Chapter Ten: Birthday Crashing Part One

"Irma! Irma, it's not what you think! I can explain."

She turned around with a scream and he was there. He looked sweaty and terrified but determined. Fucking Martin had come after her and now he knew she knew. She knew what he was...

"Don't come near me, you fucking stalker!"- Irma screamed again, breathing hard. She just looked frantically around the room, crying. She looked between the captive and between her boyfriend who was now slowly attempting to corner her... "You creep! What is this fucking place and how COULD YOU!?"

"Irma, I've been meaning to protect you-"- he tried.

"Protect me from what!? You're the enemy!"- she kept screaming despite him making her insane comforting signs to keep it down. He looked insane. He looked on drugs. She was scared of him.

"You're my stalker but you've also kidnapped this...this man! Who is this man, Martin?"- the Latina yelped, walking backward. "Who are you!?"

"Damn it!"- Martin roared and stomped his foot hard, making her recoil. "This shouldn't have happened! You shouldn't have come down here! I'M NOT YOUR ENEMY, I'M-"

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have tied your hostage to the fucking PIPES!"

Irma was feeling many things at that moment but she was now primarily livid. How dare he. How dare he do this to her after everything. After making her believe everything was back to normal...

"Irma, yes, I've stalked you. I've stalked you for years, but you knew that!"- Martin said in a hopeful voice making another step towards her. "I love you, Irma Lair! I wanted to-"

"Whaaat the fuck are you tryin' to say, that I've ever expected this?"- she spat, disbelieving. "This is beyond crazy horny teen boy stalking! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE LIKE THAT! This is criminal and insane behavior! You're crazy!"

"I know but I can't help it!"- he murmured and looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I'm not crazy, I'm just helpless...It was too late when you and I finally became an item. I-"

"Well guess what, we're back to being nothing! Because I hate you! I fucking hate you!"

"Irma, don't say that! I never stopped loving you-"

He was in denial but she just spat in her tears:

"You've been neglecting me and treating me poorly for months! This was the last straw! I will not stay here another minute nor will I leave this man here with you another minute, you psycho!"

"Irma, enough, you will hear me out!"

But the minute he put his hand on her she screamed ear-piercingly and kicked him in the balls. Then she battered him with a fist and a few elbows, throwing him to the ground in no time. He hadn't wanted to fight her and he couldn't... He just cringed in pain on the floor and sobbed her name.

"I-irma..."

"Don't ever take my name in your mouth again, you trash."- she hissed painfully grabbing the keys from his belt... "Irma is dead. You killed her. Your weak, insane stalker ass annihilated me! Fuck you!"

Her thoughts were a mess. Everything was a mess. She just kept crying as she undid the restraints around the hostage's hands and feet. He honestly looked like he had seen better days and now she didn't know what to do with him. Where to take him. The police station? But who was he even...

Irma screamed when Martin jumped on her back and started pulling her, his arms locked around her neck and chest. The hostage slumped to the floor...

"You have no idea who you're helping!"- Martin hissed, fighting to keep her in one place. It was a hard task given Irma raged and almost threw him over twice. She was like a typhoon. "Nor what you're saying, Irma, this man wants you dead and not only you, he wants me and all your friends dead, he's a threat! I've been trying to protect you for almost a year!"

"I don't trust you!"- she barked. "How can I trust anything someone like you says, someone who's been stalking me forever! Who's been knowing about my secret and yet pretended he didn't when I told you! You've lied to me for more years than any other man has ever even talked to me. I chose you and I thought that I've chosen the one!"

"You did! You did, even if not at once!"- Martin insisted, pushing his face into her hair. "You finally saw me as I saw you, you finally recognized that no one will ever love you as much as me! This is why I'm doing this, sugar beetle!"- he whispered in her ear and she felt her stomach tightening. A tear rolled down her face as she felt him reaching for something in his back pocket... "This is why I chose you over the chance of my-"

"And I choose me too! Me and the truth over your sick delusions!"

"Irma, NO!"

He had tried to inject her with something while trying to calm her down with his blabbing but she hit him in the face with the back of her head. She acted fast as Martin winced in pain; she caught the syringe. She twisted it around and freed herself from his arms completely. Then she thrust her knee into his stomach and drove the needle into his neck.

"Are you...laughing?!"- Martin couldn't believe his eyes. Or ears. But her laugh just kept going, enraging him. "I lost EVERYTHING! This is not even remotely funny, you're-"

"Keep it down. Or we may be heard."

It was unlikely. They were on a remote road that went through a forest. He had come in a car. She had obviously used her powers to travel, as per usual. She estimated him with her big, almost threateningly calm eyes.

Martin took a deep breath and tried his best to keep a steady, normal tone:

"Look. I've done all that I can. But now I have to tell Irma everything and possibly seek Kandrakar's amnesty and help after this. The people from the Eye will never spare me when they get to know. And after the girls' wrong move with Rowan, they already know."

"Give me the folder first, Martin."

Martin hesitated for a moment. But the look in her blue eyes, covered in dark eyeshadow, prompted him fast. He had never expected to one day be this afraid of Lillian Hale but this day had come almost six months ago when she had somehow discovered who he was and who he worked with. The living Heart of Earth. Everything had been different ever since.

"I'm not too sure that I have to be giving this to you...You're young and um...inexperienced."- the man began. "Maybe..."

"Maybe you should've come clean to the older and more mature years ago."- Lillian snapped and pulled the folder from him, starting to go through it.

Martin eyed her cautiously but just stood there and waited. He couldn't risk anything at this point. He was a goner, whichever side he looked at it from. His last hope was Lillian.

"This is everything?"- she asked, closing the folder again. "This is what you've been working on for the last couple years? This is what I gave you six months to finish!?"

The blonde man rubbed the back of his head in puzzlement:

"Well...yes. These are just small things that I have collected on them over the years. For my own safety, in case one day I find myself leaving their rows. And it is impossible to leave their rows...Alive, at least. I stopped sending clear reports when Irma and I became more than friends. I even tipped the scales in favor of the girls, the last six years I've done nothing but lie to the Eye and lie successfully. Otherwise, they would've long- "

"That's not enough, idiot!"- Lillian yelled, interrupting him. "That's not why I gave you a chance to handle the situation! I asked for much more than this, you were supposed to write a good report on your superiors that would be enough to help me track each and every one of them in Heatherfield and put an end to the danger they pose to my power, directly. The danger they're to the guardians too! Are you fucking with me with this?!"

Martin looked at her in dismay:

"B-but this is the best I can do, what do you mean a good report, this is a good report! This is everything I have!"- he cried. "Did you expect names and addresses? No one in the Eye works like that, I was an intelligencer and I was supposed to inform them about these five girls because they suspected that they have magic. Then we found out that they're probably the guardians of Kandrakar, but that's all a long process that took years, it didn't happen in a day or a week!"

"I gave you six months!"- Lillian hissed. "I could've closed this case then and there. I could've told Irma and the others about you, but I didn't, because I thought that you'd be useful! Is this the use I have from you?"- she hit him with the folder making him recoil. "Is this everything!? This is nothing! How am I supposed to believe you right now? How do I know that you're not being a double agent again?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about! I stopped doing my job the moment Irma was mine."- Martin countered, almost outraged. Lillian just sneered in his face. He was just pathetic.

"Mine. They knew that Irma was one of the guardians by then but I soon convinced them that the guardians have passed their powers, like the legend says, to another, younger generation, and that was that. It wasn't easy to fabricate this lie and back it up, it took me an entire year! They believed me because I was the only one who had managed to permanently implant myself in these girls' lives. Others tried too but failed. They were never close enough like I was! I was Irma's friend for years and years before she finally saw me as more...It all stopped after I assured the Eye that the girls have lost their powers, everything started again just a few weeks before you discovered my hideout, I still don't know why!"- he was breathing hard. "I guess that-"

"I guess that you weren't the only one spying on them after all."- the tall blonde girl shook her head darkly. "There's an entire network of Eye workers here now! And they're plotting to get me and my power!"

"The guardians and you aren't the only targets that the Eye has here! There are many other magical people. Heatherfield has always been known for increased magic activity and it has always been on the Eye's list. I admit that it's possible someone was assigned to keep tabs on them and take actions. Maybe there was more than one person and maybe, in time, they started working around this theory too. If someone saw my lie for what it was, a lie, then-"

"Of course, they saw through your lie, you and Irma became a couple and even became regionally famous because of Lair on the Air."- Lillian hissed angrily.

She was angry with this man because he was pathetic and disappointing.

"I'm sorry, OK?"- Martin said. "When I got into the Eye of God, I was just a kid. I didn't know that Irma and her friends are magical, I didn't know that any of this was to follow, I only got in because I was curious and studious about the supernatural!"

Lillian narrowed her eyes and got offensively close to him:

"The Eye of God is an anti-supernatural organization."- she responded coldly.

"I didn't know that back then! I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU THESE THINGS!"

"Yeah, Martin. You've said a lot of things."- she shook her head, pulling back in disgust. "A lot of them I don't think of as true anymore."

"W-what-"

"I don't think that supporting your story in front of Irma, my sister, and the others is that good of an idea anymore."- the girl declared coldly, shocking him beyond the core.

"So, what, you're just going to dump me? On my own, when they're hunting me like a rabbit?"

Lillian ignored him and just kept walking away. Her thick heels made a faint sound as they contacted the asphalt.

"Fine, ditch me! I won't keep you out of my confessions then!"- the man called after her in his anger. "I will let your sister and the others know that you were aware of my secret for months! It is a little strange, isn't it? Your actions. I'm sure they'll be pissed you tried to handle things without them. If that was even your actual goal..."

Lillian turned around and pierced him with her dangerous blue eyes. She clutched the folder she had received a tad rougher than needed before smiling. A smile that had nothing positive to transmit:

"Fine, Martin. Let's see that."

"Happy Birthday, Cornelia! Well, you know, in two days..."

"Girls!"- she exclaimed. "You shouldn't have-"

"Don't be silly, girl."- Irma exclaimed. "We wouldn't miss on the opportunity to treat your aging ass for the world."- she teased. "Kidding!"

But Cornelia was too exhilarated to get annoyed at her for the joke. Her friends had been kind enough to organize a long weekend getaway for her Birthday that was coming on Monday. Today was Friday and they had just arrived at Flamboyant Gardens - a new fantastic French resort a couple of hundred miles away from Heatherfield. It was up in the mountains, facing beautiful lakes and forests, and lots of rare beautiful flora hence the name. It was also a top-notch tourist attraction for the VIP.

"So, you like it?"- Caleb asked again, holding her shoulders gently. "This is not everything, the house party is just one thing. I have other things to surprise you with."

"Are you kidding? Of course, I like it!"- Cornelia exclaimed as she looked around in awe. "But I'm sure this entire long weekend experience must have cost a fortune..."

They were in the entrance hall of the big house which was rented for them and all of Cornelia's closest friends this weekend. It was perfect for the occasion, manor-sized, expensively furnished, and fully adequate for a great party. And, most importantly, exquisitely to the birthday girl's taste.

"It was all Caleb."- Matt announced. "He didn't allow me or anyone pay a cent, no matter how much I try to reason with him."

"Because this is my treat."- Caleb explained with a smirk, patting the other man's back. "I've been meaning to do this for Cornelia's birthday for a long time, so I've saved the money. You are just here to celebrate and have fun."

Cornelia gave him a big kiss on the lips and then they were all ready to take their luggage up to their rooms. They had a few hours to settle and relax before the first group activities planned by Caleb started.

"Hey."- Will turned to Irma, the two of them being the last left standing in the entrance hall with their luggage. Well, Irma's luggage. She had already sent Matt up with their suitcases. "You alright? I-"

"Of course, I'm alright, babe, lighten up."- Irma smiled but her smile was a sad one. Will knew that no matter how much she tried to act tough, everything that had happened around her latest failed relationship affected her. "Don't give me that look." - Irma scolded as if having read her mind. "I've been getting ready to dump his ass for months, remember? So, what if he turned out to be a crazy snitch who's been feeding some fanatics info about me. I can live with that."

"I know that you can. I'm just feeling for you."- Will sighed and just hugged her. Irma hugged her back and the redhead could feel she had needed it. They both had. "This place and everything, it's great and, I have to admit, very decent of Caleb. Just what Cornelia likes. I don't know if Caleb from 10 years ago would've even thought of any of this."

Irma smirked, amused.

"Nah, probably not, but hey, he's a socialite now."

"Yeah."- Will snickered but became serious again as she added: "I just don't want this huge party Hollywood-Barbie-weekend to end up flustering you in any way."

"Oh, no, don't even worry about that. Will, it's not just about Corny's birthday. Yes, I'm here mainly because of that."- Irma assured her. "But this is also the first bigger happy group thing we're doing since last fall. And I need things like this. Knowing you're OK and with us. You're here now. Everything's like it was after so long...that alone makes me so fucking happy, there's just no room for anything to upset or fluster me. I promise, babe."

Will smiled but something scalded her on the inside. It was not that she wasn't happy to be back. To be able to be back to them and her life. It was knowing that some things were still different and changed, and so very impossible to process that kept her awake at night.

"Well. Isn't that a touching picture."

Elyon looked around in distress, ready to attack but when she saw who it was, she relaxed a little:

"Crap!"- she hissed under her breath. "You startled me! How did you get in here, I put protecting spells all over the place-"

"Ah, yes. But you didn't even lock the door."- Nerissa smiled a tad derisively. "That makes the spells a tad meaningless, don't you think?"

Elyon slapped her own forehead. Of course, she had forgotten something as important in her haste. Then she removed the big pan from the stove and turned to the black-haired woman again:

"But why are you here-"

"I was on Meridian today."- Nerissa narrated. "Mage duties and obligations. Then I was told that you'd be here, looking after your dear brother alone."- she added, her eyes landing on Phobos who simply stood at the table with his book, ignoring them. "No sentry, no helpers-"

"Yeah, well, I can handle it and this is Heatherfield, I don't want to draw unwanted atten-"

"Oh, you're right. But I'm here now and I can do this for you. You have other places to be."

Elyon raised an eyebrow in surprise. Behind her, her brother also couldn't resist looking up in tense suspense.

"Is something the matter on Meridian that I'm not yet told about? Where do I have to be?"

"No, silly."- Nerissa laughed and came closer as to gently pet her head. "I'm talking about Cornelia's birthday. You should go there and be with her. Take some time off of everything. It will influence the both of you for the better, I'm sure."

Elyon blinked with her big blue-gray eyes, looking ap the other woman's perfect smile in confusion:

"Aren't you going to be there too? At Flamboyant Gardens, Cornelia invited me but-"

"Oh, no, we spend so much time around each other, we have to stay apart every now and then."- the ex-guardian waved her hand. "You should go, my darling Queen. And I will stay here with the prince."

Phobos pulled a face but didn't say anything. What could he say? He watched his brainless sister be persuaded by the Mage for the umpteenth time in their life. Honestly, getting Elyon out of his hair was welcome. Especially before she had gotten the chance to start one of her favorite conversations in detail.

Family.

Redemption. Hope.

All those were things she was obsessed with, things he didn't want to discuss. Not with her for sure...

"I do want to go but I am not sure. Whether I can trust you around him."- Elyon specified when the other woman raised her eyebrows. "You are one of the many who want to see Phobos dead, Nerissa. But the thing with you is that you're always ahead of the rest. So, be honest with me. Is this or is this not part of a plan to destroy my brother? Because I cannot handle more death in the family after Andan..."

Nerissa had been about to say something offhand but seemed to have reconsidered at that. Of course, the Queen's dead husband. He, who had chosen death over life with her... Even she couldn't ridicule that.

"If I wanted to kill your brother, I would've chosen a much different approach and you know it."- the sorceress sighed. "Especially now, when he's such an easy target."

Elyon nodded in agreement. It made sense.

"Be calm."- Nerissa added, gently taking a strand from the other woman's hair around her agile fingers with long blue manicured nails. She was comforting. Almost loving. Elyon knew she could be very comforting and reassuring when she wanted to. "I have accepted this new reality we live in, where your brother's life is more...valuable. So, no, I will not attempt anything to assassinate him at this stage. Go be with the other girls and take your mind off any death and nuisance."

Eventually, the Queen reconciled. After everything they had been through, she had enough trust in her former enemy to do this. Twenty minutes later, she was out of Matt's apartment and headed for Flamboyant Gardens to celebrate with her best friend.

Nerissa turned her attention to the man who sat there with his book, trying to ignore her, and smiled:

"And so we're alone, you psychotic brat."

"If you're going to be writing me off once and for all, give me a chance to leave my last words on paper."- Phobos replied sarcastically. "Or better yet don't. I am sure you'd pervert them and change their meaning to suit your agenda like you always do."

Nerissa laughed and took the pan Elyon had been cooking in from the stove.

"Look, your sister made you an omelet."

Phobos estimated her with an irked glance as she served the food to him.

She was tall and imposing as usual and full of magic. It almost glowed on her skin. In her eyes. It filled her body and he knew that no one could manipulate and use magic to their advantage like her, not even he himself.

She used it to enhance her beauty, even more, to render time powerless. Magic pulsed inside the sorceress constantly, making her a superhuman of her own kind. After all, she had two Hearts. Two Hearts and her original talent, her everlasting gift from Kandrakar. She could manifest and use her life force so efficiently, that after all these years, there was no one who could best her in it. She was hardly just a sentient being anymore, she was a walking bioelectrical source that nothing could stop forever. Nothing. Even if she died, he was beginning to suspect, she would be able to revive herself alone because of her cosmic grasp around quintessence...

Phobos hated her, but unlike other women who had walked over him just because they could, he admired what she was capable of at the same time. Nerissa had done and used everything she could in a lifetime to get to where she was today and she was the living example of what true power could do for a person. Of what magic could be, even with the price it always had... And he? His true power was always kept away from him just because he didn't fit someone's narrative...

"Don't you have a grandson to look after? If not to end this misery once and for all, then why did you come? What do you want?"

Nerissa sat at the table across him and met his eyes:

"Over the last year, I heard so many people say that you deserved to live, that you were not just an evil being whose main purpose is to destroy. Maybe it's gotten to my head."- she sneered coldly.

"As maybe my mother's people ever had any good grace towards me."- the man scoffed. "What do you want."- he repeated.

Nerissa pursed her lips. She was amused by all this. By his helplessness and her own supremacy. Phobos glared at her and stood up:

"I'm retiring to my bedchamber-"

"You're doing no such thing."

Her power threw him back to his chair and the only thing he could do was keep casting glares.

Nerissa straightened her back even more, if that was possible, and glared back. Only her glare was full of magic. The magic she was using to immobilize his body unleashed some wind that blew her long hair to the back all of a sudden:

"It was almost two years ago when you challenged me and said some extremely foolish things about what you'd to my family."- she began dangerously. "Threats that made me want to destroy you more than ever before."- the lights in the room flickered as she said that. "Then you managed to escape and put us all through quite the adventure. But mostly, yourself; you got to know your relatives in an entirely different fashion. You have daughters. And was met with some tragic ends, of course. Now you're here, clinging to Will like a drowning man clinging to a straw."

"What unexpected observations."- Phobos snorted, voice soaked in contempt. "Is there any particular thing you'd like to use me for or is this just one of your usual overweening monologues?"

Nerissa's lips curved in a little smile.

"There might be something that you can put your unlimited free time into."

"I cannot wait."- Phobos mocked her and leaned closer: "But after I threatened your dear boys' lives so openly, can you really suppress the urge to annihilate me? My words had you on pins and needles many times. They probably haunted you and gave you nightmares like never before. Because for the first time in so many years of your schemes, I knew who you were and I knew your weakness! Your family is your biggest weakness and all I have to do to spite you is fire at them. How can you not recall all that when you look at me, Mage?"

He smiled deviously. He was trying to provoke her and it was working. Nerissa leaned closer in her turn, unceremoniously, pushing his nose back with her own:

"Listen to me, you little brat."- she hissed in his face. "I have much more experience. Much more than you. Of course, when you try to weaken me by threatening my family, my primal instinct is to kill you. It was like that, at least. But now, when I am in a much more secure place, both mentally and power-wise, I can see things differently. I can see why someone like you would threaten other people's children. Their babies... You've never had a mother's love or a stable relationship."- she talked in that mocking tone of hers that made his blood boil. And every next word soaked in grotesque sympathy and overbearing demand made it worse. "No friends, not many well-wishers, really. For God's sake, even your relationships with your daughters were unhappily preordained. The younger one is permanently kept away from you, she will grow up not knowing who her father is, just like your older daughter had it while growing up, which led to her going off her rocker and then to her vanishing. When you take notice of all these things, you really start feeling sorry for someone like you. I can see why that's the case with Will. You really are a pitiful picture. I too sympathize with you now, my sweet prince."

"Stop it!"- Phobos hissed and pulled away. "Shut up! Your insincerity is like venom! Do not mock me anymore!"

"But unlike Will, I need this much."- Nerissa stood up, gesturing how little she needed. "I need this much to turn back and change my mind, to make it my goal to paint your days in misery and pain as you've never imagined! Just you dare cross me!"

Phobos tried to pull away in rage and helplessness but her magic kept his body benumbed. Nerissa went behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck, making it impossible for him to breathe normally.

"As long as you obey me and do as I say, I will be human to you. More human than you deserve, anyway."- she whispered in his ear. "Oh, I will even give your gray days some purpose. But if you ever try to go behind my back and do anything against me or my family, then I swear. I swear, I will make you relive every moment of horror, pain, and anguish from your wretched childhood and later life, many times worse! You know that I will!"

"I know you."- Phobos nodded darkly, a few moments later, when everything was calm again and he could breathe. "I know that you're the biggest opportunist and self-seeker-"

"Good."- Nerissa frowned and calmly walked back to her seat. Self-seeker? If anything, she had always been a force for higher order and good. He was an idiot who would never get her vision. "So, we're clear."

Phobos watched her ample chest bounce in the low-cut yet elegant top as she sat back down.

"What do you want me to do, exactly. And how will that make my days purposeful."

"The Eye of God."- the sorceress retorted simply. "I'm assuming Will has shared about our encounter with them already. By now I'm quite sure that they're behind Avani's hijacking from Beta-Meridian too. Helping deal with the people who last saw your elder daughter should be purposeful, now shouldn't it? But I suppose Will didn't see things from this perspective. Well."- she smiled as she observed Phobos's expression.

"And why need me?"- the man said in the end. "What can I do for the sake of the conflict with the Eye of God that you can't?"

"You're kidding, right? You know what you can do."- Nerissa laughed and she was right. He knew what she'd want before she said it out loud: "You will do quite a few things for me in the battles against the Eye. But good bait? Oh, it doesn't even begin to cover it."

Saturday night came with a bang. After a big game night, the previous evening, and a day full of activities, of both physical and pampering nature, it was party time.

Caleb had managed to invite Vance Michael Justin to perform for them. Privately. VMJ was a legend to Heatherfield and an absolute favorite of all the girls from their teen years, so having him here, at their private party at Flamboyant Gardens, had made them go crazy with excitement.

"Wow, man. She's your mom?"- Vance had exclaimed when setting the details with Caleb. "Are you sure? Your mom's too hot! Both literally and figuratively!"

"Yeah, man, I know, and don't worry about it. Come entertain for me this weekend and the duet song is yours."- Caleb had replied, not exactly pumped about talking to some man about his mother.

But he deemed it a good deal. Nerissa was a sensation around Heatherfield right now. Vance Michael Justin wanting to work with her to leverage his own run-down career was a smart move.

Cornelia was dancing with Elyon in their matching short sparkling dresses, having the best time in months. Elyon's outfit was a few shades more purple and Cornelia's was pinker, but that was beyond the point. They looked beautiful and happy. They were throwing back shots, singing and laughing like back in the day before magic had entered their conscious life.

Elyon missed these days more often than she wanted to admit. Back when she and her best friend had lived a simpler, teen-dream, and fun life. Years had gone by and many things had changed but moments like these she'd write down and hold dear to her heart. Forever.

"I'm so happy you decided to come after all."- the Earth guardian admitted, half an hour later, when they sat at the open bar to take a breath and order new drinks.

Tonight's party was in the spacious yards of the house and everything was picture perfect. From the flowers and decorations to the stage and the bar.

"Me too, Cornelia."- Elyon replied. "It feels great. To be here, to have fun with you and get away from everything...Nerissa was right. I mean, after how much our friendship suffered through the last year, we need nights like this more often. We almost drifted apart..."

"That's all just a bad memory now. We were both tense, didn't make the best decisions, and let all these misunderstandings and differences draw a wedge between us."- Cornelia shook her head and frowned softly as she repeated: "Wait. What did Nerissa say? Did she want you to come here?"

Elyon opened her mouth to explain. It was now that she made note of the fact, that she hadn't told her friend details about her decision to choose the weekend away over standing guard by Phobos's side. But the loud music and Hay Lin suddenly barging in on them changed the focus again:

"I'm shook! You're not gonna believe what Irma's doing, girls!"- she exclaimed excitedly, like a schoolgirl spreading fresh gossip.

"What?"- the two blondes asked in unison, equally as intrigued at the sight of the Asian's contagious enthusiasm.

Hay Lin's eyes sparked with mischief as she whispered:

"I saw her making out. With VMJ!"

"Get out of here!"- Elyon covered her mouth with her hands.

Cornelia let out a squeal and Hay Lin just giggled excitedly, taking a sip from her cocktail.

"I know, right, she's taking life into her hands again after that nasty moment with Martin..."

"Go, Irma!"- Elyon agreed joyfully.

"I mean, if it were someone else, I'd say she's just pushing it but that's Vance Michael!"- Cornelia exclaimed, suddenly feeling just like her teenage self again.

"I know!"- Hay Lin cheered and rested her arms on the two sitting women's shoulders. "He's a good kisser, don't you think? Do you think that they'll get married?"

"They better, I didn't let Vance go free for no reason, you know!"- Cornelia joked and the other two laughed with her before raising their drinks up for a toast.

"Sorry I'm late."- Lillian smiled and left a small peck on her sister's cheek.

"Lillian!"- Cornelia and Elyon exclaimed in unison.

"Did you just arrive? I thought you wouldn't be here before noontime tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah. You know, last-minute changes."- the younger Hale shrugged, scattering her long blonde hair over her shoulders. "And when I got to know that VMJ is here, I knew I had to come ASAP. Didn't wanna miss the chance to see him."

Hay Lin and Elyon exchanged amused glances and Cornelia laughed:

"As if you're that big of a VMJ stan. When you were 12 or 13, he was already spiraling down the charts."

Lillian smiled mysteriously:

"That doesn't mean anything. I like underrated things, you know."

Caleb's dancing had always made his friends hoot with laughter. But now as he, Eric, Matt, and Nigel all danced together like a group of seals to a VMJ song, Taranee couldn't decide who was most entertaining. They were all ludicrous but adorable:

"Guys!"- the dark-skinned woman laughed. "Guys, stop and pose for a minute, I already shot a video, but I want pics too!"

"Hey, Taranee, check this out!"- Nigel called to her and did another clown-worthy move, almost tripping the other men who had all joined hands around each other's shoulders.

The Fire guardian burst out laughing again. She couldn't help it. The boys were a ridiculous sight tonight, but also, a very mighty one to say the least. Taranee swiped up, sending yet another pic to her IG story.

"And that's your daddy having done...perhaps a tad too much drinking tonight."

Julian chuckled as he swiped left, looking at more Insta stories on his IPad. Who would've thought that he, the original leader of the Meridian rebels, would one day use Earth technology so frequently and profusely? A lot had changed over the years and a lot was as one had never even imagined it.

It was a calm Saturday night in his son's Heatherfield home. Julian was watching little Killian, his grandson, who was not so interested in what his grandpa was looking at anymore. He was too tired and was slowly drifting away on the big couch in the living room. Julian smiled at the toddler, curled up next to him, head on one big pillow, and stroked his brown hair. After the busy day they had had, full of fun and games, it was only natural. He was growing sleepy himself.

Julian loved spending time with little Killian, it was one of the reasons he loved life. He wanted to live and enjoy every next day. He was a new man. After so much hardship, uncertainty and sacrifice, for years upon years, being able to be with his family was the best Julian could've ever wished for. And now the family was expanding. It was hard to believe that Caleb and Cornelia's son was already almost two years old. It was equally as hard to believe two years had passed since he and Nerissa were together again, everywhere, and out in the open, instead of meeting in secret, in the illusionary realm inside the old jewel of Weira...

"How is he, Julian? Did you take his temperature again? I'll brew some chamomile, then we'll-"

Nerissa, who had just barged into the room, paused in the middle of her distraught sentence, lowering the hand that held her handbag. Julian immediately jumped up on his feet in alert but her eyes were on the toddler, sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"What is it, love? Why do you look so overwrought?"

"I..."- Nerissa touched her grandson's forehead. Then she scanned his little body. Nothing. "I don't understand."- she said in the end. "You said he's sick, that he's down with chickenpox, he doesn't look sick to me..."

"I did what!?"- her husband stared at her at a loss. "When did I say that, I've been with him all day, he has no symptoms of any malaise, what is left for chickenpox."

"You texted me, darling, didn't you? About twenty minutes ago, I came as fast as I could, abandoned work; you said that Killian has chickenpox."

Nerissa looked at him in expectancy but his perplexity was undeniable. He checked his phone and his confusion grew even more:

"I did text you..."- he muttered staring at his message log. "Only it wasn't me. How did this happen..."

"Phobos."- they suddenly said in unison and looked at each other in alarm.

It made sense. This was just a distraction. It was obviously magic. But how had he used magic when cuffed with magic-blocking bracelets...

"I'll kill him!"- Nerissa seethed.

"Wait, I'm coming with you-"

"No, my sweet Julian, stay here with our grandson. I'll be back right away. Don't sweat. I won't actually kill him. For now."- she gave him a few pecks on the lips, nodding reassuringly. Eventually, Julian nodded as well and she teletransported away.

"Where are you, you ungrateful worm!"

She teletransported directly inside Matt's apartment, as he had authorized her to do so. Nerissa glared at the remains of her dust golem, a creature she had created with quintessence with the sole purpose of guarding the brat - it was destroyed.

"We had an agreement; how dare you act up after I gave you a chance to be out earlier today! You ungrateful, worthless slime!"

She scrutinized every centimeter of the apartment in the matter of a minute but it was plain obvious from the beginning - it was empty and Phobos wasn't here anymore. He had managed to escape despite all precautions and guarding spells cast here over the last days.

How, the ex-guardian thought angrily while the doors in the residence slammed shut again, induced with her quintessence. Naturally, she had used magic to open and look into every possible place. Empty. He had escaped...

No...This is not possible!

Nerissa cursed angrily and slammed her fist on the kitchen counter. How had the prince managed to escape on her watch? How? She couldn't wrap her mind around it. It was practically impossible to escape from the inside. Unless...

"Oh, no."- Nerissa shook her head, even angrier than before. She pulled her phone out. "What have you done..."

It was almost 6 AM when Caleb woke up first. He had to use the bathroom; all the alcohol was saying its word. He gently removed his sleeping girlfriend from his bare chest and went to relieve his bladder. He was just about to go back to bed and sleep some more, as he was tired and drained after last night, but he went through his phone by habit beforehand. What he saw then shook the sleep off him like a tight slap:

"What the..."- Caleb exclaimed, louder than intended, and stood up again, this time waking Cornelia up:

"Caleb?"- she growled, looking up at him with half-opened eyes. "What's going-"

"We have to check on Will. Immediately."- he barked as he put on a new pair of boxers from his suitcase.

Cornelia didn't have time to contemplate the matter, she just got dressed as fast as possible and followed the man out of their room.

He was basically running towards Will and Matt's room in the house, which was right around the corner. They almost run Hay Lin over in the corridor. Cornelia caught her before she could fall:

"W-what's happening?"- the Air guardian asked, already feeling the tension hanging in the air.

Cornelia shook her head:

"I'm not sure...but I don't think that it's for good."

Caleb was determined to get to the bottom of everything at once. He tried the door of Will's room but it was locked. He didn't bother with knocking - he just kicked the entire thing down, directly out of its hinges...

He took a look inside, already dreading it, the blonde and the Asian behind his shoulders. What they were all seeing was more than the man had been mentally getting ready for. More upsetting. And more shocking...

"God, no!"- Hay Lin exclaimed tearfully, covering her mouth with her hands. "No..."

Cornelia could only stare in unspoken turmoil.

There, in the big bed inside the room were two people. A man and a woman they all knew very well, and they were completely naked under the soft covers. The breaking of the door had obviously startled them but they didn't pull apart from each other at once. They remained spooned. Will blinked a few times, fighting with the abrupt awakening, the confusion, and the image of her three friends staring at her. But the man, whose arms were around here wasn't Matt. Phobos slowly deduced what was going on and just pulled the covers up to hide the redhead's naked body from Caleb's wide-open, reddened eyes.