Evabelle could still feel the wind, taste the sweet air on her tongue. Her body still felt miles of the ground when her eyes slowly fluttered open. One of the biggest grins that she had had on in a long time remained glued to her face as she pushed herself up from the bed.

It was still dark outside, but when Evabelle pulled aside the drapes, she could just see the pale lavender-blue seeping across the horizon. Her smile grew as she gave a silent laugh of delight. It had been a while since she'd watched the sunrise. Pushing open the window allowed the cool air to stream in, but Evabelle pressed on. She leaned out her window and took note of the wide berth of roof in front of her. This day just kept getting better and better.

Still in the sugar smelling pajamas that the elves had provided for her, Evabelle clambered through her window and stood outside, taking in the colors slowly painting themselves across the sky as the sun pushed away the darkness.

Slowly, the early bird sank down, curling up, bringing her knees to her chest and smiled as the day erased the night. Back at her old apartment with her mom and brother, she'd quite often be up early enough to witness this, but she could never remember it being quite as stunning at this one was. However, she could also remember when her mom and Thom had woken up and had come to sit silently beside her to watch. The constant ache she held for them intensified for a moment. Evabelle breathed in deep and let it out slowly. At least they were safe.

After a while, which could have been two minutes or two hours, a knock sounded on her bedroom door back inside. Evabelle turned as she heard an unfamiliar voice say. "Princess Evabelle, may I enter?"

Evabelle scrambled back through the window and slid it shut. "Yes, yes come in," she replied, a little rushed.

The door swung open, revealing a shimmering, silver haired elf woman, holding pale blue satiny robes. "These will be your garments for the ceremony, this morning after a small breakfast. After the crowning is complete, you will return here for your fitting for the festival."

Evabelle stumbled forward. "O-okay," she stammered like an idiot, taking the clothes from the woman's arms.

The elf nodded and glanced down at Evabelle's leg then raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything as she turned and left the room. The slightly frazzled girl closed the door behind the woman, still a little off guard after being pulled so suddenly from her thoughts. She backed up until she was able to sit on the bed again, only to realize, she'd forgotten to ask where the ceremony would be taking place. Hopefully she could find the others and maybe have that breakfast with them.

Setting aside the robe Evabelle began to undo the buttons on her shirt, when she saw a long jagged tear across the left shin of her pajama pants. She must have gotten it on the window sill when she'd climbed back in. That must have been why the elf lady had given her that odd look. Evabelle sighed and shook her head, and finished undressing and put on the white slip she found within the blue robes, which, when she had pulled that on, reminded her of the gowns that graduating students wore. It had the broad shoulders that flared a little and the rest went straight down just above her ankles. A thin silver trim went down in two parallel lines on the front and around the collar and sleeves. Also found within its folds, a pair of matching slippers, which fit nice and snug over cold toes.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, another knock sounded. Quickly, Evabelle ran a comb through her hair, and started a braid as she ran to get the door.

A small wild haired blonde waited behind the wood, wearing an exact copy of the blue and silver gown that Evabelle wore. Although Aza's was smaller, but not quite small enough as it went past her ankles and just lightly brushed the floor.

The moment those silvery eyes met with the honey-brown, Evabelle's friend cupped her hands around her mouth and began to chant, "Buuuuuh, buh, buh, buh, buuuuh, buh," The tune Evabelle instantly recognized as the one they always played at graduations.

Evabelle chuckled. "So apparently, I'm not the only one who thought these robes look like that."

Aza lowered her hands and grinned. "Hey, who knows if we'll ever get the chance at this point? This way we can take a selfie in front of the castle and say we graduated from Hogwarts."

"This castle doesn't look anything like Hogwarts." Evabelle shook her head and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"Fine, party pooper. We can say we graduated from the magical school of elves, angels, and fairies, that's called..." She waved her hand around a moment, trying to come up with a name. "The school...um...Pignipples!" Aza finished.

Evabelle burst out laughing. "Pignipples?"

Aza gave a playful hit. "Oh, come on. The actual school is called Hogwarts for goodness sake. Pignipples, Hogwarts, same difference."

Evabelle wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh I can see it now, all the poor mupples complaining about not getting their letters to Pignipples."

"Mupples?" Aza put her hands on her hips, a devilish smirk playing across her lips.

"Mupples, muggles, same difference." Evabelle grinned.

Aza opened her mouth, but was cut short as the sound of other voices further down the hall reached the two of them.

"It's a royal ceremony. A high honor for us, and of great importance to our friend. The least you could do is comb it away from your face."

"No. No matter how many times you ask me, you know the answer. My hair, not yours."

Evabelle and Aza turned to see the twins of light and darkness strolling toward them, wearing the same pale gowns just like they were. Del strode determinedly ahead, his head slumped forward keeping his pitch black locks swaying in front of his face.

Lucis followed, his own hair parted on the side in a clean, proper manner. "Del, it's just for one day."

Del passed between the girls without glancing at them and began descending the stairs. "You're not my mother, Lucy." He called behind him.

Lucis paused beside Evabelle and Aza, his lips pressed together. He shook his head and focused on the two of them. "He knows how much I hate being called that."

"Just call him Delilah. I know how much he loves that." Aza suggested.

Lucis smirked. "Oh, I know too. So, sorry for that. Del's already not in a great mood over the clothing arrangements."

"Let me guess, not enough black." Aza muttered.

Lucis shrugged. "That's probably part of it; the other being that our wings aren't allowed to be showing." Lucis pulled at the blue garment. "No slits for special ceremony gown." He dropped his hand to his side and shook his head again. "But anyway, good morning, girls."

Evabelle beamed at him. "It really is,"

Lucis blinked at her in surprise. "Someone's feeling pretty happy this morning."

She nodded. "I really am. I have a feeling this is going to be a good day."

Aza swung her arm over her shoulders. "That's the spirit!"

"Yes, good spirits are excellent," Lucis nodded, glancing down at a watch around his wrist. "But we need to hurry and grab something before we need to be in the gardens."

"Gardens?" Evabelle asked.

Lucis gently pressed his hands against both girl's backs, guiding them down the stairs, as his touch sent a small trill down Evabelle's spine. "Yes, it's where the ceremony takes place."

"Gardens, as in outside gardens?" Aza scrunched her face. "But the sun is outside."

"I'd say that's probably on purpose. Not many can stand that kind of intensity. The only way to survive having the sun indoors was if there was someone even hotter that the big beautiful ball of light to counteract it." A messy haired, crooked smiling face appeared beside Evabelle as the mischievous Anahalian slowly slid down the banister.

"You're going to tear the robe." Evabelle told him.

Faux chuckled and hopped off. "Don't you be mothering me, Princess. You don't want end up like dear Lucy here."

Lucis gave a huff as Faux skittered down the rest of the steps, ahead of them. "That's just super."

"But wait," Evabelle caught on to what Aza had been asking. "If the ceremony takes place outside, well, I mean... it can't, because Kai can't go out into the sun."

"I'm sure they've figured it all out. It takes place under a ceremonial baldachin, so it's not exactly outside." Lucis replied, steering the girls to the kitchen, where it looked like most of the food, that had been placed out, had been thoroughly picked over.

"Baldawhat?" Aza asked, as she began grabbing as many golden flaky croissant things as she could before Lucis pushed them past them all.

"Baldachin, like a canopy." Evabelle replied and then to Lucis asked. "But will that be enough?"

"Trust me, everything will be fine." The Anahalian replied, snatching a vine of those delicious rekaberries. "You guys got everything you want? We're going to have to eat on the way."

Aza handed Evabelle a few croissants and they nodded.

Out of the kitchen, and out a back door, the three of them made their way through the far more welcoming forested grounds than the ones Evabelle and Lucis had been forced to traverse the night before. But they had also been blindfolded, so that might also help a bit.

A little ways from the castle, Evabelle turned to look at it, and then tapped Aza on the shoulder.

"What?"

Evabelle pointed. Both Aza and Lucis turned and stared at the beautiful building. The sun sparkled off of it making it appear to be made of glass rather than wood. That impression of crystal that Evabelle had thought before only solidified as the light bounded off of it making almost look like it was glowing from within its center.

Aza shook her head, giving a whistle. "We've seriously got to take a selfie of us in front of that."

Suddenly a group of elves bustled their way through the three onlookers, startling them out of their reverie. "Come on, we've got to hurry. We want to get good seats." Lucis started them after the elves, making their way down the path again.

As they reached an incline, Evabelle finally noticed the strange formation of trees going parallel to their trail. "What's that?" The moment the question left her lips she had a feeling she already knew. It looked like hundreds of trees arching over creating a covered path. "That's how Kai's getting to this isn't it?"

Lucis looked over and nodded. "That'd be my guess."

"How'd they get the trees to grow like that?" Aza wondered.

"Elves have good relationships with the plants they grow here." Lucis responded.

Aza chuckled. "Oh, so they just asked nicely. Naturally,"

Lucis shrugged. "Asked nicely in a magical language. Ah, this should be it."

The biggest yellow, leafed baldachin Evabelle had ever seen, stretched out before them. It was more of an enormous tent that was at least twenty feet tall and seemed to extend two football fields. The three of them followed the group of elves under the curtain into the teeming interior.

All the elves bustled about, murmuring to one another, filling the canopied room with a low buzz. Most of them were currently standing, but some sat in white, wood chairs that were set in rows all the way up to the front where the earth rose on an incline like nature's stage. Evabelle's eyes continued to rove and she drank in all the pale robes and pointed ears, but she realized that elves were not the only creatures present. Fairies hovered all around, more than she had ever seen before. Some spoke amongst themselves and others to the elves. Unnaturally tall and graceful individuals that her eyes nearly past over as they blended in with the trees, she recognized from 'Day and Night' as nymphs. There were also creatures that were quite the opposite of the nymphs that were rather short and stood out like a bunch of punk rockers at a fancy white collar meeting. Their hair stood up in absurdly bright colors, ranging from pink to green (reminding Evabelle of the cotton candy elf from the night before) with eyes, lacking the normal white sclera, swapped with a dark brownish color, but with that same neon like irises. Those had to be sprites, representing uniqueness and individuality. And to Evabelle's surprise, strange pools of water, very out of place, on the outside of the rows of chairs resided beautiful shimmery men and women that she recognized as merpeople.

"Did everyone show up for this thing?" Aza asked beside Evabelle.

"This ceremony is a big event." Lucis replied. Even he sounded a little surprised. "Important officials from all angel borns usually show up for this."

"Do they know that Kai's a vampire?" Evabelle asked. She glanced at the expressions of the merpeople as they spoke to a group of elves. They were noticeably frowning and shaking their heads. The nymphs didn't appear to be joining in with the socializing so much, they stayed back in the corners with their arms crossed faces impassive. The sprites acted fine and excited, jabbering away to each other, however, Evabelle could sense their nervousness. And the fairies, and now Evabelle notices pixies as well flying amongst them, seemed uncomfortable and unsure.

"That's probably a good assumption." Lucis replied.

From way up in the front of the tent an arm connected to a gangly red-headed man waved furiously at them, trying to get their attention.

The three made their way up there, weaving through the crowd, receiving some questionable looks, Evabelle did her best to ignore. When they finally reached Faux and Del, who sat with his arms folded in a chair beside the lanky man, they were a little out of breath.

"How'd you get such good seats?" Lucis asked, sliding down the row that was literally the second row under the enormous baldachin. The first row, Evabelle noted, was empty.

"It was reserved for us." Faux replied. "Being close friends of the prince got us special chairs." He grinned. "It feels nice to be appreciated."

Del gave a huff and rolled his eyes. "And it gets better," he grumbled. "After this, at that stupid party, as Kai's special friends, we get to start the dance with him."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, a jittery elf guy came over and told us that traditionally, after the prince or princess is crowned heir, they have their celebration party ball thing," Faux began. "And usually, three couples, with one including the Heir, shall enter the room and begin some special dance. These couples are normally chosen by the Heir, himself. And it seems as his 'special' friends, as Del so eloquently put, we've been the ones chosen."

"It's like the Yule Ball." Evabelle murmured softly.

Lucis chuckled beside her. "Yeah," whispered, then a little louder, to everyone else. "I didn't know about this, but I also have to say, isn't there too many of us?"

"I guess not all of us will get to." Faux shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"I volunteer opting out for this." Del raised his hand.

Faux turned and looked down at him. "I doubt that you'd be the one getting out of it, with you being the honorable oracle and all."

Del clenched his jaw. "Shut up." he snapped.

A progressive hush rippled across the room. Elves, sprites, and nymphs took their seats. Merpeople swam to the fronts of their pools, and the fairies and pixies flew up to the ceiling landing on twirling branches above, dimming their glow, leading Evabelle to realize that this leafy room was completely lit by the little creatures. The domed shape of the baldachin and the little spread out lights from the small winged beings creating a star-like illusion, made Evabelle feel like they were in a fancy astronomer's observatory.

Suddenly the fairies that lined up the center of the ceiling burned bright again, directing their glow on the center isle that lacked a miniature pond for the aquatic individuals. Evabelle and the others craned their necks to see a line of elves making their way up that isle lead by a small child with golden, curled, flowing hair and wide milky eyes. A smile so wide on those round rosy cheeks made the girl appear to add to the glow that the fairies laid on her. Beyond the shining Gem there were elves that Evabelle didn't recognize. There was a woman with olive skin and thick red root hair weaved in an elaborate way on top of her head, and another girl who was almost as tall as the nymphs, her hair long and straight all the way down past her waist.

Two male elves followed behind as well. The first one was fairly average with a similar oriental look as the elf that had helped heal Aza. He had a long black braid that also passed his waist. The last elf was actually a little broader than the others. He wore light armor over the robes that everyone wore and a simple knight's helmet rested on his dark blue hair that appeared to be pulled up inside it. Opposed to the darker skinned woman in front, he had ivory skin that, combined with his dark expression, made him look nearly as gaunt as Kai himself. And it was that dark expression that put a lump in Evabelle's throat. He looked sullen and worn, and instead of looking forward he kept his eyes downcast, and as they drew closer, Evabelle could see his jaw was clenched painfully tight.

In reality though, if she looked around all of these elves, the ones following Gem up the Isle and the ones sitting in the seats, had disturbed and untrusting looks, but this knight or whatever he was, was hiding his feeling a lot worse than any of them...but Evabelle slid her eyes back to the first woman behind Gem and realized that this woman was the opposite. She hid any sign that she was not comfortable with this ceremony completely. Her expression was blank, but focused forward. She held her head high and almost appeared regal herself, following the little princess.

The group of five reached the front and stood before the crowd lining up in such a way that had Gem at the center and the two females on one side and the males on the other. In each of their hands they each held, what Evabelle had thought, were candles. However now that they all stood here, she saw that while they had a similar wax cylindrical base, the flame was not made of fire, but flickering balls of white energy.

Gem stepped forward, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth. The sound that emanated from the girl was so pure and light it gave Evabelle chills and made Aza gasp. The single note was held for a moment before the girl let her voice hit another and another. At first there was no words to the princess's song, but then they came slow and perfect, not a single one of them recognizable to the group. It was in elvish no doubt, but Evabelle realized they didn't need to know the words, because they could still understand exactly what she was saying. It was his story, Kai's life. Her song told of a prince who lived away from the castle to learn and grow and explore outside of himself. It rang out how he made incredible friends who helped him find his right path that he occasionally would slip up on. When the girl's voice sank to a faint minor tone that shook and made her glassy eyes well up a little, they knew she was telling them of the death of their mother and the pain that Kai, and no doubtedly Gem, had suffered. Her voice took on a bit of an anguished sound that made Evabelle's own eyes burn as she expressed the bitter anger that Kai had felt and then the fear as he had foolishly gone to the vampires and had been Turned. The next part made Evabelle's heart clench as she felt Gem's own anger leak into the story, and suddenly Evabelle flashed back to Kai telling this to them. The ritual to take a vampire's own life and Gem always willing to give herself to him.

The pain between these two was too much and Evabelle's tears freed themselves as the Gem's voice broke. The vision of seeing someone you love about to kill themselves felt like a frozen knife piercing her heart. The elf princess recovered and began to tell of how they came to live with a beautiful mage that they grew very close and made even more friends, ones that didn't hate what he was, but saw who he was. The song continued telling them all of the bravery and the strength that their new Heir had and that he was truly worthy of this. Her song slowly finished with herself repeating the same phrase several times.

Lucis leaned down to whisper in Evabelle's ear. "He has come."

Evabelle nodded slowly and wiped her tearstained cheeks.

And as Gem had said, Kai rose from what seemed to be steps behind the stage, beyond the five elves. He also wore a robe of pale blue, but was obviously made of finer material. The collar had stunning gold threading accented with green leaves along with bright blue and red petals. His now ragged hair had been trimmed a little and combed back, emphasizing his high cheekbones and sharp chin. As always he stood straight, and Evabelle had always found him to be very princely, but this time the way he held his head high made Evabelle truly believe it. A man of honor taking his place where he was always meant to. From birth this was his, and now he was rising to it.

Kai had, in many ways, reminded Evabelle of herself. It went beyond the fact that they had little excited siblings that meant the world to them and the fact that they both were a little uncomfortable around people. He was insecure and didn't believe in himself, and now she knew he was born a prince, a royal just like she was. They both felt unsure of whether they should be wearing their crowns. Even now, while he stood tall and regal before them all, Evabelle knew Kai did not want to be standing on that stage. She could see it in his eyes that he still believed this was the wrong decision.

The oriental elf turned around to face Kai and stepped forward and said, his voice magically magnified. "Ei a muri ae arii no to tatou mau horoa tatou Pilinsi Kairi te horoa no te paari, no reira, e e faatere oia i te ite i to tatou feia faatere tahito atoa." and stepped up to the stage and placed his candle in front of the prince.

Lucis leaned down again and murmured. "I believe he said: as our future king we give Prince Kairi the gift of wisdom, so that he may rule with the knowledge of all our past rulers."

Then the really tall woman turned to face the stage and said something similar, placing her candle about two feet from the other, leaving a large gap in the middle.

Again Lucis did his best to translate. "As our future king we give Prince Kairi the gift of humility, so that he may know all and know of each individual's importance."

Now it was the knight's turn. He took a deep breath and the pained expression melted into a mask of vacancy, surprising Evabelle. He turned to face Kai, who had in turn, looked at each of the elves as they had presented their candles. Kai's face was also bare of expression, but there was a strange tension from both of them, giving Evabelle the impression that these two might have known each other.

The brief speech the knight gave was a little longer than the others and caused a light stir over the audience. Glancing around, revealed that the elves and other angel borns sharing slightly confused looks, which made Evabelle turn to Lucis, blinking her question as Aza whispered it. "What'd that guy say?"

Lucis's head was tilted sideways and his eyes were scrunched in concentration. "I think, he said: 'as Commander... of our armies I give you my strength and the gift of courage, so that you may be a powerful leader and king.'"

"Why was that weird?" Aza asked.

Evabelle turned back to the front to see the Commander, as he had said, face the crowd again, his face still passive. She knew why. "The others said 'we give you'. That guy said 'I'." She murmured. "Plus he started it with stating he the Commander, instead of 'as our future king'."

Aza frowned, staring up at the soldier who had turned back to face the crowd again, his face still blank. "So did he just screw up...or...?"

Faux, on Aza's other side, shrugged. "Maybe he thought the line was stupid, so decided to make up his own. Although, I don't see how that one's any better. I'm still waiting for the punch-line."

Del rolled his eyes. "Sounds to me like he was making a statement."

Aza shook her head. "A statement? A statement of what?"

"Maybe he was saying something directly to Kai," Evabelle thought aloud. "Without saying it directly to him."

Aza sighed and pulled a face at Evabelle. "You know how much I hate clashing sentences."

It was now the auburn haired woman's turn. Throughout the entire ceremony, unlike everyone else Evabelle noticed, this elf had remained completely stone-faced, not changing her expression for even a second, not even when the soldier elf had said his line different. She turned to face Kai, with her nearly haughty expression and said her bit properly, placing the candle in front of Kai, whose expression surprisingly did slip this time.

The pale prince's mouth parted slightly and he blinked a few times at her, but either the woman didn't notice or just ignored it as she turned to face the front again.

Evabelle and Aza once again looked to Lucis, who replied softly. "As our future king we give Prince Kairi the gift of love, so that he may rule with a heart that cares for all."

Finally it was Gem's turn, whose smile had not wavered except for when the commander had said his part differently, and even then she didn't look upset or anything, just thoughtful as she had turned her head toward that elf as he spoke.

Now, the smallest elf up there, holding the tallest candle turned to face her brother, beaming. She said her part in the elven tongue, hers also sounding slightly different than the others, but this time did not bring a stir.

Gem carefully placed the candle in the center of the five evenly spaced ones before the prince. Then she looked up at her brother and did something Evabelle was certain was not part of the ceremony. The little blind princess reached up her hand to the prince standing tall on the stage above. Kai's stiff expression softened completely at this, and finally that tight mouth broke into a small smile as he reached out and held his sister's hand for just a moment, making Evabelle grin.

Slowly, the two released and the little girl turned back to face them, looking like the happiest person alive. Kai straightened up again and spoke out to them all in his kind, gentle voice, allowing Evabelle to see what kind of king this man would be. Lucis murmured softly to Evabelle and Aza. "He's just accepting the gifts."

After Kai's small part, the five elves standing in front of the stage, bowed low and made their way to the only empty row, the one in front of Evabelle and the others.

Once they were seated, Kai knelt before the five magic candles and lifted his right hand out to the one that was wisdom, placing it directly into the ball of light which glowed brighter at his touch and spread up his arm very much like flames even if they weren't. Kai's eyes drifted close as and energy stirred around his body and the power faded into his skin, completely calm.

With the wisdom's light out, Kai moved on to the candle on the opposite side, following the order that they had been placed before him. Again, the elf prince placed his open palm into the light of humility, taking that one in as well. Next was strength and then on to love. Finally, there was only the center candle still glowing.

Through all of the other lights, Kai had not hesitated plunging his hand into its glow, but there was something different about this one. Kai stared at it a few moments longer and his hand hovered over it, his fingers twitching back as though this one was burning him like true fire was supposed to.

Evabelle realized that she didn't know what this one represented and was about to turn to Lucis when Kai thrust his hand inside it and let out a sharp, pained gasp. Evabelle stiffened at the cry and stared as Kai curled forward, his whole body tensing as the light stretched up his wrist and past his elbow. His left hand came up and held the burning, shaking arm in place as he grit his teeth to prevent another outburst.

"Kai!" Gem cried as she leapt to her feet. The woman with the dark skin and red hair caught the little girl's wrist before she could run to her brother and pulled her back.

"What is this one?" Aza exclaimed, not even trying to be quiet this time, as she looked to Lucis for answers.

The white-winged Anahalian stared up at Kai, his mouth parted, eyes wide. He blinked and turned to the two girls beside him. Lucis swallowed, but before he could reply to them a small voice from in front of them spoke.

"As our future King, we give Prince Kairi the gift of our true purpose: life and it's pure light to encompass him so that it will flow through him and that he may share it with all creation." Gem's small form trembled as the auburn-haired woman held the child close.

Evabelle looked back up at Kai, whose head was bowed and his chopped hair that had been combed back all nice had fallen in front of his face. Life and light. Kai was a vampire, a creature of death and darkness. The glow of the candle continued to burn brighter and swirl higher up his arm, wrapping around the vampire's neck, continuing to fight to seep into the quivering prince just as the others had done so easily.

Evabelle leaned forward in her seat, fear gripping her. Could life be a part of someone embodying death? Or would it reject Kai...or worse?

The light, unable to sink into his skin, found another opening. It rose up, split his mouth, and rushed in both mouth and nose, causing Kai to arch back and scream as he was drowned in light.

Gem fought hard against the woman, whose knuckles had turned white as she stared ahead at the writhing prince.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Aza yelled, jumping up, just as Del reached across Faux and tugged her back down.

Lucis's hand slid into Evabelle's, just as she realized, she was beginning to rise herself. She turned to look at him. There was a slight shake of his head, but his sapphire eyes told her he wasn't happy about this.

"We cannot interfere." Hissed the olive-skinned woman, holding Gem. "This is Kai's test. We shall see if he can be accepted."

Evabelle leaned toward her, her hand still in Lucis's. "But what if he dies?"

Gem whimpered, and the woman held the girl tighter, running her hand through the princess's golden hair. She turned her head just enough for Evabelle to see her mouth murmur something once again in the elven tongue.

Aza kicked the woman's chair from behind. "That's it! Just speak English!"

The elf turned away and stared up at Kai, whose cry was still echoed out as the light burned down his throat.

Evabelle's hand tightened around Lucis's, her heart thumping. She wanted to run up there and rip the scorching light away from him, but if she were to do that, there was no way he could be Heir. Being unable to look at Kai's thrashing form, she tore her gaze away to see the rest of the occupants staring up at him with narrowed eyes. No one seemed upset or worried just curious, some almost seemed excited. That made Evabelle sick, and burn with a sudden anger. How could anyone feel pleasure at this?

To Evabelle, Aza, and the Anahalians relief, the last of the candle's glow vanished down Kai's throat as the scream faded as well. Slowly, the prince straightened up again, with a look of pure exhaustion and pain still etching the lines of his mouth. His hands still shook, and there was a raw redness on his right that was also visible around his neck, showing a true physical burn.

Kai rasped out a agonizing line, that Lucis told her that he was thanking them for the gifts and promising them that he will use them as he should.

Finally King Lir stepped up onto the stage. He stood before his kneeling son, who looked up at him with dull, tired eyes. King Lir spoke directly to Kai, a speech of endowment. It went on a few minutes, before the King smiled down at his son and raised a thin gold crown above his head and placed it on Kai's bowed head. Then the King reached out his arm to Kai, who took his father's hand and rose. "I teie nei ia i te rai i te iriti i to tatou feia tufaa!" The King's voice rang out.

Lucis tilted his head. "He said, now let the skies open to our new Heir."

The elf woman who had finally released Gem, whispered, "Normally this is where we open the baldachin and let the sun's direct light shine on him."

"So, what are they...?" Aza trailed off.

Above them, the fairies and pixies, began floating across the ceiling toward Kai, making Evabelle think of millions of glowing dewdrops sliding to the center of a spider's web at the beginning of day. Once they were all clustered above the prince's head, their light grew brighter and brighter until it was hard to look at, spotlighting Kai in such incredible radiance.

Then King Lir stepped down off the stage in front where Gem and the other elves had stood and knelt, bowing to the glowing prince, queuing everyone else in the room to rise from their chairs and kneel as well.

A low murmur rose over all the bowing forms, and Evabelle, who was kneeling with the rest eventually heard what they were saying. "Hail Heir Prince Kairi. Hail Heir Prince Kairi. Hail Heir Prince Kairi." She took a deep breath and began to chant along with her friend's beside her, praying that they were not the only ones that meant what they were saying.

~(A/N: I think my last update was like in June or something. I'm sooooooo sorry!!! I've probably lost most of my readers at this point. If you've stayed in, THANK YOU!!!!! I hoped you liked this chapter that took way longer than it should have to write. Lots of Kai pain through here. Sorry about that. He's a really sad, broken character, but "to love is to destroy and to be loved is the one destroyed".

Okay so elvish language is definitely subject to change, so sorry about that weirdness. And hey, I don't know of your thoughts on this, so please let me know. Have things slowed down too much?? There's one more chapter after this where there's not a ton of action, but I know certain shippers should be pleased. After ten things should pick up a little, trust me.

What did you think of the ritual over all? Was it too long? Too boring? THOUGHTS PLEASE!!

The above video is something I put together. It's a tribute to my poor tortured vampire elf prince. I heard the song and I felt like it was something that Gem would say to Kai. She believes in him, so this is her song to him you could say. The pictures are from Pinterest (except for the sixth one). The anime that I pulled several from is a show, I think is called Vampire Knight... The sixth picture is a drawing by @firebreathingmermaid (She's so freaking amazing!!!) Anyway, I tried to put the pictures together to tell 'a sort of' story of Gem's love to Kai, but it's not perfect. They're mainly just a bunch of pictures that make me think of Kai and some of Gem. (I know a bunch of them are of Thranduil and Legolas, but for my purposes, they represent Kai and Gem.) Please let me know what you think of that too!! :D

And quick note: I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Evabelle's brother's name used to be Malachi (Chi), but I've now changed it to Thomas (Thom). It hasn't been changed in book 1 on here, so I'm sorry about that. This is hopefully here to clear up confusion.

Alright, there's another thing. I have an alternative version of the beginning of the first part of this chapter. The discussion in the kitchens with Evabelle, Aza, and Faux go a little different. Evabelle and Faux have a surprising argument with each other. Because of several things I decided to change it to what's up right now, but I might change back depending on a few things. So anyway, I was wondering if you guys would like to see it? I figured I could just put up that part as an alternative, just to hear your thoughts on which one you like better. So do you think I should? Do you want me to??

Okay, challenge time...In honor of Pignipples, what house would you put these characters in? If you ain't into the whole Harry Potter thing (I don't know how you couldn't be!!!) what spirit animal would you think best fits them?

Alright, hopefully that's all for now. I'm closish with the next chapter, and my goal is to get it up around Christmas as a gift to all you loyal readers out there!! I'm not making any solid promises, but there's definitely a high chance I'll get it up in time! :D)~