EVABELLE

Evabelle fell to her bloody knees on the cool smooth marble of the Sanctuary. "CALANDRA!" Evabelle shrieked.

The mage, who had been sitting at the bottom the stairs reading one of her books, leapt to her feet.

"CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT!" Evabelle screamed, tears streaming down her grime covered cheeks. "YOU HAVE TO CLOSE THE PORTAL! YOU HAVE TO CLOSE IT NOW! HURRY! HURRY!" She scooted her way off the star, shaking and sobbing so badly, that she couldn't see a thing around her.

Calandra acted as instructed by the hysterical girl. She lifted her hands and chanted one of her spells, breaking the connection between them and the kingdom of Portel. Then she lowered her arms quickly, and spun to Evabelle. "What happened?" She snapped.

But all Evabelle could manage was more sobbing. Her friends, she had doomed them all. Aza, Lucis, Del, Faux, Kai, Tru, they were going to die. Evabelle had left them with no way of escape. She was the biggest coward that there was. What a pitiful creature you are. Evabelle shook her head and hugged the bottom of the banister.

Calandra wouldn't have it. She strode up to the crying girl and wrenched her grip from the staircase and looked right into her drowning eyes. "What happened?" She said very slowly and very clearly.

Evabelle swallowed hard and took several painful breaths, desperately trying to pull herself together. "Sh-she was l-like you. She was a w-witch. Sh-she--"

Calandra's grip tightened on Evabelle's wrist. "Who? Stop your bawling and tell me who!"

"It-it was S-Sophie. Sophie and CJ. Th-they they were the ones. They were the traitors."

Calandra's eyes narrowed. "CJ," She murmured softly and then shook her head. "Wait who's Sophie?" She finally released Evabelle, who curled into a ball and did her best to wipe her tears away. She was an utter mess. Calandra shook her head and fetched a box of tissues.

Though the memory seemed to have been a long terrifying trip, it barely took anytime for Evabelle to recall the whole experience to the mage. When she finished, her tears had stopped. She sat numbly at the base of the stairs, her knees curled up to her chest, staring at the star that had taken them all to the trap.

Sophie and CJ. Just as all her books had done, the traitors were the last people she would have even considered. Evabelle took another tissue and wiped more of the dirt and blood from her face. "Why them?" She whispered, staring at her hands that still shook. Something that CJ had said back at Kalas Hem popped into her head. "When someone betrays you it hurts. You thought they were your friend, but they weren't." How perfect that it had been him to say that. Evabelle ducked her head into her knees.

Calandra had paced slowly in front of Evabelle, saying nothing as Evabelle told her what had happened. Now she spoke. "You said that this Sophie claimed CJ to be her familiar?"

Evabelle nodded, still not looking up.

Calandra stopped pacing and this time said softly in an almost comforting voice. "Then CJ is not to blame."

Evabelle whipped her head up to stare at the mage. "What?"

"Your folklore around familiars is wrong, if I'm not mistaken. They say that familiars are an animal-shaped spirit or minor demon that serves a witch as a domestic servant and companion. While this is somewhat true, it's not completely. Demons don't serve witches. It's the other way around. A real familiar is a fragment of the witch's own soul placed into another living creature. That fragment controls the creature. The more the witch pours into her familiar, the more she can take hold. She can control the body, use the being's eyes, ears, and mouth. But by doing that she renders her own body vulnerable. She can pull her soul out and just leave the small fragment making him more of a blank puppet doing as she wishes with a mere thought, and leaving her own body just fine."

Evabelle stared up at Calandra. "So you're saying that CJ was..."

"He was being controlled, yes." Calandra nodded. "The entire time it must have been her who came with you here. This Sophie must be powerful. The more advanced the creature, the harder it is to keep hold over it. That's why most familiars are things such as cats, birds, etcetera. More primal animals are easier to handle, so having a human familiar is quite a feat."

Through all the pain and chaos of abandoning her friends, Evabelle felt the gigantic knot in her stomach loosen just a bit at the thought that CJ was not a traitor, but then tightened again at the thought of what the poor boy must be going through.

Calandra tapped her chin, a strange look in her eye. "Now, you said that this Sophie was like me. Did you mean that we were the same as in witch or... something more?"

Evabelle blinked. "Well, she kind of looked like you after she changed her form. Sophie was always small with crazy red hair and large glasses, but she got taller, her hair smoothed out and she...looked...kind of looked like you." Evabelle said, getting quieter with each word.

"Did she take after my father or my mother?" Calandra's voice had gone cold.

Evabelle swallowed. "I would have to say your mother...I guess. Um...are you...um...related?" Evabelle's voice was nearly inaudible at the last word. Suddenly something Kai had said about Calandra having a sister swam to the surface of Evabelle's mind, right as Calandra confirmed as much.

The mage closed her eyes, and Evabelle could feel the distilment in the air around her. "My half sister, Etheldreda." Calandra whispered. Her eyes opened and Evabelle felt her blood freeze at the darkness in the woman's eyes. "If that thing is involved..." Calandra balled her hands into fists. Then she snapped back to Evabelle. "Well, what do you propose we do?"

Evabelle started by her sudden turn. "W-what--?"

"Your people have been taken are you going to just sit there?" Calandra stared down at Evabelle***

"I-I-I don't even know if th-they're a-a-alive." Evabelle began to choke up again. "I l-left them t-to die!" She shouted.

"Not if they want you."

Evabelle gulped. "Me?" She squeaked.

Calandra rolled her eyes. "Are you that much of an idiot? Or is this still stemming from the fact that you can't believe that you are the Anahalian princess?" Calandra shook her head and let out a grunt of annoyance. "You're dooming them by sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. Wake up and take initiative for once!"

Evabelle stared at the cold mage. If someone's eyes could hold fire and ice at once, this woman was that one. Suddenly those eyes flickered and Calandra stiffened. "Well, well, well." She murmured. "The traitor returns." Then Calandra whirled to the great doors and strode out into the sunlight, that Evabelle had nearly forgotten about.

Evabelle leapt to her feet and almost fell again at the pain, but she forced herself to follow the mage.

Calandra was standing on a levitating piece of earth. She waited for Evabelle and stepped aside for Evabelle to step on. Once she was, Calandra looked forward across the waters and the pair of them floated to the shore, where a tall gangly figure stood alone.

CJ was smiling, and this time it was obvious that it was not him behind the eyes.

"Etheldreda, I presume." Calandra had stopped the chunk of dirt and stone a few feet from the familiar.

The smile widened on CJ. "What took you so long to figure it out, Sissy?"

Evabelle shivered. The words came from his mouth, they were in his voice, but they weren't him. The tone and inflection was all wrong.

"You've come here for a reason. What do you want?" Calandra ignored her.

CJ gave an exaggerated sigh. "It's always straight to the point with you, isn't it?" He/she shook his/her head. "I was really hoping to have a nice cheery tearful reunion, with my dear sister who hasn't spoken with me in years."

Calandra continued to glare coldly at the familiar. "Yes," She murmured. "And what lovely years those were."

CJ grinned again. "Yes weren't they?" CJ went on. "Anyway, I would have thought it was obvious what I really came for." He raised a finger and pointed it directly at Evabelle. "I've come for her."

Evabelle's heart jumped into her throat. Her mind was still trying to swallow the fact that Sophie and Calandra were sisters, and that CJ was now Sophie, and that meant that CJ was now Calandra's sister, and that the entire time they had been at the Sanctuary it had been Sophie with them, but once CJ's hand was directed at her, she felt herself flash back to her cruel situation.

"Me?" Evabelle squeaked again.

CJ rolled his eyes. "Yes, useless, pathetic, little you. Averno wants you dead."

Calandra took a step forward, so that she stood on the edge of the piece of floating earth. "I can only imagine that he must be quite angry with you. Was he you're little school bully?"

CJ's smile slipped, and a rather ugly expression replaced it. "You and your fovodrogo." CJ shook his head. "There were many inconveniences having me pretend to be this stupid boy, but even disguised as the little homely girl wouldn't have fooled you, Calandra. There were a few times I admit, I thought I had given myself away. That little exercise was one of those instances."

Calandra folded her arms. "So your fear is your master." She shook her own head. "How pathetic."

CJ stiffened, and continued to look less and less like the friend that Evabelle knew. "I respect him. Yes, I know how you love to be free and savage-like with your precious little code. No Gods, No Masters." CJ smiled again, a disturbing light shining in his eyes. "But you don't know what you can do with someone like him. A leader that can bring anyone to greatness."

The look was more than pure admiration as he spoke of the fallen Anahalian. It looked as though CJ was enamored with this monster. Evabelle shivered, feeling sick.

"And yet," Calandra cut in. "You cowered in fear at the training exercise. I imagine the man has quite a temper for those who cannot achieve his demands."

CJ clenched his fists. "I haven't failed! We never planned on Evabelle coming in the first place!" He snapped. "This is the way the plan was supposed to go."

Evabelle blinked in surprise, and Calandra asked. "What do you mean?"

"The plan had The Oracle spilling some bit about how you would find what you were looking for in the Portel Kingdom. We would capture those who came and give you the location for you to come and rescue them."

"Who's to say that it would be Evabelle who would come to rescue them?" Calandra asked.

CJ leered at Evabelle who shrank back. "Oh, you have a fair point , dear sister. But I was also to give you a bit of incentive. In twenty-four hours I get to start killing them."

Evabelle gasped. "You mean they're not already dead?"

"Not yet." CJ hissed. "You have the time limit, but you should also know that until you turn yourself in I get to do whatever I want with them." CJ's smiled widened at the horrified expression on Evabelle's face. "My suggestion of course is to turn yourself in now."

Evabelle looked down at her dirty, bloody self, rather than at the lie of a friend that stood before her. Her eyes burned.

"So if she did turn in herself, would the others be freed or are you just giving this for her to somehow rescue them as well as turn herself in?" Evabelle heard Calandra ask.

"Well, the human brat and the vampire would be freed. The Anahalians of course would be another matter. Averno would love to continue improving his Annihilator virus, and those ones would of course be perfect candidates."

Evabelle snapped her head back up. "Is Averno there? Could I speak to him?" She exclaimed suddenly.

Both Calandra and CJ stared at her. "As a matter a fact. He said that he would love to speak to the Anahalian princess." The familiar said softly. "The real Anahalian princess. The one with golden wings and holds themselves as a true member of royalty. The one with the pure angelic heart."

Evabelle's purely human heart sank.

"Actually, if you did have your angel wings, Averno commanded that you be turned in to him personally. But we both know that that's never going to happen." CJ pulled a sealed envelope from his pocket and held it out. "This holds the location of my stronghold. This is where they're being held."

Calandra snatched the letter from him.

Then CJ or Etheldreda turned around and began to stride away. "Well, I've said my bit. I've told you the deal, it's your choice. Just know what you're putting your friends through." Etheldreda put CJ's hand in the air and began to wave. "Farewell dear sister, I doubt that this will be our last meeting. And goodbye, my princess friend. I sincerely doubt that you will come for them, so this meeting might as well be our last."

Calandra and Evabelle watched her until she was out of sight. Then the two of them returned to the Sanctuary in silence. Calandra docked the earth back into the place where she had gotten it and turned to Evabelle. She didn't say anything only stared at the injured girl.

"I-I don't have wings." Evabelle said softly, looking down.

Calandra nodded, and for the first time, Evabelle saw pain in Calandra's eyes. "Then our friends are truly doomed." Then the mage dropped the letter, which Evabelle fumbled to catch, but the paper slipped through her fingers and fluttered to the ground. Evabelle stooped to pick it up, when she stood she could see Calandra far off walking up the stairs, leading back into the Sanctuary, leaving Evabelle alone on the beach.

Evabelle blinked back the tears again. That seemed to be happening a lot today, a war where her own body went back and forth on itself sometimes she won, other times the tears were conqueror.

She glanced down at the letter and saw her own name written in beautiful swirled writing. With shaking hands, Evabelle caught the edge of the back and slit it open. She pulled out two papers. One of them was directions, obviously to Etheldreda's sanctuary of sorts. The other was an actual letter that was written in that same swirly writing that her name had been written in.

Evabelle swallowed hard and began to read.

Dear Heavenly Princess,

This is a personal message to you and you alone. It has been many years since I killed your parents. Your father had the Angel heart, held by the true leader of the Anahalian, making him the most angelic of any of them. That great king passed this gift to you. After I watched the angel man scream and writhe at my feet, there was only you I had left for my plans to be complete. The Elders sent you to earth to protect you, sealing that angel heart of yours, but such a thing cannot be contained. However I have been informed that while the Elder's power could not hold in your power, you have. You refuse it. This makes my job much easier, but much more boring. I was hoping for something more from you. Your parents with their great legacy left nothing great behind.

I truly long to have a conversation with you face to face. Unfortunately, I only allow great beings in my presence. I know that you are no princess. In reality, Anahalians are weak and humans, of course, are even weaker. Now that you have been both, there is no way you could do anything of importance. While I do not fear you, I do require you to be dead. If you do not come for your friends, I can assure you that you that they will suffer slowly. I also am well aware of others you care about. I will kill them too. After everyone you care about is dead, I will burn the world down till it is just you and I. Perhaps that is a better fate for a coward. Let you see the world in ashes, let you see the world dead, and know that you did nothing. Know that the one that they saw as their rescuer was nothing, but a true disappointment to everyone who screamed to God for help. But because a little girl was too afraid to stand, the world suffered and died.

Yours Sincerely,

Averno

***

The water was scalding. Evabelle sat in the shower, letting the steaming water burn her cuts. Disappointment to everyone. Because a little girl was afraid to stand, the world suffered and died. Evabelle, once again, had her arms wrapped around her knees. He's right. He's absolutely right.

Evabelle turned the water off and toweled off. She pulled on a t-shirt and jeans, and then collapsed onto her plushy bed, her face buried into the pillow. At her fingertips, she felt the letter from Averno. She curled her fingers around it, crumpling it into a ball. On the beach after reading the dreaded thing, she had fallen to her knees and sobbed, as the words on paper rang like great bells, echoing in her mind, speaking painful truths. Now she lay face down on her bed with the letter in her fist. I was never their princess. Maybe I was her once, but I am far from that now.

Evabelle turned her head and stared at the fist holding Averno's words. Averno was a being she had never met, but everyone spoke of the man as evil, and this letter proved it.

A small crack in the curtains let in some light. It shone directly onto Evabelle's nightstand, where something lay that was so pure and white, that it appeared to glow. Evabelle sat up and let go of the letter. It was one of Lucis's feathers that he had given her. She scooted to the end of the bed, picked it up and held it to her chest. "I-I'm s-so s-s-s-sorry, L-Lucis. I'm just not that girl. I'm a s-sad, p-pathetic, useless--" Suddenly Lucis's own words cut through her sobs. "You are scared, not useless!" Evabelle stroked the feather. " It is the times when we are most afraid that we get the chance to show the most courage. When our hearts are beating out of our chests and we feel as though we cannot move, that is the moment where we must choose what action we are going to take." Her hands clenched around Lucis's feather. He believed in her. "While you doubt yourself, I refuse to. While you do not believe in yourself, I will believe in you for you."

Evabelle kept running away. That's all she had ever done, but he believed, why? "Stop thinking about what you've done, and consider what you are going to do." That's what Calandra had said. What am I going to do? Evabelle thought. She turned as her door opened, revealing a little blind girl with a black cat in her arms.

Evabelle's heart sank lower. "Gem," she whispered.

"E-Evabelle?" The small elf's voice shook. "Evabelle w-where's Kai?"

Disappointment to everyone.

Evabelle wasn't just letting down herself. She was letting down Gem and Calandra and anyone else who lost loved ones at the hand of Averno. I have to stop him.

"What?" Asked Gem.

Evabelle hadn't realized she had spoken aloud. Evabelle tucked the feather into her pocket and strode up to Gem and wrapped her arms around the girl. "He's been taken by a very bad man, but I'm going to get him back." Or at least, I'll try.

Gem swallowed and nodded. She let the cat fall from her arms, so that she could return the hug. "Okay." She whispered.

The pair sat at the end of Evabelle's bed for a while, Evabelle stroking the younger girl's hair. How? That was the true question. I know I have to do it, but what can I do. How am I supposed to do anything, when I can't fight or use magic. There was a little idea at the edge of Evabelle's mind, but she kept pushing it away. It would never work. I don't have wings, but Averno will only see me if I do. Evabelle's hand froze mid-stroke. Wings.

Evabelle leapt to her feet. Gem blinked in surprise. "What is it?" She asked.

"I know what I have to do!" Evabelle exclaimed as she dashed from the room. She took the stairs two at a time. "Calandra!" Evabelle called. "Calandra! Where are you?"

"Here," said a cool voice.

Evabelle whirled to see the mage standing at the top of the stairs, her curved frame and icy stare, giving the posture of aloofness. "What do you want?" The beautiful spoke softly.

"Calandra," Evabelle took a deep breath, praying that the mage would hear her out. "I have a plan."

~(A/N: Mwahahaha!! Evil fun chapter!!! What did you think? What do you think is going to happen? What do you think Evabelle's plan is? What do you think Etheldreda's going to do to the others? Tell me if you saw Sophie being the bad guy, or if you saw her being Callie's sister! Please vote and comment! I LOVE comments!!

Challenge time: If you were in Evabelle's position what would you do? I want to see if you guys can come up with a good plan to rescue them... :) )~