Sinister's POV:

I had slept better than I have in years. 

Instead of nightmares about Father or Mother, or dreams about the impossible 'what if,' it was like I had never fallen asleep. I was in the same place as I was when I was awake; in Willow's living room, with Eli laying in front of me. Usually, in a dream like this, something would happen. I would be dragged away by some invisible force, not allowed to be this peaceful, or Father would be sitting in the corner, watching me, judging my every move. Usually with the belt in his hand. 

But this time, nothing happened. I was allowed to lie there, comfortable and happy, staring down at the soft black hair of my first true best friend. Confused as I was, I did nothing, not even when I heard soft growls from outside the door, not even when I saw something flash from the corner of my eyes. 

Nothing happened, until something did. 

I saw a woman walk through the door. She was beautiful, but in a regal, terrifying way. Her eyes were glowing a bright white, it was like staring at the sun during the solstice. Her hair was long and dark brown, so dark it was almost black. Her jaw was pointy, her cheekbones high, her nails long and sharp and dangerous like a knife or talons. She was wearing a bluish purple dress, one that exposed her shoulders and flowed like a violet river down to her feet, where it pooled like an indigo lake. She had a green snake the color of rosemary leaves wrapped around her left arm, where it appeared to be sleeping, emitting gentle hisses every few minutes. There was also a black greyhound next to her, who would be cute if it's teeth weren't bared and snarling quietly at me. 

The most interesting thing about this woman, though, was the crown she wore upon her head. While she gave off a feeling of superiority, royalty, and commanding (which reminded me sickeningly of my father), the crown on her hair was nothing you would expect from a royal. It was beautiful, yes, but much like her, it was terrifying and dangerous. It appeared to be made out of purple, black, and blue flowers entwining around a thin base of silver, which glowed softly like moonlight. Rising from that silver, though, were what looked like the bones of human fingers, and mini unicorn horns. It entranced me, and they seemed to call me closer, but I knew better than to follow. 

There were also clouds swirling around her, ones as black and restless as storm clouds, which were identical to the ones around Willow whenever she turns... magical. Which is exactly what this woman was: magic, the embodiment of it. And suddenly, I knew who she was. 

"Hecate," I breathed. 

The goddess nodded, her clouds sparking mini lightning bolts. "Yes, child. Now, I came here for a reason. It would do you good to not speak much, if you can refrain." 

I nodded, understanding perfectly well that disobeying was not a smart thing to do. So I sat up, careful to not wake Elliot, and waited patiently for Hecate to speak. 

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about my willingness to listen. "It has come to my attention that you have met my dear Willow." I nodded. "Good." She paused for a second, looking in the direction where Willow's bedroom door would be before continuing. "He has been in much need of company this past decade. You don't have the slightest idea of what my dear child has been through, though you may think it. He has thought you were the head of this crew, the one who ordered those insufferable boys to harm him. Is this correct?" 

It took a great deal of willpower to not do anything more than shake my head. My fists clenched, my jaw turned tight, and I was suddenly very jealous that I wasn't the one who bit Brian's head off. 

The corner of her mouth twitched upward. "Ah, so that was Willow, then? Please tell him how proud of him I am when you wake up. Anyways." Her face steeled once more. "You should be glad I was in a good mood today, otherwise I would have mistakenly blasted you to oblivion instead of asking. So, you have not harmed him. However, he is still weary. Even though he notices things about you that he hasn't noticed before, such as how you are not at all the person he and everyone else believed you to be, he is not all sure you won't use him now that you are aware of his extreme power. 

"So, you will swear to me on the River Styx that you will not use him for anything. You will be a friend to him, perhaps more than just that, since the feeling seems to be mutual, and protect my child. If you do not, you will be punished. He is my only living mortal descendant, and while the other gods refuse to believe how crucial you mortals are to our existence, I have no shame in admitting that we only exist and thrive off of your belief and praise. So, if my dear Willow is harmed by anyone, and if you fail to protect her without trying, you will pay the price. Do I make myself clear, child?" 

I nodded. Yes, I was scared, but more than that I was in admiration. I had never stopped to think that the gods may actually care about their mortal descendants, since the only ones I had seen were the stuck-up ones like Zeus or Apollo. But it honestly made me happy to see how much Hecate cared for her great grandchild. So I couldn't help the small smile that escaped me. 

"Yes. If I may speak?" She nodded and gestured for me to continue. "I understand your want to protect him. I swear on the River Styx that I will do everything in my power to keep him safe, even if that means sacrificing my own life. I may have only officially met him yesterday, but I can already feel a connection with your great grandchild. I can tell that he's special, and I can promise to love, care for, and protect him with everything I have. I can swear to that." 

Hecate nodded in acknowledgement and her mouth tugged upward in a small smile. "Thank you, child. I appreciate your dedication. As I am not as selfish as my companion gods, if you are ever in a life or death situation... all you need to do is pray." 

And with that, the clouds swirled and enveloped her, and with a deafening bang, she was gone. 

My eyes flew open and I awoke to the smell of cinnamon, chocolate, and bacon. An odd, but delicious, combination. I sat up, not even remotely tired, and noticed Elliot wasn't next to me anymore. I walked over to Willow's room and looked inside the door to see that he wasn't in there, but I did see Bella laying on the bed, eyes closed. However, when I stepped across the threshold, she opened her eyes and stared straight at me. 

I smiled, and said softly, "Privet, dorogoy." (A/N: that means "hello, dear" in Russian.) She stood up, jumped off the bed, and trotted over to me. I sat down, and she put her head in my lap, sniffing at my hand. 

Out of nowhere, I understood something. I remembered reading somewhere that the dog is one of the sacred animals of Hecate. This dog must have been a gift from the goddess. Probably not directly from her, considering this genius devochka was definitely treated horribly in the past, but I was certain Hecate had guided her to Will. 

I looked into her eyes, gently holding the side of her face with my hand, and said softly, "She sent you here, didn't she? She brought you to a place of love, comfort, and peace, and in return you swore to protect her. Didn't she?" Belle looked down, then up again, and a quiet whine emerged from her throat. I took that as a yes. 

I sighed, absentmindedly stroking her side. "Don't worry, she made me swear, too. But I'll protect you as well, okay, Bella?" She tilted her head to the side, studying me for a moment before licking the side of my face, her eyes portraying something both familiar and confusing. 

Then I remembered what I had woken up to. I took a deep inhale through my nose, smelling the wonderful aromas wafting in through the kitchen. I usually wasn't very hungry, despite my father always saying I "need to put food somewhere in there" because "no girl's going to want to marry a tree branch." I could only barely contain my laughter; his insistence, combined with my desire to follow as few rules of his as possible, was what turned me into the "tree branch" that I am. I think he meant it as an insult, but it was simply hilarious. 

However, this scent had my stomach roiling, begging for whatever food was being made. Standing up, Belle not far behind, I strode toward the smell, slightly surprised at the scene that was bestowed before my eyes. 

Will was sitting on a chair in the corner, nibbling on some tuna salad, watching Elliot with interest. Eli, meanwhile, had found an apron somewhere, one that was clearly very old and faded, but looked well cared for and clean, except for the pancake batter splotched around it. (THIS IS SO RANDOM BUT I JUST SENT SOMETHING TO A GROUP CHAT- BUT I SENT IT TO THE WRONG CHAT- AND NOW I WANT TO SHRIVEL UP AND TAKE A DIRT NAP) The counters, which had previously been completely clear and slightly dusty, now looked like they had been scrubbed down and were littered with several different items; a pancake mix box, an opened carton of eggs and several eggshells, a small stack of dirty pans and plates, a closed, slightly steaming waffle maker, a roll of paper towels, a bag of bread, a tub of butter next to a jar of strawberry jam (which was on top of a jar of peach preserves), a coffee maker next to three mugs, a jug of either milk or cream, and a small glass container of sugar with the letters "O + M + W" painted on it, on top of a sloppy, painted heart, which was very shaky and in three different colors (blue, green, and red). 

"Oh, look who's up!" Elliot said, turning away from his pan of eggs for a second to look at me and smile. "I had to run to the store at, like, 6:30 to get some stuff. There's pancakes on the table, french toast too, and bacon and eggs are on the stove right now. I'll tell you when they're done." 

I grinned back, briefly hugging them from behind in appreciation. Walking over to the table, I saw three different plates; one of chocolate chip pancakes and waffles, one of plain pancakes and waffles, and one of delicious-smelling, cinnamon french toast. I didn't really know what to do, since it didn't feel right to start eating without either of them, when Will walked in, carrying the plate of bacon. 

He didn't look like he'd been awake for very long, but he looked nice anyway. His hair was messy and falling into his face, despite his desperate attempts to push it behind his ear. He was still wearing his pajamas, a light blue shirt with grey sweatpants. I wasn't quite sure how he managed it, but even in this utterly simple clothing, he looked beautiful as ever. 

He smiled, looking exhausted but pleased. "Morning," he mumbled, setting the plate of bacon down on the table then sitting down in one of the chairs. "Morning!" I said, more cheerfully since I was used to waking up much earlier than this due to meetings and shit. Ugh, being a prince sucked. I'll never understand why Mother willingly married a king when her life was so simple beforehand. 

I stole an almost burned piece of bacon of the plate, taking a bite, then tearing a piece off. I tried my best not to smile, failing when Will yawned and I put the piece I had broken off into his mouth. I couldn't contain my laughter, bursting into a fit of giggles at his face, which was a mixture of confusion, shock, disgust, and amusement. He couldn't decide what to do, apparently, since he just stood there, looking like he wanted to spit it out but was either intrigued or confused by its flavor. 

I had to admit, even though the "Castle" had a whole set of professional cooks, nothing I had eaten had ever tasted so delicious as this kind-of-burnt bacon. It was salty, and crunchy, like bacon should be, but there was some unknown element to it that just made it so... original. 

I watched as Eli marched in, no longer wearing the apron and holding two plates, one of eggs and one with a giant waffle with sprinkles and strawberries. He was wearing a proud grin on his face, taking in the smell of the breakfast and the look of the table. Said table was not only set with the plates of food, but it also had plates, cups, silverware, napkins, orange juice, milk, and syrup on it, too. Eli set the plates in his hand down, then went back to the kitchen, returning a minute later with three cups of coffee, one of which had been fixed, the other two black. He set the lighter one in front of a plate, sitting down in front of it, and moving the other two in front of where I was sitting and where Will was sitting. 

Him and I both took a sip of our coffee at the same time, locking eyes, and it was so funny that I almost sprayed the coffee all over the table. I was able to contain myself, though, however he wasn't so lucky. He coughed and spluttered coffee into a napkin, almost spitting it into his cup entirely. Meanwhile, Will just watched, giggling uncontrollably. 

After that, we just ate our breakfast, chatting about random shit, laughing and having fun. It was, by far, the best meal I've had in my life, both because it was delicious, with people who were actually nice and fun and cool to be around, and because it was more about having a good time and enjoying ourselves. 

 As the day went on, spent doing random things like reading, listening to music, playing games, and going to a park behind the school that I'm pretty sure no one else knew existed, I was reminded of the promise I had made to Hecate. Glancing sideways at Will, who was invested in Blood of Olympus, I was certain of one thing. 

I would protect his life by all means necessary. All. Means. Even if it meant giving up my own. 

Well that was fun as hell to write- protective gods are so amazing and I love them. Anyways, now you have a slight peek into Hecate's mind, and some more sTuFf about ol' Sinny Boy. I hope this was fun to read, I spent way too long writing this ONE chapter. 

Question of the Chapter: If you could only ever say one thing to your best friend (and I mean best friend, there's always that one, you know who I'm talking about) what would it be? And I don't mean one word, or even one sentence. Basically: what would your last words to your best friend be? 

Word Count: 2533