The Christmas snow fell peacefully from the twinkling heavens to land over the small town below. Houses and shops resembled a replica in a snow globe as a breeze blew the delicate snowflakes around a single figure marching carefully through the cold. Her jeans and boots were wet from the snow, her scarf blew wildly in the wind and her face was tinged pink. Her hands wrapped her jacket tightly around her, not for her own warmth, but for the infant's.

Small sounds of distress escaped the little bundle in blankets pressed against her chest, the woman occasionally cooing words of comfort to the newborn. He had been born only a few days earlier on a magical day for both Terrans and Luxiens: Christmas Eve.

Here, in the cold December night with wind that whipped at the woman's small frame and temperatures that chilled her bones, it was her faith in the good spirits that made her look to the glittering stars and keep trudging on.

"Please Fate, have mercy. He needs rest somewhere safe." The woman mumbled, praying quietly as she kept moving forward.

Her sparkling eyes gazed down at the newborn, her sole motivation to keep going. He was the reason she braved the cold, the reason she walked despite her aching feet, the reason she had for everything. Her son, who she knew would be the strongest of them all, who would have eyes just like hers and a heart that gleamed like a Swarovski diamond. Her son, who would be the most talented Luxien ever born, needed to get to a portal.

He hadn't even been born in Lux, the woman having gone into labor on the way to a portal with important Luxien leaders in it. She knew even before then that her baby would be special. She just needed to show him to the leaders and he would be safe. He would be the long awaited answer to the dark force Lux had fought against for so long.

Just then, the woman felt strange, checking her surroundings to see a man walking a little ways behind her. He was clothed in black, hood pulled up to keep his face concealed. The woman thought nothing of the man's sudden appearance, but she wasn't ignorant. She watched carefully from the corner of her eye as he followed the exact path she took, even crossing the street to walk on the same sidewalk as her. That definitely wasn't good.

Without thinking, the woman burst out into a sprint, catching enough speed to lose the man. She turned corners and ducked into alleyways, hoping her evasive maneuvers would be enough to get him off of her trail. She hid behind a trash can, her sudden movements having woke the baby from slumber. He began to cry, the mother quickly hushing him and trying to keep him quiet for both of their sakes.

She held her breath in anxiety as she waited for the man's boots to pass her, for him to walk by her like it was nothing. She didn't see him pass, her heart sinking when she felt a hand on her shoulder, tightly gripping.

The woman screamed and broke free of his grip, beginning to run from the man, knowing exactly what he wanted from her.

"Come back here! I need him!" The man yelled as he chased her. The woman was frantic, she needed to get her baby somewhere safe. Using her talent, the woman raised her hand to conjure a blue orb of light in front of her, preparing to jump through the teleportation vortex and get to safety. She hadn't been able to use her talent earlier in fear of Nox finding out, but she had nothing to lose now.

Just as she prepared to jump, the woman felt warmth on her ankle, followed by a sharp pain. She screamed as she fell, rotating her body mid-air to land on her back to keep her child safe. The woman quickly spotted a shard of dirty ice cutting into her ankle, her eyes looking to see the water-talent Nox member getting closer, making more ice spears to hurl. With a deep breath, the woman yanked the ice shard out of her skin, groaning at the stinging sensation. She didn't have time to waste, though.

She couldn't teleport herself anywhere now, not with her ankle hurt like this. Hobbling up and keeping her baby boy tucked close to her chest, she kept running. Her run now was more of a limp, but she still raced towards the outskirts of the town, into a dark forest with evergreen trees blanketed in the thick snow.

The woman managed to make it into the forest, deciding to hide in a thicket of brush and trees to catch her breath. She held her child with one arm while the other inspected her wound with the other. It was likely to be infected soon, the dirt and grime that had been part of the ice shard having melted into her flesh. She wouldn't be able to teleport anywhere with her baby-

A thought occurred to her.

She may not be able to teleport both herself and her baby, but she could definitely get her son to safety. It was him Nox was after, anyways.

Wiping away tears, the mother quickly created a vortex in front of her, the blue cool and soothing. Her heart clenched as she realized she would never know if her son's eyes matched the shade.

She barely unwrapped the top of her baby's blankets as she held him close, whispering words of love to him. Her tears fell onto the blue blankets, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"I love you, my darling. I will always love you so much, I promise." She whispered, kissing his forehead. A sudden sound of crunching leaves under heavy boots startled her, making her hurry and kiss her son one last time. She held him out to the swirling blue of the vortex, crying softly as a bright light took her baby out of her hands, whisking him far away to safety.

"I'll always love you, my sorcerer." The woman whispered as the vortex closed into thin air, having transported the baby somewhere in the world. Just as she spoke, she was yanked up by a harsh grip on her shirt collar.

Angry eyes stared into her watery blue ones, the woman's hurt foot throbbing in pain as it was lifted off of the ground.

"Where did you send him?" The man growled at the woman, who smiled at his desperation. There was a fire in her eyes now, a fire that seemed almost recognizable to me.

"Somewhere you'll never find him. The greatest sorcerer to ever be born just slipped right out of your hands." She spat at the man, who yelled and threw her to the snowy ground.

"Tell me where he is!" The man ordered, his anger taking the better of him.

"I'd rather die." The woman challenged him, a smirk on her face until the man sauntered closer.

"That can be arranged." The man snarled, and suddenly his hands were around her neck. In a quick, almost practiced motion, his hands turned and a loud crack could be heard echoing amongst the trees. The woman's now lifeless body fell to the blanket of snow on the ground, her cheeks still flushed from life and her lips parted as if she were only sleeping in the middle of the softly falling flurry of snowflakes. Her dark hair was spread in a halo around her, and her eyes were now closed forever.

Something hard knocked into the side of my head, making me wake up and groan in pain. My hand rubbed over the hard knot I felt forming at my temple, but it was small sounds of distress that caught my attention.

Louis was making small whimpers and whispering words in his sleep, droplets of sweat collecting at the top of his forehead as his eyes scrunched closed tightly. His fists were clenching, and I would notice a hiss escape him as he tried to toss and turn, his hurt shoulder hindering his movements. Dad had told me healers couldn't do much for a dislocated joint, really only pop it back in place and bandage it up since the muscle and tissue needed to get used to normal movement. But if Louis kept moving like that, his shoulder would only get worse.

"Louis, wake up." I spoke to his sleeping form, one of my hands moving to his face and the other trying to keep his hurt shoulder still. He was quite a heavy sleeper, and I had to repeat myself several times and shake him a bit before he woke. He was dazed and startled as he woke, trying to quickly sit up but groaning in pain from his shoulder. I gently pushed him back down onto the couch, whispering to keep him calm.

"Shh, Lou, it was just a bad dream. It's okay." I assured him, my hand taking his. His sweaty hand grasped it tightly, bright blue eyes still darting around the room in fear. I let go of his hand to place both of mine on his cheeks, turning his head to look at me.

"It's okay, you're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you." I whispered to him, the golden runes on his skin only proving my point as they glowed.

Louis was hard to calm down, but I managed to help him to. His eyes shut as his breathing slowed and he relaxed, my lips kissing his forehead. "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." I spoke softly, Louis' healthy right arm snaking around my waist to hold me close.

"Bad dream?" I asked when Louis seemed calm enough, my only answer a slight nod of his head. My body turned so I could pick up the vial with blue liquid inside, taking the cap off before helping Louis sit up.

"Here, it'll help." I said as I handed Louis the vial, watching as he drank the sleeping syrup completely before handing it back to me. He grimaced afterwards, making me quietly laugh.

"It tastes bad?" I asked, Louis nodding as he wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand. While it may have had a bad taste, the sleeping syrup worked almost instantly, Louis yawning and getting tired right after. I kissed his lips as he laid back down and started to drift into sleep again, my lips catching some of the syrup he had drank. He was right, it did taste awful, like bad grape medicine I used to take when I was a child and had a cold.

His eyes sleepily blinked at me as I put the empty vial back on the coffee table.

"Go to sleep, Louis." I told him, taking his hand again to help him stay relaxed.

"Can you play with my hair? It feels good." Louis mumbled before yawning, his eyes only closing when my fingers brushed through his brunette locks. Louis fell asleep not long after that, my fingers running through his hair and his breathing deep and even. I noticed his right hand fist the blankets, my golden runes looking beautiful on his skin over his bird tattoo. I couldn't help but trace my fingers over the pretty ink, noticing how my gold marks perfectly ran over the lines of Louis' tattoo, enhancing its appearance like it was part of the original design.

Just when my fingertips touched the tattoo, my vision changed.

I saw countless times of us together: when we first met, when I learned about Louis' talents, when we went to the ice cream shop, when I was in the hospital, all of it. Only this time, it was from Louis' point of view, which made me gasp and accidentally hit my back on the glass tabletop when my body jumped back.

I saw everything from Louis' point of view. My eyes fell on my hand, staring at it and remembering how I had fallen asleep with it on top of Louis' chest at first.

What if the dream I had had wasn't really a dream? What if it wasn't even something that belonged to me? The visions I had just seen confirmed it.

The dream wasn't a dream at all. The dream was a memory, which made my eyes widen with realization.

The dream was a memory, and I had picked it up from Louis. The baby in the dream was Louis.

A/N: I just love cliffhangers *evil laugh*

Btw I just realized this is the 40th chapter of Sorcery omg how I have written this much already...

Dedication goes to @OverlyObsessed223 for suggesting the Avengers Initiative to Mira. I'm sure she would be a great Avenger, but she's pretty busy trying to save Lux at the moment so she'll need to get back to you on the offer ;)

Vote and comment your thoughts! -Maddie