"HOW DID SHE ESCAPE?" Theodora practically shrieked at the dazed Winky guard that stood before her. The man had fled once her sister had escaped but she tracked him down before he could leave the Emerald City. She needed answers and she needed them now.

"Y-your sister" He stammered clutching his bleeding nose in pain. His eyes were wide and terrified of the creature that stood before him. She looked enraged and primal and completely insane and he knew he would not be leaving this room with his life. "The o-other one… She came through s-some tunnels and a-attacked me" He whimpered from his position on his knees. "They t-took my keys and took the p-prisoner… We gave chase b-but as you know she collapsed the tunnels" He continued on rambling his fear reaching it's peak. "I'm s-so sorry Milady… I'm s-" He began to beg but she just flicked her wrist quickly and snapped his neck.

His body fell in a crumpled heap on the ground and she sat down in her seat leaning back and leisurely staring at the mangled corpse before her. Of course she'd come to save her… She should have been prepared for it. Their connection was strong and she knew Leahmora wouldn't be able to cope with feeling their sister in so much agony.

It made her sick how weak she was. Leahmora the Brave, Leahmora the Strong. Oh how those titles were ill fitted. She was weak and Theodora felt nausea's at that thought. And she still had the guile to retaliate against her. The very nerve.

Her temper took over and she slammed her fist hard down on the solid desk before smashing everything off of it in anger, flipping the table as she went along. She refused to be outdone by her again.

She needed to make a move and soon Theodora mused regaining some semblance of sanity. Both her sisters were wounded and with Glinda on edge with Evanora's presence now was the best time to act. She had to strike whilst they were weakened to make maximum damage, to show them she was not to be trifled with anymore. She was the Queen now, this was her country and she'd be damned to allow those insolent wenches thwart her plans.

She knew she could take them now. In her old shell, that meek and vulnerable pathetic specimen that she was she knew she was no match. But now she had more power than she could ever wish for and she knew she could slaughter all three of them if she timed it right. First she needed to show them her might… Lower their morale and make them feel utter despair.

Then she would end them one by one. She was absolute power, she was the superior being now. She would no longer live in the shadows of those wretched creatures who were once her blood, no she was going to crush them completely and that disgusting excuse of a man who'd played her like a fool.

They'd all coveted the throne in some way but now she was on top and she was determined to keep it that way. The bloodlust was rushing through her, making her delirious with excitement. She was going to show them all how powerful she was now, she was going to show them just how much they'd underestimated her all her life. She was going to wreak chaos upon them all and she couldn't wait.


Leahmora watched her sister flee the room from a distance practically tripping over her feet in her rush to leave, one hand over her mouth and frame shaking. Clearly she could see that the woman was on the verge of tears but as much as she wanted to comfort her she knew the woman needed time to reconcile all she must have heard in that room.

Running a hand through her long hair she walked towards the room her youngest sibling had just departed. Hesitantly she stopped just as she was about to grab the door knob, something preventing her from going in. She needed to know why all of this was happening? But for the first time in her life she was truly terrified of what she would hear.

Sucking in a deep reassuring breath she pushed open the door and stepped in, her heart thundering in her chest. A barrage of emotions hit her as soon as she laid eyes on her sister who was lying on the bed staring numbly up at the ceiling. She didn't know if the woman had heard her so she closed the door and walked further into the room.

Evanora must have noticed her presence as her gaze snapped from the ceiling to herself and instantly she halted her movements, not moving any closer to the woman than her position at the foot of the bed. She watched as Evanora pulled herself up into a sitting position and tucked her knees up under her chin. She looked absolutely exhausted and she had a half a mind to leave the woman rest but she was done with thinking about what was best for her sister now and instead decided to focus on her own needs for once.

"You came" Evanora said her strained voice relieved as she looked upon her younger sister.

Leahmora just nodded at her, words failing to register in her throat. She wanted to ask how she was feeling? If there was any more injuries to tend to?. But now was not the time for courteous idle chit chat.

"I'm sorry… I know I've said it to you before and I've said it to Glinda but I'm sorry… I never meant for things to go so out of control" She said earnestly and Leahmora could hear the sincerity that filtered through with every word but she just couldn't accept them… Not yet.

"What did you mean to happen then?" Leahmora finally managed to choke out, her tone clipped and hard. She couldn't let her emotions cloud this conversation. She needed truths, facts and motives. "What did you think would happen with this ridiculous crusade you've been on?".

"I…" Evanora said stumbling over her words. "To take the throne… That's all I wanted. To prove to Father that he was wrong about us all. That we were all worthy as his Daughters".

"Do not paint us with the same brush sister" She snapped coldly looking down at her with a heated gaze. "You wanted to prove to him that you could rule, not us".

Evanora recoiled at the chill in her sentence but composed herself and continued. She'd expected this kind of hostility off Glinda not Leahmora. "Yes… I worded that wrong I'm sorry… I lost myself to the Dark Magic within me and it left me with a crippling lust for power… I didn't expect it to play out as it has. I just wanted to take the throne and bring peace to Oz but I just needed more and more power until I couldn't have anymore".

"I thought you were a better person than that?" Leahmora mused sharply never looking away from her sisters dark eyes. "All my life I idolised you… Your strength and your intelligence. You had it all and you cast it away for a seat and a sceptre...".

"I was angry… I was so angry at Father I wasn't thinking straight. I acted on an impulse and I made the biggest mistake of my life" Evanora admitted hiding her hurt away. She knew she'd have to be firm with Leahmora, she would not just absorb every word she said and mull it over like Glinda. She would argue and probe because she was too stubborn to let anything lie. "I realise that now and I realise it's too late but".

"But what?" Leahmora cut across briskly as she rested her hands on her sore hips. "What you've done to this Family and to Oz is terrible. Our people have been living in fear and the whole time it was you causing that!" She said strongly her pitch rising and her temper began to flare in the pit of her stomach. She tried her hardest to call on all her willpower to calm her shaking bones but she got no reply.

Evanora looked down in complete shame the words ringing true in her ears. She knew all this, she knew it better than they did. But everytime she heard those words more pain pressed down on her, heavying the newly lightened load once again.

"And the lies… You deceived me. Of all the people in this Country you deceive me?" She said as hurt began to filter through her anger. "How many times have I set my life on the line to protect the people, to protect you… I was willing to die for you and kill my sister if it came to it and all along it was you causing me the pain?. All the injuries I sustained fighting your wretched monsters" She spat her posture loosening more and more as her energy waned. "I did everything you asked of me and more… and the whole time you were sending me to my death?".

"No!" Evanora cut in pleading soaking her words. "I strictly ordered the baboon's not to touch you. No harm was to ever come to you!" She said sitting up onto her knees. "I swear to you… Even at my darkest moments never did I wish you harm! It was the thought of you being killed during your skirmish with Theodora that brought me back from the brink… I couldn't bear to lose you then just like I can't bear to lose you now! That you have to believe!".

"Am I supposed to be flattered by that?" She half snorted in reply trying to reign herself in. "You killed our father… You've torn this Country apart and you've turned Theo into a monster. Our baby sister is a monster" She yelled the last part and Evanora cringed away from the sound, her eyes stinging as more tears threatened to emerge.

"I know what I've done" Evanora said her voice shaking with fear and regret. "No one can hate me more than I hate myself…" She trailed off, her voice turning into a whimper.

Leahmora softened slightly as she watched her sibling begin to fall apart at the seams right in front of her. She knew she was telling the truth, she knew her guilt was real but the pain she felt at the betrayal was just too raw to see past. "I don't hate you… I want to hate you but I can't. I loved you… I still love you 'Nora and that makes it so much worse… But I can't see what all of this would have achieved… All this death and chaos… It was all for nothing" She said her voice breaking more and more as she went on.

"Yes… It was… I see it now" Evanora replied dejectedly her whole body practically slumping forward. "I was selfish and I was blind and I was tempted by forces that I should have refrained from ever going near and I deserve whatever punishment comes my way… I know you can never forgive me for what I've done to you all and rightly so… But I just… I need you to know that I never intended this hurt, I never intended to hurt anyone as I have" She cracked her voice shaking almost uncontrollably.

Leahmora just stared at her, the deathly silence of the room engulfing them. She was beginning to get overwhelmed with Evanora's torturous emotions that filled the small space around them and she realised why Glinda fled in such a hurry. So much pain. She could feel it racing through her veins, draining her energy and anger. Her sister was completely broken, her entire being in tatters.

Her resolve was faltering and it was leaving her fast. "But you have…" She trailed off quietly as she slumped down on the edge of the bed. "You've hurt so many people 'Nora… I was going to kill my own blood in your name and now I have to do the same to my little sister because of your actions".

"No you don't… I caused this mess with Theodora and I'm going to fix it however way I can" Evanora answered as she shuffled an inch or two closer to her sister. "That is not your burden to bear, it is mine… I'm willing to die if it atones for even a fraction of the things I have done but I'm not willing to let you perish too" She replied a sudden bout of strength in her voice. She would do something, she would do anything she could.

"Too late to care about us now" Leahmora sighed as she dropped her head into her hands. "I just…" She began but she couldn't even find anymore words to say as she turned to stare at her older sister. She wanted to hate her so much. She wanted her to be punished for everything that she'd done… But she couldn't. She couldn't do it to her. She didn't have the energy and she certainly didn't have the heart to tear her sister down even more than she visibly already had been.

"I understand" Evanora said knowing that this was difficult. "You don't need to explain it, I know what I've done and believe me when I say I'll be haunted for the rest of my days… The people I've killed are in my head every hour of every day and even in my dreams when I sleep and your face is amongst them…" She moaned sadly another rogue tear straying from the ducts and down her face.

She couldn't help but be surprised as she felt a hand on her face brushing away the lone droplet. "I know it wasn't you… Well it was, but not the you I know…" Leahmora trailed off drying her hand on the quilt. "I'm always willing to give second chances… And I do believe your remorse wholeheartedly… But I need time okay… I need time to come to terms with all this madness and…" She pressed on her voice wavering.

Evanora tentatively grasped at the hand that rested on the bed, placing her palm over it gently. She expected the girl to rip her hand away but was pleasantly surprised to see that she didn't move the worn digits.

"You take as long as you need sister, I will ask no more of you…" Evanora said softly glad to see that she was making some progress. "I do hope that one day you will forgive me… For it is your friendship I value the most. But I will understand if that day never comes".

Leahmora nodded at her and patted the hand on hers gently before standing to full height. "I'll forgive you eventually… Just as I always have. You're my sister and my best friend… But".

"Time" Evanora spoke for her and the girl nodded.

She walked to the door and pulled it open but turned to look at the woman in the bed once more. "Get some rest… I'll be back with Glinda later to discuss what exactly we're going to do with that sister of ours" She said politely before exiting.

Evanora once again watched another of her sisters walk away from her but she found a renewed sense of confidence in herself. She'd forgive her eventually… She'd forgive her eventually. A wry almost grim smile came to her face as she settled back into the quilts, cocooning them around her frail body.

Leahmora was willing to give her a second chance. One of her sisters could potentially look past the damage she'd made and forgive her. She could get the forgiveness she craved so badly. And whether she had to wait a week or years for it she would hold on to it with all she had.

For it truly was all she had now.


She found Glinda sat on the steps of her own Grand hall, her presence easily discovered by the tremor's rippling off of the woman's aura. Slowly she made her way across and sat herself down on the step beside her. "Are you okay?" Leah asked tentatively knowing how ridiculous the question sounded but needing to know none the less.

Glinda nodded almost numbly at her. "I'm fine sister" She replied quietly, flicking a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm just surprised more than anything…".

"Surprised at what?".

"Her honesty… I went in there expecting her to spin some tale to justify everything that she's done wrong… But she didn't. She was completely honest with me. She didn't try to shirk the blame onto anyone else. She told me everything I asked" Glinda said the surprise evident in her voice.

"Honesty is all she has left now" Leahmora replied quietly as she rested her elbows on her knees and sighed loudly. "Her pride has been stripped away from her, all that's remained is an overwhelming feeling of guilt… And the only way she can shed that guilt is by owning up to her indiscretions" She trailed off, trying not to lose herself to her own musings. "Lying is what got her to where she is now… It wouldn't benefit anyone to continue to do so. She knows that, she's not stupid".

"No she's not… I couldn't stay in that room any longer than I did. It was suffocating, toxic. I've never felt anything like it, the emotions that were radiating off of her. It frightened me" Glinda admitted truthfully rubbing her weary head.

"I know" Leah agreed wrapping a comforting arm around her younger sister. "She wasn't of sound mind when she did those deeds" She spoke and Glinda turned to look at her, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "I'm not excusing what she did by all means" Leah clarified before continuing. "But imagine do all that and then finally snapping out of it and coming back to the real world… Years worth of heinous schemes slamming back into you, every repercussion from every action you'd ever made finally registering… It's unimaginable".

Glinda listened intently to her siblings words, taking them all in as always. She knew what the woman was trying to say. "Do you believe her?" Glinda asked curiously wanting to know where her sisters mind was at regarding the matter.

"I do" Leahmora replied honestly though her voice was hesitant, frightful. "A part of me doesn't… But I believe her. I believe she has truly realised just how far she went. I believe the guilt because I can feel it coming off of her as can you. It doesn't right what she's done but I do think that she's sorry yes".

"You would though" Glinda mused trying not to sound as if she was accusing the girl of something. That was never her intention by any means but their relationship with one another had been so strong, she didn't want her to be biased and let her emotions cloud what had transpired. "You two are so close…".

"Our relationship isn't clouding my judgement Glinda" Leahmora said softly knowing where her sibling was coming, understandably so. "Even if I was an impartial party member in all of this I'd still believe her… She's a good pretender and always has been but this, this isn't an act. She's come undone completely".

"Do you think she deserves a second chance?" The blonde said quietly. She could feel her heart soften towards Evanora the more they spoke about her. It wasn't in her nature to hold grudges. It wasn't in her nature to be resentful and bitter. That wasn't who she was. She could see the good in everyone and she could see the good that still resided in her sister, though she tried to hide it she couldn't.

"Yes… I think she does. I can't forgive her yet and I don't know if I'll be able to for a while. But I think she has changed and I think she deserves a chance to right what she's caused. It won't fix everything but it's a start and we all have to start somewhere" She shrugged pondering on how the woman next to her would react. She seemed calm and coherent so that was a positive.

Glinda just stayed silent as she mulled over the words spoken to her. She was right. As always she was right. She hated admitting it but she couldn't deny what had just been said to her. "She should be given a chance to fix this mess yes" Glinda agreed slowly. "But once the threat of Theodora has been eliminated then she must stand trial for what she's done. Neither of us can pass judgement on her being as we're her sisters".

"And I wholeheartedly agree" Leahmora spoke as she tightened her arm around the blonde in support. "We're going to have to all work together to stop Theo. Whether we like it or not we're the only things standing between her and the ruin of this Kingdom and it's our duty as its protectors to stop her" She added on, her voice stronger now.

"I cannot believe what she's become" Glinda sighed sadly reminiscing about her baby sister. "How can someone so sweet and loving turn into what you've described to me?".

"Love makes people do crazy things" The eldest sighed. "She's always been impulsive and far too sensitive for her own good. Throw in some heartbreak and it must have become unbearable for her. We're as much to blame as Evanora. We shielded her from too much. I babied her for longer than I should have. She didn't' harden naturally to the world around her like we did and this is what's happened" She added on regret lacing the words.

"You just tried to protect her… We all did" Glinda replied sullenly as she sunk into the warm embrace her sister offered her. She couldn't deny it was nice having her here, having her sister back. Sisters.

Leahmora was about to speak when all of a sudden an almighty boom ricocheted around the Palace, shaking its very foundations. The two sisters leapt to their feet, a fear twisting in their guts as so what just happened?.

"What was that?".


So another one down my darlings, I do hope you're enjoying and if so don't hesitate to leave a review. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps give me a kick back into action. We've got another big fight scene coming up as tensions escalate between the four sisters and Theo makes her move.

Once again thank you all for reading and I look forward to seeing you at the next chapter.