Chapter 43: Janus-faced

"Don't be fooled by their mask. Fake people eventually show their true colors. Just wait until their mask needs cleaning."

"I knew of some of the adversities that you've had to go through ever since I was cursed to become a black rose. I apologize again, girls. Never in my nightmares did I see all this coming; I believed I had stopped the curse of the Dark Descendant. I thought that I could handle Leonida, but unfortunately, I underestimated the situation. I underestimated her."- Magana concluded and left her teacup aside. Then she passed her hazel eyes over the five guardians, feeling them staring at her. They were all in the living room of Cornelia's house.

Magana had spent the last half an hour in explaining herself and getting to know more and more of her daughter's deeds over the last months. The last thing she remembered was Phobos, Cedric and Leonida going after some sort of magical fruit in order to make sure that Leonida will give birth to a girl. Then Leonida had tried to kill her, through Phobos's powers, but Daltar and Nerissa had managed to preserve her life with a pair of enchanted scissors... Ever since then, Nerissa had kept her in her dressing room, where the Queen had been unable to hear or witness anything specific. She had spent months in a brain fog.

"I was in a daze, either way. I could barely and rarely make out things around me. Up until the curse was somehow lifted. I- I have no explanation as to how that happened."- Magana went on sincerely. "I must have spent hours on the floor of that wardrobe room before I could stand up again. Could be over 24 hours for all I know. This black rose curse is a terrible thing. I felt only darkness and devastation for months. I wanted to be dead instead! Many times. But the golden Gods had other plans."- the Queen wiped her eyes. "Now I'm back. I'm back, and I will do everything in my power to stop Leonida from taking over so many innocent realms and demolishing Coronia and Meridian as we know them."

"That will only be possible if you try to be sincere with us this time."- Irma pointed out bitterly. "All you did before you were cursed was lie and pull the wool over our eyes. If you had told us some shit from the beginning, maybe a big part of all this could've been avoided-"

Magana was visibly ashamed by these words. But she shook her head, nonetheless:

"The last time Leonida made me swear that I wouldn't reveal her truth, but I do admit that I made a mistake. Overall; I was desperate to get Elyon to marry my son, I feared that if our dark family secrets were to resurface that would put an end to the engagement and alliance...I've been a fool."

"Well, all that you feared happened, either way."- Taranee noted pointedly. "Leonida and Phobos's daughter absorbed all mystic powers of Meridian and Coronia from Elyon. But it might actually be a blessing in disguise, you know. When all our fears come true, we become free to start fighting for real. I hope this applies to you too, Your Majesty."

"Maybe not all of it."- Magana murmured under her nose as if she hadn't heard her at all.

"Excuse me?"- Cornelia eyed the ruler disapprovingly.

Magana blenched ever so slightly, thinking her response over once more before giving it:

"Well."- she began carefully, licking her lips. "You said that Leonida and Phobos are currently locked in the Meridian palace against their will. That means that we have enough time to do something about the Golden Spring of Coronia. We have to secure its power before Leonida has fully obtained it. It's-it's still possible."- her voice grew with distressed excitement as she kept convincing herself. "We shouldn't miss this chance!"

The guardians exchanged glances. That was exactly what they had expected her to say. It was obvious that the Queen of Coronia would go with something along those lines, desperate to protect her kingdom. But that was, unfortunately, clashing with their plan.

- So, when do we tell her. - Irma mused. - Bet you she'll be thrilled to hear that we want to leave everything be engulfed by havoc, because a few books told us so.

Will was just opening her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. Taranee went to open the door for Andan, who burst in the living room a few seconds later. He was breathless and eager to see his mother after so much time, even if a little weirded out by her looks.

"Mother!"- he whispered as she jumped up to hug him with tears in her eyes.

"Andan!"- she sobbed.

"Mother, I thought I'd never see you again."

The girls watched them from a distance, as mother and son reunited after months. Their happiness was definitely beyond compare. Minutes later, the young prince finally let his mother go of his embrace and looked into her tearful eyes.

At first, he had been a little dumbfounded by her looks- loose hazel hair, no makeup and the simplest of casual Earth attire (Cornelia had provided her with an old forgotten tunic and a pair of leggings she had never even worn before), but then again, she had needed to freshen up and get clean new clothes. After all that time she had spent trapped inside a black rose...

"Andan, I'm so sorry for everything that you and our kingdom have been through because of me... I should have stopped her permanently when I still had the chance."

"No, mother. You're not at fault. Leonida is damned and very unpredictable."- Andan shook his head, taking his mother's hands again. "We will stop her together. With the blessings of the Gold Gods and the Spring of Wisdom...Talking about the Spring-"

"We should absorb its powers before she has reached it."- the mature Queen finished her son's thought as they both nodded at each other. That was what she had been thinking all along. They had no other choice-

"Hold it."- Taranee was the one who broke them off of their idyllic conversation. Both the prince and his mother stared at her almost in surprise. "I thought that the Spring's powers and properties are mystic and immense. How is it even possible for anyone to fully control them? Over and above that, what are you thinking of doing about t-"

"They are. You're absolutely right about everything you just said."- Magana interrupted her softly. "The Golden Spring is indeed too immense and mystical to be put under control. But there is something you don't know yet."

The girls looked at each other.

"I'd day "right back at ya", but go ahead, tell us what more we don't know."- Irma crossed her arms on her chest and looked at the Queen expectantly.

But Magana looked disturbed.

"No, you first."- she insisted. "I've had the feeling that you're keeping something from me ever since we began talking today. Please tell me. It's of great importance that I know everything, otherwise I'm afraid that with our doings, we might unwittingly help Leonida in her goals-"

"Well, that's kind of the point."

- Irma!

"What?"

Now Andan was as anxious as his mother. They both stared at the young women that faced them in confusion and a sense or reproach that kept sinking in more and more with every passing moment.

"Queen Magana, have you ever considered the possibility that your daughter is getting more help than the expected."- Hay Lin began cautiously, eyeing the royal duo with the corner of her eye.

Dressed in Earth clothes, the Queen and the prince didn't really look all that royal, but still, they looked like exceptionally good-looking people... And thank God for that, because what was about to happen twenty minutes later would have put all the girls in a very unpleasant situation, had their guests been wearing Coronian royal attire...

"Well, yes, there are many supporters of the Dark Descendant cult out there, unfortunately."- Magana admitted. "I suppose I didn't realize just how many before all this happened... So, yes, I realize that Leonida gets their help, but what of it. Do you think that they're that big of a threat?"

"You said it yourself. This is a cult."- Cornelia pointed out. "And your daughter is the "conductor of evil" according to your mother. (Magana blenched as usual at the mention of the countess)"

"Maybe Leonida is being used by Phobos or maybe Leonida is using Phobos, but someone is pulling her strings from the shadows."- Will added and then rolled her eyes at her next line: "Or maybe they really are in love, but either way; with such people, their sick goals are most important, and goals justify the means."

"Which comes to show that there is a great chance someone is helping or directing Leonida from within the royal court."- Taranee finished. "It's actually pretty irrefutable."

"True. So many of the things Leonida did would be impossible to achieve if someone in the castle wasn't on her side."- Cornelia crossed her arms as Magana swayed on her feet.

That thought seemed to not only make her uneasy, it terrified her...

"I-in the castle?"- she stammered. "In the "Aerate Edifice"? That's-"

"That's impossible!"- Andan declared making Taranee raise a brow. "We have everything secure and checked, it's not possible for one of those sick and twisted people, who take part in the ancient cult, to be present there. It's impossible."

"And how is it that impossible?"- Irma snorted. "It happens to the best of us, Nerissa posed as a few people for over 15 years before being discovered."

"No offense, Irma, but our systems are much more advanced than those of Meridian."- the prince replied with unusual coldness in his voice.

"Then how did Leonida get her hands on the Order of Coronia?"- Hay Lin came in with the facts, making Andan shut his mouth. "Someone from the castle must have given it to her, a random person breaking in means that your systems are not as nifty as you claim, Andan."

"Please, Nerissa and Caleb broke in the "Aerate Edifice" too. Advanced systems my ass."

"OK, Nerissa is not a good comparative example, because she is very smart and adroit at almost everything."- Will appealed, placing her hand on Irma's shoulder warningly. "But still, many other things happened, and these things point that there is an insider of the cult-"

"The Order being in Leonida, Arzu's kidnapping and death. Kandor."-Taranee started listing. "Not to mention the murder of that man that had the people force Elyon into promising them to get married in two weeks."

"Something which you all decided to hide from us again."

Andan, who was holding his mother's shoulders, was suddenly stubborn. He puckered his lips and glared at the guardians as Magana's wide eyes struggled to focus on something particular:

"Out of all these examples, only the Order being stolen and left with Leonida is to raise some suspicion. I admit to that."- he huffed. "But everything else, it could've been just about anyone's doings. Why must you live in the palace in order to kidnap Arzu? You think she never left its borders? Same with Mr. Alfalfa's murder. He never even entered the Edifice. Even the people themselves might have killed him in order to force Elyon to speed up things with the wedding. The Coronians were terrified of being left without a Queen-"

"Well, I hope that they're feeling much better now when Leonida has robbed their Queen of everything and is waiting for our last protection to be taken down."- Irma couldn't help but remark bitterly. "After they've helped her so much by killing that butcher guy."

"Irma"- Taranee sighed, but Andan replied to that as well:

"You understand that, they didn't. At least they didn't back then, when their fear had gotten the better of them."

"Yeah, well, we don't trust them. Nor do we trust your palace's staff anymore."- the water-witch spat.

"We will be scanning everyone in the Palace in order to reveal whether there are any suspicious figures there."- Cornelia announced and shot Andan a cold look. "Hopefully you won't mind, because it's mandatory."

Andan opened his mouth and closed it again before responding:

"No, of course, since it is mandatory...I must say that it's a tad insulting, but-"

"Really? More insulting than that dress you're wearing?"- Irma interrupted him bluntly, nodding at the long shirt which he had on.

"Girls!"- Hay Lin scolded her friends. "It's not the time to bicker right now, we have to-"

"No, we need Andan to understand that we're taking things in our hands from now on."- Cornelia insisted, lining up with Irma at the front. "Why must he argue with us? All this is happening because they made the mistake to try to hide so much from us."

"Yeah, you don't like the situation, huh, Andan? Guess what, neither do we, but it's not our fault. It's pretty much your family's."- the Water guardian added snidely. "Behind the veil, you and Elyon might be Queen and prince, prince and queen, consort-whatever! But here, in Heatherfield, you're just Mr. and Mrs. Chad. Remember that, Andy Chad. Listening to the two of you has already proven to be a colossal waste of time and magnet for trouble! Don't let me hear you arguing with us about every little step again!"

"What is more, we're going to be doing things without your consent from now on."- Cornelia raised her chin up. "My family is missing because of Leonida, and Leonida achieved all this, because you refused to reveal the truth about her earlier. Don't even ask anything, just do as we say and be as helpful as you can, because if this doesn't get resolved soon, all the water in the Golden Spring won't be enough to put out the hellfires which I'll start!"

Will palmed her forehead as she watched Andan getting verbally annihilated out of his league. It wasn't the time, nor was it OK for her two friends to be taking their frustration out on him like that. Yes, a lot had pilled up on their heads over the last months and a very large chunk of everything was due to the Coronian royal family's decisions, and Elyon... Oh, their problem with Elyon was on a whole other level. But they were guardians and she knew that they had to suck it up. They just had to.

"OK, can we please all calm down. Let's calm down and talk like adults."- the redhead insisted and clapped her hands together to attract everyone's attention. "That's better."- she approved with a weak smile. "OK, Andan, Magana, I do hope that you won't take everything which my friends said at heart. We're all extremely frustrated. Cornelia, Irma, I'm not saying that you're wrong to feel the way you feel, nor am I rebuking you, just tone it down a little, please. That's all I need you to do before we move to what I've been meaning to discuss ever since we found Magana upstairs..."

And as the royals perked their ears in anticipation, Taranee shook her head to herself. She didn't need to wait to know that what Will was about to share with them wasn't going to be accepted lightly.

"There's something you need to know about the night Leonida and Phobos's baby drained Elyon's powers and we left them in the veiled Palace..."

Less than ten minutes later, the door of Cornelia's house was yanked open as Magana and her son left indignant.

"OK, why are you reacting like that, that's the only way to deal with the problem!"- Will yelled after them as she and her friends caught up.

Magana stopped a little in the driveway and just turned around, pointing at them:

"No! No, that's not alright! What you did is beyond careless! How dare you take such chances regarding Coronia's sake and that behind Elyon and Andan's backs! How dare you!"

"And how dare you question our actions, last time I checked you're no longer Queen nor is your son's word of any importance on your fucking planet!"

"Irma, just quit it out!"- Taranee cried, but it was of no use.

The cold evening wind blew in their faces as Irma shouted:

"Why?! They were already warned that we'll be doing things we decide on! There's no other chance for this nightmare to end!"

"True, we saw what their decisions and solutions led to."- Cornelia noted icily, her hair flying back as she remained on the top stair of the porch. "Besides, it's already done. There's no going back now."

"You took some books' word for the fate of our planet and that of many others!"- Andan stopped to yell as well. He and his mother waddled like penguins as they were impatient to get away from the women, whose actions they deemed apocalyptic. They had allowed Phobos and Leonida to win. Purposely. Who the hell does that?!

"Some guardians you are, you're out of your minds!"

"You're not even trying to understand!"- Hay Lin shook her head, desperately. "If we don't stop that cult forever, similar problems will continue to emerge in the future, Coronia will never have a stable security if we let it slide..."

"We got an idea of how much you care about Coronia."- Magana shook her head bitterly. "This is where our ways will part, guardians. Do whatever you want to do, but we're not going to stand by with hands in our pockets, watching your careless experiments!"

"If you do anything to devalue our efforts and diminish our achievements, I WILL-"

But Will's hard grip around her wrist made Irma shut up and look at her. When their eyes met, the redhead shook her head.

"I've had it with them, for real."- Cornelia hissed, her eyes wandering in the distance, getting lost in the Heatherfield sky. "Watch them go and blurt out everything, then they'll do something moronic that will only help Leonida and Phobos in the end."

"Had we not told them, they'd be doing the same."- Will shook her head again. "I don't even know anymore. How do we deal with this..."

"Let's kill them."

But before anyone could scold Irma for her "alternative" idea, Taranee's gasp echoed in the evening:

"Oh, no... don't look now, but isn't that Matt's mother that just walked in the front yard after Magana and her son passed the corner?"

And she was indeed right. Will felt her heart sink as Linda Olsen made her way towards them.

"What is she doing at my house?"- Cornelia bared her teeth. "Get back inside, I'll give her a piece of my mind."

"Cornelia, don't."- Will stopped her, not even letting herself blink. "I'll be fine."

"But..."

"Trust me."- she insisted. "I will handle this. Go inside. Killian's all alone there. Go!"

Her friends hesitated for a few seconds but then did as she had told them. Cornelia was the last one to reluctantly walk in. She glared daggers in Linda's direction before closing the door of the house. One thing was for sure, if that woman crossed the line with her friend again, nothing was going to save her from her wrath.

"Good evening, Will."- Linda Olsen greeted once she reached the other woman. "I saw you had visitors and hence I waited in the car. They looked a little upset?"

"Hi...err...they are friends, actually. Family of Elyon's."- Will was quick to mumble. She immediately felt even angrier. Linda was the last person she felt like explaining these things to. "She got married, recently. Elyon... her family and in-laws are now in town for a while. Everything's fine, really."

"Really? That's great."- the other woman exclaimed, totally uninterested. She moved a brown strand away from her face before going on with what she actually cared to discuss: "I...I'm sorry to bother you like that, I really wanted to talk to you. Matt didn't want to tell me where you were at."- she added quickly. "You weren't home, neither at the pet store, nor at the club...however, I ran into Elizabeth Hale when I was driving by Garden Plaza, and she told me that you and the girls have come here."

"Yeah, well. I had the day off of all work-related errands."- Will replied dryly as she looked into the other woman's eyes. Not that it's any of your business, she added in her head.

There was something odd about the way Linda's blue orbs sparkled as she apologized to her; her words were saying it, her eyes, however, didn't seem to actually mean it:

"Will, I'm sorry for our...misunderstandings in recent times. I was too harsh on you, even after your miscarriage. I blamed you for things which weren't up to you."

Then why did you have to wait months to word that apology, Will thought irritated, but didn't say anything. There wasn't much to be said anyway. The entire situation was just so...artificial.

"I don't expect you to accept my apology just like that."- Linda added with a ghost of a smile on her face. "I know that mending our relations will be a hard and long process, but...baby steps, maybe? Please, Will. In the name of the family."

Susan Vandom-Collins had never deemed herself a religious woman. She had never found her strength in any fate. She was emotional, but rational at the same time. Being vice-president of "Simueltech" she had the image of a modern, sophisticated woman, whose career has begun thriving in the early 2000s, nailed to perfection. This time, however, Susan had sinned. She had to admit to herself and to her husband. Confession and seeking forgiveness were the only ways to atone her sin. Her daughter Will thought so too, so despite the shame and guilt, Susan had decided to be brave and stand with the truth.

She had expected everything when she approached her husband that night. When she had voiced it out, she had expected almost everything. Keyword almost...Because what Susan had never even imagined that would happen, happened for real. Her husband refused to believe her:

"Susan, that's not true. You did not sleep with Tony."- the teacher insisted calmly as he continued to rest comfortably in his armchair.

He knew his wife well, sometimes better than she knew herself. He had also gotten to know her ex-husband. This situation was definitely to be blamed on Tony...

"B-but Dean, I'm telling you!"- the woman stammered, at a complete loss. "We had dinner, then dessert in his room. He started talking about how much he loves me and wants me back, when I rejected him, he challenged me to have sex with him once again. If I didn't feel the spark between us, I could go free of him-"

"And did you agree?"- the man cut her off in the same calm voice.

"Of course not, but the next morning, I woke up in his bed! I-"

"Yet you remember nothing? Nothing of the sex that you two allegedly had?"

Susan stopped to think for a moment. She felt a little bit stupid for she hadn't even thought about that till now...That determined she had been to get the night out of her mind forever that she hadn't even tried to remember anything particular...

"I was relatively drunk, I don't- I don't remember much, actually."- she scoffed, haggard. "The last thing I remember was arguing with him."

"See, I knew it. You weren't drunk enough to forget everything that supposedly happened that night, Susan, you were drugged. By Tony, of course."- the man sighed and ushered his wife to sit close to him. "Susan, infidelity is about consent and doing it all willingly. Why do you feel guilty when neither of the two apply to your case? Tony is trying to manipulate you, Susan. Your feelings. Your life. He has done it in the past and he certainly hasn't changed that much since then."

Susan didn't say anything, she just thought about her husband's words. Well, at least she had somewhat relieved her shoulders from the burden of the betrayal she had believed she had committed. If it wasn't for her husband's love, firmness and trust it her, dispelling the effects of Tony's cunning manipulations would've been impossible.

And as the anxiety and imputed guilt left her, making place for her anger, she couldn't help but wonder: how far was Tony willing to go in order to have things his way? Up until that night, which she had seen as a friendly dinner, she had even believed that they could be friends after everything. Because of everything. But if Tony wasn't willing to let her live her life, she had moved on with many years ago, being in touch with him would forever be out of the question.

"If he actually touched you while you were drugged, it's not your fault, but I think that you should file a- "

"No."- Susan stood up and rolled the sleeves of her dark red polo-sweater. "I will speak to him, but I don't believe that he has taken any advantage of me. Now that I considered the fact that I have absolutely no memory of any action between us, I think that your right, Dean. I didn't have sex with him... You're also right about him wanting to manipulate me. But whatever the current circumstances are, I won't involve the law as for now. Not after what we went through in the last year."

Dean frowned a little, but it was more out of concern than dissatisfaction:

"Susan, I get it. And you're right for yourself and in regard to your history with that man. Even I who know everything can't help but point out that he's a very toxic presence in our life. And at some point, his presence- "

"I know, Dean."- Susan sighed and turned to face him. "And I will not allow it. I will have things with Tony settled once and for all. That being said, thank you."- she wrapped her arms around his neck. Dean smiled weakly and embraced her back.

"Oh, Susan, don't even start-"

"No, Dean, I have to say it. Thank you for being my rock as always, when I need you and when I think that I can handle things alone. I love you, Dean Collins!"

A big smile spilled over the man's lips before he kissed his wife:

"Now that part I can listen to on repeat; I love you too, Susan. As long as we have each other, everything will be alright."

Linda Olsen had just had a relatively bad day and by the looks of it, it was to get even worse. But she had expected it; after all, her ex-husband was coming back to Heatherfield. Her ex-husband was coming back in her life and it was...different. Different from all that she had ever seen coming.

"No, Carolyn. Not yet. Wait,"- Linda removed the phone from her ear as she peeked through the window. The unfamiliar car in her driveway was what she had been waiting for. And dreading at the same time. It was time. It was time to meet Marcus again for the first time since 15 years. "-I'll call you back, Carolyn. He's here. I'll call you later."- she told her sister before disconnecting the call and putting her phone away.

Don't worry about me, Carolyn. I won't allow Marcus to win this time. Don't worry.

She stopped to look herself in the mirror one last time before going out on the porch. She wore a black pencil skirt and an olive-green suit jacket to match her pumps which were in a similar shade. Even though she was aging now, she had once been Miss Oregon in the 80s. Beauty wasn't something foreign to her...And what if she hadn't maintained herself like that Nerissa Crossnic, Cornelia's mother in-law to-be? (Linda could still remember her stealing all the attention at her Christmas party) Not having a single wrinkle at this age wasn't natural to her anyway. And even if she didn't know Nerissa's exact birthyear (oh, boy, if she did!), she guessed that they had to be close in age.

The 80s had been her time to shine. She had been beautiful, smart, happy...She had been only 19 at the time when she had met her husband, and she had thought that life couldn't get better nor worse...So many elating things had happened to her in such a short time, that Linda had truly believed that happiness had come to her to stay. How naïve and optimistic she had been. Looking back now she realized that she simply hadn't gotten to know misfortune and pain yet at that point. Marcus had done everything in his power to make all these negative feelings and emotions, and many more, a huge part of her days. He had blackened her life, beauty and soul irreversibly...

"Good evening, Marcus. You're late."- the woman noted once she came face to face with him. Her features twisted in an angry expression involuntarily as their blue eyes met.

His sleek hair was more silver than ever, but it was still diligently combed back. He was shaved to perfection and he stood, tall and with a great posture, in his dark-blue suit, looking down at her. Looking down as always...And it wasn't just a height thing, Linda knew. Her ex-husband had never seen her as an equal.

"It's a pleasure to see you again too, Linda."- Marcus Snowden smiled haughtily. "You're as charming as ever. You've even dressed for business, isn't that an interesting look for you. You almost look believable as a high-flyer."

Linda felt her cheeks getting warm. He had to mock her, he just had to...And to think that she had dropped all her career aspirations for him.

"And you almost sounded nice. Keep one thing in mind, Marcus, you're no longer senator. And if you aspire to become something in Heatherfield, you'll have to work on your politeness."

The man just shook his head and smiled again:

"That's why I have you to help me with my campaign. Even though I must say, I am still rather surprised that you agreed to help me in any way. You're willing to use more than your connections around here to win me a mandate."

"I already told you, there's nothing surprising."- Linda pursed her lips. "Matt's career is failing; he doesn't realize it yet, but he has more loans than gains, and it has been like that for a while. I fear every day, I fear that he'll be just another failure of a Rockstar. If he's going to get something from all this, then so be it."

Marcus estimated her words and nodded somewhat surly.

"He is to get. If he manages to meet my expectations. If he proves that he can lead and make money without screaming and waving a guitar in front of a group of little punks. If I have to be honest, it's your fault. You haven't raised him right nor have you said something when he decided to start this so-called career of his. Now you're finally ready to suck it up a little and actually do something useful. Better late than never, I guess, Lindy. Better late than never."

A dangerous shadow passed over Linda's face, but she didn't say anything.

"Are we going to keep talking outside? Is your father inside?"- Marcus was getting impatient.

Linda shook her head and ushered him to follow her.

If she was to defeat her ex-husband in his game, she would have to shorten her nails. For sure. She had been tightening her fist so much, she had just made herself bleed in her attempts to preserve her composure...

Meridian, night time

"How much more must I wait before I can actually exercise my power over all the worlds which we united with the magic contracts?"- Leonida demanded and slammed her fist against the hard floor. "We worked so hard, but each time there's a new obstacle in our way! I can't take this anymore, I can't be away from everything that's rightfully mine and live like this!"

She was sitting on the marble floor of one of the many bedrooms of the palace, where she and Phobos were prisoners. Prisoners...she was sick of being that! She was sick of everything she was forced to endure and was losing patience, the person she was talking to through the mystic Order of Coronia could feel it, that's why they were fast to retort:

"This is the last obstacle, princess. Soon you will be Queen. Soon our legacy will be fulfilled. However, this is also the stage where we should be especially careful. Do not forget that."

"I know."- Leonida rolled her eyes. "I know that the damned guardians only allowed us to take Elyon's powers, because they want to stop the division between the Coronians forever. They want to stop the Darkness."- she frowned at that. Somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, she remembered a time when she didn't think that the darkness was her way to ruling and being what she was born to be. A Queen. But everyone else had wanted for her to be the bad one, especially her mother...

"Yes, your Majesty."- the male voice agreed. "You have to realize that as odd as it appears, this strategy of theirs is very smart. They want to get to us. To the roots of everything; our ideals, morals and beliefs...and tear them apart. The guardians have a lot of help, princess Leonida, I don't doubt that they've been helped even now. Kandrakar is currently blocked thanks to Kandor's brave sacrifice. You remember what the ex-guardians did to him, correct? They wanted to extract all information he had on us, hence he had to take his own life away! That is why it's a good thing that you got the main one out of the picture as well...She was severely interfering with our plans. If only we could permanently eliminate her..."

"I don't know where she is."- Leonida snorted, remembering a particular battle that she had emerged victorious from, almost by chance. "Nerissa was a terrible hindrance, but she won't come back if she knows what's good for her sweet son. I know her weaknesses and have successfully used them against her. She can't hit back, even she wants to."

"Nevertheless. We have very few goals to achieve before we can triumph, that is why you must have a little more patience, your Majesty. We need to seize the Spring to secure Coronia. Soon, the veil which the guardians created around your Palace will be taken down. But they must be taken down with it... Only then will we all be able to truly open up the new page of our history with you as our Queen. Queen of the United Dimensions!"

"Once I do get out of here, the guardians will be no more!"- the honey-haired woman hissed, tightening her fist. "It's Phobos who I'm afraid I can no longer endure here...I hate him and I want him dead!"

"Princess Leonida, we still need that man, do not forget that. Also don't forget that he can be as dangerous as he is crucial. You cannot afford to have him to realize that you've been using him and lying to his face this entire time."

Leonida made a face:

"Please! The guy's a fool! An absolute narcissistic imbecile who only thinks when he has an erection."

"Oh, not quite so. Please, don't be overconfident, your Majesty. If he gets to know the truth, he might as well push down everything we've struggled to build. We don't want that. You don't want that. Do not risk having to deal with Phobos's wrath. He's not Nerissa; he has nothing to lose and that makes him utterly perilous."

"Then I'll need more ingredients to lace his food again, once we're able to get out of here."- Leonida growled under her nose. "I could tolerate him more when he was intoxicated. I must go now; I think that he's looking for me again. We shall speak again. Goodbye, Visser; may the Golden Gods smile upon us and our quest! And thank you for helping me return to my throne again. I'd never make it this far without you."

On Coronia, sitting in his private study, the old man smirked before the magical call was disconnected:

"Anything for her Majesty..."

Then, a few moments later, he and the younger man in the room looked at each other with malefic smiles.

"Father, I must say, only you have the extraordinary power to make that foolish princess appear and talk to you as if she's a child."- the younger man exclaimed. "When she talks to me, she's always so unbearably full of herself. Stupid harlot."

"Emery, why are you surprised? I've seen both her and her mother grow up. I've taken such great care of them and the kingdom over the years. They know me. Or at least they think they do...that is why they both have full trust in me. But I've been wearing a mask for years, my son. A mask which thee roayls made me put on."

Emery smirked.

"Well, we do have the best of intentions regarding our kingdom. The Royal Family, however, are a different thing, aren't they?"

"Indeed."- his father snorted under his nose, before leaning back comfortably in his chair. "But we mustn't get intoxicated by glee just yet, son. We still have to wait. To kill those who're trying to get to us and get to the Golden Spring. Only then shall our ideals be fulfilled and our vengeance served!"

"Your right, father, but eliminating the guardians doesn't sound that easy to me."- the young man noted. "They're trying to get to us, and they're getting closer and closer every day. What if they get to know that we're the ones who've been directing all of their biggest problems behind the scenes?"

Visser just smiled and shook his head, looking down at something in front of himself.

"Then we're going to give them a proper greeting, Emery. A proper greeting and the truth about our society once and for all before we destroy all five of them forever."- the old man finished darkly, passing his hand over the cover of a book titled "The Changing Book of Coronia: Volume One."

A/N: Visser, the sweet old caretaker of the Coronian Palace and his son Emery who happens to be Andan's new bodyguard turned out to be 'Janus-faced'. What is to happen next? Who is playing who? Stay tuned to find out everything and leave me your comments! ;)