[edited: 29/08/2017]

Maksim watched as Remy paced back and forth, almost surprised that his mother hadn't scolded her for scuffing up her carpet yet. He had brought her into the living room as soon as she had told him what Bliviar had said, and called for his mother after making sure that she had not been hurt. Now, all of them—Remy, Maksim, Hilda, and Tykon—were sat with troubled looks on their faces.

"It might have been a lie," Maksim volunteered after a few moments, glancing cautiously at his mother. "They might not really have the mortal girl."

"Sarah," Remy interrupted harshly. "We mortal girls have names, you know."

"I did not think that you even liked her that much." Maksim stood up to face the window, glaring when his mother's cat prowled around his feet as though it wanted something. He still felt uncomfortable after what he had said to Remy before, and she could tell that she did, too, as she hadn't met his eye since she had returned. "You have barely mentioned her since you arrived here."

"I've barely mentioned a lot of things," she spat back, and Maksim did not have to look at her to know that she was angry, though the fear in her voice made her sound less unforgiving and more vulnerable. "I think sometimes you forget that I've lived my life in the mortal world for eighteen years. There are a lot of things I care about, a lot of things you don't know about because all you see me as is a stupid mortal who means nothing."

"That is not true," he hit back fiercely, and finally turned to look at her. Her hair was a tangle of gold and silver after she had ran her hands through it so many times, and her expression was tired and strained so that she looked not at all like she had before she left with Tykon. He wished there was something that he could do or say to rid her of her stress, but instead, he glowered at her until his eyes stung and he had to shut them.

She seemed to relax then, and she slumped against the wall so that her skin reflected its green glimmer. "It doesn't matter if I like her or not," she whispered. "She's my friend and she's innocent in all of this. She shouldn't be dragged into it because of me."

She met Maksim's eyes finally, and his heart fluttered as something unspoken passed between the two of them, something that he recognised in her grey eyes to be despair and exhaustion. She's giving up, he thought with a jolt. She wants to go home. It is too much for her.

He knew, of course, that this had never been her fight in the first place, and that was why he had done everything he could to stop her from getting involved. Still, he didn't like to see her as she was now; she was in a much worse state than she had been in the cells when Ackmard had attacked her, not because she was injured, but because she was blaming herself, and because she was missing a home that Maksim hadn't really considered to exist before, and because now, the Dark Ones were using her emotions against her. He knew how she felt, and wished she didn't have to feel it. She did not deserve to be hurt in a battle that had never been hers to fight.

Before Maksim could respond, the door swung open and Annika stepped in, looking as though she had not just barged in uninvited in the middle of a crisis.

"Annika," Hilda said lightly, clasping her hands together as she ushered the other witch in. "It is nice that you stopped by, but I am afraid now is not a good time."

"Oh dear," she replied, and Maksim noticed Remy cringing from the corner of his eye, most likely at her chirpy tone of voice and how it sounded so inharmonious against the tense atmosphere. "Do I need to send a message to my father?"

Remy ignored her, crossing her arms over her chest with a new sense of determination. Maksim felt almost relieved to see it again. "We don't have time for this. My friend is in danger. We need to give them the key."

"Absolutely not," responded Hilda immediately. She had been rather silent up until Annika's entrance, which was unusual for her, but now her green eyes gleamed with their usual relentlessness. "My son will not get his hands on that key."

"Hilda," Tykon said gently. Maksim had almost forgotten he was there, and was not too happy to be reminded of his presence, particularly since he had left Remy alone to face Bliviar. "I think it is best that we discuss this. It is not only your choice anymore."

"I am a Council member," she responded coolly, smoothing her blazer down as though to prove her point, "and I am Ackmard's mother. Of course it is my choice."

"No." Remy shook her head. "I have the key and it's my friend that's in danger. You might not care about anybody other than yourself, but I do. I didn't agree to all of this," she motioned with her arms, "so that I could put more people in danger. You didn't see how afraid she was. She needs my help."

"There must be a way that we can get your mortal friend back and keep the key," Tykon suggested reasonably.

Annika interrupted, obviously not pleased that she had been forgotten during this conversation. "What exactly is going on? If this is about the key, my father must be informed."

"And he will be." It was the first time that Hilda had ever been even the slightest bit rude towards Annika, and Maksim might have enjoyed it if it was not for the current situation. "But for now, you must leave us to discuss this, Annika. This is a family matter. You, too, Tykon."

Tykon nodded and hovered awkwardly close to Remy, who looked blankly back at him. "I am sorry that our night did not go as planned. I hope that maybe there will be another chance for me to take you out."

Maksim scoffed bitterly. "Now is not the time to flirt, for Refilyn's sake, particularly since you left her on her own in the first place."

"It's not his fault, and I'm not a child," Remy sighed. "I didn't need a babysitter."

"I disagree."

Tykon looked at Maksim and Remy apologetically before leaving, and Annika followed hesitantly after, her golden eyes never straying from Maksim's until the moment Hilda shut the door. Maksim made a special effort not to look back at her.

"We need to find the Dark Ones," Remy said urgently. "Tonight. We can't let them hurt Sarah."

"We have tried to track them down for months." Hilda sounded bored, and looked it too. "If we could find them, do you not think we would have by now?"

"So, what? We're just going to leave her there with your evil son and his minions?"

"My son is not evil." Maksim knew immediately that Remy's comment had caused something in his mother to snap, and he stepped in between the two of them cautiously. "He is confused, and has delved too far into the world of dark magic. There is still lightness in him somewhere."

"Yeah, well, I can't sit here and hope that you're right. We have to get Sarah away from him, and if that means giving him the key, then so be it."

"This is my house, mortal girl, and therefore you will do as I say!" exploded Hilda suddenly, causing everybody, including the cat, to jump. "There are more important things that need to be tended too. Mortals are none of our concern, and never will be."

Maksim was suddenly imagining the way his own arguments with his mother must have looked to others, with Hilda glaring like a cat ready to pounce, angry and aggressive, while Maksim tried with all his might to fight back, always to no avail. The difference was that now Remy had taken his place, and he hated it more than he hated arguing himself, because he knew that it could only last so long before Hilda lost her temper altogether.

"We are not your concern unless something's in it for you, you mean." Remy was much smaller than his mother, but she did not seem as intimidated as she should have been—as he often was, even if he tried his best not to show it. He was beginning to feel a new sort of respect for her, even if he did think she was being incredibly stupid at present. "I was your concern when I volunteered to help you get your son back. I've risked a lot for this key," she pulled the necklace off suddenly and dangled it in front of her, "for you and your family, yet you still demean me because I'm not immortal like you, and you're not willing to return the favour by helping my friend."

"Because you are a silly little child, as is she!"

Maksim knew then that his mother had snapped, and tried to push her back from Remy, despite her struggles to stay where she was. "Mother, that's enough."

"No, it is not enough! Your girlfriend," she said the word with such bitterness that it stung, "should know the truth."

"Then you find another way to stop them." Remy threw the key down, though she looked too drained to do so with much force. "I won't help if I'm so meaningless. I'll find Sarah myself, if I have to."

"No, you will not," Maksim interjected, and his blue eyes softened as he looked at her again. She looked as though she was going to fight back when he explained, "I will help you. You will not do this alone."

She nodded slowly, gratefulness crossing her features. Her chest heaved up and down from the effort of the argument, but Hilda did not seem to be done yet.

"Your focus should be on your brother, not her, or have you forgotten so quickly what you are supposed to be doing? That you are supposed to be saving your brother?"

"My brother does not exist anymore!" Now it was Maksim's turn to shout, and he whipped around to face his mother, not finding the usual sorrow he felt when he thought about how she had lost him. He was tired of this now, tired of fighting the same fight every day, and even more so now that Remy was fighting it, too. "He is a monster now. He is filled with hatred and darkness, and it is going to take a lot more than you or me to lighten him again. He is gone, and the sooner you realise that, the better."

He didn't give Hilda a chance to respond. He picked the key up and closed it around Remy's fingers, his skin tingling from the contact. "This is yours now. It has been ever since you found it. We cannot allow the Dark Ones to have it, but we can find other ways of getting your friend back."

He intertwined his fingers with hers and pulled her away from his mother and down the corridor to where her bedroom was. He was surprised when she did not struggle, but he didn't blame her either; even Remy was not strong enough to deal with his mother for much longer. Then, he clasped the necklace back around her neck so that it was exactly where it belonged; in the hollow of her chest, right above her heart.

* * *

"What happened to my mirror?" was the first thing that Remy asked after having been guided to her bedroom by Maksim, which was no doubt his attempt to calm her down. She eyed her surroundings now, the shattered glass littering the floor and reflecting shards of a purple sky with flickering stars, the dresses that she had pulled out earlier still in a heap on her bed.

Maksim lowered his eyes guiltily and magic shot from his fingers as the pieces floated upwards  before finding their place back inside the frame of the mirror. The cracks that remained dissolved instantly so that it looked as though it had never been broken to begin with, their broken reflections healing into whole ones again. "It was an accident," he replied, though something in his voice said otherwise. "It does not matter now."

"No, I suppose it doesn't." She shook her head and sat on the edge of her bed, staring out of the window but not really seeing the view behind the glass. All that she could think about was how angry she was, and afraid, and more than all of that, confused.

"What are you thinking about, Remy?" Maksim sat down next to her, his voice so gentle that she could almost fool herself into thinking that he cared. He found herself wishing that he did, now more than ever. "Tell me, please."

"Everything." Her voice cracked, but the tears that strangled her wouldn't fall. She was glad at least for that. "It's too much. This life isn't mine, it can't be. A few days ago I was nothing; my whole life was based around a dead end job and babysitting my brothers and sisters. Now I'm here. It doesn't make sense."

She wanted to say more. She wanted to tell him that sometimes she felt at home here, and then remembered that she lived in a world where the sky was grey rather than pink and knew she would never truly belong. She wanted to tell him that sometimes she liked it, liked feeling important, but then remembered that people only cared about her here because she had the key. She wanted to tell him that she had found something here, in Maksim's flecked eyes and the way they sometimes looked back at her, that she would never be able to have in her own world, but she could not put it into words, and she knew it was silly anyway. All she would ever be to him and the rest of Astracia was a mortal girl with a warlock key. Eventually, she would go home and settle back into her old life, and everybody would forget that she ever existed here. She just wished that she could find that easier to accept.

"I know the feeling," he responded, much to Remy's surprise.

"Do you?" She raised an eyebrow. "This has always been your life. You have always been a warlock, living in a world of magic."

"Perhaps, but I have not always fought my brother and his darkness." He paused for a moment, but Remy could tell that he had more to say, and knew that he would not say it if she pushed him to. Something was happening, she knew, something that hadn't happened before. He was willing to talk to her without his usual sarcasm or hostility. She just had to let him, even if she couldn't forget how hurt she had been when they argued earlier. "There was a time when I had a family. I had a brother and a father, a mother who did not always disapprove of my existence. My brother was always unpleasant, but I cared for him, and he for me. That was the life I was used to, and although it has not been that way in a very long time, I still miss it, and I still feel as though it should be my life still."

"What happened to your father?" She was being cautious, waiting for him to snap at her again, but there was a faraway look in his eyes that said he was no longer here with Remy anymore. The silver in his eyes drifted like clouds passing over a blue sky, and like a sky, he was unreachable now.

"He left a very long time ago. He did not want a family as much as he wanted other things."

"Fathers often don't," she said knowingly, and he blinked before looking at her in surprise. "Mine left, too. He never really told me why, though."

"His loss."

Remy gulped. Sometimes, Maksim looked at her so profoundly that she felt as though she couldn't breathe, as though his eyes were a weight on her chest, or perhaps she was drowning in their oceans. Now was one of those times, but whereas it usually lasted only a few seconds, giving her barely enough time to notice, now it seemed to last minutes, hours even. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she said finally, and shifted to stand by the window, where all that she could see of him was his reflection in the pane of glass. She felt calmer now, perhaps because Maksim was talking to her in a low voice and perhaps because his presence, even when she told herself she didn't want it, made her feel better. The only problem was that her loss of anger lead to a gain in all of the other feelings she had been trying to swallow down.

"What?"

"That," she repeated. "When you're nice to me, I get confused."

She heard him inhale as though he was in pain and even breathing felt difficult for him, and then he was stood behind her, so tall that she had to look up to see his own reflection. "I am sorry, Remy."

"What?" Her eyes narrowed as she whipped around, expecting him to be smirking or ready to take what he had said back, but he was doing none of those things. He was simply looking at her the way he had been before, his eyes round and his brows furrowed.

"I am sorry. I should not have been cruel before. I should not have upset you the way I did."

"You didn't upset me. I was fine," she lied, but he seemed to see straight through it.

"You were angry, and rightly so. I did not mean what I said. I do think that you are spectacular, and I do think nice things about you. I do not know why that was such a terrible thing to admit for me. It is only the truth, after all."

"But you're a warlock," she whispered, "and I'm a mortal girl, and you've never apologised to me for the way you treated me before."

"I fear that you bring out the absolute worst in me." The corners of his mouth twitched then, and he inched even closer towards her. "You make me want to apologise. If this continues, I am afraid that I will lose my reputation of being sour and brooding."

"The horror," she taunted, but couldn't bring herself to smile or feel relieved. She had no doubt that whatever this was wouldn't last for long, though she wondered now if perhaps he felt the same as she did and his hostility was just a way to protect himself against his feelings. She couldn't blame him if that was the case; she often did the same when she felt weak and emotional, and had lashed out at her family and friends many a time.

She pursed her lips together then and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly cold. "Do you think they'll hurt Sarah?"

"I do not know," he answered honestly. "But I meant what I said earlier. I will help you to get her back."

"Why? You don't care about her. You care about getting your brother back."

"You think so little of me," he sighed.

"No, I don't." I think everything of you, she wanted to say. I think you are strong and extraordinary and I don't deserve to be stood in the same room as you, even now when you've hurt me. She didn't say that, though, because those thoughts were unwanted and she wished she didn't have to think them. "How will we get her back? We should start straight away."

"No. You need to rest and I need to talk to my mother. We will think of something tomorrow."

"But they could be hurting her right now." She tried her best to suppress her anger again; she knew that Maksim was right. She could already feel exhaustion blurring the edges of her vision and weighing down her bones. Her date with Tykon seemed so long ago now that the memory was hazy, like remembering a summer's day where everything was too bright.

"They will not hurt her if it means getting the key back. I will talk to Tykon and ask him if they have been able to track the Dark Ones yet. You get some sleep."

She sat down obediently, glancing at herself in the mirror as she did. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was disheveled. Even her dress looked looser on her now than it had before. "Okay," she agreed finally, though she didn't know how much sleep she could get knowing that Sarah had been dragged into this mess, too.

"Goodnight, Remy." He looked as though he was going to say more but then decided against it, instead leaving and pulling the door half closed so that only his head peeked out from the gap.

"Goodnight, Max," she whispered before he left her alone. That was when the emotions from the day became too much to bear and she nestled herself into the duvet to hide from them. She knew, of course, that life was no longer that simple, but she must have been tired, for she fell asleep almost straight away.