Heads up. Another backstory, also very dark. Pronunciations:

Eleanor (el-an-or)

Alexandre (al-ex-an-DUHR)

Amélie (a-meh-le)

Anais (i-nice)

Audrey (u-not-nice)

Aurélie (ah-ruh-le)

"Excuse me, could you please hold this for a second?" Eleanor asked the nice man. She was visiting a peaceful village during the day. The man was carrying a basket of food for his family on his head.

"Wha- um, sure, young lady," he said as he set his basket down. Eleanor took a fruit out from her bag and handed it to the man. She started singing her lullaby, now slightly more eerie than before. The poor man suddenly couldn't breathe. He collapsed, trying to use Eleanor as support and scratching her neck, and Eleanor immediately stopped singing and retrieved her fruit. She took everything of value that he had and made off with haste. She had been saving up blood money to be able to travel north. She wanted to run and run until she died.

She was walking in the dead of night through a gorgeous plain in Germany, with views of wide rivers and distant mountains, telling herself that she was happy and subconsciously denying the gaping hole inside of her. About to spread out her sheet and sleep, a little bright glow over the hill caught her attention. The light dimmed as she ran towards it. Approaching it, she saw that it was a pretty golden flower. She knelt down and stared intently at it, waiting for the glow. Nothing happened. She took off her satchel and began singing her lullaby. It only made the flower wilt. She stopped and began switching the lyrics around to write something along the lines of, "Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine." The flower did gleam and glow, and the scratch she had gotten from the man she murdered completely disappeared. She now realized she could hold the power life and death in the palm of her hand. She slept by it, and when she woke up early the next morning, she picked it and took it with her. She decided to seek more power along her journey to run to the grave.

Eleanor waltzed into a pub smugly and strutted her lady parts to draw the attention of as many men as she could.

"Hey! Listen up! If any of you charming men like games, then get over here." All but one man made their way to the witch. One handsome, devilish man.

She pulled out a fruit. "This game is...just..." Eleanor looked for words. "Okay I'll explain it along the way. The winner gets me as a prize. First, everyone puts one finger on the fruit," she said as she set the fruit down on the table.

All the men shrugged while eyeing Eleanor's features and complied without question. The fishiness of it all drew the attention of the one man sitting alone and minding his own business.

When all the men were touching the fruit, she began to sing her song at a swift tempo. All nineteen of the men struggled and collapsed as Eleanor backed away from them. She looked at the unfazed attractive man sitting at the back.

"Boy, if I could kill like that. I'd be safe in a lot more places than I am now," the man said.

"Come with me. Travel in pairs is much more efficient than lone," she said as she looted the men.

"You seem awfully trusting," the man said.

"What motive would a murderer have to kill a murderer?" she cleverly inquired.

The man got up. "What if I'm an undercover official?" he asked.

She scoffed. "Oh, I'm so intimidated."

"Alexandre," he greeted and then held out his hand.

"Eleanor." She took his hand and he knelt down and kissed hers.

In not ten minutes, the couple found both a place to hide themselves and a place to hide their tongues.

"I would like children someday," Eleanor told her other half while walking down the street of a silent town on a cozy August night.

"Why, so you can turn them into monsters on their way up?" Alexandre asked

"They're going to be our little hell raisers," Eleanor replied.

"God, I love you," Alexandre kissed her when a merchant approached them.

"Excuse me, fine townspeople. I was sold this ring for the steepest of prices, told that it was forged from the magma from Vesuvius, and it brings humility and fortune to its wearer. I was obviously hoodwinked. I'm sorry to bother you, but it would be a great favor if you'd buy this from me for a fair p-," the merchant was cut off.

"From whom did you get it?" Eleanor asked.

"The rich peddler in the lands to the northeast," he replied with a slightly worried expression.

"That is all I needed to know," she said.

Alexandre slit his throat and took the ring, proceeding to slip it into his satchel.

"Let's see what this peddler has waiting for us," Eleanor suggested.

She was getting closer and closer to having the four catalysts without even knowing it.

After years of travel, they finally tracked down the peddler. As they approached him, they took out the ring for the peddler to notice.

"Good evening. I see you've acquired my ring," he started as if he was expecting to be complained to. "Look, I had that ring forged from Vesuvian rock by a master smith on the summer solstice. It has no effect unless worn on the solstice."

"Where did you find this information?" Eleanor asked the peddler.

"Advanced civilizations to the south," he answered. "It's one of four kinds. There's a fruit that kills its victims, a flower that cures any sickness, and water from a spring that brings peace and wisdom if drunk on the winter solstice." He told them everything he knew about the tears and the solstices. "But if you use a catalyst to its full power...there's a catch. Your child will surely be mutated by the essence of the catalyst that is left inside of you."

She flashed back to what happened to her mother. She knew this was all too true. She was glad she never put on the ring. She proceeded to pour the contents her bag out, revealing the flower and the fruit. "Where is this spring?"

His eyes dilated like water balloons. "It- it's at the North Pole."

"Do you have a compass?" Alexandre inquired.

"Yes, I'll sell one for-"

Eleanor drove a dagger into the peddler's head and took anything that looked useful.

They paid a sailor to take them north to a bridge onto the ice. The sailor gave them a time limit before he would leave to safe his own skin. With that, the couple followed the compass north until the arrow began to spin. Just ahead was a large shallow spring. They filled two bottles with the Solstice Water and hurried back to the sailor, who brought them back to land.

Come the winter solstice, Alexandre drank his share of the water, and the gaping hole in his soul was filled with mixtures of magical powers. They agreed that they had greatly accomplished what they'd set out to do and headed southwest until they reached a more suitable climate for settling down and starting a family.

They named their beautiful firstborn daughter Amélie. However they raised her to be selfish, greedy, violent, cruel, and evil just like them. Eleanor taught her precious firstborn how to be power-seeking. She taught her the lullabies and poured her experience and knowledge into her. When Amélie turned five, Anais was born. Anais was born with a beautiful heart and mind. She never could bring herself to comply with her sister's and parent's evil. But luckily, she wasn't alone for too long. When Anais was four, Audrey was born. Audrey grew up to be the most beautiful woman in existence, far more stunning than her mother. She was the most innocent of the sisters and grew very close to Anais. They survived well hiding from the darkness that was their parents and oldest sister, until Aurélie was born, three years after Audrey. Aurélie was the most humble and could never, ever tell one lie. Out of disappointment and disgust of her youngest sister's good nature, Amélie beat her with the permission of her parents when she was only six; Amélie was eighteen. Anais, Audrey, Aurélie were impelled to run away. They started a new life, and Anais, age thirteen, was in charge.

"Alexandre! Where are the children?!" Eleanor screamed. Amélie rushed in, followed by Alexandre.

"I- I've no clue, Eleanor. I'm so, so sorry," he said sweetly.

Eleanor just looked at him like he was Lucifer himself. "How could you let this happen?! First you raise our youngest children to be pathetic weaklings who cannot even face reality, then you let them roam free?! We should be stronger than this!"

Alexandre began to speak, but Eleanor would not let him.

"No!" Eleanor walked over to her arsenal and unsheathed a claymore, making Alexandre run. She caught up and stabbed him through his heart from behind and collapsed with him.

She whispered into his ear, "You've served your only purpose, and I don't want you anymore."