Cheryl hadn't been ready to face Tristan. The entire conversation had been somewhere along the lines of awkward and both of them wanted it to end.

Violet didn't seem to notice that. She and Tristan were too busy trying to convince Cheryl to talk to Daniel about the upcoming attack, but she was too stubborn.

"I can't do that! I just can't...", she kept saying.



Eventually, Violet pushed her too hard and she snapped.

"Why can't you just have a simple conversation with your husband?", Violet yelled at her. Tristan was standing awkwardly nearby.

"Because I took a bloody oath!", Cheryl yelled back, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Wait, what? What kind of oath? Don't tell me--"

"A magical one.", Cheryl looked away. "If I talk to him before this is all over, my kids will die."

"Your kids are still alive? Where are they?", Tristan jumped into the conversation.

Cheryl avoided his gaze. "I don't know.", she gulped. Tristan could tell she wasn't telling the truth but he didn't pressure her any further. He'd seen where it had gotten his girlfriend.

"Why in the name of hell would you take an oath and put your kids' lives at risk?", Violet glared at her.

"I needed to do something drastic that would keep me away from Daniel at all costs."

"Alright then.", Tristan shrugged. "What do we do now?"

"I- If you really must, I'll tell you some things to say to him that will prove you're on the right side and that you have my support.", she bit her lip. "Just tell him I'm sorry if you decide to go. He'll know what about."

Tristan nodded. "Okay...", he sighed.

"Wait... You're leaving again?", Violet frowned.

"You could come with me!", Tristan took her hands in his. Cheryl raised an eyebrow, but nobody noticed. Tristan's face fell, though. "But you won't, will you?"

Violet shook her head. "There's some stuff I need to take care of.", she stared at her feet.



Cheryl really tried not to stare, but the entire thing confused her as to why Violet refused to go with her boyfriend. Everyone knew she would regret it, so why couldn't she just leave with him?

"It's okay, I get it.", he gave her a small smile.

"Well, it's your loss, really.", she smirked. "You're going to have to save the world without me."

"It is a burden I'm willing to carry.", he joked dramatically.

"Just do me a favour..."

"What kind of favour?"

"Don't take all the credit for it!", she crossed her arms playfully.

"I'd never!", Tristan put his hand over his heart, pretending to be offended.

"I'm sure you wouldn't.", she scoffed. "Oh, and don't die. Please. I'm just reminding you this because you're dumb enough to get yourself killed. Be careful, idiot.", she rolled her eyes.

"That's two favours..."

Violet waved that off. "Details...", she rolled her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, I promise.", he nodded.

"Good."

"Come here...", he hugged her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "You know that I'm not leaving yet, right?", he asked Violet.

"Yeah...", she sighed. "Wait, really?", she looked up at him in surprise.

"I'm too tired to keep going right now, so I'll probably leave tomorrow... I can't stay too long. That doesn't mean I won't stay at all, though; not when you're around."

"You're so cheesy."

"You love it, admit it."

"Never.", she smirked.



That's when Violet noticed that Jackson and Charles had returned and were standing a little further with Cheryl.

"Oh! Hey guys!", she greeted them.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Who are they?"

"That's Charles and that's his boyfriend Jackson. They've been travelling with me.", she reassured him.

"Who are you?", Jackson asked him.

"He's my boyfriend.", Violet said proudly and pecked Tristan on the lips, making him blush furiously.

"That's Tristan?", Charles asked her. "What is he doing here?"

"I'm on a mission to save the world.", the prince replied, smirking knowingly with Violet.



That was basically their entire relationship; based on an inside joke and confusing to everyone else.

°~*~°



Caroline was having a really hard time processing everything she'd learned from Lux, so she decided to sleep it off.

Sleep always cleared her head, because it took her away from all the problems she was facing. Well, at least that was until she started having prophetic dreams, which apparently, made her a seer.

Speaking of prophetic dreams, her night sleep was disrupted by them once again.

Caroline was outside a cabin in the middle of the woods, where Erebos laid half-dead and unconscious on the ground. There was too much blood and she shivered at the sight of it.

That's when a young, dark-haired woman appeared from the forest. She eyed Erebos suspiciously and then cast a spell to drag him along.

Cecilia Dotter, Caroline thought. She had never seen the woman before, but she knew who she was. She tilted her head in confusion as the image shifted into something too familiar.

She refused to have that nightmare again. She tried to close her eyes, but she could still see. It was as if she needed to see this, whether she wanted it or not.

So she watched her brother get murdered again and this time she was a little closer to seeing who the killer was. She still couldn't make out a thing, but she was certain that the murderer wasn't aiming at Tristan specifically.

It was an accident.

Then she was transported to the town over the palace walls. Cecilia was now carrying Erebos instead of making him float. She was making her way to the palace, muttering things like "Lux needs to hear this..." and "Lux needs to know.".

She seemed to have tried to patch Erebos up a bit, but it hadn't helped much and she was having a hard time holding him up. He was much bigger and heavier than her and Cecilia wasn't strong enough to carry him for that long. And then she stood in front of the gates as the sun rose and banged on the door.

That's when Caroline woke up. It was still night and her dream hadn't been very specific as to when Cecilia and Erebos would arrive, but she had a feeling it would be within a few hours.

She rushed to Lux's room, where she was sleeping on a bed surrounded by wine bottles. Of course, she didn't bother to knock, she just burst in there. She was too shaken up.

She shook her head in disappointment and tried to wake her up. She felt the need to tell her about her brother, mainly because Lux had told her a lot of other things, but also because she felt that if anything happened to Tristan, she'd want someone to bring him back to her so she could take care of him. That's why she wanted to give Lux the chance to do the same with Erebos.

"Lux! Lux, wake up!", she whisper-shouted.

"Huh?", Lux sat up, getting a tuft of hair out of her mouth. She wasn't wearing any of her usual black lipstick, so her lips were eerily red for someone this pale. "What is it?", she growled. That's when she noticed the hair in her mouth and got it out.

"It's about your brother.", Caroline bit her lip.

"What?! How do you know?", Lux asked. "Wait, I forgot who I was talking to...", she shook her head. "What did he get himself into this time, is he okay?"

"I- He's with some Cecilia. She found him in the woods beaten up and is bringing him to the palace. They'll be here at dawn.", Caroline explained.

"No! He can't come back here without the others! Your father will kill him!", Lux got up and headed out of the room.

"Lux! Wait up!", Caroline rushed behind her. "Where are you going?"

"To the gates, so I can get to my brother before Alastor does.", Lux hissed.

Caroline was struggling to keep up with her but didn't say anything.

They sat outside on a bench and waited for the sun to rise. Lux was nervously biting at her fingernails and kept glancing from the gate to the sky.

They didn't have to wait for long. It took less than an hour for the sunrise and just as the sun appeared on the horizon and night became day, there was a really loud knock on the gate.

A guard attempted to see through the peephole, but Lux walked up to him and pushed him aside.

"They're here for me. Now, if you say a word to the king, I won't ask for him to behead you, I'll do it myself.", she growled at him. The guard backtracked in terror and ran away.



Caroline kept forgetting how intimidating Lux could be and how powerful of a witch she was.

It had taken Violet a few minutes to open the gates just barely and it had exhausted her to the point she passed out. Lux only waved her hand and the gates started opening.

And there they were; Cecilia was trying to keep Erebos from falling to the ground.

"Oh my God...", Lux muttered and rushed to help them. "Cecilia! What are you doing here? Where did you find him? What the hell happened?"

Cecilia gave her a quizzical look. "How did you know I was coming?"

"Long story.", Lux replied and laid Erebos down to the ground. She waved her hand over him and all his wounds started closing, though he remained unconscious. "Now tell me what the hell happened to my brother."

"I don't know what happened to him. I found him by accident in the woods beaten up and brought him here. I was coming here to tell you something more... important.", Cecilia eyed Caroline suspiciously.

"It will have to wait. Help me carry him to my room. Alastor can't fin--", Lux froze as she turned around and saw the exact person she didn't want to see. "Why do you always appear out of nowhere when I don't want you around but disappear off the face of the earth when I need you?", she glared at him.

"Coincidence.", Alastor shrugged.

"Just stay away from my brother. You're mad at me, leave him alone.", she pleaded. Caroline had never seen Lux so vulnerable before.

"You were going to hide him from me.", he crossed his arms.

"To protect him!", she tried to justify herself.

"If I was angry at you before, now I'm furious. And I know Erebos didn't do anything, but you have failed me. So has he, now that he's back without Crystal and her... friend. You can take any kind of punishment, but killing your brother will destroy you.", he hissed at her.

Lux got up, tears glistening in her eyes. She tried to throw Alastor against a wall, but every spell failed and dissolved, just like it had when Lux attempted to erase Caroline's memory.

"How desperate can you be to try to kill me? We had a deal, remember? You and everyone from your clan can't hurt me or any of my descendants with magic and no one finds out your little secret.", he smirked.

"Stop taunting her!", Cecilia spoke up. Alastor turned to glare at her, making her flinch, but she stood her ground.

"Who the hell are you?", he sneered.

"Cecilia, back off if you want to live.", Lux hissed at her.

That's when Erebos groaned and sat up.

"Great! Now that he's awake he can tell us what the hell happened to him before I execute him.", Alastor smirked.

"No! Please don't hurt him!", Caroline stepped in. Everyone gave her confused looks. Alastor raised an eyebrow, but she ignored it. "He hasn't done anything! You're going to execute an innocent person! This isn't right!", she protested.

"Carol, remind me of when I asked for your opinion because I don't seem to remember. Oh, that's right, that's because I didn't ask for it.", Alastor glared at her. "He won't be the first one, anyway...", he muttered to himself.

"Are you even listening to yourself?", she raised her hands in exasperation. Her father shrugged. "Fine! Just let him rest before you start interrogating him! He deserves it.", Caroline looked apologetically at Lux, who looked away, and Erebos.

"You're lucky there are people around or you'd be dead.", Alastor hissed at her. "You have an hour to come to the throne room. All of you.", he spoke up. "Now get out of my sight."



Lux and Cecilia helped Erebos up. Caroline wanted to help, but they didn't let her.

"Just- Just stay away for a while. I need to have a talk with Cecilia.", Lux told her. Caroline nodded and rushed to her room.



Lux and Cecilia half-carried Erebos to one of the palace's many rooms. They would have lifted him with magic, but they were both exhausted; Lux for opening the gate and Cecilia from carrying Lux's brother from the woods.

They let him rest a bit, as he might have healed but was exhausted and in pain.

Lux turned to Cecilia.

"What did you want to tell me?", she inquired.

Cecilia straightened her back and cleared her throat. "Remember when you told me to hide in the woods in case the kids appeared?"

"Yes..?"

"Well, the appeared. The girl had been stabbed, probably by your brother now that I think about it. The boy begged me to heal her. Remember the illusion you placed? They fell for it."

"What?! Where are they? This could save Erebos!", Lux asked her.

"They ran away...", Cecilia looked away. "But I found something out and I know where they are heading!"

"Well? Tell me!"

"They're going over the border to hide."

"And what did you find out?"

"The boy knows. Scott Harrow knows the truth."

Lux's eyes widened before she started pacing in the room. "Goddammit, Daniel! That guy can't keep his mouth shut!"



°~*~°



Caroline was pacing around in her room, her mind racing. After an hour passed, she made her way to the throne room.

Lux, Cecilia and Erebos were already there. Alastor walked into the room mere seconds after his daughter did and cleared his throat.

"Erebos Bailey, why the hell are you back here without my daughter and her... associate?", he asked, sitting on his throne.

"It wasn't by choice your Majesty, I wasn't intending to return without them.", Erebos gritted his teeth, glaring at Cecilia, who looked away in embarrassment.

"And you dare come back without even a clue as to where they are?", Alastor shook his head in disappointment.

"I had them! It's not my fault they managed to run! I tried my best!", Erebos argued.

"So you had them and they ran away? How is that even possible? You got tricked by a lost cause and an incapacitated witch?", the King yelled.

"They weren't alone! There was another girl with them. She knew how to fight and caught me off guard!"

"Phoebe...", Caroline muttered under her breath.

"What?", Lux asked her.

"What?", the princess pretended to have said nothing. Her father eyed her suspiciously.

"Well, who was she?", he inquired again.

"They called her Phoebe, I don't know who she was! I think she was the guy's sister or something.", Erebos explained.

"If I remember correctly, Phoebe Harrow is a lot younger than Scott.", Alastor sneered. "Bring Carter in.", he hissed at a guard.



Nobody said a thing for a few minutes. That's when the guard returned, dragging Carter Harrow. Despite being locked up in the dungeons for about a week, he still reeked off alcohol as he was pushed past Caroline.

"Carter, your daughter seems to be involved in this mess too, now.", Alastor started off.

"Phoebe? No way. She's too busy taking care of Diana to help Scott. That ungrateful excuse of a son--"

"I'm not asking about Scott, Carter. I'm asking about Phoebe. What does she look like? We might need to make some wanted posters for her too."



Caroline's eyes widened. She hid her hands behind her back to hide the fact that she was trembling. Lux narrowed her eyes at her.

"No! My baby girl left in a rush and we had a fight right before that, but she'd never do anything wrong!", Carter Harrow rushed.

"What kind of fight did you have?"

"Well... I was just arguing with Diana, no big deal. Poor Diana... She is so sick... So sick...", Carter shook his head. "I slapped her. I didn't mean to! It's just... Scott hadn't been around in a long time. I needed to blow off some steam! Phoebe was mad... Such a strong girl... She was right. She did everything for the family. She tried to save it... There's no saving or fixing what I did..."

"Carter! Stick to the point!", Alastor snapped.

"Phoebe was so mad that she knocked me out and ran away with her mother. That was weeks ago! I haven't seen my own daughter in weeks!", Carter sobbed. "And my wife... I don't even know if Diana is okay... She was very sick. My wife was sick and I didn't get her any medicine... All I cared about was having another drink at the inn..."



Caroline wrinkled her nose in disgust. She would pity him if he hadn't been such a terrible person.

"And how old, exactly, is your daughter?", the King asked again.

"Oh, Phoebe turned fifteen a couple of months ago. I- I wasn't even at home to celebrate... I was drinking at the inn again...", Carter muttered.

"So, Erebos... You were beaten by a fifteen-year-old girl and, thus, let two fugitives run away."

"In my defence, she was too strong and muscular to be fifteen years old.", Erebos tried to justify himself.

Alastor sneered. "Take them both away. They will be executed at dusk."

"No!", Lux rushed in front of ear brother protectively. "Please don't, I'm begging you! My brother is all I have left!", she sobbed. Caroline noticed that Cecilia's face fell.

"I don't care.", was all Alastor said before the guards dragged Erebos and Carter out of the room. Erebos shot his sister an apologetic glance, probably for all their years of arguing, and Carter didn't even try to resist. He just sobbed away his pain, because for the first time in a long time, he was about to be sober and alcohol wouldn't be there to help him.