Apollo had gotten tired and anxious from waiting for Morgan and Gerald to come back. And when he got tired and anxious, he wanted to do something about it. So while Juliette slept, Apollo was thinking up schemes and plans in an effort to convince her to go after them. Ill-advised though it was, he knew he had to do it. Otherwise, he was liable to go mad while he waited to hear something from them.

Despite all of Apollo's fears of how difficult Juliette would be to convince, his confidence left him when she finally woke up. Granted, part of him had considered leaving the knight behind, not wanting her to be dragged into the situation that had nearly claimed their lives countless times. But he figured that if he had tried to do so, she would have chased him down and clubbed him with her sword.

Possibly sensing Apollo's reticence as he watched her, Juliette looked up and raised her eyebrows. "Something amiss, Apollo?" she questioned, leaning back against the wall of the alleyway they were in.

"Amiss?" Apollo said. Then he sighed, discarding his well-thought plans of convincing her. "I'm worried, Sir Juliette. They should've been back by now. Or Morgan could've sent us a message. But neither of those things has happened, and trust me, I haven't slept a wink. We need to go after them."

Juliette looked at Apollo carefully for a moment. Apollo was ready to argue his case further and even threaten to go without her, when she answered in her slow way. "Alright. Get your things together."

Apollo stared at Juliette for a few seconds, trying to wrap his mind around what she'd just said. "Wait—what?"

"I'm almost as worried as you are," Juliette said, grabbing one of their satchels of supplies and slinging it over her shoulder. "So we need to get a move on. We've wasted enough time as it is." She belted her sword around her waist and set off, out of the alleyway.

Apollo grabbed his belongings as well, along with his white staff, which he slid into its cradle. Then he hurried after the knight, who was walking purposefully down the street now. "How do we know where to go?" he asked her, out of breath.

"You do," Juliette said, looking at him with a smile. "After all, you're connected to Morgan. All you have to do is trace him. I know that you can do it."

Apollo looked uncomfortable. In fact, he felt so uncomfortable, he stopped in his tracks and shifted from foot to foot. Juliette turned when she realized he wasn't following her anymore, and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Something amiss?" she asked dryly.

Apollo started dragging his knuckles across his forehead. "Yes, something's amiss!" he said in frustration. "Me and Morgan have drifted apart, Juliette. I don't care what you say. We're apart and nothing can be done to fix that. His magic and mine no longer fit together in the way they used to. If I try to connect to it, I may hurt the both of us."

"And if you don't try, there's the distinct possibility that he will die," Juliette answered. Her hand came forward and laid gently on Apollo's arm. "Is that what you want, Apollo? I have the feeling that it's not."

Apollo looked pained. "I understand what you're trying to tell me, but ... I just don't know if it will work."

The knight squeezed his arm gently. "Try, Apollo. There's nothing to lose. I know it's not your own health you're worried about. It's his. But if you do nothing, then he will either be turned evil, or die. And I know you don't want that."

Apollo was uncertain for a brief moment, but when Juliette put it like that, he knew he didn't have any choice in the matter. She was right. "Alright. I'll ... I'll give it a try. But don't be surprised if it doesn't work," he added, mostly to assure himself.

Juliette nodded, smiling a little knowingly. Ignoring the knowing look, Apollo closed his eyes and put his gloved hand against the ground. He reached out, through Vordelle, searching. Searching for that all-familiar aura of darkness. The darkness he'd known for years, knowing that he could help his cousin to control it.

As he focused on his magic, it extended outward, searching, running through the cracks and roots that formed the ground beneath them. Focused on his task, the sounds of the town around him faded away. Even the feeling of Juliette's hand on his arm seemed to go away. It was just Apollo, formed into the light magic he was using to search for the one person he knew understood him.

And he hit on it. Just as Juliette had promised, he found Morgan. The spot of darkness in the path of light Apollo was carving out. Yet as he got closer, he found that spot was being attacked by more ... Horror flowed through Apollo. The darkness was growing. It could mean only one thing.

The dark wizards had captured Morgan.

Apollo's eyes flew open and he stumbled to his feet. "We need horses," he said.

"Horses?" Juliette repeated. "Alright. Just ... just hold on a minute." She sprinted off, into the street, while Apollo moved back, so his back was pressed against the wall. Slowly, he leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he fought to maintain calm within himself.

A moment later, Juliette's voice broke through his thoughts. "I told you to just wait for a minute," she said, her voice teasing. When Apollo opened his eyes, she was standing there, with a peculiar smile on her face. She held the reins of two horses, both jet-black. "Get on. And then lead the way."

Apollo moved uncertainly, mounting the horse and glancing at Juliette. "How did you get them so fast?" he asked, looking at her carefully.

Juliette smiled innocently. "I took a leaf out of Elsa's book," she answered. "I stole them. Now, let's go."

. . . . . . . . . .

The Queen was still unconscious. Or perhaps she'd slipped out of unconsciousness and into real sleep. It made little difference to Aldrac. The fact remained that they currently had one of the Chosen Ones in their possession, and Aldrac had absolutely no idea what to do about it. He sat near the fire they'd made in an abandoned stone house, staring into the flames. They flickered and cast eerie shadows all around him.

Not that Aldrac cared. Shadows were what he felt most comfortable with. More than people, aside from his sister. People had done nothing for them. Tightening his grasp over the knife in his hand, Aldrac leaned back.

The rotting door of the stone house creaked open, and Aldrac looked up, tightening his grasp on the hilt of his knife. He relaxed when the black-cloaked figure dashed off its cowl and revealed the black hair and red eyes of his sister. "Eos," he said. "Were you successful?"

In answer, Eos tossed the skinned rabbit down on the ground in front of him. "Cook it," she said, sitting down next to him. "I did all the work in hunting it. You do the rest."

Aldrac grinned a little and put the rabbit in the frying pan. Then he put it over the fire and leaned back, listening to the sizzling meat. "What do we do about the Queen?" he asked at last, switching his gaze to her.

"We kill her," Eos said. "If things get too tight, we end her life. For now, I suppose we keep her with us."

"Why not kill her now?" Aldrac asked.

"Because we're supposed to be different from them," Eos said. "We save killing her as a last resort."

Aldrac nodded slowly, seeing the sense in what she was saying. "I understand."

"But you disagree?" Eos asked, her lips twitching a little.

"I think that mercy will end up resulting in the end of Vordelle as we know it," Aldrac answered. "But I understand what you're trying to say. And you are my big sister. I'll let you make the decisions, for now."

"For now?" Eos asked, laughing now. It astonished Aldrac how strange the sound of her laughing was. Before ... it had been in short supply. But now, they were free. And they both intended to keep it that way.

Cora stirred, and both siblings turned to look at her. When she settled back down and continued sleeping, Aldrac looked away from her. Eos continued eyeing her. "I envy her."

The words took Aldrac by surprise. "Why?"

"Because she knows who she is. She knows her place in the world, and what she has to do to protect it," Eos said. "Look at us. What's our place in the world?"

"I guess we'll find out," Aldrac said.

Eos fell silent for a moment before nodding. "I guess we will. But when the time comes ... if the time comes ... I think I'll enjoy killing her."

. . . . . . . . . .

Apollo and Juliette's horses pounded through the forest. Given the speed at which they were traveling, there wasn't a lot of time for conversation. It was an exhausting pace they found themselves forced to take. Apollo's worry over their friends was obviously shared by the knight, as she didn't seem to protest against the speed they were moving with. He was worried about what they would find when they reached the spot he'd sensed his cousin, but it was a little too late to worry over that, he supposed.

As they rode on, the sun setting quickly as they went, a strange chill fell over the evening. Apollo glanced at Juliette, but she didn't seem to notice. How did she not see her breath coming out in puffs of moisture, visible in the waning light of the sun?

Just as he was about to speak up, something happened. The trees above them snapped and broke as a huge object hurtled towards them. Apollo instinctively covered his head as the creature shot out of the leaves above their heads, but it wasn't going after him.

Juliette cried out in pain as she was knocked from her saddle. Apollo's ears rang, the blood rushing to his head, as he looked up in surprise. The demon was on top of the knight and hacking at her. Apollo saw blood.

Instinctively, he jumped off the saddle, grabbing his staff from the cradle. The demon seemed to sense that Apollo was coming after it, and it swung around, red blood dripping from its claws. The fact that Juliette didn't move sent fury shooting through Apollo. "What else can you take from me?" he yelled as loud as he could, and pointed the white gem at the top of his staff at the demon.

There was nothing the creature could do. Blinding white energy shot out at high speeds at the monster, and it disintegrated with a small shriek of pain. Apollo remained frozen for a minute, before the staff slipped through his fingers. Then he ran to Juliette's side and knelt beside her, rolling her onto her back.

For one horrible moment, Apollo thought she was dead. Her right arm and torso on that side had been savagely torn into by the claws of a demon. Even her face had been gouged by the fearsome claws. Despite that, and despite the sheer amount of blood pooling around the knight, she was still alive. And she drew in a shuddering breath, opening her eyes and looking up at him. "A-Apollo?"

"Hold on," Apollo said, grabbing his staff again. "I'll ... I'll heal you. I've got you, I just have to ... to heal you."

"But Morgan. You'll exhaust yourself," Juliette protested feebly. The smell of blood hung in the air between them. "You need to stay strong for him."

Apollo shook his head, laying his hand on the wounds. "He can stay strong enough for himself," he said. "You need me more than he does at the moment. Now stop trying to talk."

"P-poisoned," Juliette said. "The wound is poisoned."

"I'm aware," Apollo said. "Which is why I need to tend to it immediately. I don't want you dying on me, Juliette."

The knight laughed hoarsely. "Why do you care so much?"

Apollo met her eyes and said nothing for a moment. A bright light lit up the forest around them as Apollo fought to heal the wounds and the poison. It was harder, much harder than anything he'd ever done before. The poison fought back at him, slipping away, trying to keep him from purging all of it. And the wounds burned on Apollo where they were on Juliette, as if they were his instead of hers. As he fought, he spoke to her. "Because it's my job to care."

"Is it?" Juliette answered.

Apollo smiled thinly, coming out more as a grimace. "Sometimes ... I care more for some ... than others." He pushed harder, and Juliette cried out, thrashing at him. Her fist connected with his nose and he jerked back a little, hissing in pain.

But even though he jerked away, he didn't stop trying to tend to her wounds. The golden light persisted, and slowly, it started to get a little easier. Even as Apollo's exhaustion threatened, he could feel the wounds sealing, the poison being driven back. Juliette stopped thrashing, relaxing into his hand. It was easier when she was relaxed. Easier when she wasn't fighting him.

And even as Apollo collapsed before he'd reached the gouges on her face, he knew that he'd done all he could to save Juliette. Forcing the poison out of her system. And when he blacked out, he hoped that it would be enough.

Except, despite all of Apollo's hard work and effort, some of the poison remained.