Dear Journal,
           What is it that I've done to deserve this pain? A melancholic sonata plays as I carry on with life but I'm afraid that I might give up. I'm afraid that this music, though sorrowful, will stop playing.

- 𝒮𝓎𝓇𝓊𝓈 𝒮𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓁𝑒
                                                              (1611)

Syrus paced the catacombs's of Elias's wooden coffin, his mind a raging storm of chaos. Every thought brought rain that wet the rims of his eyes; every glance at Elias released thunder upon his sanity. Uncertainty welled inside of him and for the first time in years, he thought that he would break again.

He stopped his pacing as he walked over to Elias's lifeless body lying in eternal slumber. His skin reflected the torchlight of the underground cavern. It was glossy and refined, perfect even. Even more so than when he was alive. No one would dare say it but he was even more ethereal in death.

"Tell me what to do," Syrus begged him, tears welling in his eyes once more.

Silence.

"They've taken her. You warned me and I still failed you." Syrus said, his tears falling onto Elias's pristine black doublet. He wanted to touch him. To hear his voice bestow all the right answers that he so desperately needed to hear; the right answers he knew him to have. But there was only silence as his maker laid still in his new temple.

Syrus felt an abnormal chill down his spine as the room grew colder while someone cleared their throat. His head snapped behind him, examining the catacombs like a mad man. The only person who knew this place well was gone and Celestria was with her aunt at the castle. It could not have been his niece for this was the sound of a full grown man.

For a moment, Syrus thought it was Elias and he turned to look at his body again but he was unmoving, quiet and peaceful. He almost shook it off as a hallucination up until he heard it again.

"Who's there?" He said forcefully, sadness draining from his tone as he replaced it with the icy chill of danger.

He watched as the bottom of the staircase rippled. It was as if reality had become distorted and something was trying to break free from normalcy. Instinctively, he drew closer to Elias's body as he prepared to protect it with his life.

The ripples in the air slowly materialized into the pale figure of man he did not know. First his boots, then his tunic and eventually finishing off at his face.

"Before you ask," the man started to say but his voice sounded more like a whisper in Syrus's ear. Too soft to properly discern but very much there.

The ghost cleared his throat once more before attempting to speak again.

"Before you ask, I am Chrollo the Healer." The pale man said, ridding Syrus of his bewilderment as he finally examined him.

Taking a proper look at his appearance, Syrus noticed Chrollo's boots were scuffed. He had rips in the fabric of his hose and they revealed pale, ghostly skin. His tunic was threadbare and mangy and even though his entire body was transparent, he was visible enough for Syrus to discern that he was handsome. Infact, his face actually seemed familiar as the vampire stared and at his brown, shoulder length hair.

A stubble was prominent on his well defined jawlines and green his eyes creased as he frowned. He had a crooked nose and even though he looked to be middle aged, his toned physique told Syrus that he had many years of hard labor under his belt.

"Are you not going to say anything?" The ghost asked as he took a step forward.

"Come any closer and I will,"

"Kill me? It's too late for that now." The man grimaced, though, he did not try to move again.

"Who are you?" Syrus finally asked, his long fingernails extending defensively.

"I already told you," the man answered, rolling his eyes to show his annoyance. Syrus could not explain it but the action reminded him of Elias.

"You should not be here," Syrus said seriously, causing Chrollo to squint at him, unsure if he meant in the catacombs or in real life.

"I just wanted to see my son." The man answered, his green eyes softening to a degree and in that moment, Syrus had been sure he'd seen this man before. Younger, with golden eyes peering back at him like a proud father.

"Y-your son?" Syrus tried to swallow but his mouth had run dry from disbelief.

"You're his father," Syrus said after, his voice shaking slightly. But even as he said it, he knew it was true.

Inhaling deeply, Syrus turned back to Elias, staring at the vampire as he recalled his face before his transformation.

"He looks more peaceful than I did," the man said, this time he was right next to Syrus. The sleeve of his tunic brushed Syrus's shoulder and a chill rippled through his body, sending shivers all the way down to his toes.

"How are you here?" Syrus asked, looking at the man. He was a little taller than him, like Elias was and Syrus wondered how he had not seen the resemblance immediately.

"You could say the other side is loosening up a bit. Things are happening, my boy." Chrollo said, attempting to pat him on the shoulder but Syrus backed away from from his frigid touch.

"Sorry, I forget." The ghost said and even his doleful expression looked like Elias's.

"Are you the one that's been talking to Celestria?" Syrus asked, matching the man's cold touch with his own tone. The little girl had said she had been speaking to her father but he would have been less surprised had it actually been Elias.

"Celestria," Chrollo said, his ghostly green eyes twinkling with affection and sorrow. "I'm glad you chose that name for her."

It was the name of Elias's mother which meant it was the name of Chrollo's past lover. She had been the queen of the Vylisians but was casted out by Odelina and her own husband and left for dead. Chrollo had found her and nursed back to life and they fell inlove, conceiving Elias in the process, according to Odelina's story.

"She's a wonderful little girl," Chrollo continued. "They'll want her dead but she is his only hope at his revival."

Chrollo turned to his son, his eyes reflecting tragedy. He reached out to touch him while ignoring Syrus's warning but nothing happened when he cupped Elias's face.

"How so? She's just a child." Syrus asked after a moment.

"You don't know do you?" Chrollo scoffed, turning to Syrus. "Ofcourse you don't. You're too busy drowning yourself in wine."

"Be careful, old man. I don't know how to kill a ghost but I have no qualms with trying." The vampire threatened, causing Chrollo to laugh.

It was a terrible sound, similar to the screeching of bats. Syrus never imagined a long death would have such terrible effects.

"I can see why he liked you." The ghost said.

"I have no time for idle talk," Syrus announced. "You impersonated Celestria's father and told her that we should not try to bring him back. Why?"

"Because he'll only die again." Chrollo sighed, turning back to his son's corpse.

"Do you know what Odelina's followers are trying to do? They want to revive Elijah and the Vylisians. And Amora is playing right into their hands." Chrollo said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in order for Elijah to be reborn, they will have to," Chrollo stopped as Syrus's name could be heard from above.

"The Mercí witch," he said nervously. "I have to go. I'll try to make contact again soon." He finished before dissipating into nothingness.

"Wait!" Syrus said but the ghost had already vanished.

Turning to Elias once more, Syrus bid him a farewell before heading back to the surface.

He found Eleanor leaning on the yew tree, mumbling to herself about graves and insects. She turned to him as he emerged from the earth, ignoring the hole that was now magically being covered by newly formed dirt and grass.

"I thought I told you to wait for me in my chambers." Syrus scolded, his eyes squinting as the hot sun warmed his skin.

The cemetery was quite chirpy for a resting place of the dead. Butterflies flocked the leaves of the yew tree and the rabbits found food between the graves. Birds chirped in the distance and the air was sweet, like lavender mixed with honeysuckle. It contrasted Syrus's mood greatly.

"Well, you know me. I can't stay in one place for too long." She smiled but Syrus only sneered at her.

"Actually, I don't know you." He said storming past her as headed into the forest of trees.

"Wait! Why were you down there? Is it some secret cabinet for vampires?" She asked curiously.

"It's none of your business, that's what it is." He answered.

"Oh, come on. You can trust me." Eleanor said. Syrus was infront of her but her tone told him that she was smiling.

"I trust no one. Not even myself." He responded curtly, bending a tree branch as he led the way back to the castle.

It had been 5 days since Emma's kidnapping and currently, Alice was trying to keep everyone calm while keeping everything in order. Word had travelled quickly of the Queen going missing and the rumors were just as swift and even more vile.

Some thought her to run off with a new suitor; leaving her demon child. Some believed she had actually died and the monarchs were covering it up. Some even said that she had probably become a monster herself and as such had decided to step down from the crown.

Either way, Emma's absence brought nothing but bad news. Fear had been incited into her subjects and because of this, crime had increased tenfold. There were now reports of both missing people and creatures as well as attempts at break-ins into the castle by petty thieves and murderers seeking to become usurpers.

In addition to all of this, Syrus had to be there for his niece who had became a handful after receiving the news of her missing mother. Celestria could feel some of her mother's emotions which meant she wasn't dead and for that, Syrus was grateful.

"Blood for thought?" Eleanor joked.

"What do you want from me, Witch? Tell me! And tell me who you are." Syrus stopped, turning around so suddenly that she accidentally dashed against him.

Stepping back, Eleanor frowned, recognizing the seriousness of his tone and expression.

"I just want to experience you magical beings in entirety."

"Why?" Syrus squinted.

Heaving a sigh, Eleanor picked up a twig up from the ground, breaking it as she leaned against a nearby tree. She was wearing a beige frock that was tied with brown ribbons at her bosom and the sun peaked through the foliages to cast intricate shadows on her beautiful skin to enhance her radiance. She was almost out of place in a setting such as this.

"I'm the outcast of my coven," Eleanor began, her mouth twisting distastefully as she continued to break apart the twig.

"My name is Eleanor the Connoisseur." She told him but Syrus was just as lost as the night they had first met.

"Odelina was called the gifted because she excelled in all aspects of magic. Annora was called the enchanted because she was good at bewitching and spellbinding. Grizelda was a master at creation, hence her name 'The Maker'. This is like a title in covens. Every witch or warlock had it attached to their name like a parasite. It is used to tell others who we are. A symbol to distinguish our gifts and pride as magical beings."

Syrus recalled Chrollo introducing himself as the Healer, driving him to question Eleanor further.

"A connoisseur. You're an expert in what? Magic?"

"And magical beings," she added. "I have a gift you see, it is strange but accurate."

"What is it?" Syrus asked.

"Well, I can tell everything about a creature, even things they may not know themselves if I.. you know," she smiled evilly.

"If you bed them?" Syrus asked incredulously, his eyebrows raised in alarm.

Eleanor nodded so lightly that it made her look younger, like an innocent girl who had just been convinced to do something naughty.

"How does that work?" Syrus questioned.

"You see, coitus is a very special thing. It's no wonder they say to wait until marriage. You exchange energies when you sleep with someone, especially if you're a woman. I just happen to have a very intriguing ability to collect information on them during." Eleanor told him, her eyes twinkling delightfully.

"So you know everything about me then," Syrus shook his head, looking at the ground as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Hmm," Eleanor nodded, walking over to him.

"You're weakness is the sun and silver burns your skin. You're blessed with the power to create and control lightning due to elf magic. I wonder how that happened." She said excitedly.

"Silver is like wolfsbane to you and if it pierces your heart, you can die...in a sense." She shrugged.

"Why in a sense?"

Eleanor smiled at him but it was unnerving. She wanted something in turn for this information and Syrus was ready to leave her in the forest right then.

Turning around, he continued to trek through the pine needles and twigs back to the castle.

"Not happening." He told her.

"Oh, come on! I just want to talk to her for a bit. You haven't brought her anywhere near me in the last five days since I saw her when your queen was taken. Why do you hide her away?"

"I'm not letting you anywhere near her ever again! What are you? Some sort of sick pervert? She's a child!" Syrus shouted.

"I know that! I'd never try to do such things to children. Infact, I'm quite offended. I only want to meet her. Properly."

Syrus stopped suddenly, and Eleanor stopped as well as he turned to her, squinting as he asked;

"Why were outcasted in your coven?"

"I was tired of being their whore." Eleanor grimaced.

Syrus's eyebrows shot up at her honesty, frowning as he listened to her speak.

"I left my coven years ago, weary of their many demands. The Mercí coven was one of information. That's what made them rich and powerful. They knew about everything and everyone and that made them dangerous. And it was all because of me."

"What?" Syrus asked.

"Imagine, all your secrets, your strengths, your weaknesses. All known to creatures who had no regard for life. They cared not if you lived or died. As long as your enemies could pay for it, they could learn how to defeat you. They were never loyal, just greedy. Eager to uncover all the secrets of this world." Eleanor spoke venomously.

Syrus began to feel slightly dejected as he watched Eleanor's bright eyes dull in pain.

"And even after I've left them, even after just traveling and doing whatever I wanted, bedding whoever I wanted, powerful creatures like you still draw my attention. I get inklings, like an itch that won't stop until I've uncovered the truth. I was in another continent when I felt your maker's rebirth occur. By the time I made it back to Europe, he was already gone. It's like a bloody disease. I ache for information. It makes me euphoric. It pleases me. Knowledge is my climax and I can't curb it." Eleanor gritted, her palms clenched tightly as she finished.

She was in pain. Syrus could not imagine being souteneured by his own people, fleeing from their disgusting demands only to still be drawn in by the very thing you're running from. All because that is simply who you are; who you were created to be.

"That sounds awful and creepy. I'm sorry," Syrus said lowly.

"No, I'm sorry." Eleanor sighed. "I really can't help the way I am."

They were quiet as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

"I'll tell you how to bring your maker back if you let me meet his daughter. You can be right there through it all. I can't learn her weaknesses but I can learn her strengths. She has to introduce herself and hold my hand for it to work." She told him.

Syrus's mind flashed back to him telling her his name at the banquet. She had known so much about him just by a simple gesture like taking her hand as he led her to his room. He really was reckless.

"If I agree, you will tell me in full detail how to get Elias back?" Syrus asked.

"I will." Eleanor nodded.

"If you try anything, I really will kill you." Syrus said seriously.

"Well then, I'd have deserved it. What kind of monster hurts children." Eleanor frowned.

Syrus still didn't trust her but any information on reviving Elias would be good to him. For six years they had been stuck in a rut, unable to do anything or find any facts on what would work. If he could wake him, half their problems with this war would be over since the Vylisians wouldn't be able to use his spirit to bring Elijah back and they could take down the Lenoré coven together by creating their own army of vampires. A new age of fresh, loyal and subordinate creatures.

"Let's go see Celest then." Syrus beckoned her, heading towards the castle.

Drops of water soaked Emma's hair as the smell of wet mud plagued her nostrils.

She was still wearing the blue dress she had on the night she had been taken, though now it had been marred with dirt and blood.

Omara had locked her in what looked like a cellar. Emma could tell she was high above ground based on her view.

In fact, an entire mountain had been carved out to build a fortress for the Lenoré coven, complete with sturdy, stone walls and fountains of magic water. It was a castle in its own right and the view Emma had been given was a sight for sore eyes as she could see an evergreen forest outside her caged window with trees as talls as the heavens and leaves as many as the oceans.

They kept her at the highest point of the mountain, in a dank, stale aired prison where water dripped from the ceiling and her feet were mucked in mud. Her view was indeed amazing but Emma was unable to enjoy it given the conditions of her arrival and stay.

"I am the Queen of Gandalwell and I should be treated as such!" Emma shouted. "Let me out!"

"Will you be quiet?" a petite, olive skinned girl said, appearing from the steps north of the room. Emma had seen the blonde girl a few times as she had brought her food on occasions but she hadn't learned her name.

"Do you know who I am?" Emma asked her, eyes wide with anger and fatigue. She had not slept in 3 days and had been shouting all morning to be released. The prison was spelled to seal away her magic so there was nothing she could do to free herself.

"You're our prisoner. You need to act like it!" The girl said impudently.

"Just wait until," Emma began to say before being interrupted.

"Until what? Your vampire friend comes to save you? It will never happen. They'll all die very soon! Faes will once again rule this land." She boasted.

Emma opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it as she heard Omara's voice.

"That's enough, Vivian. You can go now." He instructed her. She gave him a poisonous glare before disappearing down the stairs.

He had goblet in his hand and Emma's heart sped up as he walked closer to her cell.

"Are you thirsty?" He asked her.

"Go to hell!" Emma spat at him half-heartedly. It was hard to explain but she knew she didn't mean it. Something had happened that night on the balcony and ever since she had fallen unconscious, she had awoken to new feelings about Omara.

She would never admit it but she dreamt of him at nights and thought of him as she awoke. She barely remembered anything about Elias and as time progressed, she was losing her memories of her daughter as well. It was just as her explanation of love claimed. Like God had carved out her heart and placed into only Omara. It terrified her greatly.

He had not come to see her since he left her here but she did well to ignore the forbidden feelings of joy that exploded inside her as he came closer.

"How do you feel?" He asked, ignoring her insult.

"Wh-what did you do to me?" She asked him.

"Just a precaution," he smiled a little but it did not reach his eyes.

"What does that mean?" Emma frowned.

"Like I'd tell you," he smirked, pushing the goblet through the bars.

Emma took it from him, drinking immediately then frowning after realizing what she had done.

"Good girl," Omara beamed at her, caressing her cheeks as he brushed a lock of wet hair from her face.

"What did you do to m-make," Emma stumbled on her words as her eyes grew heavier, the goblet falling into the muddy ground.

"To make you love me? That's a secret. All I can say is, I'm trying to survive, no matter what the outcome of this war is."

"Wh-what?" Emma stammered as her eyes finally closed, falling to the ground.

"You're tired. Sleep now, my dear Emma." She heard him say as she fought to listen to his footsteps leave the room before passing out onto the floor.

I knew I said I wouldn't take long but man, was I busy! I'm so sorry guys.

Thank you all for waiting however!
I appreciate everyone of you❤️