AN: I am so sorry about everything, I have been having a hard time on this end. However, we got this typed out on my phone and here it is, finally. Again, sincerest apologies. Thank you for sticking around.

Speedy

Here I stand, overlooking the city from my small mountain plateau the memories flashing through my head like lightning. Seems we found whatever was needed to unlock the rest of the spell and there in the bathroom we witnessed its finale. It took a lot of convincing to get a small amount of time to myself up here after the girls had to watch the light coursing through my body, but after explaining that it was just the spell lifting they seemed to ease up. Kisses were shared, hugs were abundant, and now I am here, staring over my home. If I have my memories back I assume the corrupted does as well, and that just won't bode well for me with how unpracticed I am. Lifting my hands I take a deep breath, eyes slipping closed as I picture him. Shaking a bit my hands begin to crackle to life, lightning always one thing I have above all else. I remember the day we battled, his movements, his frightened hisses and well-timed attacks... even the way it felt to have my life slip from my fingers. Faltering I feel the power diminish from within me,

"I know it's difficult, but you can't doubt yourself, there is a reason it has come to this twice. Try again..." My soul sword chimes gently, motivating me to keep at it. I let my mind wander to the beautiful women I have waiting for me at home, and not just the ones I'm romantically interested in. All of the girls, who accept me, and who have changed me for the better, and who I will fight to the ends of the earth for. He flashes through my mind again and I take a deep breath, focusing on the positive thoughts as blue lightning crackles back to life in my hands. Smiling I thrust myself forward, flying from the force of the jump before landing hard against the ground. Slamming my fist into the earth I feel the force of my power rumbling the ground, cratering it below my knuckles. With a smirk I jerk forward to sprint, dragging the lightning through the forest with such control that I surprise myself. Dodging through the trees I feel as though I can see what is coming before I get to it, making my movements predicted and precise. Raising my hand to the sky, I summon forth my sword, the fire from my other spell lighting almost immediately around the blade. Carrying on through I finally find a clearing where this sort of power won't bother anything or anyone. I first sprint a few laps around the open area, all the while forcing the power to protect me from branches, morphing it into a shield of sorts that incinerates whatever attempts to get through. Slowing after a bit of practice, I move to the center of the clearing, lifting the sword to the sky again, letting it absorb itself back into the small band over my finger, "Wow... what a rush..." She whispers with quite the exasperated voice, it makes me chuckle,

"Seems our stamina is very helpful in this instance, huh?" I offer the light words while my legs cross beneath me. Breathing deeply I look at my surroundings one more time before letting my eyes slip closed. One thing I find lacking about the corrupted is who he is, I know I wrote it down on that paper, but it's been burned to a crisp obviously. Focusing my thoughts on him solely I let his image take the forefront, his features feeling familiar to me. I can't seem to piece together a lot of it because the only time I've been close to him he was halfway covered in corruption. Sighing softly I wrack my brain, keeping my eyes closed while lowering my head into my hands which brace easily against my thighs. Rubbing my palms against my eyes I growl, "So I remember everything except that?" I say to the air, my ring warming a bit,

"Someone is watching us..." Clearing my throat the hairs on the back of my neck raise, not sure if it is a threat. Slitting my eyes carefully, I don't even have to look far to find the culprit. Sliding from the shadows of the forest is him, the one who keeps finding his way into my thoughts, but he looks almost... subdued, especially when he raises his hands in a show of peace. My brows press together and I stand with much the same pose. The closer he shuffles the more uneasy I find myself, muscles twitching as if prepared to take off, a lump forming in my throat as I look him over slowly,

"I remembered yesterday..." He says suddenly, his voice is garbled and it takes me a moment to understand, "I remembered you, and how it ended for us..." It almost looks like those thoughts pain him, I wonder if I hurt him as much as he did to me, "And I need to know what you remember..." This startles me, to know he didn't come to fight and instead talk it out... though this could be a trap. I lift my hand to rub the back of my neck and he tenses at the movement, so I lift it casually and let it fall back to my side,

"I... will admit I remember we were at war with one another, you took my friends, and I took your friends, but I can't seem to recall who you are or what began this whole thing... just what the in-between was and the very end... like a book with a few pages torn out." Keeping myself light, I breathe slowly, willing myself not to panic as this man who has killed me before and has attempted my life again now stands but a car or two away from me,

"They were not my friends, merely pawns to be used for a higher purpose." My brows press together and I tilt my head, but he presses on before I can retort, "As were your so-called friends... but I suppose more specifically, do you remember who I am?" Feeling the ball in my throat tighten I shake my head, his disappointment obvious. He huffs a bit, crossing his arms as he looks to the sky, "Your irony knows no bounds, whoever you are." Blinking a few times, I clear my throat to attempt being rid of this clog,

"You don't know who did this either... and where is the irony in this situation?" He has the nerve to chuckle, shaking his head,

"Beca..." When he says my name it's like time slows, and I am flooded with memories, more so than even those of the war. Memories that were happy once, tainted with the taste of abandonment. He is trying to say something but I can't hear him, the realization that's just slapped me square in the face is one I had never expected. This broken and evil man in front of me, I once called father, this man in front of me, was Jonathan Mitchell. I feel my vision clouding, tunneling as my heart thumps so hard against my chest I physically take a step back. He staggers as well, eyes wide as he watches me,

"Y-you..." I breathe out, "You tried to make me a corrupt like you... so you could use me like your brethren..." His hands fly up and he shakes his head,

"No! I wanted you to join me, be by my side as we took over this world of already corrupt and tainted people!" I shake my head, anger pressing to the forefront,

"You left me to rot! You thought I was useless!" I cry, the memories of the day he left flashing back to remembrance in an instant. My mothers screams as he gutted her, took her life with his bare hands. This is when I ran, the sour taste of loneliness fresh on my tongue, "She was my light... She was my everything!" My wails must trigger something in him, his shoulders tensing as he lifts his hand high, the threat all too real,

"Shut your mouth! You know nothing of the power we could have if only you would harness it!" My hand shoots out and the bolt of lightning zaps across the air so fast I don't think he even realizes its hit him until it forces him to stagger back further, "You pathetic child!" He turns to run, my bolts giving chase far into the woods. My breathing comes in ragged puffs, the anger coursing through my veins about to send an assault the way he left... until I feel a hand on my shoulder, then another on my opposite arm... and two arms snake their way around my torso,

"Hey, Becs... What's going on?" I feel Chloe whisper against my ear, Stacey quick to move in my eye line as she looks me over,

"He was here wasn't he..." She whispers, this sends a flurry of light touches all over me,

"Did he hurt you?!" Aubrey's voice commands an answer and my head shakes to give her relief. Chloe releases her lion grip on my waist and comes to stand next to the brunette, sympathy in their gazes,

"How much did you hear?" I mumble, eyes averting to the ground. Aubrey's hand slides up to grab my chin, lifting my gaze to catch her piercing emeralds,

"Enough to know you need some good food and a good night's rest to think about things." My heavy sigh is interrupted by Chloe jumping forward,

"And and! Probably a cuddle session too!" She grins when I put up no resistance, hands becoming occupied as they take me back to the house.

My mind isn't into whatever the girls have planned, I eat to satisfy their worry, I rest between the three of them as they each take turns telling stories, and I even close my eyes until they turn the light off. What nags me at such a late hour... "You know nothing of the power we could have" echoes through my brain, the ring chiming in after a beat of silence,

"Perhaps it would be something worth looking into? I know the girls said you had tons of books you used to go through." Ah-ha! I need to study more! Just as I think it, my body slowly lifts from the tangled mess of limbs and bodies, maneuvering to head down to my office. Each book I decide to look through helps me none, the only repetitive statement being that there can be no good without evil, so we cannot exist without each other. That was the last thing I wrote in my notebook, circled multiple times, and even with a question mark at the end. The last thing I wrote before I marched to my death. The sun is peeking above the horizon, a sigh pushing past my lips at the realization that I've gotten no sleep. I get up and start making breakfast, we still have a lot to do today.

After everyone eats the banquet I whipped up, I'm careful to make sure I act normal around the girls,

"You were up pretty late last night, huh?" The incredulous look I give Chloe must give away what I was trying to hide, Aubrey shakes her head right behind her,

"You can't hide anything from us Beca, especially not when you deprive Beale of her cuddle time." They share a laugh and I can't help the grin that pulls to my lips. Stacie's arm slips around my shoulders as she leans in to kiss behind my ear,

"What's the plan for today, babe?" This gets the other two to focus back on us, and I feel my face scarlet under such attention,

"Ah well... I need to go to my Philosophy class... As much as I love putting it off I should probably pass my first year." I hear a round of giggles behind them, Lilly and Amy popping up on one side while Cynthia moves to the other,

"Can I walk with you?" Amy is the first to ask, and I nod much to the dismay of everyone else. She moves forward with a radiant smile, snatching my hand but not before I'm given three sweet kisses. Aubrey grasps my other hand a moment longer even as Amy impatiently tugs its twin, leaning in she whispers,

"Don't think you've gotten out of telling us what kept you up all night, I expect a full report when you get home." With a chuckle and mock salute to the captain, I am released and moving out the door.

The walk is relatively quiet for once, Amy's hands pushed into her pockets as it seems she searches for a way to begin what clearly is something important,

"You know we all love you very much right?" She says it hesitantly as she might actually believe I have no idea. My mouth opens to answer but she is quick to press on, "Of course you do, but... do you know how much it would destroy us to watch you fall... again?" She has stopped, and I turn to face her but those full-of-life eyes can't seem to meet mine, "I know I'm the queen of spontaneous decisions but... this time can we plan it out? I just... We can't lose you..." She jumps forward and I almost find myself on my back from the force of her hug, "I know you have to fight him, but let's figure this whole thing out together before you do, kay?" I nod against her shoulder and she bounces back, rubbing her eyes quick, "Jeeze midget, didn't have to get all emotional on me there." She laughs, punching my arm hard before she straightens and begins her pace again, back to her normal self. The rest of the way to school the blonde woman goes on about how she dumped her latest boyfriend because she thinks Bumper is finally going to get his head out of his... giving me an extra tight squeeze when we get to my classroom. Flopping into a chair I open my book to the pages listed on the board. Blinking back the irony that I would conveniently show up to this class, I look up in time to make eye contact with the teacher,

"Alright, so the Chinese philosophical notion of yin-yang, can anybody dive into that definition with me?" Why me, I'm literally going to have to listen to her drone about what has been plaguing me all night. Light and day, freezing and boiling, good and evil, "Notice that it is a continuous circle, never-ending in its cycle, but one other thing you might not have noticed, is that cycle is encased within one entity, can anyone explain to me what I'm pressing towards?" I feel my cogs start turning, my hand rising into the air of its own volition, and of course, she calls on me,

"If you're referring to something as simplistic as good versus evil it could be said that it's within each of us, and we each need to make a choice..." She nods and then adds on to my statement,

"Yes, in that instance we would be the entity, good and evil always present within ourselves, just controlled by our actions..." Something about that statement is important, I can feel it in my bones. The rest of the class muddles by, my sleep-deprived brain attempting to put together what I feel is an obvious solution. My father... Johnathan... The corrupt stated that we could have power beyond our wildest dreams, what if I'm looking at it all wrong... Lilly pulls me from my thoughts when I see her waiting for me outside her hand extended as she leans in close,

"Feel like hunting today?" I think for a moment, then nod, I have a theory and I want to test it...