Violet woke up with a huge headache. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked around. That's when she realised she wasn't in her room.

“What the...”, she muttered. She noticed Tristan sleeping next to her. “GAH!”, she screamed and kicked him out of the bed.

“Woah!”, Tristan yelped as he hit the floor with a grunt.

“What am I doing here?”, she yelled at him. “Did we... Oh my God, please tell me we didn't!”, she panicked.

“What?! Of course not! Don't you remember anything from last night?”, he asked her from the floor.

“No, so you'd better start explaining.”, she glared at him.

“You were drunk last night.”, he got up.

“Gee, thanks for enlightening me. The headache and memory loss didn't really make me realise that.”, she rolled her eyes.

Tristan sighed, ignoring her sarcastic comment. “I helped you return because you kept stumbling and muttering. As we approached your room, you started panicking and shouting that Lux would get you and that you couldn't go there. You also said that Cheryl would kill you because you were irresponsible and got distracted. I figured you'd get us busted, so I brought you here. You fell asleep five minutes later, which reminds me that you're on my bed.”, he smirked. Violet threw a pillow at him.

“Is that all that happened?”, she furrowed her eyebrows. Tristan bit his lip. “What is it? What did I do?”, she panicked again.

“Let's leave that for another time, shall we?”, he avoided her gaze.

“Oh, come on! I need to know!”, she pleaded.

“You might need to, but you really don't want to. Trust me.”, he shook his head.

“But--”

“No. Now scoot over, I wanna sleep a little more.”, he yawned and lied down on the bed. Soon, he was fast asleep, and so was Violet. It took her a little longer, because she kept trying to remember what happened the night before, but eventually gave up and drifted to sleep.

*~°~*

When Caroline woke up, she ran to her brother's room to wake him. She wasn't really surprised when she saw Violet sleeping on Tristan's bed, next to him, but tried to act like it. They were both pretty flustered and explained that nothing had happened. Caroline told them that she didn't really care and left them to get ready and come to the library.

Half an hour later, they were there.

“Alright... I'm no expert in tracking spells and neither is my mentor, so I havent really practiced that part. We're going to look thoroughly and read everything that has to do with magic, and then find the easiest and most accurate spell. Understood?”, Violet told the others. They nodded. “Good! Get to searching.”, she ordered and they split up. “I hope this doesn't take long...”, she muttered to herself as she picked a book.

No matter what she hoped, this took way longer than they expected. At least it was worth it. They found exactly what they needed, but it was way past midnight when they did it. Caroline took the book to her room so they wouldn't have to look for it again, and they all want to sleep.

They were going to need it.

The next day, Caroline made it her special mission to wake them both. She rushed to her brother's room and told him to meet her in her room while she went ahead to wake Violet.

A good half hour later, they were all sitting on Caroline's bed in a circle.

"Alright. I'm going to need the letter.", Violet sighed. Caroline handed it to her hesitantly.

Violet opened the spell book they had found the day before and went through it, looking for the spell they needed. It didn't take as long as she thought it would, and soon she was chanting the words.

The letter started glowing bright. Tristan closed his eyes, but Caroline seemed unfazed. That troubled Violet a bit, but she chose to overlook it and focus on the spell.

She finished it off, but nothing happened. The letter stopped glowing and the three teenagers glanced at each other nervously.

“I'm sorry it didn't--”, Violet started.

“Look!”, Caroline pointed at something invisible.

“What?”, Tristan shot her a confused glance.

“There's a red light trail thingy!”, she explained.

“Caroline, there's nothing there.”, Violet furrowed her eyebrows.

“Come on, guys. Stop messing with me. I can see it clearly, it's right here!”, Caroline motioned her hands towards something the others failed to see.

“It looks like you're the only one who can see it. Maybe you could show us the way?”, Tristan suggested.

“Why am I the only one who can see it, though?”, Caroline frowned.

“Maybe because you have a stronger connection to Faith than the rest of us.”, Tristan shrugged.

“Good point.”, Violet agreed.

“Okay then... Let's follow the trail.”, Caroline sighed and they took off.


They followed the red light, the one only Caroline could see, through dark corridors that they hadn't explored in years and steep staircases they never thought existed.

It turned out that Tristan didn't know the palace as well as he thought he did.

Eventually, they arrived at some basement they'd never been before.

“Um... Caroline?”, Tristan hesitated. She turned to look at him. “Are you sure this is where the trail leads?”

“Yeah. Right behind this door.”, she frowned, tilting her head in confusion.

“How? I thought she'd left the castle. What could she be doing down here?”, Violet whispered.

“I don't know...” , Caroline bit her lip.

“So... We open the door on three?”, Tristan suggested. The girls gulped, but nodded.


Violet went ahead and turned the doorknob, but the door was locked. She frowned, but waved her hand over the lock.

They heard a light click and the door opened on its own. They all hesitantly looked inside.

The room was a tiny study. Crumbled pieces of paper littered the floor and the room was round. It was really dark, but that didn't surprise them.

There was also a small bed someone appeared to be sleeping in.

Caroline approached it and slowly extended her arm to touch the person.

“Faith?”, she asked. There was no reply and no movement. Violet snapped her fingers and light filled the room.


Caroline rolled the person on their back, and froze. It was Faith but also not her.

The girl on the bed was dead. Caroline looked down at her feet, only to realise that she was standing in a pool of blood that had formed under the bed in the past two days.

Faith had been dead the whole time they were looking for her.

Caroline gasped and stumbled backwards at the sight of her dead girlfriend.

“Oh no...”, Tristan's face fell.

“She- Is that her?”, Violet asked. Tristan nodded sadly.


His eyes were red and teary. Faith had always been one of his best friends, if not his best.

Caroline's knees felt weak and wobbly. Tears were streaming down her face as she collapsed on her knees and started sobbing. She cried for a long time.

Violet felt like she was going to cry too. She had never met Faith, but seeing Caroline so vulnerable? It would break anyone's heart.

Tristan ran outside and slammed the door behind him, then put his back against the wall and slid down, running a hand through his hair.

Eventually, Caroline looked up and her face darkened.

“Caroline? Are you okay?”, Violet asked her. She knew it was a stupid question, but it felt like the only thing she could say at a moment like this.

“There's a purple trail now.”, the princess gritted her teeth as she got up.

“You think it leads to the killer?”, the witch frowned.

“Only one way to find out.”, Caroline slammed the door open. “Tristan?”, she asked her brother. He looked up from his knees.

“What?”, he croaked.

“Let's go find who did this.”, she told him. He nodded and she helped him up.

Along with Violet they took off, following the purple trail.

*~°~*

Crystal and Scott were on the way to Crystal's village. The problem was that it was a long trip there and they had to stop a couple times.

It took Crystal two days to arrive at the palace and she was being escorted by royal guards. When she ran away, she didn't really pay attention to the rout she took, so she went towards the opposite direction for about a day.

It would take them at least four days to make it there, and that would be if they only stopped travelling once a day for lunch and whenever they had to sleep for the night.

The second day, a woman stopped them in the woods. She had short red hair and dark blue eyes, and Scott thought that she looked a lot like Crystal. She introduced herself as Hecate was asking for directions.

“We're not from around here, sorry.”, Crystal frowned. She seemed oblivious to the similarities she shared with the stranger.

“Oh, sorry! I didn't realise!”, the stranger apologised.

Scott eyed her suspiciously. “What are you doing in the middle of the woods? It would be easier to find your way if you traveled through the trails. You could even find more people to ask for directions.”, he asked her.

She seemed taken aback. Crystal came to the rescue. “Scott! I'm sorry, ma'am. We're tired from the trip and we've still got a long way to go.”, she explained.

“It's okay, sweetie. I can see why he's acting like this.”, Hecate smiled.

“I'm Crystal. That's Scott.”

“Are you crazy! Why would you tell her our names?”, Scott hissed.

“Shut up. We're hiding in plain sight.”, she muttered.

“Anyway, I'm sorry for getting in your way, kids. Have a nice trip.”, Hecate waved goodbye at them and disappeared in the woods.

“That was weird...”, Crystal mumbled under her breath.

“Oh, really? A stranger in the middle that looks just like you and is asking for directions? It was a trap. Soon we will be surrounded by your father's army, mark my words!”, Scott warned her.

“Why are you so suspicious of everyone? Maybe it really was just a lady lost in the forest. And I don't think she looked like me, redheads are common around here.”, she shrugged.

Scott scoffed. “I've already told you; if we get caught, it's going to be your fault. This is already impossible, don't add more challenges. If you want to make it to your village, keep hings as easy as possible. Don't attract attention.”

“Whatever. Let's just keep going.”, she frowned.

“Oh, please! You're too sensitive. Sometimes you have to bottle things up if you want to make it in the real world.”, he rolled his eyes.

“Seriously?! Bottling things up makes stuff worse! You have to be open about how you feel, or you miss out on life. When you have a problem with something, make it clear or it will keep bothering you. If you're happy about it, share it with others. Humans are meant for interaction, believe it or not. Like wolves, we live in packs.”, she said cheerfully.

“Yeah, then I'm a lone wolf.”, Scott rolled his eyes.

“I knew I shouldn't have used wolves as an example...”, she pouted.


Scott didn't reply, so they kept traveling in silence. Crystal felt awkward, but Scott found their quiet trip calming and comforting.

He never was one to open up to people and talking to her about his father, even though he didn't know her at all, was a huge step for him. It had drained him and his walls were coming up stronger than ever. He couldn't let himself make the same mistake again.

Besides, he shouldn't get too attached. Once Crystal was safe from Alastor, he'd have to go. He would no longer be needed and making friends was never in his personality description anyway. He had to keep her away, because he always thought that he wasn't needed. Little did he know that this was a lie and that Crystal was right... Sometimes opening up to someone isn't so bad and getting attached isn't a crime.

Maybe having a friend could be a good thing.

In the evening they stopped and set camp. Crystal went to get some firewood, while Scott took care of Ash.

Crystal kept saying that they needed to "bond" and "get used to each other". They disagreed.

She went deeper in the forest, picking up branches. That's what she heard movement behind her. Her head snapped towards the direction of the sound.

She wanted to ask who was there, but decided against it. It would be easier to surprise any attacker by pretending you didn't see them coming.

Crystal kept collecting wood, until she heard a grunt. She dropped everything but a huge branch she had found earlier and rushed back to where Scott was with Ash.

What she found surprised her. A tall, buff girl was hugging Scott so hard, that Crystal could hear his bones cracking. She dropped the branch in confusion and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Phoebe, I can't breathe...”, Scott choked.

“I don't care. I'm going to kill you.”, the girl, who was apparently called Phoebe muttered angrily.

“What is going on?”, Crystal managed to ask. Phoebe dropped Scott.

“Who are you?”, Phoebe eyed her suspiciously.

“I--”, the princess started, but Scott interrupted her.

“Crystal, that's my little sister Phoebe. Phoebe, that's Crystal.”, Scott introduced them, clutching his knees and panting.

“That's your sister?”, Crystal asked.

“Um... Who are you supposed to be?”, Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows. Her eyes widened. “Wait... Are you his girlfriend? Is that why you disappeared? To run off with your girlfriend?”, she accused him.

Scott raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? Of course not! This isn't the time for this conversation.”, he gave her a meaningful glance that Crystal failed to catch.


Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows yet again, but didn't say anything. She trusted her brother, despite his somewhat arrogant and secretive behavior and dl frequent disappearances. Ever since their father kicked him out...

Scott hadn't alway been this way. He used to be way more trusting that he ended up being, but the world was cruel and unjust. His trust started fading a few weeks after he was left on the streets. Everyone seemed to be out to get him. Most people who had been nice to him had ended up robbing him or framing him. He ended up in a couple prisons in some of the bigger villages he visited and eventually stopped trying to understand why people were like this.

He learned that trusting others only hurt you. No one deserved to be let in, because everyone would use your insecurities against you. He had been hurt too many times. He couldn't let that happen again.

That's exactly why Crystal scared him. She seemed so... nice. More open than she should be. Not paranoid at all. She seemed to be living in her small bubble of happiness and didn't seem to believe that there were really bad people out there. She seemed to believe in happy endings, as if believing in something made it true. He couldn't understand that.

The scariest part, though, was how easily he trusted her. How easily he let her in. No one had managed to do that before, let alone with such ease. It was as if she compelled him to talk about his troubles. He kept her away, because he wasn't ready to we betrayed again. He didn't want to get hurt. This had already happened too many times and it wasn't easy to forget.

Sunshine and rainbows were probably the darkest form of magic.

*~°~*

Alastor Cornel knocked the door on the small house in the small village. A few seconds later, a tall, buff man holding a bottle of beer appeared at the doorframe.

“What do you want?”, he sneered. His breath smelled like alcohol and he looked like he hadn't taken a bath in weeks.

Alastor wrinkled his nose. “I'm looking for Diana and Phoebe Harrow?”, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“They're not here. They ran off a few weeks ago. What do you want with my wife and daughter sir?”, the man scanned Alastor from head to toe. Then his eyes widened a bit in surprise. “I mean... your majesty.”, he smirked slyly.

“You're Carter Harrow?”, Alastor raised an eyebrow.

“Bingo. I'm surprised you remember me.”, Carter scoffed.

“Yeah... Well, we have a change of plans. May I come in? I have an interesting proposition for you.”

“What kind of proposition?”, Carter eyed him suspiciously. He might have been drunk, but he wasn't stupid.

“I'm looking for your son, Scott. I'm assuming you're not on good terms, since he told me you were dead.”, Alastor smirked.

“Of course we're not. I kicked the brat out of here right after I gave him a good beating. I'm surprised the weakling survived.”, Scott's father sneered again.

“Oh, he did and he's caused quite some trouble. What do you say? Will you help me out for a generous amount of money and a chance to get back your favourite punching bag?”

“What do I have to do?”