Cold and murky was the cave that Pugnum decided to dwell in. The atmosphere fit the darkness that possessed him perfectly. He sat on his throne that swirled with black and deep purple smoke. He revelled in the attention of his worshipping followers who bowed before him with their foreheads pressed into the cold, damp ground; followers, stolen at night, created through Noir-Astra's power to become obedient puppets. 

An eerie silence ruled the still air surrounding them. Only the occasional, distant, dripping sound gave the place any sort of character.

"What was that magic?" Pugnum's voice echoed from unmoving lips. "Why were we not prepared? I thought you were all knowing, oh, great Lord of Darkness!" Sarcasm coloured Pugnum's words that swirled through the smoke.

"Don't mock me, Pugnum!" Noir-Astra's rumbling warned.

"But you said, all we need to do is possess Astrid. That's all it will take to snub out the light." Now that Pugnum had been exposed to such intense evil, Noir-Astra's booming voice no longer affected him the same way. "Your plan was - we grab the cursed girl, turn her eyes dark, and she'll do the rest. Did you simply not foresee her defences? Now what do we do?" Pugnum's voice rose in rage, making his puppets cower in fear.

"The plan doesn't need to change," Noir-Astra hissed his response.

"Doesn't it? It didn't work! We failed!" Pugnum got to his feet aggressively, as if squaring up to the very air around him. As he moved, his followers scurried in all directions - so to not get caught up in his fury.

"We just need to try again."

Pugnum slowly sat back down on his throne - made of darkness itself. A childish scowl carved into the porcelain mask that sat upon his face. His thoughts swam in circles, as he played out what happened with Astrid and the Sprèintis lads, in his mind; the defeat stoking a fire of familiar resentment inside of him.

"Her eyes glowed violet…" he thought aloud to himself. "Violet, and the shadows ran. The darkness ran from her violet eyes…" Confusion laced his erratic words. "It makes no sense! The prophecy says that her violet eyes will end the light. Yet, we were threatened by their power. Noir-Astra, explain this!" 

"Don't think on it Pugnum, the prophecy is set, it will come to pass," Noir-Astra answered with certainty.

"You have such faith in that "all-seeing" family?"

"Well, they proved their loyalty." Noir-Astra backed the Fiosolim family to his appointed face. "They handed their son to me."

"Jameh-Lius?"

"That's him, a legend now, the vessel who fathered the cursed child."

"Your child."

"Technically, yes." No warmth found its way within the cruel hiss of Noir-Astra's tone. "She will bring forth the light's end. All we have to do is steal her mind."

"How do we do that?"

"It's simple really. Brute force didn't work. Therefore, we approach her in a different way." An evil cackle then echoed through Pugnum's mind.

"What? What's funny?" The annoyance Pugnum felt fuelled the aggressiveness in his voice.

"The people of Natanstrelle did half the job for us. They made her feel like an outcast, all we have to do is step in and deepen her doubts."

A sudden light of realisation entered Pugnum's eyes. A clear plan started to root itself into his scheming brain. A plan that felt impossible to fail and his porcelain mouth cracked into a grin of dark delight. 

"I am so glad to be here with you today, you have no idea," Astrid confessed to her mouse-like aunt, as she took hold of the paintbrush handed to her. 

"Really? How come?" 

"Oh, it's just a bit tense at Slànacus house right now." 

Astrid dipped her paintbrush in the yellow paint. She no longer needed to close her eyes or put her whole focus on her painting, she went to so many lessons and practised so much at her free time that it became second nature to her. This pleased Luchinda. She saw how well Astrid was getting on as confirmation that she had successfully worked out how things must go; from what she deciphered from the smoke. 

"All there is, is arguing these days," Astrid continued. "Arguing and worried looks. It's insufferable." 

She stopped and analysed the painted, yellow circle in the centre of her white canvas, then she dipped her brush back into the paint and began to mix, yellow, red and white together in a specific balance to represent the colour of True's skin. 

"That doesn't sound good. Why such a change? The last time I visited your lot, your house was full of laughter," Luchinda enquired.

"Oh, I overheard Celeste and Vicora talking about me and Naomi is just being her usual protective self. It's all fine," Astrid explained with a shrug, she did not look away from her canvas the whole time that she spoke.

"But is it fine? I mean, you seemed eager to get out." 

"There's only so much screeching one can take."

"How is True taking it? Did he not want to escape the shouting for a bit?"

"Oh, sure, but I told him to stay at home, to make sure the sisters' shouting doesn't escalate to anything worse," Astrid said with a cheeky smile.

"Do you think he can handle three whole Slànacus sisters?" asked Luchinda with mock concern. Astrid jabbed one shoulder to her ear and let it fall back in response, then finished off painting the fingers clasping the circle on her canvas.

"Was what Celeste and Vicora said the reason you ran out of the house alone that night?" 

This question made Astrid stop what she was doing. She turned to look at her aunt who sat with an innocent, polite smile as she awaited Astrid's reply. 

"What? We all agreed not to tell anyone outside Slànacus about…" Astrid fumbled as she put down her paintbrush on the small shelf on her easel. Then a scowl etched its way across her brow. "Did Celeste tell you? When was she here?"

"No. Astrid. Nobody told me what happened," Luchinda held her hands up in front of her to try and calm the atmosphere in the small room. 

"Then how do you…"

"Astrid, dear niece, have you forgotten what family I'm in?" Luchinda interrupted.

"You mean, you saw, in the smoke?"

"That's exactly what I mean."

"B-but nothing happened. Not really…" 

Astrid found the idea of Luchinda watching recent events of her life in the smoke disconcerting. She was told that only significant events were displayed in it; events that would change the course of the future. 

"That's not the case and you know it, Dear," Luchinda asserted, in the most gentle way she could in that moment. However, Astrid's eyes still pulled wide as if she was being severely reprimanded.

"My dear, we mustn't downplay what happened that night. We could've lost you to the dark, then where would we be?" Luchinda spoke softly, whilst taking Astrid's now shaking hand into hers. She held them, willing for the nervous vibrating to stop. 

"Listen, Astrid, what happened that night is nothing short of a miracle."

"The violet light? What was that? Do you know?"

"I do," Luchinda whispered. 

Astrid could not see where her aunt was looking, or what caught her eye, but whatever it was it made a small smile curve the edges of her mouth.

"What is it?" Astrid questioned her aunt, who still wouldn't look up.

"Powerful magic, within you," Luchinda said, as if in a trance. "A magic beyond all understanding, beyond orbs, beyond the smoke."

"Magic? But I don't have…" Then a great sadness took over Astrid's curiosity. "It's dark magic isn't it? Violet, like my eyes. Eyes of the cursed child of Noir-Astra." A tear rolled down Astrid's cheek and her head bowed following its trail.

"No, my poor, poor niece." Luchinda reached out her small hand and cupped Astrid's trembling face. "That power was not dark magic. It is power blessed by Illuminare-Trabem, given to you, to protect you."

"What? What do you mean, Aunt?"

"Illuminare-Trabem is protecting you," Luchinda clarified, looking deep into Astrid's violet eyes. "He wants to keep you safe."

"But why?"

"You are carrying the answer to Natanstrelle's worries." 

"Luchinda, you're not making sense, I'm carrying what answer? I don't have anything…" 

"Oh but you do, Astrid. You do," Luchinda breathed. Then her olive, green eyes went back to where they seemed to get lost earlier. She let her hand follow her gaze and she caressed the middle of Astrid's belly.

In that small touch, Astrid understood what her aunt meant.

In the Slànacus' kitchen, Astrid kept herself busy by the cooker. She stood watching the sizzling contents of a pan, waiting for the perfect time to flip the pancake cooking there.

"Ooh, making yourself a treat are you?" True asked from behind her. He slipped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into the nape of her neck. 

"Not for me, for Celeste, they're her favourite," Astrid replied, apprehension plagued her tone as she waited for True to not understand.

She scraped her spatula under the bubbling pancake and flipped it over revealing a golden masterpiece.

"Have I missed something?" True said, not able to hide his contempt towards the youngest Slànacus sister.

"I want to make a peace offering. Things have been weird lately," Astrid explained, not looking away from her cooking.

"Whose fault is that? If anyone should be making a peace offering it's her!" True argued.

"Yeah, well, she was worried. People say things that they don't mean when they're stressed out." Astrid slid the spatula under the perfectly cooked pancake and slipped it on top of the small stack that she had already made. Her tranquil demeanour baffled her husband.

"That's no excuse, Astrid."

"No, I know."

Astrid, escaped her husband's grasp, picked up the hot pan and made her way to the sink. She plonked it down and turned the cold tap on. The pan hissed its protests as the cold water made contact with its heat.

"But someone needs to make a stand in this house to bring back the peace," Astrid added.

"But why should it be you? You've hurt nobody. You're the victim in all of this."

Astrid turned and looked into her husband's icy, blue eyes. Those eyes affected her the same way as they did when she was a ten year old girl in the Emerald Army. They reflected the look they had when he stood up for her against the lads that abused her, all those years ago.

"And, you're doing this?" he asked, disbelieving.

"Yep." Astrid nodded before making her way to the plate of pancakes.

"But, why?"

"I don't want to hang around waiting for her to make the first move. I need the house to be peaceful now," she affirmed.

"You need the house to be peaceful?" True's bewilderment was showcased in his raised left eyebrow.

"Don't you want it to be peaceful?" 

"Of course I do, but we can't just let her get away with what she said about you," True sighed, exasperated.

"True, just trust me, okay?" 

"I do trust you, I don't trust her!"

Astrid put the plate back down and wrapped her arms around her husband. She then whispered into his chest.

"I understand. I do. But I have to do this now. I need the arguing to stop. It is not good for the baby." 

The few seconds that she had to wait for the penny to drop in her husband's mind stretched out longer than they should've done, but eventually he broke the ticking silence.

"Baby?"

"Yes, Dad, the baby." Astrid smiled up at True's increasing smile.

"I'm going to be a Dad?" 

Astrid barely had time to nod in response before True planted an excited kiss on her lips. All anger towards Celeste forgotten.