A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Her back against the trunk of the tree, she heard banging. She could hear Tarhuinn calling out her name in her head. Will was saying something next to her, but it was far too quiet for her to understand it. Vision was dark for her, but before she panicked, she realized that it was only due to her eyelids being closed. For a brief time, she must have lost consciousness, but the effects of the tree brought her back to her senses probably quicker than Will had anticipated.

She closed her left eyelid again and kept her right eye open only a little bit. Peering upwards, she noticed that Will was dropping a few leaves into a small glass jar. He capped it and placed it into presumably a shirt pocket. Another tiny container was removed from his person before he filled it with some water at the base. Once finished with that one, he continued with his muttering. His right foot tapped in the water as he examined the tree.

His back turned to her slightly before he crouched and pushed some of the water aside. A few of the tree's roots revealed themselves. Having an idea of what he was debating, she waited until he lowered himself closer. Will's back was completely to her now. It helped further that he pushed the water around as it drowned out her movement somewhat. While she changed positions, she briefly analyzed him for a weapon, but she, unfortunately, didn't see one.

(F/n) stood behind him and waited for him to stand. Time passed slowly, and she felt like ages had passed before he stood back up. His gaze looked to his right, but she mainly focused on the fact that his height put him directly in front of some branches. Wasting no time, she threw her hands out and shoved them against his back.

Caught off guard, he lost his balance for a split moment, but that was enough. The branch pierced through his chest, and crimson was coughed up from his throat. His hand reached up to the branch, but she pushed him forward more. More red decorated the area. This time, his hand aimed towards her. His already slow ability to fight becoming even more so, she managed to grab a hold of him beforehand. Her whole lower half was lifted into the air, but she wasn't thrown far away into the water.

When the wind vanished, she heard his breathing become slower. His hand reached down to hers, but she pulled them back before he could cause any damage to them. She rammed herself into his back again, and she thought that she had killed him that time; however, she noticed that he was losing too little of blood given the circumstance.

Looking to the wound, she saw that the tree was stopping the bleeding. It couldn't completely heal him, though, since it was in the way of itself. This did give Will somewhat of a fighting chance, so she hit him again as hard as she could. Red ran down the branch and dripped into the pool. "Bl-bluebell, ... y-you surpr-ise me ... I didn't th-think y-ou capa-ble ... of su-such a d-eath." She ignored him and knew that the branch must be close to his heart now.

As she was about to shove him again, he reached behind himself and grabbed her left wrist. Utilizing the last of his physical strength, he tugged her around him until his left arm wrapped around her waist. Her wrist was pressed against his chest, and a grin painted his lips. "Bu-but, you st ... -ill fai-led."

Forcibly, he pressed his lips to hers, and she could hear Tarhuinn shout out her name. Even with the tree, she slightly winced from it, but she regained her focus. None of her gave any attention to the kiss; she had other things to worry about. Will needed to die. He went to take a step back, but she secured her free arm around his waist and pushed him forward.

What she assumed to be blood ran down her lips, and she wanted to instantly wipe her mouth clean. Will, however, persisted and didn't break the kiss. Teeth snapped down on her bottom lip, and a yelp exited her before the taste of metal swept through her mouth. Disgusted completely, she retaliated and bit down on his tongue hard. This time, a cry left from him. The kiss broke as she wrenched herself away.

Despite this, his green eyes gleamed with malevolent amusement. His lips curled up more. The bloodied, wide grin caused him to become utterly terrifying. If she weren't by the tree, she probably would've run. She did miss a step, though. His lips parted as if he wished to speak but no words came out. It would probably be a few more moments before his tongue would be back to normal.

Expectorating the blood from her mouth, she wiped the remaining from her lips and returned his maddening smile with a forbidding scowl. Eyes lit up, he extended out his right hand to the tree. "Die soon, Bluebell," he mouthed, and her eyes widened.

"No!" she screamed but knew better than to run towards him. A heated, large blast thundered throughout the area, and she was thrown back. Water splashed up around her as waves came crashing down. Darkness began to envelope the area while the shimmery waters started to recede. Her mind entered a panic as the tree's effects withered. She could feel them lightly, but they weren't enough to do much.

Realizing that she was sinking, she composed herself and swam to the surface. Cold began to ensnare her as her teeth started to chatter. Arms wrapped around her, and she nearly thought for a moment that Will had survived, but she recognized Tarhuinn's firm, yet comforting hold. She could feel his warmth, and she cuddled into him.

Air greeted her lungs as she took a deep breath and exhaled. Her sight was poor as the tree's light was now close to being nonexistent. Where the tree had once stood, though, she was just able to spot things bobbing in the water, and they didn't belong to the tree. The sight would've made her sick had she not seen countless other horrors that day.

Turning away, she lightly clutched Tarhuinn's shirt. "What ... d-do we do?" Her voice no longer could remain calm. The tree had been destroyed. Even the leaves were blown to dust from the blast.

Arms remained around her comfortingly. "It's not completely dark in here."

"I know, but it'll be soon." She rested her head against his chest. "It wa-was all f-for no-nothing," she choked up, sobs of frustration beginning to break free. Her grip grew tighter, and she was glad that her wrist had been healed enough before the tragic incident. "I'm s-s-s-so sor-sorr..."

"(F/n), it won't fade away. We still have what we came for." Steadily, she looked up to him. She noticed his reassuring smile, but before she could ask what he meant, she was scooped up out of the water and into his arms. Being out of the frigid water was welcome, and her tears dried up at what she saw.

Tarhuinn was right. Beneath the surface of the water, a miniscule pool of shimmery water remained. Some of the roots must've survived. He directed her eyes to two small bottles some ways away from the roots. Leaves and the water remained intact inside. Will must've used some magic to strengthen the glass. Otherwise, those would've been obliterated.

Walking through the water, he voiced, "We'll keep the bottles for ourselves. After all of this, I'll not have you die when our child turns two. As for the roots, we'll transport them back to the first complex and have the tree grow back to its former glory. Until then, everyone should still be able to extend their lives somewhat. If possible, we can grow a second and third for the other complexes, but that's not important right now."

Stopping, he leaned down and kissed her. It was short, but it contained all the passion from their previous ones. "We need to get you some warmer clothes. I'm sure that the authors won't mind us taking some of their things. We'll burn them after we return home and those books."

Simply, she nodded and rested her head against his chest. She was utterly exhausted, and she wanted a warm meal, but she didn't desire to stay any longer than necessary in the authors' home. There were still spies around, and they would have to be wary of them. With their masters gone, they had no idea what to expect. Some of the spies might have left already, but some would most likely try to kill them.

Even with this in mind, she could feel a smile forming on her lips. The authors were gone, Will was dead and they could return home. They still had to return the bodies of the authors to the mermaids, and that involved entering Will's storage room, but that was nothing in comparison to what they had accomplished. Several weights had been lifted off of her shoulders at once, and she had been the one technically to deal the final blow to Will. She had ended the possibility of that nightmare ever coming true. That was enough to make her giddy for a year if not longer. Tarhuinn would never hear the end of it, and if he were lucky, he might get some credit attributed to Will's death.

Setting her down in the water, Tarhuinn went to work on removing the roots from the ground. She maintained her small, victory smile as she bent down and helped him. It aided in keeping her mind off of the biting cold. His dark blues glanced to her momentarily. "I think that I've decided to train you."

Surprised by this, she asked, "You mean it?!" The excitement in her voice was hard to contain.

"Yes." His gaze grew a little serious. "I grew jealous with how you were fighting the authors and that mage." She caught his eyes doing another take of her current state. There was an evident frown on his lips, and an immense wave of heat overtook her cheeks. Now really looking at herself, she hadn't noticed how bad things were. Her soaked clothes clung to her so much that she was practically on display. Instantly, she wrapped the ruined shirt around her as if that would help.

"Thank you for the opportunity," she meekly replied as she clutched the cloth more, "but, please, let's just hurry up here." She couldn't meet his gaze anymore even though she had been running around in her present condition for some time, but it was embarrassing given how he pointed out his opinion so honestly. Is that why his fighting had sometimes been slower? Was he watching more than just her combat skills? Shaking her head, she was swooped up again.

"For our fighting, you'll be wearing something that'll keep you much warmer," he reassured, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. (F/n) could tell, though, that he was smirking somewhat, but she let it slide. She would just make sure to beat him in the first fight. That thought caused a smirk of her own to form.