice.

I was shocked by her ferocity, "Luna, stand down please."

She didn't even move a muscle.

I sighed.

My dad seemed hesitant to speak: "I-I'm not going to hurt you son."

"What?" I replied in disbelief.

"I've missed you. I realized that I had made a terrible mistake when I exiled you. I was so stupid...I was still mad at myself that I had lost your mother." His shoulders slumped, and his eyes grew clouded with grief. "I wasn't thinking right, and then the lashings...I still have nightmares to this day. I shouldn't have left you to die, Helix. I know I can't apologize-not after what I did. I want to say I'm sorry, but I'm sure after all this time, you despise me. I threw you out to die, so you have every right to hate me. I-I just wanted to let you know that you're no longer an exile. You don't have to hide in the shadows any longer."

I was confused-I didn't know what to say.

"I don't hate you." (I'm not even sure I truly meant it.)

My dad smiled, but his smile was of resignation, not happiness: "I wanted to thank you, for saving the village from those bandits. The garrison wouldn't have arrived in time to save those people who were being held hostage in the tavern."

"All in a day's work," I replied, rolling my shoulder, only to find a knife embedded in my back.

"Huh..." I mused as I casually yanked the knife out, "How come I didn't notice that before?"

Luna looked like she was about to have a miniature heart attack.

I winked at her as the wound healed itself, "It's nice to know a few healing spells to patch yourself up with. See? 'Tis but a scratch now."

Luna laughed, and her smile lifted my spirits tenfold.

"So no one's dying, right?" Dorrian called out.

"No," I replied, voice dripping with dry humor, "No one's dying Dorrian."

"Woo!" He called, "See Hel? Progress."

"Shut the fuck up Dorri." I snapped

In the distance, I heard Analise laugh.

Luna huffed: "Please be nice Helix."

I looked at her innocently, "I'm as nice as an angel."

"M-hmm, I see horns holding that halo up."

My dad chuckled, "So these are your friends?"

"Yep, my group of merrymen-and women." I replied

"Good. They seem to be a...colorful group of individuals."

"Heh, you have no idea," I began as I saw Luna grin.

"Well, you can return to your sleeping quarters now, if you'd like. Dinner will be in a few hours if you're hungry then."

I nodded, "Sounds good to me."

I started to walk toward the sleeping quarters with Luna by my side when I heard a voice speak to me.

"Helix."

M-oh fuck knuckles.

"Oh fuck knuckles."

"What?" Luna asked nervously.

"Don't panic, and no, I'm not mad at you. Just listen to my words before I lose control again."

I nodded my head like an idiot.

"Before your father and I met, I dabbled in magic-dark magic. My aura survived the various rituals and trials I put it through, but when I died and you attempted to bring me back, it was damaged. As you can tell, I wasn't completely destroyed, but I can only hold back my dark half for so long before it regains control."

"How do I undamage it?" (Did I seriously just say that???)

"You would have to perform an exorcism on my necklace-the one I gave you when you were a child. I fear damage has already been done to your aura. If my necklace is not purified-."

"I turn into a demon," I concluded for her.

"Why must you guess correctly? Yes, that would happen, but you'll be safe if the necklace remains off your person. Just make sure to not put it back on"

"Okay then...nice talk mom."

"Take care sweetie," she replied.

My day has been strange. I see my dad again, find out that my mother's a half-evil spirit, and that I have to exorcise my necklace to purify my mom's soul-err, aura before she turns me into a demon. Holy shit.

In a daze, I followed my group as we shuffled back to our quarters. When we got there, I told them everything. A good leader does not lie to their teammates.

Dorrian was stunned, "Really? Your mom's a spirit?"

"Obviously," Ana chimed in, "She's dead. What'd you expect her to be? Tap-dancing on a whale?"

I chose to ignore Ana's last comment and continued on with what I was saying

"Well, she's not entirely dead," I continued, motioning toward Luna's satchel, which held my necklace, "My necklace is keeping her partially alive. Although her body is gone, her soul still lives-which by the way, my mom stated that I'll be safe as long as I keep the necklace off. That means I'm trusting you to keep an eye on it Luna. If you start hearing voices or feeling weird, leave the necklace somewhere you can find it. I don't want you to risk your life because of my mistake."

Luna nodded in understanding, "I'll keep an eye on it. Don't worry."

Ana had a thoughtful expression on her face: "So...your mother's soul is corrupted."

"To a degree, Ana. There's still good in her, but we have to be careful."

Luna nodded, "This is no ordinary spirit, so we must be careful."

Dorrian looked at her in confusion, "Just what type of spirit is she? And how the hell are you able to sense spirits in the first place?"

Luna pondered his question for a moment, "I'm not entirely certain. What I do know is that she is no ordinary spectre. To answer your other question...I don't entirely know. When Helix pointed toward his necklace, I was just...able to sense the foulness emanating from it. I'll see if I can raid Virrius' library and read more about it, but I seem to have the natural ability to sense spirits."

Everyone nodded. For some reason, Ana seemed bothered.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, yeah," She replied distractedly, "I'm good."

Luna looked as if she was distracted as well.

I raised an eyebrow and nudged her with my elbow.

"Hmm?" She replied.

I motioned toward Ana, "Notice anything...different?"

Considering that Luna was able to sense the corruption of my necklace, I had reason to believe she was able to sense other things. Perhaps she could even sense the auras of people around her. I mentioned this possibility to her, and she frowned thoughtfully.

"I don't know if I can sense her aura. I think I just got lucky with your necklace."

"It's still worth a try," I pressed, "Please try at least."

"Okay..." She conceded as she focused on Ana's aura, only to frown.

"What on earth?" Luna muttered.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked her.

Luna thought over her answer for a few moments: "Ana's aura is...gone."

My jaw dropped, "How the hell-."

Ana stared at me as if she were about to throw one of her knives at me, "Stop while you still can, Helix."

"Ana, what-?"

"I told you to stop while you still can," she continued, her voice as cold and sharp as one of her knives. "For your own good."

She stalked out of the room.

"Ana! Ana wait!" Dorrian called, running after her, only to jump back into the room as one of Ana's knives violently thudded into the door.

I looked at Luna in concern, "What do we do?"

She seemed as confused as I was, "I'm...not entirely sure."

As I was debating what to do, a single word popped in my mind.

"Shit."

- - -

-H- Well, that was unfortunate...*Sigh* I suppose we'll see what'll happen next, now won't we my dear reader? The plot rolls onward, and things are going to get interesting very quickly.