The fabric of the dark sheets was wrinkling within Hel's strong hold as she unconsciously held onto them for dear life. Her breaths were becoming heavier and more frequent and the sweat forming on her forehead was damping her black hair –the nightmare had wrapped its claws around her neck, which was tight enough to choke her.

Her conscious was trying its best to break free from the nightmare and help Hel return to her comfort zone; however, the claws wrapped around her throat were so strong that they'd rather break her neck than to set her free.

What saved her from the horrors suffocating her had been the sound of a familiar voice calling out her name. The moment his voice filled her ears, Hel slipped away from the grasp of the nightmare and woke up with a start. Before she could notice her surroundings, the owner of the voice pulled her naked body into his arms and began to caress her right arm with comforting movements. Slowly, the memories from the night found their missing places in Hel's mind.

She was in Valtor's chambers, in his bed and in his arms.

After their intense love-making had exhausted them both, Valtor had teleported them to his bedroom. Without even caring to put on their nightwear, the two of them had fallen asleep naked and all snuggled up under the dark sheets of Valtor's bed.

The movement of Valtor's hand on her right arm slowly disappeared as Hel steadied her breathing "What happened?" Valtor asked her with a low voice while he ran his right hand through her dark hair.

Hel gulped "It's the dead," she responded with a weak voice "They are trying to capture my attention by giving me nightmares," she said and turned her head to meet Valtor's grey eyes "About burning alive in a closed place."

Her words brought a grimace to his face, then he slowly gathered all her hair on her right shoulder and began to run the side of his left index finger on Hel's now exposed neck "While you're inside my arms," he whispered and pressed his lips on her neck. Hel buried her head into Valtor's shoulder as his lips moved down from her neck to her shoulder "No one can cause you harm."

I'd give so many things to be naïve enough to believe that, darling.

After making sure that Hel was free from the effects of the nightmare, Valtor pulled her onto his chest under the covers and wrapped his arms around her body tight as if he wanted to make sure no one would take Hel away from him while he was asleep.

It's comforting to know that some things never change, Hel thought as she inhaled Valtor's scent. Just like his possessiveness of me and the feeling of safety it brings to be inside his arms.

The rest of her sleep had been surprisingly pleasant, perhaps the presence of Valtor was having a dreamcatcher effect on her. When she woke up, her hand immediately searched for the body on the left side of the bed; however, all it could find had been cold sheets.

The dark haired woman slowly opened her eyes and straightened under the covers. While she was rubbing her eyes, the footsteps coming from the right side of the room caught her attention and as she turned her head to look at the source, a small smile formed on her lips.

I could get used to waking up to the sight of his naked body.

"Seems like someone finally had her beauty sleep." Valtor said while he took out a neatly folded white shirt from one of his drawers. Except for the white towel which was wrapped around his waist, he was completely naked but his hair seemed dry, which meant that it had been a while since he had had his shower.

Hel stretched like a cat "You could say that," she said with a sweet voice. Unfortunately, her stretching was interrupted as some rays of sun met her skin "Fuck," she moaned in pain and quickly pulled the covers over her head "Valtor, close the fucking blinds!"

Damn, how could I forget about the sun? Valtor scolded himself while he closed the blinds, eventually letting darkness fall into the room although the weather outside was, surprisingly, bright and sunny "It's done." he said, walking towards the bed while Hel lowered the covers enough for her to take a look inside the room. Then she slowly sat down, letting her legs hang from the edge of the bed "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about your… allergy."

The witch waved her left hand in the air lazily "Don't worry, even I get carried away and walk naked into the sun sometimes." she said and stood up –she was still naked "I better get going –I need to take a shower as well." she spoke but let out a soft chuckle and shook her head upon seeing the naughty spark inside Valtor's eyes, who was eyeing her hungrily as he stood in front of her "Nope, I know exactly what you're thinking and the answer is no, Valtor –wasn't last night enough for you?"

Valtor held her from her hand and pulled her against his chest "I can never get enough of you, Hel." he whispered as he placed his free hand on the small of her back.

The edge of Hel's lip curled upwards "I know, darling but my body is still pretty exhausted." she said and slowly stepped out of Valtor's arms "I doubt I'll be able to have sex in the next twenty-four hours –plus, we both have work to do." she was walking towards the table, on which her clothes from the previous night were placed, while she spoke but upon seeing her reflexion on the mirror, Hel stopped in her tracks. With a frown on her face, she turned her grey eyes to the mirror "What the hell?"

There were several love-marks on her body –three were on her neck, another three were on the sides of her breasts and some bruises could be seen on the back of her upper arms. Hel's grey eyes found Valtor's from the mirror as she raised an eyebrow at him "Care to explain why you decided to mark me last night, huh?"

The sorcerer simply snickered and began to dress himself. Hel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Shadows from all around the room gathered around her, making it seem as if there was a dark glow around her body –in fact, they were simply healing the love-marks and the bruises on her skin. With simple injuries like those, Hel was able to use her shadow powers for healing herself and others. After that she, too, put on her clothes "When will you be going to the Underworld?"

Hel turned back to look at Valtor upon hearing him speak "Later today, if nothing goes wrong." she responded "Why?"

He shrugged "Just curious."

[Time Skip]

After leaving Valtor's bedroom, Hel disappeared inside the shadows until arriving in her own room –since the weather outside was sunny, she was not able to walk through the halls of the Cloud Tower. It seems like the nostalgia has to wait until I find a way to deal with this little, sunny problem.

The rest had been a hot shower and a quick breakfast; however, all she could think about was him and the night the two had spent together. She knew very well that she had to be mad at him for leaving her behind just because of his selfish ambitions but after feeling that his love for her was still alive somewhere within his dark heart, she just couldn't find the strength to do so.

At first, she had feared that the only reason he still wanted her was purely sexual desires; however, his touches had been almost shouting the opposite. Hel was more than capable of telling it when Valtor's touches involved feelings other than passion and last night there hadn't been only passion but also yearning, compassion, hope, and love.

Yearning because he had been forced to spent sixteen long years away from her.

Compassion because he still remembered the broken and vulnerable little girl hiding within her frozen heart.

Hope because they were brought together once again, they were given a second chance.

Love because it had always been there, it was never lost –it was simply in a deep slumber and was woken up the moment he heard his name rolling off her tongue.

Still lost inside the vast ocean of thoughts in her mind, Hel wore her black, satin dress and dark red, high-heeled pumps. What brought her back to reality had been the stain of the red lipstick on the edge of her lip. The dark haired woman rolled her eyes "With him on my mind, I cannot even put my lipstick on."

Once again, instead of walking through the corridors, Hel travelled within the shadows to avoid any further accidents with the sun –even when she was inside the headmistress' office, she still didn't step out of the shadows for she wasn't quite sure whether the room was safe for her.

The three young witches were around the desk and Valtor was, once again, sitting on the chair. The edge of Hel's crimson lips curled upwards as she recalled for which dirty purposes that very desk had been used the previous night.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of the sun." Valtor spoke while his eyes left the crystal ball and found the spot in the shadows, in which Hel was currently hiding. With an arched brow, the dark haired woman stepped out of the shadows. Valtor chuckled softly "The weather decided to be cloudy all of a sudden –go, see for yourself."

He tempered with the weather so I could walk around without being on alert, Hel thought while she walked towards the window. The sun had indeed disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds. She turned back to Valtor with an amused look in her grey eyes "Well, I appreciate the effort," she said "Thank you."

Valtor simply shrugged and turned his eyes to the crystal ball as Icy asked with a confused tone "How can you feel your presence so easily?"

"When she moves within the shadows, it causes them to vibrate with a unique frequency." Valtor explained with his usual laid-back attitude "That's how I can tell whether she is lurking in the shadows."

It seemed like Icy wasn't satisfied with his answer "But aren't there, like dozen frequencies within the shadows? You must be a detector to pick up hers!"

Valtor smirked smugly "Takes years of practice."

As the Trix moved to the seats in front of the desk to sit, Hel leaned the cold wall behind her with her arms crossed over her chest. Since her body had been tangled up with Valtor's whole night, she had got enough from his heat, hence her skin wasn't ice cold anymore –which meant that the coldness of the wall against her back made her shiver.

"So you two should've spent much time together, then." Darcy said, trying to sound indifferent but it was quite easy to tell that she was only trying to understand the true essence of the relationship between Valtor and Hel.

Of course Hel was aware of the fact that all three of them were helplessly admiring Valtor and she knew they all were going to be deeply disappointed once they found out that Hel had already had Valtor within her grasp. Well, she couldn't blame the girls for falling for him –after all, it was almost impossible to resist against his charms. No one knew it better than her.

"Pretty much indeed." Hel responded and then walked towards Valtor's sitting figure. The sound of her high-heeled shoes were echoing inside the room "What are you doing?"

Valtor showed her the crystal ball "Keeping an eye on Andros," he said and casted a quick look at the dark haired woman "You know what awaits that planet, don't you?"

Hel shrugged with an indifferent attitude "Not my problem anymore, I saved my own skin." she said, causing Valtor to snicker.

Stormy whispered with such a low voice that only Icy and Darcy were able to hear her "Girls, I think our man is already taken."

Icy rolled her eyes "Yeah, no kidding." she muttered under her breath "So, what are you going to do?" she asked and since her question was directed at Hel, the witched raised her head from the crystal ball to look at Icy "Are you staying with us?"

Hel nodded "For a while. I have to get some little things done before going after my own revenge." she responded and pointed at Valtor with her head "From his mothers."

Icy's eyes widened "From the Ancestral Witches?" she asked and casted a quick look at her best friends, who seemed as shocked as she was. Obviously, they found the idea of seeking revenge from the Ancestral Witches totally ludicrous "Well, in that case, good ridd… I mean good luck with that."

"Hey," Stormy spoke, changing the subject "Does Griffin know you are here?"

"Wait," Hel said and turned her eyes at Valtor as she slowly raised an eyebrow "That treacherous snake is here?"

A wide smirk spread onto his lips "Of course," he responded and leaned back the chair lazily "You should pay her a visit, I'm sure she has missed you."

Hel let out a cold but attractive laughter "Oh, you have no idea, darling." she said, after winking at Valtor, she began walking towards the door "Now, everything has become more fun. First, I'll have a little chat with my best friend, then I better go face the chaos of the Underworld."

"We can show you the way to Griffin's cell," Darcy said as she attempted to stand up from her seat but Hel gently pushed her back while she was walking right next to her.

"There's no need, I've been a student here myself." Hel explained with a confident aura around her "I still know this place like the back of my hand."

Before the dark haired woman left the headmistress' office, Valtor called at her "Send Griffin my regards."

A soft chuckle escaped Hel's crimson lips "I most certainly will."

[Time Skip]

Griffin stood up from the ground upon hearing the sound of high-heeled shoes meeting the stone floors "Who's there?" she asked while walking towards the bars. From the darkness ruling the corridor –it seemed darker than usual, probably somebody had been messing with the lights within the Cloud Tower –a dark haired woman emerged. Seeing her face after sixteen long years had a shocking effect on Griffin, causing her to take an unbalanced step back.

"Hey there, my old friend," Hel spoke with a playful tone as she put an emphasis on the word friend "Did you miss me?" she asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Hel?" Griffin asked with an obviously horrified voice "How can you be here? That's not possible! You should be in…"

Before her former best friend could finish her word, Hel interrupted "The Omega Dimension, yeah, I know." she said and leaned the wall parallel to Griffin's cell. Since she hadn't spent the past sixteen years in ice, she had naturally aged –Hel looked much younger than Griffin "Well, it seems like you've not been informed about the current course of events –breaking out from there has become the new trend lately."

Griffin took slow steps back until her back met the cold wall of her cell "This is bad... This is too bad…" she began to mutter while sliding down so that she was once again sitting on the ground "First Valtor and now you as well,"

Hel let out a cruel laughter "Don't be afraid, Griffin, little grudges aren't my taste." she said and flipped her black hair "Unlike Valtor who likes to keep a score in his head with every single person to cross his path… No, I prefer going after the mother snake."

A confused expression was visible on Griffin's face "What is that supposed to mean?"

The dark haired woman walked in front of her cell and placed her hands around the metal bars keeping the two, old friends separated "It means that I'll be going after the Ancestral Witches, who are to blame for the time I've spent in the Omega Dimension." she said and chuckled upon seeing Griffin's confusion turning into terror "Hey, cheer up, will you? I'll be doing you all goodie-goodies a magnificent favour with sending those three bitches into Oblivion."

"Going after the Ancestral Witches?" Griffin repeated Hel's words "Hel, you've finally lost your damn mind –do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"

Hel shrugged carelessly "I don't give a shit about your opinion, Griffin, you're dead to me." she said "You should be relieved, though, you will not be facing my wrath." A mischievous smirk spread on her crimson lips "But I cannot say the same for his," she spoke, she was talking about Valtor. After straightening, she sent a scornful look at Griffin "Seems like you've already seen it, though."

After leaving Griffin in a pitiful state in her cold cell, Hel went back to the headmistress' office –she intended to leave for the Underworld as soon as possible; however, she couldn't bring herself to leave without saying goodbye for she had no idea for how long she would be gone.

A relieved smile formed on her lips as she opened the door and saw that Valtor was all alone inside the office. He was, once again, sitting on the chair while holding a book in his hands. Hel had always admired his hunger for knowledge, it seemed like he could never get enough of it despite how much time he spent with reading "I didn't expect you to be back so soon," he spoke while raising his grey eyes from the book "Did Griffin grow boring over the years?"

"There's nothing more I can share with her," Hel responded as she walked slowly at his direction "I only wanted to feel the satisfaction of seeing the horror in her eyes when she realised that another ghost from her past has returned."

A soft chuckle escaped Valtor's lips "You never cease to amuse me."

Hel winked at him "I know, darling." she said and as soon as she reached him, she swiftly took the book between his hands and placed it onto the desk. Valtor raised a questioning eyebrow at her "I'll be leaving for the Underworld soon." Hel spoke with a silk-like voice.

"And what does it have to do with my reading, exactly?" Valtor asked, his eyebrow still arched. With slow movements, Hel sat on his lap, straddling him. Almost immediately Valtor's hands ended up around her hips.

With her left hand placed on Valtor's right shoulder, Hel cupped his face with her right hand, her thumb gently caressing his cheek "I wanted to say goodbye since I cannot foresee how long it will take to resolve the chaos in the Underworld." she spoke with a low voice as her lips were slowly closing on top of his "It could take less than a couple of hours, or a few days, perhaps weeks…"

Valtor captured her crimson lips with his "I cannot stay away from you that long," he whispered between little kisses. Hel giggled as she slid her tongue in his mouth, which met with his halfway through.

"You might as well have to, Valtor," Hel whispered, breaking the kiss for a moment. Promptly, Valtor's soft lips moved down to her neck "No living can enter the Underworld except for its Queen."

"In that case," Valtor whispered against her skin as he moved his lips down with each kiss "Get it over with as soon as possible."

Hel clicked her tongue and pushed Valtor gently away from her so that he was leaning the chair, his lips weren't on her anymore "I do not take orders from anyone, darling," she spoke with a low but dangerous tone "So I suggest you don't push your luck."

After leaving one last kiss on Valtor's lips, Hel got off from his lap and began walking towards the door "One last thing," she said, not even looking back at him "You better wipe that lipstick off your lips."