We all walk up the gigantic black staircase that has pillars with vines wrapping around them and roses blooming on the vines, as well as two streams of water that run by the palace in the ground. We pass by several rose bushes and when we come up to the gateway that leads to the pathway of the palace itself two guards tell us to halt.

"State why you have come here," The guard on the left demands.

"Let them through," A woman waves a hand aside and comes walking down the stairs in a black and an amethyst dress with her brown hair tied up in a ponytail with a purple and a black ribbon tied around where her ponytail itself starts at the back of her head.

"Yes, your Highness," The guards say simultaneously and back away from the gates.

The woman scans us down with her turquoise colored eyes with a strong expression before her lips form into a smile and her eyes brighten. The gates open and she rushes towards Salem and pulls him into a hug.

"There's my nephew," She says as she hugs him and Salem's eyes widen.

"I'm sorry," Lucilla shakes her head, "Who are you?"

"Oh!" The woman pulls away from Salem and runs over to Lucilla, "Look at how fast you're growing up! You'll be attracting so many boys in no time!"

"Um..." Lucilla trails off.

"Oh," The woman tilts her head to the side and smiles sheepishly, "That's right, you probably don't remember me. You were both so little. I'm Aeldra, Salem's father's little sister."

"My father?" Salem breathes out, "My father was a human who came from an all human family. I don't understand?"

"You don't know, do you?" Aeldra sighs before looking back at the prisoners that we're holding, "Come on, we don't have any time to waste."

Aeldra leads us inside and orders five guards to escort the prisoners to their cells before guiding the rest of us to the throne room. She pushes open the doors and walks through the room until she comes up to her throne and she sits in it. I stand next to Corliss and Svetlana, while Blaze, Asher, and Amorette stand across from us and Salem and Lucilla stand in front of the throne.

"Could you please explain some things to me," Salem shakes his head and crosses his arms, "I don't understand what's going on."

"Salem," Aeldra pauses, "Your father is a Devil, he's the Demon King..."

Salem's eyes widen as he stands there in shock for a few moments.

"Which means that I'm a Devil too..." Salem trails off, "That's why Hadrian kept calling me a Demon Prince."

Salem whirls around and looks at all of us one by one.

"How many of you knew about this?" He asks as he watches our expressions.

I glance off to the side guiltily while everyone else just shifts around and the room goes silent.

"If it makes you feel any better," Asher speaks up, "I didn't know."

"One person," Salem scoffs before laughing, "One person out of all of you didn't know and none of you bothered to tell me. Great, just great."

Salem shakes his head and storms off in the direction of a random hallway.

"I'm sorry," Aeldra sighs, "I thought that he should know. He'll get over it eventually."

I look over in the direction that Salem stormed off in and sigh. I turn my gaze back to Aeldra and decide that now is the time to get answers since we're here, I can deal with Salem later.

"Aeldra, do you know about Evangeline's secret dealings?" I inquire.

"I do," Aeldra nods, "I'm not a fool. I have known for a long time that Evangeline is no good. The prisoners that you brought in are working with her, I'm assuming?"

"Yes," I nod.

"Then I will make sure that they stay locked up for as long as I can possibly contain them," Aeldra says.

"Thank you, your Highness," I start, "But if you don't mind may I ask you some other questions?"

"I wouldn't mind, go ahead," Aeldra shrugs.

"What do you know of an Alder Syx?" I ask.

"Alder Syx has been causing trouble in every realm for quite some time," Aeldra starts, "His main goal is to cause chaos wherever possible and whenever possible. He wants to tear apart the realms and take control of them in his own way."

I swallow the lump in my throat and take a moment to recollect my thoughts.

"And why do you suppose that is?" I ask.

"Whenever he was a child he was rescued by an evil Sorcerer from a raging fire. It was said that the Sorcerer who saved him was also obsessed with controlling chaos and wanted to rule over every realm, while also tearing them to shreds in the process of gaining his power," Aeldra says, "But when he saved Alder from the fire something happened where he became badly injured and he gave all of his power to Alder, which drove Alder mad."

"I see..." I trail off.

"Excuse me," Blaze speaks up, "Aeldra, do you know why the Time Twins consider Alder their leader?"

"The Time Twins were born in the Dark Angel Realm, but then my brother took them to his realm whenever they were five. They grew up in Hell and quickly became my brother's favorite two fighters, and so they stayed by his side constantly as they got older, up until three years ago," Aeldra explains.

"What happened three years ago?" Corliss asks.

"Alder saved their lives when they were on a trip back to my realm. Alder was planning to kill someone, but the Time Twins were ordered the exact same thing, and somehow in the process the building exploded and Alder took the twins to safety. Evidently he had a soft spot for them for some reason, and ever since then they considered him to be their leader," Aeldra says.

"I beg your pardon, Aeldra, but do you mind if I take a walk out to the city for a bit?" I ask, "I'm feeling like I need a little time to think about some things."

"Sure, go ahead," Aeldra smiles, "And all of you may stay here at the palace for the night. I'm sure that Salem has already made himself at home while feeling ticked off, meaning that he probably locked himself away in a random room, so I don't see any harm in it anyways."

"Thank you, Aeldra," I say before turning and walking away towards the doors.

"Your kindness is most appreciated," I hear Svetlana say to Aeldra before I open the doors and walk outside.

I walk down the palace steps before walking down the cobblestone street and thinking to myself. Could it be that Alder is really, truly, bad? If so, then why did he save the Time Twins? Assets? If he's as strong as he's rumored to be then he shouldn't need any assets, although the Time Twins are extremely powerful as well. I sigh and kick a stray pebble and watch it fly into a puddle nearby. And as for Salem, I feel bad that he had to find out that way and that we didn't tell him sooner, but at least it's over with. Hopefully he calms down by the time I get back to the palace. I sigh once more and as I'm walking through the street a familiar cloak catches my attention as I watch it disappear into an alleyway. I raise a brow and quickly run after the direction that the person went and turn into the alley. I make it in time so that I can see them make another turn to the right and I manage to catch a glimpse at their outfit, and it looks like the one Alder had on earlier. I chase after him and splash in a few puddles along the way, water spraying around my feet. The dark sky rumbles overhead, but I don't glance up. When I end up in a market place with no sign of Alder I frown to myself and look around in hopes that I might find him again, but I don't. Suddenly someone grabs my arm and pulls me behind a building and when I get the chance to look at who it is I find Alder standing in front of me with one of his hands wrapped around my throat and his face close to mine. Anger and confusion burn in his eyes as he watches me and I stare at him in surprise.

"Why are you following me?" Alder snaps, "I don't like being followed."

"I just..." I choke out, "I thought that I saw you and I..."

"And you wanted to find me to try and talk to me? Ask the questions that have been running through your mind like I knew they would when I saw you earlier today? Yeah, I know who you are, and if you know what's best for you, then you'll stay away from me, Aella," Alder says coldly.

"I don't believe that you're bad," Tears form in my eyes, "I don't."

He narrows his eyes at me before slamming me back into the wall and releasing me from his grasp. I wince and slide down the wall to the ground.

"Maybe you don't now," He says, "But you will."

And with that he walks away from me and pulls his hood back over his head and disappears around the corner. I look up to the sky as the first few drops of rain start to fall and they splash on my face and roll down my cheeks.

"I don't believe you..." I whisper.