They walked through the rest of the city in silence, until they came to a large castle that looked like it had come right out of the Dark Ages. As the came closer, Prue was hit with the haunting realization that she'd seen this castle before.

"Oh my God," she breathed.

Darius snorted. "Not in this place, babe."

Prue shook her head, grabbing his arm. "No, I mean, that castle. I've seen it before. In a painting."

"A painting," Darius repeated. "What kind of painting?"

"Oh, it's, well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Prue stammered.

He looked over at her suspiciously. "Try me."

"Fine," she replied, "But don't say I didn't warn you." She took a deep breath. "The painting was brought to an auction house I worked at. There was a curse on it, that a witch placed to trap a warlock. Only, at the time, I didn't know he was a warlock, so my sister and I ended up getting trapped in there with him while trying to save him. We only got out because my other sister cast a smart spell - Oh, did I mention we were all witches?"

Darius shrugged, as naturally as if she'd just told him she was Canadian. "A smart spell, hmm? Wish I could do one of those."

It was her turn to look at him suspiciously. "You know about witches and warlocks and all that? Wait, are you a-"

"A warlock? No," he finished. "And I'm not a witch or a demon, either. I'm a mortal, or at least I was until I died. I know about magic and all that because, well, how else could I have gotten here, other than magic? Once you've been here a while, babe, you'll learn about all sorts of things you never thought possible."

Prue said nothing, now thoroughly annoyed at his insistance on calling her 'babe'. From the smirk on his face, she got the distinct impression that he knew it bugged her.

"As for the castle," he continued, ignoring her, "Where do you think the witch got the idea? She must have had a premonition, something about this place. Maybe a loved one ended up here? Whatever the case, it gave her the inspiration to trap that warlock of hers."

By now, they'd reached the castle. Prue stopped, refusing to go any further. "Darius, we can't go in there. The whole place is booby-trapped, it took the warlock seventy years just to write one message on the window."

"That was the witch's doing," Darius replied. "There's no danger here, Prue, in fact it's the safest place in this hellhole. I've lived in the castle practically since I got here, so if there was anything wrong with it, I'd know, okay?"

Prue nodded slowly, still wary of him. "How do I know I can trust you?"

He laughed. "What makes you think you can't? I'm no less a prisoner here than you are, Prue, I've just had more time to adjust."

Prue noted that he'd stopped addressing her as 'babe', and relaxed a little. She had to admit, he had a point. Inhaling sharply, she followed him inside.

The castle looked just like she remembered it, except that the torches stayed on the walls instead of hurling themselves across the room. Taking this as a good sign, she trailed after Darius as he hurried down the long corridor and up a winding flight of stairs. After what seemed like hours, they reached a large room, furnished with a bed, an armoire, a desk, and little else.

"That," Darius said, "Is the master bedroom, where I sleep. I know it's a bit drab, but until an interior decorator lands in here, we're kinda screwed, you know?"

"I'm assuming you didn't bring me here just to give me the five-cent tour and then toss me out on my ass," she started, getting right to the point. "Where do I sleep?"

He smiled. "Direct. I like that. You can have the room across the hall. I think you'll find it more to your liking."

She backed out into the hallway, and turned into the room he'd indicated. This one was a bit cheerier, with a few more candles, a large bed, a white armoir, a chaisse by the window, a small sofa in front of the fireplace, and a desk in the corner. There was also a white-framed, floor-length mirror on the wall. She gazed into it, not sure what she expected to see. She looked the same as she had the day she'd gone to save the doctor. Had that really only been this morning? It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Darius cleared his throat from the doorway, then stepped forward, putting his arms around her. "It was a lifetime ago, babe," he said gently, guessing what she was thinking. "It's over now. You're starting over. I'd like you to start over with me."

She leaned against him, surprised at how comfortable she felt in his arms. As he held her, she began to think that maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all...