edited: 27/06/2017

Maksim had kept a watchful eye on Remy all the way back to his mother's house and was now reluctant to look away from her to talk to his mother for fear of her keeling over. She was trembling and breathing deeply, and she had gulped every time they so much as crossed paths with another warlock. He refused to talk to his mother without first placing her down on his armchair and motioning for Annika to keep an eye on her, but there was only so much time that he could spend fussing over the mortal girl before his mother demanded answers.

"What on Refilyn is that?" His mother pointed ignorantly to Remy, her mouth curled into a disgusted grimace and her emerald eyes glistening with anger as though she already knew the answer. That was perhaps another thing that Maksim despised about his mother; she instantly thought the worst, which, admittedly, was not unreasonable in this situation, but was rather inconvenient in other less dramatic and dangerous ones.

"That," Maksim muttered through gritted teeth, "is a mortal girl. She fell through the portal, and of course immediately after, the Council decided to close all of them, meaning we couldn't simply send her back as planned."

"Actually, I didn't fall. He pushed me," Remy interrupted weakly, only to bite her lip and lower her eyes as Hilda shot her a sharp glare. Maksim was glad that he was not the only one who squirmed under his mother's disapproval, though he did feel pity for Remy. After all that she had been through today, the last thing she probably needed was his mother shooting daggers at her.

"I made it clear that you were not welcome here until you brought back your brother. Instead, you bring a pathetic little mortal girl! What am I supposed to do with her, Maksim? What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Well, I thought perhaps the three of us could have a spot of tea or perhaps go on a lovely afternoon hike through the Rustcliffe Mountains." He trailed off as he realised that perhaps his mother was not in the mood for his sarcasm, and instead turned his back on his audience, his hands balled into fists in annoyance and his nails digging into his palms. The only thing worse than pushing an irritating mortal girl through the portal was pushing an irritating mortal girl through the portal and then having to deal with his mother afterwards.

"Do you think this is funny?" Hilda questioned with a tone that clearly implied that she, at least, did not. She shifted her cold, relentless stare to Annika. "And you! I thought you were good for Maksim. I thought I could trust you with him, not encourage him further!"

Annika's chin wobbled slightly and her golden eyes glittered under a film of tears. Maksim rolled his eyes. Of course it would be her that was the first to break, even when she had nothing to do with it. "Annika has nothing to do with it. She saw Remy and I headed towards the Central Hall and told us about the Dark Ones. If you want to cast blame, it is my fault. I threw the girl through the portal without thinking: I brought her here. Your problem lies with me." His gaze was still fixed on one of the maroon-hued trees outside the house, its shape only slightly distorted by the crystallised walls. He was using the view as a distraction from his own mother's nagging voice, but his reverie was soon broken by another shriek of anger.

"Look at me when you are talking to me!" she shouted, causing Maksim to spin around. He glanced at Remy and then Annika, wishing that they were not here to witness her behaviour and his submission, particularly since the mortal girl looked severely uncomfortable as she shifted in the green armchair with wide eyes. Then, he looked at his mother with a tensed jaw, his eyes narrowed. "Yet again, you have appalled me," she said quietly once she knew  that she had his attention. "I have no choice but to report the girl to the Council. We cannot have strays wandering about our home, our world. She does not belong here."

"Funny," he responded bitterly, "you had no problem with that stray cat of yours."

"Excuse me, Mrs..." Remy trailed off as though waiting for something, but whatever it was, Hilda did not give it to her, and she didn't pry. "Er, I'm terribly sorry I've intruded on you and your home. Believe me, it wasn't my intention. I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to go home. Isn't it at all possible you can help me with that?"

Hilda's face softened slightly at the girl, much to Maksim's surprise, and a wave of relief combined with gratefulness washed over him. He was not expecting Remy to be the one to calm his mother down, but then again, he was not expecting her to be a lot of things that she was. It only made him feel guiltier for bringing her here.

"The portals cannot be opened again until the Dark Ones are caught. You cannot leave Refilyn." She turned to Maksim with a raised eyebrow and pursed lips. Her green eyes seemed calmer now though, which in turn, meant that Maksim could look at her without fear or cowardice. "She can stay here for tonight, but I have no choice but to report her tomorrow. Perhaps, given the situation, the Council will be lenient and allow her to live freely here until the portals are opened again."

Maksim nodded, his fingers tingling with relief and relaxing from their curled position against his palms slowly. "And if they don't? What will happen then?"

"The Council could very well punish you both; perhaps a memory spell for Remy, and imprisonment for you. You know our rules on Mortals. They must never know of our existence."

Maksim did not like the sound of that, but he nodded anyway, too worn-out to argue further. As long as his mother had calmed down, he saw no reason to agitate her again.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what we spoke of before," she continued authoritatively after a moment's silence. "In the meantime, I expect you to help the Council with finding your brother. I told them you would be there. That means you will. This is your last chance at proving yourself, Maksim. I will not tolerate your inadequateness for much longer."

She left without another word, but not without casting a final glance at Remy, who simply tucked a stray piece of tousled hair behind her metal-clad ear and blinked unwittingly. He couldn't imagine what all of this must have looked like to her.

Maksim instantly tugged on his jade coat that he had left to dry on the coat hanger by the door earlier that day, uncaring that he was still dressed in his mortal clothes.

"Wait, where are you going?" Remy hopped up quickly, watching as he buttoned up his jacket in order to conceal as much of his strange clothing as the coat would allow.

"You heard my mother," Maksim sighed. "I must help the Council to find my brother."

"But you can't just leave me here!" Her voice rose in panic, her lip trembling slightly, though Maksim was not expecting any tears to fall. He had learnt now that she was strong enough to handle it, for if she was going to cry, she would have the instant she tumbled from the portal. She was clearly much stronger than Annika, who still looked pathetically uneasy as she stood by the armchair, sniffling into her hands.

"Well, you certainly aren't coming with me," he did not speak harshly the way he might have usually, just matter-of-factly. "You would draw too much attention and you can barely walk on that leg, which, by the way, I could simply heal and save all of this bother."

Remy didn't appear to have heard a word he had said, which Maksim thought was an awful waste of his breath. "What am I supposed to do here?"

Maksim eyed the girl wearily, inspecting her pasty complexion, the dark circles under her eyes, and the way her hands still shook. "Sleep, perhaps. You are looking rather worse for wear."

"Yeah, well, I'm stuck in Harry Potter Land where the sun is pink and the buildings are made of green crystal," she said, looking wearily at the walls of the house. "What's your excuse?"

Maksim frowned, having never heard of Astracia being described as 'Harry Potter Land' before, and smirked at her wit. He was glad to see it had returned, meaning that perhaps she wasn't completely out of sorts. "I do not know what you mean. I always look wonderful."

She rolled her eyes, but Maksim barely noticed, remembering suddenly that Annika was still here. It was not like her to be so quiet, but he was quite sure she was still reeling from the way his mother had spoken to her; he didn't doubt that it was the first time anybody had spoken to her in such a way. Besides Maksim, almost everybody showed excessive amounts of kindness towards her. "Will you please make sure that she does not get herself into any more trouble?" he asked her, barely glancing at her as he fastened his final button.

A moment of shock flashed in Annika's golden eyes—perhaps it was the first time Maksim had ever been remotely polite to her—before she nodded. "Of course. How long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes to get my brother back." He did not sound as convinced as he was hoping, and his reluctance to leave the girl with Annika, a naïve little witch, and his mother, who was bound to cause some kind of argument with her, was unsettling, but he left anyway, into the haze of the lilac night.

His mind, though, was still on her.