Gothel's eyes briefly widened. "hmm..I'm guessing Lukas had something to do with this.." she remarked.

Hazel hurled a fireball at Gothel, setting her sleeve on fire. The witch quickly patted the flame to nothingness, revealing a black demonic seal that was etched boldly on her arm; it was the mark of a demon. Confirming the sorceress' suspicions all those years; she'd acquired her powers through foul means.

"I should've known. How else could you be nearly as powerful as me? Not by birth like me, that's for sure. You sold your soul to a demon in exchange for your powers..Yes, I remember who you used to be, Katherine Gothel. The ambitious daughter of The Executioner and The Black Spider. You let them warp you into a monster. Just like they were. Imagine, the soulless daughter of two murderers as a Queen...the land would perish" Hazel remarked.

The spectating guests were horrified; The Executioner and The Black Spider had been known throughout the land as the evilest, cruelest murderers in history. They had turned their only daughter, Katherine into their spitting images: dark, cruel, manipulative, arrogant and evil.

Gothel seemed shocked to hear her old name as well as her parents' nom du plumes (French for 'pen name'). She then lunged for Hazel, hands glowing a blackish-green.

Hazel quickly caught Gothel's hands, her own hands glowing amber red like her eyes often did whenever she used her magic. "The gods know how long I've been waiting for this day. When I finally pass just punishment onto your head!" she stated as she easily hurled Gothel back to the ground.

Despite that she was terrified of the dragon-shifting sorceress she had scorned a long time ago, Gothel still had to hide her fear by being arrogant. "You wouldn't dare kill me! You had many chances before but you never took them!" she retorted.

"Unlike you, Gothel, I am not a killer. What I am is a sorceress. a fighter, a mother, both biologically and emotionally, and a wife. 'Like the dragon forms that we take, the dragon shifters are strong, powerful, courageous and loyal. Our magic is great and our honour greater. Threaten that and you shall know the true meaning of being scorned' Punishment doesn't always mean death, even if that's what you most definitely deserve. And don't lie to me like you lied to my daughter, Katherine, you've always feared me" Hazel countered as she recited the full mantra for her people.

Cherry blinked; that had been the first time Hazel had verbally referred to her as her daughter.

Soon the witch and the dragon-shifting sorceress were in combat, sparring viciously with their magic.

Everyone backed away as far as possible; magic was an unpredictable but powerful asset. And no one could interfere with a sorceress' spar.


The victor was the more experienced Hazel as she'd gotten Gothel by the throat, glaring at the witch with the fire of a thousand scorned mothers. She already knew that she would defeat Gothel before the spar had even begun. As her husband and cousin-in-law knew. she was a very powerful being - even for her own kind. Finally, the woman she'd despised for so long was now at her mercy. And she had a befitting form of chastisement in mind for Gothel.

"Go on, then. Kill me now that you've got your chance. Show them you're no better than me" Gothel attempted to goad Hazel in a last ditch attempt of a bitter victory, refusing to accept defeat as well as her fate.

Hazel made a portal open; on the other side was the chambers in Cherry's tower. "Foolish little Katherine..weren't you listening before? I told you, I'm not a killer like you are. But I've got a much better idea..how about you spend your final days imprisoned? After all, your parents suffered the same fate, didn't they? As I always say...like rotten parent, like rotten child!" she argued as she threw Gothel into the portal and quickly sealed it before Gothel could even sit up.

The chain that had been around Lukas' wrists suddenly dispelled significantly. It was enough for Lukas to easily pull the dreaded thing apart, freeing himself. He smiled; he knew Hazel would pull through and defeat the cruel woman he had been manipulated to serve for 18 years.

Gothel pulled back a hand as the spell zapped her hand. She huffed. "Magic spell upon this tower, I order you to lose your power!" she demanded. The counter spell didn't work, to her dismay. "Lukas! Get me out of here right now!" she ordered.

Lukas was now in dragon form, level with the window. Even as a dragon, he was smirking. "It delights me to say I can't. You brought this on yourself once you said 'with a dishonest heart'. Cherry was never dishonest...your lies are what trapped you for good. Now you finally rot here alone, Katherine Gothel" he scolded, finally able to express the disdain and contempt he'd held towards Gothel since the night she'd killed Emil. He then flew off for the palace.

Leaving a guilt-ridden Gothel to wallow in self-pity.


At the palace, Tino turned back into his former glory. He had white blond hair and friendly lavender eyes. He wore white and teal Nordic noble robes. He had teal, turquoise and emerald scales around his face. On his head were two silver curled horns. Surprising Cherry since she had never seen his original form before.

Hazel saw Tino turn back to normal and quickly hugged him with excitement that Gothel's only harmless curse had finally wore off. "Good to see you finally back to your old self, Tino. You're still a shorty, though" she stated, unable to resist a joke at the fact that her cousin-in-law was still four inches shorter than her.

Tino giggled, not even fazed by the joke. He also hugged Cherry. "I'm so proud of you, Cherry! Standing up to Gothel at last!" he cheered.

"Tino?" a voice asked.

Tino perked up and turned to see someone he hadn't seen in over 18 years; his fiancé. She was still as beautiful as the day they'd met. He was slightly shocked as she immediately ran into his arms but he hugged her back wholeheartedly. "My love, I've missed you so much!" he cried as he spun her round.

"Father told me he'd found your clothes in the woods, I thought I'd lost you!" Tino's fiancé exclaimed.

"I hope Arthur knows that all is forgiven. I never blamed him for misunderstanding. But Hazel told me you'd disappeared" Tino stated.

Tino's fiancé flushed pink; on the day she thought Tino had died, she had also found out that she was pregnant with his child as well. Not sure if her child would be safe near her own grandfather, she had left the kingdom in the dead of night. She had relocated to a rural village, raising her daughter. "Um, about that.." she started. She turned and beckoned someone forward.

Tino was surprised that a teenage girl with white blond hair, dressed in teal clothing, stepped forward. She had one lavender eye and one hazel eye. She also had similar scales on her face and horns atop her head as he did. He covered his mouth in realisation; this young girl before him had to be his daughter. He now understood; his fiancé had left for their child's sake.

Tino's fiancé giggled. "Yes, she's your daughter, Tino. Ava, this is your dad...now we can be a real family" she explained.

Ava seemed just as surprised as her father of the meeting. All she had known about her birth father was that he was part of an ancient species and like her mother, she had believed he was dead. So it was a shock to see that her father was in fact alive and well.


While watching Tino reunite with his fiancé and officially meet his daughter, Hazel was caught off guard by a very familiar embrace from behind; it was Lukas. "I knew you could do it, Hazelnut" he remarked. Her shock quickly became joy as she returned the hug. She had missed him just as much.

"Guess what I found out, Lukie?... Tino has a daughter" Hazel stated, knowing her dear husband would like to hear that he had a second cousin all these years.

A look of shock crossed Lukas' face. "What? Since when? Never knew he had it in him.." he asked.

Hazel laughed at her husband's reaction as she faced him. "Didn't Matthias say the same about you when we found out we were expecting Emil? We've just found out about her tonight..turns out his fiancé left her kingdom because she was pregnant at the time. Her name is Ava. She's the same age our little boy would've been. It seems like we and Tino are no longer the last of our kind..well, Ava's technically a half-breed but it counts" she replied.

Lukas then glanced at Hazel. "Do you forgive me for my foolishness all these years? I hate it when we fight. And I really have missed you, min elskede kone (Norwegian - my beloved wife)" he wondered.

Hazel's eyes became softer and loving as they met with her husband's; he still looked at her with as much devotion and love as he did when they were young newlyweds. By that, she knew that the love he'd once held for her was never really gone. "Most definitely, dear husband. As long as we never let our faith in one another be shattered again" she answered as she yanked the front of her husband's cloak to seal the new vow with a kiss. Surprising him greatly.

Lukas quickly got over the shock and kissed his wife back. "That's a promise I'm sure I can keep. Jeg elsker deg, min kjære (Norwegian - 'I love you, my dear)" he stated once the two broke apart.

"Jeg elsker deg også, Lukie (Norwegian - 'I love you too')" Hazel replied, smiling widely; she'd finally gotten her husband back. Only now, for the first time in 18 years, the dull gold rings the couple had worn on their left fingers for 25 years seemed to glow brightly with a new light.

Ava shuddered, visibly cringing as her parents also kissed. "Gross.." she muttered.


Queen Marissa approached Cherry. She smiled in relief to see her little sister again. "You look so much like Mother..she and Father never stopped looking for you. When they died, I took on that responsibility. I'm so proud of you, surviving Gothel all these years" she told her sister.

From Marissa's own violet eyes that matched hers, Cherry could tell they were definitely related. "Well, I had a little help..from a friend who's raised me" she answered, nodding over to Hazel.

Queen Marissa did remember Hazel; when her mother had been pregnant with Skye and Cherry, the dragon-shifting sorceress had been invited by Queen Peach to discuss a possibility that Hazel would become a teacher-carer to the twins plus Marissa and any other royal children. Since Lukas had an audience with Merlin the great wizard himself, Hazel had brought along her own son, Emil who initially stayed by his mother's side then later played with Marissa.

"I know. She raised you well. Mother and Father never stopped loving you, you know. Not even on their deathbeds. That love was ever.." Marissa stated.

"Everlasting as the stars above" the two sisters said together.

King Ivan patted both Queen Marissa and Cherry on the shoulders with a hopeful smile. "Privet, Cherry. I am Ivan, Marissa's husband and your brother-in-law. It is great to finally meet you, da" he introduced himself.

King Yao realised a thought. "Marissa? Shall we put this silly feud of ours behind us, aru? For the sake of my brother and your sister, aru?" he asked, indicating a nod to how Kiku and Cherry were gazing at each other.

Queen Marissa smiled as she shook King Yao's hand. "We most certainly can, Yao. Forgive my accusations all these years" she replied.

King Yao laughed as Cherry immediately ran over to hug Kiku. "Water under the bridge, aru" he stated.