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"He was her dark fairytale and she was histwisted fantasy, and together they made magic." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Aura awoke to an almost deafening ringing in her ears. She slowly opened her eyes and gently placed a palm on her forehead in an attempt to subdue the throbbing. She sat up abruptly when she noticed her rose gold bracelet chain was absent from her wrist.

            Carolyn was still asleep on a cot next to her's. They were in a different part of the cave than they were before they had fainted. It was blocked off from the rest of Althea's cave by shoji screens made from the bark of a cedar tree.

            Aura could hear the faint echo of voices from the cave's main area, but was too far away, and her senses too hazy, to make out what anyone was saying. She blindly tapped Carolyn on her shoulder, her sister slowly stirring.

            "Five more minutes..." Carolyn groaned through a yawn, not even opening her eyes.

            Aura leaned over and swiftly flicked the side of her sister's forehead.

            Carolyn's eyes shot open as her hand flew to her temple. "Asshole..."

            "C'mon," Aura said to her sister as she urged her sore muscles to stand.

            As the twins stumbled into the main area of the cave, the whispering they had heard halted.

            Althea, Bailey, and Robin were sat at the mossy oak table huddled around something in the center. When they heard the twins, they all turned in their direction.

            "Morning sleepyheads," Bailey joked, although her smile was strained.

            "How long were we out?" Aura asked, rubbing the stiffness out of her neck.

            "About two hours," Robin replied, shifting on his stool.

            Carolyn moved closer to the table to examine what had her friends fixated. On a worn piece of cloth sat the twins' bracelet chains, both pulsing a bright golden glow.

            "They've been acting up ever since you passed out," Althea said, gingerly handing the bracelets back to the twins. The second the rose gold chains touched their wrists, their glow halted. She poured two small cups of tea. "How are you feeling?"

            Carolyn gratefully accepted the petite stone cup, the warm liquid soothing the remnants of her pounding headache. "More or less like I've come back from the dead." She carefully rubbed her eyes but jumped when she momentarily saw piercing blue eyes staring back at her.

            Althea suddenly appeared next to her, placing her cool palms onto Carolyn's shoulders. She inhaled a sharp breath as she traced circles along Carolyn's temples. "Did you see something before you passed out?"

            Carolyn nodded as she took a shaky sip of tea. "Bright blue eyes." Aura mumbled in agreement.

            Althea hummed to herself as she fluttered around her large workspace, combing through tattered books and crinkled scrolls.

            "Whoever they belong to doesn't give me a bad vibe at all, they're almost comforting in a sense," Carolyn started before biting her lip, "that is when they don't scare the shit out of me."

            Robin and Bailey shared a look as Althea rushed back to the twins, a small smile making its way onto her face.

            "You said blue eyes, yes?"

            Carolyn nodded hesitantly.

            Althea took the twins' hands in her own. "I think, no, I know that image came to you for a reason. I think your father might be alive."

            Aura and Carolyn's eyes widened as they searched for any inkling of humor in the witch's face. Ever since they crossed paths with Felicity, anything they once deemed "impossible" seemed all the more likely. But they also knew that anything connected to Onyx was bad news.

            Bailey sighed in frustration and shook her head, running her fingers through her messy hair. "While that's a nice thought, Althea, I think you're wrong this time. No one has seen or heard from or about Anthony in 16 years. He probably died in the Crystian dungeon."

            Althea turned to Bailey, her eyes twinkling. "Many people thought the same thing about Felicity, but I'm sure all of us know how that turned out."

            Carolyn abruptly stood up, quickly clinging onto the oak table to keep steady. "Okay, let's say you're right and my father is alive and well and sending me and Aura random pictures of his eyes, there's no way in hell that I'm ever stepping foot in that dungeon ever again. So what're we gonna do?"

            "We need to be able to sneak Anthony out without being detected," Robin said leaning forward on his elbows, running his thumb over his jaw.

            "Do you think an invisibility spell would work?" Aura asked with a hopeful tone. "Cora and I managed to cast one on ourselves when we were in Atlantis."

            Althea raised an eyebrow. "And how long did that last?"

            Carolyn shrugged, crossing her arms. "A good ten minutes."

            Althea shook her head as she made her way back to her workstation, scouring shelf after shelf that were filled with vials of all shapes and sizes. "You'll need a lot longer than 10 minutes, I'm afraid." Her long fingers reached to the back of the top shelf, pulling out a thin gold, cylindrical vial with a deep purple liquid.

            "This is a very mild version of the sleeping curse that's over Spindill," the witch explained, placing it down in the middle of the table. "It's the last of my supply. It only has a small range and only lasts for a few hours­–but it should be enough for you to find Anthony and get him out before anyone else awakes. It could easily cover Caeshire and the palace."

            Carolyn let out a deep breath. "I need some air. You guys keep discussing that," she said, motioning to the vial.

            She quickly exited the cave, basking in the mid-afternoon sun. She carefully sitting on the cliff that overlooked the mountainous forests below. The sweet smell of oak filled her nose, but the breeze quickly wafted a deeper, earthy smell over her.

            The scent grew stronger until Robin appeared beside her, slowly lowering himself to the ground. "You okay?"

            Carolyn pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded. "I'm fine." Before he could push farther, she quickly added, "How are you feeling? You look a lot better."

            Robin smiled and nodded his head toward the cave. "She does wonders, doesn't she? I feel as good as new."

            Her own small smile grew on her face. "That's great." Silence surrounded them, but Carolyn's eyes never moved from Robin as he looked out at the endless sea of trees.

            Robin let out a soft chuckle, glancing at Carolyn with an eyebrow raised. "I'm sorry, am I missing something?"

            An embarrassed heat rose to Carolyn's cheeks, her gaze quickly switching to her hands. "No...it's just—," she let out a sigh, her eyes connecting with Robin's once again, "I'm afraid that if I take my eyes off of you, you're gonna get hurt again."

            Robin flashed her a cheeky grin. "Aw. Were you worried about me whilst you were gone?"

            Carolyn playfully punched his arm as giggles escaped her throat. "I'm serious!" Her laughter died down as fast as it arose, her smile dropping. "For the past, technically, two weeks I have been worried sick. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you died I—"

            Her words were sharply cut off when Robin quickly wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and crashed his lips onto hers.

            Carolyn's world stood completely still. All of her senses went numb except the feeling of Robin's lips on hers.

            She just stared at Robin as he pulled away, a different kind of heat filling her cheeks.

            A playful, yet reserved smirk formed on Robin's lips as he studied her face. "Who would've guessed that you had the ability to be speechless."

            Carolyn grabbed the front of his tunic and said breathlessly, "Oh shut up and just kiss me again."

            Their lips once again collided, moving in-sync with one another. One of Robin's hands moved to her hair, his fingers tangling her soft golden waves, while the other snacked around her waist, pulling her closer. Carolyn's heart beat faster and faster as their kisses grew more desperate, her eyes fluttering closed.

            When they finally pulled away, both were at a loss for breath. Before either could say anything, Aura and Bailey strolled out of the cave.

            Aura's eyebrows shot up at the look on her sister's face, but a mischievous grin soon took over. Carolyn gave her sister a stern look in return as Bailey cleared her throat.

            "Are you two ready to go?"

            Carolyn wordlessly nodded as Robin helped her to her feet.

            As the four walked toward their horses, Aura grabbed her sister's wrist as whispered into her ear, "You are so telling me what happened, do you understand me?"

            Althea walked out of the cave as the four mounted their steeds. She slipped a small bottle of light blue liquid into Bailey's satchel. "You'll need that to wake Anthony up when you find him." She took Bailey's hand in her own. "Be safe."

            "We'll try." Bailey smiled down at Althea before urging her horse forward. Before the two steeds even reached the tree line at the end of the ridge, Althea and her cave were nowhere in sight.

            As the four rode towards Caeshire, Carolyn relished in the feeling of her arms once again wrapped around Robin's waist, having him close by.

            They traveled for a few more hours into the late afternoon, the sun hanging lazily in the sky. Even though they had ridden through the same path in their escape from Caeshire on that awful day, in the two weeks since then the once-sickly oak trees seemingly stood taller, prouder even. Their leaves no longer drooped towards the forest floor, all now a rich shade of green.

            Bailey eased her horse to a stop as the large stone gates of Caeshire became visible through the remaining trees. "Here goes nothing..." she mumbled as she walked to the edge of the forest, popping the cork off of the gold vial. The grass quickly absorbed the purple potion. Smoke of the same hue began to rise and pool from the dirt. Bailey jumped back as the dome shot upwards, covering all of Caeshire and the Crystian palace.

            Carolyn looked at Aura as the smoke began to dissipate. "Are you ready?"

            "As I'll ever be."