A/N: Media is a rather dark Lumina. What do you think??

It was dark, and there were crickets chirping. A huge full moon lay sweetly in the sky, and two people sat beneath it, staring at the stars from a blanket.

'Happy birthday, Lumina,' Fabian said. He smiled towards her; it was a beautiful, loving, one-person-only kind of smile. And she took it and smiled back in her own adoring way. The world seemed as though only the two of them existed in it.

Around them was their midnight feast, their glasses filled with bubbling wine, and the basket nearly empty of food. Baked sweet bread and cake still remained, half gone.

'This has been my best birthday ever,' she said, her eyes filling with joyful tears. 'I can't believe I'm one-hundred-and-eighty already.'

I gasped, although they couldn't hear. 

'And I still remember when we were children,' Fabian agreed, and his hand reached tentatively towards Lumina's face.

'We're not children anymore,' she breathed.

The memory fuzzed, as if someone were trying hard not to remember. I panicked; I wondered if Fabian was trying to shut me out. I concentrated harder, and the two people focused once more.

'I got you a present,' Fabian said, and he pulled a box from his pocket. 'It isn't a ring, before you get your hopes up.'

Lumina blushed deep red. 'I wasn't hoping!' she said.

Fabian raised his eyebrows. 'You can't deny you want to spend the rest of your life with me,' he said cheekily, but Lumina only reddened further. As she looked down, she shook her head.

Fabian bit his lip, the colour draining from his cheeks.

'No?' he said faintly. 'No you don't want to?'

'No,' she whispered. 'I can't deny it.'

She met his eyes, and he flushed red. Shakily, he handed her the box, and she opened it.

Inside was a necklace. It depicted a moon, and next to it was a star. But the star glowed.

'I thought,' he said, 'because of your namesake— Lumina is radiant...and you— to me are— r-radiant...'

'I love it,' Lumina said simply, and she reached around her neck to tie it on. When she looked back up at him, Fabian leaned towards her.

--- 

The scene had dissolved, and Lumina and Fabian were engrossed in what seemed like a desperate argument in a corridor, standing at odds from one another. Lumina looked deeply hurt, while Fabian looked so distracted he seemed at breaking point. 

'Fabian, you...you and Freya?' Lumina looked at him with burning eyes filling with tears. 'But...'

Her face turned to anger, and when she raised her eyes to his, they were defiant and filled with loathing. 'Were you lying to me, Fabian?'

'No!' he said firmly, and he tried to reach out to her. She shrugged him away. 'Why do you question me and not your precious friend? She has set this up! I swear I didn't know we were engaged!'

The word made Lumina's body jerk. Rigidly, she pulled her hand up to her neck, and yanked with all her strength on a chain there. It made her cry out with pain as the metal bit into her neck before snapping off.

She threw it back at him; he caught it, almost desperately, as if not losing the necklace would keep her.

'I don't understand you,' she said, and she turned to run away.

Fabian crumpled to his knees in despair.

--- 

This time the memory did go black, and I felt like I had been tossed. 

I fell back this time, onto the sofa, and I was back in the reading room, blinking at Scarlett and Fabian.

Scarlett's face was bright red; she had just witnessed the romance of a sister and the man next to her. Fabian's face had gone very white.

'I didn't agree to you probing me, Scarlett!' he shouted. 'What was all that about? I thought we were keeping it strictly to information she needed!'

'It...it wasn't me!' Scarlett protested. 'I wasn't trying to look through those memories, I couldn't control it...'

She glanced uneasily towards me. She knew I had been pressing to look through Fabian's thoughts.

He growled furiously, slamming his fist into a desk nearby. We both jumped.

'Calm down,' I said simply. 'What's the issue? So, you and Lumina...you and me were once in love. That's nothing I didn't suspect.'

Fabian looked at me, shocked. I realised that I had to explain why I felt this, and said hastily, 'The painting in her room. It's of you. And I can see the love in it.'

Fabian looked away.

'I didn't expect—' his voice sounded hoarse. 'Never mind. We should have been looking at what happened the night Lumina disappeared, and why.'

The three of us shifted.

'I couldn't go back any further from that last memory we saw of Lumina's,' Scarlett explained, 'the one by the river...'

'The day Reia came,' I interjected. 'What was Reia doing with me?'

'Reia?' Fabian asked blankly.

'The golden-haired child,' I said, looking from Scarlett to Fabian. They were both looking confused. 'That girl grew up to be the same girl that— Freya— looked like. They were identical, just as I was with...Lumina.'

'Freya,' repeated Fabian.

'Freya— is pronounced F-re-ya...' Scarlett murmured. 'Is that how it became Re-ya, in Reia?'

I nodded eagerly. 'Freya came with me! When I came to earth, she wanted to be with me!'

Fabian growled again. 'I don't like it,' he said. 'I don't think she'd do that out of kindness.'

But I glared at him. 'Reia was the best person in the orphanage,' I said. 'She was loved by everyone, and there was nobody she didn't love.'

Fabian did not look convinced.

'That used to be you,' he said, pointedly.

'Hush, children!' Scarlett snapped, as we both opened our mouths to argue. 'We can't replay old quarrels forever. We wanted to show Lumina what happened the night she became human.'

'Let's show you the night you disappeared,' Fabian said, grabbing my hand once more. 'And then see what you think; at what sacrifice did Freya follow you as a human?'

 ---

As soon as his hand grabbed mine, I felt the air all around me buzz with life. My eyes met his, widening slightly; together, we felt powerful. Scarlett slipped her hands into mine, and I closed my eyes once more.

The moon in the sky appeared red.

Scarlett, absorbed as a memory, was staring at it, her pale skin reflecting in the moonlight. A fierce breeze tossed through her dark, plaited hair, and chilled her; she clutched at a shawl around her shoulders, hunching slightly. She was standing in the gardens, watching the villa, lit with lanterns and glowing white lights. The world was still, silent, and waiting.

Scarlett gasped; I craned to see what at, and felt Fabian beside me doing the same. Scarlett had seen lights in the distance; lights burning high and rapidly, and without control.

Fire.

She began to move, hurrying towards the archway and back towards the house. Her footsteps slapped against the pebbles. Bangs began to erupt from the silence, making the girl flinch with each one. The lights in the house flickered out.

Then, a scream.

It was the worst kind of scream; it was shrill with fear, and cut short.

'Lumina!' Scarlett yelled; she recognised the scream, and, stumbling, crashed towards the house. We followed her as she slammed open the sliding villa doors; servants were panicked and running wildly about. A smell of burning churned through the house.

As Scarlett tried to fight the tidal wave of people running out into the garden, the servants tried to jostle her in the opposite direction.

'Miss, it's not safe!'

'Run, miss! The King is here!'

Scarlett struggled, pushing her way through pairs of hands.

'No!' she panted, 'Lumina! Lumina!'

'You can't save her here,' a voice said roughly, and hauled Scarlett between the crowd.

He tugged her along as they doubled back the way they came, skirting around the outside of the building.

'Fabian!' Scarlett screeched, her voice high pitched, 'my sister needs you! Why are you here? Go, go away, I hate you, I hate you...'

Fabian scowled. 'I don't want to be here,' he said furiously. 'I wanted to be with Lumina. But then Freya appeared.'

'Freya appeared?'

'Freya took Lumina somewhere. Lumina made me promise to keep you safe. And then I heard the scream.'

'And you trusted Freya?'

'Scarlett, she's still Lumina's best friend.'

As they crouched, they rounded the corner of the house, and stared out.

The grounds were in chaos; the entrance to the house was completely alight, and an army of creatures had surrounded the house; skin stretching, discoloured, taut. Scarlett shuddered and threw herself back.

'I'm going to be sick,' she said weakly, 'what are those?'

'The King's so-called army,' Fabian said. 'Shit. Why are they here? And where is Lumina?'

Fabian grabbed Scarlett's wrist and began looking for a way inside the house. They found a small window closer to the back, and Fabian burst it with a gust of wind.

'I'll go first,' he offered darkly, and clambered through the tiny, cracked window. As he fell softly onto the other side, Scarlett followed. They were in the music room; the instruments were all propped against the walls, and the room was dark, silent and empty. The only evidence of the struggle was the masses of music papers left scattered across the floor.

'Couldn't you have blown up the wall?' she hissed; her arms and torso were scratched from glass.

'That wouldn't be stealthy at all,' Fabian snapped. 'I don't want to find those monsters, thanks.'

'Shouldn't the barriers still be up around the house?' Scarlett faltered. 'Unless...father and mother are...'

Fabian turned and pinched Scarlett's cheeks. 'Lumina wouldn't allow that,' he said confidently. 'Come on. Everything's going to be okay.'

And for a moment, it seemed like everything was; then another scream curdled throughout the house.

'Let's go!' Fabian whispered, and he set off rapidly through the ruined room.

The house was filled with smoke; swirling and thick, clinging to the ceilings. The building trembled with the movement of people thundering outside, but inside, all was still. Fabian rounded a corner and hit Lumina, who was running from something behind her. The two collided with great force, but before Lumina could fall, he swept his arms around her waist, clutching her close.

'You're okay,' he said, his eyes searching her face, as if terrified she would contradict him.

She nodded, but her eyes were fearful. 'They're here to kill me, Fabian,' she whispered, her lip trembling. Fabian pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

'We won't let that happen,' he promised her, over and over.

'Let's keep moving,' Scarlett murmured.

Lumina pulled away, shaking her head.

'Mamma and papa are behind me,' she said, and she looked as if she were going to break down.

'I'm right here,' said a voice, and all three spun to see the lady standing at the end of the corridor.

Lumina and Scarlett's mother was no different in her appearance to the memory we had seen earlier, but there was something haunted about her now; a strange, unearthly look. Her wings hung, poised and the colour of orange and umber, a setting sun against the darkness of the house. We all stood in silence as she swept, in her long skirts, to us. Lumina reached out to her, trembling, and Scarlett held herself against her sister. Their mother placed firm hands on each of their cheeks.

'My beautiful daughters,' their mother whispered. 'I am so proud of you both.'

Tears rolled from Lumina's eyes.

'Where's papa?' she said.

Their mother only shook her head; almost imperceptibly, but definitely. Lumina began to cry; Scarlett stepped back, swaying.

'No,' she said.

Outside, the monsters roared again, and the building shook dust and rubble.

'He wanted to protect you two,' their mother said, gravely. She had appeared weak and fragile in a previous memory; now, she looked solid and brave, her eyes set and her hair, loose around her shoulders, tangled and wild.

'Fabian, take Scarlett and flee this house,' she ordered. 'Do not come back. Protect her. Become Lord of the Sapphire District, and not even the King can touch you.'

Fabian bowed respectfully. 'Yes, my lady. But what of Lumina?'

When he straightened, his face fell. Lumina's mother was not giving her daughter away to him; she shook her head once more.

'Lumina is not safe here,' she stroked her daughter's hair fondly. 'Not until that King is overthrown. And, sadly, that will not happen before Lumina is killed.'

Fabian stared at her, aghast. 'I won't let him harm her—'

'You are powerful,' their mother said fondly, 'and you belong with Lumina. But it is not to be. If you want Lumina to survive, you must trust me— and let her go.'

Fabian swallowed, and his hands reached towards Lumina, as if by touching her it would stop her from disappearing before his eyes.

Lumina's mother looked deeply at her, her hands cupping her face.

'You are my daughter, and you have grown up so kind and innocent and just,' she said, 'you are everything I could have wished for. But it is not enough. The King will take your kindness, and use it to crush you. He will trick you with your innocence and perverse justice as we know it. You will die, Lumina, as you are now.'

Lumina only looked at her mother with massive eyes, her pupils huge.

'You are a Queen Candidate, Lumina,' her mother said softly, and Fabian and Scarlett drew breaths in shock. 'That is why the King is trying to kill you. But it is also something that will pull your fate back to this place, no matter where you are. And should you go into hiding for some years, the person you are when you return will not be the kind-hearted girl you are now. She will be strong, and ready to survive. And most of all, she will be ready for the King when he realises she's still alive. Because when he finds out, he will try to kill you again. Do you hear me, Lumina? You must become stronger.'

Her mother let go of her daughter.

'One day you must become Queen.'

Fabian tried to speak, but Lumina quieted him.

'My mother has been planning this for years,' she said, turning to look at him. 'She was warned at my birth by a Seer. It was announced only weeks ago. I was shocked too; I am weak. I have hid behind you for protection, and never looked beyond this house. I am a failure as a candidate. As I am now, I should not be Queen. But when I am worthier, I will come back for my rightful place.'

Fabian looked at her, as if he didn't know the girl he was looking at. When he tried to touch her, she stepped away, her eyes overflowing.

'I'm so sorry,' she sobbed. 'I do love you. But I can't die here, either. And if I run away with you, we'll both die. The King will come for me, and he will find me.'

'I'm not leaving without you!'

'You have to leave,' Lumina said. 'I want you to promise me you'll look after my sister until I return. And she is going to look after you until I return.'

Lumina seemed to grow taller; the meek, kindly girl now resembled her mother with her determined set jaw.

'We will meet back at this place again,' she commanded. 'Now, go, or my father's sacrifice will have been for nothing!'

'But how are you going to hide?' Scarlett demanded, as Fabian looked as if he were going to scream. Lumina glanced towards her mother.

'I am an Exchanger, Scarlett,' she said softly. 'I'm going to give Lumina a chance to grow on Earth, where life is harsh, and she will not have the pampered life she does now. She will be a fighter. And the spell will last until she's eighteen; she will be a human until she reaches the equivalent age to the one she is now. Be ready for her when she comes back; she will not be the girl you remember.'

It was Scarlett's turn for her face to drop, and then screwed up in anger.

'You can't!' she screamed. She took another breath, but then the building shook fiercely, as if threatening to collapse.

'Go!' cried her mother, pushing Scarlett out of the way. The bricks began to crumble, dropping from the ceiling. Lumina screeched, leaping towards her mother.

Fabian took one last look at Lumina.

'I promise!' he roared over the deafening roars outside. 'But I will wait for you, Lumina! Come back to me!'

'I promise,' she whispered, but she was unclasping the necklace from around her neck. Stars and moon glinted as she threw it to him; he caught it, and clutched it to his chest desperately.

'Return it to me,' she said, and he nodded once, grabbing Scarlett's hand and dragging her away.

'No, Lumina! You can't let her cast that spell, you know what it will do, it will kill her Lumina! No!'

The memory faded as Scarlett's screams echoed.

---

They still echoed as I stared back at the leather armchair, back in the cosy reading room, my mind still far away, and trapped with the screams of a sister I hadn't known until today I had.

I collapsed to my knees and put my head in my hands, trying to decide what it all meant, which pieces to fit together and which were best left undone.