Lilith rises quickly to her feet, her face twisted with furious spite, but against my will I feel my eyes slide away from her, lingering on the white portal that sparkles in the air. I can't help it; wherever I look, my gaze is drawn back to it. I can't even try to express how much it means to me that I can see it, the beauty of that curling staircase that spirals into the light far above. I've done so many terrible things with my power, hurt so many people... I was beginning to wonder if there was any light left inside me at all. If I truly was a villain.

But drifting above me is my second chance. It feels like a promise; a promise that I'm still a good person, that I'm still me underneath it all. Underneath all the darkness, there is still light. And to me, that means the universe.

"You really hope to fight me?" Lilith laughs coldly. Her dark hair is wild and tangled, her red eyes wide with rage; she looks completely deranged. "There is no hope. Not for you, anyway."

She raises a threatening hand over her shoulder, preparing to launch magic at us. We struggle to our feet, backing away. Iris is standing in front of us, and Cressida tries to pull her behind her, but she doesn't budge. I raise my hands in front of me, trying to summon a last shred of magic the way Iris did, but nothing happens. Lilith notices, and smiles chillingly at me.

"You intrigue me, Sky," she says. Her hand starts to glow softly. "This magic... Yours, is it not? It really is extraordinarily powerful for a fairy." She looks thoughtfully at me. "Tell me, where did a fairy like you learn the laws of necromancy?"

I swallow. I need to keep her talking while we think of a plan.

"I tried it," I say softly. "It's something I've been trying to master for years. I've studied every book on it I could. I could never manage it, though... My powers were too far beyond my control. It would've been extremely dangerous to try. I could have thrown the entire system of Life and Death out of balance." I bite my lip. "In our world... The realm where we came from... Magic is unstable. I needed to get to a realm where it was safer... Where the magic was more secure."

A spark of interest ignites in Lilith's eyes. "That's why you came here."

Iris is staring at me. I meet her eyes, then look away. I had buried that truth deep inside me, so deep that her mind-reading abilities couldn't reach it. So deep that not even she had known.

"Lila..." she whispers.

"A life for a life..." Cressida looks at me sharply. "If you were going to... Bring her back... Who was going to take her place?"

I look at them with tear-filled eyes, and Iris gives a little gasp.

"Gods..." breathes Cressida.She's staring at me with her eyes wide, her lips slightly parted. "That- That's why you were so upset when you lost your magic? Oh, Gods. I- I thought you were just being selfish!"

I give a choking laugh. "I can be selfish sometimes," I say to her. "For the longest time, I had nobody but myself to care about."

"I'm sorry, Sky," Iris says softly.

"Well, don't worry," Lilith starts to walk towards us, and we back away once more. "Whoever you planned to resurrect, you'll be with them soon enough..."

She lifts her hand towards us, but suddenly a blurred shape launches itself away from the other faces, flying towards her. Lilith screams as it passes right though her, and she crumples once more to the ground, landing barely an inch  away from the dark portal.

The smokey figure turns slowly towards us. I feel a gasp of shock break from my throat. The face is familiar... Sharp and lined, twisted with malicious fury.

The ghostly figure of Magus the apothecary grins at us, his eyes spiteful. Lilith tries to get to her feet, snarling, but the sorcerer waves his hand and a burst of magic pins her to the ground.

"You'll pay for this, Magus," growls Lilith, struggling. He looks down at her, his grin widening until his eyes blaze with insane joy.

"No," he spits out. "You will pay for abandoning me, Lilith. For leaving me to die."

His smile shifts from Lilith to Iris. "Well?" He says to her. "Do you want to do the honours? She is your mother. Push her in."

Iris stumbles backwards, shaking her head. "No," she whispers, her voice hoarse with fear. "No, no, I can't."

"But of course you can," Magus laughs maniacally. "Doesn't she deserve it? She would kill you. She would kill your friends. Don't you want her dead?"

Iris shakes her head again, trembling slightly. "N-No. No, of course I don't."

"You don't seem very sure," Magus's voice is venomous. "One push, and you'd be rid of her forever. She would never hurt any of you again."

"Stop it," Iris whispers. "Please stop. I can't."

"Iris, don't let him into your head," Cressida tells her. "It's like the tests we took to get to Orbis, remember? You just have to ignore it."

Iris closes her eyes, and breathes out slowly. "Right. Right." She opens her eyes again, then walks slowly over to Lilith. "I'm not going to do anything," she says to her. "Just, please give us the mirror."

Lilith glares up at her with hatred. "I don't take orders from you, It," she snaps. Slowly, she reaches into the folds of her cloak, pulls out the mirror... And throws it into the Portal to Hell.

"No!" Cressida yells, reaching out as though hoping to catch it. But it's too late; the mirror plummets into the black smoke, vanishing into the flames.

"How could you?" Iris shrieks. She moves quickly towards Lilith with her fists clenched, as though she's really going to shove her, then freezes in her tracks.

"Go on," Magus is still grinning wickedly. "She just destroyed your only chance of getting home. The only way for you to leave now... Is to exchange a life. So exchange hers."

Iris remains frozen, then slowly turns to look at him. Then she looks back at Lilith. Magus laughs once more and melts away, back into the crowd of faces that surrounds us.

"Iris!" I move forward, catching her arm, pulling her round to look at me. "Tell me you're not considering this?"

Her purple eyes shine with tears. "Two lives for two lives," she says quietly. "If I go into one of the portals, with Lilith, you and Cressida can leave."

Cressida moves forward too, shaking her head. "No. Out of the question."

"Are you insane?" I ask Iris wildly.

"You were going to do it!" Iris says defensively. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself for the only family you had left, remember. You still are." She exhales, looking back at the  portals. "Well, so am I."

My reply breaks in my throat, and I'm left with no words to speak. I look at Cressida, whose eyes are glittering.

"Iris, I'm not worth it!" she says at last. She pulls up her sleeve, and I flinch at the sight of her forearm. The mark is almost completely black. "I'll be dead soon, remember? 'The day is almost done'."

"Which is why you need to get her back to the mountain now," Iris looks at me. "Find another tempus plandandi. I created hundreds more. You don't have much time- You need to leave."

I open my mouth to say something, to say anything to stop her from doing this. "Iris, are you really willing to push your mother into the portal? Are you willing to sacrifice her, too?"

"She's not my mother." Tears roll down Iris's face, but the anger in her eyes surprises me. It hits me that I've never seen Iris truly angry before- Sad, happy, scared, but not angry; not even when I first met her and slammed her against a tree. She drags a hand over her eyes and looks at Lilith. "She was going to kill you two. That woman has never, never been my mother, and she never will be."

"And you'll never be a killer," I say quietly. "That's not who you are. I've only known you for a few days, but I do know you. You are so much better than that."

More tears roll down her face, and she brushes them away once more. "But... How else are you going to get home? The mirror, it's gone..."

"Then..." Cressida raises her chin. "I'll have to find it."

And before any of us can stop her, she's running towards the black portal.

"Cressida, no!" Iris screams, but the princess doesn't stop. She races down the iron staircase, dodging flames, until she's completely out of sight.

"If she stays down there too, long, she'll die!" I yell. "Come on!"

We start running after her, but then a soft breeze rustles past us, and everything seems to freeze. The smoke figures that surround us stop shifting, the flames in the black portal stop dancing. It's as though time has stopped. Next to me, Iris is frozen in mid-run, her brown hair streaming behind her, her purple eyes wide, glassy and unblinking. The bizarre thing is that I can move, while the world around me is completely, frighteningly still.

"Iris, what...?" I shake her arm, but she's stiff and motionless.

"I'm sorry," someone says remorsefully behind me. "I didn't know what to do. It didn't hurt anyone, I promise. I have to talk to you."

The voice is achingly, tortuously, beautifully familiar. I turn around slowly, my entire body shaking with pain, fear, grief, disbelief... Joy.

"L-Lila?"

Lila beams at me with that bright, innocent smile that could always chase away the darkness that clouds my life; the smile I thought I'd never see again. She looks exactly the same as she always did, as though nothing had changed. She hasn't grown or aged at  all: she's still the adorable little girl she always was. Her sweet, trusting face is framed by beautiful brown curls, bouncing around her shoulders where her beautiful lilac wings flutter. Her enormous brown eyes sparkle with love and happiness, and I feel my own eyes start to flow with tears. I breathe in deeply, looking to the sky. I can't break down. I can't cry.

"I came to help!" she says proudly. She runs towards me and throws her thin arms around my waist. "I can give you some magic to fix everything, Sky!"

"Lila," I choke out. I pull her into a fierce embrace, hugging her as tightly as I can without crushing her. Suddenly I can't hold back the years of pain anymore, and I don't even care. I let the tears roll down my face, pouring like a rainstorm of hurt. "Lila, I'm so, so s-sorry..."

"Why?" Lila pulls away and stares at me, looking genuinely confused. "It was an accident!"

"An accident I keep making, Lila," I sob. "Over and over..."

"It's okay," Lila blinks at me, looking worried. "I'm not angry, I promise. Sky, please don't be sad. You... You haven't been sad for all this time, have you?"

I swallow, dragging my hands across my face.

"Sky?" Lila says again. "I don't understand. You wanted to go through the portals so that I could go back home without you?"

I take a deep breath. "I've missed you," I say shakily, pulling her close again. "I've missed you so, so much..."

"I've missed you too," says Lila's muffled voice. She raises her head and looks over at Iris's frozen figure. "But I'm glad you have new people to make you happy again."

A new lump comes into my throat, and I look over at Iris too. "If I don't hurry, I'm going to lose them too," I say miserably. "I just... I don't know what to do."

"That's why I'm here!" Lila pulls away again and squeezes my hands excitedly. "I can use magic to help you stay safe in the black portal while you go and save your friend!"

She waves her fingers in the air, her wings fluttering again, and another breeze whisks through the air. The Underworld unfreezes, and Iris stumbles over to me.

"Sky? What was-" 

At the sight of Lila, Iris stops dead. A small smile spreads slowly across her face. "This is her?" she asks softly. "This is Lila?"

I nod, too emotional to speak. Lila grins at her. 

"Here," she spreads out her hands, and they start to glow with faint purple light. I feel something tingling in my shoulders, and I look behind me with a gasp.

Sparkling on my shoulders is the beautiful pair of sapphire fairy wings that I lost when the fairies banished me from their realm. I stare at them in disbelief and move them slowly, feeling the familiar power in them as they meet the air. My wings build speed until they lift me off the floor, and I raise higher, laughing in spite of myself.  Then I lean to the right and soar into a huge, sweeping circle, letting my hair flow behind me. I'd forgotten how wonderful it felt to fly... One of the most incredible feelings in the world. I feel weightless... For the first time in forever, completely free.

"This is incredible..." Iris flutters her own wings uncertainly, rising unsteadily into the air. Her violet eyes are wide with wonder and fear, and I laugh, reaching for her arm and helping to pull her upwards with me. Eventually, she gets into the rhythm of the wing beats and manages to fly a little more easily.

"Now, you'll be able to leave the black portal after you go in!" Lila says excitedly. "You can help Cressida get the mirror, and you'll be able to go home!"

I land on the floor and pull Lila into one last hug. "I wish I could take you home with me," I sigh.

"Me too," says Lila. "But I'm happy in the white portal, where I came from." She smiles at me. "I'll try and stay for a bit longer, so I can help you use the mirror when you get back. Be quick!"

I squeeze her tightly, blinking away my tears, then rise into the air again. I fly next to Iris again, and we float over towards the Portal to Hell.

"Thank you, Lila!" Iris calls over, squeezing my hand. She looks at me. "Together?"

"Definitely," I say.

And together, we fly down into the black fog.