knows. He just said that it would happen after we graduated."
"Well, I guess it’s surely better than being dead," I stated and lifted my head to rest my chin on his chest. He looked down at me as I wondered about what happened.
"The evil Elijah said that if we kill him, the other Elijah will die as well."
Jax was quiet for a bit before he replied, "It bothers you."
"It shouldn't, right?" I offered. "I mean...he's the past. We can't really save him."
"But," he pressed.
"But is it fair for him to be judged and executed now that we know there's two of them?" I whispered. "Just like Elisha. It would be cruel for us to persecute her without acknowledging the crimes of her twin, who may be the culprit of everything. Obviously, none of them are innocent, and who knows how much control the Shadow Kingdom may have had on certain decisions, but I guess...it worries me that we could punish someone who may be truly a victim."
"Which may be the Elijah who was once your best friend," he concluded.
"Maybe. I understood his jealousy but never really could wrap my mind around the idea of him wishing to harm me. Who knows if the evil Elijah just manipulated his mind to benefit his arrival into all of this. It's even more confusing because I can't understand which Elijah was the one at the exam where he crumbled with the mountain."
"Could he have been swapped last minute?"
"Maybe? Or manipulated?" I suggested.
Jax closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "We have too many missing pieces of this puzzle."
"Where are we, anyway?" I decided to ask, needing a moment to not think of the list of things we were struggling to figure out.
"We're at some Switzerland hospital for mages. It's really tiny and in the mountains to ensure privacy. Professor Phoenix, Starlight, and Katsume had arrived with reinforcements when you passed out and we were brought here via teleportation. We've been here for about two days? They were worried that they would have to cancel the trial."
"When is it?"
"Tomorrow."
That made me cringe as nervous spikes of worry went through me.
"I'm frightened by it...but I don't want to delay it as well," I confessed. "I want it to be over with once and for all. No more worrying about this aspect of the past. I want justice to be served, and I secretly want the truth to come out. All of it."
"You want the truth of Elisha to come out as well," he concluded.
"Everyone makes mistakes," I whispered. "Envy. Anger. Jealousy. Emotions trigger reactions that don't represent the best of us. Who knows if everything she did was her evil twin or her, and it doesn't dismiss what she did when dating you, but with the truth, we'll know who the real culprit is, or if it's both of them."
Jax bobbed his head before he whispered, "Your growth always inspires me to do better.”
"Just like your support makes tackling life a lot easier," I praised.
We shared a wide smile as we leaned in to kiss.
"FUFUFUFU!"
Our lips crashed into fuzzy hair, which made us both grunt in displeasure before seeing Fuwa's fuzzy body floating there.
"Well, well, well. Look who's back," Jax dryly declared, and I realized it was Jaxsin.
"Fufu!" Fuwa moved and crashed into Jaxsin's face.
"Ugh. Leave me alone," Jaxsin groaned, and I smirked at the fact he'd come back from apparently sleeping.
While he dealt with Fuwa, I glanced around the room and noticed the bandage on my arm, which confirmed I must have been on an IV drip at some point.
"I need to pee," I announced, which made Fuwa pause in bothering Jaxsin as he pointed past the curtain. "In the corner. Don't walk too fast though. Your sister said the meds they used to keep you stable make people dizzy."
"Okay," I replied and took my time getting out of bed. Walking at a rather slow pace, I noticed the popcorn right next to the curtain.
Elsa was at my feet with the acknowledgment of the colorful piece of food, and as soon as she noticed, she dived right at it. All I could do was shake my head.
"Elsa," I whispered. "Come back here."
"MewMew!" she replied but didn't return to my feet. I moved the curtain just slightly, noticing Elsa was hugging and nibbling the popcorn in her paws’ grasp.
Reaching out to lift her up, I ended up having to crouch down just to avoid the chance of falling over. Rising up, my eyes landed