I can see you in there, mother. I will come for you, I promise.

Adreana's heart was beating dangerously fast as she was led down a long hallway. Her mother had tried to kill her by controlling Eric. She knew where she was. She was already making her first move.

She attracted stares from the warriors near her. Whispers started spreading, and she instinctively put her head down and averted her eyes. Nyx had sent her to her execution. Now they were seeing her, unscathed despite the lash markings on her back, walking down the hallway towards her cell.

She made it to her cell and sat down quietly with her back to the wall, her legs tucked up and her arms resting on her knees. She only flinched a little when the cell door noisily slammed shut and warriors started to gather around her door.

"Oí, demon," one of them with brown hair and a fierce expression said, leaning forward on the bars of her cell. "How come you're alive? Didn't the King say you were being executed?"

She said nothing.

"Hey, he asked you a question!" Another one called. "Answer it!"

She said nothing.

"You rude little--" the brown haired warrior raised a rock small enough to fit through the bars in his hand and prepared to throw it. Insults were thrown at her: "...blindfolded demon!" "King's pet!" Her arms tightened around her knees, she tensed, and then ducked under her arms to protect her face.

Nothing hit her. She raised her head. A large shadow was cast over her, and two white wings spread in front of her cell. A hand had caught the rock and was holding it up. "You call yourself warriors?" Draco asked coldly, dropping the rock. "Pitiful." The warriors backed away from him and fled immediately. She heard him sigh and turn around, sitting in front of her cell.

"Are you okay?" He said, his voice softening. "Did they hurt you?"

"No..." she bowed her head. "Thank you."

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "It was nothing, really. Thank you for saving my life."

She smiled a little and then something came into her mind. "Can I ask you something, Draco?" He nodded, looking interested. "What's it like in Victoria?"

"Ah..." he shrugged. "I don't know, I've never been there."

"You've never been? But how...?" He only shrugged again.

"Hey," he said. "I have a question, too."

"Ask away."

"Do you know a girl named Lily?" He asked in a sort of quiet voice. "You know, blonde hair, green eyes?" She shook her head.

"I just--I thought I saw you changing into Lily back at the center arena." He looked at her again. "I must've been seeing things."

Seeing things. Nyx was in his mind, too? "Draco, I--"

"Hey, you there!" A soldier yelled, pointing at him. "You have another battle next. Get to your gate!" Draco stood up and muttered something like "yes sir" and left. The empty silence and cold air without his warm presence made her shrink back against the wall and back into her position. He didn't know what Victoria was like...he wouldn't know anything about Ebony. A flashback flooded her mind and she let it happen, hearing the voice of her younger sister.

A smile lit up Ebony's face. "You mean you can show me how to fly?!?"

She smiled back. "Yes, of course! You'll be able to fly in no time."

They walked to a grove of Erebos's twisted trees holding hands and looking at the purple leaves surrounding them. "This'll be a perfect spot." Adreana stopped in front of the grove. "Now, try to focus on your heartbeat. Usually, your wingbeat follows your heartbeat unless you want otherwise."

Ebony scrunched up her face as she tried to focus. "Like this?" She said, her voice strained.

She laughed. "No, you can't focus that hard. Calmly think about your heartbeat, hear it in your head. Breathe steadily. Then leap in the air and concentrate on shooting upwards." Her sister did exactly as she was told and something tiny and glowing sprouted from her back. "You're getting it! Don't lose focus. You can do this," she encouraged.

The two small lights on Ebony's back shot out quickly, expanding into white-feathered wings. They flew her upward past the tops of the trees and she circled around, cheering. "I did it!" Ebony said, diving back down and landing perfectly.

They hugged each other in a happy embrace. "Your wings are beautiful," she said, and touched one of the feathers.

"Thank you, but..." Ebony began, her smile disappearing. "Why are mine white when everyone else's is dark colors?"

She hesitated at the question but reassured her younger sister. "I don't know, but you're not alone," she said, opening her own wings which were unusually white. Are you like me? she thought, and forced a smile.

She never got an answer to that question. Ebony was gone now, and--

An angel flickered in front of her.

No.

"Go away," she whispered loudly, looking up at its face that was covered with a veil. "Stop haunting me."

It flickered again, and her cell flickered to an all-too-familiar scene she had hoped to never see again.

"S-stop it," she stammered, standing up. "I didn't mean to--"

The angel seized her shoulders and she fell into pitch-black darkness with a surprised scream. Falling faster, she dropped and fell into her body from twelve years ago.

She was crouching behind one of the pieces of the ruins with a mess of emotions in her. Ebony was quietly peering over the top of the ruins behind her, searching for their destination.

"Do you see it?" She whispered in a low voice, holding a book of rituals to her chest.

Her sister put a pale finger to her lips and nodded slowly. She motioned with her hand, pointing straight ahead of them. Adreana nodded back, and they quietly climbed over the ruin.

A large stone circle with four short altars forming a square appeared in front of them as the book she was holding entered the area. The circle was ancient and vines crawled over the steps leading up to it. However, the altars were shining white and gave off a glow. The two looked at each other; one with anxiety and the other with determination.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked Ebony as her younger sister climbed the vine-covered steps.

"Yes," Ebony replied firmly. She walked to the center of the stone circle and looked up.

Adreana knelt in front of the steps and placed the book on her right, opening it to one of the pages. Her hands shook as she turned each yellowed page until she reached the right one. Then, she covered her eyes with a strip of red cloth and begun the ritual.

"O Architect of spirits,
O Norn of the heavens,
O Guardian of the angels,
O Envoy of the three worlds,
O Lord of Victoria,
Accept this demon's prayer and wish."

Light encircled Ebony and she heard her sister inhale sharply. But she continued on.

"She is not sinful nor evil,
Her wings are pure like light,"

Ebony's wings appeared and expanded to its full size, lifting her so she was hovering over the circle.

"A sheep in wolf's clothing,
An angel in a demon,
Release her soul into the heavens--"

Ebony cried out, her face contorting in pain. Adreana hesitated, almost asking Ebony if she wanted to stop, but she was cut off. "Hurry!" She shouted through gritted teeth.

"Demon to angel,
Lous. Eht. Fo. Esaeler."

No sound but the subtle hum of light energy...then, a strange cracking noise.

She looked up, alarmed, and took her blindfold off without thinking. Her eyes opened wide once she saw the thin crack in Ebony's face. Ebony fell and sprawled across the stone circle. She sprinted up to her sister, knowing something was very wrong. Her fingers passed through the pillar of light that Ebony was encased in.

The pillar of light shone brighter, as if trying to force Adreana out of it. It burned like fire and seared her eyes. "Ebony, wake up, we have to get out of here!" She reached farther and shook her.

Suddenly, Ebony sprang forward and screamed. She held her head, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. The pillar grew brighter and brighter; shooting up through the dark clouds. Symbols flashed on the circle in black and white as Adreana stumbled back, shielding her eyes with her arm. The hum of light drowned everything else out, intensifying and making her ears feel numb.

She lowered her arm and jumped off the platform, landing in front of the book. She flipped through it frantically, searching for something to stop the ritual. Her hands trembled and her eyes flew across the words, but there was no way to counter her actions. As she checked another page, she heard something. "A-Adreana..." Ebony choked.

"Ebony!" She left the book, rushing up the stairs to hold her sister's hand. "Ebony, stay with me, please! You can't leave me--"

"Please, do something," the crack through her face spread and went through her eye, turning it from brown to a pale white. "Help me, sister..."

Tears blurred her vision. "I'll pull you through, I'll save you I promise--just don't leave me, Ebony!" The crack grew larger and larger, until her beautiful younger sister shattered into a thousand pieces of glass. She gasped, then shrieked in grief as a white spirit in the shape of a bird flew around the pillar. Her body was racked with sobs until one of her eyes began burning as if it was on fire. In the reflection of the shattered glass, she saw that her eyes changed too.

The spirit shot upwards in a streak of light, then marks of the ritual vanished immediately. Her spirit is free, she thought weakly. That's all I could do. The memory began to fade at the sound of her mother's soldiers marching forward.

Tears fell down the sides of her face and she wiped them away. It was easy to make up her mind now. She would keep her word and kill the Queen of Erebos with her own hands.