Crystal and Scott had been traveling for two days when they finally made it to the border. They tried to stay out of villages to avoid being spotted; having their faces plastered all over with the word 'wanted' written above was more than enough to get them in trouble and that was the last thing they needed.

And just as Crystal had started to think that Scott was warming up to her, he turned even colder than he had been when they first met. She didn't know the reason behind all this coldness and withdrawal, but it still made her feel bad because of all the things she and Scott had been through together.

How could he act as if nothing had happened? She found it infuriating and confusing at the same time.

They still hadn't heard from Phoebe, but it didn't surprise them. They decided they'd go over the border to stay out of Alastor's reach, but they also decided they'd stay at the nearest town and wait for Scott's sister.

It didn't take more than a few hours for Phoebe to arrive. She hadn't been expecting to come across them when she entered the tavern they were at, but she immediately smiled widely when she saw them and ran to their table.

"Oh my God, are you okay?", she asked them both, trapping them in a group hug.

"I... can't... breathe...", Scott croaked.

"Shut up and enjoy the hug, you touch deprived idiot...", Phoebe muttered. Crystal laughed.



After letting go and (finally) allowing them to breathe, Phoebe sat down next to her brother and started telling her side of the story.

"I beat the living daylights out of Erebos and then left. Last night I stumbled upon that witch friend of yours- the one that opened the gate for you to get out? What was her name? Violet?", she asked. Crystal and Scott nodded. "Right. She was with some other witch. She looked so much like you that I almost confused her for you.", Phoebe told Crystal.

"Weird...", Crystal furrowed her eyebrows.

Scott glanced urgently at his sister and she seemed to take the hint, changing the subject. "Anyway, that's when I came here looking for you two. How was your trip?", she asked. Her brother sighed in relief.

"Well... It was a weird one. Definitely not as easy as yours.", he started.

"Yeah, there was this crazy healer lady who tried to turn us in.", Crystal shook her head.

"And almost killed you.", Scott added, crossing his arms. Crystal scoffed, but didn't say anything. Phoebe didn't seen to notice that.

"She almost what?!", she stood up, slamming her palms on the table. Scott pulled her back down.

"Try not to attract any attention, will you?", he hissed.

"Sorry...", his sister turned red with embarrassment.

"The point is that--", Scott froze, looking at something Crystal and Phoebe couldn't quite understand. "I'll be right back.", he muttered and stormed away.



The two girls exchanged a worried glance.

"Do you want to go check on him?", Phoebe asked Crystal.

"He won't talk to me. He's been... distant these past few days.", Crystal suddenly took an interest in looking at the palms of her hands instead of Phoebe.

"Oh... Sorry to hear that... I- I'll go look if he's okay, alright? I'll be back in a bit, don't go anywhere.", Phoebe bit her lip and got up.

"I wasn't planning on it...", Crystal sighed.



Phoebe got up and went after her brother. She found him outside, sitting on a bench he was resting his forehead on his hand and his elbow on his knee. He was loosely holding a piece of paper.

"Scotty?", she called worriedly. He didn't acknowledge her. "What are you holding?"

"A deadline.", he growled.

"What kind of--", she stopped abruptly and sat down next to him in realisation. "That mission of yours."

He nodded bitterly. "I'm running out of time and I'm not sure if I want to deliver anymore. I mean... Now that mom- now that mom is gone we need that more more than ever. I want a good life for my little sister," he ruffled her hair, "but there are a few things I can't bring myself to do.", Scott buried his face in his palms.

"Look, I can see that you can't get into detail and I get that this is private. I can't help much with the little things you've told me, but I feel like this mission you have is going to break your heart. Just stop thinking about what's best for me; you've been taking care of me for too long and I have learnt to take care of myself. For once, do what's best for you.", she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I think I know what tour mission is.", she said after a while. "And I also know that you don't want to betray Crystal."

Scott looked up. "There's no best for me in this situation. If I don't betray Crystal I'll make her a fugitive in this kingdom too. If I do, she'll have her future ensured and you'll get the life you deserve. I think that it's better than being on the run. It's the betrayal of one person for the sake of many others. Her sake too."

"But she's not just one person to you."

"That's why I said that there's no best for me in this situation. When you're presented with bad choices, there is no best. There's only the one that will be the easiest to endure."

"And what makes you think that letting her go will be the easiest for you to endure."

Scott shrugged. "It will be, on the long run."

Phoebe wanted to argue, but she felt as if there was no point. Her brother was too stubborn to let himself be happy and even though she knew that he deserved it, he thought he didn't so she decided to leave him in his misery.

It was his own choice and even if she got in the way and tried to make things better for him, he'd only tear things down again.

"Wait a minute... Where is Crystal?", he asked suddenly.

"In the tavern. I told her we'd be back in a bit.", Phoebe reassured him.

"Oh, okay... Let's go then.", he shrugged.

"I see how it is.", his sister crossed her arms.

"What?"

"You are being cold and distant to the poor girl because you don't want to get attached, but at the same time you want to go running back to her! I get that you want to spend as much time as you possibly can with her, but at least do it right!", she said exasperately.



Before Scott could reply to his sister, a chair came out through the window near them, breaking it. The two siblings glanced at each other and rushed back into the tavern.



°~*~°



Lux couldn't stop crying. She wasn't sobbing or anything, she was just crying. Silent tears kept streaming down her face.

She was so eerily peaceful when she cried that Caroline was having a hard time not being jittery near her.

It hadn't even been an hour since the execution. Carter and Erebos had been forced to the gallows and hang with a sickening crack.

Caroline was on the verge of puking when that happened. Lux had been crying for a long time before that, but the tears seemed to be multiplying after the horrendous executions took place.

They didn't seem to be tears of sadness and sorrow, though. They mostly looked like rage and her black eyes made her seem as if she was contemplating revenge.

Another strange thing about the way Lux acted, that was despite her tears and pain, she kept her head up and her shoulders straight.

Caroline felt that she shouldn't be surprised by all this. Lux had always been strange and strong (two words that usually go together, even though most of us don't want to admit it). Alastor knew that too, which was why he had executed Erebos.

Lux was like a diamond; sharp and impossible to break, unless you used someone like her- another diamond- against her.

Alastor knew that the only way to get back at someone like Lux was to hurt her somewhere it would leave a scar, but not just any scar; he wanted to leave an emotional one on her, which is by far the worst kind.

He always wanted to be superior. The best. On the top of the food chain. Lux was a threat to him so he planned ahead to bring her down once she became too much of it. There are some types of people you need to have leverage on before you can advance on them; you need to be certain that they won't have any way to fight back.

Checkmate.



Cecilia was desperately trying to cheer Lux up, but she couldn't be consoled she just kept staring at the nearest wall in shock, still. When she finally spoke again after a few hours, all she did was give a promise, one that made a chill to down Caroline's spine.

"I'm going to make sure Alastor dies before he gets the chance to get back at his brother. I'll make sure he never gets his revenge.", she hissed, standing up. "You two can go now. I need some time alone.", she wiped her tears and crossed her arms.



Caroline and Cecilia slowly and hesitantly made their way towards the door.

"Is there anything else you want? Something I can help you with?", Cecilia asked Lux.

"No, but thanks anyway. You've already helped enough, Cecilia.", she gave her a really small smile; so small that it was just barely visible.



Cecilia turned red and practically ran away. Caroline raised an eyebrow at Lux, who seemed unfazed by her friend's reaction.

Then she left too. She figured that either Lux had noticed and was used to this kind of treatmenr or she was oblivious to it. Either way, it was none of Caroline's business, so she got out of Lux's way. She was just as mad as Lux was and Caroline didn't want to get involved any further.

At dinner, Alastor seemed pretty contend with himself and was in a really good mood. That sickened his daughter. Suddenly she wasn't feeling any hungry.

The whole thing with Tristan was still an issue, but now that Alastor knew that his son wasn't in the palace, he had sent out scouts and soldiers to find and bring him back, prefferably along with Crystal.

Scott's head in a plate wouldn't hurt either. Well, unless you're Scott, but you get the point.

Caroline didn't even touch her fork. She just stared at her plate in silence, waiting for her father to stop rambling and gloating about how good the execution had been.

And then she went to sleep. She didn't care about any dreams she might have, she just wanted that day to end.



°~*~°



Crystal was just minding her own business in the tavern, while Phoebe was outside talking with her brother.

And then she noticed someone was staring at her. It was a big, buff guy with a fox tattoo on his right arm.

The fox meant something. It was familiar to Crystal, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

The guy started approaching, so she looked away. She was afraid, but tried to not show it and acted as if she hadn't noticed him.

He was a few feet away when she realised what the tattoo meant. It was Alastor's emblem.

Crystal got up as hurriedly as she could and started walking towards the door. She'd already paid for the food, so there was no trouble with that.

The man followed her and eventually blocked her way out. He stared down at her and she gulped. He tried to grab her but she backtracked, grabbing a chair and placing it in front of her. The tavern was nearly empty and most people either minded their own business while the others were drunk, so no one bothered to help her out.

He chased her around the chair for a bit until he got tired of that and grabbed the chair, throwing out the window on Crystal's left, shattering the glass loudly.

"Dammit.", she muttered under her breath and made a run for the door. People turned around and started staring. The tavern's owner rushed towards them to make complaints about the broken window, but the man with the tattoo turned around and growled at him, sending him running.

Then he noticed Crystal running towards the door and grabbed her forearm. "Why the rush?", he sneered.

"Leave me alone!", she hissed, struggling to leave.

"Where is your friend?", he ignored her. Crystal was about to lie, saying that Scott had left, when the door slammed open and he rushed inside along with his sister.

"Right here.", he crossed his arms. Crystal facepalmed with her free hand.


This time Crystal didn't struggle to leave. The man was a little too surprised and distracted by Scott's sudden appearance, so he didn't notice her foot aiming for a certain body part that hurts a lot.

And she kicked him as hard as she could.

"Sorry!", she grimaced and ran to the others.

"Why the hell would you apologise?", Phoebe asked her.

"I don't know! Let's just go!", Crystal muttered and they started running. Again.



It didn't take long for their pursuer to recover. He was after them again in no time and he was a fast runner.

"Let's split up, he can't follow all of us.", Phoebe told Scott and Crystal.

"He'll just go after Crystal alone, then.", Scott hissed.

"Yeah, and well be able to trap him instead.", Phoebe explained.

"We're not using her as bait!", Scott argued.

"If it gets us out of this, then yes, you are. You don't get to decide for me.", Crystal glared at him.

"Ouch.", Phoebe cringed. "She's right, though.", she shrugged, implying to Scott that this was a great argument that she could use against him in the conversation they were having a while before.

"Alright... On three.", Crystal gulped. Phoebe looked back.

"Three!", Phoebe yelped, turning to look ahead of her again, then sprinted away from the others.

 

It took them a while to figure out what happened, but Crystal and Scott went on their own ways too.

As expected, the man with the tattoo went after the princess.

Crystal ran faster. She couldn't take this much longer. At some point, she took a wrong turn and found herself in a dead end.

"Nowhere to run now, princess.", the man hissed, making her wince. He started walking towards her and she backtracked until she reached the wall behind her. Nowhere to run indeed, she thought.

That's when the only person that's basically allowed to call her a princess appeared on the other side of the alley. Crystal locked eyes with him, giving him a look that said he should get Phoebe. He gave her a small nod and was about to do just that, when the man was close enough for Crystal to kick him again.

She tried to do just that, but this time he grabbed her knee and twisted her ankle with a sickening crack like it was nothing. Crystal let out a pained scream.

"What next? Your other ankle? Maybe your hands or your knees?", he hissed, letting her fall down with a sob.

"What about your neck?", Scott growled from behind him, clenching his fists.

"What are you going to do, kid?", the buff guy said.

"Just ask the first guy who touched her on my watch.", Scott hissed.

"Why the first and not the others?", the man asked cockily.

"I'm working on that.", Scott shot Crystal, who was on the ground clutching her broken ankle with tears welling up in her eyes, a worried glance. She looked back at him giving him another look that said he should run, but he ignored it and lunged on the man, punching him square on the face. The man barely moved, but Scott's knuckles started burning. He resisted the urge to start waving his hand around.



Crystal noticed her luggage a few feet away. She tried to reach it, but couldn't. She winced in pain as she started crawling towards her things. She just needed her bow. Nothing else.

Their attacker and Scott were still fighting, if anyone would call that a fight. The former was throwing kicks and punches while the other one dodged, but Scott couldn't keep this up for long.

That's when Phoebe arrived, grabbing her brother by the collar and setting him aside. That's when she did the exact same thing Scott had done, only a little more effectively.

She punched the man with the tattoo in the jaw, making him backtrack a bit. His bottom lip started bleeding a bit. Then she grinned him by the collar too, and brought her knee up to his face with such force that he stumbled backwards once she let go. He didn't even get the chance to react.

When he stopped feeling dizzy from the hit, he lunged at Phoebe, but something made him stop abruptly. He looked down and saw that an arrow had pierced him through the stomach, then collapsed on his knees and eventually on the floor.

Before staying unmoving, he turned to look at Crystal and whispered one last word. "Murderer..."


Phoebe and Scott heard wood clatter against the stone ground and turned around to see Crystal, her eyes wide.

"Princess, what did you do?", Scott asked her carefully.

She looked at him and let out a sob. "I- I killed him!"