｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★ "How many times do I have to tell you not to plot in front of a member of the Royal family." *:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

"What were you thinking?" I ask desperately, arms wrapped tightly around my body as I stare at Stella in worry. "To go out into the woods unarmed, to go looking for the Burned One-"
"I needed the ring back!" She cries, eyes watering as her body shakes. "You know how mother is!"

"And I would have gotten you the ring-"

"When? When- you have known for weeks about the ring, weeks while I have been suffering under fear of her wrath!"

"She wouldn't have-"

"You know she would!" She snaps, shaking as tears slowly drip down her face. "You know she would take any chance possible to have me back at the palace again, in her clutches."

"I know." I soothe feeling a headache begin to form and I absently pluck a strawberry from my plant. "But we could have done it safely-"

"So you're saying I was reckless?" She demands. "Don't you think I know that already!"

I watch my sister begin to break down, feeling as though I'm not in the room with her. As though I'm watching the argument from afar.

"Little Lámpsi-"

"Don't call me that!" She screams, "stop making everything right for once."

Silence echoes through the room.

"You always have to make everything right! Not everything can be fixed and you have to accept that!"

She looks so strange, like a wraith floating in sadness, in this dreamy world of guilt and suffering.

"I alway fuck up, and you always find fault in what I do!" Her voice is muffled and I stare at her silently.

"Lámpsi." I mutter, staring around at the tilting world in confusion.

"No," She states, her resolve steeling. "I have been trying and trying to find a way to talk to you about it but there's never a right time."

Talk about what?

"You! And what you think of me!" I hadn't realised I asked my question aloud.

"Never mind what you think of me, actually. You always use me as a way to control your life and I know, I know, it's the only way you can cope with the fucked up turmoil of yours but it's my life, Tavi. Brandon, my friends, my decisions, they are mine and my choices to make."

Her voice has gone quiet, a pleading note to it.

"You disapprove of Brandon, you dislike my friends-"

"I like Musa, and terra-"

"You dislike all of my friends I've ever had! You only liked Ricki because she was Beatrix's mate, Musa because you can fix her and Terra because its Terra."

Am I using Musa? I haven't spoken to her since everything happened. I wonder if she has more control now. But Ricki, I should have saved Ricki. All I could do was drown in rage and kill those Burned Ones, instead of saving her from what happened-

What happened to Ricki?

"- And you know I love you, and you are my rock but I'm trying to be better, to be more independent and make my own-"

She was killed, Little shadow whispers, voice tense with what sounds oddly like grief. Do you remember? We were attacked by Burned Ones and Blood witches. We killed the Burned Ones but when we got back-

"It was too late," I whisper,

"What?" I jerk over to look at Stella as she stares at me oddly.

"Ricki." I answered in confusion, she just asked me about her. "It was too late when Rosalind got there."

"Rosalind wasn't there." Stella states, quickly calming down as she stares down at me with a worried expression. "There was just the Burned One, the one I tried to k-"

She chokes off at the thought. Why would she be choking off?

Why doesn't she remember the Witches?

"-this isn't about Ricki, this is about me trying to set boundaries and-"

We were further out. Darkling muses but it's clear he doesn't fully believe his own words. And Stella and Beatrix were paralysed by grief, you yourself didn't remember all the facts till weeks later.

"Of course." I murmur absently, I need more sleep.

I need to sleep this off.

You need to wake up. Belial commands but I barely register his tone.

"What the hell is going on with you!" Stella snaps as the tension in her body breaks free. "I'm literally baring my fears to you and you're just-"

Her hands wave in the air as her eyes flash with rage and grief.

Mistress-

Leave it! I snap, jolting to the present.

"Lámpsi, now's just not a good-"

"Not a good time!" she cries and I jerk back when light suddenly flares.

"I- I-" She stutters, staring down at her hands in pure fear and horror. "Octavia you need to leave."

"No," I state, "I'm not leaving-"

My sister's breathing turns ragged as she begins to panic, taking hasty steps backwards as she stares at me in pure horror.

"Please leave, please- please-"

"Lámpsi, Lámpsi listen to me." I bring my arms up, dropping a blood red strawberry that I hadn't realised I was holding. I suddenly wake up, back to the present, as my power slowly rumbles to life.

"No- no." She panics, eyes darting around to the dark corners. "Your shadows, they- they don't like-"

"They can get over their aversion to light places. They need to socialise more anyways." I try to joke but she merely shuffles back as the lights shine brighter in their bulbs.

"No, no- I need, need someone to calm, me-" She mumbles, "Bran- brandon. No, no. He can't, he can't see me like, lik-"

"It's okay-"

Sky and Riven are nearly here.

Nearly here? When did they-

"Tavi." Stel whines, fear coating her voice as her back hits against the wall and she slowly slides down, light begins to wreath her body and slithering along the floor towards me. "Tavi, I'm scared."

The wooden floor beneath the tendrils of light begins to scorch and burn under my sister's power.

"It's going to be okay, I'm going to-"

"You can't fix this Tavi." She whispers and the world around me begins to distort as flashes of illusion flicker in the air. "You can't fix me."

"There's nothing to fix." My voice is thick as I glance around at the memories the illusions show.

When she was on a picnic date with Sky, her first time at the stone circle when she was happy and confident in her power, the day we met was full of tears and hugs, her talking with Brandon as he showed her a tattoo of a black circle. Memory after memory flashes past, until each one becomes darker than the last.

"You need to leave." she grits out, "I could kill you."

"You are my twin, I was born by your side. I have no problem dying the same way."

She chuckles but the light burns sharper and the images begin to shift and change around

When she faced the burned one and her power began to fail, a fear of Ricki being killed by a blade of her light-

"OCTAVIA"

I jerk to the door, a burst of light flashes behind me as my twin panics at her ex's voice.

"PIXIE!" Riven calls, voiced lace with worry as the door rattles.

"Go" Stella whimpers. "There's too much power, I need to let some loose."

"I can't just leave you on your own-"

"Tavi!" I flinch back as the light flares, burning at my skin slightly as my eyes clench shut.

I'LL FUCKING KILL-

NO! I scream, cutting off Belial but it's too late as he lashes out, whipping at my sister who cries out in pain.

"STELLA! OCTA!" The door bangs, rattling in its frame.

Fuck.

FUCK.

No, no, no. Stop, stop. Please stop. We need to leave.

WE NEED TO LEAVE. I command desperately as the light and shadows begin to clash.

They barely listen, so in a panic fueled move I pull on my own power, feeling the darkness shift and meld as I move through the grounds. Shaky breaths escape me as my awareness flickers and dips.

Tell- tell, them that I'm in their dorm. I whisper to little shadow, my only loyal shadow at this moment, And- and, Beatrix. She needs- needs to get to Stella. Tell her to keep my sister safe.

I hear a muffled response as screeches of outrage reach my ears from my returning rebellious shadows. Darkness flickers in and out of my eyes before the world around me sinks into shadows.

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"-ittle -a, dow?"

What the hell?

I drift in and out, pain thrumming in my head.

"-adow."

Gentle touches brush across my face and I sigh at the familiarity.

For long moments I just bask in the feeling of comfort, as though I was just waking up in a sleepy haze and my brain hadn't registered. I was weightless, safe and wrapped in strong arms against a soft jumper with a comforting scent.

"Little shadow?" His gruff voice brings a small smile to my face.

"Teddy Bear." I whisper, voice hoarse and I wince at the sound of clattering and sudden movement somewhere away from us.

I distantly register Andreas' low curses and threats but they float out of my thoughts quickly, settling as a comforting memory of stories long past.

"I'm here, little one." He murmurs, voice soft and reassuring. "You had a nasty battle with those Umbra-saurus huh?"

A small chuckle escapes me at the reminder of scary bedtime stories long past, of gentle nudges when leaving the cell of shadows had my mind in tatters.

"Did I win?" I croak.

More gentle laughter, "Oh most certainly," He murmurs, "I trained you after all."

My eyes creak open with an expectant wince but there's no harsh light to greet me, only a worried Riven crouched next to us holding a glass of water. He seems to be trembling slightly, he looks so calm and controlled yet his eyes are blown wide with fear.

"Hi." I whisper

"Hi." His lips tug up slightly at the corner.

Uncomfortable shifting has me registering that I'm cradled in Andreas' arms like he would hold me as a child when I had nightmares while having sleepovers with Bea.

"You need to drink some water." Riven murmurs, holding the glass out to me.

I accept gratefully, chugging it down until a light touch on my hand has me pausing. Andreas stares at me with disapproving brows as he slowly places me down on the floor and swaps places with Riven who moves towards the kitchen.

"You'll choke and throw up." He scolds lightly and I blush at the reminders of when I used to down water like PG-13 shots during training, only to throw up minutes later.

A muttered apology later and I'm slowly sipping on the water, wishing it was coffee. With vodka. Coffee with vodka like Bea makes it, I never worked out how she got it to taste so good.

"Beatrix said you and Stella got into some kind of fight." He states, face calm and patient.

I wince, "It wasn't a fight exactly-"

"Oh? So why were you on the floor of your mates' dorm passed out?" He raises an eyebrow, "Do we need to have a talk about these boys?"

"Drea-"

"No, no. We were going to have one anyways but if we need to have the murder-"

"For Helios sake!" I cry through laughter, "How many times do I have to tell you not to plot in front of a member of the Royal family. I need-"

"-plausible deniability." He mock whines with an eye roll and I swat at his arm. "Yeah, yeah. You say it everytime."

I scoff, "Well if you and Beatrix would remember-"

"And how many times have I walked in on you using your murder plotting board, young lady." I gape at him in betrayal as he glares at me with a smug 'I have won' look.

"That is irrelevant." I huff and turn away, ignoring his sniggers in favour of slowly standing up.

"What are you doing here anyways?" I ask after dragging myself up onto my mates' sofa, who seem to be busying themselves in the kitchen while they pretend not to listen in.

"Well your shadows summoned Beatrix to Stella's side, so Bea texted me to find you. She was worried you wouldn't have called anyone." For the first time there is a look in his eyes that I can't decipher.

"I told them to tell-"

"Yes, your mates were here seconds after I." He muses, still staring at me. Like he's analysing my every move, critiquing every look. "You sent word to them first."

I frown. Was I supposed to send word to him?

Andreas continues to look at me, posture relaxed and something relieved and warm in his eyes. I see him glance at me and then over my shoulder a couple of times, to Sky and Riven. I ignore his soft pleased smile to turn and face my mates myself.

"What are you making over there?" I call, smiling when I catch Sky quickly shuffling away from Riven.

How close they were.

Riv clears his throat. "Brownies."

"Weed?" I wiggle my eyebrows.

Riven and Andreas laugh while Sky chokes.

"Afraid not, Pix. They're for family pizza night, with the important rule abiding adults." Andreas scoffs at his son's description.

"If only you could have seen them in the good ol days." Drea sighs wistfully and I shoot him a wither glare.

"Sounding very reminiscent there old man." I jest with a smirk, shifting on the sofa to get comfortable with all my current aches and pains from laying on the floor.

Andreas tosses a pillow at me and I hastily duck with a laugh.

Distantly, some part of me registers Sky tensing and for a second I fear I have been too comfortable too fast with treating Drea like family but when I look over to him I recognise the protective look in his glare.

He was worried about the pillow hurting me.

Cute. But unnecessary.

I pause for a second, briefly considering why his emotions and protectiveness might be dialled to 100 but I push the thought aside. No. This is the first time I feel awake all day, I'm not squandering it. We can talk about the trauma later.

Wait- "Family pizza night?" I question, glancing between the males.

"Well, you and Beatrix always loved the tradition for sleepovers away from the palace that I signed all three of us up." Andreas smirks at me but I can see the hesitance in his stare as he looks to his son, gauges his reaction.

"And Silva invited me." Sky declares and Drea looks away for a second and I pretend not to see the longing in his gaze. "And of course Riven and I are a package deal."

I also decide to ignore Riven's blush at our mate's words.

I feel like I'm going to be ignoring a lot of things in an attempt to avoid too much major drama.

Sighing as I flop back against the sofa I tilt my head to the side and observe Sky as he watches Riven with a predatory intent as he mixes the brownie batter, muscles flexing.

Gonna just ignore that too.

"Who's going to be there then?" I murmur quietly knowing their Dumaris enhanced senses will allow them to hear the word.

"Knowing Silva," Sky leans forward on the counter to look at me, bracing his elbows on the surface as his rolled up sleeves sink to the crook of his elbows. "There are two types of family nights. Close family and extended family and friends."

"Hopefully it'll be the former." Drea grumbles clearly having suffered through many of Silva's family nights. "That male has far too many friends with very little boundaries and horrifically shit standards and taste in-."

"He's going to have invited us and Irene if it's just a family thing, he'll leave inviting Stella up to you." Sky cuts in, shooting his father an annoyed glance but I think that mostly for his description of Sky's saviour Saul, and his hero complex stemming from Silva's odd parenting style.

Though I suppose all parenting styles are odd in comparison to others.

Will I invite Stella? She'll need time to calm down, but if I don't invite her then I'm cutting her off from a 'family' event.

"Family politics sucks doesn't." Riven states as he slides the brownies into the oven.

"Yeah kid, it really does." Andreas answers.

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"Hurry up." Andreas commands as he rolls his eyes at my lagging form behind the three males and I childishly stick my tongue out at him.

Riven shoots him a glare and slows down to walk next to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders as he tucks me against his side. He's been fluttering around me like a nervous hummingbird since he finished the brownies. Clearly the baking was the only thing distracting him from his worries for my safety.

Delicious brownies which Sky now has the fortune of guarding from Riven and Andreas' wandering hands. It was quite an amusing sight to see Sky's shocked face at his father's ability to steal brownie chunks from under his nose.

It's clear to me that Drea is doing what he used to do with Bea and I when we were having a bad day.

He's trying to get Sky to calm down. To burn off some of that anger through petty distractions and fights.

I know I scared them and I know they haven't brought it up since Andreas is here. Surprisingly both Sky and Drea were civil to each other, admittedly they haven't spoken a single word to each other but no swords have been drawn so I'm taking that as a win.

A blush rises to my cheeks when I feel Riven press a kiss to my forehead and link our pinkies on the hand draped over my back. He's such a sap but I can tell he's nervous, terrified even, for his first family night. He's been nervously tugging at his sleeves whenever I step away from him.

Riv tenses around me when Andreas' hand suddenly snaps out and swipes a brownie off the plate in his son's arms. Sky's answering snarl and huff as he practically stomps to my other side has me biting back chuckles.

But Riven merely remains tense and I feel his gaze locked on Andres' back

I hate it. I hate how scared he is. How consumed by worry his thoughts are. Some moments I see him drift off, staring at something I can't see, lips moving as though he is speaking. But that's not today's problem. We will survive the family event and then tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend can be for our obvious issues.

Sky's anger seems to have cooled enough for that wait anyways. He was practically vibrating with rage when I mentioned how Stella's light seemed to burn.

"Harvey." Andreas calls as the professor turns onto our hallway ahead of us, his two kids awkwardly following.

"Andreas." Harvey greets somewhat hesitantly, eyes flickering between my mates and I behind Drea's bulking form. "What brings you out here so late?"

"Why?" He drawls, something dark creeping in. "Don't trust me anymore?"

Harvey reels back and I fight my grin knowing Andreas means it genuinely. Lack of social contact seems to have gotten to him. I try to muster up the energy to converse with the professor and my fellow students but it seems to elude me, it was a damn miracle I even left my boys' room.

It was the brownies, not a miracle. I tense at the sound of a shadow's voice, feeling as though I were fourteen again just discovering their voice again.

Much to my relief the shadow doesn't continue on and I'm brought back to reality when Riv gently tugs at our linked fingers, staring down at me with worry.

"I'm alright." I murmur to him softly.

It's clear he doesn't believe me but he nods anyway and leans down to press a sweet kiss to my lips that I gratefully accept.

"It's family pizza night." Harvey states somewhat hesitantly and I cringe at his words.

I'm not sure I can bear socialising with more than a small group of people. People who I trust and can confide in.

"Ah." Drea states, staring the professor down.

Terra and-

Sam Harvey, the boy Musa's dating behind Terra's back. I ignore my shudder at the shadow's words.

Right, that mess.

Harvey nods awkwardly and gestures ahead of himself, indicating for us to go ahead. Drea waves him off with a grumble and I catch the words 'stab' and 'back' and I'm really starting to consider that he might need more therapy than Beatrix and I initially thought.

Terra gives me a soft smile but hurries after her father and brother. A light sigh escapes me as Riv tugs me forward, taking me towards the impending doom.

"It seems to be an extended family thing." Riven comments absently to Sky.

"Silva would only invite them if he trusts-" Sky trails off as we continue on.

"Yeah..." Sky sighs as he observes Dowling greeting Harvey, "This is going to suck."

A/N: What do you think about the argument between Stella and Octavia?