Luchinda's instructions:

-Gather the first nine paintings you painted within the non-magical realm.

-Go to the place where you were found, make sure the cat comes too.

-Organise the paintings on the ground, they should together make the correct symbol.

"These instructions seem so straight-forward on paper don't they?" James pondered aloud whilst reading over Astrid's notes again and again. 

"There's a lot more to it really," Astrid commented back, whilst rummaging through the box that contained her older paintings.

"Yes, yes of course," James said with a rushed nod.

"What's so special about these paintings exactly?" Amber asked, picking up one from the pile that Astrid was building up; that one in particular was of a few trees and a blackberry bush standing on a small hill. A neat organised display of greens, browns and deep purple. To Amber's young, untrained eye, it looked quite boring. 

"These paintings, once organised, will make up a symbol. It'll open the portal from our side." Astrid didn't look away from the paintings that passed between her hands. "Luchinda told me that the symbol needed to be eight years old, at the very least, to work." 

Amber's eyes widened with amazement, as did James'.

"Once your mother has the paintings, we must head to the forest. I think it'll be wise to go before it gets too dark," True said, holding Amber's jacket ready for her to slip her arms into the sleeves. "James you're coming too, aren't you?"

"Would I ever give up the chance to finally go home?" James asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. "I'll go and find Jeeves," he added with a smile.

"That's them all," Astrid said, lifting up the pile of paintings. "I think."

"You think?" questioned Amber, with a hint of worry.

"Well, maybe more than just think. I just really want to get this right!" Astrid's voice shook with anticipation.

"Me too!" Amber copied her mother's tone.

"Luchinda's got this, you'll see. She's been guiding us to this moment all along!" True said enthusiastically and passed Astrid her coat. "Come on we must get going."

"Opening the portal to the non-magical realm is complicated magic indeed. Ancient magic. It is illegal to learn such magic without the permission of King Lux. My grandfather was taught how to perform portal opening; only because he was to be the one to carry out royal decreed banishments," Luchinda explained whilst leading Astrid down the cold, stone steps to the underground catacombs, where her ancestors' bones lay. 

Small torches lined the carved, grey walls that framed the ancient staircase. They sensed the light orb's magic within Luchinda's pouch and lit up in a perfect sequence. Beyond the staircase was a deep darkness and Astrid could not tell how large or small the catacombs were. She would find that out only when Luchinda's delicate foot reached the very last step.

"So, my great grandfather carried out my dad's banishment?" Astrid asked after a significant pause. "His own grandson?" The thought disturbed her.

"Yes." 

As Luchinda reached the end of the staircase with a gentle tap of her canvas covered toes, torches along one wall, lit up a large rectangular room. You could not see the opposite wall for the many shelves that held different sized boxes. Some, Astrid knew, to be coffins. A shiver tingled her spine as the coldness of death gripped at her mind.

"Here we are," Luchinda said, moving towards the closest shelf to her. She seemed so at home in such a morbid setting. "Come along dear." Astrid reluctantly moved to join her aunt.

"This is where I stored the ingredients needed for the Patengailte potion," Luchinda explained, as she rummaged through boxes and jars. She handed a number of jars to Astrid to hold and held a wooden crate steadily in her hands. It looked so heavy, Astrid was surprised her petite aunt could stay standing underneath it.

"Patengailte potion?" Astrid asked, whilst following her aunt towards a very old wooden table in the centre of the room. 

"The potion needed to open the portal, simply named the "opening" in Natanstrelle's ancient tongue. A potion that only my grandfather knew how to mix for the longest time." Luchinda grabbed the jars from Astrid's arms after clunking the wooden crate down on the surprisingly sturdy, old, chipped table. 

"Did he teach you how to make it?"

"Oh, Illuminare-Trabem bless you! Of course not! A female can't be permitted to know such complicated magic!" Luchinda responded with an air of resentment. Not looking away from the jars that she was organising.

"I don't understand," Astrid said timidly, wary of Luchinda's change in mood.

"Illuminare-Trabem taught me," Luchinda answered plainly, causing Astrid's eyebrows to slam down in a sceptical scowl. "Through the smoke," she quickly added before clapping her hands together. "Right, here we are. Everything we need is ready."

"What is all this stuff?"

"I had to gather quite a few things, as you can see," Luchinda began. "The Patengailte potion needs hair from a goat's back, chaff of wheat, Etioirm-berries and ghea-mach," she listed whilst pointing out the jars in order. 

"Are those ingredients all essences from the family trades?" Astrid asked, fully immersed in learning. 

"That's right, well observed!" Luchinda beamed with pride towards her niece.

"But that's only four things," Astrid thought aloud whilst taking a closer look at each jar. It didn't take her long to figure out which family trade was not represented. "Fiosolim. There's nothing here representing Fiosolim."

"Oh, now that's the most interesting one," Luchinda said, tapping at her nose. She then reached inside the wooden crate and brought out a large covered, metallic bowl. She placed it gently on the table and pointed towards its transparent lid. Astrid gazed inside and there she saw a deep blue liquid with pure white smoke dancing in circles above its surface.

"Is that prophetic smoke?" Astrid guessed, squinting at the encased, swirling cloud. 

"It is, with water from Luna Lake. When the smoke comes upon the waters of Luna Lake its power is enhanced," Luchinda explained in her velvety, calm voice. "If you were to breathe it in you would be given a temporary gift of sight, no matter your heritage or your biological make up."

As soon as those words left Luchinda, an eerie silence took over all conversation. 

"Astrid?" Luchinda's voice fell on seemingly deaf ears. She looked up at her niece, whose eyes were fixated on the smoke in an unreachable trance. "Astrid!" A darkness had flooded Astrid's violet irises and she winced as a sharp pain stabbed behind her eyes. 

She then found herself in complete darkness. A deep growl crushed through her gritted teeth.

A warmth pressed into her face. 

"Astrid." She heard Luchinda's velvet whisper in her ear. "Bury him. Deep down. Don't let him surface. Fight!" 

Astrid concentrated hard on the violet sparkles that fought their way to the forefront of her mind. They brought with them a sense of peace that soon took over her whole body. Once she had physically relaxed, Luchinda took her hands away from Astrid's eyes, which she blinked multiple times, then opened and she could see again.

Luchinda took a deep, relieved breath. 

"W-what happened?" Astrid asked, worry parading through her trembling voice.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," Luchinda said, rushing to return the bowl back into the crate. "I shouldn't have shown you that, that was a foolish thing for me to do!"

"What does this symbol look like?" Amber asked whilst watching her mother and father try to organise the paintings on the spongy, moss covered ground of the forest. They made sure to find the very place where Astrid woke up, which happened to be the same place that True found himself a few weeks ago.

"I have a faint idea, but I can't be…" Suddenly an epiphany struck Astrid. "Wait, could it be…"

Her hands then began to move faster causing True to instinctively step back out of the way. He, James and Amber watched as lines began to stand out and connect together.

Once Astrid was done, a symbol did indeed appear, and it was a symbol that they all knew incredibly well. It was the Royal Seal. It very clearly resembled the brand that was burned onto both Astrid and Amber's skin and what Astrid remembered to be a part of the Emerald Army's pin. There, vividly lay a perfect circle with four crossed over straight lines that made up an eight-pointed star.

Ever since that moment where Astrid's eyes began to grow dark again, Luchinda knew that she must act fast. She mixed all five ingredients together to make the Patengailte potion. It took only a few hours to get it right. However, that's all it took for Noir-Astra to fight through.

He could see what was happening. 

Astrid fought against his control. Her inner turmoil caused her head to ache with an unbearable, piercing pain.

"Luchinda…" Astrid called out to her aunt in a choked whimper.

"Don't worry child, it's nearly time."

"W-will I ever see you again?" Astrid asked through held back sobs.

"No. I am so sorry. You will be lost to Natanstrelle forever." Having to say such a lie to her poor niece broke her heart, but she could see Noir-Astra looming within her darkening eyes.

"H-how will I survive with a b-broken h-heart?" Astrid lamented as thick black tears fell from her shadowy eyes. Her sobs penetrated the air within the round room. She fell onto her knees and hid her head under the hood of her blue cloak. 

Luchinda bent down to her niece's crouching level. Her conscience fought against what she had to do.

"My dear, you must forget," she whispered and put her arm around Astrid's trembling shoulders.

"F-forget? I can't forget! True. Amber. Everything, everyone. If I forget them they'll become nothing!"

"No, my dear. Listen. You have to forget everything about your life here. It is the only certain way to completely starve Noir-Astra out of you." 

When hearing those words, a stabbing pain crushed through Astrid's mind making her scream in agony.

"He's angry. He's fighting. Aunty, what must I do? Tell me please!" Astrid just managed to pant out those words, after fighting to get her breath back.

"Take this!" Luchinda shoved a small glass vial into Astrid's hand. With great strength Astrid fought through the darkness to see what was lying in her grasp. She immediately knew what it was when she managed to focus. "Take it now! Before he can stop you!"

Without hesitation, Astrid pulled the tiny cork from the top of the vial and downed the navy potion it contained. She swallowed forcefully, to make sure that Noir-Astra could not make her spit it out again. Once it settled in her stomach, Noir-Astra seemed to be frozen inside her mind.

"He stopped…" Astrid announced with relief.

"Indeed, that proves it is taking its course. Soon you will be put under and you'll wake in the non-magical realm as if from a dream," Luchinda said, patting Astrid on the shoulder before standing up again. She took this opportunity to pour the Patengailte Potion into the Trabem Pool.

"We have ten minutes until the Cadallain+Ghea takes effect and the portal will open as soon as you fall asleep," Luchinda informed her niece who didn't dare to move from her crouched position on the hard, slate ground.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Oh, Astrid, my dear niece, your husband is here," Luchinda informed the blue mound at her feet.

"What is he doing here?" Astrid responded in panic. Her voice rumbled in a low, strained growl. A growl that displayed how fast the unnatural deep sleep was taking over her body.

"He's come to see you," Luchinda answered tactlessly.

"But h-how did he know where I was?"

"Naomi knows everything. I told her to inform him," Luchinda explained.

"W-why?"

"It's what must be done. He had to be here." 

"No… I- I can't take it… Please, Luchinda, please…" Astrid pleaded in that same choked growl.

"Astrid, I can't just let you go without saying goodbye!" True said, unable to hide his anguish. Astrid didn't know when exactly he came in, she didn't hear the door open. "Why couldn't you just let us come with you? We could've lived together in the non-magical realm!"

"No, I must go alone," Astrid responded through heavy breaths.

"Why? Why must you?"

"True. No-one has ever travelled with another, what if something goes wrong? No. I can't risk my heart like that!" Astrid cried out through the pain that weighed down her chest. "I can, however, risk my mind…" she added, whilst glancing at her aunt, who stood beside her with guilt infested eyes. 

"What?" 

Astrid then drew out, from under her blue cloak, the navy stained vial.

"What is that?" Suspicion weaved its way through True's question, he wanted to get closer to his wife to have a better look. To hold her. To stop her. But the warning shake of Luchinda's head made him freeze to the spot where he stood.

"Cadallain+Ghea," Astrid answered sheepishly, clasping the sleeping potion in her hand.

"How much Ghea-mach?" True asked with anger colouring his tone. A lack of response from his now weeping wife made him raise his voice. "HOW MUCH!"

"Three… three units…"

"No! You mean to forget everything?"

"I'm sorry…"

"You didn't take it! Astrid. Tell me you didn't take it!" True pleaded with his wife.

"I'm sorry," she repeated in a trembling whisper.

"No…"

"It'll fully kick in, in a few minutes."

"No..." True murmured under his catching breath and sunk to his knees in despair.

"I'm so sorry, True, I love you, I will always love you." Astrid's real voice fought its way through the pain and resonated through the murky air. That familiar sound reached Amber, who was in the open doorway the whole time - in Naomi's arms.

"Mummy?" 

"Amber?" Astrid was horrified, "No, Amber, I don't want you to see me. Get her out of here! Keep her away! Please!"

Astrid's words struck her daughter's heart like fiery arrows.

Amber screamed in tears, "No! Mummy! Mummy!"

"She can't see this, Naomi, please, take her!"

"No! Mummy!" Amber's little hands reached out towards her mother as Naomi struggled to hold her still. 

"Take her. True, take her!" 

"True, you must go. The portal has been set to open as soon as Astrid falls into her deep sleep," Luchinda decided to pipe in. True shakily got to his feet. However, Amber would not give in. She wriggled and squirmed until she was freed from Naomi's grasp. She ran to her mother's side.

"No, Amber!" True shouted after her.

"No, I must go alone! True, hurry!" 

"No, Mummy, please don't go! Don't go!" Amber grabbed tightly onto her mother's cloak.

"Please!" Astrid's desperate wail seemed to shake the room. Black inky tears rushed down her face from the deep shadows that had frozen inside her eyes. True tried his hardest to free Astrid's cloak from Amber's surprisingly strong grip. "True, I'm going, I'm…" 

Astrid's eyes closed and her head flopped back in a deep sleep before a bright light engulfed both her and Amber. They disappeared and True was thrown onto the cold, slate floor. 

Great amazement as well as deep relief came to all that stood amongst the trees within the forest that connected them all. Jeeves stood at the centre of the symbol, with his bright violet eyes gleaming within the ever dimming atmosphere. The lines that circled him began to shine with a bright golden glow. 

"It's working!" Amber exclaimed excitedly, before running to join the other three into the golden light. Once they all stood there ready, that otherworldly power engulfed them and they were gone in a blink of an eye. They left, what seemed to be, an indifferent black and white cat, who just sat and watched torn up pieces of old paintings float up into the still twilight air.