A.N: I'm so glad my beta, 2damnpretty2die, is super awesome, my chapters are coming out quicker than I'd expected, and she's been amazing, especially since she's got her own story to worry about. Thanks Captain!

To Caseyjr: Welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and glad you enjoy my new character. Don't worry too much about the Greek mythology, the relationships aren't completely accurate, I just like the idea of using their names =]

To nikki: I'm always excited to see your reviews! I'm a great Terri/Aria shipper myself! Yes, there are many characters and only a few more to come in =P, but there will be some that aren't really important, they just need to be part of the scene, so don't worry about that. My main characters are just the ones I've been using so far, but that's already a lot right?

To ryshai: Welcome and thank you for the support, hope you enjoy the future chapters too!

Enjoy! x

Chapter 18: It Begins

General p.o.v

It was late at night, there was not a soul around and the silence was overwhelming. Graham looked around, he was surrounded by darkness, and he could barely make out his own body with his one remaining eye.

"I can't believe that bitch took out my eye, fuck, and my arm too. She'll pay for this, once I get out, Hades' will forgive me once I give him their location. Fucking bitch!" He was broken out of his internal musings as the door slowly and silently opened.

"Hello?" There was no reply, no shuffling, no sign that there was anyone around.

"Who's there?" He demanded, he refused to be toyed with.

"Graham." The voice was low and sinister and it sent shivers through him.

"W-who are you?" he looked around trying to locate the source of the voice, but found no one.

"I'm here to deliver a message from Hades."

He froze, "Hades? Fuck, no! He can't know I'm here, how does he know?" He couldn't let Hades know that he had been captured, nor could he let him know that he had inadvertently revealed Poseidon's location. "What does he want?"

There was a laugh and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand, "He wants to let you know that your usefulness has come to an end. He will not tolerate any traitors."

There was no sound as his head was removed from his body. The door closed just as quietly as before and all that was left in the room was a pile of dust surrounded by dried blood.

Callie p.o.v

Arizona had left to train with the team and I headed off to find my mother. I had questions that she needed to answer; I didn't like the idea of my mother lying to me about the prophecy, and I prayed that Terri was lying to me.

"Mama." I found her in the garden, sitting by the small table drinking tea.

"Calliope, you have questions?" Her voice was soft and I was caught of guard by her bluntness.

"You know what I want to ask?"

"I assumed that Athena has revealed my part in the prophecy?" I nodded, "Then you want to ask about my sins." Her gentle voice became more and more sad and sombre, and I briefly hesitated to question her any further.

"I just want to know the truth Mama. I don't want to be lied to anymore."

"The truth is, Athena is right. You are my salvation, a way for me to repent for my sins and I used you." I inhaled sharply at her revelation; I couldn't believe that Terri was actually telling the truth. And for my mother to just admit it right off the bat like that? There was something fishy about this.

"Mama, there's more. I want to hear your side. Please, no more lies." I begged.

She sighed before looking off into the distance, "I had already stated that I had no choice in the matter. It was Arizona or Poseidon, and Aphrodite had made me make a blood oath to protect Arizona no matter what. I saved Arizona, but I didn't want her to live a life of revenge and hatred. She was such a carefree child, a happy child and I wanted her to continue that life. I didn't know that erasing her memories would begin the revival."

I could see the tears gathering in my mother's eyes and it broke my heart to see how much guilt she had been harbouring for over 20 years.

"I had wanted to protect Aria and you from this life, so I kept it hidden away from you, but the moment I saved Arizona, you were involved already. So I had to tell you about us, I needed you to understand about us, so when the day Arizona and you finally met again, you would be able to save her the way I wasn't able to."

"What do you mean 'save her the way I wasn't able to'? You saved her after she was bitten didn't you?"

"Yes, but I also took away everything from her, her memories, her thoughts, her feelings and her family. I took away 16 years from her and as a result, she was lost, scared, and alone. I didn't save her Calliope, you did. By returning to her everything that she had lost, you gave her a reason to fight, a reason to live and a reason to let go of her guilt. I thought I was doing the right thing, but instead, I had destroyed the light that used to shine within the girl; I created the darkness that plagues her and I could only rely on you to undo my mistake. I'm so sorry Calliope." Her voice was tearful and I could see tears falling down her face.

I stood there shocked, I had never seen my mother cry, or heard her sound so distraught. "Mama, I only wish that you had told me the truth from the beginning."

"I couldn't Calliope. I had tried, but you were so distraught over Arizona's disappearance."

"So you just continued to let me think she was dead!" The anger came from nowhere and stunned even me.

"I tried, I tried to tell you that she wasn't dead. But you were so unstable, so overwhelmed by your loss that you didn't hear me, you wouldn't listen to me." She countered. "Every night I came into your room to hold you, to reassure you that she wasn't dead, but you didn't listen. You continued to cry over her and it broke my heart. In the end I could only wait until you had calmed down, but by the time it had happened, it was like you had forgotten about Arizona. I couldn't bring you back into that darkness, you almost killed yourself over her, and you were finally getting better. I couldn't take you back there!"

"I never forgot her, she always lived in my heart. I pretended each and every day that she had just gone on a vacation, or that she had moved away so I couldn't see her all the time, I pretended that she was still in my life and you have no idea how much it hurt." I was seething; the woman had let me think Arizona was dead for over 10 years before telling me the truth. "Why did you wait so long before telling me she wasn't dead?"

"When you came back from medical school, you were so happy. You had told me of the new friends you had made, and I hoped that you were ready to hear the truth." I still remembered the day that she had told me that Arizona wasn't dead, I felt all the pain and anguish return to me and I felt betrayed by my mother. I had spent the next couple of years endlessly searching for her, but came back with nought.

"It was your idea wasn't it? To bring me to Seattle, to SGMW, you knew where Arizona was didn't you?" Her silence was my answer. "Have you always known?"

"No, I didn't know until Apollo found me. He didn't know he had found me yet, but I had recognised his aura and had him followed to Seattle where I also found Arizona and Athena."

"And then you suggested I move to Seattle with Aria, because you needed us to meet? Was Aria part of the plan as well? Did you use both of us?"

"I didn't know Athena would invoke the right of the bride. I had never wanted Aria to be a part of this. I had no choice in the matter. Both Aria and you are so precious to me, and I would have kept you hidden from our world forever if that was possible. But you were both fated to be a part of a great destiny; I thought I was doing the right thing by bringing you back to Arizona."

"Bringing Arizona back into my life is the only reason I'm forgiving you."

"Calliope…" She was surprised and I couldn't blame her. I had spent the last 5 minutes accusing her, blaming her, I was so angry, yet I had just said that I forgave her.

"I got Arizona back, and in the end, that's all that matters to me. And Aria, she's happy. I mean she's really happy. Regardless of how it came about, she really cares about Terri and Terri cares about her, she makes her happy and determined to succeed. Terri is good for Aria, so in the end, we're all happy. And I know that you thought you were doing the right thing. You didn't know what would happen and I can't blame you for trying. You're my Mama, and I love you, so I forgive you." I smiled as I felt my heart lighten. I had always been a fiery and passionate person, it was in my blood, but I could never harbour any actual real hatred or anger towards anyone. It was such a gloomy feeling and I didn't like it.

"Calliope, I'm so sorry." My mother sobbed, and I pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, I forgive you. I have Arizona back and I have to thank you for that."

"You have to thank Athena for that. She kept her alive all these years and helped her through her revival. She was the one who had kept the carefree and happy Arizona alive; she gave her a life full of vigour and happiness. Even though they were hunters, Athena had always tried to keep Arizona away from the battles, she had kept her away from the death, but death has a way of catching up to you. Athena loves Arizona and I need you to forgive her. You can't blame her for anything; she's as powerless as I am against destiny." Her voice was muffled against my shoulder, but I could hear the sincerity.

"I know Mama, I know. I need to and will apologise to her. I owe her everything. I really do."

General p.o.v

Callie and Lucia entered the gym and were confronted by aura spikes, lightning and fire being thrown around and the sounds of swords clashing. Callie smiled seeing Arizona head to head against her brother, determination and smiles all around, but she could see that Arizona had full control of herself and her actions.

"Hey Cal, Mama." Aria's voice came from the left and she appeared with bright red eyes, gold flecks swimming in the centre and a bright smile. She was sweating slightly and breathing hard.

"Training hard Aria?" Lucia asked

"Oh yeah, Terri's giving me a hard workout."

"Oh I bet she is" Teased Callie

"Shut up!" Aria blushed red, and pouted at her sister. Terri appeared before them, barely a lock of hair out of place, and smiled before addressing Aria.

"I don't recall agreeing to a break, nor did I see you tap out."

"Aw come on babe! I'm tired! Just 5 minutes?" Aria whined.

Callie looked at her mother in amusement, mouthing 'babe?' at her, she received an equally amused smile in return. Terri arched an eyebrow and her mouth turned up in a smirk.

"I recall you begging me to personally train you. You exact words were 'I want you to really make me sweat', and that's exactly what I'm doing, babe."

"I didn't think you'd take me seriously, or and least take it easy on me." Aria grumbled, arms crossing in protest.

"I am taking it easy on you." Terri deadpanned, before shimmering out of sight immediately, just as a sword crashed down where she was just standing.

"Dammit!"

"Too slow Ari!" came the teasing voice.

Arizona recovered quickly, sending a bright grin towards the three Torres'. "Hi Calliope!" She stole a kiss from Callie and flickered out of sight as another person holding a sword landed where she had just been.

"Dammit!"

"Gotta move faster brother!" she teased.

Tim stood up quickly, shooting them a grin. "Afternoon Torres family" and disappeared just as quick, leaving the three woman bewildered and smirking at their actions.

Callie shot her mother and sister a look, and they all sighed "Children."

The energy in the room was contagious, everyone was giving their all into sparring, but they were all having so much fun. They teased and provoked one another, laughed and joked about another pairings misfortune, and all joined in Terri, Arizona and Tim's impromptu game of 'tag'. It was light hearted and everyone was enjoying themselves, but it was not to last.

A huge explosion took out a wall of the gym, shocking everyone into freezing. Strays started storming in and in the centre of the herd was a blonde woman with ice blue eyes, smirking.

"Erica!" Growled Arizona.

"Sorry for crashing the party, but I'm a little insulted that we weren't invited, considering we were so close." Erica teased, and with a wave of her hand, the strays all jumped into action.

Callie and Aria were pulled towards the back by Lucia, Bailey and Lexie, fending of any strays that came near them; Addison and Teddy were off towards the right, Alex and Mark to the left, and Terri had taken command as per usual.

"Montgomery, Sloan, protect your sire!" They headed off and took out two strays that were currently in battle with Lucia.

"Karev, Altman, protect the Bride and your Mistress!" Teddy intervened as a stray launched itself at Aria, tearing through his body with ease. Alex charged straight at Callie, flickering out of sight just inches before her and reappearing behind her to take out the stray that had snuck up, his head exploded before he could even reach them.

Callie stared at him stunned. "You're my Master's mate now, so whatever happens, I have to protect you." He growled at her, still holding resentment towards her for injuring Arizona.

"Thank you Alex," She smiled at him and he waved her off with a gruff 'whatever' and took up position on her left.

Arizona and Tim had leaped behind Erica, taking on any strays that were still coming through the hole in the wall, each brandishing their blades, slicing through the enemy with no resistance. Thalia and Clio had taken position behind Terri, fighting any vampires that came between their master and the group behind them. Terri had engaged in battle with Erica, whilst taking on any one that dared to intervene in their battle, each brandishing their own sword; both silver with golden handles, Erica's with a yellow and black jewel and Terri's with a red and white jewel.

Erica flickered out of sight as two strays marked with Hade's symbol released their seals and charged at Terri. The sudden influx of dark aura from the strays caused Terri to growl out, she moved so fast that it wasn't possible for your eyes to keep up with her movement. In the blink of an eye she had cleaved off one of the stray's head from his body, landing in a crouch and twisting around swiftly, jabbing her sword upwards and impaling the remaining one from chin up, blade exiting at the top of his head, brain matter and blood covering the blade.

Erica had reappeared behind Terri and swung her lightning charged sword at Terri's head, she removed her sword quickly from the stray and turned with barely enough time to block the attack.

No one had noticed Tim move until it was too late.

"Tim, no!" came Arizona's frantic cry.

Terri's blade clashed with Erica's as blood splattered onto the floor.

"Tim… Why?" Terri's voice was full of pain and anguish, staring into Tim's clear eyes, wide and blazing purple with a streak of silver running through. Her grip on her sword never faltered as Erica forced her down to her knees.

Tim smirked at her before pulling out the sword that he had embedded into her chest. He dragged it out slowly, making sure she felt every inch of pain and the blood poured from her wound. He flicked the sword out to the side, splattering blood onto the floor, the jewels on the handle glittering in the light and her eyes widened in recognition.

"The Blade of Cronus."

Her blade clattered to the ground as she choked on the blood, staring up at Tim and Erica in disbelief.

"Terri!" Arizona appeared next to Terri, having dispatched of the remaining strays, sword at the ready, eyes blazing purple. "Why Tim?" She pleaded with her brother, "you're joking right?"

"Why would I be? I hate her. She treated me like nothing! I'm a Royal, just like her, yet she treated me like trash! Lower than fucking trash, I never got any recognition for any of my achievements, and if I did anything wrong I was punished without second thought. Why the hell would I want to serve under someone like her? At least Hades recognises my achievements and I'm granted rewards for them. I feel like an actual person there. I'm treated with respect and trust." He spat at her, sword rising menacingly.

"Tim, no. We're a team, we're family!" There were tears in her eyes; she couldn't believe that Tim would betray them like this.

"Team? Family? Why would I want that with her? If you know what's best for you Arizona, you would join us too. You stand to gain nothing from following a coward like her. Hades will rule the kingdom, and if you want to survive with your," his eyes flickered up to the group standing behind them, "your Calliope, then you would join us and rule."

"I refuse. I will not abandon my family!" She screamed at him. His nostrils flared in anger and he raised his sword ready to strike again. Terri pushed her out of the way, summoning her strength and taking up her sword, she parried his attack. She made her way to her feet, dragging Arizona up with her and threw her towards Clio, who caught her and pushed her towards Callie.

"Terri! No, let me fight!" She tried to move forward, but found she was blocked by Thalia and Clio who had taken position in front of the group in a protective manner.

Terri stood shakily, breathing hard, sword gripped tightly in her hand and glared at Erica and Tim whom were both smirking at her.

"My, my, Princess, not looking too hot there." Erica laughed.

"This is how you want to play it then Styx?" Terri growled in return.

"Terri!" Aria's cry caught her attention; she threw her arm backwards, towards the group, palm facing them and erected a barrier using her blood. "Stay back!"

"No, Terri!" She moved towards her, but was repelled by the barrier.

"It's no use, it's a barrier made using her blood. No one can get in or out." Lucia explained to her tearful daughter.

"Ari…" Arizona's head snapped up at the echo.

"Terri, let me help!" She stared helplessly at the injured Crown, standing against the two Royals.

"Run!"

"Are you fucking kidding me? I can help!"

"There's a door behind you, take it and run! Thalia and Clio know where to go." She slyly glanced towards the aforementioned two and saw them subtly nod, as they had also heard the mental broadcast.

"I can't leave you behind!"

"I'm not giving you the choice."

"We can take them on!"

"We can't, Styx has done something. Her aura is off." Arizona studied Erica's form trying to locate what she was talking about.

"Now Princess, we don't want to hurt you… much" Erica grinned sadistically at Terri, "Just come along peacefully and then when Daddy dearest comes to rescue you we can take him out too. You knew it was going to happen, you didn't really think that going against Hades was a good idea did you? At least Apollo here had the right frame of mind to seek help when he needed it."

"Bring it, bitch!" Terri's aura flared up, blindingly, and even behind the barrier, the group could feel the rush of power and suffocating pressure.

"You just had to take the hard way." Her grin was still in place as both her and Tim's aura flared up to try and match Terri's. They charged at Terri, but not before Erica injected something into her neck, increasing her speed by miles, and catching Terri off guard.

She blocked Tim's attack from the left, but Erica's speed was unexpected as she flashed passed her and she received a deep gash across her right side. Flickering out of sight quickly, she reappeared again, putting her between Erica and the group once again.

"What the hell was that?" Erica's reply was an evil smirk as she signalled for Tim to continue attacking.

Arizona pounded frantically at the barrier as she watched Terri received wound after wound from Erica who was now holding Hades' blade in her hand.

"T, let me out! You need help!"

"You need to leave Ari! Please, just listen to me. I can't fight if I'm worried about you guys."

"T-"

"I'm begging you…" Arizona froze; she had never heard Terri so desperate before. Terri stood panting, sweat and blood pouring from her body, she couldn't release any more power without harming the group behind her and she willed Arizona to listen to her command. Arizona looked around to Teddy, Lexie, Alex and Bailey, whom had all been a part of the broadcast, and they nodded reluctantly

"What about you?"

"I'll meet you there, I swear Ari, on my blood oath, I will meet you there. I need you all to get to safety first."

"Okay. Okay, I'll do it, just… Don't die!"

"On my signal okay?"

"That all you got Styx, Apollo? I was expecting more." Terri goaded them

Tim straightened in anger and Erica simply injected another syringe into her neck before her aura flared up again.

"Is that… no! You didn't?" She stared in amazement at Erica who laughed manically.

"It's exactly what you think it is, the serum of the Seers."

"Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Au contraire, my father and I were not afraid of the serum and have fully adapted to its effects. We're not cowards unlike some people." She sneered.

"Fucking bring it!" Terri smirked, her aura sparked up to terrifying levels, bright shining red lines covering her entire body, pulsing slightly before turning a vivid white, blinding everyone; the room started shaking and from her back, a pair of wings emerged, white and pure as snow. Terri stood regally, eyes pure white, fangs elongated, the symbol for Jupiter, Zeus, stood proudly on her forehead, glowing gold.

"Now Ari!"

She launched at both Erica and Tim with a speed that no one could catch, and knocked them both into the opposing wall, bring it crashing down around them. Arizona and her team took the opportunity to run, blindly following Thalia and Clio to their unknown destination. She turned back briefly.

"Don't fucking die, T"

In what seemed like hours later, they had finished running through the streets of Miami, and found themselves in front of a wall in a dead-end alleyway in an abandoned area. Panting from exertion and confused, they were about to ask, but stopped when Thalia stepped forward, placing a hand on the wall in front of her and began chanting under her breath. Clio stood behind the group keeping an eye out for any followers, her face was blank, but you could see the worry and concern in her eyes. Thalia's hand starting glowing as symbols appeared on the wall, which then opened up to reveal a set of stairs leading downwards.

"What the hell is that?" asked an astonished Addison.

Thalia led the group downstairs into an open space which slightly resembled Terri's warehouse back in Seattle in layout, "This is our sanctuary, we will remain here to recover and wait for our Master."

The lights came on as Clio hit a switch and the rest of the room was revealed. There were several closed doors that led to separate rooms with beds, a large round table sat in the centre of the room surrounded by chairs, and there were industrial sized fridge off towards the back area, which also acted as a kitchen with stoves and everything. There was a large TV set up, with several couches around and several computers lay closed on top of a long desk off towards the left side of the room. The room itself was very sterile, almost like a hospital, with the white walls, the tungsten lights above lit up the room brightly, and it smelled slightly of bleach.

"There are blood packs as well as regular food in the fridge, so eat up, relax and rest." Thalia walked off towards the fridge and retrieved a few packs, which she then passed out to the group.

"Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to 'relax and rest' when Terri might be dead?" Aria was furious at Thalia's nonchalance at the situation, her worry over Terri overriding her fear of her own safety.

"Believe me when I say that we are more concerned over our Master's wellbeing than you are Mistress," came Clio's patronizing voice, "We have served her since her birth and witnessed her growth, so we know her abilities, and if Artemis had not been so reluctant to leave, then she probably wouldn't have even received the wounds she did."

"What do you mean?" Aria had not been a part of the mental communication between the group so she had been kept in the dark about the conversation. Callie, Lucia, Mark and Addison nodded their head in agreement; they had also not been included.

"Our Master had been pleading with Artemis and her followers to leave, but she was unwilling, stating that she wanted to fight. But this is not a fight that we can win, not with what Styx has injected into her body."

"And what's that?"

"The serum of the Seers. I believe that the Crown has mentioned before that the Seers created a serum for them to survive without live feeds and it enhances their power. She had also mentioned that other vampires would not be able to use the serum with repercussions, but it would seem that Hades and Styx has taken that risk and somehow managed to adapt." Bailey explained. "It was a stupid move, and it could have killed them."

"They have probably experimented on the formula, if I'm not mistaken; Styx herself is well accustomed with science and formulas, so I wouldn't be surprised if she had somehow found a way around it." Clio added. "Though I tremble to imagine who or what she had experimented on."

"What was with Terri and her wings?" Addison had asked the question they all wanted to know.

"It's the true form of the Crown. Well, not exactly, it's the true form of the Royals, actually." Lucia was the one to explain. "The Royals all have the ability to reach that form, they just need to train. They unlock their true powers, which are guided by their fathers, in Athena's case, Zeus. So his symbol appears and she is able to access some of his powers. I'm sure you all felt the incredible aura coming from her, I mean she almost took out the room by releasing only some of that power."

"Some? You mean there's more? Can Arizona do it?" Callie asked intrigued.

"She may be able to. I know for a fact that Apollo is unable to, but now that Arizona has found her true mate, she has a higher chance of achieving that state, but she needs Athena to guide her. Arizona would receive the power of Poseidon."

"What does having mated have anything to do with it?" Teddy asked, hoping that it didn't involve anything explicit, regardless of status, Arizona was her best friend and she didn't need that much information on her personal life.

"It means she has access to more power. In order to reach the state of the true form, it requires an incredible amount of power, and control, so with Calliope's help; Arizona currently stands a higher chance of reaching it."

"So it's like a super level up? Aside from the 'power ups' these guys get from releasing their seals" Addison asked, drawing a smile from Lucia and a roll of the eyes from Bailey.

"Yes, it's just like that, you need a certain amount of power just to be able to achieve the state; maintaining it is a whole another story. The toll it takes on the person if they don't have the power to maintain it is so much, it could cause them to completely lose control and go berserk. So control is a huge part of this too, hence the constant mental, physical and emotional training one must undergo in order to maintain the form. Any distractions could be fatal."

"Jesus, well whatever it was, it was strong. I swear I could actually feel the power, like it was resonating within me, bloody well terrified me." Addison exclaimed incredulously.

"That's not entirely untrue, for one your body recognises Athena as the Crown, and when she reaches the state, she is proudly proclaiming her rightful status; and secondly, she draws power from Zeus, so it's no wonder you felt terrified in the presence of our King. But either way, the release of the energy is so powerful that it threatens to destroy everything within sight, so it explains why she had set up the blood barrier beforehand, and why she was so adamant that we left."

Arizona felt the guilt overcome her, she didn't know what Terri was planning and just wanted to fight by her side, to protect her, and if her hesitation had cause Terri to be defeated… She couldn't even think of what would happen. A warm hand slipped into hers and she looked up to see Callie smiling softly at her. She hadn't realised that everyone had been looking at her.

"Arizona, it's okay, you didn't know." Lucia's voice was soft and understanding. "Your instinct was to protect the Crown, and that gives you no faults. Not even I had expected her to reveal her form, I suppose it a miracle she was calm enough to invoke the power in her state. Though I am rather worried about the repercussions in will have on her body."

"What do you mean?" Arizona spoke for the first time since leaving the Torres residence.

"She's injured as you can see, and it's from both Poseidon and Hades' Blade of Cronus. We've already said that it doesn't effect her as much as it does to us, but after so many injuries, I'm worried that she'll lose control."

The room dropped into silence as understanding dawned upon them.

"It's okay. It's going to be alright." Aria spoke up and placed a hand over her heart, "I believe in her, and I believe that she'll fight for control, fight to return to us." Determination was framed throughout her sentence even though there were tears in her eyes. They all stared at her in awe, despite the situation, her unwavering belief and trust in the vampire was amazing.

Thalia smiled at the young Latina, shocking everyone, as the vampire was usually so stoic and emotionless, whilst Clio placed an arm around her shoulder.

"She's right, our Master is strong, so very strong, and she has something to fight for now." She squeezed Aria shoulder lightly, "Besides, we'd be able to feel it if something happened, we're all linked to her now anyway."

Their brief moment of bonding was disrupted by commotion at the sealed door.

Clio and Thalia motioned for them to remain silent and to move away from the stairs, towards the back of the room. Taking up position to engage the intruder, they were surprised to hear the sounds of two sets of footsteps followed by coughing and cursing as the intruders made their way down the stairs, tripping halfway and one of them came tumbling down the rest.

"Fuck *cough* … Fucking stairs *cough* … Who's bright idea was it to put fucking stairs here?" came the strained voice on the floor

"I believe it was yours Princess." Came a deeper voice full of amusement from the middle of the stairs.

"Terri!" Aria was the first to notice her at the bottom of the stairs and rushed to her side with Bailey to examine her state. She was pale, deathly so and covered in blood. Cuts and bruises littered all over her body and she looked exhausted. Her clothes were torn in various places, but not a slither of skin could be seen, it had all been covered by blood.

"Hey there, fancy meeting you here?" she teased her slightly, coughing as blood filled her mouth. Aria smiled at her gently until she saw the blood and started panicking again.

"Fuck! Terri, baby, hold on. Do something Bailey!" She frantically moved her hands around the place, trying not to aggravate any of her wounds, but found nowhere to place them as the blood was hiding the sources.

"Miranda, place her in one of the tanks." The deep voice commanded. They had forgotten about the presence of the second person and when he made it down the stairs it was revealed to be Richard Webber.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Another time Miranda, the Princess needs our help.

"Would it help if she fed?" Aria asked the older man. He looked thoughtfully at Terri before nodding.

"It would, if only slightly, but it would perhaps give her more energy to move and not trip down any more stairs." He glared at Terri.

"Sorry Richard, I thought I'd be okay, I felt okay." Terri explained sheepishly.

"Princess, you were barely conscious and covered by debris when I found you. I had to carry you most of the way here, placing you down only to open the door. I thought you'd know better than to try and walk down the stairs by yourself!" His tone got sterner towards the end and Terri winced.

"I really forgot about the stairs. I haven't been here in years, and I'd totally gotten used to my warehouse back in Seattle. There aren't any stairs after the entrance there! Really, who puts stairs right in front of the entrance?" she replied indignantly, pouting slightly, drawing amused stares from the others who'd rarely seen the Crown act so childish before.

"As I stated before, you were to one to design this place Princess." He deadpanned.

"I must have been fucking drunk! I'm so totally redesigning this place later. Clio! Make a note of that!" she ordered playfully.

"We'll discuss matters of redesigning later; I believe you need to feed right now." He pointed at Aria, who was now supporting Terri's sitting form.

"Ack, in public? Now? Can I at least get some privacy?" she whined. Richard raised an eyebrow and fixated a stare at her and she withdrew. "Fine, fine, sheesh. So demanding. 'Wake up Princess.' 'Get up Princess'. 'Don't walk on your own Princess.' 'Try not to bleed all over me Princess.' 'Feed Princess.' So demanding." She mocked.

Bailey rolled her eyes at her actions whilst the others just giggled at her petulance. Turning to Aria, she kissed her neck gently, before sinking her fangs in. Lucia and Callie winced slightly at the action whilst Aria held onto her head tightly.

When she had finished feeding, she licked playfully at Aria's neck, drawing a giggle from her, before pulling away looking less pale than before.

"You're so playful right now, T."

"It's most likely the blood loss and the concussion she's currently sporting." Richard's deep voice explained, causing them to look at Terri, who had buried herself comfortably in Aria's arms, in concern. "Our champ here took out the entire building and I'm pretty sure she took most of brunt of it with her head since she's pretty hard headed, so apologies Lucia, it seems that you'll need to rebuild your gym, and most of your garden." Terri stuck her tongue out at him at his playful insult and Lucia waved off the apology.

"All material things, and they can be rebuilt, our Princess here, however, can't. So I'm glad that she's okay." Lucia's voice was warm and she came to Terri's side, helping Aria lift her into a standing position.

"Okay might be stretching a bit," As she stood up, she suddenly paled. "I think I'm gonna…" She never got to finish her sentence as she dropped, her sudden slackness and increased weight was unexpected and they were unable to support her, resulting in her falling forwards, face first. Arizona flashed in front to catch her.

"Thanks Ari, you're the best." Her voice was weak and so quiet she barely caught it. Holding tightly to her best friend, her cousin and her only remaining family member, she pulled her head into her neck as weak arms came around her shoulders.

"It's alright now T, I've got you. You'll be okay. I'm here for you. Take whatever you need, I'll protect you." She stroked her hand gently down the back of her head and felt fangs slowly pierce her skin. It didn't last long as the Princess went slack again and began to drop; she tightened her grip immediately. "T? Terri!"

"Quickly, into the tank Miranda" Richard's commanding voice shot them all into action. Thalia and Clio ran to get blood packs and Richard's serum from one of the rooms, Bailey ran into another and turned on the light, Richard walked up to Arizona and lifted the Princess from her easily, carrying her into the room with Miranda.

They all entered the room as was shocked to see the bizarreness of the set up. In the centre was the 'tank', which was a pod like thing surrounded by tubes and machines, it emitted a low green glow, and when they opened it smoke emerged from inside. Terri was placed inside and sealed immediately, the machines all came to life and starting examining the entity inside, numbers and scans appeared on the screens as Bailey attached blood packs and other things into their allocated spots.

"Now what?"

"Now, we wait."