"Joseph, I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Miranda said.

It was March now, and The Priestess was currently in Alcina's private office with the Countess, the Daughters, and her godchildren. The construction on Mandy's chairlift had finally been completed so she was able to access the second floor and meet with everyone. And right now, Joseph was proposing an idea for a triathlon he, his sister, and his girlfriend could participate in.

It was called the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Relay and it was going to be held in early June of that year in California. Mandy was going to do the swimming, Cassandra was going to do the biking, and Joseph was going to do the running. This triathlon was supposed to be fairly challenging, but that's not what was making Miranda nervous. It was the fact that the race was in the U.S., and that if they were to compete in this, it would undoubtedly give away their location to Joseph and Mandy's parents, who were already out looking for them right now.

Joseph nodded in understanding at his Godmother's concern.

"I know this is going to be risky, but at the same time we can't just keep living in fear of my parents. We have goals that we have set for ourselves, things that we want to accomplish in our lives, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so."

Miranda's face didn't falter.

"And you think the way to do that is to put yourselves in your parents' crosshairs?"

Mandy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We run this risk no matter where we go, Miranda, and we can't let this stop us from doing what we want to do. We've gone through so much, confronting our pasts, learning to overcome them, and fighting through the pain it brought. It's time that we were rewarded for our struggles, and I won't let anyone get in the way of that."

"Exactly." Cassandra said. "We know that at some point we will have to confront our pasts in the form of Joseph and Mandy's parents. It's unavoidable, but I know that we are strong enough to beat them. I'm not afraid of them. If these people want to try and stop us, they are welcome to try, but they won't succeed, because we are stronger than them, and we'll kick their asses."

There was a long silence before Miranda let out a sigh.

"I can't say that I am thrilled about this idea, but I know that I can't stop you from doing this even if I tried. I have two conditions though if you do this."

They all nodded.

"One, I must come with you. I…I lost one child already, and I don't want to lose another. So I want to be there for you should the worst happen. Two, I insist that we hire some form of protection for us in the case of us being attacked. I have some newer contacts that might be willing to help. I won't take any chances with this."

Everyone agreed to these conditions. They too didn't want to leave any stone unturned. If Joseph and Mandy's parents came for them, and there was a good chance they would, they wanted to be ready for it. Plus, Miranda saw this as her second chance to protect her children, and nobody was going to judge her for that.

"Can Mother come too?" Daniella asked.

The Countess shook her head.

"I'm afraid not, dear. Me, your Aunt Donna, and your Uncle Moreau can't go to a public place like that. We would stick out like a sore thumb and undoubtedly raise questions. We can't risk that."

The redhead looked disappointed, but then perked up as an idea came to her and turned to Miranda.

"Is it possible you can help them with that, Mother Miranda? Make them look more normal again?"

The Priestess scratched her chin as she thought about this. Due to everything else that was going on, she hadn't yet thought about reversing the mutations the lords had. But now that she did, it really got her thinking.

She hummed in thought before responding.

"The Cadou itself cannot be removed, that would be fatal. However, it's possible that I can reduce some of its side effects, such as your mother's increased height. I would need to create a serum that would nullify these negative effects without removing the positive ones, such as increased healing."

Alcina's eyes widened with surprise and hope.

"You think you can do that? Oh, it would bring all of us joy if you could."

Miranda nodded.

"I can't guarantee this will work, but it's definitely worth a shot. I will call Donna and ask her to help me."

Everyone gave a warm smile at this.

"Thank you, Mother Miranda." Bela said. "This means the world to us. Even if it doesn't work, you at least tried."

This seemed to spark something in The Priestess and she sat up straighter.

"No. Trying is not good enough this time. I will make this work. It is my fault that you are all like this, and thus it is my responsibility to fix it. I won't let you down. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make."

She got up and left the room with everyone smiling wider than before. Miranda looked determined, more than she ever had been. She wanted to correct the wrong that she had done, and this was her chance to do so, and everyone was proud of her, especially her godchildren.

"Okay." Joseph said as he stood up. "We have a little over twelve weeks to train for this triathlon, so the time to start is now."

His teammates nodded eagerly. They had already purchased some workout equipment from The Duke that would help them train, so they were all set to go.

"Me, Elena, and Aunt Donna will get started on making a banner and T-Shirts for the team! Dani, you can help if you want!" Bela said.

"Of course! We'll make them the best team shirts ever!" The redhead said excitedly.

Alcina chuckled.

"It's settled then. I will get started applying you to the triathlon and arranging your flight there. I must say, this is quite exciting, but a little nerve wracking too."

Joseph put his hand on The Countess' shoulder

"I'm nervous too, but again, we can't live in fear. This is our ultimate test in us facing our past and we can't back down now. If my parents decide to come after us, they will learn what it means to mess with this family."

Now Alcina was smiling wide and warmly.

"You're right as always, Joseph. Those people don't get to decide if we are happy or not, if we live or die. Only we can decide that, and we won't let anything stand in the way of that."

Joseph chuckled.

"I'm not always right. Just ask Cassie. She had to literally smack some sense into me the other week."

Alcina turned to her daughter who also chuckled.

"He just needed me to snap him out of a slump he was in. I wasn't going to let him doubt himself."

The Countess's smile grew even wider.

"You two are always there for each other no matter what. I think you were destined to be together."

The couple looked at each other and smiled. They couldn't agree more with that.

….

Joseph had to do one of his martial arts lessons with the castle's staff first before he could start his triathlon training, but the second it was over, he headed down to the basement to begin his training. The new lights that were installed helped him navigate much easier than before.

The family had been moving stuff out of the former dungeon over the last few months to reshape it into something more positive, and they decided on a rec area for exercise. Many of the devices that were down there were things that made the Dimitrescu family uneasy upon seeing them again, but Joseph reminded them that this was them throwing their old life away to make room for something new and positive, which made them feel a lot better. All of this discarded equipment went to Heisenberg as he said he would melt them and make them into something new, for the shop and other purposes.

When Joseph made it down Mandy was doing some sets with weights to strengthen her triceps. Since it was still cold out, she couldn't start her training in the lake just yet. So instead she settled on doing some dry land training to help strengthen her body.

Cassandra was on a bike machine getting her workout in. She couldn't train outside as her physiology would make the cold a huge strain on her lungs, but she was hoping that Miranda's proposed serum would help her with that.

Joseph made his way to the new treadmill they had set up before doing his stretches and hopping on, chuckling while doing so.

"Seriously, how the hell does Duke manage to get all of this stuff?"

"Not a clue." Cassandra huffed as she peddled. "Sometimes I swear he's magic."

"After all the things I've seen, that wouldn't surprise me." Mandy said she started working on her shoulders.

The room was mostly quiet after the team's brief exchange as everyone was focused on getting their workouts in. Even though they were training for a triathlon, they didn't go crazy as this was the first day of doing so. They wanted to make sure they were ready to exercise tomorrow and not have their limbs be sore.

Since Joseph arrived late due to him teaching his lesson, Cassandra and Mandy got off about a half hour into his workout and headed upstairs. He had to admit, it still felt creepy to be down in the basement alone, even after the changes that were done, but he didn't feel unsafe. There was no way he wouldn't feel safe in his own home with his family.

Another half hour later, he was finally done and headed upstairs, which was much more taxing now that his legs were tired. It was a struggle, but he kept reminding himself that it would keep getting easier the more he trained. He made it to his room where Cassandra was still in the tub with her eyes closed. She must have fallen asleep as she didn't react to him coming in.

Slowly, Joseph undressed and made his way into the tub next to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her, causing her to hum with delight.

"How was your workout?" She said without opening her eyes.

"Good, but tiring. The first days are always the hardest."

"You got that right. I feel like my legs are going to fall off, especially my right one. I guess the damage it sustained from the bear attack makes it more easily tired than my left one."

Joseph's face adopted a look of concern.

"I'm sure we can come up with an exercise to help you with that, but don't push yourself too hard until then. The last thing we need is for you to hurt your leg again."

The brunette chuckled.

"Relax. I'm crazy, but I'm not stupid. I'm much more aware of my limits now than I was before."

She then sighed.

"This will definitely make things more difficult for me, but I'm willing to deal with it. Going through the hard parts makes getting stronger more satisfying, right?"

Joseph nodded.

"Yep, and we know a thing or two about that don't we?"

The brunette nodded.

"For sure."

After the couple had finished cleaning themselves up, they decided to take a nap as they still had a few hours before dinner. As they laid in bed, the brunette faced her boyfriend and spoke up.

"You know, Mandy told me she wants to start joining your martial arts lessons."

Joseph's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She said we're training for the triathlon, but we're also preparing for when we face your parents, and she wants to help with that in any way she can."

Joseph beamed upon hearing this.

"That's amazing, and that's just like Mandy. Some might think what she wants to do is not possible, but she's the kind of person who if told that says, 'watch me.' God, that makes me so proud of her."

"Same here. Hell, we should all be proud of each other and ourselves. I think this triathlon will be our ultimate victory, even if we don't win, because it will show just how much we have turned things around for ourselves. That we have fully conquered our pasts and have risen up to do what we want to do with our lives. It doesn't matter what stands against us."

"Yeah…" Joseph trailed off. He got that look that he got when he was thinking hard about something.

"You still nervous?" His girlfriend asked.

"I don't think I ever won't be." He said. "But I won't back down from it, because we deserve to be happy and I won't let my parents stop us from doing so or hurting my family. I don't care if they come after us alone or with a thousand people. I'll take them all on to protect you."

The brunette smiled.

"That's the attitude I want to see. You, being brave and always looking out for others, not caring what the odds are. That's why I fell in love with you."

Now it was Joseph's turn to smile.

"You're the same way. In fact, at this point you may be stronger than me."

"Bullshit. We are equally strong, because we are there for each other and give each other strength."

Joseph couldn't argue with that. It was the truth, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He still had that look on his face however, so Cassandra kept talking.

"What else is on your mind?"

Her boyfriend sighed.

"I've been just thinking about what you said about my mom. It gives me hope that maybe not all is lost, at least with her, but talking to her won't be easy with my dad around."

The brunette tilted her head.

"What do you mean? Was he…abusive to you?"

Joseph shook his head.

"No. He was never like that, but he was very manipulative. Whenever someone's beliefs didn't line up with his or if someone disagreed with him, he would always find a way to get into their head and make them believe what he believed. It was scary how good he was at it. That's what worries me. What if my mom is too blinded by his influence? What if she doesn't forgive me? The thought just terrifies me."

Cassandra kissed his cheek.

"Well remember, we don't even know if she is conflicted about it or not. She could very well hate you just as much as your dad does. But even if she does choose to hate you, that's her own fault. You know better than anyone here that you can't force someone to change their ways. You can only offer them advice and hope they take it. I can't guarantee your mom will do that, but I can guarantee that I will be by your side, no matter what."

Joseph smiled. His girlfriend always knew how to make him feel better.

"I love you." He said.

Cassandra smiles back.

"I love you too."

They shared one more kiss before snuggling against each other. Given how tired their bodies were from their workout, it didn't take long for the couple to fall asleep.