ii

Here with you don't be scared, you can lose yourself

Close your eyes the coast is clear, I will guard you well

Save the words rest your soul in the silence, baby

Don't you fear

Eponine was twelve when her mother moved her to live in the woods outside the kingdom. It was a month after she had her first vision—a man was standing on a golden throne with a mass of dark clouds and evil spirits swirling behind him. The image frightened her and, as any child would, she ran to her mother. The sight of Eponine's brown eyes glowing green caused the Lady Thenardier to almost faint, but she was quick to act.

She lived in the little cottage with a witch by the name of Fantine. She was a sad woman who took care of Eponine as if she were her daughter, though her actual daughter lived in another realm. Her mother would occasionally visit with Gavroche beside her.

Life in the woods suited Eponine better than being confined within the walls of a castle. It was also during her time of hiding that she learned about the horrible conditions of the people. The king, her father, was a power-hungry man who cared for no one but himself. Albeit, Eponine would learn from her mother that this man who ruled with cruelty and fear was not actually her father, and that her true parentage is what makes her different. Were the king to discover what she really was, then everyone would be in danger.

"You lied to me!" Eponine exclaimed, pounding her fist against Enjolras's chest.

"I did it to protect you," Enjolras tried to rationalize but his words were not reaching her ears.

"You deceived me!" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Everything you said was a lie!"

Enjolras grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her flush against him, and memories of being this close to her flashed through his mind. He noted the familiar smell of her and allowed it to comfort him for a moment.

"I've heard about your kind," Eponine said through sobs, interrupting his thoughts. "You're a soul-warrior. You're duty is to keep peace and protect our lands, no matter the cost. You'd do anything to stick to your duty, even pretend to feel so strongly for a girl like me." When she said this, she shoved Enjolras away from her.

She took a minute to regulate her breathing and calm her frantic heart. It has been a year since she's last seen Enjolras and the sight of him overwhelmed her with emotions. She hated how vulnerable she acted when it all came down to him. "You don't have to worry about me," she said when she was finally able to breathe. "I can look out for myself."

"I have to protect you, Eponine," Enjolras sighed. "Like you said, I have to stick to my duty."

Her eyes narrowed. "Just stay the hell away from me. Protect me from a distance. I don't want you anywhere near me."

And with that, she left to join the others.

Eponine was a Seer, a being capable of seeing past, present, and future. She was able to communicate with the spirits of those who passed to the afterlife, and they often whispered secrets into her ears. They would tell her stories of their past, their greatest desires, their worst fears. They found her to be the only living being that could actually sympathize with them. And because of this ability, she was an essential factor for the king's plans.

Knowing this, the Order gave Enjolras the task of protecting the young girl. He was one of the best—a true warrior by blood. His adversaries feared him and all his fellow men praised him. He had skills with a sword and is known to be a great archer. He was perfect for the job, they just did not expect the young man to become entranced by the Seer.

He began his duty by watching her from a distance. The girl was fifteen at the time, wild and savage. She would run through the woods and climb every tree, ruining her dress in the process. Her eyes always had a glint of mischief within them, and they always brought a smirk of amusement upon Enjolras's countenance.

He would tell himself that he just simply found her amusing. Nothing more, nothing less.

"She's the girl you've been looking for?" Grantaire asked as they sat by the fire. He took a long sip of his vodka before adding, "I can understand why."

The stars glowed in the dark sky above them and the wind surrounded them with its cold air. Musichetta was in a deep conversation with Lesgle and Joly while Marius held Cosette in his arms. This sight caused him to look over his shoulder to see a sleeping dark figure. Eponine slept with her backpack pillowing her head and Gavroche beside her. This was the closet she was to him since over a year and yet, she felt far away. She was too closed off from him and he did not like it one bit. He wanted to lay beside her like just they used to.

"She looks like the mysterious type," Grantaire noted as he continued to watch Enjolras as he watched Eponine sleep. "Exactly the kind of girl to captivate a guy like you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Enjolras said, turning his attention to his drunk friend.

Grantaire chuckled. "You're an extraordinary guy, Enjolras. It can't take an ordinary girl to steal your interest. She's very dark, guarded, and strong." His eyes glazed over, watching the movements of the fire, before laughing to himself and taking another sip of vodka. "I be you'd guys argue before having hot sex."

Enjolras flinched at the observation but did not allow his reaction to show. Instead, he hung his head low, choosing to stare at the ground.

Sixteen year old Eponine remembered the blue sky shifting to gray, the clouds coming together to form nothing but darkness. The angrily blew towards the castle's direction. Eponine held her green cape in place, though the wind caused her dark curls to billow behind her. A transparent figure was beside he, shaped in what seemed like a little girl—perhaps the age of thirteen. It leaned closer to Eponine and whispered something to her.

"The bad thing is coming."

Soon, dark shadows began to fill the entire kingdom. Fantine kept Eponine hidden in the cottage while she attempted to contact the girl's mother through a looking-glass. Instead, a portal opened and an eight year old boy with disheveled strands of blond hair tumbled through.

"Gavroche!" Eponine exclaimed as she rushed to her brother's side.

"Momma sent me here," Gavroche explained after a moment, rubbing the side of his head. "She said that Papa started something bad."

Fantine slowly walked towards the window. From their small cottage, they had a perfect view of the castle. It stood tall on a mountain overlooking the kingdom, a mass of trees surrounding it and accentuating it's beauty. Fantine's eyes trailed up to the sky and noticed a group of dark clouds, along with a few dark shadows, encircling the castle.

"You're father started a war."

"You're a seer," Cosette repeated, tasting the words against her mouth and the way they rolled off her tongue. "And he is a soul-warrior."

Eponine nodded, her eyes focused on their surroundings. They were walking along a town when it began to rain. They took refuge in an abandoned warehouse filled with nothing but wooden crates all stacked, one on top of the other. Both Cosette and Eponine sat on a crate while the others wondered around the warehouse. Cosette took advantage of that moment to ask Eponine about her past with the cold soldier.

"I see past, present, and future," Eponine elaborated. "I can see every living thing and every dead thing."

"And you're running from the demons that work for your father?" Cosette was beginning to find the whole back story...strange. Then again, she also had a few strange abilities.

"He's not my father," Eponine replied rather too quickly. "He's an evil tyrant who I thought was my father. My actual father is the King of Wolves."

Cosette raised an eyebrow at the title, causing Eponine to giggle. "Where I'm from, there's a king who lives in the woods. He's actually a shifter—a man who can shift into a wolf. He lives there with a bunch of magical people like him.

"He met my mother a few months before she married that evil man and fell in love with her. She was already promised to the tyrant but they had a secret affair before she was sent off to the other kingdom. She passed me off as the tyrant's daughter but when I was eight, I began to have visions of the past, the present, and the future.

"So then my mom sent me to live in the woods, told the tyrant that it was better for me to live in the woods instead of castle; less messes in the corridors. But she was actually hiding me from him; she knew that my powers would attract his interest and that he might use it for something bad."

"But he discovered you and your powers?" Cosette interjected.

Eponine nodded. "And now I'm here, still hiding from him."

They continued to walk without encountering any sort of trouble; no demons, no other humans, just the hostility between Enjolras and Eponine. Anger radiated off of Eponine wherever she stood, increasing only when Enjolras was in close proximity. He would try to put as much distance as he could, but naturally, they both gravitated towards one another. Neither were ever able to stay away. Jehan, always a romantic, made that observation with Marius and Cosette.

He watched the pair with great interest, especially when they came across a fence that was in their way. Courfeyrac was the first to climb, and then he helped Gavroche. Marius went after, followed by Cosette and so on. Just as Eponine swung a leg to the other side, Enjolras was there to assist her.

She struggled a bit, her shirt rising up to reveal a bit of her midriff and the fabric of her pants getting caught. Enjolras's hands shot forward and grabbed her by her waist. The brush of callous finger tips against smooth skin caused little sparks of electricity to pass between the two. Once her feet finally touched the ground, she turned around and found herself extremely close to Enjolras. Her eyes stared at his chest while he stared at the top of her head.

He smelled exactly the same, Eponine noted. They stood close to one another for a moment, hearing nothing but each other's breathing, before Eponine took a step to the side. Everyone – with the exception of Jehan, Cosette and Grantaire – were too busy talking to notice.

"Thanks," Eponine muttered, taking deliberate steps as she went to join the rest of the group. Enjolras watched with darkened blue eyes.

"We have to send them to the other world," Fantine told the queen once things began to get worse.

The Lady Thenardier nodded in agreement. From her balcony, she examined the swirls of darkness and dread that covered the sky. Then a thought appeared on her head and she gasped. "But how on earth will they survive?"

Fantine stared at the stoned ground. "Eponine is strong. She will survive."

They were walking through tree roots and uneven, grassy grounds when they heard an angry howl. Eponine held her crossbow at the ready but Enjolras rushed to her side with a gun at hand. She noticed this and rolled her eyes. "I can handle myself, Enjolras," she whispered harshly.

"Yeah, but it's my job to protect you," Enjolras countered. "Whether you like it or not, I made an oath to do my job."

"Well aren't you the perfect warrior," Eponine remarked, sarcasm dripping from her accent.

From a mass of tree, a large beast appeared. It looked somewhat like a wolf, except its eyes were glowing red and it had three tails. Its fur was ash black with hints of glimmering red. It snarled its nasty teeth at all of them, leaned back on its hind legs before it launched itself at them.

Eponine was the first to act, maneuvering herself from behind Enjolras. With her crossbow, she aimed and shot the demon. She managed to hit its side, earning a growl from the demon. Still, it continued to advance and Enjolras pushed Eponine behind him. Though, before it could get any closer, Cosette rushed forward with a sword that she took from Courfeyrac. In one swift motion, she sliced the demon's head off and it fell to the ground with a loud thump. The body began to convulse before it finally stilled and fell to the ground.

"Cosette!" Marius exclaimed as he rushed to her side, putting an arm around her shoulder. With his free hand, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. Albeit she appeared calm and collected, Marius was able to see a few tears forming in her crystal optics. "Can you please not do that again?"

Cosette laughed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Sorry," she whispered softly.

Meanwhile, Enjolras spun around and glared at Eponine. "What the hell?" he groaned. "Can't you just cooperate?"

Eponine narrowed her eyes. "No, I can't. If you haven't notice – since you were too busy keeping up your image for a year to notice – I don't listen!"

With that, she walked off, pushing Enjolras aside in the process, to make sure Gavroche was okay.

"They are planning to send the girl to the mundane world," said Georges, the Head of The Order. He walked around the room with his head held high, both hand held behind him in a dignified manner. All the fellow warriors in the room regarded him with great reverence and would respectfully turn their gaze to the ground when he talked directly at them. Though, Enjolras was the exception.

Often called a natural and ideal warrior, Enjolras was seen as an equal to all superiors. He lived by the warrior code. It may very well run through his veins. Never has he ever failed a task, never went against his oath. He has never developed an emotional attachment to the people he protects, like some warriors have done in the past, such as Jean Valjean.

"Enjolras," Georges said as he walked towards the golden haired man. His steps were deliberate and calculate. "I want you to follow the girl and her brother, make sure no harm comes to them when they enter the human world. Word is that King Thenardier wants to start a war with the mundies."

Enjolras respectfully bowed his head. "Yes, Sir."

He expects to only watch her from a distance, making sure no obstacles comes her way. The last thing on his mind was getting entangled.

"So you're a warrior," Cosette said abruptly. She sat herself beside Enjolras, whose gaze was only focused on the fire. After a day of walking through the woods, they decided to camp near a river. Only she and Enjolras were wide awake while the others were in deep slumber.

Enjolras spared her a glance and nodded before returning his attention to the fire. He wore a black hoodie with the hood up, hiding part of his face in the dark. It contrasted greatly with his golden image; he seemed like the type of man the burned with golden glory, not covered in darkness. The shadows belonged to Eponine.

"So you knew Jean Valjean?"

Enjolras nodded once again. "I also know that you are not a mundane."

It was Cosette's turn to nod. "My mother was a witch, but I didn't inherit her powers. Magic is not exactly hereditary."

"No," Enjolras said, his tone soft and low. "It's a recessive trait. Though, in your case, the lack of magic you possess has little to do with genetics and more with a curse."

Cosette stared at him for a long moment before say, "so, you know."

"And you also know that I'm here strictly for Eponine."

At the mention of the girl's name, both quickly glanced at the sleeping figure. She laid with her head on her backpack, her arms protectively wrapped around Gavroche. She looked calm as oppose to the angry countenance she always wore since Enjolras joined them.

"I've been watching her since she was a little girl," Enjolras explained. Cosette gave him her utmost attention. "Since she was twelve, I was given the task to protect her, make sure she stayed hidden from Thenardier. So for eight years, I watched her from a distance, kept tabs on her."

He paused for a moment before he continued. "At first, I just found her to be an amusing girl. She'd always climb trees, innocently use her powers to talk to spirits – they always gravitated towards her. Though she'd never fully use her powers, she has no control over that. Her visions come and go whenever."

"So then what?" Cosette interjected. "What changed?"

Enjolras sighed. "Then I followed her here and actually interacted with her. Warrior code states that we cannot form any attachments with anyone and before Eponine happened, I followed that code faithfully."

"But she's the exception," Cosette said matter-of-factly. "Just like my mom and I were the exception to Valjean, I guess."

With the entire kingdom in ruins, nineteen year old Eponine was sent to the mundane world with Gavroche. They both landed in a narrow alley between two buildings with little resources and a small amount of knowledge of the mundane world. With all the strength she could muster, Eponine wrapped an arm around Gavroche and they began to walk. Silently, they followed the crowd of mundies in search of shelter.