Xena screamed so loudly that it brought Aiden and Emma running up in a panic. And even as they stood there, demanding to know what had happened, Xena just kept on screaming as the video played on her system screen.

She only fell silent when she jumped on Lexie with what might have been a hug, or a wrestling tackle as Lexie just laughed.

Once Aiden and Emma were assured that nothing life-threatening was happening, they returned downstairs and girls called Dewie. Finally, Lexie told them both the whole story. Dewie didn't scream like Xena but he was impressed.

Xena was more than impressed.

"You can go pro." Xena spoke with her hands, gesturing excitedly, eyes shining. "With Conrad training you and your wicked card skills, you'll be number one in no time! God, I can't believe I wasn't there! The one time I don't go somewhere with you and you meet flipping Conrad fucking Grace! And you met Top Dog last year too. How is that fair?"

"Language," Lexie said as her father would have done.

"Who cares?! One of my best friends is going to be the best card mage in the circuit!"

"I'd be the only card-mage fighter in the circuit," Lexie said. "But I don't plan on doing that."

"Ugh, I hate you so much right now it's not even funny," Xena continued ranting, clearly not hearing what Lexie had said. "I'm going to be over in boring hero school while you're fighting in the arena. I'm gonna eat my jacket everytime I watch a match."

"Did you not hear me?" Lexie laughed. "I'm not fighting in any arenas."

That got her to listen.

"Why not?" Dewie asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Xena crossed her arms over her chest.

"Because I can't take a punch," Lexie said first, then explained her reasoning in more detail. Dewie got it, but Xena thought Lexie was wasting her talents. She ranted for about ten minutes about how Lexie never even had to get hit if she just kept tweaking her cards more defensively, which was a little funny, since she hadn't liked Lexie experimenting with cards in the first place.

Nevertheless, they ended up inviting Dewie for their impromptu sleepover that night and his driver, Lars, brought him.

Lexie spent most of the next few weeks with Xena and Dewie, partially to avoid Aiden and partially because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with them before they had to go off to the Academy. Xena, for her part, stuck to Lexie's side like glue believing she had some sort of supernatural luck with running into famous fighters. Zee didn't want to miss the next one she ran into.

In that week, they had many sleepovers at Xena's with Emma bringing them whatever food she botched in the kitchen, followed by the group ordering pizza anyway. The steady choice between pizza and burned casserole often made Lexie miss Aiden's food, but not enough to go back home. At least not for now.

Lexie knew she couldn't avoid her father forever and eventually, she would need to face reality. Sooner or later, Naem would drop the bomb about what he knew, and Lexie would need to deal with the fall out. She had to prepare for that.

Lexie had another nightmare about it, about Aiden staring at her horrified after she told him her soul had been shoved into his daughter's body and his daughter was most likely dead or stuck in an alternate dimension. In the dream, Aiden fell to his knees weeping from the devastation. Lexie tried to comfort him but he shoved her off in disgust.

"You're not my daughter," he spat. And then called his demon friend to come suck out her soul so that he could get his daughter back.

Lexie woke up from that dream with a broken heart and chills running down her spine. She got terrified every time she thought about it. It almost made her want to reach out to Naem, to cut some kind of deal. Maybe he could send her soul back and bring Aiden's real daughter.

But everything Lexie had learned about the Eldritch showed that they were tricky creatures and she doubted that Naem would simply put her soul back on Earth 2 and bring Lexie Sparrowfoot back to life. It couldn't be that easy.

More than likely, he would trap Lexie Evans' soul in the underworld and use her to create some nightmarish creature. Or keep it in an orb like that fairy tale she'd heard once. Or trap her in a never-ending nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.

Lexie wanted to think that Aiden wouldn't let that happen, that this past year they'd spent together would mean as much to him as it meant to her. But she just couldn't be sure. She couldn't forget that there was so much she didn't know about Aiden. It wasn't just about him being a [Villain]; she could overlook that. It was the half-truths he told here and there and outright secrets he kept, starting with his friendship with Naem, and the fact that he could create pocket dimensions. Additionally, he still hadn't told her what exactly he did to earn the [Villain] role, only that his thirst for knowledge had led him down some very dark places.

One by one, all those things didn't seem as insidious. But together, it made Lexie apprehensive.

"You're breathing too loud," Xena murmured and Lexie's eyes popped open. Not like she was sleeping anyway. She was scared to sleep in case the nightmare came back. She'd been trying for the past hour but she hadn't managed to succeed with the thoughts forming a whirlwind in her mind. She finally sighed and turned on her back, eyeing Xena who still had her eyes shut.

"Hey," Lexie whispered to her so as not to awaken Dewie, who was sleeping at the foot of the bed, curled in a ball. "I have a question for you."

"When do you not? Ask me tomorrow."

"Okay, but if I don't ask right now I'm going to be awake all night.'

Xena's eyebrow twitched in annoyance but her eyes finally opened. "What is it?"

Lexie swallowed, somewhat reluctant to broach this topic, but finding that she needed to. At least she wanted to get a second opinion, in case she was being crazy about this whole thing. She didn't look at Xena when she spoke, continuing to stare at the roof.

"After Emma adopted you," she started. "Was there...I mean was there a point where you thought she would take you back to the orphanage?"

For a second, Xena was silent and Lexie regretted the question. Maybe she'd ventured into forbidden territory. Sure, Xena was often very open about discussing her adoption these days and even sometimes told stories about the orphanage, but maybe she wasn't in the mood for that right now.

The longer the silence stretched, the more Lexie's discomfort built.

She was about to utter a "never mind" when Xena suddenly snorted.

"That's what you wanted to ask me?" She sounded amused and irritated, as though she couldn't believe this was what Lexie disturbed her sleep for.

Lexie nodded. "Yeah."

Xena gave her a perplexed look. "Why are you asking? Are you thinking of adopting someone?"

"No. I was just wondering."

"You think Aiden's going to get rid of you?" Xena guessed correctly, incredulous.

"No," Lexie denied but she didn't sound convincing.

"Lexie, that's crazy. He's your dad. Your real dad. And he loves you to a disgustingly doting degree. Why would he get rid of you?"

Lexie didn't know what to say. She offered a weak shrug. "Who knows? People change."

Xena's disbelief hung in the silence only punctuated by Dewie's steady breathing.

"Gosh, you're so weird," Xena sighed. "Did you sleep at all last night? Is that what's making you loopy? Or did you have some of Jay's herbs on the way in?" Jay was Xena's neighbor, an elderly pothead who spent a lot of time on his porch, smiling at squirrels and blowing fumes into the air.

"No," Lexie said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Just forget I said anything." She released a breath but it didn't ease the tightness in her chest.

Xena sighed too.

"The answer is yes," she said. "I did think Emma would return me, especially in the beginning. I guess it made sense for her to because even though she got paid to take me, I think I honestly cost her a lot more than I was worth, what with paying for that expensive school and clothes and all that. But she wanted me to always have the best of everything she could afford. And I didn't get why she cared so much when no one else did."

Lexie remained quiet. She didn't want to interrupt Xena for fear that the other girl would think the emotional reveal was too much and retreat into her shell.

"So what changed?" Lexie asked eventually when Xena wasn't saying anything else.

"I'm not sure," Xena said. "I guess maybe after so long…I forgot to be afraid."

Lexie swallowed. That was pretty much how she'd felt too, up until recently.

Eventually, Lexie had begun to relax into this new world and into her role as Lexie Sparrowfoot, forgetting that it wasn't truly hers. She'd forgotten that she wasn't the only victim of this cruel switch and just as Aiden had lost his real daughter, a little girl had lost her dad.

That is pure cruelty, Lexie thought, feeling like an accomplice to the injustice. It was hard not to think about the real Lexie Sparrowfoot, waiting for her mage father to come and find her. The eleven-year-old was probably so confused about where she was too.

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Lexie had a tentative theory that while the Eldritch Lord had been trying to drag Lexie Sparrowfoot's soul back into her body, he'd accidentally dragged Lexie Evans' from her dimension and Lexie Sparrowfoot got lost in transport, and now the poor little girl was lost and alone.

"You're still breathing so damn loud."

"It's not like you're breathing that quiet either," Lexie shot back.

"Neither of you are," Dewie murmured from the foot of the bed, and as they both watched him, he turned over and showed them his back.

A few days before their departure, Lexie finally received a message from Conrad, via a messaging portal embedded in the golden ticket.

The message told her the location of their training in Arcadia and also mentioned when training would start.

See you there, Conrad's icon added with a wink.

Lexie was about to message back, to explain to Conrad that she didn't need the lessons but Xena argued otherwise.

"Even if you don't join the circuit," she said. "It's still good to know some self-defense. Cards can't help you all the time."

"True," Lexie said.

"Besides, you can't say no until I meet Conrad," Xena added quickly. "Who knows when I'll get the chance?"

Lexie smirked, but she had to admit that Xena had a point there too. Lexie also agreed to take Xena to the dojo about a week before training started, just so she would see the place, because unfortunately, Xena wouldn't be around long enough for training to start.

As they walked, Xena fiddled with her PHORB.

"Are you going to keep up with it?" Lexie asked. "Your social media thing that is?"

"If I have time," she said.

"I don't see why not. Plenty of heroes have social media."

"Yeah but not like mine."

Lexie smirked. "Can you believe you're actually going to be a [Hero]?"

Xena groaned. "Ugh. Don't remind me. With any luck, I won't be a [Hero]. I'll just fail out of the second year. Or, while I'm there, I'll see if I can pick up a healing subclass as well. My tutor said it might be possible."

"Oh." Lexie was less than enthused about Xena being a healer but once again she didn't show it. She didn't want the last days to end with a fight. "That's good. If you want I can help you with pathway research."

Xena raised an eyebrow. "In between all the dangerous experiments you plan on doing?"

Ah. And Xena was apparently back to hating card experimentation.

"They're not dangerous," Lexie said. "If they were so dangerous, Aiden wouldn't agree to them."

"And you're definitely going to stick to his rules at all times, and tell him everything you plan on doing, right?" The sarcasm dripped from her tone and Lexie ignored it.

"I'll be careful," she said because she knew Xena was saying it mostly because she was worried. "You're the one going to risk her life at superhero school and you don't see me complaining. "

"Because you already did. You gave me a binder full of notes on all the horrible ways [Hero] students can die."

"Exactly. So you have to be careful."

Xena shook her head, smirking. "What kind of parting gift is that?"

"Well, it's better than what Dewie gave me." Which happened to be a list of all the omens he'd seen in Hovelton and which parts Lexie should avoid. It was a ten-page folder. "Actually, scratch that. That was an awesome gift. Thoughtful and it makes my research easier too."

"Both of you are weird."

They soon happened upon the building, a nondescript one-storey building that didn't seem like much on the outside. But Conrad mentioned that there was a wide open space inside, with lots of training tools and a gym where they could build muscle. Also a deadroom they could access at any time.

"It's closed," Xena sighed. "I can't believe I've come this close and I still won't get to meet him."

"You can meet him during your first exeat. I'll introduce you."

Xena gave her a surprised look. "Wait, you're going to train with him?"

"You made a convincing case." Plus Lexie thought that perhaps the best way to figure out what exactly she needed for the defense deck was to experience a variety of different attacks she might be under. What better and safer way to do that, than to train under someone who fought for a living?

Xena looked happy but she also made a face. "And I'm back to hating you again, you lucky skunk."

"Yeah, yeah," Lexi grinned. "I hate you too."

"Good. Don't cry when I have to leave tomorrow," she said. "Emma's already been crying all week and I don't think I can take another person sobbing like they'll never see me again."

Lexie shrugged. "I'll try as long as you promise you'll come and visit every break you get."

"Oh, trust me, I'll take every chance to get out of there," she murmured and Lexie was already calculating how much time until they saw each other again.

Xena stared at the building longingly for a few more minutes and took a picture of it. Then, it was time to go.

True to her word, Lexie managed not to sob when she said goodbye to Xena at the train station the next day. She did however give her a long, hard hug and got a little choked up when she told her, "Come back soon, okay?"

"Definitely," Xena said, hugging her just as tightly.

Emma on the other hand was sobbing like a baby, tears rolling down her cheeks and snot out of her nose as she held Xena for close to five minutes, murmuring and kissing her hair. Xena was almost as tall as the other woman at this point, but she hugged her back like the child she was.

And when the train arrived, and Emma managed to pull back, Xena looked uncertain. Her gaze travelled from Emma to Lexie to Emma again.

"Thank you," she told Emma, which set the latter off again.

After that emotionally wrenching goodbye, Lexie had to do it again with Dewie just a few days later.

That one had fewer tears but was just as emotional.

Lexie had a sleepover at Dewie's house the day before and then accompanied his family to the Skybird station the next day. After a somewhat uncomfortably silent ride, with Dewie's father throwing her glances here and there, they thankfully arrived at the station in one piece.

While Dewie's parents and Veronica stood at one side, Lexie and Dewie stood together. He'd dressed up for the occasion wearing a patterned shirt and a purple bowtie. His hair had grown a few inches so it no longer resembled a sex organ. But his eyes were uneasy, his body tense even as he tried to hide his nerves.

Lexie nudged him on the shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, shooting her a nervous smile. "It's just that…new school. New people. New…everything."

By everything he probably meant the oddities he got to see.

"Xena is going to be there," Lexie told him. "And I'll only be a system call away."

"Yeah, but you get busy and I don't want to bother Xena all the time."

"You're not a bother, Dewie. You're our friend."

He gave her a weak smile in return but the worry didn't leave his face.

"I got you something," Lexie said to distract him and then reached into her pocket. She pulled out a beaded bracelet, with a pendant in the middle of the red orbs.

Dewie took it. "Is this a friendship bracelet? I've heard of those."

"Nah," Lexie responded. "Xena vetoed friendship bracelets in the ADM rule book. Says they're tacky. These are Dewie bracelets." She pointed at the pendant in the middle. "You know what that is?"

He shook his head.

"It's a Lyrac Gnome. They're supposed to be a symbol of extreme, disastrous change."

Dewie's eyes widened. "You think I'm a disaster?"

"No," Lexie laughed, although now that she thought about it, she probably should have considered that he might think that before getting him the gift. "You see, the Lyrac gnome is a controversial figure on the Fae Planets. For some, he spells doom, for others he symbolizes rebirth, a need for change, to make the old better." Lexie reached out and ruffled his hair. "I think you're a symbol of change Dewie, and while people might not embrace change at first, it's usually needed. And powerful. And necessary. Just like you."

Dewie stared at her for several seconds. Finally, he gave her a genuine smile.

After Xena and Dewie were gone, Lexie felt melancholic and pensive. She felt lonely also even though they could still talk everyday if they wanted to.

But it wasn't the same and Lexie could sense it. She had a new fear that her happy days were over and things would never be the same again.

"So what exactly is the Undernet?" Lexie asked Isaac the next time she saw him. She was at his shop, with her Uncle talking outside with Bane again about dungeons and stuff. They came to check on Isaac's progress and he'd told them he needed more time to hook her up. "Like how does it work?"

Isaac spared her a look as he continued tinkering. "No one truly knows. Our best guess is that it's an old prototype of the system that never got shut off entirely. And then maybe some rogue developers or hackers figured out a way to use it to circumvent legitimate system communication."

"I see," Lexie said. "Would I be able to find things like weapons there? Or like old forbidden magic?"

"Your Uncle threatened to shove a gun so far up my butt that it would come out of my mouth if I ever gave you access to those." He gave Lexie a grim smile. "So I guess the answer is no."

Lexie's face fell as she heaved a sigh.

"Although…" he ventured.

"Although what?" she asked.

"There's a guy who might be able to help you find stuff that isn't illegal but isn't common either."

She frowned. "Another tinkerer?"

"No," he denied. "He's a finder. He finds things for people at a fee."

She frowned. "So like a mercenary?'

He shook his head. "Not that either. It's difficult to explain exactly what he is. But you'll understand when you meet him. If you meet him, that is." And before she could ask he switched out his weird-looking spanner for an even weirder screwdriver. "He's kind of picky about the clients that he takes on."

Of course, he is. "So what do I have to do for him to agree to meet with me?"

"Nothing," he said. "I'll put in a good word."

Lexie blinked. "Wow, thanks. And here I thought this whole time you didn't like me because I brought my uncle here to bully you into my demands."

Isaac smiled but didn't elaborate.

"Are you doing it because of Max?" Lexie asked.

"No. It's because of you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't recognize you the first time you came here," he said. "You look different on videos. Smaller. Anyway, when I watched a video on the NET of you fighting Conrad, I realized I'd seen you somewhere before."

Lexie thought about it and figured he was talking about the video she'd taken for her Uncle Max even though she'd only appeared in the video for a split second while she activated the PHORB.

Nevertheless, he stunned her when he said, "You and your friend. The taller one? You were the ones who broke into that Hero Party, weren't you?'

It took Lexie a second to understand what he was talking about. It hit her suddenly. The Hero Party. Gosh, that had been almost a year ago, so long ago that she'd forgotten.

"You saw that?"

"Yup. I think a lot of people around here saw it, those who have access to the undernet that is. We also have a healer shortage problem here and I'm sure a lot of us wished that we had the opportunity to do what you did. Plus it was funny that, with all the measures the [Heroes] took to keep their exclusive party exclusive, two little girls were able to break in and nearly ruined the whole thing."

"Huh." It was kinda funny when she thought of it that way. "Although I didn't really do much, just kinda ran in there to get Xena out after it was all over."

"Doesn't matter. It was the effort that counted."

"Wait, so that video did get on the Undernet?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't a huge hit but it was enough that you and your friend were the talk of the forums for some time. The video got taken down a few weeks later."

"Wow." Lexie hadn't thought the video had reached the Undernet. The fact that it had gotten all the way here, even with the powers that be doing their best to take it down, was a testament to how powerful the Undernet was.

A place of limitless information and communication.

And Lexie couldn't wait to explore it.

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