Lexie's next fight was in just one week, against a girl called Diana.

She was a technomage who specialized in long-range attacks, much like Lexie did. Luckily, Diana had been fighting in the underground and amateur spaces for some time, which meant there were already videos of her online to give Lexie an idea of her fighting style. Unlike TechnocRat, who was just a technomage boosting his strength and speed with mechs and techs, Diana was fortunate enough to have a physical rank too, which she'd focused on speed, visual acuity, and dexterity, and her specialty as a gun meister. She was a sharpshooter who never missed a shot, and people called her the next Jane Phoenix.

That might have been one of the reasons why she was paired against Lexie. The fight already had some buzz because of the rumors that Lexie was Jane Phoenix's daughter.

Lexie tried not to look herself up too often, but the video of her fighting Tank had garnered about six hundred thousand views, which was the third-highest viewed video of the tournament. The two above her were Boris (because he was the only other Berserker in the league and was pretty much poised to take Conrad's place) and Tate, because he was a mundane. There were also a few people like Diana, Arachnid, and Tank who already had prior fan bases from fighting in the amateur circuits.

While those two videos had more views, Lexie's video had a crazy amount of interaction with people speculating about her parentage and her powers. Lexie found it kinda funny that those purporting she was Jane Phoenix's daughter were viewed as conspiracy theorists when their theories were the closest to the truth. Well, except for the fact that they thought Jane was still somehow alive and teaching Lexie her secret techniques so she could dominate the League. That part was absolutely bonkers.

Some assumed her father taught her unique card skills, and they were excited to see what else she would display. There were even bets already placed, and fan wars began in the comment section of who would win the Diana match.

Lexie spent a lot of time watching Diana's prior matches to prepare for what would come. She took notes and had counters for all the moves she saw, but she ran into two problems. The first was that Diana had a target-seeking bullet that would follow the opponent around the field no matter how fast or far they ran. Lexie had her shields, but what if the bullet simply kept targeting her until the active time for <All-Around Protection> elapsed? Then she would be in deep shit. It wasn't like she could outrun it either.

Hmm.

The second problem was that Diana had this phasing move where she could phase between solid or liquid objects. It was her special finisher and pretty much guaranteed a win every time. So far, Lexie hadn't gotten a good enough counter against it.

It was making her nervous. She could attempt to make a card that would help, but she didn't receive an intent for one. She'd asked Tate if maybe they could go to a dungeon, thinking she might get the intent there, but he'd said they had to lay low for a while. The [Heroes] were looking into a gang that had been repeatedly infiltrating already-raided dungeons, and Tate didn't want them to get involved in that.

He wouldn't explain who this gang was or how he knew that information, no matter how much Lexie asked.

So Lexie was effectively stuck.

To make matters even more nerve-wracking, Dewie decided to use his first exeat to come see her fight.

What does one wear to their best friend's AFC match? He asked her over text. Lexie was taking a break from watching Diana's videos because she kept drawing blanks, and it was making her nervous. She wondered if she should ask her father if there was a card that could help. He may know more cards than she does, and he did suggest that there were decks that were more useful than they seemed. She thought about it as she answered Dewie's question.

Lexie: You can wear whatever you want. Although your pink checkered bow tie is pretty nice.

Dewie: I'll wear that one there. I can't wait to see you again! I miss you lots, Lexie.

Lexie: Same, Dewie. I missed you so much.

"Lexie?" Lexie heard the front door bang and she immediately bolted up in bed. "Lexie, are you home?"

"I'm up here." She was immediately alarmed by Aiden's tone of voice and the way he was yelling her name. Aiden didn't yell often. Neither did he stomp his feet in those quick, angry strides she was hearing.

He stormed into her room, eyebrows low and expression fierce. The second she met his gaze, she knew the jig was up. He looked agitated, his eyes confused and betrayed. He was holding a black pad in his hand, the one that he used for lectures, and a video was playing on it.

A video of Lexie blasting Tank in the head with confetti.

"What is this?" he asked.

Lexie met his gaze unflinchingly. "What do you mean?"

"What is this?" He replayed to the point where she'd activated <Can't Touch This> and <Lightfoot> and then fast-forwarded to the fingerblast again. Lexie watched impassively. She met her father's gaze unflinchingly.

"Card magic."

"What deck did you use for those skills? They last far too long for their relative power and are far too potent. Plus, it looks like you combined decks."

"Those are my cards. I made them."

"There's no way. How did you make these cards, Lexie? "

"With magic."

"Don't be sarcastic with me right now, I'm not in the mood." His eyes glittered with anger. He seemed frantic...and scared. "These cards are overpowered. They have to be to do all that and last that long, and don't tell me you got the effect from skipping nodes either, because I'm not going to believe you. Did someone give these to you?"

Lexie felt sympathy for him and guilt for lying to him for so long, so her tone softened. "No. I really did make them."

"How?"

"That I can't tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell me?"

"If I tell you, you're going to get mad and blow a gasket over something that's really not a big deal." At least Lexie didn't see it as a big deal. She might have in the beginning, when Tate told her they would be exploring dungeons. Obviously, the phrase would be enough to have any responsible parent's heart racing.

But all she did was stick by the entrance and craft the cards. Nothing else had happened.

Aiden wouldn't see it that way, though, and he would ask her to stop. Lexie didn't want to stop.

"Tell me."

Lexie shook her head, silently stubborn.

"Lexie, tell me now."

"You have your secrets, Dad, and I have mine," she said stubbornly. After all, he hadn't told her that he was trying to get his Tilling bands off or that he was consorting with an Eldritch Lord, or even about the fact that he was probably currently trying to open another dungeon to find her mother. He'd kept so many secrets from her. Why couldn't she do the same?

His eyes sparked with anger, and it roused a corresponding temper in Lexie. She refused to be lectured when she was doing basically the same thing as him.

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Lexie prepared herself for a fight. Instead, Aiden spun around and stormed out of the room.

"Naem," he yelled. "I know you can hear me, you sly scoundrel. Come in here and explain what you gave to my daughter."

Lexie, confused, ran out of her room to confront him.

"Naem!" Aiden yelled. "Come here right now. I know you're watching this. Is this fun for you? Did you give her those cards? What did you do to her?"

Lexie had never seen her father look that mad. He looked so betrayed, so indignant, and it reminded Lexie of how she'd felt when she discovered that he was not only trying to get out of his bonds, but he was also planning on opening up a dungeon, even after all the damage that his last venture had caused by propagating unstable dungeons. She felt her wrath grow, and this time she targeted it all at the right person–Aiden.

"He didn't do anything to me," Lexie said. "I did it on my own."

"That's impossible, Lexie."

"Why?" Her voice was louder than she intended. "Because I'm only a C-Rank mage? Because I'm not supposed to be that good at magic? Well, have you thought that the ranking system is flawed? Maybe I'm better than you realize?"

Aiden shook his head, looking at her like she was speaking a different language. "This has nothing to do with that, Lexie. You should not have the power to make all those cards without burning out, which only means that someone had to have been helping you."

"No one was helping me! You're not even listening to me!"

"Then why won't you tell me exactly how you made it?"

"Because I don't want to! It's not like you told me that you were planning on opening another dungeon to find my mother, did you, Aiden?"

He reared back like he'd been slapped. His eyes narrowed, and he sputtered. "What? Lexie...how did you even...Naem!"

"Naem didn't tell me. I figured it out on my own, but you should have been the one to tell me. In fact, you shouldn't have even been doing it in the first place! You almost went to prison for life. You have a metallic noose around your neck for eternity, and newsflash, people died because of what you did. But none of that matters to you because you'd rather chase this fantasy that your wife is still alive instead of facing the reality that she's dead and gone. I'm the one who's here, but you don't care. You'd rather leave me to pursue her. Again!"

Aiden's face grew stormy, and his jaw clenched like he was being tortured.

He inhaled through his nose. "Lexie, there are things you don't understand."

"You're right, I don't. And I'm not even sure I want to. Just tell me this. Am I off? Was anything I said a lie?"

He ran his hand over his face. "Your mother–"

"She's not my mother, and I don't want to hear an excuse right now. Just tell me. Are you or are you not planning on opening another dungeon?"

Aiden was silent for long enough to let her know that she was right on the money. Disgust, fresh waves of anger, and heartbreak hit her all at once, with such force she feared she would break.

"Lexie, there are things you must know about your mother–"

"I don't care!' Lexie yelled, her heart-shattering, hurtful words pouring out. "I don't care about her! You left me because of her the first time, and now you're doing it again! Unbelievable. Do you want to know what else is funny? Like, so freaking ridiculous?" Without thinking, Lexie leaned in and delivered the words in a harsh whisper. "She's not even my mom. And you're not my dad."

The words landed like an anvil. Aiden's countenance cracked. Lexie hadn't meant to say it, but the confession exploded out of her, and she didn't take it back. She couldn't, not even if the ISTS appeared and yanked her soul out of her body here and now.

Pain tightened Aiden's features.

"Don't say that, Lexie," he whispered.

"I'm not saying it to hurt you." A sob broke out, the first warning that a storm was incoming. Lexie didn't know what was going on with her, never thought she could ever get this upset, but the words and emotions were now rushing out of her, and she didn't know how to make them stop. The guilt, the pressure to keep her secret, the endless overthinking, it was all too much, and she was sick of it.

Let everything go.

"I'm saying it because it's true. I'm not Lexie Sparrowfoot. I'm Lexie Evans. I'm not your daughter."

Shock and confusion twisted Aiden's face as she turned around and stormed off. She expected a few things to happen, expected the ISTS to descend on her and give her a heart attack or something similarly fatal. At this point, she didn't even care. She was too upset.

She heard her father shouting her name, getting closer, and she took out one of the teleportation orbs from her inventory and activated it. She didn't know where to go, but only one image flashed in her head right now.

She wanted to talk to Xena, but Xena wasn't there. Emma shouldn't be home either. Good.

Lexie wanted to scream and yell and throw things, and since she couldn't do that at home, she might as well do it at Xena's, since she didn't think that Emma would mind.

"Honeybee, please come back!"

That was the last, heartbreaking thing she heard before she activated the orb, and the portal surrounded her.

She showed up in Xena's room, threw herself on the bed, and wept. All the angry energy left her, and she just felt broken. She couldn't believe she'd finally told Aiden. She'd told him she wasn't his daughter. And nothing had happened. Why wasn't her soul being terminated? Was that up to her guide? Why wasn't her guide punishing her for this?

Where the hell was her guide?

Lexie didn't even care anymore. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to talk to Logan but she'd left her phone back in her room, damn it. She should start keeping it in her inventory. She wanted to talk to Dewie too, but she didn't think she should unload all this on him. She wanted to talk to Xena, but Xena was nowhere to be found.

Lexie wanted to go home.

But where was home? Earth 2? In just a year, that had ceased to feel like her home. She missed her brother, but she didn't really want to go back there. She wanted to stay in Hovelton. She wanted to be Aiden's real daughter and Uncle Max's real goddaughter. But she just wasn't.

Lexie didn't know how long she lay there crying.

She heard the door open quietly, followed by Emma asking softly, "Lexie, is that you?"

"Hey." Her voice cracked as she sat up, sniffled, and tried to wipe the tears from her face. "Sorry, I thought you would be at work."

"I got out early today," Emma said and closed the door behind her. She came closer. "Aww, my baby squirrel, what happened?"

Lexie rubbed her nose. "Nothing."

"You wouldn't be crying your eyes out over nothing. Tell me. Did you fight with your dad?"

Emotion rose swiftly, choking her throat as Lexie nodded.

"Oh, poor baby…"

Emma gathered her in her arms, and Lexie wept against her chest. It felt familiar, like she'd done this before, or several times. The scent of antiseptic surrounded Lexie, and she let it soothe her, let her sadness rage out of control until she was totally drained of emotion.

Eventually, she must have fallen asleep because the next time she woke up, it was dark out, and she was lying in bed with the covers over her body. She heard voices from right outside her door, which might have been what woke her up in the first place.

Lexie went over to press her ears to the door and heard Aiden talking with Emma, who was saying, "Just give her some time, okay? She just needs some time."

"I don't know what to do, Emma." Aiden sounded as miserable as she felt. "I can't believe this is happening again."

Again? If he was referring to their first fight a year ago, that wasn't even remotely close to this.

"I know Aiden. I'm so sorry. But at least give her time to sleep on it. You can try again tomorrow?"

He sighed, and Lexie wanted to take a peek at him, but she didn't want to break her resolve. She should keep her distance for now, at least until she (or the ISTS) decided what to do next.

***

"You okay?" Tate asked her the next day. She attended her session as usual, but her eyes were swollen, and she was in a bad mood, so much so that most of the others gave her a wide berth.

Well, not at first. At first, they'd showered her with concern and asked her how she was doing and if she was sick, and they'd hovered and coddled until Lexie had finally snapped.

"I'm fine. Everyone just back off."

Of course, she'd felt like a total heel after it happened and rushed to apologize, but Conrad cut her off and said, "She's right, everyone. You all should be training, not trying to stick your noses in Lexie's business."

"No, I didn't mean it like that," Lexie said as everyone moved around, still throwing her pitying looks. '"I'm just.. It was a rough night."

"Understandable." Conrad had said. "Mental health is just as important as physical. You can stay benched for the rest of the session today. And let me know if you want me to pull you from your next fight."

"You can?"

"Of course. Don't think twice if you have to take a break, okay? It doesn't make you any less of a fighter or a human being. Doesn't make you less amazing either."

Lexie managed a smile. He was so thoughtful and kind. She may not have been a superfan of Conrad before, but she totally was now. "That's not necessary, but thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

She'd retired to the bench for the rest of the session, trying to get her mind off her argument with her father. She'd thought that everyone would keep away from her at that point, but after Tate's fight, he came right up and asked the question.

"Yeah," she answered. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just... you seem grumpy."

"Hmm." Lexie had come to the dojo straight from Emma's house, and though Emma had tried her best to make a good breakfast, Lexie couldn't stomach much of the burnt toast and jam. "Probably just hungry."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"If I tell you, will you tell me about all your secrets?" She faced him.

Tate at least looked sheepish.

"That's what I thought."

The door opened and closed, and Lexie heard Conrad call out, "Excuse me, this is a closed training session?"

"Sorry." A female voice said. "I just wanted to come say hi and check out my competition."

Lexie instantly recognized the slender brunette wearing workout clothes standing by the door. Especially since she was looking at Lexie in a challenge.

"Aww," the girl said. "She doesn't look so good. I get it. I wouldn't look good if I was about to get my ass kicked either."

Lexie stiffened.

"Diana," Conrad said again. "This is a closed session."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." She kept her eyes on Lexie as she delivered her parting comments. "Just remember that neither Conrad nor your father can protect you in the ring. Your mother can't help you either, if she even is your mother."

The mention of her father and her mother had Lexie's face flaming, a rage burning in her heart. Rationally, she knew she was probably overreacting. It was just normal pre-game ribbing, and it happened all the time in the circuit. It was good for building chemistry in the arena.

But Lexie wasn't in the mood for ribbing.

She was in the mood to take someone's head off.

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