Caroline had decided that since her father wouldn't make the living conditions in the dungeons any better and that Edgar would probably die of a heart-attack if he ever saw another rat in his cell or within a ten feet radius, she would personally go to his office again, verbally attack him, emotionally manipulate him (if she managed to find any tinge of emotion within that empty cocoon he was) and force him to get everyone that had never done anything wrong out of their cells, not just her friends.

She and Gwen had started to get along again, Phoebe was getting over her low self-esteem issues (slowly but surely) and Edgar... Well, Edgar remained the same, but that's not the point because he's more or less flawless.

Esmeralda, on the other hand, had stolen a few weapons from the armory and had turned Caroline's room into a training field. The princess had started to get tired of explaining why she constantly needed new pillows, though she couldn't argue that Esme had taught her a thing or two about defending herself.

Caroline had a knife hidden in her shoe, another one under her belt and a third beneath her dress at all times and trust me when I say that she'd learned how to use them in the case of an emergency.

She threw open her father's door without knocking, as she felt that he no longer deserved her respect and good manners, and marched into his office, glaring straight into his eyes because even when he was sitting, she still wasn't any taller than him.

"What is it this time?", he sighed, looking up from a piece of paper he was holding.

"You're a savage! An imbecile! How dare you have people live in such terrible and unhygienic conditions under your own roof? They're prisoners, not some object you no longer wish to use and that you can easily dispose of and leave to rot!", she got right to the point.

"This again? I already told you that a dungeon renovation is not to be negotiated.", he glared at her, his patience running thin thanks to his daughter's newfound rebellious and outspoken attitude.

"Then free everyone who doesn't deserve it.", Caroline hissed.

"Everyone I've locked up has done something to get on my nerves, so everyone who's in there deserves it.", Alastor replied, clearly annoyed by the entire conversation.

"You know, this is what stripped you of all potential allies you may have had. Nobody wants to be on your side anymore. No matter how much you may blackmail them, no matter what you have on them and no matter how much they're going to sacrifice to go against you, I know that everyone is willing to go to great lengths to bring you down."

"No one is that stupid. No one would put revenge over the things and people they care about.", Alastor growled.

"That's exactly what you've been doing all these years."

"Caroline, dear... Haven't you realised by now? I only care about two things; revenge and myself. You may be my daughter, but the person you're turning out to be is starting to annoy me. Keep this up and you'll end up in the dungeons with your friend- if you're lucky.", he growled. "Now get out, I'm busy."

"If you don't free them, I'll get them out myself and then throw myself of a window. We'll see how that war is going to work out for you if you know the throne will immediately become your brother's once you die. You care about three things, not two. You forgot the one in which you mind about having an heir.", Caroline said smugly.

He raised his hand, seemingly too slap her, but stopped himself when his daughter flinched away. "Fine. I'll free your little friends, but only because I have too much on my plate right now and can't afford to spend any time on such trivial matters. Your little rebellion is going to do nothing to stop what's coming."

"I don't want just my friends to get out, I want all the innocents. And how are you so sure we won't make a difference?"

"I'm no longer the one waging a war. From this point on, we're on the defence.", he clicked his tongue and handed her the paper he'd been reading when she walked in.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and read the letter in frustration.

Alastor,

It has come to my attention that you wanted to besiege the rest of my kingdom. My son managed to tell me this, at least, before he died to save me from your arrow. I have gathered up my army; it's time for me to get the rest of my kingdom back and for you to get what you deserve. Be prepared, little brother. At least I had the decency of telling you myself.

Daniel

P.S.: I sure hope to see you on the battlefield and that you won't cower in a throne room that's not yours to avoid being hurt, Al. I wouldn't be surprised, though; you've never been one to show bravery...

If this hadn't been a letter declaring war, Caroline would have burst out laughing at her uncle's insults.

"He didn't even bother to make it fancy for you. That's how low you've fallen... I'd look down to you if I was any taller, trust me."

She immediately eyed the chair and a grin spread across her face. She climbed onto it and glared down at her dad.

"Would you look at that! You are shorter now and I have to say that you've reached a whole new low for me.", she smirked, jumped off the chair, blew a kiss at her father and turned to leave. "Oh, and I'll be the bearer of good news at the dungeons. Would you mind signing me a permit to free everyone? That would be great.", she said sweetly.

Her father only glared at her and signed the order.

Caroline took it and smugly went back to her room to pick up Esmeralda, before they made their way to the dungeons to free everyone.

It felt so great to see her father so humiliated...

×~❦~×

"Alex, we need to talk.", Crystal sighed, approaching her friend, whom she had to tell they were cousins.

She'd decided that if Lux finally wanted to let him know of that relation, especially after Crystal had wanted to inform him of that, she would do it. Alex deserved to know and she couldn't keep it a secret any longer either.

She never knew what the reason why they kept it a secret was in the first place.

"Alex, we need to talk.", Crystal sighed, approaching her friend, whom she had to tell they were cousins.

It had been right after they'd finished another training session when she decided that if Lux finally wanted to let him know of that relation, especially after Crystal had wanted to inform him of that, she would do it. Alex deserved to know and she couldn't keep it a secret any longer either.

She didn't even understand what the reason why they kept it a secret was in the first place.

"Sure, what is it?", he smiled approaching her. That smile faded when he saw her expression. "Oh no, I know that face... What happened?"

"There's something I need to tell you.", Crystal explained. "You might want to sit down."

"Okay...", he said, paling a little at the sound of that. "What's wrong?"

"You know that dream Scott and I were trapped in?", she asked him.

Alex nodded. "How could I forget?"

"You were there too. The thing is, we were in a world were Alastor didn't exist and you and your parents- your biological ones- lived in the palace."

"I don't understand where you're going with this."

"My mom has a sister and I'm not talking about Beatrice.", Crystal gulped.

"Wait, what?"

"Cheryl and Lux are half-sisters. Apparently, my grandpa had an affair with your grandma while they were both married to other people. Your mom was the illegitimate child out of this and Cheryl hates her for that. The point is, we're actually related.", Crystal rushed as fast as she could, hoping that Alex wouldn't hear her.

"What are you talking about?", he said, obviously confused.

"We're cousins, Alex! Our mothers are sisters!", she exclaimed in frustration.

"I got that, I'm just trying to comprehend this! You've known all this time? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how. It was huge and weird and I had so much on my plate that I kind of forgot about it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but you know how things have been lately."

"Look, I get it. It has been weird lately. I'm not mad at you. I just need some time to think about it.", he looked away, biting his lip.

"Of course.", Crystal nodded.

Alex was about to walk way, when Scott approached them, Daniel trailing close behind.

"We're leaving.", the King announced.

"What? When?", his daughter asked in confusion.

"Now.", Scott said bitterly, glaring at Daniel.

"Why?", Alex questioned. "I thought we had more time."

"We don't, because a certain King decided to send a not-so-formal letter to his vengeful and psycho brother, so now we're practically at war.", his friend kept his glare on Dan.

"Seriously? Don't you think you should have told us first? You can't just rush things like that! We're not ready!", Crystal told him.

"I thought you were in a hurry for war but now that it's here you don't want it?", her father raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, please! I wasn't in a hurry for a war, I was in a hurry to see justice for everything that's been happening all these years and war was- and still is- the only way to bring Alastor down. We were supposed to prepare for this and you were supposed to keep us posted. You clearly didn't hold up your end of the bargain!", Crystal protested.

"Well, it's too late now, so go pack as fast as you can and gather up at the gates in two hours at most. You want to pick up two friends from the border too, do you not?", Dan announced.

Alex, Crystal and Scott grumbled and stormed away from him to get their things.

Alex wouldn't look his two friends in the eye, though Scott didn't really know why that was.

"What happened?", he whispered at Crystal.

"I told him that he's my cousin.", she frowned, glancing at ex worriedly. "He took it better than I thought he would."

A knock on the door snapped them out of their thoughts. A messenger walked in with their permission.

"I have a letter for a Scott Harrow.", she said.

"That would be me.", Scott replied, obviously confused by the announcement. She handed him the letter and left with a shrug.

"Who is it from?", Crystal asked him.

"It's from Phoebe. How did she even know we were here?", he muttered and opened it as fast as he could, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"What does she say, is she okay?", the princess rushed.

Scott kind of ignored her and read the letter.

Hey Scotty!

Lux told me where you were and helped me mail this. Caroline says hi, by the way.

I'm at the palace! Isn't that great? I've already been locked up twice, but don't worry about it. Alastor is a weakling.

I don't have much time to write this, so I'll try to include everything you need to know. Dad was executed along with that guy, Erebos, that attacked us at the cabin. Caroline says you should tell Crystal that Andy and Margaret are dead too, Alastor killed them. He also is the one that killed Tristan and Faith (Crystal will know what I'm talking about). He killed Queen Olivia too! So, yeah... He's more or less killed everyone that's died so far.

I've made some new friends and I'm sure you'd like them. Esmeralda, Edgar and Gwen are truly one of a kind!

Lux says you should tell Alex (we know about him too and I'm dying to meet him, he sounds awesome) that Alastor cut her hair off.

Speaking of Alastor, he may or may not have stabbed me once. I'm fine, though!

Give Crystal my regards (Caroline's too)! I heard Daniel is about to attack, so I guess I'll find you two in the battlefield.

Happy travels and please tell V and Cheryl all that if you bump into them... I lost that darn necklace they gave me...

Phoebe

Scott ran a hand through his hair, not really knowing what to make of all this.

"She's in the palace. She was supposed to be with Violet and Cheryl, but she's in the damn palace. Caroline says hi, by the way.", he said angrily.

"What? Wasn't Cheryl supposed to take care of her?", Crystal's eyes widened.

"She was!", Scott got out of the bed. "And there's more! Apparently, Alastor has gone on a killing spree since we last saw him! Andy and Margaret are dead and Phoebe says he is also the one behind the death of someone named Faith?"

"Andy and Margaret?! And you say he killed Faith?! That was Caroline's girlfriend! You met her in that dream we were in. She was Esmeralda's sister."

"Oh, right. And Esmeralda was...", Scott trailed off after glancing at Alex. "Phoebe mentioned her."

"What the hell are you two babbling about?", Alex asked them.

"My sister mailed me. Your mom helped her with it. She practically gave us a list of people Alastor has killed the past two months. Phoebe was almost one of his victims."

"What?!", Crystal paled.

"She also says that Alastor gave your mom a haircut.", Scott frowned at Alex.

"That's it, I'm going to kill him.", he and the princess said at the same time.

"We have to get there for you two to give into your murderous tendencies- which, if I'm being honest, terrify me despite the fact that I know they're well justified, that Alastor deserves it and that I pretty much want to do the same- so get back to packing, okay?", Scott told them.

"When you put it that way..." Crystal sighed and packed her things as fast as possible. Alex, unsurprisingly, did the same.

Soon they were on the road to the border and because they no longer were two people travelling randomly, but they were an entire army travelling in an organised way and with an actual, fixed destination, it took them a couple of days to get to Jackson and Charles' house.

Crystal, Scott and Alex immediately rushed there (though Alex was not as eager because he wasn't familiar with the guys they were visiting and didn't want to get in the middle of the reunion) and knocked on the door.

In a matter of seconds, they heard footsteps approaching and Charles opened up.

"Oh my God.", his eyes widened in excitement. "Jackson!", he called his boyfriend. "Crystal, I heard about Tristan... My condolences.", he frowned.

"Thanks...", her face fell at the thought of her twin.

"Scott?! Crystal?! Weren't you both missing?" Jackson asked in surprise, making his way to the door and wrapping an arm around Charles' waist.

"Not anymore!", Crystal laughed.

"Come on in!", Charles invited them.

"Thanks!", Scott gave them a small smile. When he noticed that Alex wasn't moving, he urgently motioned at his friend to follow him. "Guys, this is Alex. He's Crystal's cousin. Alex, these are Jackson and Charles.", he introduced them.

"I didn't know you had a cousin other than princess Caroline.", Jackson told Crystal.

"Me neither.", she chuckled awkwardly, glancing at Alex apologetically.

During the last two days of their trip, they'd worked their relationship out as much as they could, but things were still a little complicated between them.

"How have you guys been?", Charles asked them all.

"It's been weird and it's sort of the reason why we're here...", Scott gulped.

"Let me fill you in...", Crystal bit her lip.

After a couple of hours of explaining nearly everything that had happened, including Crystal and Alex's true parentage, Charles and Jackson were staring at their three visitors with dumbfounded expressions.

"That's a lot to take in...", Jackson shook his head.

"And you're here to ask us if we want to go to war? Guys, I don't think I'm up to the task.", Charles frowned.

"That's totally okay, really, but we're no fighter's either--", Crystal started.

"Apart from Alex. He can fight like a boss.", Scott corrected her.

Alex smirked proudly and Crystal glared at Scott for interrupting her. "As I was saying, you will have plenty of time to train on the way there and you don't even have to fight. You could help heal the wounded, help with cooking, assist the blacksmiths or even just be there. Seeing people that care about your cause boosts morale. I don't want to pressure you, I'm just showing you all aspects of this. The decision is yours to make and I know that this is a tough one. It is dangerous, that's the only certain thing. I can't guarantee you a victory. As a matter of fact, the only thing I can guarantee you is things you won't be able to unsee. It's going to be a nightmare and even if we win, it's going to take a while before it goes back to normal for any of us."

"Princess, you're not really trying to convince him...", Scott whispered at her.

"That's because I don't want to. This is his choice, I'm not going to change his mind. I'm only going to be honest. I can't force someone to put his life on the line. His life, his decision. He needs to know everything; both the good, and the bad.", she replied. "Guys, I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be terrible. War is terrible. Hell, I'm not even sure I want to fight but I know that I have to. It's what's best for the people in the kingdom and it's about justice. If you decide to join us, you can find us at the border tomorrow at noon. It's when we'll be leaving.", Crystal sighed, getting up. Scott and Alex did the same.

"Where are you going? You could stay here for the night if you want. We have plenty of space.", Jackson suggested.

"It's okay, we have a tent at camp and Dan is going to be worried.", she rolled her eyes and snorted at the thought of her father.

"Oh, okay. Understandable.", Charles frowned lightly.

"Just in case this is goodbye, come here.", she told them both, engulfing them in a group hug.

The hosting couple motioned at Scott and Alex to join the hug too, and in a few seconds all five of them were in each other's arms. Scott was a kind of hesitant at first, but he'd started to like hugs a little. Just a little, though.

"Let's just hope we see you tomorrow.", Alex told them as he, his cousin and their friend piled out of the small house.

Jackson nodded in agreement. "Let's hope."

A/N: Late update because a certain Jojo was at my house last night and we stayed up until 5 in the motwning talking about stuff and freaking out about the latest Arcana chapters. Damn goat...

Anyways, see you next week! 😘

-Riri<3