A/N: I didn't proofread, so hopefully I didn't mess up anything too badly!

*several days later*

Skylor's POV

A loud shatter echoes through our headquarters from our master's office, followed by the muffled sounds of her screaming at Tobias. When Tobias said that as our leader, it's his responsibility to relay the events of the mission to her, I did not envy him for a single second. I might not know our master all that well, but I do know that the elemental masters of creation coming together was the last thing she wanted. I'm just glad that I'm not the one across from her as she finds out.

"We're so screwed. Going against the elemental masters of creation is something else. We've all heard the horror stories, whether it was the master of energy making an army of a hundred men drop dead or the master of fire burning people from the inside out. I think we need to cut our losses here and stop before it's too late," Finn swirls around the coffee in his mug before letting out a long sigh of discontent.

"If I am being completely transparent, Finn, I would have assumed that you of all people would not opt to quit so soon. Besides, we have an ally who is one of their biggest weaknesses," Thea's blue eyes look over at me before she gives me a closed mouth smile that's all courtesy. "From what I've heard, the master of fire was quite distraught when he saw you."

The moment that he saw me has been playing back over and over again in my head. I had no recollection of what he looked like as we were looking for him, but when I finally saw him, I understood exactly why I fell into his trap in the first place. His hair was styled perfectly, framing his face in the perfect way to accentuate every one of his features whether it was his perfect lips or delicate nose or the singular dimple on his left cheek. Additionally, with his shirt off, I couldn't help but be drawn to his exquisitely chiseled frame. He's devastatingly handsome.

However, his eyes and voice really did me in. His hazel eyes stared at me as if I was the only thing there, but not because he was upset I was there. He was shocked, but from how his eyes watered, it was like he wanted to see me.

Then when the words, "Skylor, baby..." rolled off his tongue, it was like a godly melody. My chest lit up and every fiber in my body stood on end. It pulled me towards him. My body felt like it needed to be close to him.

The thought of it still has me aggravated. I should be repulsed by the sight of him. Being near him should gross me out and trigger every foul response my body has to offer, but it doesn't. Instead, I have to fight myself to not fall into his trap again.

I shrug, keeping my face neutral. "I don't think it had much to do with me. He was just in a vulnerable state. If he actually cared about me, he wouldn't have killed my sister."

"I don't..." the door to our master's office flies open, a loud slam resonating throughout the room as the handle smashes into the wall. Tobias emerges from the doorframe. His head hangs low as he walks out of the room and immediately takes a sharp turn down to where the prisoners are being held.

A few seconds later, our master walks through the doorway, her hands clasped in front of her and a fabricated closed mouth smile on her lips. Her breathing is slow and steady as a deadly aura radiates off of her that silences the whole room. "Skylor, please come with me to the lab."

My heart drops as my name leaves her mouth, but I immediately get up, adhering to her orders. She instantly takes a sharp turn in the opposite direction that Tobias did and starts to walk away as I trail behind her.

She walks with utmost confidence and power knowing that she is the most intimidating person in the room. She's the one that has an army of elemental masters at her control, and she's the one who wanted to go toe to toe with the most powerful beings to ever exist.

After several minutes of eerie silence as we walk through dimly lit hallways, we finally reach the treatment part of the laboratory. Dozens of empty syringes lie on the leftmost counter as sedatives and other medicines lie on the other side of the room. In the center of the room, there is a line of chairs with infusion pumps next to them.

However, the most striking are the ten containers in the back of the room. Each container has a different symbol on it, either the symbol of one of the elementals of creation of the inverse of said symbol. Inside of the containers, varying amounts of red, thick blood rest, circulating due to the mechanics of the containers. While the inverse fire container, my container, is the most full by far, only one container, the inverse earth container, is completely empty.

"Sit down," Master orders, and I promptly head to one of the chairs, sitting down. The snapping of gloves against our master's wrists fills the air before she lets out a sigh. "I'm drawing a liter from you today and am topping you off with a half liter. There is not enough supplies to spare a full liter."

"I understand." I take the disinfectant wipe off of the little tray beside me and wipe off my left forearm.

"Did you ever see the master of earth when you were up in the mountains?" she walks over to the other side of the room, grabbing a few giant syringes before setting them on the tray beside me.

"No, the master of lightning just said that he was going to attack us if we didn't surrender," I answer honestly.

She walks up beside me, her blonde hair tucked neatly into a bun as she picks up one of the syringes. "The master of lightning is very witty. I believe he tricked you all. Be skeptical of his words next time," she steadies my arm and pierces my flesh with the needle, making my skin pinch and my body recoil in discomfort.

"Why do you believe that?" I take a deep breath out as I feel the blood being sucked out of my body.

"There's something the master of earth wants in the capital, and I would be a sucker to think he hasn't found it yet," she pulls the needle out from my arm, setting the filled syringe onto the tray before sticking another one into the same location, amplifying the pain even more. I let out a hiss. "You know, you remind me a lot of myself."

"How so?" I bite my lip to distract myself from the pain.

"You don't really remember this, but six centuries ago, you were a trailblazer. You were going to become the first female ruler of the kingdom, and here I am, 600 years later, about to accomplish your goal. We were both hurt by the elemental masters of creation and want revenge. We're also both in a completely different era than we were born in. It's very disorienting," she pulls the needle out and immediately places pressure on the opening in my skin before compressing it with some type of wrap.

"How did they hurt you?" I look up at my master's face, and for the first time since I woke up from that amber, I see genuine emotion in her. Her eyes are watery, her jaw clenched as she tries to conceal it, but her sadness shines through.

"It's not important," she shakes her head, and when she's done, her stone cold demeanor goes back into place. The clicking of her heels hitting the floor echoes through the room as she walks to the back counter with all of the containers. I don't need to look back to know that she is filling up a liter bag of his blood. "This should strengthen your powers enough for you to last until this whole conflict is over. Then, we'll have an endless supply, so it won't matter what you do with it."

She approaches on my right side this time, but I can't get myself to look over. After a few seconds, I feel a pinch in my right forearm, and soon, warm liquid starts leaking into my body.

As his blood spreads through my veins, my body lightens, my skin hypersensitive to the world around me. I slowly rub my finger against the chair, enjoying the smoothness of the plastic. The colors around me brighten. The dull mint shade of the chair shifts to a vibrant lime green.

My entire body is weightless as a comforting heat washes through me, caressing every inch of me in a way that I can't fight. It makes the powers stir deep within me, begging to claim someone else's element as my own.

I can't help but relish in the feeling even when she takes the IV out of my arm and wraps it up. My eyes are closed and my head is back as I enjoy the warmth that's freeing my limbs and mind.

"Neuro is going to come in and watch you to make sure you have no adverse reactions," I can hear the latex sticking to her skin as she peels off the gloves to throw them in the trash. "Just wait here patiently until I get him."

I barely register her words as I soak in all of the sensations. It feels like I'm on a cloud, and while the mere thought of having the master of fire's blood injected into me disgusts me, I can't help but shamefully admit that the feeling is heavenly.

---

Seliel's POV

I lie in bed, tracing the lines of Cole's abs with my pointer finger as I lie in his arms. My head rests on his firm chest as one of his arms holds me against him, his hand resting on my bare waist and tracing little circles.

If I was told last week that this is where I would be right now, I never would have believed it, but I could barely believe it when Cole told me about his powers. While he hasn't shown them to me yet, claiming that I've already "seen them enough" the tattoo is more than enough to verify that he is who he says he is.

It's crazy to think that the person I longed for for so much of my life, the person who I'm meant to be with, was right beside me for all of this time. It's even more crazy to think that because of our screwed up political decision, I might be pulled away from him forever.

"You don't know how many times I dreamed of lying here like this," I close my eyes and listen to his steady heartbeat.

"Has it lived up to your expectations?" he asks me, his voice a bit gravely from just waking up. I tilt my head up to look at him. His hair is totally messy, free, and all over the place. His eyes are tired yet still glowing with life. I bring my hand that was tracing his abs up to his strong jawline, not being able to stop the smile from spreading to my lips.

"It's exceeded them. Every night we've spent together has been better than the last," I savor the feeling of his rock solid body pressed against mine before letting out a sigh. "I'm not letting you leave without me tomorrow. I know you're worried about me, but I'll fight my ass off if it means that I won't be helplessly sitting here without you."

"We both know it's not that simple," Cole rolls onto his side, encasing me in a hug. "First of all, you're banned from leaving the castle right now, even under my supervision. That means that the royal guard would start looking for us, which will make our lives a whole lot more difficult. Also, you're in a cast..."

"I'm seeing the physician tomorrow to see how it's healing, so it might not even be a problem," I brush off. "If you're worried about that, come with me and ask her yourself."

"I'll go with you, but I can't bring you into danger, so whatever she says..."

A knock at the door stops him mid sentence, and both of us widen our eyes. "Sister, I'm coming in."

I shoot a panicked look over to Cole who, in my brother's eyes, definitely shouldn't be lying in my bed and holding me like this.

"I'm indecent! Give me a minute!" Cole lets me go so that I can slip into the robe that's hung up on my vanity. As I slide the silk sleeves over my arms, Cole wraps his arms around me from behind and plants a kiss on my neck. "If he asks, I'm packing some bags for tomorrow."

"Mmhmm," I temporarily fall into a trance as I watch him walk away, admiring the definition in his muscles and the marks that I left on him these past several nights.

Once, he quietly closes the door to his room, I sigh and walk over to the door, tying my robe as I do so. I open it up and glare at my brother. "What do you want? I was about to take a bath."

"I just...wanted to see you..."

"Yeah, no. You and father are dead to me. If you actually wanted to see me, you wouldn't have traded me off," I try to slam the door in his face, but he juts his foot in the doorway.

"We had no good choice. We can love you and still want what is best for the kingdom. No matter how much we love you, we can't put our needs above those of the people who are being attacked by the unnatural elemental masters," he reaches out for me, but I slap his hand away.

"Except there was a good choice! We have 5 highly capable elemental masters who are still roaming around, yet you and father are still too stubborn to just give them a pardon for the crime they didn't even commit. Have you ever considered that the events that happened all the way back then and now could be connected? If someone can create elemental powers, who says that they couldn't duplicate them, too? But no, bring in some army from far away that will get in way over their heads and fail," my fists curl up into balls as I talk, but when I notice myself heating up, I take several deep breaths.

Sebastian sighs, rubbing his temples. "That's impossible. You're just trying to rationalize your feelings..."

"No, you're trying to rationalize your B.S. decision! You know nothing about them!" I snap, my blood boiling beneath my flesh.

"And you do? They're more of a liability for you than anything else. They're princess killers, and you are a princess. This is for your own good..."

Without thinking, I pull my hand up and slap my brother across the face, a crisp smack filling the air. He staggers backwards. My eyes widen as the spot quickly turns red.

"I...I...I'm tired of people making decisions for me, so please, if you're going to continue to spew this nonsense on how you know what is best for me better than I do, I don't want to see you anymore," I hold my ground, standing up straight and not backing down.

My brother holds his hand up to his cheek. "What makes you think you know more about the elemental masters of creation than I do? I've spent countless hours studying them and their actions in case they decide to come back."

I open my mouth, about to start blabbering, before I stop for a second and actually compose my thoughts. "Remember the time I wandered off when we were going to Shintaro? When I came back with a gnarly wound, but it was all treated?"

"Yeah? You said a nice old man helped you who lived in the mountains."

"The master of earth was the one who saved me. He protected me from the wolves and cleaned me up even after finding out that I was a princess. Isn't that weird for a 'princess killer' to do? If you think I'm making this up, I have a box full of letters I wrote to him as a kid hoping that I would see him again..."

"You were a kid, Seliel. How would you discern an elemental master from someone else? They're not good guys. They're objectively bad guys, and..."

"I'm done with this conversation. Don't talk to me again," I slam the door in his face and let out a sigh, running my hands through my hair.

I lean back against the door, slowly sliding down until I'm sitting on the ground with my knees pulled against my chest. I close my eyes and bury my face into my knees. My free will has been stripped from me in every way possible, and I need to find a way to get it back. I will get what I want. I'll get Cole and all of his friends pardoned, and we'll take the unnatural elementals down together.

A/N: Sorry for the wait, everyone! This past several weeks have been paaaacked, but hopefully things will lighten up so I can write more for you all. These next ten chapters are INTENSE, so hopefully I can get at least half of them out to you by the time the new year rolls around.

Thoughts on the chapter?

Questions? I know some stuff was kind of confusing this chapter, so I'm willing to answer any questions that AREN'T spoiler related

Thank you all so much! Don't forget to like, comment, and share! The comments motivate me to write faster