Once upon a time and a long time ago, a humble village was greatly saddened for one of their most beloved neighbors, Avonlea had died of a great illness. In life she was considered a saint, kind and charitable to all she knew and met. She never once turned away someone in need of help and comfort. One example proving as such was when she spent the entire Winter tending to the cold and sick but unfortunately this was what led her to contract that fatal illness that took her life. Many tears were shed for the dear woman but there was one among the mourners who's eyes were dry.

There was one among the mourner's who's brain raced ahead to the day when Avonlea's now widowed husband Igneel would want to ease his loneliness. This conniving false mourner was called Kyoka and when she first came here she became quite interested in Igneel for he happened to own all of the land in the village which made him the most wealthy of all others who resided there. She also happened to know how deeply in love he had been with Avonlea and how he would have given anything even his own soul up, just to see her again. So right after Avonlea's funeral she began to scheme and set to work on the poor man.

And Igneel did not see the scheming woman. He didn't feel the sun on his face or the rain, just this tug of the past. All day and all night, memories tugging on his sleeve. His poor heart had been broken. But Kyoka could charm the skin off a snake and she turned all her power on Igneel. She approached one day as he was weeping by his wife's grave and when he looked at her he saw the face of his dearly departed Avonlea.

"You're back." He kept saying in awe.

"Our little secret." She told him.

So it began, Igneel wanting to feast forever on Kyoka, Kyoka reeling him in. One day they walked together, one day he held her hand, one day he kissed her. How happy he imagined he was and in seemingly no time at all he married her which shocked everyone in the village but no one more so than Igneel's two children. Oh yes, Igneel was a father. Before Avonlea had passed on into the kingdom of heaven she had birthed him two children. The first a daughter as white as snow and as lovely as rain drops. The second a son as red as fire and as strong as coal. They were called Juvia and Natsu. Now both children had loved their mother very much and her death left them very grieved, so naturally they were very upset and confused by their father's sudden remarriage.

"Children this is Kyoka." He said to them when he introduced his new wife to her. "I want you both to make her feel welcome."

"I hope you all will think of me as your friend." She said to them. "And then in time perhaps, your mother."

"Our mother is dead." Juvia said while clutching the pendent of a necklace that she wore. A necklace that had been a parting gift from her mother, given to her when she was on her deathbed.

"I think she means as a new mother." Igneel said.

"Yes. In time I just know that we're all going to get along." She said with a feigned sweet tongue. "Would you like to give your new mother a kiss?"

The boy with hair like fire and the girl with hair like rain gazed upon the woman who had replaced their mother and right away they could tell that there was something not right about her. Something strange about her eyes and her smile. And when she leaned over to press her mouth to their temples they flinched away.

"I'm not kissing her!" Natsu cried. "She looks mean!"

Her sweet facade quickly faded into a glare.

"You imbecile!" She snapped. "How dare you defy me!"

Juvia quickly put her arms around her younger brother and pulled him away from Kyoka when it appeared she was about to strike him. But she did no such thing for that would break her illusion over Igneel.

"Please enough!" The man said. "Kyoka do not ever refer to my son that way! And Natsu you know better than to react in such a rude manner. Juvia, you and your brother go back to your rooms. I shall speak with you both later."

"Yes Father." The girl replied obediently.

In about an hour or so he went to talk to them on the matter of his new wife.

"Children I understand how difficult this all must be for you." He said. "But Kyoka is very special to me. Had it not been for her I would have surely died of grief over losing your mother."

"I don't like her." Natsu said. "Something about her eyes. When she looks at me I don't feel the gaze of a lady. I feel the gaze of a monster."

"I feel it too Father." Juvia said. "And the way she smiles frightens me so."

"You have been listening to those silly tales that senile old men tell at night, haven't you?" He chuckled. "I can assure you both that Kyoka is nothing to fear."

"She called me an imbecile." Natsu said. "I'm sure that she would have hit me had you not been watching."

"She was just upset by your response to when she tried to kiss you. She really does want to get along with you both and I'm certain that she will prove to be a good mother to you both. Oh please, won't you at least try to be amicable with her?"

"If she truly makes you happy Father." Juvia said. "Then we shall try our best to accept her."

He smiled gratefully and embraced them both with a deep love. The brother and sister accepted the embrace, deciding that for their father's sake they would behave kindly and respectfully to their new stepmother. But they still could not help but be wary of her and it turns out they were right to be wary. For Kyoka was secretly a witch, a wicked and greedy one who had married Igneel solely to steal his vast wealth and land. Her plan to ensnare the grieving widower had worked perfectly, only Natsu and Juvia stood in her way.

She cursed them. They were her rivals and her enemies these two suspicious children for unlike their father who had been completely bewitched by her charms, they could see the wickedness she worked so very hard to hide. And she sewed a seed of fear in the children's lives, Stairs gave way, horses bucked wild, balconies crumbled. The world was dangerous. One day, a toy box was full of snakes, hissing and writhing. Another day, carriage would suddenly lose control and almost hit one of them. Terror whispered its threat through their house hold. Of course the Witch herself was all honey, always honey, but sometimes the Igneel caught her chill look and worried that she was also the bee. A bee that stung. But whenever he did, the sharp features would soften and beguile him. But now each time it took longer. Poor Igneel was torn in half. Enchanted by his new wife yet frightened for his children. Kyoka would often try to use her silver tongue to poison Igneel's heart against them. Saying things such as,

"How loud and rough your son is. He's almost like a rabid dog." Or "Your daughter is such a spiteful creature. She says the most cruel words to me."

But these lies only made Igneel's fear grow stronger but alas not strong to break her hold on him. Only enough for him to decide that perhaps it would be best to send his children away on a special holiday. He had a pretty Summer house located somewhere within the forest and only Igneel knew the way there. So he sent his children to live in that little house for the Summer and they very much enjoyed that house. There the two of them could make up games to play, climb trees, Natsu could fish in the stream, Juvia could pick wild flowers, and each day their father would visit them and bring them food, clothes, or other things they may need.

"This is probably the biggest one I've caught since we've been here." Natsu said to Juvia one afternoon after he had caught a very large trout.

"I can't wait to cook this up and eat it tonight."

"And I can set the table with these." In her hands she held a bouquet of lilies and primroses that she had picked. "Do you remember how I would bring flowers to Mother and she would braid some of them into my hair? I always loved it when she would help me look pretty."

"I remember how she would hold me in her lap and help me read all the books in Father's library. I was a little slow when it came to learning how to read but she always said that was nothing to be ashamed of."

"I miss her so much."

"I do too."

"But at least we still have Father. I look forward to each and every visit he makes. Do you think he will stay for dinner tonight?"

"No. He never stays with us long after dark. It upsets our stepmother." The boy said bitterly. "You know he only sent us here because of her."

"I know." She said. "But for his sake I choose to act as if I am ignorant to that knowledge."

"She is wicked and she wants to hurt us and Father knows it. I still don't understand how he could marry her."

"Before we came here I heard one of our servants talking and he claims that it's because Father thinks she looks like Mother."

"But that's ridiculous. That hag looks nothing like Mother."

"I know. It's so odd that Father would think otherwise."

"I don't think she's even human."

"I pray that's not the case because if it is, then heaven help us."

"Don't worry Juvia, that witch will never find us here so we're perfectly safe."

"If she is indeed only human then yes but if she's something else. Something with power then...Then...Oh dear."

Juvia shuddered at the thought but she chose to say no more about it for at that very moment their father had arrived for another visit and when the time came for him to leave again they begged him to stay longer.

"Father we don't want you to go back to her." Natsu said. "We're afraid she might do something terrible to you."

"Natsu she is my wife." Igneel said. "She loves me. She would never harm me."

"But she would harm us right?"

"No." He said in denial. "No of course not."

"Then why can't we go home?"

"Because I wanted to give you and your sister a special holiday. Are you not enjoying yourselves here?"

"We are Father." Juvia said. "Everyday here is wonderful but you're not with us as much anymore and we miss you. Can you not at least stay for the night and go back in the morning?"

But Igneel could not for he knew that if he did not return before dark as his wife would have preferred then she would suspect that his children meant more to him than she did which was true but if she knew that then it would lead to great harm befalling them.

"I can't stay." He said regretfully. "I shall be back again tomorrow."

He left on his horse after that and when he returned home he kissed Kyoka and was affectionate toward her like he always was whenever he came back from seeing the children. It was all to throw her off track of her envy but little did he realize that she had discovered long ago that Natsu and Juvia would always come first in his life and she could feel her control over Igneel weakening, which would provoke her to eliminate the competition.

"Husband." She said to him that night. "I think that tomorrow I would like for you to take me with you when you visit the children."

"Oh..." He said becoming worried. "Would you?"

"Yes. I have not seen them in so long and if I am going to be their mother then should I not be with them quite often?"

"Yes but it's a special holiday for them. To ease them into accepting our marriage. Wait til Summer ends and they come home, then I'm sure all three of you will bond with each other perfectly."

But Kyoka was very clever and she had already thought of a plan in which she would discover where the children were located, and upon finding them she would finish the final step of her evil scheme.