Skye POV 

Family. Such a fickle flame. One minute there's everyone, the next you are staring at someone you used to love, the blood of your sister on her blade.

I'm kinda glad Evangeline scared Aeron off. It was always awkward whenever we were in the same room. Ever since that night, things were tense between us.

She was nice. My sister, I mean. Yeah, she had secrets, some I don't know even now, but I miss her. She was the best sister possible.

I could still remember it, the fun times we had...

<flashback>

"You've got dirt on your nose." Rowena chuckled, pulling her sleeve over her hand and rubbing my nose, much to my protests. "You go hide, Bluebird, Aeron's gonna come find us soon."

I nodded, running off and climbing up a tree, ignoring as the leaves tickled my hair, twigs tangling themselves into the messy black waves. Glancing down, I could see Pri, crouched in a bush not to far away. Aeres was hiding behind a tree and Rowena had jumped into a pit not too far from where Aeron had her hands over his eyes, counting quietly.

I held my breath, scared of accidentally letting any sound out that would alert Aeron of my presence. I know nothing would happen, but when you're young you take games so seriously.

Aeron's green eyes filled the forest, twinkling bright and happy. They scanned the trees, eyes catching sight of the flash of purple that was Aeres' jumper. They ignored it, either passing it off as a trick of the light or wanting to let her get a better chance of winning.

Instead, she hurried towards the ditch, skidding down the brown dirt wall and kicking up a lot of dust behind him. A sharp laugh came from the ditch, followed by a groan coming from my older sister.

"Found ya, Crow!" Aeron giggled, helping her up and brushing the twigs out of her long white hair.

Rowena groaned, playfully punching Aeron's arm. They were so cute together. It's a shame what happened...

Aeron and Rowena split up, searching the forest floor for me, Pri, and Aeres. They wouldn't find me, they wouldn't think to look up.

Aeres was the next to be found, the shout of joy mingling with exasperation that escaped her never left me, even after what happened. The feeling of home I felt when she was near, unrivalled. Best friends do that for ya.

The three spent a good five minutes looking for young Pri. Eventually, Rowena found her, crouched in a bush.

"God, you look worse than me." Rowena chuckled, picking the leaves out of their hair. Dirt smudged both their faces, but they didn't care.

My breath hitched as I realised that they would be looking for me next. I tried to stay as still as I could, lips pursed tightly to stop any sound escaping them.

"Check the trees." Aeres suggested. Her Iwyan accent wasn't as strong as Aeron's, but it still was present. The way her vowels were stretched and she sounded like she was about to burst into song.

Rowena's accent was massively different. Her and I, along with Pri and most other people who had travelled to the Land Beyond, bar Aalto and Hyperion, had grown up in the capital, Aintra. Our accents were similar, but the differences were there. Rowena always rolled her r's and made her words sound much shorter than they were.

It's funny how much you can tell from someone purely from how they speak, isn't it.

Aeron smiled, ruffling Aeres' hair like he always did with mine. "Good thinking, daffodil."

He shrugged his hoodie off, handing it to Pri who took it, wrapping it around themselves. "Why must your hoodies be so comfy?"

Rowena chuckled. "Why do you think I always steal her clothes?"

It was hard to tell from here, but dark purple marks scattered Aeron's arms, along with a few thin red lines. I saw Rowena's eyes narrow, bright purple eyes almost black with how thin they looked.

Aeron scaled the tree opposite mine, finding hand holds and foot holds even the most experienced climber wouldn't have been able to find. His black hair whipped around faer face, obscuring their vision.

Once they were confident enough on a branch, they turned away from the trunk, gazing at the surrounding trees from a better vantage point.

Their green eyes locked with mine, the corners turned up in a smile. "Found ya." He chuckled.

I sighed, the muscles I hadn't even noticed I was tensing relaxing. "Screw you, Aeron." I sneered, climbing carefully down the tree, knuckles white from how tight I held onto the branches.

Once I was down, I hurried over to Aeres and Pri, smiling. I couldn't believe I had won! Pri's soft brown eyes widened as she threw their arms around me. "Well done!"

I chuckled, pulling Aeres into the hug so the threw of us were squeezing the living shit out of each other.

Over the sound of Pri and Aeres giggling, I heard a snippet of what Rowena and Aeron were talking about.

"Aeron, you need to tell me if you're in danger." The low and caring voice of my sister said. Without looking, I could hear the frown in her voice.

"I'm fine, Crow-"

"Eri, these consistent bruises and cuts aren't normal. Please, talk to me, talk to us."

"Crow-"

"Think of what the constant fights could mean for you. How're you doing in school, what grade did you get in biology?"

Aeron paused. "C..."

"Aeron, please take a break and focus on school life. Your job isn't worth the pain, ok?"

He sighed, wrapping her strong arms around Rowena. "I'll try." 

But the past is the past, and we can't change that. What we can do, however, is change the future.

Aeron may have been fine and secure back then, but he certainly isn't now, or he certainly won't be soon.

Not when me and Evangeline are here.

Not when we need revenge.