The Witch Empire

PROLOGUE

I love this new job. I love everything about it, my colleagues, the work, the work place, even the food is OK, I love everything except my new boss. She is the bossiest witch in town, and when I say that I mean it literally.

Let me introduce you to my world, it has four factions- Witches, Vampires, Werewolves and the Dephens- and we all used to hate each other. Centuries ago, the four elders saw that if the factions kept hating each other then they were going to destroy themselves, and the world.

So, they made a pact. The pact divided our world into four quarters, so each faction had its own territory and lived in their own land in peace.

The world got divided and all the factions went their own way. This worked for about 500 years before the Dephens got bored without fighting anybody- you see they are built to fight- they are born to kill. So, they attacked the werewolves. Them being the weakest faction couldn't win the battle and lost some of their territory to the Dephens.

This continued a series of wars, which ended up in the world being divided into unequal parts.

        

This is what they world looked like for those peaceful 500 years. They were the best years for the witches.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the common territory. A small part from the lands of each faction was taken and turned into an island where all factions were welcome. It is still the most fun place you could ever think of going.

Well that's kind of thanks to us as we put the spell on its boundary, such that whoever entered it was rid of all its magic and hatred to other kinds. We became what we call, humans on the island.

        

And this is what our world looks like after all the wars took place. This is what our world looks like now. Currently the most land is owned by the Dephens followed by the Witches. Then comes the vampires and werewolves have the least land.

And did I forget to mention, Witches absolutely HATE the Dephens.

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CHAPTER 1

So now you kind of know my history. You know what my world is like. 

I am Lydia and I am a witch. I am 22 years old and have already started AND ended 5 jobs.

You must be thinking, I am witch so why do I need a job? Well things aren't as easy as they sound.

Basically, the more you work the more powerful you are. It's like money, the more you have the more you can spend. In the land of the witches, there is one huge building where all the people come to work, after you graduate from Witchschool, where they basically teach how to use and control your powers, we have to work to gain more power. 

School was not that easy for me, I didn't really excel in it like my best friend Ivy did. She is a pure genius and is already at a very high post. I have known Ivy my whole life. She is the person closest to me.

I have tried many different areas for jobs like, Infrastructure, Technology, Hospitality, etc. but nothing really fits with me. I have always been kind of the energetic restless type of person and it is really hard for me to just sit in an office building the whole day. 

One day I was discussing the same thing with Ivy when she exclaimed, "why don't you try for defense!? It would be perfect for you!' When I actually thought about it, I realized that she was actually right, so I made a few preparations, resigned from my earlier job and sent in an application to the defense department.

I had gone in for an interview 2 weeks ago, which according to me had went quite well. And about 2 days ago I got a letter asking me to join in. I was so excited!!

But then I met my new boss. I knew from the first time that I looked at her that I did not like her at all, and turns out I was right. She is the Bossiest most annoying Witch I have ever met. And the fact that she has the body of a bodybuilder and the ability to turn me into a frikin tree doesn't help her case.

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'LYDIA!! EARTH TO LYDIA!! LISTEN!' I hear someone as I suddenly snap back to reality.

'What!?' I exclaim, I was having such a good dream, 'The Boss is calling you in right now, and she doesn't seem in a good mood. She said she was giving you your first assignment' says Lilly, she is my colleague, she has also been working for only a month here. I smile at her and tell her that I will go immediately.

Oh god, this is my second meeting with Artemisia (The bossy boss). I quickly get up, straighten out my hair and clothes and start walking towards her office. My first assignment!!! I am so excited.

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CHAPTER 2

Artemisia just sits there as I awkwardly enter the room and take a seat. She sits there with her legs crossed and pen behind her ear, looking bossy as ever. I try to give her a smile but I am pretty sure that it looks forced.

'So, do you like our office Lydia? Do you like our department?' she asks. 'Yes, it's wonderful! The people here are really nice, I love it!' 

'Well that's a shame because you won't be working here much longer-' I start to say something but she continues '-if you don't complete you first task successfully. I hope that you know that it's our policy that anybody who fails their first task is not welcomed here.'

Now I am really nervous, what if I really fail! I for once actually think I am gonna like this job. I hope I don't mess this up. 'I-I- Um yes, what is my task if I may ask?' I struggle to find words at first.

'It's really very simple actually, we are getting information from outside sources that the Vampires are gonna attack this building tomorrow. You are going to lead the team. It's your task save this building. The more vampires that you let enter this building, the more chances you have of losing your job. Good luck!' She says this all with a smile. But me, I am shocked. I can't believe they are giving me such a big assignment for my first time. 'Oh and you are not allowed to tell anyone this, its confidential information.'

'Now go, I have a lot of work to do' she says to me as I suddenly come out of my shock.

As I leave Artemisia's office, I see that some people is giving me sympathetic glances and some are giving knowing looks to me. Still not out of my shock, I go over to Lilly and say, 'why are everyone giving me these looks?' Lilly immediately gets red in the face and leaves saying that she urgently has to go to the washroom.

Confused i go back to desk and take a few minutes to myself. Vampires. They are ruthless. They will suck everything in you without giving a second thought. And I- I am going to have to fight them tomorrow. I don't know what am gonna do!!

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I am sitting at my desk in my one room flat thinking of about a million strategies that I can put to use tomorrow but guess what, I don't even have one good strategy. I don't know what to do!! ughhh!

I could put up a shield spell all around the building, but I don't know how many vampires are going to be there, if there are more than 5 then any shield charm won't stand against them. So that's kind of out of the question.

I could grow up a boundary of Lorthite plants lol, XD. But I have literally no idea if that is actually true or if it is only a myth. So maybe I could try it out once. Just in case I don't have any other Idea.

I make a list of things that I know Vampires can't stand-

1. Lorthite (I guess)

2. The Sun obviously

3.  Mirrors

4. Wooden Stakes

5. Silver (but I clearly don't have enough power to make that)

And umm that's it. I feel like I am forgetting something really important but I just can't figure out what!

 

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CHAPTER 3

The Next day...

Two men are leading me out of Artemisia's office after she told me that my whole team is busy and can't assist me. I can't believe this! I feel like I might vomit. I already didn't have a plan and now even my team is not there. 

The two men take me down some dark unknown corridor. I don't get it, where are we going? How do the Vampires know the way in? Why is everybody so calm and letting a newbie like me handle this? As I am thinking all this we come to a stop.

They leave me at outside a door and say, 'This is the entrance to the roof, the Vampires are going to enter through here, make sure you try your best.'

I take a deep breath. It's not sunny outside today, that's why the vampires are able to attack, ughhh my luck is the worst.

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I silently slip outside the door. It is a big open roof with no place to take cover what so ever. What am I going to do!? I think to myself. Well I am going to do whatever I can. I look out over the wall to see if I can spot anybody. 

Oh shit! I can see them, all in black! There are 5 of them! They are moving very discreetly. Wait something is wrong here, why does it seem so weird? 

I quickly go back a few steps and start putting up shield spells.

I put three layers of shields, a row of Lorthite plants, actually not a row, 5 rows of Lorthite plants!

This took me about 5 minutes to do, and I am exhausted!

I look over the wall again and see that they are just outside the church that is 2 blocks down from the Central Building. Are they actually flinching away from the church? OMG I am so dumb!! I literally forgot about it! How could I?!

Vampires are most affected by holy water! Even one drop can go through their skin like hot molten metal!

I try really hard to conjure even a single bottle of holy water, but it is useless. My power is exhausted. While I was busy trying, I didn't notice that they were already climbing up the building and were just about to jump over the wall!

I sit down, tired just when a hand approaches from behind the wall. I see a vampire for the first time in my life. They are really tall. All five of them come up and stand in a V shape before me, smirking. I hope they don't know about the shields that I have put up. 

The leader motions to one of them and he runs forward with all his might. And even though I am scared shitless, I don't flinch because I know my shield is powerful enough to keep out one vampire. I desperately try to conjure up even a small quantity of Holy water but I fail.

As the vampire smashes into the shield, two out of my three shields break due to the vampire's force, but the vampire also burns up into ashes. Witch magic is not a good thing for Vampires I am sure. 

A smile breaks out onto my face, I know exactly what to do now. The ashes of the dead vampire are scattered on the floor, I look towards it, that is going to be my way out.

The leader again motions to a Vampire to come at me, but this time instead of complying, the vampire says, 'but leader, what if she has more shields? And those Lorthite plants?' He says, sounding almost scared.

'Just go! I am sure she doesn't have the power to make more shields!' shouts the leader.

I smirk, too bad that I do though right. The vampire once again runs straight into the shield, the shield gives away and Vampire falls straight into the Lorthite bushes. The shield slowed his speed and he had fallen right into my trap! 2 down 3 to go.

The vampires now look livid. I am sure they hadn't expected me to be able to kill 2 of their partners. 

I saw when the vampire turned to ashes that a big burst of energy was released. I was sure that that was some type of magic that I could absorb and then use. Because if not, then I was screwed. 

I hovered my hand above the ashes of both the vampires and a swirl of blue light started moving toward my hand. I could feel the magic running through my veins now! I have never felt so powerful before! This is awesome.

Another Vampire was now charging towards me! Oh Shit! So concentrated on absorbing the energy, I had gone past the Lorthite bushes.

Just as the Vampire was one meter away from me, my hands automatically moved and a spray a holy water smashed into vampires face.

With a cry of anguish, the vampire fell back and he too turned into ash.

By this time two of the vampires left were trying to sneak through the door without me noticing. I turned towards them and said, 'not so fast! Where do you think you are going?' 

I pulled up my arms straight up and drowned them in holy water! What has come over me? How am doing all this? Why am I being so Cruel? I never thought once before burning them to the ground.

Just as the last of the vampire burned away, everything went black.

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CHAPTER 4

I see that I am in a dark room as I wake up. I am laying on the bed, smelling of about a thousand herbs, probably all the ones that they gave me. I hate being in the hospital, I can't even leave my bed. 

I quickly sit up in my bed, and drink some water from the jug on my side table. I had been lying in bed for about 10 minutes when a Nursiwitch entered. Smiling she felt my temperature and asked, 'How are the herbs kicking in sweetheart?' She has a very kind face, I like her. 

'I feel perfectly fine. What happened to me?' I ask her. She says, 'Oh it's nothing serious, you just exhausted yourself by using too much magic' She gives me some sweet concoction and leaves.

After staying on bedrest two days, I was finally allowed to go to the office on my third day. I took this as a good sign and that I had not been fired.

This time when I entered the office, I was welcomed with a huge round of applause. I was so surprised that I stopped as soon as I entered the building.

Lilly came up to me and gave me a big hug and a huge smile. 'Congratulations!!' She said to me in her high pitched voice. I would have missed her had I been fired.

'Fast, go to boss's office, she's waiting for you' She quickly pushes me towards Artemisia's office before I could even protest.

I slowly knock on the office door before entering. Artemisia looks up just as I sit down in front of her. 

She smiles at me. She smiled at me!!! How could that happen lol. 'What do you think about your performance that day Lydia?' she asks me. I look at her with uncertainty and say, 'I don't really remember actually. I just remember the faces of the Vampires standing in a V before me. That's all. What did I do that day?'

'You, Lydia. You did something really big. You managed to do something that no one has ever been able to do. You didn't let even one Vampire enter the building. The highest anybody has ever gone before is stopping up to 4 vampires. You made a new record.'

Wait, record? People have done this before? What is happening? I think to myself. Artemisia watches me process this for a few seconds before she confirms exactly what I was thinking. 'Yes Lydia, those Vampire's weren't actually real. It's just a test for new comers.' I look at her dumbfounded. They had me go through all this and the vampire's weren't even real!? 

'You did something extraordinary, do you remember what that is?' she asks me with curiosity in her eyes. Something like a blue light flashes before my eyes. 'I told you, I don't remember much after I entered the roof'

After this Artemisia told me what had I had done on the 'rooftop' that day. It had all been a kind of hallucination. They had been watching me, while I fought the vampires. That's what was weird that day, no people were present on the street, because obviously it was not real.

Artemisia told me all about how I had absorbed the power from the ashes of the dead Vampire.

'This power, it has only been seen once before. It was the power of Astraea. The Original Witch.' I don't know how to react to this. I seriously don't. 'So-so-I-I am Special?' 'Why do I have this power?' 

'We have been searching for answers for the last few days, and the only explanation is that you are descended from Astraea. I take some time to comprehend what Artemisia just said.

'Sooo, what does that mean for me?' I ask her dubiously. 'Nothing yet, you can obviously start work here.' She smiles at me again and gets up to leave. I get up and too leave the office.

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CHAPTER 5

'Are you serious!?' Ivy shouts in my face. 'You are descended from Astraea!? Like THE Astraea!?'

'Yes!' I tell her for the hundredth time. I mean I get it, even I don't know how that's possible. I can't believe that such an ordinary person like me could ever be descended from someone so special. But there's is no denying it now. Many people saw it with their own eyes what I did on that roof. 

The thing that bugs me most though, is that I don't remember any of it. Why can't I remember it!? ughhh.

'So Lyds what are you gonna do now?' Ivy asks me. We are both lying on my bed next to each other. We both are extremely exhausted after a day work and literally don't have the power to make or even order food. 'What am I gonna do? For the first time I am going to work for a job that I actually like.' I tell her. 'I haven't told this to anyone, but Ivy, I remember something from that day. I remember how I felt. I felt amazing, like-like this is exactly what I was born to do. Protect my faction.' I practically pour my heart out to her and all she says is, 'Oh I know, I knew it the second I saw you lying in the hospital. Even though unconscious, you were smiling like an idiot' She says laughing.

That's exactly why I love her.  She says the loveliest things without even realizing that she is. She doesn't realize how much it means to me that she understands me so much. She is my whole world. She is my family. 

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After that the time passes like its nothing. A few months pass in a hurry. I am so happy with my job, it is literally the first job that I have actually been happy with. I have been on the most exciting missions from helping untrained witches who lost control to chasing vampires off the witchland border to capturing an illegally traveling Dephen. I used to find these missions a little scary at first but now, I love 'em. They are the most exciting thing that happen in my life.

I have also discovered that Artemisia isn't that bad. She's actually a really cool boss. She's showed no signs of using me for my special powers nor made me feel different in any way. She has actually become my friend these past few months. I have also gone up a few ranks at work. These missions have trained me so much, I have learnt so many new skills. I am happier than ever before.

Even Ivy has helped me a lot. Sometimes, these missions can be very tiring, and she's always there to welcome me home. She has been invited to my work department a few times, as she is the leading Biologist in terms of Dephens. I don't know anybody who's done as much hard work as Ivy to get where she is today! She had been working hard day and night, researching about Dephens, not just their physical or biological features but also how their mind works. She worked her butt off while I went from one job to another, trying to find something suitable.

But even after all this, we always manage to find time for ourselves. Just after school ended, it had been really hard time for me and Ivy, especially me. My parents had died in an accident. I was at the lowest I had ever been in my life. We also had the burden of finding jobs at that time. So, basically, we had very less time to spend with each other. So, as a solution, we had decided to rent a two bedroom apartment together. 

That had been one of the best decisions I had made.

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As I just told you, my life had been going really awesome right this moment. 

Until,

Artemisia told me about my latest mission.......

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CHAPTER 6

As I just told you, my life had been going really really awesome right this moment.

Until,

Artemisia told me about my latest mission.......

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TODAY AT WORK.....

I entered Artemisia's office and gave her huge smile. It had been some time since Artemisia had personally called me to her office to tell me about some assignment. It was usually that Lilly came and told me all the details. On that note, Lilly has become such a good friend of mine, working together has been really fun. She is literally the sweetest person.

'Hi Lydia, have a seat. I have some really important business to talk to you about.' Artemisia sounds so serious that I automatically sit up straighter. This seems like some really important work.

'I can't talk to you about it here. There may be other people listening in from the outside. Follow me.' 'Um yeah, sure' I say to her cluelessly. I had no idea where she was taking me. 

I followed her as she left the defense department and started to walk towards the lift. My department is on the 4th floor along with 4 other departments.

 The lift is completely empty as we enter. I follow her into the lift and am immensely shocked when she presses the button for the 6th floor. Barely anyone is allowed to go to the 6th floor. It is the floor where the office of the Central Minister was located. 

All the 4 factions have one main minister that leads them. Our minister is Mason Lowell. He is this really cool man who makes all the decisions for our faction. The best thing is that he is the youngest ever minister ever to be elected. He is only 3 years older to me. And he is so good looking!!

'We are going to meet the minister!?' I ask Artemisia with excitement. 'Yes, we are going to meet exactly him' she replies with a smile, knowing exactly how unbelievably happy I would be.

I can't believe that I am going to meet the minister!! I am so excited!! But this also makes me so nervous, what could possibly be so important that even Mr. Mason has to get involved!  

The lift makes a 'tinggg!' sound as the doors open and we enter into the 6th floor. In front of us is a long lobby with white marble flooring and plain white walls. It looks as if it was painted just yesterday. A 'woahh' escapes my mouth as I look around. The reception desk, the flooring, the one or two paintings that are hung up, even the plants, everything looks so expensive. 

We walk down the lobby and Artemisia knocks on the last door that's there. We have to stand for a minute or two before the door opens and two-three men leave the room one by one. As the last man leaves, I see Mr. Mason sitting behind his desk. I have never been this close to a minister before!! This is so exciting!! 

Mr. Mason also gets up as we enter the room. He comes from behind the table, shakes my hand and says, 'I have heard great things about you Lydia. It's an honor to meet you' 'It's an honor to meet you as well Mr. Mason' I somehow get out of my mouth. 

We all take a seat at his desk and Mr. Mason continues, 'Do you know why you are here Lydia?' he asks me. 'Yes, I am here about a mission briefing.' I tell him confidently.

'You are correct. You must understand by now that this is not a normal mission. It is a highly classified case that we have been training you for these past few months.' 'The-' I start, but am interrupted, 'Let me finish, then you can ask all you questions at once.' I blush slightly, feeling like a little kid.

'We have known about your powers for quite some time now even though it has not been made public. You have been chosen for a very important mission. This mission involves very dangerous business, including going into the lands of the Dephens.' At this point, I audibly gasp!

Mr. Mason take a little pause before continuing, 'About 50 or so years back, a very powerful witch had gone rogue. He had been very powerful as he was the right hand man to the minister back then. He had made a weapon that could destroy the whole Witch Faction. That witch was thankfully captured and the said weapon,'Cyrille' was kept in a safe place. But, a few months back, some Dephens successfully sneaked into our land and stole that weapon.'

'Our last minister couldn't even ensure the safety of one needle!' wait what!? A needle! The dangerous weapon is a needle? And that explains the disappearance of the last minister lol.

'Now, the weapon is in the hands of the Dephens. I forgot to tell you, Cyrille is a needle which if injected into any witch, it will spread like virus into all the witches and absorb their power and put it into the owner of the needle, in addition to that, all the witches infected will soon be dead. Meaning, if the Dephens are successful in doing that, then they are going to be unstoppable. No one can even imagine how much the magic of all the witches combined will be.' Mr. Mason take a small pause and says, 'your mission is to go into the land of the Dephens, and retrieve that needle without getting injected.' He ends in a grave tone. By now all my excitement has vanished.

I just sit there in silence for some time, unable to think of anything. 'I get that this is a lot to process, but you are our only hope, only you can be powerful enough to fight the dephens.' Artemisia says to me with her hand on my shoulder.

The first thing that I think of saying is, 'I want to take someone with me. I want my best friend to come along' that's what I think of, not 'will I be able to come back alive' or 'how long is this gonna take' or even 'can I refuse?' I ask them if I can take my best friend along. But that makes sense, cause I won't go anywhere without Ivy, and 

'She is the leading biologist specializing in Dephens, she can be of great help to me!! Please let me take her' 

They both look at each other and then look at me, 'whatever suits you Lydia, after all the lives of all witches depends upon you.'

'Can we expect you to leave by the morning of day after tomorrow? Artemisia will brief about how you can get to and enter the land of the Dephens undetected tomorrow. Thankyou Lydia, your efforts will be greatly appreciated by all!' He sounds as if he knows he's not gonna talk to me ever again.

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This all takes a lot of explaining to do before Ivy finally understands what's up with this 'Cyrille'.

'You are perfect liberty to refuse, I wouldn't blame you for a second!' I tell her, because I know how big of burden this can be, especially when it's not even hers to bear.

Ivy almost looks offended when I say this, 'you really think that I am going to refuse? I am going to refuse to an adventure?! Are you out of your mind woman?' She says with a laugh.

But I know that she is just laughing it off to hide her fear, but I can see it in her eyes. She is afraid, afraid to go with me and afraid to let me go alone.

I give her a tight hug and we both go to sleep knowing all too well that sleep won't come for hours.

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CHAPTER 7

The next day was very stressful for me. I had to wake up at about 6 AM in the morning to leave for work, meaning that I had only got about 2 hours of sleep as I had lain in bed till 4 in the morning not able to clear my mind.

At work, I had been busy the whole time, not even having a second of rest. Firstly, I had to finish all the pending work, which I had previously ignored. Secondly, Artemisia, Ivy and I had been cooped up in her office for almost 3 hours. Artemisia was telling us about all the basics of portalling. We had never portalled before, and it was supposedly one of the worst things ever. We would never have opted for portalling but getting into the dephen's land any other way would be almost impossible.

I got lessons from 2 experts on how to deal with dephens and what to do in case I encountered one, I even got lessons on how to act like one if I ever wanted to blend in with the crowd. The only good thing about all this was that Ivy was there with me all the time except for the lessons about the Dephens, because she doesn't need them anyway.

Basically I was being taught everything there was to know about Dephens. Work was over before I knew it! Time had flew by without my even noticing.

Ivy and I quickly headed home to pack our bags, we were just taking one duffel bag each, just the essentials.

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I packed some clothes, a small blanket, 5 energy bars, a photo of my parents, some undergarments and some other toiletries. We both left for the restaurant 3 blocks down from our apartment after Ivy also finished packing. 'El Diablo' is the best restaurant I have ever gone to!!! It has such good food that Ivy and I are a regular there. 

We go down and order our regular food, two cappuccinos and two white cream pastas. The pasta is mouthwatering. While our food is coming, I say,

'Ivy, listen, it means a lot to me that you are willing to come with me.' Ivy smiles at me and says, 'you know I would do anything for you Lyds, don't you? How could I ever let you go alone? And this is actually a really good opportunity for me, it will help a lot for my research' 

We both have our delicious meal and then go to treat ourselves with some ice cream, who knows when we will have time to do this again.

That night we sleep in our cozy beds not knowing that we will never be sleeping in them again.

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The next morning, we both take our duffel bags and leave for the office building.

 We go to the 3rd floor, where we meet some Ms. Willow who takes us to the portal room.

As we enter the Portal room, all I can see is light. Light in a hundred different colors. There are four big circles of blue light present on each black wall and the roof is fully covered in LED lights which are glowing in a different color every second. Basically, it looks like a disco room. I never imagined portal room to look this fun.

Ivy and I enter the room in awe, and I feel the urge to pull out some music and start dancing right here. Depend on me to have such dumb thoughts before a big mission lol. We both go over to an assistant and tell our names. The assistant quickly takes us towards the portal opposite the door through which we just entered. The staff once again briefs us about how to manage ourselves during the travel, some of the most important ones are that-

We must keep holding on to each other's hands no matter what, we should keep a clear image of the dephens in our mind and last of all we must fade ourselves as soon as we reach on the other side. 

Fading is basically a way by which witches dim their magic so as not to give their identities away.

We give each other one last brave look and prepare ourselves for the journey, we take each other's hands and hold on as tightly as we can. We step into the portal in 3........2..........1...........now!

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CHAPTER 8

We were dropping and dropping and dropping for about a million hours. We were dropping down a million feet of blackness. But we didn't let go even once, we held onto each other's hands as if our lives depended on it, and they probably did.

I kept a clear image of the Dephens in my mind, I mean it isn't like I can imagine a Dephen, but I just keep a clear image of war and hatred and fighting and basically everything that reminded you of a Dephen. 

Finally after about an eternity, I finally saw something other than darkness, there was a small spot of light, and it was growing larger. I could feel Ivy tightening her hand around mine, if that was even possible. Eventually the light grew so big that the darkness disappeared. 

Suddenly, everything went black again and I bumped hard into concrete. I give harsh cry and I hear Ivy behind me shout in pain as she too crashed into the ground. Slowly, everything around us came into view and we realized that we had landed into a dark alley.

We both look around, the alley is a narrow one, which ends about 6 feet away from us. There are two dumpsters there, wait, I swear I just saw a pair of eyes between the dumpsters. I quickly look back again, but I can't spot anything there anymore.

I know that we have landed inside the Dephen land because I can feel their magic all around me. I look at Ivy, she's lying a few feet away from me. I get up and try to walk toward her when a sharp pain shoots up my leg and I drop down again. I groan and look at my left ankle, it is already swollen and blue. Ivy quickly gets up and run towards me. 

'Oh my god Lydia! I think your ankle is broken!' 'No, it can't be broken. It must be just a sprain.' I tell her. I try to get up again but it's of no use. Great! We haven't spent a minute here and things are already going wrong.

'What are you witches doing here?' a deep voice calls from behind us. We both turn around in horror. Shit! We forgot to fade ourselves due to all the nonsense with my leg.

We see a tall muscular guy standing in front of the dumpsters. We can only see his silhouette in the darkness though. We both stare at him, unable to think of anything to say. So, I guess I was right about the pair of eyes.

After about 30 seconds of silence, Ivy speaks up, 'We are here to show the Dephens that we witches are way better than them. That you are nothing in front of us.' I look at her, awestruck. What was she doing!?

'Oh, so you are so much better than us, huh?' the man says with malice in his voice. 'Yes, I surely believe so.' Ivy replies with a smirk. I notice now that Ivy has had her hands behind her back this whole time. She is moving her hands and now that I concentrate more closely, she is whispering something. I immediately recognize what she is doing. She is distracting him while she fades herself. 

I quickly follow her lead and start with my spell.  

The man is now walking towards us very slowly. 'Tell me that after you get beaten by a whole street of people out there.' He says as he points behind us. By now, I am almost done with my spell and I know Ivy is already finished as I can barely feel her magic myself. As soon as I am done, I shout 'I am done Ivy!' and we both turn around at the same time and run out of the alley as fast as we can. The pain, earlier forgotten, once again comes up. My eyes burn with pain and I about to give up when Ivy gets hold of my hand and pulls me forward. We have no idea where we are or where we are going. Just that we have to get away from this guy.

I look behind and see that he is very close on our trail. A few steps more and he would be able to grab my backpack. I try to push myself even more but the pain doesn't allow me to do that. Too bad that the crowd isn't that thick, or we could have hidden ourselves among these people.

Suddenly Ivy grabs and pulls me sideways into another alley as we come to a crowded stall. We both quickly hide behind a dumpster. 'Fast, do the invisible spell on yourself!' Ivy tells me

Invisibility Spell is very exhausting. We hold our hands together to share our power and put our full concentration on our magic. Just when the last of our legs disappeared, I see that man running into the alley. He was quite good looking I must say, looking to my side, I could see that Ivy was having the same thoughts.

He searched everywhere for us, but not able to find us, he left. 

After that man left, we finally took a deep breath of relief that we didn't know we had been holding. Our magic was already in use, so there was no way I could do anything to cure my leg, so Ivy just gave me some bandages and painkillers that she had kept with her just in case. I smile at her gratefully and get on with my even more swollen leg.

I took out a map of the central building from my back pack and my flashlight. Artemisia had told us that they had located the Cyrille in the office of the Dephen Minister. This office, just like in our land, was located on the top floor of the central building. This map had been charmed to show us our location and where the central building was located.

We saw that the building was at the exact centre of the city and we were almost at its outskirts. We have a long way to go right now.

It was already getting dark, so we took out some energy bars from my back pack and had them as dinner. Already exhausted due to our journey here and then being chased all the way by this man, we decided to sleep here only. While I maintained the invisibility spell, Ivy cast a warmth and comfort spell and we were asleep in a matter of minutes. 

They had no idea what they were going to find when they woke up....

-----------END----------

CHAPTER 9

I am wrapped in a blanket and cuddling with someone. I am in a moving vehicle.

WAIT!!! I am wrapped in a blanket!? Where the hell did a blanket come from!? I suddenly wake up and see that Ivy and I are lying in the back of a truck!! Struck with panic, I quickly wake up Ivy. Someone kidnapped us while we were asleep what the hell!! ohh noo!!

I quickly look into the window overlooking the driver seat. Guess who is sitting there. The man from last night. We are so screwed right now! Ivy is also fully awake now.  'Lydia, our hands are tied. We can't do anything like this.' Ivy says with fear in her eyes.  Now I am really starting to panic, but just then an idea comes to my mind. I quickly turn my back towards Ivy and ask her to do the same. 

I reach out for Ivy's hands, and start untying her rope. I must tell you, it isn't as easy as it sounds. After almost an eternity of hard work, Ivy's hands are finally untied and she proceeds with mine. 

As she unties my hand, I see that we are going through some small village. Ivy is still not finished and the car is already slowing down!! 'Ivy! Quick hurry up!' I hiss at her. The car finally stops and that man walks out of the car and comes to a stop before us. He looks at what we are doing and quickly grabs Ivy from behind to pull her away from me. But my ropes are loose enough now for me to get out of them myself. 

Ivy struggles in his strong grip but he doesn't let go. He picks her up from the truck with so much ease as if she is doll and takes her into a small mud made house. I quickly jump out of the truck and run after him but he closes and locks the door behind me just in time. I just now realize that my leg feels a lot better. It is firmly wrapped in gauze and secured. This was not what I had put yesterday night. Someone had changed the dressing on my leg. I am now getting confused. 

He knows I won't go anywhere without Ivy, I try to unlock the door with my magic and just when I am about to succeed, the door opens itself and out comes the man. I quickly try to push him away but he is too fast. He grabs both of my hands and pulls me inside, and then closes the door behind us. Ivy is tied to a corner of the room, he takes me to the opposite corner and starts tying my hands to a pole. I fight him with all my power but he is still stronger. I feel so useless!! How am I supposed to get the Cyrille if I can't even find one Dephen!?

Giving up, I also slouch down. The man walks to the centre of the room and looks at both of us, 'So, why are you both really here?' He asks us. Ivy gives him a look of hatred and says, 'We already told you yesterday, want to hear the same thing again?' 

'I know that was not true, you would not have run yesterday if it was, now tell me, why are you really here?' He says again.

'We are not gonna tell you anything' I say.

'Are you both here for the Cyrille?' He asks us casually, both our mouths drop down. How does he know about the Cyrille? Does everybody here know? Then why has no one tried using it yet? All these thoughts bombard me at once.

'Judging by both your expressions, I am gonna guess that I am right.' He smirks. 'How do you know about this?' I ask him suspiciously. 'Because I was the deputy minister earlier.' he says without looking at me.

'We are not gonna believe you just like that' Ivy says, 'don't believe me, how do I care?' he replies.

'If you really are the deputy minister, then why are you staying in a dump like this?' I ask him.

'I said that I was the deputy minister. Not am' I can see that he is annoyed now.

'What do you want with us? Why have you brought us here instead of handing us over?' Ivy asks 

'Why would I hand you over? You are going to help me' He says with a smile. I am now seriously confused. 'We are not going to help you' I tell him, 'Oh sweetheart, you are not going to help me, I am going to help you' Now he looks seriously happy. 'Oh, I am Aiden by the way' 

I seriously don't know what to say anymore. I give a confused glance to Ivy who suddenly says, 'you are gonna use us to become the Minister' she gives him a horrid look. 'You are gonna help us take back the Cyrille, and then become minister because everyone will want to remove the current minister for losing the Cyrille.'

'You are a clever girl. What's your name?'  When both us stay quiet, he says, 'If we are going to be working together then I need to know your name, don't I?' Both of still don't say anything.

He walks over and snatches our bags from us. He first quickly check Ivy's bag and not finding anything, quickly turned to mine. He rummages around a few seconds and then takes something out. It's my parent's photograph. His eyes widen when he looks at them, and then at me. 'Why do you have their picture? Do you know who they are?' He asks me. 'They-they are my parents, why?' I ask him. For a second his gaze turns soft but then he is back to his cold face. 

'You are Lydia' I don't how much shock a person can tolerate in a day, but this is too much now.

'How the hell do you know my name?' 'Nothing, nothing. You both stay here, and don't even try using magic, this house is barred from magic just like the island.' He says this and leaves.

'Ivy! He changed the dressing on my leg!' I tell her. 'And how does he know who I am!?' I ask her.

'How am I supposed to know Lyds? I just have a feeling that he isn't the best person.' I look at her doubtfully, 'Well, I personally think that he isn't that bad. He hasn't done anything to us and he helped with my leg' I tell her. Ivy just shrugs.

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Aiden's POV

I smile as I hear her say, 'personally think he isn't that bad' as I stand outside the door listening to them. So, the other girl's name is Ivy. They sound like they are both pretty close to each other.

I had recognized Lydia's parents because I knew who they were. Lydia's mother, Eloise, had been the descendant of Astreae, just like my father was of, Ragnar, the original Dephen. I knew that the death of our parents had not been just an accident. 

I myself had some powers of Ragnar, that's why both those witches inside had not been able to stop me, and that's how he had known that they had been in that alley the whole night. He had the senses of a Predator. He would know if someone was near, he would always know.

He felt sorry for Lydia when he realized why she had been sent on this mission. But he could not disclose all this to Lydia, never. Because that would ruin his plan. If she backed out, he would be back to square one.

Coming out of his line of thoughts, he quickly went to the nearby market to get some things for the girls. They were probably hungry. He bought some cakes, biscuits and fruits and then hurried back to his cottage. He could not trust them to not run away yet.

When he entered again, he saw that both of them were sitting with their backs towards the wall. As soon as he entered, both of them sat up straighter. 

'I got something for the two of you, I am gonna untie you but keep in mind that it is no use for you two to run. If anybody out there sees you two, you are as good as dead' I tell them, and it is actually true, they are not safe anywhere.

I quickly untie them and Ivy quietly goes to sit in the corner with Lydia. I give them their food and see as Lydia quickly starts gobbling down all her food. She is quite cute. He notices and quickly stops himself. He was not here to think about girls. After the food is over, Lydia again asks him, 'How do you know who I am?' her dark brown eyes shining with curiosity. I almost want to tell her, but I can't. I ignore her and get all the things packed up. 'I am gonna come back tonight with more things for you guys. Don't even think of leaving, because I will know if you do' I try to threaten them a little.

That night, I come back there with some more things like clothes, food, and somethings to eat. I give them their things and leave after telling them, 'I am going to be outside, knock if you need anything.'

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Lydia's POV

He seems like a good person for one second and then acts like a shitty person the next. I don't know what to think about him. I don't know how to explain it, but I just have this feeling that I know him, I feel a type of connection with him that even I myself don't understand.

He gets us things we need, took enough care to treat my leg, and even gave us blankets in the truck. But then he goes ahead and acts like a dumbass. 

At night, he came in again and set up two mattresses for us to sleep in. He says, 'we will stay here for 2-3 days. Some people recognized that you were witches in the market last night. You are going to stay here till everything calms down again.' 'We are not gonna stay here and waste our time just because you told us to' Ivy tells him, she is very annoyed now. She doesn't believe me when I say that Aiden doesn't seem like a bad person.

-------------------------------------------------------

Even after our continued protests, Aiden doesn't let us leave for the next 4 days. 

The evening of the fourth day, I get out of the cottage and find him sitting on the ground next to the door. Is this where he has been sitting these past few days? I think to myself. He quickly gets up and starts to block me from going anywhere when we he sees me leaving the cottage, I quickly say, 'I need to get out of this cottage. Let me go somewhere no one can see me. You know I won't run away without Ivy' I tell him.

 First he looks unconvinced, but I give him a pleading look, yes I am desperate now. I can't stay in there any longer. He takes one look at me and starts walking towards his truck. I can't help smiling, I quickly budge my head in and tell Ivy that I am going for a little walk. She starts to protest but I just shush her and leave.

When I come back out he is waiting with for me beside his truck with a black cloth in his hands. I quickly put on the cloak that he gives me and start walking towards the forest. As we enter the forest I say, 'So, how come you ended up here in this poor place? Why were you taken off the post of deputy minister?' I give him a sideways look and see that he is also looking at me.

I have had some time to look at him these past few days, and every time that I look at him, he just keeps getting more and more attractive. 

'I don't think you need to know that Lydia.' He says softly. I am little bummed that he isn't telling us anything about himself. 'Ok then, what about how you knew my parents?' I ask him, this one I am genuinely very curious about. He thinks for a little while and then says, 'Let's just say that I know about you, I mean, I know about your special powers' I have got to start counting the number of times Aiden has given me a shock. I stop in my tracks. How does he know about everything!?

'How do you know about that!? And what does that have to do with my parents?' I almost shout at him. 'You don't get it, do you? If you are descended from Astreae, then obviously one of your parent also is idiot' He says with an amused look, almost talking as if we were friends. He quickly realizes what he is doing at puts his guard back up. How dumb could I be!? I had actually never thought about this.

We walked deeper and deeper into the forest, and finally we came into a clearing. As we walked out of the trees, I could see the most beautiful lake. How could something so lovely exist in the land of hatred? 

'Can I ask you one more question?' I ask him giving him a childish smile. Why was being so friendly with him!? He was our freaking kidnapper!!

'Sure, fire away' He says

'sooo, do you have any family? Parents? Siblings? Anyone?' As I say this, a dark look falls over his face. 'I don't have any siblings and my parents, they-' He falters but then continues, 'they died in an- an accident' He finally finishes. I look at him. He looks so sad. 'My-my parents died in an accident too, you know' I tell him. After that I try to make some conversation but he doesn't cooperate.

We sit beside the lake for a while and then return to the cottage. I give him back his cloak and go into the cottage. When I enter, I see that everything is messed up, and Ivy is not there!!

I quickly rush into the room and shout 'Aiden!! Come, quickly!!' I see that a note is written there in a messy handwriting.

'You know where to find her Aiden'      

                                                        -L.C.

Aiden comes running into the cottage and ask what is going on, I just hand him the note with tears streaming down my eyes.

-------------------END--------------------

CHAPTER 10

I can't believe I let this happen! I can't believe that I was dumb enough to leave Ivy alone in this strange land and believe that she would be safe.

'Where have they taken her? Who is L.C.?' I ask Aiden as I turn around to face him.

'L.C. is Lucian Clark' he says slowly in a sad tone. I look at him in disbelief.

'Lucian Clark? You really mean The Lucian Clark?' Lucian is the minister of the Dephens. Ivy is with the Minister? This scares me even more. I look up at Aiden in horror, 'what are we going to do Aiden?' I ask him in a shaking voice.

'We are going to get the Cyrille and get Ivy too when we are there' He says, I literally want to slap so hard right now. Maybe he is as bad as Ivy thought he was, how could he even think about his job and the Cyrille when Ivy is missing!

'We need to get going, like right now.' I tell him.

'No, we don't. We will take a night's rest and then leave in the morning.'

'You can take a night's rest, I am leaving right now' I can't stop for even one second. I have to get to her as soon as possible. I start packing my bag. I pack whatever food we have left from the past few days, my clothes and I pack Ivy's bag too. Aiden being a fool, just stands there watching me the whole time. Just as I am about to leave, he blocks the doorway. 

'You can't leave right now, it's a festival night. Thousands of people are on the streets.'

'I don't have time to waste Aiden, get out of my way' He still doesn't budge. He is seriously pissing me off now. A surge of anger suddenly bursts through me and I throw Aiden to the side and hear as his bones crackle as he hits the wall. 'No one gets in between me and Ivy' I say and leave.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aiden POV

I lie in pain as she storms out of my cottage. I had seriously under estimated her powers. My left arm hurts like hell! It takes my whole body just for me to sit up. Dephens heal quickly, but that doesn't mean that our injuries don't hurt.

I lie on one of the mattresses until the pain subsides. It is about 3 hours later when I am finally able to walk normally. As I get up, I see the corner of a yellowish paper peaking from under Lydia's mattress. I walk over and pull it out to see that it is the map of the dephen land.

It is the map they were going to use to get to the Central Building. But right now I can see three dots on the map. A blue one which is the Central Building, a pink dot, and a purple dot. The pink dot is not that far from here. It is just the village after this one. It's Lydia! And the purple dot is Ivy! Wait, Lucian hasn't taken Ivy to the Central Building as I thought he did. He has taken Ivy to- to my parent's previous house.

I had earlier only been mean to Lydia because I didn't want her to be dependent on me in any way. I want her to hate me, so that what I have started feeling for her in just the last 4 days won't have any meaning. I have seen her try to look more brave than she is, hold back her cry as she imagined what was gonna happen to Ivy, and she has showed me that she can do anything for the people she loves, be it her best friend or her own kind. I have gotten attracted to the little brown haired girl in the last 4 days more than I have been attracted to anybody in my lifetime.

I quickly grab my truck and follow all the way to the pink spot. I have got to stop Lydia, she is going the wrong way😂. It only takes about 40 minutes to reach her. She is actually moving at quite a good speed. I cruise along the street looking out for her, it was a little difficult but I finally spot her, walking behind a bunch of stalls, trying to be as unnoticeable as she can. 

I quickly park my truck and start walking over to her.

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Lydia's POV

I am so careless! In my hurry, I forgot to get the map from under my mattress. How could I do that! I had realized this way too late, and there was no way that I was going to walk back to the cottage. I am much better off without it.

I try to stay as hidden as I possibly can as I walk through the lit and crowded market. Aiden had not been wrong when he had said that the streets were going to be crowded.

I am walking through the corner of the street when a hand suddenly grabs my elbow and pulls me into an alley. I am about to scream (which is probably not a good idea) when a hand covers my mouth. I bite on his fingers hard and her screams in my ears,

'You didn't need to bite that hard' and lets me go. I turn around to see Aiden standing there.

'What are you doing here? How are you not lying in bed somewhere?' I say, already annoyed, but to be honest, I was a little happy that he had come found me here. Wait, how did he find me? 

Many questions about him run around in my mind but I just ignore them for now. I now notice that he is hiding something behind his back. I give him a questioning glance, to which he says,

'I was guessing that you might want this' He says taking out the map from behind his back. My eyes widen in surprise and I almost want to hug him. What's up with these mood swings? I want to kill him one second and hug him the other. I take the map from him to see where I am.

'I was going the wrong freaking way!?' I exclaim, 

'Well, yes. Part of the reason why I had to come get you.' He says, clearly amused. 

I flush and continue to check out the map. That is when I notice that there is another dot on the map. Noticing my expression, Aiden says, 'Yes. That show's Ivy's location. And it's just in between where we are now and the Central Building.' 

I look at him with a steady gaze and say, 'I am going nowhere near the Cyrille without Ivy'

'I realize that now Lydia. I think you taught me my lesson.' I almost smile, so he doesn't hate me for that. Well he deserved it. But I guess he has made up for it by bringing me the map. 

We both set off towards his car and I put on the cloak that I had put on earlier again. I take a seat in the passenger seat after keeping both the backpacks in the backseats.

We travel for a few hours before it gets really dark and Aiden seems quite tired. I had been sleeping for about an hour earlier, so I wasn't tired anymore. 'Let me drive, you are tired and I just took a nap.' He looks at me sideways, 'You think yours short legs can reach the breaks' he says almost laughing. I flush for the second time that day. 

'I am not that short, I will be able to drive' I say. 

'No, I don't want to die just yet' He says giving a small laugh. I just ignore him and look out the window. His loss if he doesn't want to sleep. 

About an hour passes by again, and now I can literally see his eyes dropping shut. This is why I believe that no matter how rude he acts, he is not that bad. He is beyond tired but still wants me to get there as soon as possible.

'It's ok Aiden, we can stop for a while' 

He looks at me and gives me a small smile. 'You sure Lydia?'  

'Yes I am sure, now stop somewhere we are safe.' After about 2 minutes, he turns down an empty road and stops after taking the truck off the road to the side of the forest. We then make sure that our truck is hidden and then go back inside. We share some of the food that I had taken from his cottage. While eating I ask him,

'So, what is this place where they have taken Ivy? Lucian said you would know where to find her'

'It's my childhood home. The place where I lived with my parents' He says, looking at me sideways.

'Oh, so are you ok? Going back there I mean.' I ask him uncertainly. I expected him not to answer but he surprises me.

'Yeah, I have been back there a couple of times. I will be ok.'

'When did they die?' I ask him

'3 years ago' he says. This comes as a small surprise because my parents also died 3 years ago.

'Mine too' I say in a small voice.

'I know' I look up at him. 'How do you know so much about my parents?' This is one of the things that I have not been able to figure out.

'I have done my share of research on Original Descendants Lydia. Now go to sleep. 

Having nothing else left to say, I lean my head on the window and go to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

AIDEN'S POV

I watch her as she sleeps. She looks so peaceful right now. Away from all the cruelties of the world. I almost want to kiss her on the cheek, but I obviously don't.

I watch her for a little while and the sleep comes to me naturally.

After a very long time, I don't have any nightmares.

---------------END----------------

CHAPTER 11

Lydia's POV

The sun is shining in my face. My head is leaning against the window as I wake up. I turn my head to see Aiden. He looks so cute while sleeping. I try to lift my hand to get some hair out of my face when I notice that our hands are interlocked. I turn a little red even though there is no one to see me. 

I shake Aiden a little to wake him up too. He opens his eyes just a little and gives me a small smile. 'Good morning' I say to him.

'Good morning Lydia' He says, he just then notices that he is holding my hand and quickly takes his hand back. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, and see that he is looking straight ahead, looking very embarrassed. Just then something comes over me and I extend my hand to turn his face towards me.

I can't deny the fact that I have been attracted to Aiden in these past 4-5 days. No matter what Ivy or anybody else says, I know in my heart that Aiden is a really good guy. I can see it in his eyes and I can see it in his gestures. In the small things that he observes and cares for.

I don't know what has come over me but I tilt my head a little further. Aiden also comes a little closer to me. Now, our faces are just inches apart. I start going in for the kiss, but just at the last moment Aiden turns his away and I end up kissing his cheek.

This is so awkward!

'I am so sorry! I am sorry, it won't happen again.' I am so embarrassed. What was I thinking! I turn my face away to hide my embarrassment. He also looks away, a little pink in the cheeks himself.

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AIDEN'S POV

I was just about to kiss Lydia! I can't let that happen! A witch and a Dephen can't be together. No matter how much I want it.

Her cheeks are red and her hair is tousled due to sleeping. Right now she is the most beautiful girl in the world.

'Aiden, you are staring at me' I hear her say and quickly turn my head around. What is up with me!?

 'Sorry, let's just go' I say and she just nods as she takes a sip of water.

After that, we start travelling again. About 2 hours more and we will be there. My parent's house is located away from all the other house, near a lake in a forest. After about half an hour, I see a small cafe coming up so I ask, 'Lydia, you want to stop for some breakfast?' 

'No, I can't keep Ivy waiting any longer' she says. I look at her and again see the brave and caring girl she is.

'But you are gonna need all your strength if you want to take back Ivy' I tell her again, because I needed my strength after how she had thrown me yesterday.

She looks uncertain for a second but then says, 'Well I guess you are right'. I can see that she is still embarrassed about what happened earlier so I say, 'Lydia, can we please just forget about what happened earlier?'

'Um, yeah. Yes, we should definitely forget about it' she says.

We stop at the Cafe and Lydia puts her cloak on. We go in and take a seat in the far corner. There aren't many people here, just another couple having coffee. I get a cup of coffee and some pancakes while Lydia gets some pasta. I notice as her eyes light up when she see that we can also get pasta. 

'So you really like pasta, huh?' I ask, giving her an amused smile.

'Well at least I am not a softie like you, having pancakes' she laughs. 

'Well laugh all you want, I love my pancakes' I tell her, 'my mother used to make me pancakes everyday' She stops laughing and then says

'Ivy and I used to go down to the restaurant and have white pasta every other day. Your pasta can nowhere be as good as ours' she says playfully. And just like that, almost all of the awkwardness is gone. I am glad it is.

We stay quiet for a while after that till our food comes. As the waiter is just getting our food she says, 'I am sorry for yesterday. I was worried about Ivy and you were pissing me off' 

I sigh a little for effect and say, 'Well I guess I kind of deserved it. But I was just trying to protect you from the crowd.' And I had been right. Even going at a speed 30 was hard yesterday. Someone would have recognized Lydia, if had not been for my truck.

We both quickly have our breakfast and head back to my truck.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

LYDIA'S POV

After having breakfast, it's just about an hour later when Aiden turns into a small lane into the forest. 'You lived in a forest!?' I ask him, not believing it, having grown up in a city my whole life.

'Yes, my whole childhood I spent swimming in that lake' He points to the lake that is just beside this really adorable wooden house. It was really sad to see that no one was living it anymore.

We both look at each other, all joking and fun now gone. We both got of the car quietly and crept up to the house. Aiden quietly opened the door, expecting at least 4 other people to be there. But what we found was a completely empty house except for one girl. Ivy.

She is sitting on a chair in the middle of what would have been the living room. Unconscious and with her hands tied to the arms of the chair....

-----------END-------------

CHAPTER 12

She is sitting on a chair in the middle of what would have been the living room. Unconscious and with her hands tied to the arms of the chair....

I am about to quickly run forward when Aiden suddenly grabs me from behind. I am about to protest but he says, 'they are not going to leave Ivy for us to take just like that' that makes sense, but what am I supposed to do then?

Aiden slowly walk up to the threshold and tries to listen in. 'There are three men inside. I can sense them.' I am confused,

 'Wait, you can sense them? How?' He looks at me for a second and says, 'I will tell you later, but right now, we have to figure this out' 

'If there are people inside, then why can't we see them?' I ask him, still uncertain.

'Witches, duh.' he says. I can't believe this. Why would any witch help them?

'I am going inside, men or not' and enter through the doorway before Aiden can stop me.

As soon as I enter, I see that Aiden was right. Three bulky men are standing guard in front of Ivy. One of them gives me a sinister smile as he sees me walk in. I am so shocked for a second that it's hard to register when one of them comes flying at me from halfway across the room. I notice too late what is happening and flinch back, expecting the blow, but it never comes. Instead, I hear the man grunt. I see as someone comes from behind me and rams into that guy. Aiden. He saved me.

Aiden slams into that man, sending him straight into the wall and quickly turns to me, 'Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?' He asks me in a worried tone. 'I am ok' I tell him. Just then the second man comes running, but this time I am ready, I send him flying back just the way I sent Aiden the previous night, and he dropped unconscious.

Aiden is now fighting the first man again, who had gotten up and was looking very angry. Now only one was standing guard in front of Ivy. Out of the corner of my eye, I see green light emanating from the unconscious man lying against the wall. My hand automatically goes up and the green light comes flying towards me and gets absorbed through my hand. For the second time in my life, I feel great power burning in my veins. 

'Per potentiam mortuorum ego nunc ostendo vobis et ignorantibus' I chant repeatedly as I walk forward towards Ivy. A person should be unconscious by now! Why is it not affecting him!? The man is coming at me, almost laughing. His hands is inches away from as I continue chanting, trying to make my spell work- then everything goes black and I fall to the ground. That man just punched me square in the jaw.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aiden's POV

This is a disaster! Why did Lydia not listen to me!? 

I have been fighting this guy forever. I punch him in the face for the hundredth time but he gets up again. From the corner of my eye, I see Lydia going forward, chanting some spell. I turn back for a second to deal with my guy and when I turn back, she's lying on the ground, unconscious.

Rage and terror rushes through my veins and it all comes out in the form of violence. I smash that guy's head to the ground, rendering him senseless. I can now feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I haven't wanted to kill someone so much in my life. I dash towards the only guy left, who was himself running towards me. We meet half way and smash into each other. I feel him punch me in the gut and even though it delays my blow, it doesn't stop me. I punch straight in the nose and almost hear his bone crack. He stumbles back holding his nose and that's when I give him the final blow. I kick him right in the chin and see as his head is forced backwards, breaking his neck. The light leaves his eyes, and slops to the ground in front of me.

I quickly rush over to Lydia and feel her pulse. I feel the tension leave my body as I hear her heartbeat go dhup-dhup-dhup. I then go over to Ivy. She is also breathing normally. I untie her and try to wake her up. I shake her for a second or two before she finally comes to her senses. 

'Wha-what happened?' she asks as soon as gains consciousness. 'Where's Lydia?' 

I tell her to calm down and that everything is fine. But just then she notices Lydia lying on the floor. 'What happened to Lydia!?' she quickly runs over and sits by her side.

'She has just been knocked out by a punch' I tell her.

After that, I walk out of the house with one girl leaning on me and one over my shoulder. Ivy sits in the back seat and I lay Lydia down with her head in Ivy's lap. Ivy drinks some water and then sprinkles some onto Lydia's face. She shakes her a little when she doesn't wake up. This time, Lydia finally open's her eyes. The first person she sees is Ivy, her faces breaks into a smile and she jumps onto Ivy and gives her a hug.

She says as tears stream down her face, 'You scared me so much! I am never going to leave you again' Ivy just smiles and says, 

'I am hear and I am ok. You don't have to worry anymore, they didn't do anything to me'

Lydia still doesn't let her. I leave the two of them in the back seat and take my place at the driver's seat.

'Next to the Central building' I say and start the car.

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Lydia's POV

I can't believe I got knocked out! But it's ok, as Ivy, Aiden and I all are ok.

I am so glad that Ivy is ok. I am so glad that nothing has happened to her. 

We sit and talk in the car while Aiden drives. Ivy is telling me how just a few minutes after we had gone, a few men had entered the cottage, knocked her out, and took her to this place. She had not even been able to do anything because she couldn't do magic in the cottage.

I look at her with sadness and say, 'I am sorry I left you alone Ivy, I should never have left' with tears in my eyes.  Ivy hugs me and says, 'Sweetie, it was not your fault! Don't blame yourself.' I just give her a smile. I notice that Aiden is watching me in the rear view mirror, but I choose to ignore that. 

We pass through some villages, a small city and a kind of forest when finally Aiden says that we are almost there.

About 5 minutes after Aiden says this, I can see the building approaching. It is nothing like our Central Building. It is this huge black building. And I have to find a needle in there.

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CHAPTER 13

 I look up at the building in pure awe. I haven't seen this tall a building in my whole life. It looks so good!

But the main problem is finding the Cyrille. Mr. Mason said that the Minister's office in the Dephen land is also on the top floor. So, we need to get to the top floor without getting noticed.

'There is a separate lift for the Minister. We can sneak into that lift.' Aiden says.

There is no way other than the main entrance to enter the building, so we go in that way. As I enter the building, I can see shiny surfaces all around me. The marble is light brown in colour, with the reception stand pure black. We walked in as if we are normal people, going to work and not some Witches trying to steal a weapon that could destroy us.

We walk past all these people and head straight to the Minister's lift, we wait there for about a minute for all the people to leave. Just as we are about to enter, a woman's voice interrupts us, 'Where are you going?' That is the minister's lift.' She says to us, sounding very suspicious.

Normally, Aiden would have known what to say, but right now, If anybody recognized Aiden, we were dead. So I speak up, 'We are here to see the minister. We are here to talk about that' I put emphasis on the 'that'. The women gives me a very confused look and asks, 'That? What's that?'

When I have got no idea what to say anymore, Ivy speaks up, 'You must not be at a high position if you don't know what we are talking about. It is confidential, sorry we can't tell you' The women first glares at Ivy and then says, 'Well, whatever. Go up through the normal lift'. She leads us to the normal lift and then leaves. Well that was easy, I thought to myself.

We are alone as we enter the lift. The minister's office is at the top office, the 30th floor. I had never been that away from the ground. On the 10th floor, a man entered and gave us a smile. But after a second he frowned at us and looked away. What was up with that? The man again gives us a weird look and then leaves on the 17th floor. We are more than half way up, I try to reassure myself. My nerves were going crazy.

Three men enter the lift on the 20th floor. Aiden tries to hide behind us, but considering that we are much shorter than him and smaller in size, it is kind of useless. Those men first don't pay any attention to us, but one of them notices that we are also going to the top floor, looks at us and says, 'What business do you have with the minister?' The other two also turn around after that. Just as the lift is about to open, the eyes of one of them widens as he points to Aiden, 'It's him! It's Aiden, the deputy minister and the traitor.' 

The other man are just about to jump on us, but this time we are ready. Me and Ivy quickly put a body lock charm on them, causing them to fall down mid-jump right on their faces. Laughter bursts through me as I see them fall face down. Ivy and also join in, watching the three of them lying on the floor helpless.

The lift makes a Ding! sound as the doors open onto the 30th floor. We are finally there! And without any harm! I already feel triumphant.

The top floor, just like in our land, is very extravagant. The lobby extends both ways so I ask, 'Aiden you go left, we both will go right' forgetting that Aiden knows this office, having been here a million times. He gives me a smirk and says, 'I know where it is Lydia' amused that I can't remember this small detail about him. It just seems surreal that he wants to be minister this bad, he doesn't look like the type at all. 

Aiden leads us down the right corridor and then enters a white door which leads to another corridor. This corridor is completely empty and looks as if barely anybody goes down here. 

We walk for about a minute when Aiden stops behind a big red door.  'Ready?' He asks us, his handle on the door. Just as he is about to open the door, he stops and curses under his breath. 'Shit! Someone is in there.' He says in a very low voice. 'Well that just confirms that the Cyrille is still there. And it's not like we have any other choice than going in' I tell him, whispering. 

'If they wanted to harm us, they would have already. Let's just go in.' Ivy tells us and I remember how Ivy is an expert in Dephen psychology. We get ready to use our magic once again as Aiden opens the door. 

I was expecting another bulky man, like the ones guarding Ivy. But, what I see is a tall thin man. Sitting in a chair beside a glass containing a- containing the Cyrille. I am startled when I realize who is the man sitting in the chair.

It is Lucian Clark.

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He smiles and gets up as we walk in, 'So, Lydia, you are finally here. Oh! Aiden you have also joined us! That's great' He says, completely ignoring Ivy. What's up with people knowing me!?

Aiden looks just as taken aback as I feel, and probably look. Aiden steps in front of me, almost as if to protect me, which shocks me more than the minister knowing my name. 

'This is just what we were waiting for' Lucian says, smirking. 

'You are not going to be able to win against us Lucian' Aiden says with malice in his voice. 

'We will see about that' he replies, still smirking. 'I have been waiting for you Lydia. We have a lot to talk about.' 

'We have a lot to talk about? I don't even know you' I give him a disgusted look.

'But I know all about you darling, I even know something that you don't. I know how your parents really died' 

My Parents? What do they have to do with this? And they had a car accident, while coming back from the Dephens land after work. 

He says, almost glowing with evil happiness, 'They did not have a car accident-' he is about to continue when Aiden interrupts him, 'Stop.' He knows about this!? And he didn't tell me! Anger surges through me. 'No, I want to know. What really happened?'

What Lucian then says, it breaks me. It tells me that half my life has been a lie.

'They were murdered by the Dephens and the Witches. People like them- like you- can't stay alive' He almost spits with disgust. 

----------END-------------

 

CHAPTER 14

I fall back a few steps, and am almost about to fall when Ivy catches and supports me.

My voice shakes as I ask Aiden, 'Is- Is this really true? Did you know about this?' He just looks at me and nods. 'I was going to tell you Lydia, I swear I was!' He hastily explains, but right then Lucian exclaims, 'You didn't tell her already, so she must not even know about you.' 

Now I really want to know Lucian has to tell, Aiden has been a big mystery.

'He is just like you, He is an Original Descendant Lydia' Lucian continue, loving all this drama. But I am not going to give him a reaction right. All this can be sorted out later. 

I am just about to forward, to attempt to get the Cyrille, but just then a familiar voice shouted, 'stop right there Lydia' I look around to see who shouted but I can't see anyone. Just as I am about to ask who it was, someone appears beside Lucian. Someone who I never expected to see here. Artemisia. She smirks as she notices the look of shock on my face.

'What are you doing here!?' I say in a small voice. Feeling betrayed. 'I am here to do my job. My real job.' she says.

'What job?' I ask her, seriously confused.  Her tone changes to another one as she says, 'To kill you. You really think I would send some newbie like you to this great a mission? You really think you deserved all those promotions you got? All this has been planned since the day we got to know about you' I am so taken aback that I stay silent for a moment. 

As I am in shock, Artemisia fires a mind controlling spell on me, but Ivy defends it for me. After that it is all chaos as Ivy and I fight Artemisia while Aiden fights Lucian. Soon, many other Dephens enter the room, making our fight even harder.

I dealt with the entering Dephens while Ivy took care of Artemisia. It wasn't an easy fight. I could see Ivy gaining in on the Cyrille, she was obviously better and stronger than Artemisia. I still couldn't believe that Artemisia had betrayed me like that. I couldn't believe that she had faked being my friend.

Lucian was also almost down, Aiden was winning that fight too. But, I was facing some difficulty. 5 Dephens were gaining on me. Just then, I saw Artemisia fall unconscious to the ground and Ivy run over and taking the Cyrille. I was too busy to see the other Dephen that was coming from behind Ivy.

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Ivy's POV

I just defeated the Defense department head. I just knocked out Artemisia. Feeling victorious but not wasting anytime I quickly ran towards the Cyrille. I had to take it before I went ahead to help Lydia. Aiden was also busy fighting the Minister. 

I ran over to the glass case and started doing the Magic Detection Charm. A normal lock charm came up which I broke in a second.

The glass box broke open as I finished with the spell, and there it was, The Cyrille was floating in front of me. I picked it up, it looked so normal that I couldn't believe it was something that could wipe out our whole race.

Just as I was to put it in my bag, I saw a shadow loom behind me. Unprepared, I quickly turned back to see who it was, and just then the Dephen pushed my hand into my chest.

I felt the needle enter me and puncture my heart. My knees shook as I felt the magic leave my body just as the poison spread through my veins. I called out for Lydia as I dropped to the ground, my knees finally giving out.

Lydia turned around as she heard me call her name. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw what was happening. She ran towards me, skidding to halt in front of me. 

Her dark brown eyes were the last thing I saw, and I felt everything leave my body.

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Lydia's POV

I looked behind me as I saw Ivy call my name. I turned around to see her on her knees, holding her hand out to me. Tears streamed down her face, tears of blood. My heart left my body as I saw the scene before me. I ran towards Ivy, forgetting about everything else. This could not be happening. This could not be happening. I slipped down by her side and took her head in my lap. 

'Please don't leave, Ivy please come back' I shout to her with tears rolling down my face. Ivy can't be gone, she can't be gone just like that. A purple light emerged from her, just like all those other peoples had. The light grew more and more as I felt her heart stop.

With my body shaking I got up and turned around, I opened my arms wide and focused on all the energy I could absorb. 

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Aiden's POV

I saw as Ivy dropped to her knees. I wanted to rush over to her but I knew that Lydia needed to do that more. And it was my duty to keep others away from her while she did. I fought the hardest I have ever fought before. I was fighting 5 Dephens at once now. I saw as Lydia dropped beside Ivy, constantly repeating something. My heart broke for her as I saw what was happening. There was no way Ivy could be saved now. It was over.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lydia get up and spread her arms. She closed her eyes and concentrated on something. Soon I saw light emanating from her, like I had never seen before. She was glowing gold, looking like an angel. Her eyes too burned gold as she turned to my side. By now all the dephens were standing still, looking at what was happening before them. 

I knew what she was doing. And I knew I had to get out of here. But I could not leave Ivy behind. Leaving the dephens, I quickly ran over to Ivy and picked up her lifeless form. I saw behind me in wonder as Lydia glowed like fire behind me. She was getting ready, but it was too late. I don't have time to leave anymore.

I ran over to a corner and shielded Ivy's body with mine, hoping with everything that my body would be able to endure Lydia's power.

 Even though I didn't see anything, I felt the fire burn my back. It felt worse than a fire, I tried to hold myself as long as I could. This was really hard, even for me. Just as I was about to give up, it stopped. The fire disappeared.

I turned around, dropping to my knees due to weakness and pain, at least nothing happened to Ivy. All around me, I saw burned corpses of dead Dephens, and the minister and Artemisia. Lydia was standing in the middle of the room. Her head down and her eyes closed.

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Lydia's POV

My soul left my body as all the power accumulated inside of me. I saw as I started glowing golden, as even my eyes turned gold. 

I saw as Aiden ran across the room and picked up Ivy, then ran to the corner of the room, as far away from me as he could. 

I saw as confusion clouded the faces of the Dephens. 

The power suddenly erupted around me, extending in all directions, it made the walls crack and the floor shake. I felt as the power incinerated the Dephens one by one, I felt it as I absorbed even their powers. I felt as the power scorched the dephen who had infected Ivy. 

As soon as Ivy's thought came into my mind, I felt something. I felt her. I felt her inside me. I could feel her, her power inside of me.

'Let go, let go Lydia. It's ok' I felt her soft voice inside of me. A glimmer hope came to me, but then suddenly everything went black and then I was inside my body again.

------------END------------

CHAPTER 15

My knees buckled under me as soon as I returned to my body and I dropped to the ground. I had no energy left, but I could still feel her inside me. 

I sat there for a second, looking around me. Looking at the destruction I had caused. Bodies were lying all around me. I saw Aiden sitting in the corner, looking very weak. I had no idea how he had survived this. Maybe it was because he was special like me. I tried to get up, but I was still too weak. So, I crawled over to them. Aiden looked at me with sadness in his eyes. I reached for Ivy and took her head in my lap.

'She's gone Lydia, you can't do anything about it' He says in a small voice, but I pretend that I don't hear him. I try to think, think as hard as I can about what I can do. Then I hear a voice inside me for the second time, but this time, it was a different voice. It was a sweet yet bold, caring yet stern voice.

'You can do it Lydia, you just have to try hard enough. She is inside you, and you can change that.' I try to recognize the voice but it's of no use.

I think about what I could do. I can't lose Ivy. She is my everything, she is my best friend, my sister, my family.

Suddenly, an idea comes to my mind and a flame of hope burns in my heart. 

If I could absorb power from somebody, then I could maybe put it back too. I turn towards Aiden with my eyes shining, 'I think I can cure her. I think I can bring her back' I tell him. He looks at me uncertainly and says, 

'Don't get your hopes up Lydia, we have to get out of here first.' He paused for a second before a look of alarm took over his face, 'There are people coming, rushing here. Many of them'

I look around me, trying to find another way out. But we were trapped, we were on the 30th floor, in a room with only one exit. We could not avoid them unless we disappeared.

Wait! That was it! We needed to disappear. I crawled as close to Ivy and Aiden as I could. When Aiden gave me a confused look I just reassured him with a glance. I used all the other energy that was left in me to put an invisibility charm on us. We were crammed into a corner, keeping as quite as we could when about 10 Dephens barged in. The looks of shock on their faces as soon as they saw what had happened in the room was priceless. Soon one of them spotted their Minister there and a tiny scream left her mouth. 

She pointed towards Lucian, who was lying just a few feet away from us. All of them rushed towards the Minister, one of them checked the minister's pulse and shook his head. Different emotions like hate, rage, and fear was set on their faces. A man who looked like he was in charge shouted, 'Seal the building! Whoever did this, couldn't have left this building. Search every part of the building.'

I look around at Aiden, having no idea what to do now. Now, he is the one who gives me a reassuring look. He first points to himself and then opens his hand, his palm towards me. As if saying, I will take care of everything now. 

Soon, the majority of the Dephens have left, just 2-3 of them are there, cleaning up the mess that we had made. We had no choice other than to wait till all the bodies were carried out. 

Suddenly Aiden's phone rings, he curses under his breath. A worker who was cleaning up, turns towards us, but then turns away again, thinking they imagined it.

Aiden answers his phone and I can hear a guy talking to him. Aiden answers yes two times before saying, 'we are still there'. I give him an alarming look. What was he doing!? Why was he giving our location away?

Just about a minute after this happened, a man comes into the room and makes all the workers leave, telling them to take a break. As soon as everyone is out, Aiden gets up. I hiss at him that I won't be able to keep him under the spell if he continues being a douchebag. He just says, 'he is my friend. It's ok' and walks out of the boundary of my spell. I see as he becomes visible to the man. 

'Diego!' Aiden exclaims happily and gives that man a hug. 

'You did this!? How?' Diego asks him with wide eyes. Aiden just shrugs and says, 'Me? Not really. I had help.' He looks towards me and says, 'You are safe, he will not do anything.' Still uncertain but trusting Aiden to a certain degree, I break the spell. 

Diego looks at me and first says, 'Pleasure to meet you' but then he notices Ivy and quickly runs towards her. His face turns a little white as he looks at me.

'I am so sorry for your loss' He says, and I can hear it in his voice that he means it. 

'Um, I think I can bring her back. I just need more time.' I say. He looks at me with uncertain eyes and slowly says, 'I guess I could get you some time.' My eyes lighten up as soon as he says this, I ask him,

'But, who are you? And why are you helping us?' He just gives me a small smile as Aiden replies, 'He was my assistant, but he was more a friend than a colleague.' 

I can see that they are friends, and Diego willing to take the risk to help us, shows that they are pretty good friends.

'I can help you, but you need to put that invisibility spell back on' I nod and tell him that I still have some power left to do that.

Aiden picks up Ivy and I put up the spell once again. As we go out of the room, following Diego, a worker comes up and asks, 'We are done with the break sir, may we go back now?' Diego just nods and moves along. We follow Diego into the lift, I was a little nervous due to our previous encounter in the lift, considering the fact that everyone is on alert now. But fortunately, no one entered the lift with us. 

We stepped out of the lift and into the basement. Diego has got a really posh car, a Porsche or something, but that was not really on my focus just then. We quickly all got into the back seat and Diego proceeded to the front. 

Diego got out of the basement and into the bright daylight. As Diego got the car out of the basement, I looked up at the building. I could see some of the busted windows and some smoke coming out of them. I didn't realize there was smoke still coming. 

I couldn't believe that I had done something like that. What had I become just then? Some kind of monster? 

We came to the exit gate and were stopped by the guard. 

'No one is allowed to leave yet sir' He says, but Diego replies

'I know, I am the Senior assistant to the minister, I have got to go inform his family about what happened.' Aiden snickered beside.

The guard looked unsure so Diego said, 'you can call them up, I am not sure if they will be pleased with your call at such a crucial time' He shrugs his shoulders as he says this. The guard thinks for a moment and finally lets us go.

As soon as we leave the gate, Aiden laughs loudly and says, 'Good one bro! The guard actually believed that Lucian had any family'. Diego also laughs, but I can't get myself to laugh, not as long as Ivy is not back. 

Diego takes us through the streets of Dephen land and into a very high tech part of the city. We stop in front of a very big villa. Diego gets out and opens the door for us. We get out and climb up the stairs of the luxurious mansion. 

It was even more flattering on the inside. Aiden quickly laid Ivy on a bed in a small bedroom upstairs. I was going to dive right into my magic but Aiden says, 'You need to take a break, or you will faint from exhaustion.' I see that he is right. Remembering all those days that I returned from work, exhausted, and Ivy was always there to take care of me. Tears form in my eyes as once again reality hits in the face.

Ivy is dead.

Suddenly, my head hits rock hard surface, I realize that Aiden is hugging me. Not able to control it anymore, I heave as all the hurt comes out of me. I cry my eyes out, hugging him hard. And he just sits there, waiting for me to calm down.

----------END------------

CHAPTER 16

After that, I took a shower and had some food. Diego left us, saying that nobody would be able to detect us here. We were safe here until we were ready to leave.

Aiden made us some pancakes while I went on to the computer to check out some more things about Astraea. 

I went on to many websites, trying to learn more about her powers. Maybe I could also see or use something that Astraea had used. There were many things like absorbing a dead beings power, giving back life to dead plants, obviously more power, and many more.

'So, how and what are you going to do?' asked Aiden, sounding genuinely curious as we sat down to have our pancakes. They were so warm and gooey and tasty that I forgot about Aiden for a second. I 'mmmm'ed as I sat eating my pancakes. 

'I asked you something' Aiden again says with an amused smile. 

'Oh yes! Sorry, these pancakes are just too good' I tell him and he smiles.

'So, I was thinking that maybe if I could absorb power and energy from things, then maybe I could put the power back in them.' I said in a low voice. Aiden looked at me for a second and says, 'How are you so sure that you can do this?' 

I look up at him and say, 'I am not. I don't know if I can do this' 

"I am going to help you in any way that I can' I smile at him as he says this.

After breakfast, we get up and head upstairs.  As we enter the room that we kept Ivy in, Aiden says, 'so, how are we going to do this?' I look at him giving him a surprised look, 'you are going to stay with me?'

'Obviously! You need all the support you can get' I am so touched right now. But as soon as I see Ivy's pale face, everything else gets out of my mind, and I can once again feel her inside me.

I go and sit down beside the bed, holding her hand in mine and I am reminded of our travel to Dephen Land. I should never have brought her here. This is all my fault. And I have got to make it right.

I focus on Ivy's presence inside of me. I try to contact her. I make a connection with her inside of me. As soon as I reach out, I feel he engulf me from within. It is as if we are one. I try to put her into her body, I try with every part of my being to put her soul in her body. But nothing happens. She just stays there. Just like that. I try for a few minutes before giving up and sitting back. Aiden asks me, 'What happened? Were you able to do it?' I give him a look and say, 'Would I look this unhappy if I did it?' 

'Oh yes, right' Looking kind of embarrassed. I try a few more times, but every time nothing happens. Ivy just stays inside me, as if she doesn't want to leave.

After about 5 tries, I huff and sit back down again, feeling frustrated. Aiden has been sitting there, just waiting patiently. I look at him, feeling my voice shake as I say, 'What if this doesn't work? What if I can't bring her back?' 

'NO, that will Not happen' He says, giving me a reassuring look, then after a few seconds he gets up and walks over to me, 'Have you ever tried absorbing energy from living beings? All you have is the dark energy of the dead. Maybe that is why it isn't happening.' I give him a dubious look and ask him.

'I am not sure I can do that, and even if I can, are you really willing to do this?' 

He gives me a serious look and says, 'Look Lydia, I know I may have come across as not a good guy, but trust me, seeing you both fight to keep each other safe these past few days has changed me. It's not about me becoming Minister anymore, it's about you, you getting back home safe. And if I can help you in any way, then I am going to be there'

Not expecting any of this I give him an astonished look. 'Don't look at me like that, just get on with it already' He says, giving a small laugh. I also give him a small smile and hold his left hand in mine. At the same time I hold Ivy's hand in my right one. 

I put all my concentration on reaching out to Aiden's energy. This past day, I have done so many unbelievable things, that when I feel Aiden's energy slowly seeping through my veins, it almost doesn't shock me. I absorb his energy for a few second and then let go, not wanting to kill him.

I focus on controlling the energy and gather it up together. The once again reaching out to Ivy, I combine the two as soon as I feel her. 

As the energy and power combine, I realize how incomplete had felt earlier. I now felt her with a full force. Without wasting any time, I quickly pass all the energy to Ivy. My eyes widen as I feel her presence slip away. I felt her leave my body. As soon as she left, I collapsed in a heap. And Aiden rushed over to me, keeping a hand on my shoulder to steady me he asks, 'What is it? Did you do it?'

I just give him a slight nod and that is enough for him to go over to Ivy. He feels her pulse and a bright smile covers his entire face as he nods his face.

He dashes towards me and picks me up. And then he kisses me- straight on the mouth. My eyes widen in surprise, but then I melt into him and kiss him back with everything I had left in me. 'You did it Lydia, you brought her back'

Just as we were in the moment, I hear a cough and a hoarse voice saying, 'Well, I didn't expect to see this when I wake up' 

I bolt towards her and crush her in a big hug, tears of happiness flowing out of my eyes. 

'Stop, I am still weak' she says, but hugs me back. I let her go and say, 'Don't ever do this to me, ever again. Or I am going to kill you myself' She just laughs and pulls me back into a hug.

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We let Ivy rest for a while and go back down.  As we were going down the staircase, Aiden turned towards me and said, 'I really meant what I did back there. I know I rejected you earlier' A blush appears to my cheeks as he says this, 'but that was because I was afraid.' 

I look at him, confused. 'You were afraid? Afraid of what?' 

'Of falling in love with a witch.' he then continues before I can say anything, 'I don't know what we are going to do in the future. What I know is that I really like you.' I look up in his eyes and say, 'Well, I really really like you too. And I am sure we will make this work.' and smile as he leans in for another kiss.

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Diego comes back in the evening, and exclaims, 'OH! You are much better looking when you are not dead' as he sees Ivy. Ivy blushes a crimson red and says, 'Well good to see you too Mr-?' 

'You can call me Diego' he says and we just laugh. We all sit down on the couch and dig into the cake and coffee that Diego had brought with him. As we are eating. Aiden asks, 

'Lydia, as much as I knew, the needle contained a virus, what happened to that?'  I avoid his eyes. Not wanting to talk about it. We hadn't told Ivy what I had done on the top floor yesterday.

Ivy also asks me curiously, 'Yes, I also want to know' I try to change the subject by saying, 'These are such good cakes Diego!' but all of them don't stop asking me.

'Ok, ok I will tell you what happened' After that I recited the happenings of last evening to Ivy, who I expected to be really horrified, but she only gave me a side hug. Showing me that she understood. 

I then continue, 'When I felt the energy of the Dephen that stabbed Ivy enter me, I felt to other things with it. One was Ivy's power as you all know.' I take a little pause just for affect and then continue,

'And I felt the virus. I felt it enter my body. But my power was just stronger than it was. My power overtook it and it was ejected among my onslaught. I don't know what happened to it after that.'

They all look at me in pure disbelief as I tell them this. Ivy says, 'You are starting to scare me a little' I look at her with sadness in my eyes.

She looks at me and quickly jumps up to come to me. She comes and gives me hug and says, 'I was just joking Lyds. I could never be scared of you.' Hearing her say Lyds again, it feels like a weight lifts off my chest.

----------END-------------

CHAPTER 17

We stayed at Diego's Villa for a few more days, waiting for the alarm of the people to go down. Still nobody knows who killed the minister, a witch and almost a dozen Dephens. The security had been increased, but since nothing else happened for more than a week, the hype slowly died out.

We were having a pretty good time at the house. It had top facilities and was hi-tech. It was mine and Ivy's dream house. Ivy was a little weak for the first 3 days but she is stronger now.

On the 9th day, Diego came back in the evening with some news. As soon as he entered he said, 'I have some major news for you guys' 

We all looked at him eagerly and asked him what had happened, he replied, 'Since the witches got the news of Artemisia's death, they have been contacting all the witches that had been sent to the Dephens land, and now only you two are the ones left to come back. They are calling you back.' He took a pause, waiting for it to sink in first and then continuing, 'And Aiden, our ministry is also looking for you, since the minister is dead and we don't have any other deputy minister, they want you to take the position.

I look at him and give him a smile. He was finally getting what he wanted. I get up and give him a hug, 'Congratulations Minister' I say, putting emphasis on the minister. He gives me a smile, but it doesn't seem as happy as I expected it to be.

'Lydia, we can't go back. You know we can't' Ivy reminds me, and just like that, my spirits went downhill.

We knew that going back was not safe for us. Our minister, Mr. Mason, had also been involved with Artemisia. Going back would mean death. But we don't know what we are going to do now. 

Suddenly an idea comes to me, but it also saddens me. It would mean that we would never get our old lives back. It would mean Ivy would not get to continue her research on the Dephens. In a small voice I say, 'We could maybe go to the island' 

Everyone turns to look at me in unison. 'I me- I mean it is just an idea' I say, unsure of myself. 

'I think it is the only suitable option you have got' Diego says. I look at Ivy, she is thinking about something, probably about her life if she had not come with me.

'I am ready. Let's do this!' Ivy suddenly says, and I am so overwhelmed by her readiness to accompany me that tears spring to my eyes. 

'I am so sorry Ivy, because of me you can't go back home anymore' I say, really meaning it. Ivy gives me a look saying that I am very dumb, 'Lydia, you have got to understand this. You are my home. I wouldn't go back without you even if I could' She smiles and gets up, 'Get up! We have some packing to do.' And with that we leave the boys discussing about the position of minister. 

We go to the upstairs bedroom that we had been using, as soon as we enter I realize that we actually don't have much packing to do. So I go sit on the bed and say, 'I don't know how and when our lives got this complicated.' 

'I know! One second I am living a normal life and the next I am a wanted fugitive in my own land' She says laughing.

'How are you not taking this seriously? Our lives are seriously messed up!' I tell her. At that she says, 'So what if it is messed up? If you can bring me back from the dead, then you can do anything. And I think we will be fine on the Island. Many people go there to live.'

I nod at her. She was actually right. I guess it wasn't that bad. While I was lost in thought Ivy asked, 'What about you and Aiden?' When I didn't hear her, she came and sat down beside me. Nudging my shoulder, she once again asked, 'What about you and Aiden?'

I had actually thought about this before. Thinking about the fact that the last week had brought us even closer, and I didn't want to leave him. I just kept my head on Ivy's shoulder and said, 'I don't know. I don't want to leave him, but we obviously can't stay here. And being minister to him is very important, I can't ask him to give that up just for a girl he met 2 weeks ago.'

Ivy just nods and hugs me.

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We plan to leave the next morning at the same time as when Aiden leaves to take his position as Minister. 

I lie awake in bed all night. Thinking about the next day. Tomorrow would be a new start for Ivy and me. We were going to a whole new place, where we can't even use our magic. But I guess it wouldn't be that bad, considering Ivy would be there with me.

We had decided that the Island was really the best place for us because even though my powers were cool and all, they were really dangerous. After what had happened, we could very well say that the powers were not under my control. So, not using them at all was the best option, and the Island was the best option for that.

After breakfast, Ivy and I went up and got out duffel bags. Aiden and Diego were going to take us till the Island-Dephen border. We all loaded up in the car and set off. Ivy sat in the front seat with Diego driving. That left Aiden and me sitting in the back. 

'You are going to call every day?' he asked me.

I reply, 'Yes, and you are going to try and meet me sometimes?' 

He scrunches his nose and says, 'I don't know if I will be able to get that into my schedule. Sorry, busy being the minister.' I punch him in the shoulder with a smile on my face and he just laughs. Gosh, I was going to miss him!

It takes us about an hour to reach the border. As soon as I saw the island, my stomach started to churn. The island was a place I had always dreamed of going. And now I was actually going to go live there.

The car stopped and we all got out. Aiden came over to my side and held both my hands in his. He said, 'thank you for the past few days Lydia. It's been a pleasure. Please keep in touch' and gives me long hug. Tears burn behind my eyelids but I stop them from coming out. I will not cry today!

'Bye Aiden' I say in a small voice. It takes all my energy to say those two words. Diego gives us both a hug and Ivy gives Aiden a hug and wishes him luck.

Aiden and I share a last kiss and then we part ways.

----------------END---------------

EPILOGUE

Ivy and I have been living on the Island for 2 months now. We got a small house that we share near the outskirts of the city. It is just a small hut. Things are a lot more affordable here than in the witch land. We have been getting off pretty good. 

I work at a cafe in the busy part of the island. I was kind of surprised when I realized that I really like working at the cafe. I get to meet so many new people.

We have some werewolf neighbours, and I meet so many different kinds of vampires, werewolves, dephens, and witches at work. All of them so excited to be magic free. I hear different kinds of stories about their lives and I am really happy here.

Ivy has become a manager at a big hotel. She has got a really nice salary too. Ivy has also been loving her new job. Everything has been going really good. My powers haven't resurfaced, we have many new friends, a stable life that we like. There is only one problem.

I can't forget Aiden. I thought that it was just a normal crush that would go away with time. But I still can't help reading in the newspaper everyday about how the Dephens are really happy with their new minister. I hear about all the good things he has done for his kind. Since he became minister, he was successful in stopping the death of the previous minister from becoming a big deal. We still call each other every day. He tells me all about what he did that day and I tell him about all the people that I met.

I really miss him a lot. I really want to meet him.

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I climb into Ivy's bed, having had a tiring day. On days like this, we just put on a movie and order some food in. The best thing is, that we found a restaurant as good as the one back home. 

'Feeling ok?' Ivy asks me, I just give her a smile and say, 

'Busy day at work. That's all' Just as Ivy is about to start the movie, my phone rings. I quickly jump up, knowing who it is. I give Ivy an apologetic look and dash out of her room and into my own. I flop down on the bed, clicking on the accept button. 'Helloo' I say in a sing song voice, already feeling gleeful. 

I can hear him smile as he says, 'Hello beautiful, how was your day?' He sounded extra happy today. So I said, 'Mine was ok, what about yours? You sound happy.' 

'Oh, Do I? It's nothing. Tell me about your day' He quickly changes his tone, which seems suspicious to me but I just let it go. I tell him about the sweet little werewolf girl that I had met at the cafe today, and how I had watched as a Dephen family celebrated their youngest born's birthday. I love telling him about my day, I love to hear all the oohhhs and aahhhhs. 

'Tell me about yours, what good thing did you do today?' I ask him after reciting my whole day to him. He thinks for a second and then says,

'I made a really big decision today, and I am really happy about it' he says. This makes me curious and I ask him what decision he had made, to which he just tortures me and says, 'You will know in tomorrow's paper'

Aiden often makes fun of me for reading about him every day in the paper. He tortures me by telling me to read about it the next morning and makes me wait the whole night. That gives me reason to call him in the morning though.

We talk for a little more time and then hang up. I walk back into Ivy's room to start with the movie but see that she is half asleep. I tuck the blankets around her and shut the light before leaving the room.

I walk downstairs into the kitchen and make myself some cheese sandwiches. After that I too go back to bed.

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The next day, I wake up early in the morning, get ready and wake up Ivy too. We both have breakfast in the morning and then leave for work together.

I make us some cereal and get the paper. I have still not forgotten about yesterday's call and quickly open the paper to the Dephens page. Ivy walks down as I open the newspaper. 

My eyes widen and the paper slips from my hand as I read the top headline-

                                      'Minister Aiden resigns from his position- Giving his position to                                                                                         his current Senior Assistant, Mr. Diego'

Ivy walks up behind me to see what has shocked me so much. She also gasps as she sees the headline. I am just about to pick up my phone to call Aiden when the phone itself rings, and Aiden's name comes on the screen. As soon as I pick up, I shout, 

'What the hell Aiden!? Why did you that? Without telling me at that.' I say feeling upset that he didn't tell me about this earlier.

'Stop shouting, I can hear you even outside your door' He says, and it takes me a minute to realize what that means. There is no way this is happening. I quickly get up from the stool and run outside my hut. Just as I get out, I see him, just standing there. I rush towards him and tackle him with a hug. I bury my nose in his neck, feeling thrilled after seeing him after such a long time. He picks me up and hugs me back. After some time, I finally detach myself from him and say, 'I- This- How- What-' I try to form a sentence but I am literally out of words for what to say.

He laughs and says, 'Yes I am really here.' But then I remember what I had read in the newspaper just a few minutes back.

I push myself away from him and ask him, 'what was with you resigning!? Why did you do that?' suddenly feeling a little upset again. 

'Can we first go inside?' He asks, I look around to see that people have gathered around, saying things like, 'Isn't that the Dephen Minister?' 'What is he doing here?' So we quickly go inside. As we walk into the house, I see Aiden checking it out. I suddenly get nervous. What is it with my emotions today!? They are all over the place!

We both enter the kitchen and sit down at the table where Ivy had receded to, giving us some privacy. Ivy gives Aiden a big smile and says, 'It's good seeing you' Aiden replies with a 'same' and a smile. 

'You going to tell me what's up or not?' I ask him. 

'Welll, I guess I just want you more than I want my job' He says, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. 'So, you can just visit me, you didn't need to resign from your freaking job'

He gives me an exasperated look and I hear Ivy snicker behind me. I turn to look at her and ask, 'What are you snickering about?' 

Aiden turns me around, with his hands on my shoulder and says, 'I am moving here with you dumbo.' with a warm look on his face. My mouth drops open when I say him say that. 

I jump up in excitement as I ask him, 'Are you serious Aiden!? Please tell me you are not joking' 

He gives a small laugh and says, 'No, I am not joking. I am moving here with you because I love you'

I look up into his eyes and say, 'I love you too'

----------------------------------------THE END--------------------------------------------