Brianne out!"
"Hmmm." He thought about it. "Why?"
"Because she's going to be consumed by the darkness if we don't get her out," Connor emphasized.
"Who told you that?" He kept tossing questions and it only made me angry.
"Move aside so we can get her out!" I snapped.
Jaxsin’s laughter was eerie as he shook his head and clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing on me. "You're giving orders when you let her get trapped in there in the first place."
His obvious response still hurt me like I was being stabbed by a sword, and he only laughed louder this time around as he shook his head.
"You failed the test."
"What test?!" I snapped.
He raised his hands up like he was going to preach the word before he stretched them out to his sides.
"This is what the shadows of darkness want. For us to fear an element that has never been truly against us. You fear what you don't know. You fear the unknown. You fear me because you can't see my true potential. My true motive."
His words seemed displeased, and I tried to move from Finnick's grasp, but he held me in place. "Why are you stopping me, Finnick?!"
"He's provoking you on purpose," Finnick calmly replied. "If Brianne was truly in danger, do you believe Jax, whether light or dark, would let her perish?"
I stalled in answering but Connor responded, "No."
"Exactly," Finnick replied and Jaxsin chuckled.
"You've changed," he declared. "Or you know the truth to the darkness because it's within you as well."
Finnick didn't say anything at first, but he slowly nodded. "I understand it, but that's something you have to figure out on your own, isn't it?"
"It is," he replied and smiled. "Something that only acceptance can deliver."
He moved his hand to slip beneath his dress shirt, only to retrieve a golden chain that seemed to be attached to a black stone.
My eyes widened while Connor gasped, and Finnick raised an eyebrow his way.
"When did you get that?"
"Hmm," Jaxsin pondered. "The morning after I spent the night with Brianne. The night when all of you were away from the house for the entire night. It was a magical night, indeed, filled with passion and laughter that lit up my whole core."
His hand wrapped around the crystal and it began to glow a purple before bits of gold and red peeked through its glowing orb of energy, swallowing his clenched fist.
"I got to meet the dark Brianne. Or really, Marianna. She accepted the darkness. Even though she's a tad feisty. When I awakened from our night of festivities, here was the necklace on my neck. Like I'd been entrusted with it. I hid it from everyone, including Brianne, for it didn't seem like the right time to show its thundering glory, but the time is now, and I like the idea of not being a failure."
He specifically looked at me and whispered, "How long are you going to push the world away out of fear?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat as he suddenly walked towards me.
"How much longer until you see through the darkness piling up in your mind? See beyond the built-up pressures of expectations and fear of failure? You fear the darkness because you think of it as evil. A force that will only lead to failure."
"The darkness is what killed those individuals!" I snapped back, and he chuckled as he stood right before me.
"No, no, no, Kaito, my brother. That is not what killed them and we both know that. A stab to the chest. A slice to the neck. Wounds made by physical weapons not cloaked in light is what killed those individuals who were merely swallowed by the dark force. The darkness is only lethal when it reaches right here." He raised his hand to tap his temple. "Right in the brain where it lies in wait, letting you doubt yourself and all those around you until there's nothing but negative banter. That's what the enemy wants. That's what they've been desperately trying to get from you, but you're a stubborn one, and Brianne is the light that makes you remember common sense."
He pulled back and turned right around.
"I could show you the consequences of true darkness, but I'm bored, and I miss our Brianne." He looked over his shoulder and made sure his black jewels pierced mine as his voice dropped to an emotionless tone. "You're allowed to fail once, but the second time will lead you down a path of sacrifice. Take the time to realize