Wren stood up from the ground, brushing dust off her shirt. 'The portal lets us out when it wants to,' she said, remembering the High King's words. 'Dammit. We aren't going to get anything done if it just randomly decides to suck us in or not.'

'What were you saying about the prophecy, Carrots?' Jake said, sitting on the bed opposite Wren. Wren shrugged.

'I dunno ... it was pretty long. Something about bonds of the darkest and the one known to defeat shall not be broken .. that would be me, I suppose. And there was something about - about ... exile...'

'You're in exile?' Jake said, thunderstruck.

'Why would I be in exile? It's just what the prophecy claimed ... and there was something about crysanthemum petals.'

'Crysanthemum petals?' Ladislaya said incredulously.

'Yeah, what are you going to do with it, make tea or something?' Jake cried.

'I feel like the prophecy was saying the other will be sent into exile by the one who came into existence,' Wren said, sounding troubled. 'At least, that's what I think it means.'

'A prophecy about you and Nicaea?' Jake said. 'Wild.'

'Anyway,' Wren said, 'you said you were in the eighteenth century?'

'That I was,' confirmed Jake.

'And Ladislaya, you were in London?'

'What's London?' frowned Ladislaya.

'A state - kingdom - whatever - in the ordinary world. In United Kingdom.'

'United Kingdom?' Jake said, sounding impressed. 'Sounds fancy. So is there like, a palace of unity there?'

'What - no!' Wren said. 'Forget it. Question is: why did the portal send us to where it sent us?'

'No idea. Maybe it can just drop us wherever it wants,' Ladislaya said.

'In the past?' Jake said, raising an eyebrow.

Wren lay back in her bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to piece it all together. The Perilous, who might or mightn't work with Nicaea. The fire. Was Nicaea behind all this? If she wasn't, who was?

There were many possibilities.

The High King could be.

Or.

Lucian Ailwood.

Wren was frustrated at playing this game. She didn't want to anymore. But she had to keep going from where she started. She didn't come here for nothing.

'Look,' she said, turning around in her bed to look at Jake and Ladislaya, interrupting their deep discussion of the long list of possibilities why they were dropped off in where they were, 'I'm certain the Perilous works for or with Nicaea.'

Before either of them could interrupt, Wren began rambling. 'First of all, the fire in the corridor. This -' she shook her head not knowing why she did so, 'this is too much of a coincidence. You both and I know that Lucian was there the time of the fire. So, I have two theories.'

She held up a finger, tapping on it with the other. 'Theory number one: Lucian could have been the one who set the fire. And here's the proof. He said he heard Nicaea and his father talking in the dungeons back in his home -'

'Hold up,' Jake interrupted, wagging a finger. 'First of all; he didn't say it was Nicaea and his father talking. It was his father and someone talking.'

'Well, whoever that someone is, he and Lucian's father are up to whatever Nicaea's planning,' Wren said. 'Why would they know Nicaea's erasing her memory, then?'

Jake leaned back against the wall. 'Fair point. And theory number two?'

'Theory number two,' Wren held up another finger. 'The Perilous, whoever he is, we don't know yet - he could have set the fire. He could've been working for or with Nicaea, and easily set the fire to the school. Why would he do that and not Nicaea? Because anybody's bound to realise it was Nicaea who'd set the fire if she did. Even Tyler would notice that. So as we know the Perilous has been in the school before, there's a possibility that he was the one who'd done it.'

Wren finished her speech; a long silence followed overhead.

'Hang on,' Ladislaya said, frowning, 'wasn't Lucian injured in the fire? He was almost killed. Why would he set the fire if he knew he would be in danger?'

'It's like a game of chess I guess, you have to make some sacrifices for your intention,' Wren said, biting her lip.

Jake looked unsettled. 'I've got an argument against theory number two.'

'Go 'head,' Wren said, gesturing him to speak.

'First of all, the Perilous is also an obvious figure. The school would notice a suspicious floating shadowy figure looming around in the school. And second; he was in the West WIng one time. Students aren't supposed to go up there.'

'And what was he doing up there in the first place before I got in?' Wren said swiftly. 'Planning on how to set the fire.'

Ladislaya and Jake gawked at her.

'You see, the corridor that was lit on fire that day was the corridor really close to the West Wing,' Wren said, standing up and pacing around the room. 'Lucian's in the West Tower. The Perilous dude could've easily slipped in and set the fire.'

'Makes sense,' Ladislaya said.

'Okay, but why would he even set fire to the school in the first place?' Jake interrupted.

Wren shrugged. 'To cause a diversion.'

'Why would he want to cause a diversion?'

'Nicaea Valdis's orders?' Wren said matter-of-factly.

'Let's just say he didn't work for Nicaea, though,' Jake said, 'any other reason why he would want to cause a diversion?'

The three thought about it for a while. 'Then it wasn't him who set the corridor on fire,' Ladislaya concluded. Wren and Jake looked at her. 'What gives?' Jake prompted. 'He could stand solo. No accompanies, no partners. His solo intention might be wanting to kill Wren by himself, under no one's orders.'

'Okay, why is everyone trying to kill me?' Wren snorted. Ladislaya looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'Because you're the one known to defeat the Darkest Witch of all time, Carrots,' she sighed. 'We know by now the Perilous wants to kill you too because -'

'Why?'

'Because,' Ladislaya trilled, 'he's a dark force. He probably wants to invade Elryzian and finish off Nicaea.'

'Okay, so if the Perilous wasn't working for or with Nicaea,' crease lines deepend Wren's forehead, 'he'd be a stand solo competing with Nicaea?'

'Exactly,' Ladislaya said. 'My theory,' she added. 'Could be wrong.'

Jake shook his head. 'You know what I think?' he said finally. 'Maybe he's got personal vendetta against Nicaea and he's out for revenge.'

Wren and Ladislaya chattered at the same time.

'That's twisted -'

'- why would he even have a vendetta?'

'Both of them are alive -'

'Oh, that's what vendetta mean?' Jake said, eyes widening in surprise. 'I always thought that meant revenge.'

Wren groaned.

'Okay, so Jake's theory is completely out of the way,' Ladislaya said. 'Wren, what do you think?'

'I told you, I have two theories and you have one and all three of them make perfect sense,' Wren moaned, throwing her pillow up to the ceiling and catching it when it fell. 'What,' she moaned, 'in,' she threw her pillow up again, 'the name,' she caught it back, 'of the,' she flopped around in bed, 'devil does this all mean?' she puffed into her pillow.

'This is getting restless,' Jake announced. 'Come on, can we just say it was Nicaea behind the fire? Like, that's pretty much the most obvious relation. Or we could go with the Perilous helping her.'

'So both my theories?' Wren said, groaning inwardly.

'I mean, they make the most sense,' Ladislaya shrugged.

'So does the theory of the Perilous working solo,' Wren said, angling her face to look at her friends. 'I do agree mine's the most obvious one, but -'

'Then we'll go with it,' said Ladislaya confidently. 'There isn't enough time, Carrots. As we're sitting here talking, Nicaea's finding out ways to kill you and getting that Soulstone.'

'What if she's already got it?' Jake whined.

'That's why we're running out of time!' said Wren frustratedly. 'We can't let her get to the Soulstone -'

'It's just stupid the mirror takes us where it wants us to go, instead of the other way around,' Jake muttered angrily. 'What's the sense in that? I thought it was supposed to contain the Soulstone!'

'It does,' Wren said, now pacing back and forth. 'We just - have to figure out where or which part in the mirror it is in. I never expected there would be different parts in a portal -'

'Neither did I,' Ladislaya said grimly.

'Wren let out a frustrated groan and kicked the chair so that it flipped over. Ladislaya backed away, looking frightened. 'I didn't do this for nothing -'

'It's not nothing, Wren,' pleaded Ladislaya and Wren felt a breeze rustle through her hair.

'Shut the window, someone.'

'I already did,' Jake said, looking bewildered.

'What are you tal -' Wren looked up and saw the window shut and locked tightly.

'Didn't you guys feel that just now?'

'Oh the wind?' Jake said.

'The wind, yeah I felt it too,' Ladislaya said, raising her eyebrows.

Wren muttered something under her breath that sounded like, 'Despicible.'

'Hey,' Jake said suddenly, standing up from the bed, 'hey, is the mirror supposed to act like this?'

'What are you tal -' Wren swirled around on her heel and immediately understood what Jake was talking about.

The watery waves of the surface of the mirror was swirling about madly, creating a deep hole.'Oh great, it's gonna suck us in again, isn't it?' Jake moaned. 'What id we're in the middle of sleeping and -'

'Oh ... my god,' whispered Ladislaya, stepping closer to the mirror so a faint breeze rustled her hair. The mirror had opened once again, universe linking universe.

Staring ahead, Wren saw a gloomy entrance. A tall, dark, tower, with dead trees surrounding it. Definitely not what she was expecting.

'So ... the Soulstone's here?' Jake's voice said uncertainly. 'Somewhere here?'

'Well, it's got to be, doesn't it?' said Wren, peering in closer. 'It looks like a graveyard,' she whispered.

'True,' Jake said under his breath. 'It looks depressing.'

Wren took a cautious step towards the mirror, her breaths loud and hanging in the air. Putting a foot in the other world, she sucked in a breath and put her other foot in.

She was in the parallel universe. 

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Where'd you think the "parallel universe" is?