AN: Wheew, This chapter was a doozy to write and it would not have been written or even resemble something readable without the help of my wonderful beta TheatreVicki.

Big thanks to her for being awesome.

And a big thanks to all of you reading and reviewing and sticking with me through this monster of a story. Just a heads up we are very near the end now. xoxo


"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." - Eden Ahbez


Kurt's breathing stuttered as he continued to back away from a maniacally laughing Saffron Callaway – his back hit the stone wall of the circular room – there was nowhere to go.

Saffron wasn't coming any nearer; instead, she seemed to be trying to contain herself. Kurt was using the time to get the lay of where he was. His mind wanted to panic, but he knew he had to remain calm.

The room was empty aside from the altar in the middle, and as his initial scan had indicated, there was no door or windows. He looked over the ground for a trapdoor or something and then up to see what the ceiling was like, but there was no ceiling; the walls just went up a up until the top of the room was lost in blackness. All of this took seconds to put together, but the most glaring thing about this room was that Blaine wasn't in it.

"Where is he?" Kurt demanded, surprised when his voice came out only a little shaky.

Saffron had composed herself by now, wiping a tear from the cheek not made out of glass and then folding her hands demurely in front of her again. Everything about her posture was docile, from the bend of her head, to her delicate hands, and even the set of her shoulder. Kurt didn't believe it for a moment; he knew a thing or two about holding yourself in such a way to project something that may not be true. He'd mastered a confident stride in high school that belied how uncomfortable he actually felt.

Saffron seemed to be doing the opposite, making herself seem harmless when Kurt knew she was anything but.

"Where's Blaine?" Kurt asked again, his stomach feeling weak with worry.

"Blaine?" She arched an eyebrow as she took a step forward, "Ah, Blaine…" She smiled a little, "He's a handsome boy." She was still moving towards Kurt who was inching away, trying to keep the altar between himself and Saffron as they moved in a circular dance around each other. "He reminds me of a child I once knew." Her smile broadened, at least on the side of her face that could hold an expression, "My child in fact."

"Your child?" Kurt asked, still moving to keep a distance between them, "You had a child?"

Saffron laughed again and it sounded like broken glass. "How would I have descendants if I didn't have children? And Blaine… Blaine is the one I've been waiting for."

"Please." Kurt's voice broke a little on the word, his head was spinning with spells and incantations and any magic he'd ever learned that might help defend himself. Saffron was like a cat, tensed and ready to spring, and Kurt knew he was the mouse in this scenario. "Where is he? Have you… is he alright?"

"Who?" Saffron blinked as if she honestly didn't know who they were talking about.

"Blaine!"

Saffron took a long stride forward, and Kurt moved until his back pressed against a wall as Saffron slammed both of her hands down on the altar, the action making a strange clanking sound. "Have I hurt Blaine? Of course not."

Her good eye was shining like fire, and Kurt recognized in her the anger he'd seen in Blaine recently, anger that had never actually been his.

"All I want is to get out of this hell, and I've been trapped here, losing my magic, losing my mind, losing… losing…" Her gloved hand wandered up to touch the glass of her brow… "I've been here for lifetimes and I just want out. And Blaine can do that for me."

Kurt nodded; hope small and eager blossoming in his chest. "So you just need help getting home?" If there was a way for them to get her out of here, well then fine, Kurt was willing. He understood the need to leave this place and he couldn't imagine being stuck here alone for over a century.

"Exactly," Saffron said sweetly, standing straight again and brushing down her skirt. "All I want is to leave, and if you are a very very good boy, then you can leave as well." Her voice took on a cloyingly sweet tone as if she were talking to a very young, very stupid child.

"And Blaine. Blaine can go home too."

Saffron's good eye narrowed. "Don't be a fool. Blaine can never go back."

Kurt's throat was dry and he swallowed, trying to remain calm, "I'm not going to help you unless Blaine and I get out of here."

Saffron's hand went to her chest and she actually looked surprised. "Help me? You think… you think I need your help?" She started to laugh again, quiet at first but louder as she pushed words out, "If I need anything from… from you… I'll take it!" She bent over laughing again, and there was that strange clanging noise again. Kurt's heart rate sped up. Looking at where Saffron's arm was slung across her stomach in laughter, he wondered how much of her was left… was it just that half of her face that was glass?

"No," Saffron sighed, "I'll get Blaine to do what I want regardless. I already have almost complete control over him. I just thought using you might be fun. But don't think for a moment that I won't snuff out your flame the second you are no longer amusing to me."

"I… I don't…" Kurt was stammering, fear like a hand squeezing his heart. He believed Saffron would and could kill him easily, and he had no idea what she'd already done to Blaine.

She seemed bored with this game of cat and mouse, and with a simple flick of her wrist, she was by his side, one of her gloved hands gripping his bicep. Then they were moving. Except they weren't moving. Or at least Kurt wasn't walking or moving his body, it was more like they were standing still and the room was whooshing past them. Kurt caught a glimpse of a few other rooms, a throne room maybe? A courtyard? They all went by so quickly, but they all seemed to be made partially from glass and were completely empty. As far as Kurt could tell – wherever they were, there wasn't anyone else around.

They came to an abrupt halt in a dark, dank room that smelled of mildew and something rotting. Saffron's grip on Kurt's arm was painfully strong and Kurt tried to twist away, but he just ended up crying out in pain as Saffron tightened her grip. "Oh please." She rolled her eyes. "I'm stronger than I look."

She threw Kurt forward as she released him and he fell to the ground with a hiss of pain. The room looked much like the room they'd come from, except it was smaller and water dripped down the stone walls. The ground was damp and Kurt still couldn't quite figure out that smell, except it reminded him of death.

"You two wait here. I have things to prepare."

"Two?" Kurt got up on his knees and looked over the dimly lit room. Again, Kurt couldn't tell where the light was originating from, but there curled up against a wall, was a person, hunched over their knees with their face hidden. Kurt would recognize those glossy dark curls anywhere. "Blaine!"

He hurried over to Blaine, only looking over his shoulder when he heard a chime-like sound and found that Saffron had disappeared. "Blaine?" Kurt's hands hovered over Blaine, a little nervous to touch him; he wasn't sure which version of Blaine he was going to get here – the real Blaine, sweet, beautiful, and kind, or the Saffron Blaine, angry, dangerous and frightening.

Blaine looked up, his golden eyes round and almost empty. He didn't say anything; instead, he just stared blankly at Kurt.

Kurt brushed a curl out of Blaine's face and eased down to sit next to him. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did Saffron do any magic or anything on you?" He couldn't help but worry about her remark that Blaine was under her control.

"Kurt." Blaine whispered the name like it was sacred to him.

"Are you-" Kurt's question cut off as Blaine surged forward, cupping Kurt's face with both hands and kissing him soundly.

Kurt wasn't prepared for it and toppled backwards with a breathy laugh. Blaine pulled back and looked down at Kurt with watery eyes, "She wouldn't tell me where you were."

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt reached up to hold Blaine's shoulders as Blaine hovered over him, his palms on either side of his body.

"You were asleep and I was supposed to protect you. But then Saffron was there and… I don't know how she did it, but she just swept us away and I was here and you were… I didn't know where you were and she wouldn't tell me anything and-"

"Blaine," Kurt said, trying to sound calm for Blaine's sake, as he seemed on the edge of losing it. "I'm fine. I promise I am. I think she has just been messing with us. I get the impression we entertain her."

Blaine nodded and sat up, Kurt following suit. "Did she say anything to you?" Kurt asked, "About what her plan is?"

"I'm going to help her get home," Blaine said, leaning up against the wall tiredly.

"How?"

He shrugged, "She didn't say."

They were both quiet a moment, backs against the wall, shoulders touching, "Did you talk to my aunt?" Blaine asked and turned to look at Kurt.

"Yes, for a long time."

Blaine's face brightened. "Really? How is she… is she… okay? I just… I hate that she's been here this whole time. Did she tell you about Saffron? Do you have a plan? Can Helen help?"

"She seemed okay. A little sad. I can't imagine what the past few years have been like for her."

Blaine winced.

"Maybe we can help her, but first, we have to help ourselves and get away from Saffron."

"Okay," Blaine nodded. "Saffron took the book bag, though; meaning she has her journal and your magic book and your mirror."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm sorry, Kurt, I couldn't stop her."

"No back up. My mirror? My hand mirror?"

"Yes… I… did I not mention I packed it in the book bag?" Blaine asked, looking a little sheepish.

"No."

"Oh god, Kurt, I'm sorry."

"No no, stop apologizing." Kurt leaned in and kissed Blaine's cheek. "You haven't done anything wrong. I don't know what I'd do with the mirror if I had it anyway. I just hate the thought of Saffron having it –that and my mom's book. She has her grubby hands on my magic."

"Glass hands," Blaine said. "I think that's why she wears the gloves. I wonder if she is more glass than person. I don't know how it happened; it's truly frightening though."

"I was wondering that myself." Kurt thought back to his conversation with Helen; the part that stood out the most was that she had helped Kurt see what he should have known all along – that he loved Blaine –but she'd also told Kurt more about this strange glass world. "Saffron did this to this place, all the glass that is – it wasn't always like that. Although, Helen only ever saw it this way. From what she gathered, it used to be green and lush and beautiful; it was basically a magical kingdom ruled by fairies."

"God, what happened?"

"Saffron happened. She came here wanting the fairies' magic, but they wouldn't share any of their knowledge with her, because they didn't trust her… which they shouldn't have and she just… Saffron went crazy apparently, started destroying everything, using magic to infuse glass into everything. I don't know why. She started killing fairies and they fled to some realm Saffron couldn't follow them into and Saffron was left in this world, a world she had corrupted. I'd almost feel sorry for her if she hadn't brought it upon herself."

Kurt sighed and leaned his head against the stone wall. "Helen is frightened of her. Apparently when Helen arrived, Saffron was ecstatic, thought Helen was her ticket home – but Helen wasn't the right person apparently, and she was sent back without all of her mind."

He heard Blaine sigh and Kurt looked up at him, hating to have to share this part, "That's the thing. Saffron could get back to our world but only the way Helen did – she'd leave part of herself here. Traveling back home steals your mind from you."

"Helen told you all of this?" Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded, keeping his eyes trained on Blaine for his reaction.

Blaine swallowed deeply and nodded, "So we're stuck here?"

"No, we can't be." Kurt said running a hand through his hair, "There's obviously another way; that's why Saffron lured you – us – here because she has some plan, but Helen wasn't sure what it was."

"Okay, so then, I'll help her. Right? I help her, we all get home and then figure out how to deal with Saffron."

"I don't-" Kurt's chest felt tight, "I don't think we can all get back. Saffron said that you… that you were never going to leave this place."

"Oh."

"She said she and I could go, but not you."

"I see." Blaine leaned his head back against the wall and seemed lost in thought. Kurt could almost see the wheels in his head turning. "If you got back home, you might be able to find a way to get me home too."

Kurt sat up on his knees, moving as close to Blaine as he could and looking him straight in the eyes. "I'm not leaving here without you. We are going to find a way. I don't trust Saffron; if she can get back home intact, then there has to be a way for us to do it as well."

Blaine smiled. "Kurt, I can't even find a way out of this room."

"Don't give up," Kurt said, standing and reaching down to grab Blaine's hand and pull him up. "Saffron travels from room to room using magic; we just have to figure out how."

"Saffron's had a century to perfect that."

Kurt sighed. Blaine didn't look great; there were dark smudges under his eyes, his curls were tangled over his head and his clothes were filthy – he looked exhausted enough to fall over. Kurt knew Blaine was tired and injured, and who knew what thoughts Saffron was pestering him with. "Is she still inside there?" Kurt asked, brushing his fingers over Blaine's forehead, as Blaine's eyes fluttered closed and he leaned into Kurt's touch.

"I don't hear her right now, but I know she's still there. She's happy now, which is almost worse than her anger, because it means she's winning."

"It means she thinks she's winning. It means her guard is down. It means we still have a chance."

Blaine opened his eyes and smiled, small but genuine. "You're the most wonderfully stubborn person I've ever known."

Kurt could feel his cheeks heat up and was amazed that even under circumstances as grim as these were, Blaine could still make him blush. "Then don't give up on us yet."

"Okay," Blaine nodded and his voice grew stronger, "Okay. Let's find a way out of here."

The circular room they found themselves in was maybe 20 feet in diameter and completely empty and the walls were made of stone bricks fit together so tightly no mortar was even needed. The stones were partially formed out of glass – enough that if you tried to scale them, you'd cut your hands to pieces. There were thin rivulets of water coming down from somewhere high above what Blaine and Kurt could see, and the water stunk like rotting flesh. The ground was soft, but as they began digging with their hands, they found that the wall sunk down into the earth for who knew how far. Much deeper than they would be able to dig without any tools and without knowing how soon Saffron might return.

In short, there was no conventional way out of the room.

"So, magic then," Blaine said, wiping his muddy hands on his muddy shirt. "Magic is the only way in and out."

Kurt nodded.

"Luckily, you know magic," Blaine said with a smile. Kurt knew he was trying to be encouraging, but Kurt felt the pressure of it; it was all on him to get them out of there.

"I know a spell for unlocking locks, I could even get a door off its hinges if there were a door. Maybe a spell to blast a hole through the wall? Maybe?"

"Do you know something like that?"

"No." Kurt sighed and rubbed a hand down his face; he had a headache.

They were quiet for a moment until he heard a quiet yelp from Blaine. "What is it?"

Blaine was sucking on his finger. "Sorry, cut myself on the mirror in the stones."

"Yeah, it's a very effective deterrent."

"Kurt," Blaine said, dropping his hand, his eyes growing round. "Mirrors."

"Yeah?"

"That's how Saffron does it. I bet she can travel anywhere she wants in this world because she put mirrors in everything. She goes through them."

"I…"

"Every tree, every leaf, every stone – it's a portal."

"Oh my god." Kurt turned to look at the glinting stone wall. "Okay! We have to think. Remember what Saffron said in her journal – she talked about traveling mirrors, she put magic in all the mirrors at Callaway Place – Aunt Helen learned how to do it because the new mirrors had magic too."

"We don't need to put magic in these mirrors, though; they are already full of magic if Saffron uses them."

"We just need to find out how she triggers it," Kurt said, placing his palm against the wall. He thought back to moving through rooms with Saffron, one after another flashing before his eyes in a hurried jumble. A courtyard, an empty throne room a bedroom that may have been Saffron's, it was quick view, but he remembered the big plush canopy bed and an iron-work vanity-

Kurt's body lurched sideways, his hand falling through the wall as he hit the ground; there was a whooshing sound in his ears and the world was moving too fast to focus on anything until… He stopped. He was lying on his back on the floor of the very bedroom he'd just been picturing. Kurt lifted himself on his elbows and looked around the room in amazement. A dresser and vanity and bed, the mirror on the vanity was actually ironically empty – just a frame there – but there was a small handheld mirror face down on the surface. Kurt leapt to his feet. "I did it! I think I did it unless-" Kurt stopped midsentence, "Blaine?"

He had traveled from the circular prison to this bedroom on thought alone, but Blaine hadn't come with him.

"No!" Kurt ran to the wall of the room, this time it was made out of wood paneling imbued with glittering mirror pieces. He pressed his hand against the wood and closed his eyes, thinking of Blaine and the room they'd been in with its damp mossy floor and impossibly high walls. "Come on!" Kurt shouted at the wall and tried again. Mossy floor, circular room, high walls. He kept picturing them in his mind.

Kurt was better prepared for it this time and didn't fall to the ground. He saw spaces whistle by him – a long spiral staircase, an outdoor water fountain without any water – he thought he saw some small sparkling lights but they sped by so fast he wasn't sure. And then he was back, panting and head spinning. He was back in the prison he and Blaine had been left in.

Blaine was standing a few feet away from him, both hands pressed to the wall and looking frantic. When his eyes landed on Kurt, he sighed in relief. "Don't do that! You can't keep doing that! Being swept away through mirrors without me."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, taking two long strides towards him, "I didn't mean to." He wrapped Blaine in his arms and felt him trembling against him. He rubbed his hand up and down his back soothingly, relishing the comfort that having Blaine in his arms gave him in return.

He felt Blaine exhale and then he pulled out of Kurt's arms to look him in the face. "How did you do it?"

"When I traveled with Saffron, I saw glimpses of these other rooms, and when I was thinking about one of them whoosh - I was there."

"If it is that easy, how did Saffron think she could keep us in here?"

Kurt shook his head. "Either she knew we would figure it out and it is part of a plan, or she underestimates other people's magical aptitude."

"Or she has just lost her mind and doesn't actually have a plan," Blaine said jokingly, but he was shivering and looked ill.

"That's a possibility too." Kurt agreed with a smile, "Meanwhile, I think we should go with the idea that not being trapped in this stinking hole of a room is a good thing."

Blaine looked a little nervously at the wall. "Okay, but how do I get through?"

Kurt took one of Blaine's hands in his own, "Put your other hand on the wall." Blaine did as he was told. "I'm going to think of the bedroom I just came from, and you just… just think of me okay?"

Blaine smiled, big enough to make Kurt's heart somersault. "Easy."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but couldn't help his matching smile. Then he took a breath, thought about the room, and gripped Blaine's hand hard.

The world rushed past them, like standing on a subway platform and watching a train speed by, except all around them. Kurt saw a few other rooms pass them and then they came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the bedroom Kurt had been aiming for.

"That's' a little disorientating," Kurt said, feeling dizzy.

Blaine looked around the room with wide eyes; he was still holding Kurt's hand and Kurt could feel the shiver that ran down his body.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah that was…" He trailed off as he continued to scan the room. "I think… I mean this room is really familiar to me." He turned to Kurt. "It's absolutely Saffron's room, she's been here a lot."

Kurt just nodded, not knowing what to say when confronted by Blaine's link to Saffron; it scared him because he didn't know how to break it, even if they were to find a way home.

"Saffron said she'd been waiting for you. That Helen wasn't the right person but you are," Kurt blurted out.

"Yeah," Blaine nodded, "She kept mentioning my destiny to me in my head."

"Right," Kurt said, more determined than ever to put space between them and Saffron. "This is what I wanted to come back to this room for." He walked up to the iron vanity with its missing mirror and reached for the hand mirror lying on top of it. "Found my mirror!" He said, holding it up, but Blaine looked at it with his face scrunched up.

"Are you sure?"

Kurt looked down at the mirror in his hands, really looking at it for the first time; it was old, just like his mirror, but this one showed its age. It was rusty and worn and the glass was hazy. "It's just like mine." Kurt looked back up to Blaine, "That has to mean something, right?"

Blaine reached for the mirror, his fingertips gently brushing against Kurt's hand as he took it. "They both belonged to Saffron, this one and-" Blaine's face went white and he sucked in a loud gasp as he dropped the mirror to the floor.

"Blaine?" Kurt frantically looked from Blaine's ashen face to the hand mirror laying face up on the ground; he let out a shout of fear when he saw Saffron's glassy face scowling back up at them. And then she was there; in a swirl of movement, she was standing in the room with them, tightly holding the mirror in her gloved hand.

"What are you doing here!" Saffron yelled and the room was filled with a whirling harsh wind. "How dare you!" She was rounding on Kurt, choosing apparently to focus her anger on him. "This is all you! Why can't you just stop ruining everything!"

"Stop!" Blaine shouted, and she spun around to face him, swinging her arm in an arc and knocking Blaine off his feet without even touching him. "This is my mirror! Mine!" She shouted as Kurt ran to Blaine who was sitting up on the floor looking a little dazed.

Kurt had no idea what to do; he felt that anything he said would just further enrage Saffron, so he knelt by Blaine's side, his hand on his back and waited.

Saffron took a few deep breaths, as if calming herself. A foreboding half smile twisted on her lips and she carefully smoothed her hair down as she straightened her posture. It was remarkable really, to see her seething with anger one moment and completely composed the next.

She cleared her throat, "Your magic is stronger than I thought if you were able to get out of my prison. Not just anyone could do that."

"Just let us go, Saffron," Blaine said in a quiet voice. "What is the point of all of this?"

"It's funny isn't it?" Saffron continued as if Blaine hadn't said anything, "That out of all the people in the world who could have found this mirror's twin, it was a boy in love with magic." She laughed but it sounded strained, "You could have literally met anyone through this mirror but it was him." Saffron pointed at Kurt with the mirror and her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, "Someone with magic he would use to try and destroy me.

"I… I didn't," Kurt said, feeling nervous, "I never tried to destroy you."

Saffron crouched down, her thick skirts billowing. She looked at Kurt and Blaine at eye level. "Earth and salt and light take hope, thy powers called forth we now invoke," she mimicked in a harsh voice.

"That was for the mirror," Kurt said, looking from Blaine to Saffron. "It was just to stop your mirror."

Saffron looked at him shrewdly as if trying to determine if he was lying, "Still, it would have stranded me here for eternity."

"We didn't know," Blaine said, his voice shaky and his eyes looking a little glassy.

Kurt quickly grasped his hand. Stay with me Blaine, please.

Saffron stood, lifting her chin, "Stand up."

Kurt got to his feet. Blaine was a little slower to follow, blinking his eyes and shaking his head as if trying to stay awake.

"What are you doing to Blaine?" Kurt demanded, taking every bit of strength he had to keep his voice from sounding terrified.

Saffron smiled again, and really, it was a sinister sight with half of her face constantly twisted into an unpleasant glassy grimace. "Ever since I realized I couldn't stay here, all I've ever had my mirror do was try to bring me someone who could help me get home." Saffron seemed to not feel the need to respond to anything anyone else was saying. "My portrait had been watching over that house for a century; generation after generation, I waited for the right Callaway to come along to wake the magic embedded in that place."

She took a step towards them and Kurt and Blaine both scuffled to try to move in front of the other, but it didn't matter because with an unexpected lurch that left Kurt feeling dizzy again, they were no longer in Saffron's bedroom.

Kurt craned his neck looking over the vast room they'd found themselves in – a large empty chamber made of white stone with high ceilings, gilded arches, and red light streaming in from long vaulted windows. There was an elaborately carved marble platform in the middle and on top of it, an imposing metal and glass-worked throne that glimmered blood red in the light of the room.

Blaine reached for Kurt's hand and Kurt turned to look at him; he was pale and his eyes flashed and looked a little feverish, "I don't… I can't…" He murmured and swayed on his feet – Kurt quickly wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him.

"What are you doing to him!" Kurt knew they were completely at Saffron's will and that was a terrifying thought, especially as she seemed to have plans for Blaine.

Saffron again ignored Kurt, "I thought Helen Callaway might be the one, she started showing magical prowess later on in life – or so I thought – but don't you see? It is all so clear to me now. It was Blaine, it was always meant to be Blaine, it is his destiny. Helen didn't work, the enchantment that woke in the house wasn't because of her interest in me, despite the fact that I tried to reach out to her through the mirrors, no – it was Blaine who woke the dormant magic of Callaway Place, Blaine that I need."

"For what?" Blaine asked, his eyes clearing as if coming back to himself, "What do you want with me?"

"You get to sit on the throne," Saffron answered simply, and Kurt looked back at the glass and iron throne; it looked more and more ominous by the moment. "Helen was too weak, not enough like me. I sent her back the way she came and the fairies stole her mind as they will to any Callaway that tries to travel out of this world – damn emblem I used on that mirror all those years ago. If I hadn't used fairy magic, maybe they wouldn't have a hold on my mirrors, but as it is…" Saffron shrugged. "I can only go back if the right Callaway heir is on my throne. Not just anyone can be my replacement; it took a hundred years for a Callaway to come along with enough of me in them. When Blaine takes the throne, it will fool the fairy magic into thinking it has a hold of me forever."

"And Blaine will be stuck here. For good," Kurt said, his mind swirling. He knew a spell for keeping bad company at bay; if he combined that with a spell to protect against foreign magic, would it be enough to repel Saffron? Or at least keep her away long enough for them to try to make an escape? Kurt was frantic, shifting through spells in his mind, trying to think of ways to combine them to make them strong enough to use even without any ingredients on hand.

"A small price to pay for my freedom," Saffron said, starting to pull at the fingers of her gloves to remove them.

Kurt's anger was almost as strong as his fear, Saffron was so nonchalant about her plans for Blaine, it made Kurt's blood boil. "Light protect and soil-" Kurt started a spell but couldn't even get half-way through it before his mouth clamped shut and he was thrown backwards, much like how the mirror had tossed them around, and his body hit the white stone wall hard. He slid to the ground with a groan as he lifted a hand to rub his shoulder.

Blaine moved listlessly towards Kurt, but there was worry in his glassy eyes, "Kurt. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so," Kurt answered; some minor bruising was nothing compared to what was at risk.

"Do you really think rhyming magic will stop me? How charming and pathetic." Saffron mocked, "Besides, I was going to take you back with me you cretin." Saffron fumed, walking towards them, "Don't make me change my mind!"

"Please don't make her angry," Blaine whispered, his eyes tearful and his voice trembling.

Saffron stood in front of them, tall and regal, her half mirror face lifted to the light, "You could be useful to me, but if you aren't, I'll have no need for you to remain alive." She looked away from Kurt and narrowed her good eye at Blaine, "Now, Blaine. It is time for you to sit on your throne."

"What will happen when I do?" Blaine asked.

Kurt's pulse pounded, Blaine was considering giving in!

Saffron lips quirked up, and it was an evil sight, "The fairies have been taking their revenge on me slowly for what I did to their land. I suspect if you sit on the throne, their revenge will be quick and mostly painless."

"No." Kurt said and turned to Blaine, "Don't."

"I have waited for a descendent of mine to come along who was suitable for this purpose, and all he has to do now is choose to sit on my throne."

"I have a choice?" Blaine said looking up, something like hope flashing in his eyes. Kurt's breath was coming fast. Don't give up. Keep fighting.

"Of course," Saffron sounded bored, "It only works if you choose to do it, just like you chose to go through the mirror."

Blaine stood slowly, squaring his shoulders and balling his fist, "Then I'm afraid we're at an impasse because I will not choose to go through with your plan."

Kurt couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He stood, holding Blaine's hand again to hopefully lend encouragement and strength.

Saffron sneered and quickly finished pulling off her gloves. Her hands glistened in the red light of the room, both of them completely made of glass, each finger like a sharpened dagger. She lifted a hand and without a word waved a few gleaming fingers. Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand as they both tensed for an attack, but nothing happened to them.

Instead, small golden points of light started to appear around Saffron, one after the other, until there was a swarm of them.

"That… you can't do that. If those lights make me do something, then I didn't choose it," Blaine said as Kurt instinctively pulled him further from Saffron.

"Pixies can't make you do anything, they just suggest what might be best. The fairies themselves weren't accommodating, but pixies are such fun little creatures, they do whatever I like."

Kurt narrowed his eyes; the small golden lights, if you really looked at them, looked different here, more detail to them. You could almost make out tiny little shining bodies and translucent gold wings fluttering so quickly they were nearly invisible. Kurt would have been fascinated if he wasn't so worried about where this was going. "You mean they suggest what you think is best." Kurt said, "That's cheating."

Saffron lifted her chin and shrugged, "If that's how you want to see it." She waved her hand and the lights zoomed away from her towards Blaine.

Both Kurt and Blaine ducked, but soon the lights – the pixies – were circling them. Kurt felt himself let go of Blaine's hand even though he didn't really want to.

Blaine took a step, and then another towards the throne.

"Blaine, don't!" Kurt shouted, but then started to giggle.

Blaine looked back at him for a moment but his feet kept moving towards the throne.

The pixies were swarming around Kurt and Blaine, and Kurt heard little tinkling voices in his ear, "It's okay. Don't move. He'll be fine."

But it wasn't okay and Blaine wouldn't be fine if Saffron got her way – meaning Kurt should move. He took a stumbling step forward, his feet as heavy as lead. Blaine was almost at the throne now and Kurt didn't know if something would happen as soon as he sat on it or not, so he took another heavy step forward, straining to get to Blaine.

"Don't worry, Kurt. It's too hard. Saffron will take care of everything."

Kurt swatted at the pixies around his face as he stole a look at Saffron. She was standing still with an amused smirk on her face and the tips of her glass fingers were drumming against each other. She didn't look concerned; she knew exactly how this was going to play out.

Blaine was standing right in front of the throne now. "Blaine! Don't! Please!" Kurt cried, feeling helpless, but still too far away to reach out to him and pull him back.

Saffron moved to stand between them, still holding the silver hand mirror. "Hush now, or I leave you here." She lifted the mirror high above her head and let the red light from outside sparkle over it. And then, she unceremoniously dropped the mirror. Kurt watched in fascination, unable to pull his eyes away, expecting the mirror to hit the ground and shatter.

It hit with a too loud clang, but it didn't shatter – it started to stretch and grow until the reflective glass looked like a small pool, probably six feet long and wide.

"My plan was to go through this mirror to its twin back home, just to be safe, but since you brought it here with you…" Saffron said dryly, "I'll have to risk going through the mirror with the fairy emblem. Yes, it took Helen's mind from her, but once the fairies have Blaine, their need for vengeance on the Callaways will be fulfilled. You and I should travel through with ease no matter what mirror we use on the other side."

"Why… take me with… you?" Kurt grunted, still trying to take another step forward. Blaine's back was to him – he was just standing there frozen in front of the throne.

"I'm not cruel," Saffron answered.

Kurt thought she probably believed that.

"Besides, I respect power, and you have it. Not like a Callaway." Saffron smirked, "But once we get back, I am going to need… help." She grimaced like the word offended her, "I can't remain glass like this, your power could be useful to me."

"Of course, we're just going to be buddies after you abandon Blaine here." Kurt scoffed.

Saffron's eyes flashed, "I don't appreciate your mockery, I will not allow a man to speak to me like I'm a child!"

Saffron lifted her thick velvet skirts slightly and turned to look at Blaine, "What's taking so long grandson? The throne is yours for the taking."

"No." Blaine said, his voice gravely, "I won't."

"Yes, you will." Saffron waved her hand and more pixies lit up the room, all of them sweeping towards Blaine.

Kurt wasn't sure what they were saying to him, but Kurt's wouldn't shut up. "Go with Saffron. Go home Kurt. You'll be happy. You'll be safe. Go home Kurt."

"Blaine, don't listen to them!" Kurt shouted. He really couldn't move now and tears were prickling his eyes even as sickening laughter wanted to burst from his lips.

"Hush Kurt hush. He stays with us. Blaine lives here now. Blaine dies here now. Hush Kurt hush," little sing-song voices chimed and Kurt couldn't say another word.

Blaine moved a leg, stepping up onto the platform, one foot after another.

Kurt was screaming for him to stop in his head, but he couldn't get it out, stuck in place and gagged with magic.

Blaine turned, standing in front of the throne with pixies swirling quickly and glowing around him; they circled above his head like a churning radiant crown.

"He's going to stay! He's going to stay! Once he sits he's here forever!"

Kurt heard Saffron chuckle behind him, but he only had eyes for Blaine.

Noooo! Kurt mouthed, but no sound came out as Blaine placed his hands on either armrest and slowly and deliberately sat on the throne.

A bright light shot out of the morphed mirror on the ground like a yellow spotlight and the pixies must have started cheering because the throne room echoed with a chorus of tinkling sound.

Blaine sat straight back on the throne, his eyes blankly staring forward and golden pixie crown still spiraling over his head.

"Come now, Kurt." Saffron's voice was an imitation of kindness, as she reached a hand out towards him, "Let's go home. There is no saving him now. He belongs to the fairies."

Kurt ignored her and kept his eyes focused on Blaine.

A tear ran down Blaine's otherwise emotionless face, "Go home, Kurt," he said in a voice that hardly even sounded like him it was so choked with pain.

Kurt didn't know if that was the pixies talking or if it was really Blaine, but it didn't matter. Kurt wasn't going anywhere.

The iron of the throne's armrest started to twist and reshape until strands curled around Blaine's wrists like vises holding him to the throne.

Kurt still couldn't get his voice out, it was stuck in the back of his throat. There was a moment of silence, only the chiming of the pixies to disrupt the quiet, as Kurt stared into Blaine's eyes willing him to wake up, to understand that Kurt needed him. Kurt couldn't go home without him; he couldn't even bear the thought.

Blaine was frozen, not moving an inch until… his left hand jerked in its restraints and then his fingers spread out stiffly as if in pain. There was something silver and metallic crawling over the back of Blaine's hand and it wasn't the iron of the throne.

It took a moment for Kurt to really understand what he was seeing, but then he watched in horror as Blaine's hand spasmed for a moment and then grew still. And Blaine finally moved, looking down at his hand, as from the wrist up it started changing – hardening, turning silver and glittering and…

"Oh god!" Kurt's voice was suddenly back, the terror of what was happening to Blaine alarming enough to loosen his tongue.

Blaine's hand was swiftly transforming from flesh and blood to melded pieces of mirror in the shape of a hand. Blaine wasn't making a sound, but he watched with an expression that made Kurt think he'd be screaming if he could.

"No! NO!" Kurt's whole body was lunging forward, attempting to move, but his feet were still locked in place.

Amongst the terror clouding his mind, he made out Saffron's haunting voice, "It starts with the hands, then works up the arms and the neck… it's moving so quickly it will turn him completely in minutes."

Those words made Kurt snap his head towards Saffron. "Completely? You mean… he'll be all glass?"

"And the fairies will have their revenge. We'll wait till it's over to make sure our passage is safe."

Not cruel? Saffron honestly thought she wasn't cruel? She was going to stand there and casually watch while the man Kurt loved turned to glass.

Kurt looked back at Blaine, whose face was expressionless even though his cheeks were stained with tears.

"Blaine!" Kurt called. Blaine kept looking at his hand. "Stand up. Get up. Fight it!"

"I… can't," Blaine whispered.

The pixies swirled and Kurt's heart beat so heavy in his chest that it hurt.

"You have to Blaine because… because I'm not leaving without you. Blaine, I love you!"

Blaine's head lifted at that, and he looked Kurt in the eye as if just now realizing he was really there. "You… don't love me."

"Yes I do! Of course I do. I love you. I'm in love with you. So get up!"

"You're only saying that because I'm in danger."

"No. I'm saying it." Kurt said, struggling and finally pulling one foot forward, "I'm saying it because when you were twelve you wouldn't go see The Devil Wears Prada until I did so we could talk about it together. I'm saying it because when my dad was sick all I wanted was to talk to you because I knew you could make everything better. I'm saying it because for six years the summertime was the best part of my life, and when you didn't come back, it didn't feel like I had just lost a best friend, it felt like I lost a part of me. I love you, Blaine. I love your strength, and how you blush at everything. I love your singing voice and your unruly hair, and your cheesy romantic lines and the amazing pancakes you make and… and the fact that I always feel safe and connected when I'm with you." Kurt managed another step forward, his voice shaking but strong, "I was afraid of how much you meant to me and that's why I took so long to tell you – but now I can't think of anything more frightening then losing you."

Blaine blinked a few times, his eyes still wet with tears, and then a smile as bright as the sun broke out over his face and he started to laugh. To really truly sincerely laugh.

"Blaine?"

"You took your time," Blaine said, beaming at Kurt.

"I know. I'm sorry. I love you."

"Enough of this," Saffron hissed. "It makes no difference! Soon he'll be glass and we'll be gone. Or at least I will. You can stay here and rot."

Kurt didn't even look back at her, his mind clear as he looked down at Blaine's bound wrist. "Please, Blaine, try to get up."

"He can't," Saffron snapped, but no one was listening to her anymore. Even the pixies had stopped chanting, their only sound the buzzing of their tiny vigorously beating wings.

Blaine nodded and then looked down at the iron wrapped around his arms. He started whispering, but Kurt couldn't make out what he was saying until he began again, louder this time, "Unravel, untie, unloose these binds. Unknot, undo, make these ties unwind!"

Kurt smiled, his heart leaping; how had he not thought of that? He was about to join Blaine in the spell when the iron bonds snapped from Blaine's wrists, twisting backwards away from him.

"Blaine!" Kurt shouted, amazed. "You… you just used magic!"

Blaine lifted his arms, good hand rubbing over the glass hand and Kurt's breath caught in his throat. Blaine still needed to get up before more of him turned to glass.

"No!" Saffron yelled, and Kurt startled, remembering she was still there. She marched towards the throne. "Once you take the throne, you can't give it up! I've never sat there. I enchanted it for my replacement!"

But even as she shouted, Blaine's lips quirked up in a smile and he stood.

"You can't… you shouldn't be able…" Saffron stumbled over her words, "Sit down!"

"No," Blaine said simply and stepped down from the marble platform. Kurt noticed he was pressing his thumb harshly into the palm of his good hand; that's where he had a long cut from a piece of glass and Kurt's heart hurt thinking that Blaine was using pain to keep himself focused.

Kurt tried to move towards him but he was still stuck in place. Blaine waved his glass hand, "Let him go," he commanded, and there was a cry from the pixies and then they flew away from Kurt; he almost fell over, the release was so sudden. He rushed towards Blaine but snapped back suddenly when something, someone, gripped his arm.

"I have waited too long!" Saffron screeched, pulling Kurt back towards her, and she was strong, "Too long to fail now!"

"Let him go!"

But Saffron wasn't as obedient as the pixies. She wrapped an arm around Kurt, holding him against her body as she lifted a hand to his neck, grabbing him and pointing four very sharp fingers to the soft flesh of his throat. "Sit back down or I swear I'll slice into him like gutting a pig," Saffron spat, and Kurt couldn't even fight against her without her nails driving into him. His heart was beating wildly and he watched as Blaine's face blanched and he slowly lifted his hands.

"Don't hurt him." Blaine's voice was hoarse. "Please, Saffron, don't."

"You think after being stuck here for a hundred years, frightening off an entire fairy race and watching idiot after idiot grow up in my house until you arrived, that saying please is going to stop me from doing anything I want!"

Kurt couldn't see Saffron's face from his precarious position but her voice was frantic and high-pitched; she sounded enraged and insane, and he knew her golden eye was probably burning the way Blaine's had when he was channeling her anger.

"I will kill him!"

"I believe you," Blaine said, his hands still raised, and even in the midst of all of this, Kurt couldn't help but feel sick at the way the red light glanced off the glass of his left hand. "But you don't have to. Let us help you, Saffron. With all of our magic, there has to be another way for-"

"SIT DOWN!" Saffron screeched as the tips of her mirrored fingers pressed into Kurt's flesh. He sucked in a breath of pain and could feel drops of blood pooling over his skin.

Blaine's face was sheet white and his eyes terrified, "I'm sorry," he whispered, but… but it seemed as though he was saying it to Saffron.

Blaine took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and then in a strong steady voice that echoed through the high-ceilinged throne room he recited, "From wind and shadow and dark did rise," the pixies flitting around in the air started to squeal, "evil called forth shall now demise."

"Stop!" Saffron shouted. Kurt was sure she was going to pierce his neck with her glass fingers, but she seemed frozen in place. He was still in her grip but she wasn't moving.

"Earth and salt and light take hope!" The ground started to shake and the red light from the windows grew brighter.

"Thy powers called forth we now invoke!" Blaine ended the chant by opening his eyes and shouting the last line – it felt like a physical force being hurled at Saffron.

Kurt couldn't see what was happening with her behind him, but Saffron let out a scream and then released him. He quickly moved away and spun around to face her as the whole room began to rumble and the pixies swirled around frantically.

Saffron stood still, planted to the ground. She looked at her outstretched hands and then up to Kurt and Blaine. She opened her mouth as if to scream but – the half of her face that was still skin and bone started to change. Mirrored glass spread over it, and with a loud crack in the air like thunder, everything went black for an instant.

Kurt's breathing was labored and his heart pounded in his ears – the red light from the windows came back brighter than before.

Saffron was grounded in place – a glass mirror statue from the bottom of her once velvet skirts to the tip of her once golden hair. She didn't move, she didn't scream. She wasn't anything more than glass.

And the pixies were gone, perhaps destroyed, perhaps released from their mistress's power, but no longer there to cloud Kurt's or Blaine's minds.

Kurt felt ill looking at what used to be Saffron Callaway and shining reflective glass – that could have been Blaine. He felt someone grab his hand and looked down to see Blaine lacing their fingers together.

"She isn't in my head anymore."

Kurt looked up at him. Blaine was crying.

"I didn't want to."

Kurt nodded, "I know." And then he leaned forward, pressing his lips against Blaine's, kissing him in utter relief and gratitude that they were both somehow still alive.

The room still shook and a few big pieces of stone fell from the ceiling landing only yards from them.

"We have to leave, now," Blaine said when the kiss broke and he tugged Kurt's hand until they stood in front of the mirror on the ground. It was still large enough to go through and beaming light up to the rafters.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked, stomach twisting with nerves.

"Kurt, this whole place is coming apart at the seams and I don't just mean Saffron's palace."

Kurt looked around as the ground shook and the walls swayed, "But… if you go through the mirror…. I mean you're a Callaway… the fairies and what they did to your aunt…"

Blaine glanced over his shoulder to Saffron's glinting form and then back to Kurt. "I think the fairies have had their revenge, and in any case –" Another boulder crashed down near them with an echoing thud as the earth continued to tremble. "If we stay here we'll die."

Kurt nodded. He turned his back to the mirror and wrapped his arms around Blaine who held him tightly in return. "On the count of three. One."

"Two."

"Three!" Kurt shouted and then let himself fall backwards, taking Blaine with him and dropping through the mirror's glass into nothingness.