Paris:

My former best friend studied me with hooded eyes. He had lost weight, I realized, and Persephone's ring no longer sat on his right hand. 

I took a seat cautiously, "Why are you here?" I murmured softly. No doubt that the guards still thought we were allies and let him through without blinking an eye. 

"I can't," his voice cracked and instinctively, I closed my hand around Hades, "Talk," I urged quietly. 

He nodded, almost dazed, and his eyes fluttered shut. "Persephone's given up. She thinks I'm having an affair with those two maids, despite what I say, and she says she can't put up with my moping anymore."

A tear slid from his eye, and for that moment, I forgot our issues and told him, "Have you tried winning her back?"

His hopelessness was answer enough. "Give her time," I advised quietly.

His brilliant eyes flew open with a crushing defeat that almost made my heart sink as well, "What if- what if she moves on?"

"Then she is fool," I murmured, my heart aching for Hades. 

King Shade's eyes stared back at me with an unnerving emptiness, "Oh have times changed." In silence, we sat, seeking solace in each other's silence. Something about Hades's presence took away some of my burden and I never realized how much I missed Hades until now.

Ten minutes passed by in a blink of an eye, and I was again reminded that I had obligations and things to do. Almost regretfully, I hauled up my walls, "But you didn't come here to mope about Persephone, did you?" Breaking the careful silence, I almost craved for the peace that had just existed seconds ago.

I could've sworn Hades flinched, and he sighed, "Please, we have to do something. Mom has been driving Dad crazy. He is obsessed over her. Amberly and Avelyn too, but mainly Mom. Ever since they vanished.... our Court call him the Mad King. I fear that he may send an army to your lands to recapture Avelyn."

Rubbing my temple, I sighed, "Then I suppose you might as well talk to her?"

Hades gave a nod, and I could see the longing to see his sister in his eyes. As much as I hated waking Evelyn up, time was not on our side. I led Hades down the extravagant halls of Asyrein. 

Knocking briskly, I twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Evelyn was sitting straight up in bed, clenching the bed sheets in her fists. Her blue eyes were wide as she stared at me and Hades. 

Finally, she breathed, "Hades."

Hades hesitantly stepped inside. I lingered at the doorway, "Evelyn," I murmured quietly. Her eyes, slightly bloodshot, shot to mine, her expression one of worry.

"I've been challenged by my brothers for the Winter throne. I have to fight them today. In three hours." I paused, before adding, "If I don't make it, it's been a pleasure being your friend." Tears sprung to Evelyn's eyes, "No," she breathed. 

Hades stared at me, his jaw slack and he shook his head, "No way in hell am I letting you do that." But we both knew that it wasn't possible. 

Giving a strained smile, I sighed, "If I don't make it, tell Elsa I love her."

Evelyn jumped out of bed and barreled toward me, "Don't go. Please," she begged. Tears freely flowed down her cheeks and she sobbed, clinging onto me. 

When I raised my eyes to Hades, his eyes were watery too, "Be brave, my brother." 

Tears were beginning to rise in my eyes as well as I gave him a strained smile, "If only things were different."

Evelyn heard the firm words and raised her teary face to mine. Knowing she couldn't convince me, she kissed my cheek, and through the contact, I felt her magic surge through my veins, an extra cache of magic. 

"Use it wisely," she murmured, "and thank you for everything." Then, as if it pained her physically, she stepped back for Hades. 

Hades gave me firm hug, all past grievances gone. When we broke apart at last, he pressed his favorite dagger into my palm, "Long live the King."

There were definitely tears in my eyes when I took it, "Thank you," I croaked, unable to think of any words that could capture my emotions at this moment. 

Turning my back to them and walking away was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. But the tears receded as I rounded the corner, and cold hard determination had set in as I ascending the grand staircase. 

The Asyrein Palace had a beautiful ballroom, where most of the time, masked royals danced with each other elegantly. But it was also a dual room. The ballroom was easily emptied out, the chandelier often used as a weapon. There was already a crowd, the Winter Court all in appearance with their finery and hushed whispers. 

My father sat in his throne, flanked by his favorite advisers and the rest of my brothers. Some shared the same mother as me, but some were from other women as well. There was a hard shield in place around the spectators and the royal family, marking our arena. To breach this would result in immediate disqualification. 

Mikael and Jordan were already there, smug expressions on their face. I kept my expression bored, unamused, and careless. Facades were always important- they set the spark to the dynamite. 

I brushed imaginary dust off the sleeves of my tunic, and gave them a sharp smile, "Well let's get this over with, shall we?"

Father stood up, his eyes hard cold. There would be no favoritism, no intervention after he announced the start. This was a battle to the death, and only one would remain standing. 

"Today, my three sons will battle for the winter throne. The last one standing will win the spot of my heir. With the Winter Court as my witness, I now proclaim the start of the dual." 

As soon as those words left his mouth, my two brothers began their well-thought out attack. Mikael was my blood brother, though he despised me, simply because I was the heir. He was better at magic than Jordan, though my half brother was a force to be reckoned with fist to fist. 

Jordan threw daggers of ice at me, while Mikael multiplied them, duplicates of ice blades shooting at me. They were met with a scorching wall of flame. But they planned this, I realized, as the flames obscured my view of them. 

Weaving a shield of hard air around me, I used the wall as my advantage. I dropped seeds of magic- traps- onto the marble floor. As soon as they made contact, they vanished and immediately, I levitated a few inches of the ground. 

A flick of my wrists had the flame wall vanishing, and it was then I remembered that Evelyn had given me her stamina and powers. 

Mikael was forming a tornado and it spun around our arena Jordan, this time equipped with shadow arrows, began to take aim. I felt Rumpelstiltskin's instincts kick in, and as a sorcerer, not a prince, I made my move. 

My dark shadows easily overpowered Jordan's arrows, and as soon as it reached him, it forced him to use his magic to build a shield of fire. It would take all his focus to keep the wall intact, and I would use it as my advantage. When the shadows overpowered the entire arena, a second wall of flame, Mikael's, formed. 

As soon as I felt the wind currents of Mikael's tornado, I sent my own air magic crashing into it, seizing control. I could feel Mikael's magic fighting against my will.

Holding control was sapping my strength, but I didn't need to hold it for long. I managed to steer the tornado towards Jordan's shield. It crashed pass his weakening shield of fire and sent Jordan flying, crashing hard against the arena shield. A loud crack resonated in the quiet room, and I urged my shadows into Jordan's unconscious body.

They went down his esophagus, into his stomach, through his bloodstream, and into his heart. Just like that, he was gone. With my shadows in full possession of his body, I reaped his energy and sent his body up and lumbering toward Mikael. I had no shred of regret in killing Jordan, for a life under his rule would be hell. 

He would hold yearly Reapings for young, virgin women across the Realm to his bed, and kill them if they didn't satisfy Jordan. 

I threw Jordan's body toward Mikael's shield of fire. A swear spluttered out of Mikael as he had to move to avoid Jordan's burning body charging toward him. Mikael made a bubble of light encasing him, jumping away Jordan. 

Hellfire spluttered from his fingers and Jordan's body turned to ashes with the scorching heat. Smart move, I mused to myself as I contemplated my next move. 

Summoning hellfire would've sapped most of his energy, and suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. Casting a glamour in the dark, I replicated myself and flew up toward the chandelier, perching there, invisible. 

I encased Mikael's shield with hellfire, courtesy of Evelyn's magic, and forced him out of his shield. 

My brother was forced to Jump into another part of the arena, barely encasing himself in another light shield before my shadows could strike. 

I raised my hand to deliver another round of hellfire when I felt it. A pulse of light sent my shadows scramming and I double checked the shield around me and my invisibility. 

Mikael glared at my glamour, and released strong miasma in the arena. Creating a bubble of hard air around me, it blocked me from the stench. The miasma seemed to have a drowsy effect toward my magic, because my glamour flickered. 

But that was enough for Mikael, and I made the glamour vanish. There was no use in deceiving him again. His eyes narrowed toward the chandelier, and instantly, I jumped off soundlessly, remaining levitated ten feet away from the chandelier. 

Not a second later, a blade of ice cut the chandelier and the whole structure came crashing down. I dropped the invisibility, but kept all protections intact. 

Mikael's knuckles cracked and greedy shadows began to climb toward me. Remembering what Evelyn had once done to me, I shot bursts of hellfire toward the shadow. 

Mikeal let out a hiss of pain, and his shadows vanished. Not giving him a chance to recuperate, I upheaved the marble floors. My brother nearly had his skull crushed the ceiling before he Jumped elsewhere. 

Too bad, I thought with a sigh. I could feel the strain of the duel now, even with Evelyn's steadily disappearing cache of magic. 

This had to be over quickly, I thought with calculating eyes. I held out my hands and a blade of ice tipped with flames appeared. 

Then, I dived toward my brother and struck. He had seen my move, and barely had time to conjure up his own blade of light tipped with shadow before my blades met his. 

Up close, I could see my brother's narrowed eyes, filled with sharp determination. Twins, my father had once called us, and when we snarled at him, he added, but total opposites.

He was right. While both of us were brilliant at magic, he was to the point, and didn't bother with facades. On the other hand, I lived of glamours and had mastered the act of acting. 

With each strike, I drove him toward where I had set the traps. Mikael didn't seem to have noticed, beads of sweat dripping down his temples. He still had the burns from my hellfire, I realized with satisfaction. 

To drive away his miasma, I set a drowsy perfume scent swirling about, repealing the nasty smell. 

Mikael sneered, "Classic of you, Paris."

I gave him a winning smile as I struck my blades, "Not to mention handsome, of course." His spear went up to meet my double blade. 

Light against ice was practically blinding as they collided, but we had long been trained to ignore it. A few more yards,  I thought to myself. The next blow I made was strong enough that it knocked Mikael a few inches back.

He growled with frustration and attacked. A spin of my blade knocked the weapon out of his hands. Immediately, the fallen weapon vanished, replaced by a steel sword leaking shadow in my brother's hands. "Angry, Mikael?" I taunted, drawing his attention away from my trap. Before he could strike or respond, I sent a heavy gust of wind blowing toward him. 

He had shields in place, but he still stumbled back. Enough to be standing at the edges of my trap. 

Holding his shadow sword in front of him, he didn't see it until it was too late. A geyser of water sprouted from the marbled floor and vanished just as suddenly, sending Mikael falling towards the floor. He landed on his back, a loud crack once again echoing the ballroom. 

With a groan filled pain, he managed to roll away, closer to the middle of my trap. I let a devilish smirk and snapped my fingers, a ring of hellfire surrounding the trap. Where Mikael layed with a steaming fury, a large carnivorous plant grew and opened its jaws, managing to graze a chunk of Mikael's arm. 

The jaws glanced off from his air shield, but managed to inflict shallow slices. 

The plant vanished, but this time, Mikael was prepared. He didn't dare Jump out of the hellfire ring, because he would suffer from more burns and I didn't think he had enough embers of magic in him. Suicidal birds of stone began to form and hurl at his shield as he stepped back nervously. 

Eyes that mirrored mine were wide with fear, yet not a single shred of remorse or pity was felt. Did this make me a monster? Perhaps I was no better than my brother, as much as I pretended to be. But that didn't matter now. 

With a burst of surprise, my brother released a strong pulse of magic, sending even me slamming against the arena walls. The shields prevented any real damage of course, but what chilled me to the bone was Mikael's cold hard look. 

Grasping at my magic, I threw a whip of hard air toward Mikael. Somehow, he managed to sense it and ducked. It was then a glowing pendant slid out of the folds of his tunic. Ducking, he tucked the pendant back in, and met my stunned expression with an oily smile. 

A cheater, I realized, and this was going to be harder, if not impossible. I knew of Mikael's supporters, those power hungry bastards which wanted more than what my father offered. If he had help, I had no one. 

Not true, I scolded to myself, you have Evelyn and Hades. But even they could only do so much. It was then I remembered Hades' gift to me. 

Alright, that was one secret weapon up my sleeve. But was it enough? I didn't have time to think anymore on that when Mikael raised his left hand. I threw myself toward the dorm of the ballroom, sensing the attack before heavy vines erupted from the marble floor where I once was. I jumped, aiming for the space behind Mikael. 

He sensed it, and whirled around, facing me just as I appeared. I was growing tired, not only physically, but mentally, and Mikael had to know that too. 

My brother's razor sharp smirk deeply unsettled me, and in that moment, I wished for a chance to strangle him. In a power hungry court like Winter, there would be no escape. Brothers would fight brothers as a new king took the crown and had children. 

For a second, I pitied Mikael, for if he won, he would have to see his children ripping each other apart. Then, it was gone, as Mikael duplicated himself. I followed suit, and put on a display of illusions, to confuse him. No one noticed when I rendered myself invisible and slipped behind Mikael's army. 

Then the Mikaels attacked, an army of fire and air, while my clones lifted their hands, some glistening with ice, others with dark intense shadow-flames. 

The clones ripped each other apart, and now, I could feel fatigue setting in. No, not now, I barked at my body. I couldn't give up, not now. 

I risked a glance at the Winter Court. Some were enthralled, but many were now bored. This was dragging on too long. I gritted my teeth, and braced myself for his next move. I dropped the invisibility and gave a sarcastic bow. 

Mikael gave me an absolutely wicked grin, "Tiring, brother?" 

"I'm tired of your elaborate shows," I drawled, a mask of boredom, "Tired of talking to lowlife idiots that are quite frankly unable to act more responsibly. Perhaps some tea would cure this boredom?" 

Mikael's right eye twitched, the only sign of his annoyance, and he sighed, "It's a shame you're never going to get that tea."

This time, there was no denying that his pendant wasn't glowing, as he leaped in the air, and sent the air rippling. I barely had enough time to Jump behind him but it wasn't enough. The impact still had me reeling back. 

This was enough- I would not be on the defense any longer. Flicking my wrists, I began chucking the shards of the chandelier upon him. As I kept my brother distracted, I began to weave together a binding spell. 
One that would bind him to the ruins of the chandelier. 

Mikael thrusted his hands high in the air and I felt air pulling me towards him. Another tornado, I realized with horror. 

There was no use in wasting my magic on jumping, so I had to think of an escape plan soon. The shards of chandelier slipped beyond my control as they joined Mikael's throwing tornado. 

Smiling sharply, I summoned a small flicker of hellfire and leaned closer to the growing tornado. Just as I expected, the wind fed the hungry flame, and it began to spread. I let the hellfire burn on my arms, though I repealed the heat, and sent the heat spiraling to the middle of the tornado.

That was when the agonizing screaming began. 

Almost immediately, Mikael's tornado died and the chandelier shards fell to the ground, sending more glass shards flying. 

I willed the hellfire to break his bounds, but Mikael refused to give up. Praying that this would work, I Jumped in front of him, and took out Hades dagger. Mikael grasped my free wrist, "Please, don't," he gasped and I stared down at him without mercy.

The black blade glistened from the hellfire when I lifted it in the air, and without a hesitation, I plunged the dagger into Mikael's defenseless chest. 

Inches before blade met flesh, something sent me flying and I smacked against the arena wall with a low groan. Hades's blade still hung weakly in my hand, and when I looked down, I saw a magical dagger sprouting out of my chest, right where my heart was. 

Mikael struggled to his feet and limped toward me, "I won, big brother." 

I pulled the magical dagger, and saw the tips stained with my blood as well as nightshade. My weakening magic told me as much. The dagger wasn't thrown by him...I was willing to bet it was one of his supporters. The arena walls only kept us from leaving, not others from entering. 

"Cheater, cheater," I croaked, a strained smile forming on my lips. Indeed the world was getting dizzier by each blink. My head felt heavy, and I wanted to just close my eyes. But I forced myself to stay conscious and my grip on Hades's knife tightened. 

Mikael shrugged as the arena walls began to flicker, signalling my loss, "Does it really matter? It's a shame you won't be alive to see the Winter Realm under my reign flourish. "

"Not...shame....a....blessing...." I mumbled, blood beginning to drip down my lips. He leaned closer, "I beat you," he declared, a mad giddiness in his eyes. 

"No you didn't," I smiled suddenly and with a swipe, I plunged Hades's dagger into Mikael's chest, leaving a wound that mirrored mine. "I...beat...you." I croaked, a jagged laugh erupting from my lungs. 

The world began to go dark and my eyes heavy as I saw two similar figures running towards me. Was it Hades and Evelyn? 

My thoughts fluttered to Elsa then and I could almost see her smiling down at me, her arms wide open to welcome me home. 

With a satisfied smile, I let my eyes fall shut and welcomed Elsa's embrace. I'm home.