Lue carried Dask into the stump through one of the large windows on the side of the building. Lue pulled Dask inside, and they brushed themselves off. Dask shoved his knife in his pocket and gave Lue a high five.

"We did it! Boo-yah!" Dask exclaimed.

Lue scratched the back of his neck. "Boo... yah?"

"It's just an exclamation. It means that I'm excited." Dask said with a shrug.

Suddenly, there was a strange beat coming from somewhere. Dask and Lue looked around, trying to locate where the noise was coming from.

They found the source. Lord Brilland came out of the shadows of the stump, clapping his hands slowly. The two boys looked around, seeing multiple different thrones. They realized all too soon that they were in the Magic Council's meeting room.

Catra, Ellabelle, Mistress Heartwinger, and Hadley had made it to the top of the staircase, but stopped after hearing voices. They hunkered down at the top of the steps, listening and waiting for the right time to enter.

Hadley's eyes became the size of a full moon when she located Dask. He looked so adventurous in that plaid earflap hat. Seeing him stand before someone so terribly evil made her terrified, but it also intrigued her to see his intelligence and bravery in the face of danger. She watched closely.

"An effort was made, boys, but it seems it was all for nothing." Lord Brilland said, his crooked teeth exposed through his disgusting smile. "What exactly were you trying to do in this attempt?"

"Dismantle those security fireflies," Dask said, scowling. "You have no right to be spying on innocent fairies in everything that they do every day."

Brilland was already offended, but this emotion was fueled when he noticed Dask's wingless back. His facial expression shifted as he lifted his nose in the air. "Ohhh, you must be one of our prisoner's little friends," He added, his tone mocking.

Dask's scowl deepened. "What did you do to my best friend? Don't try to sugarcoat it, buddy, I have a pocket knife and I'm not afraid to use it!" He yelled. His voice echoed through the empty room.

Hadley held her hand over her heart. Being called a best friend wasn't something she took lightly.

"Your threats don't worry me, boy. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Your friend has been... taken care of." Brilland replied. It was obvious that he was choosing his words wisely.

Dask had already had enough. He pulled his pocket knife from his brown coat, whipping out the shiny blade immediately. Brilland didn't miss a beat, retaliating by pulling out his wrinkly wooden wand.

"Don't test me," Lord Brilland said, raising one ugly eyebrow. "Your puny knife is no match for my magic. You have no idea what you're up against."

Dask shrugged, playing it as cool as possible. "Yeah, but I can try," He said.

That was all it took. Brilland struck both boys with his wand, encasing them in electric handcuffs and raising them in the air. They floated there. Their attempts to struggle resulted in their strongholds zapping them.

Hadley scowled. She started to stand, but Ellabelle grabbed her wrist, giving her a look that clearly said, "don't do it!"

Hadley knew that this was the time for action. She had to help her friends, new and old.

The other girls could do nothing but follow her unexpected lead.

"Hey! Dinosaur!" Hadley yelled across the room. Ellabelle and Heartwinger took their wands out, as if on cue. Hadley smiled confidently. "Nobody traps my best friend and gets away with it."

Dask's smile was brighter than the sun itself. "Hadley!" He exclaimed. There was a moment in which they gazed at one another, with both joyful and anxious expressions on their faces, but it came to an abrupt end when Dask's wrists were shocked by his handcuffs. Hadley's smile quickly withered away.

"Aha! Ellabelle and her tribe of misfits. And I see you've gained partnership with our traitor," Brilland sneered towards Heartwinger, who tried to keep her cool in the heat of the moment.

Ellabelle and Heartwinger calmly grabbed their wands.

Suddenly, Lady Larkdale broke through one of the large windows of the stump. Everyone looked up, including Brilland, but he was the only one who smiled. Larkdale landed on the floor before them, posing in her overly extravagant outfit.

"I was going to send out a search party for you, but you came right to us instead." She said, obviously directing it towards Ellabelle. Ellabelle lifted her wand even higher.

"We're here to stop you. You have to know that what you're doing is wrong." She replied. Lady Larkdale's eyes widened when she saw the glowing white wand in Ellabelle's hand. Her facial expression took a turn.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, so quietly that it was hardly even audible.

Ellabelle looked at the wand that she held in her hand, raising an eyebrow. "Um... well, why should I tell you? Are you going to use your mind games to take it from me?" She asked, suddenly turning defensive.

Lady Larkdale's eyes were encased with terror. She knew the origin of that wand. She had nearly forgotten. Memories and flashbacks glazed over her mind. "You don't know?"

Ellabelle took a step back, slightly lowering her weapon. "I don't understand," She replied.

For once, Lady Larkdale's face looked sincere - and scared. She thought that her wand had been buried where no one could be found; hidden where no eyes would ever look upon it again. If she told Ellabelle the entire truth, she would realize what it meant. Larkdale decided to use this opportunity to her advantage.

"That... was your mother's wand." Lady Larkdale explained. She decided to begin with the truth. "She carved her initials in it and everything." She paused.

Ellabelle rubbed her thumb against the bottom of the wand again, looking at the initials. It all made sense now. Rosalie Eos. R.E.E.

Lady Larkdale decided to continue. "Your mother used to be on the Magic Council." She explained.

Ellabelle froze. Her own mother used to be a part of the most evil, manipulative society in the entire fairy world?

"She was often off taking care of her two kids, though. She stayed home with her newborn daughter and her two year old son." Lady Larkdale added. She exchanged a quick glance between Ellabelle and Lue. She knew.

"But then, a few years later, she and her husband got up and left." Lady Larkdale sighed, pretending to sound sympathetic. "She left everything, including her children, behind. She told me after her last Council meeting that she was so ashamed of her daughter that she had to leave. Her daughter had ruined the family name. And guess who that daughter was?" Larkdale pointed her wand in Ellabelle's direction.

Ellabelle's face was a jumbled up pile of a million different emotions. She couldn't tell what was fact or what was fiction; Lady Larkdale wasn't exactly the most truthful person alive. Everything felt like it was connecting, but at the same time, it felt like walls were being torn down each minute Ellabelle found out something more.

"You ruined your family name. Your parents were so ashamed of you. I can still remember the day, crystal clear. They packed their things, leaving you and your brother to fend for yourselves, and they left for the deserts of Tesan, just to get away from you and start over." Larkdale sneered. She turned from Ellabelle to Lue, looking at him with a strange smile. She peered back and forth between the siblings. "Were you ever going to tell him?" She finally asked Ellabelle.

Ellabelle looked betrayed. Lue looked around, his expression confused.

"Tell me what? Come on! Quit messing with her," Lue demanded, getting shocked by his handcuffs.

Lady Larkdale chuckled to herself. "Poor little Ellabelle, left alone, with her parents and her brother nowhere to be found." She said. Then, she flew up to Lue, who was still floating next to Dask in their handcuffs. She looked right in his blue-green eyes. "When all the while, there was another Eos still around." She paused for a moment, landing back down on the floor. "I can't believe you two even found each other after everything that happened. You must have a... very special bond."

Lue shook his head, his gaze meeting Ellabelle's. Ellabelle tried to tell him "I'm sorry" with her diamond eyes, but no apology would ever seem genuine enough.

"So... you're telling me... I'm your..." Lue couldn't even form words any more. His face turned cold and his hands went numb.
Ellabelle felt her eyes watering. "I was gonna tell you... I couldn't..." She sighed, desperately searching for something to make everything all better. She found her voice between her sobs. "I wanted to tell you, but I never found the right time."

Lue shook his head. He looked so confused and almost regretful. "Why did they do this?"

Ellabelle frowned. She hated to see her brother hurt. This definitely wasn't the way she wanted him to find out. She wished she could've told him at the Horizon Festival. How did everything go so wrong?

"Is your heartfelt reunion over with?" Larkdale asked. Without waiting for an answer, she lifted her wand, a devilish smile appearing. "Good," She added, zapping the girls, putting them all in handcuffs. Well, all except Ellabelle.

"Ah ah, I have a special place for Eos's daughter," Larkdale added. She then created a clock with her wand and moved Ellabelle inside. Ellabelle pounded on the face of the clock. The ticking sound was deafening.

"Why are you doing this to her? She's innocent! You torture her just because she disagrees with you, and because she did something that was out of line with your beliefs. Have you ever thought about the fact that you guys are the size of pebbles? If I was my real size, I could squish all of you in an instant, and Dask could too! Those boots of his would cover a lot of ground," Hadley added sassily, raising an eyebrow. Lady Larkdale obviously wanted to interject, but Hadley continued. "Ellabelle has been put through things that you and all of your elite fairy friends could never even imagine. She's been abandoned and oppressed and cast out of society because of something that isn't even true! Humans aren't a bad species! Sure, you'll find a rotten apple every once in a while, but that's just like any other species. Kind of like yourself, Lady Larkdale. You're that one bad apple surrounded by all the good ones, and you don't even realize or care." Hadley took a deep breath in.

Lady Larkdale was at a loss for words, although she didn't want to admit it. She slammed her foot on the floor, creating the loudest boom that anyone had ever heard. "This ends NOW!" She shrieked. "I don't even know why I kept any of you alive. You will all pay for your ungrateful actions." She demanded. Her voice echoed through the entirety of the room.

Just then, Mistress Heartwinger gently raised her voice. "Hold on a minute. I just thought of something." She interjected. "If Ellabelle and Lue are the daughter and son of Rosalie Eos, they should be the next in line to become Council members, correct?"

Lady Larkdale spun around, her eyes flickering on Heartwinger. She didn't respond.

"Their mother was on the Council. Ellabelle found Rosalie's wand, and she now has it in her possession. Wouldn't that make them next in line to the Council?" Heartwinger inquired, leering towards Lady Larkdale, who scrunched up her nose.

"Psh! This isn't a generational society! Council members get voted into their positions. They don't just get free family passes." Larkdale argued. Heartwinger leaned in.

"You sound scared," Heartwinger taunted slowly and carefully. "Are you afraid of the Eos siblings taking your position?"

Lady Larkdale stammered. While Heartwinger was distracting her, Ellabelle slipped her ring on her finger. Soon, she was no longer trapped in the clock face, and it disappeared into thin air.  She grabbed her wand and struck her friends' handcuffs one by one, letting them free.

Hadley fell to the floor, then ran over to Dask, catching him after he fell. She smiled at him.

"It's good to see you again," he said, smiling back at her.

Hadley stood him back up so she could give him a hug. "It's good to see you too. Better than good, actually." She replied, feeling her insides warm up. 

Lady Larkdale was flying in the center of the stump. "So, you actually want to fight? You want to be brutally beaten?" She asked them. Her evil smile surfaced. "Be my guest."

Everyone grabbed their weapons. Dask threw Lue his whittled stick again, then grabbed his pocket knife for himself. Ellabelle and Heartwinger pulled out their wands.

Lord Brilland came out of the shadows and stood next to Larkdale, pulling his own wand out. Lady Larkdale grabbed her wand as well, allowing it to morph into a sword.

Hadley never saw this coming. She never thought she'd be fighting alongside her favorite people in the world, and that a good majority of them would be fairies. She realized that she didn't have a weapon. She whistled to Ellabelle, who threw the teleportation ring at her.

"You're messing with the wrong fairies," Larkdale growled.

Ellabelle turned to her counterparts. "So are you." She replied, giving a small nod to her friends. A moment later, they charged forward, and the battle began.