Corresponds with Chapter 53 in Elemental. This chapter is a little shorter than my usual chapters, but that's because I'm trying to keep it in time with Elemental, so forgive me. I'm also not going into as much detail as I do with Elemental, mostly because I put so much detail in Elemental. There will be more details specific to this story once they get to the academy, where this'll pick up. This story, until them, is mostly so we can keep paced with Elemental and occasionally hear Philyra's thoughts on things.

Daisy Pragnya: They're not trying to destroy the other dimensions, first and foremost. I can see how that would be a little confusing so I'll explain. The antagonists who are Elementals have little to no interest in any dimension except Elementum. This is because, like the general population of Elementals, they have no interest in humans. Besides, they can't survive for very long in Terra. Terra has no magic to sustain them, so it's practically useless. As for Myula, this isn't in the story but it probably will be at some point, Myula is the home of the Fae, given willingly to the Fae by the Elementals. Elementals like the Fae, and have no desire or reason to try and invade their home. As for the two Elementals who took Philyra last chapter, we really never seem again (at least, I'm pretty sure we won't). They were just henchman of Jerkwad and minor characters. They don't really have much importance.

TheFallenHer0: War doesn't happen. Yet. It may or may not in a future book. But as far as I know, it would have to be after Halfing if it happens at all. But the aftermath of Elemental is not going to be much fun, mostly for Selene. She's going to have a hard time through a lot of Halfling. But, as we all know, she ends up happy. Her tarot reading foretold it.

"So I've got some mischief

In my blood

Can you blame me?

The past is past

Forgive, forget.

The truth is:

You ain't seen nothing yet."

—Sofia Carson

Chapter 3—(Chapter 53)

Philyra continued to be the server/attendant of Selene. As it turned out, Selene had been kidnapped, too. But unlike Philyra and the other kids, she was full of life and spirit. She was convinced that they could escape.

And she talked more than anyone Philyra had ever known. It wasn't mindless chatter, though. She talked about things that were personal and important to her. Philyra knew that Selene was trying to gain her trust by revealing things about herself—as well as keep herself together.

Selene had seven older half-brothers. Three had girlfriends, another three were married, and one her sister-in-laws was going to have a baby soon. She had six nephews, currently. Most of her family lived in Terra, herself included. She was going to a school for magic in Gedonelune.

She had gone home when her brother was killed in an "accident." One most believed was just that. But Selene knew better.

"It was to lure me out of safe places. They killed Jonny to get to me." Selene could barely say it without choking up. Jonny had been her oldest brother. The one that had raised her. He was her father figure. "They were pulling me from the safety of the school, from my home. And killed him to do it."

She talked about her school, and her friends. Selene painted pictures of various people, particularly four of them. An awkward, studying-obsessed boy named Elias. A lazy slacker who was good to joke around with and smarter than he liked to let on, named Luca. Elias' older brother, Klaus, who was the school prefect and scared most people—but Selene found joy in annoying him. Philyra could tell that Selene was in love with this Klaus, but didn't realize it.

But the one that interested Philyra most, and one that Selene was happy to tell her about, was a boy named Yukiya Reizen. He was like her, a bit. Quiet, withdrawn, ostracized from most of the others because of rumors.

And, he hated his magic.

At least, until Selene spent a few months doing her best to convince him otherwise. "But he still has trouble convincing himself. He's had a hard past couple of years. Not as bad as you,"—Selene was very convincing, and eventually Philyra had given in and told her life story—"but still not all that fun." Selene wouldn't tell her anything more than that, saying that they weren't her secrets to share. And that actually made Philyra respect the older girl more.

In short, she had never met someone like Selene, and she found that she really liked the girl. She had never liked someone so much, with one exception.

Tigress. But Philyra kept Tigress to herself, and only referred to her vaguely when absolutely necessary.

…. …. ….

"Princess, I've got something to show you!" The leader of the bad guys, who Selene had taken to referring to as "Jerkwad," came into the room. For some reason, the door was never locked, and was left open. Jerkwad had been coming in almost daily—completely ignoring Philyra, who hid in a corner whenever he was in the room—trying to convince Selene to accept his offer to marry him. This confused Philyra. Selene, while Jerkwad was gone, explained it.

He wanted a trophy wife, one that would do whatever he'd say. Who'd be his killing weapon. And the half-elemental Selene (who hadn't known a thing about it until after she'd been kidnapped), with her immense power, was perfect for the job.

And Selene vehemently refused each and every time. "I'd rather just kill you and get back to my life, thank you." All the while, she had a completely sarcastic grin.

That was the first time he hit her. "You heathen child! You will give in!"

But Selene only laughed and turned her head, "Go ahead and hit the other. It's not going to change my mind." With that comment, the elemental man stormed out of the room. "Like a child throwing a temper tantrum. I'd bet that he wasn't told 'No' too often growing up." And she laughed. Laughed. This girl is crazy, Philyra thought.

She hurried over to the bound girl, "Are you okay?" Her voice, as ever, was no more than a whisper. The older girl's cheek was slightly tinted pink.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It takes a lot more than that to actually hurt me." She laughed, "Seriously, my little nephew Daren could slap harder than that, and he's one of the sweetest, most harmless creatures ever to live."

It was hard to accept that this oh-so-human girl wasn't actually human. Only half-human.

…. …. ….

"Clean her up." ordered on of the guards, tossing a bag of things at Philyra. Selene had been thrown back into the room, and was crumpled on the floor. They had taken out the bed a couple of days ago. She was covered in painful-looking cuts and bruise shadows that looked like they were going to hurt like hell. And the once-silver magic-binding bands around her ankles and wrists were now gold. Philyra guessed that they were stronger than the last ones. They were also magically chained to the floor around the mat that had replaced the bed, restricting her movement.

The guards left and Philyra opened the bag to find a bunch of first-aid type things, from a rubbing-alcohol-like substance to bandages. She did her best to tend to the unconscious girl.

Eventually Selene came back to the world of the awake. She sucked in a sharp breath as Philyra continued to dab the liquid on various cuts.

She laughed weakly, "I kind of screwed that up." Selene had tricked Jerkwad into showing her where he was keeping the children, and Philyra guessed that the girl had lost her temper upon seeing them.

"You need to be more careful, Selene." Philyra scolded. As much as she liked Selene, the girl was to rebellious for her own good and was going to get herself killed.

"I know. I shouldn't have gone into rage mode. I didn't try to, honest...but seeing those poor kids...something just snapped, and I couldn't control this overwhelming fury that just boiled over." She sighed, careful not to jostle her ribs. She was leaning sideways against the wall, her better shoulder against it as Philyra tended her back, one of the worst areas on her body. She winced as Philyra carefully cleaned out a particularly deep scratch. "Besides, it's not like they'll kill me after all the trouble they took to get me here." Philyra had never heard the girl sound so bitter.

There was silence for a few moments, and Philyra pretended not to notice the tear that slide down Selene's grimy cheek. Neither of them had been able to clean themselves in a long while.

"L-lyra…" She whimpered, "I want to go home. I want Klaus to come get me and take me home."

Philyra wanted to smile at the nickname that Selene had given her a while ago, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she covered Selene's hand with her own and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to comfort her.

Selene took as deep a breath as she could manage. "And you know what, if we—no, when we—get out of here, you have a home with me. You'll always have a home with me." She carefully put her less hurting arm around the smaller girl. "You'll always have a home with me." She repeated firmly.

She was silent for another long while.

"Hey Lyra, have I told you about the time I stole Elias' textbooks and made him go on a hunt for them?"