Heyy people. Here it is, the revelations you've all been waiting for. I decided to divide Flora's backstory in six parts. The first three will focus on Catherine and her story and the last three will focus on Flora.

I know six chapters is a lot for a backstory, but I wanted you to have as many details as possible about Flora's life before she went to Alfea and her relationship with different people in her life. I also wanted you to be able to connect with and understand Catherine emotionally and mentally. Therefore, I will be introducing many new characters, some very important and some merely there for historical purposes.

To make things easier for you, by the end of each chapter I'll make a list of the most important characters that appeared. I know this is too crazy, but I promise you that everything will make sense and tie together in the end.

First, with the shoutouts:

LostMirage: I'm glad you liked Aisha X Nabu. The plot with her father will take a while to be developed again, you'll see why soon. You had a feeling that Catherine was Flora's mother? I tried not to make it so obvious, but I thought someone would catch up on that. Thanks! :)

zezily: Glad you love them! :) I'm surprised you didn't say anything about the main revelation of this chapter. What did you think about it?

AlexisPeaney: I know! I had that same reaction when I started planning the story and it came to me. Don't worry, everything will be explained.

winxkate: It was certainly unexpected! I'm planning on continuing it, I've just been distracted with writing this fic, so I completely forgot. It's just that I have so many ideas. I have like 3 one shots planned. But I promise that the last chapter of Don't Let Me Go will come soon.

Rockmantic: Hey, there. It certainly has been a while, I've missed your reviews. I'm glad it's one of my favorites, of all I've written this one's mine too. Yep, she's her mother and she hates the Winx for reasons you'll find out in the next few chapters. Don't worry, there will be a lot more about Will, just not on this chapter.

dance76326: Thanks! :)

Windrea: You'll see. Everything will be explained here, don't worry.

First thing you should know is that the backstory was based on the Tv Shows Once Upon A Time and Reign, so there will be similarities. Most of the characters that you'll see in the next 5 chapters actually existed, though I altered some names and dates in order to fit in. Being a history student, I took the liberty of putting in a lot of my knowledge. Happy reading!

WARNING: THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL CONTAIN SCENES OF STRONG THEMES SUCH AS VIOLENCE, MURDER, MISCARRIAGE, RAPE AND ABUSE. IF YOU'RE SENSITIVE TO EITHER OF THOSE I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ IT.

Florence, 1523...

It was a year of war, well several years. The Italian Wars had been going on ever since 1521. Italy had made enemies with France and the french were showing no mercy to italian people. Families had been destroyed, children left orphans, fathers had been forced to join the army. This war was different from others, though, because everyone somehow got involved. The rich and the poor, even the pope was involved. No one even knew how these wars had started and no one thought they would ever end.

There was a neighbourhood in Florence where the richest lived, noble families that would usually be unaffected by war. It were neighbourhoods like this that France chose to destroy this time, they were the core of Italy and without their money, the cities wouldn't survive. In a grand green house lived the Medicci Family. On March 26th of 1523, their house was burnt down and robbed by the french.

A man in his late thirties was seen walking towards the house after it's destruction. His face showed concern and horror as he rapidly approached what was left of the Medicci's home. Many people screamed as he walked into the wreckers, telling him he was crazy and would only get himself hurt. He didn't care, though. He had to know if everyone in the house was truly dead.

He passed through many burnt furnitures and bodies of the Mediccis until he reached the garden in the back. It was huge and filled with white roses, the wife of the owner's favorite flowers. As he reached the garden, he saw that the great oak tree that rested there had fallen and he also noticed a small hand behind the tree. As he walked towards it, a young girl managed to come out from under the tree. She had curly blonde hair that was now a mess, creamy skin and chocolate eyes that showed fear and despair. Her hands and shoulder were badly burnt and her leg was bleeding, but she was still alive.

"Catarina." The man screamed and as the girl looked at him, her face showed relief. He ran towards her and kneeled by her side. "My dear god, Catarina." The two hugged as the girl started crying. For a few minutes, they were silent until the girl decided to speak.

"They came from nowhere. I... we weren't expecting it." Her voice was hoarse with tears as she looked at what used to be her home.

"I know, dear. I know." He comforted her and she shivered as she recalled the moment the fire had started. She had been picking flowers in a park nearby when she overheard people talking about the fire. She had come running home to find her parents, the maids and the butler, were all dead. She had been searching for her brother when the tree had fallen near her and she had been trapped.

"Why would they do this?" She asked the man with tears running down her face. He sighed as he looked back at the house.

"I don't know, dear. It seems like all there is these days is violence and war. It's like they've forgotten that we're humans too." He told her and she nodded. Catarina tried to move to sit better, then winced as she realized that her leg was hurting. "We'd better get that checked out. Come on now, child." He told the girl as he noticed her looking at her injured leg.

"That's okay, I can fix it on my own." He gave her a suspicious look and then gasped when the girl pointed her hand at the injury and her leg started glowing a bright green. Soon the injury was gone and the man was impressed and frightened.

"Catarina, what..." She interrupted him before he could ask.

"It's a gift I have, a special gift. At least that's what mother told me. She said I should tell no one, that it was dangerous, so that's why I never told you." The man shook his head as he tried to overcome the shock. He knew exactly why her mother had told her to hide her gift, he knew what would happen to the young girl if she was to be revealed.

"Your mother was absolutely right. We live in a world where gifts like yours, magical gifts, are feared. If you are ever found out, they would kill you,my dear." The girl had a horrified look on her face.

"Do you think maybe they knew and that's why they did this?" She pointed at the destroyed house and the man had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Maybe. But we can't bee too sure, people on the street have said that the french are behind this fire." The man told her.

"I wouldn't doubt that, they caused this war and they will keep going until they get what they want. What do they even want?" She questioned as she was filled with rage towards the french.

"I don't know, dear. But we can't stay here, it's not safe for you." The girl gave him a frightened look.

"Where will we go? I have nothing left." The man took a package out of his pocket and showed it to her.

"There is enough money here to get us somewhere safe." He told her and she gave him a surprised look.

"Did you get that from your paintings?" She asked and he nodded. Her face turned serious all of sudden. "Why are you helping me, Leo? You could sell me out and make even more money." She questioned.

"That's true, but I would never do that to you. After everything your parents did for me, buying most of my paintings and helping me find a place to stay, the least I can do is take care of you, dear Catarina." The girl smiled and the two hugged. It was a friendly hug, because after all, he was a friend of the family.

"Thank you, Leonardo." She thanked him. They stood up and he gave her his coat so she could hide her identity. Both walked out of the burnt house and into the backstreet. They stopped once they had gotten far enough from the house as Leonardo pulled out two papers.

"Here, take this. It's your new passport. Your parents gave it to me a few days ago, it was almost as if they knew that this tragedy would happen." She picked the passport where it red Catherine Blanchet. She took a look at his own passport, which didn't have a fake name because he was never in danger. Leonardo da Vinci, it read. The famous painter known all over Europe. And the closest friend to the Mediccis.

"My father had this made?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Now, where shall we go?" He asked her and Catherine thought for a second. As she looked at the burnt house in the distance, her grieving heart told her there was only one place she wanted to be.

"I want to go to France." He stared at her with wide eyes.

"France? Are you mad, child? Those people murdered your family, if you go there they'll kill you." Catherine dismissed his warning.

"My last name here is french." She simply said as she pointed at the passport. " My father had this made because he knew that this is the only place where I will be safe. I've learned enough about the world to know that France is the only safe country right now, it's the only place that't not being torn down by war, when even England might fall any day." He was impressed at such logical thinking and knowledge for a 15 years old, but he guessed that the rich liked to keep themselves informed. So Catherine and Leonardo left for France the next day, after she used her magic to take care of the burnts. All around the city word spread of the fall of the Mediccis and the more Catherine thought about it, the more she knew that going to France was also a way of getting her revenge on the people who had killed her family.

Paris, 24th of July of 1523...

It had been four months since Catherine and Leonardo had moved to Paris. The young girl had managed to get a job in the palace as a maid while Leonardo kept working on his paintings. Being rather famous in France for his beautiful piece, Mona Lisa, he was asked to make portraits of many nobles and even the crowned prince, Henry.

Said prince was a 17 years old young man with short brown hair, jade eyes and tanned skin. He was known for his talent with the ladies and there was one in particular that had left him intrigued. Ever since Catherine had gotten there, he had been chasing her, but she had turned him down. The prince wasn't used to it, so he was very interested in this beautiful girl who had been the first to reject him.

Catherine knew that rejecting the prince would only make him turn his attention to her, so she played with him like any clever lady would do in such hard times for women. Having her mind set on regaining her fortune, the young woman hoped that her plan would work.

It did so and soon the prince was sending her letters of love and desire, claiming to be enamoured with her. She didn't believe so and she knew that he was only after one thing. However, being desperate, Catherine finally let him have his way and by October the two of them were having an affair. Catherine was later surprised to find out that Henry did care for her and didn't want to be with her just in bed.

Leonardo warned her not to get her hopes up and that falling in love with the prince of France wasn't the best idea. She once again dismissed his warnings and let herself be happy in her newfound relationship with the heir to the french throne. There was an obstacle to their relationship, though, and it went by the name of Diane De Poitiers.

Diane was daughter of a rich nobleman of Paris, someone who owned over 50% of the lands. With no princesses available, Henry's parents had thought it was fitting to arrange a marriage between him and Diane, knowing that the benefits of that relationship would be as good as one with a princess. That was one of the reasons why the king and queen despised Catherine so much.

Henry wasn't stupid and he knew that he would never be able to marry Catherine, though he was in love with her, so before he and Diane got married he made Catherine his official mistress. Such a title was sometimes even more important than that of queen, though there were risks. If Henry was to get tired of her and got himself a new mistress, Catherine would be ruined. She already knew that she would never find herself a good marriage because everyone knew that she was no longer a virgin. So she vowed to herself to always keep him interested.

She knew it wouldn't be so hard, considering the lack of feelings Henry had for Diane. Though Queen Claude and her husband did everything to make sure those two got along, arranging walks around the palace gardens, picnics and balls. Henry's feelings never grew to love, but he did start to like Diane. It was enough for him to believe that marrying her wouldn't be the end of the world. Besides, he knew that as crowned prince of France, it was his duty, and duty won over heart.

In the night of November the 14th of 1523, the most horrible thing happened: the death of the king of France. Unexpected death, that was. Being barely 40, no one would expect King Francis to fall to his death, but it wasn't natural death, it was murder. The culprit was one of his personal guards, who was later discovered to be an italian and so everyone believed he had gotten his revenge for the Italian Wars.

Said guard wasn't, however, the real murderer. No, the person who killed the king was someone no one would expect, because she was a woman. Having taken advantage of the belief that women were harmless and incapable of ever killing someone, Catherine hadn't been worried when she followed the king into his office after a party. He had gone alone, for once, having just gotten out of a huge fight with his queen, so he had asked the guards not to disturb him. Only Geppetto, his personal guard, had followed him. Catherine had made sure to get to the king's office before he got there himself, so neither of them had any idea that she was there.

The king had been so drunk that he barely noticed when she came out of her hiding spot in the wardrobe. She had come right in front of him as all of the feelings of sadness, rage and vengeance that she had tried to suppress since she had first come to France resurfaced. Before the king could say anything, she had already put the pocket knife she had stolen in his neck. His eyes showed surprise as he stared silently at her. As she watched his life leave him, guilt settled in.

"I'm sorry, but you deserve this. You have ruined my life." She told him in a whisper and the king just stared at her in surprise and pain. Never would he have expected for his life to be taken away by a woman, much less a simple maid. "You're surprised because I'm just a woman, but you don't really know who I am." She told him and then a melancholic smile came to her face.

By then they were both on the floor as the king had fallen and she kneeled besides him. The sounds of the party were far too distant now. "My real name is Catarina de Medicci." She told him and the king stared at her with wide eyes. "Guess you remember my family and how you sent your guards to destroy us." Rage came back as she recalled the day her life had fallen apart. "Yes, you were responsible for their deaths and many others in this stupid war. So this is my revenge. But don't worry, I'll take good care of France and your son. After all, this is my home now." Those were the last words she would ever say to the King of France because after they were spoken, he was gone.

Catherine stared at him for a few seconds as she felt guilty for what she had done. But as she thought about her parents, her family, who had all fallen because of that man, her conscience was eased. This might not have been right, but what he did hadn't been either. You could say that they were even now. With one last look at the king, Catherine used her magic to disappear. She reappeared back in her small room and as she stared in the mirror, she smiled. This was going better than she had thought. Not only had she gotten her revenge, but she was sure that she would get away with it.

The next few minutes had been chaotic in the castle. The king's personal guard had entered the room to find him dead and he had started freaking out. He had searched for the killer and had come up with no one. Luck was certainly not on his side that night because soon the queen had come to her husband's office and she had found him standing near the king's body. He had been blamed for his murder and sentenced to death. Geppetto's death was the only thing that Catherine regretted about that night. He was an innocent who didn't deserve to die, much less die as a villain when he had done nothing wrong. But she couldn't change what had happened, so she kept quiet and prayed that God would forgive her.

With the king's death, it was decided that Henry must take the throne as soon as possible or France would be vulnerable and that couldn't happen, much less during times of war. Much to Catherine's unhappiness, the queen also decided to move up the date of Henry's marriage to Diane. Henry didn't even argue with his mother, having been too shocked and devastated with his father's death to even think about how he wished not to marry Diane.

They got married in December the 16th, over a month later. In that same day they were crowned as the new king and queen of France. Henry had promised Catherine a permanent position as his official mistress and she accepted it. She was forced to be at the wedding because of her job as a maid and it was during that day that she made a decision that would impact the lives of many in the future: she decided that she wanted to be queen. The idea had come to her after she murdered the king and she realized that it wasn't enough, she needed something else for her revenge to be complete. And what better way to avenge the people who ruined your life by becoming their leader?

So Catherine decided to find a way to become queen one day, no matter what it took. The first thing she needed to do was find a way to get rid of the current queen and that wasn't going to be easy. She needed a plan and so she turned to an unlikely ally to help her.

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

Catherine: daughter of Lorenzo de Medicci, an italian nobleman, and his wife, Madeleine de Meddici.

Leonardo da Vinci: famous artist from Italy. Friend of Catherine's family.

Henry: prince of France. Catherine's lover.

Diane De Poitiers: Henry's fiancée, daughter of a nobleman of Paris.

Francis: King of France, murdered by Catherine.

Oh, I forgot to say this at the beginning, but these next few chapters will show a love story gone wrong, as I'm sure that you can already guess. After all, if it went right, Catherine wouldn't have become a villain. Seriously, this is such a sad story that I almost cried while writing a few chapters. I don't know how I came up with it, my brain sometimes just wants to make everyone cry.

Unfortunately, I might not be able to have wifi next week, since I'll be going to a ski resort, but I won't know until like thursday. That's why, if I don't have wifi there, I'll be posting chapters 12 an 13 this week as well. If I do have it, chapter 13 will only come by next week.

Anyways, what did you think? Can you guess who's Flora's father now? What about Catherine's ally? (only those who watched Reign might figure this one out) And what will Catherine do in her quest to become the queen of France? Next chapter Will's identity will be revealed, so this is your last chance to leave me with your theories.