Important note: What clutter do you wish for Diaval to have? Leave me a note and I'll see what I can do! :)

CHAPTER 8 - Hallows' Eve

Diaval was on the hunt. Employing all the skill his human body could muster he snuck through the rapidly darkening forest, eyes trained on his ignorant target. His feet didn't make a single sound as he shuffled through the sodden leaves, closing in on the lone figure that was walking at a leisurely pace beneath the trees.

Diaval could feel his heart pounding a slow and steady pace as he slowly prowled closer. He raised his hands, muscles tensed, took a deep breath - and pounced.

A branch, full of wet leaves, smacked him square in the face, and he was sure the thing hadn't been there just seconds ago. An indignant huff escaped him when it hit him midair and turned his elegant pounce into an undignified tumble to the ground. The impact knocked the air from his lungs and for a moment all he could see were tiny stars dancing in front of his eyes.

"I knew you were there," a cool voice said. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, Diaval stared up at Maleficent who was looking down on him, her features betraying not even the slightest hint of emotion. "How?" he groaned and propped himself up on his elbows. The faerie only rolled her eyes and offered him a hand. Diaval stared at it for a moment, and then let himself be pulled to his feet by his mistress before she could change her mind. "You're about as stealthy as a bovine," she noted as she picked a few leaves from his hair. With bated breath, Diaval held completely still, unable to come up with anything as his heart soared sky-high. But as with all good things, it was over all too soon and Maleficent turned to leave.

"And here I was so sure I had you completely oblivious," he said in a deliberately light voice as he tried to quench the fluttering feeling in his stomach. With a few long strides he caught up to his mistress and fell in step beside her. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and raised one brow. "I am never oblivious to anything," she stressed.

"So you say," Diaval cooed. "But what about that one time Aurora snuck up on you and almost scared you to death?" "That was different," she shot back tightly. "I was preoccupied." "Sure you were," he grinned. His only answer was an annoyed huff.

"What did you even hope to gain by scaring me?" Maleficent asked after a while. Wrapping his coat around him to ward off the chilly air, Diaval shrugged. "It is a human celebration, Hallow's Eve I believe it is called. Apparently, children go around and scare people in exchange for little treats."

"You would do well to remember I don't appreciate anything to do with mankind." Maleficent's voice was as cold as ice, but Diaval ignored it. "I see you're already getting the hang of it," he grinned. "Very good."

"Diaval..."

"Think about it!" he waved away her warning, and stood in front of her. She glared up at him, green eyes blazing. "We could make it our celebration! It would be so much fun! Sneaking through the forest, scaring everyone we see - it doesn't have to be a human thing. Faeries can be scary just as well if they want to."

"But I do not," Maleficent snapped and stepped around him, resuming her walk. "This is just another one of your stupid ideas. This won't do anything. It's useless." "But that's exactly the point!" Diaval insisted, following hard on her heels. He wasn't ready to give up just yet. "It won't do anything, but it won't cause any harm either! It's just a bit of good fun."

"I don't need fun," Maleficent snapped angrily over her shoulder. "I feel perfectly fine just now." "Do you even know how to be happy?" Diaval asked accusingly. He was pushing her, and he knew it, but she needed to loosen up more.

Maleficent stopped so suddenly that he almost crashed into her. Only a quick step to the side saved him, and he shivered when he saw the emotionless face of his mistress. "I used to," she said in a dead voice. "Long ago."

Diaval didn't know what to answer. They stood in silence while he feverishly cast about for something to say, and eventually just blurted out, "What is the worst that could happen?" Maleficent turned to look him dead in the eye. "You mean apart from someone choking on their own tongue because you scared them, coughing so much they lose their balance, falling down a cliff, and being impaled by thorns at the bottom?"

Diaval blinked. Then he cocked his head. He squinted his eyes and stared at his mistress, hard, trying to figure out wether or not she was being serious. "I could have fun. Do you even know how dreadful of an idea that is? Me and fun. Ridiculous!"

With this, the faerie turned up her nose and walked away. Diaval stared after her for a moment before he gave chase. "So does that mean you're up for it?" he asked excitedly, skipping alongside Maleficent. "Did I say any such thing?" she snapped, and picked up her pace. "Oh come on!" Diaval exclaimed and threw up his hands. "How can you always be so - so..."

A twig snapped behind him, and he stopped mid-sentence to look over his shoulder. When he turned back, the faerie was gone.

"Oh, now that's just bloody brilliant," he muttered and crossed his arms over his chest. "Leaving without a single word? How nice of her!" With a fierce scowl etched onto his features, he turned on his heel - and jumped a mile high into the air when he found himself nose to nose with Maleficent.

.

The scream that tore from his throat echoed through the forest, flushing flocks of birds from the high trees and sending deer running. Diaval staggered backwards and crashed into the ground when he tripped over his own feet. His heart was in his throat and his whole body shook as he stared up at Maleficent with wide eyes, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. Someone chuckled.

The sound soon turned into full blown laughter, and it took him a moment to realise it was Maleficent's voice he was hearing. "Oh Diaval," she managed between two breaths. "I had no idea you were so -" She broke of when another laughing fit shook her. It was contagious.

Still a bit breathless, Diaval let out a chuckle of his own. "I have to admit, you got me there," he grinned, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet by his mistress for the second time today.

"Tell me, Diaval," she asked with mirth twinkling in her eyes. "Are you still set on celebrating Hallows' Eve? Or have you had quite enough?" "Oh, I am set on it, alright!" he exclaimed and rubbed his hands together. "Although you won't get a treat from me." Maleficent raised a brow. "I thought that was how it worked? You scare someone and they have to give you something?" "Yes, but you scared me half to death back there. I wouldn't want to encourage you." Wrapping his coat around himself once more, Diaval started down the path, Maleficent at his side. "Besides, I'm not even sure if that's how it goes. Maybe I got it all wrong." At his pensive tone, Maleficent smiled at him gently, and it made his heart skip a beat.

"Who cares if you did," she said. "It works for me. So, whom shall we scare first?" Diaval frowned thoughtfully. "I don't really know," he mused. "But if I had to think of someone..." Rounding on the faerie, he cocked his head and met her gaze bravely. "Can we scare animals as well? Say, like, foxes?"

Seeing the mangy creature flee, tail between its legs, filled Diaval with a deep sense of satisfaction that was so intense he all but forgot about the faerie next to him until she spoke. "That poor fox. Whatever did he do to deserve this?"

Cocking his head, he looked at Maleficent and shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't really matter. What's important is that we're even now." Frowning at his words, Maleficent turned to squint at the bushes in which the fox had disappeared. "Still, Diaval. You gave him quite a scare. Was that really necessary?" "Believe me when I say it was. So, is there anyone you would like to scare, mistress?"

The faerie thought for a moment, brow puckered. "Maybe those three airheads that are taking care of the princess," she mused. "Although their hut is quite far from here."

"Well, we could always -" Diaval began, but stopped mid-sentence when there was a rustling sound coming from the bushes. Maleficent had heard it as well.

"Maybe it's your fox friend, and he's brought a few friends?" she suggested, mirth twinkling in her eyes. Diaval growled. "He'd better not. I've had enough of his kind to last me for a lifetime." Determination flaring, he strode over towards the blackberry bush and nudged it with his boot. A shrill squeak could be heard, and a tiny voice started clamouring in unintelligible gibberish. Diaval frowned. "What in the," he began and knelt down, just a a tiny hedgehog faerie came rolling out from beneath the leaves. When it came to a halt in front of Diaval, it carefully peaked up at him from its curled up position, and then, when it recognised him, immediately jumped to its feet, swinging tiny fists in a menacing flurry and sprouting words that sounded very much like insults.

"Whoa there, little friend," Diaval tried to placate the tiny ball of fury and held up his hands. "I'm sorry." The creature still looked very disgruntled, so when Maleficent called his name in a questioning voice, he simply plucked the little guy up by his scruff and carried him over to his mistress, ignoring the protesting sounds of his charge.

"This one came rolling out of the hedge, mistress," he explained mystified once he reached her, and held the hedgehog faerie up so she could see him. When faced with the black figure that was Maleficent, the tiny creature suddenly grew very still. It made Diaval a tad sad, to see how afraid of his mistress everybody else was, and he thought that she must be quite lonely. Strange. The idea had never occurred to him before. But if would make sense, really. Just because she was just about his entire world, it didn't necessarily mean she felt the same way about him. The thought struck a sad chord within his heart, and he held the tiny faerie in his hands a bit gentler.

When Maleficent didn't say anything, Diaval nudged the hedgehog faerie with one finger and asked, "Was there anything you needed?" The creature averted his eyes for a moment and seemed to take a deep breath, then stuttered forth a series of sounds and trills that made Diaval frown. He hadn't understood a thing.

However, Maleficent seemed to have. Her eyes narrowed, and the grip she held on her staff tightened. "It seems we have humans camping in the forest," she said, her voice so cold and deadly Diaval shivered. The faerie in his hands grabbed one of his fingers and tried to hide behind it. Cradling it in his hands, he straightened up when Maleficent looked at him.

"And on Hallows' Eve, of all things."

Diaval was staring intently at the campsite in front of him, trying to make out anything in the darkness. The fire had burned low, so that all that remained of it were glowing ambers. In their dim light, a single face could be seen, worn by work and weather, half of it hidden by an unkempt white beard. Diaval couldn't see him, but the soft snoring he heard indicated that there was at least one other man nearby, sleeping as soundly as the first one, by the sound of it. He wasn't sure, but thought there was a woman as well, lying somewhere next to the second man.

"Can you see anything?" Diaval whispered over his shoulder. The tiny hands grabbing at his ear tightened their hold when he shifted, and a warning squeak was his answer. "All right, all right, I'm sorry," he breathed and turned back to stare at the small camp. The hedgehog faerie that was perched upon his shoulder - and which he lovingly had dubbed Batches - tugged at his earlobe. "I know," Diaval whispered. "Where in the world is Maleficent? She should have been back by now."

There was another tug, more insistent than the first, and he shrugged his shoulder to shut the faerie up. "Not now, Batches," he muttered angrily. "I'm trying to-" A firm tug on his ear caused him to straighten up from where he crouched behind the bushes, turning around and snatching the faerie from his shoulder. "Batches, I said -" He froze.

Two children were staring at him, with curiosity written all over their features, faces ghostly pale in the dim light of their lanterns. They were a boy and a girl, seemingly about the same age, and their similar shocks of bright red hair identified them as siblings. At least, Diaval thought that was what they were. "Umm," he said, blinking owlishly.

"We should tell pa," the girl said, turning to her brother. "He wouldn't want strangers lurking around the camp." "No Lucy," the boy whispered, just as she was about to leave, and grabbed her sleeve. "Maybe he's one of the forest spirits!" Turning around, the girl held up her lantern, which consisted of a hollowed out turnip in which a grotesque face had been carved, and squinted at Diaval. "He looks more like a vagrant to me," she surmised, a fierce scowl on her face.

Her words broke Diaval out of his shock. "Listen, you ungrateful brat," he began angrily, although keeping his voice down so as to not wake up the adults sleeping in the clearing behind him. "I am not a vagrant! I am one of the spirits of Hallows' Eve, and I have come to haunt this pathetic camp of yours! Me and my dreadful companion..." He stopped, looked down at the hedgehog faerie he still held in one hand, and only barely managed to hold back a sigh at the sight of the frightened creature. "Batches," he finished lamely.

The boy grinned. "Batches?" he asked, and moved his turnip... lantern... whatever-thingy closer to the faerie to investigate. Diaval hastily stuffed him in the pocket of his overcoat, ignoring the protesting squeak the creature gave. "Yes, Batches," he snapped indignantly.

"He doesn't look very daunting," the girl surmised with a frown. "Won't he suffocate in there?"

Diaval raised one eyebrow. "You're taking this remarkably well," he stated while shoving Batches pack into his pocket when the faerie tried to climb out. "Aren't you scared at all?" The boy shook his head. "You're not scary," he said, and his sister nodded. "He's right. You should see father when he's angry. He's really scary." "Could teach you a thing or two," the boy continued. Diaval scowled.

"I don't want anything to do with your father," he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "That makes two of us," the little girl muttered darkly. "Lucy!" her brother snapped, whacking her over the head with one hand.

"It's true!" she protested half-heartedly. "He always beats -"

"Listen," Diaval interrupted. "As interesting as your family history is - not," he added, and with a quick flick of his hand pushed Batches, who once again tried to escape, back into the depths of his pocket. "I'd much rather know what you two are doing here, clambering about in a dark forest."

"It's All Hallows' Eve," Lucy explained and held up her turnip-lantern. "We're scaring away the evil spirits." Diaval blinked. "With a turnip?" he asked confused. The girl nodded. "That's how we knew you're not here to scare us," her brother supplied. "Because otherwise you'd have run of when you saw our Jack-o'-Lanterns. Which means you're either a good spirit, or a tramp."

"Who's Jack?" Diaval asked. "And I'm not a vagrant!" He was so offended he didn't even notice Batches climbing up his coat and sit on his shoulder once more. "Look, John," Lucy whispered excitedly and pointed up at the tiny hedgehog faerie. "He's got a faerie companion!" "Is that Batches?" John asked, and Diaval sighed in defeat. "Yes, that's Batches," he said, scowling at the faerie. His only answer was a tiny finger raised in a definitely rude gesture.

Quickly, Diaval held up one hand to cover the little creature. "I didn't teach him that!" he said, and Lucy giggled. "Can I hold him?" she asked excitedly. "I don't know," Diaval hesitated. "He might bite you." "Oh..." The disappointment written all over her face almost made him feel guilty, which was completely unexpected.

"Say, why don't you have a Jack-o'-Lantern?" John asked. "If you're a good spirit, you need one to ward of the evil ones."

"Well," Diaval said slowly, looking past the children and trying to see if Maleficent was somewhere nearby. She should have been back by now... "I don't need one, because..." He trailed off, then sighed and knelt down so his face was at the same height as the children's.

"Can you see these welts?" he asked, pointing at his face. "You mean your scars?"

"They are not scars," he corrected, allowing them to take a closer look. "They are almost shaped like - like feathers," John muttered. Lucy smiled sweetly at Diaval. "I think they are pretty," she said, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, little one. Now see. I have these because - and I am not lying when I say this - I am actually a raven." Lucy's eyes lit up, just as John let out a derisive snort. "A raven?" he echoed, disbelief clear in his voice. Diaval nodded. "Yes. I serve a very powerful faerie - she is the guardian of the moors, you know? She gave me this form so I could help her better with the task of protecting these lands."

"What do you protect them from?" John asked, clearly suspicious. "It depends. Most of the time, she mends broken twigs and crushed flowers, but she also heals wounded forest creatures. So we protect the forest from storms, and floods, and -" He stopped, then coughed. "And sometimes humans as well," he finished, searching the small faces in front of him intently for any form of reaction.

"Why would they need protection from humans?" Lucy asked, clearly confused. "We don't do anything!" "That's how you see things," Diaval said. "But your kind cut down trees, and dig up the ground in search for food, and hunt the animals living here -" "Because we need to," John interrupted. "We need wood to keep warm at night."

"I know," Diaval retorted. "But in cutting down trees you destroy the homes of the creatures living in them. Not only birds and animals, but faeries as well." "Can't they just move elsewhere?" John asked, clearly torn. Diaval cocked his head. "Some of these faeries have lived in the trees for far longer than you have been alive. How would you feel about someone tearing down your family's house?" John frowned at this. "I'd be pretty angry," he admitted. Diaval nodded. "You would. But the faeries don't get angry - they grow sad, and dull, and eventually, they die of it."

"Oh my god," Lucy whispered, one hand clasped over her mouth. "That's terrible." "What about dead wood?" John asked, eyes wide. "We can collect that, right?" Diaval nodded. "Sure. You have better use for it than we do. It's just the felling of trees that kills faeries."

"I won't ever cut down a single one!" Lucy proclaimed with so much force Diaval actually believed her. "And when I marry, I'll tell my husband not do do so, either!"

"Then you won't have to worry on that account," John sneered. "No one will ever want to marry you. You're too girly." "Take that back!" Lucy retorted hotly, rounding on her brother. "Or I'll tell ma and she'll have you sweep the yard again!"

"Hey!" Diaval interrupted the growing argument, when suddenly a quiet groan came from the camp behind him. "Quiet, or you'll wake up your parents."

Lucy shot her brother one last glare, then turned back to Diaval. "You said you're helping a faerie," she began in a hushed voice, anger already fading away. "What is she like?" Blowing up his cheeks, Diaval thought for a moment.

"She is...," he began, then hesitated. "Difficult to describe. She is this tall, beautiful lady, and she has horns -" "Horns?" John interrupted. "Like the Devil?" "No, silly, not like the Devil," Diaval chided. "The Devil is evil, while she is the most gentle person I've ever met. She saved me from being beaten to death by a farmer, you know? No, her horns are magnificent, and her eyes are the prettiest colour. She is the guardian of these lands, and she cares for them a great deal - why are you laughing?" Narrowing his eyes at the children, he stopped in his tale. "It's your friend," Lucy grinned, and he could see that one of her front teeth was missing. "He's funny." "Batches?" Diaval asked, confused. "What's he doing?"

"Wait, I'll show you!" Thrusting her lamp into Diaval's arms, Lucy dramatically threw back her head, covered her forehead with the back of one hand and fanned herself with the other. "He also did this," John chimed in, handing Diaval his hollowed out turnip and taking a step back. Then he spread his arms wide and drew a big heart with both index fingers. "And he made kissy-faces!" Lucy supplied, clearly delighted.

"Did he now," Diaval muttered, a fierce scowl etched onto his features and cheeks burning. "I believe Batches would like to go back into the pocket - where he belongs." As an answer, the faerie perched atop his shoulder only pinched his earlobe.

"You need a Jack-o'-Lantern," John suddenly said. "If you're not a spirit, you can't ward off the evil ones." "I still have one turnip left!" Lucy whispered excitedly. "It was actually meant for breakfast tomorrow, but I'll go get it and then -" "Wait wait wait!" Diaval hissed, but the girl ignored him. Sneaking through the bushed and into the camp, she quietly moved through the darkness until Diaval could no longer see her. Pushing both lanterns back at John, he moved to stand. "I should probably go. I don't want to get caught by angry farmers."

"She won't wake them up, you know?" the boy said quietly, a hint of pride swinging in his voice. "She's the best at sneaking." "Still, I think -"

"I'm back!" Lucy's voice so close next to him almost had Diaval jump out of his skin. He jerked hardly, and Batches let out a protesting squeak, grabbing tiny fists full of hair in order to prevent falling. It hurt. "Did I scare you?" Lucy asked sweetly, and John had a triumphant grin plastered on his face. "Told you, didn't I?"

Diaval let out a long suffering sigh and sat back down. "Here you go!" Lucy smiled and shoved a round turnip into Diaval's arms. "What am I supposed to do with that?" he asked in confusion. "You're supposed to hollow it out and carve a face into it! Then, you put a coals in there and it wards off the evil spirits." "Oh, I'm so sorry, little lady," he shot back sarcastically. "Let me just cut it up with my nails real quick, no big deal."

"Here, you can have my knife," John offered and took a tiny hunting knife from his belt. Diaval hesitated. The blade looked terribly dull, and all in all it appeared more like something you used to clean your nails with rather than cut anything up, much less hollow out turnips, but still - it was made of iron. He could feel Batches tense up.

"Don't worry, it won't even get near you," he muttered, and daintily took the proffered knife. "Faeries don't like iron, do they?" Lucy asked worriedly while Johne watched Diaval handling his knife like a hawk. He shook his head and tried to determine how to best set about the task of hollowing out the turnip.

"You need to cut off the top part first," Lucy supplied helpfully. "If you make a zig-zag line instead of a straight one, it fill keep the lid from falling off!"

"Cut the lid off, put it back on," Diaval moaned while gauging the best angle at which to cut. "Make up your mind already!"

"Well, this looks positively horrible," Diaval surmised and eyed his finished Jack-o'-Lantern critically. "Dreadful, even," Lucy agreed, a wide grin on her face. "It's awful," John added, and took back his knife from Diaval. After wiping it on his trousers, he fastened it to his belt once more. It was true. The face Diaval had carved into the turnip was lopsided, and looked like a person who couldn't decide wether they were tired or in unbearable pain. Batches sniggered. "Now all you have to do is put some coals into it and it'll keep you safe!" Lucy smiled.

"Thanks, you two," Diaval said and held up the turnip. Weirdly enough, carving it with the help of Lucy's and John's instructions had been fun. Then he remembered something.

"Say, Lucy, didn't you say this turnip was meant for dinner?" The girl nodded. "Don't worry about us," John said, guessing the direction Diaval's thoughts had taken. "We'll find something to eat. It wouldn't be the first time we went without breakfast."

"No, no, that won't do at all!" Diaval exclaimed, and in his indignation completely forgot to keep his voice down. Behind him, he could hear one of the adults stir. Counting to ten in his head, he let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, and handed Lucy his Jack-o'-lantern.

"Hold this for a bit," he commanded and stood up. "And wait here. I'll be back in a minute!"

When Diaval returned to where he had left the children for the second time, hands full of mushrooms and roots and whatever other edible thing he could find in the forest at this time of the year, Lucy looked at him with shining eyes and pointed at her apron which she had spread on the floor at Diaval's behest. "Look!" she whispered excitedly, and so he looked - and blinked. The meagre heap of mushrooms he had provided so far seemed to have tripled in size. Now, there were not only roots and shrooms, but berries, and nuts, apples, pears, cabbage, and parsnip. "Umm," he made, not sure what to say. "Where did you find all these?"

"We didn't," John answered, clearing sharing his sister's excitement. "There were those little creatures that came and dropped them off -" "Oh, they were so adorable! Look, one even gave me a flower!" Lucy turned her head to show off the pale blue flower she had tucked behind her ear. "Huh," Diaval made. Batches on his shoulder pinched his earlobe and snickered. Suddenly, it clicked.

"So that's where you ran off to before!" Diaval realised. "You called your little faerie friends." "Were they really faeries?" John asked in awe. Diaval shrugged and dropped his findings onto the heap of food. "I'd imagine. Pretty much anything in this forest qualifies as a faerie if you look at it from the right angle." Lucy giggled at his words, but then grew quiet and with wide eyes stared at something behind Diaval. John followed her gaze. When his jaw dropped, Diaval frowned and turned around, squinting his eyes against the darkness that was still lingering, despite the fact that the night had already begun to fade. When he found what the children were staring at, his heart dropped into his boots.

There, between mighty trees, amidst thick wafts of mist, stood a tall, lonely figure. They were clad completely in black, and strong, spirally horns stood out starkly against the grey background of the fog. A tiny hand snuck into Diaval's, and he flinched. "Is that... the faerie you serve?" Lucy whispered quietly. All Diaval could do was nod. Then he blinked - and Maleficent was gone, as soon as she had appeared.

Swallowing against the lump in his throat, Diaval turned towards the children and knelt down to look them in the eye. "I have to go now," he explained, and gave Lucy's hand a gentle squeeze before disentangling himself from her. "You two take care of yourselves, yes?"

"Promise," they both said in unison. "And I also promise that I will never cut down a tree that is still alive," John added. "Me neither!" Lucy nodded eagerly. Despite the fear pooling in his stomach, Diaval couldn't help but smile.

"Alright then. Maybe we'll meet again. And thank's for the lantern. You two taught me a lot tonight."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Batches jumped from Diaval's shoulder onto a low hanging branch. "Where are you -" Diaval began, but stopped himself when the hedgehog faerie stuck out his tongue at him. "Stupid hedgehog," he muttered and hurried on, both arms wrapped around his Jack-o'-Lantern. Maleficent would probably hate him now. She despised humans, and the fact that he interacted with them so willingly... He didn't even want to think about it.

"I'll just apologise," Diaval murmured while he strode through the mist. "Maybe she'll understand, maybe -" "Good morning, Diaval," the voice he right now wanted to hear least cut through the silence and interrupted his ramblings. Diaval almost jumped out of his skin. Whirling around, he found himself face to face with Maleficent. Her cold green eyes were boring into his, and a slight frown was tugging at her lips.

"Where have you been all night?" Diaval blinked in confusion. "Where have I been? Mistress, you know where..." He trailed off when he realised something. Her tone hadn't sounded accusing, but rather - teasing, almost? "Umm..."

"So," Maleficent said, smiling sweetly at him. Her eyes were twinkling with mirth when she waved her hand and conjured an eerily glowing, orange ball of light that sunk into Diaval's Jack-o'-Lantern and illuminated it from the inside out.

"You think I have pretty eyes?"

Tadaa!
Here's the promised special. Because it's still Halloween where I'm from.

I am terribly sorry for the rushed ending, but I wanted to upload this before midnight - and I managed to do so. At 11:59 pm I added this chapter to the story.

As I'm editing this it's already Nov 1st.

Also, this thing hasn't been proofread or anything, because I wanted to make in in time for spoopy time!

Hope everybody had a happy Halloween!
See you at the next chapter.

Love,

planless

P.S.: I know I got some things wrong about All Hallows' Eve - but Diaval only gathered bits and pieces of the whole thing by accident, and the children are not terribly educated either. I had the Wikipedia tab in Halloween open while writing this. :p