AELLA

I wake up after having a strange dream about being in the Water Realm with Salem, who, since it was the Water Realm, was not wearing a shirt. I blush and shake my head as I continue to remember bits and pieces of the dream. For some reason I can't seem to get my mind off of Salem. I sigh his name out loud and sit up in bed, looking around at the covers. The door knob slowly twists and the door opens softly to reveal Salem.

"Salem!" I shout and begin to blush even more.

His eyes widen in surprise for a second before he shuts the door and rubs the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry," He says, "Did I wake you? Or were you looking for me? Look, I can explain--"

"No, I," I pause and narrow my eyes at him, "Wait a minute, explain what?"

He stands there for a few moments and I grab a pillow from behind me and climb off of the bed.

"Aella," He clears his throat, "Asher and I went to see Razi, but only so that you and the others wouldn't have to."

"You went to see Razi? You two? Alone? Are you insane? You pair of idiots!" I shout and smack him with the pillow, "You could've gotten killed! You don't know how to even use your powers yet and Asher is a human! Razi is a trained Shadow Assassin! Not to mention that there was a ton of fog!"

"Are you really worried that much?" Salem stares at me with an almost blank face, slight, unreadable emotion flickering through it.

"W--well!" I stammer and begin to blush more, "Y--yeah!"

"Hey," Salem frowns for a moment and touches my forehead with his hand, "Are you okay? You look pretty hot."

"What?!" I exclaim and Salem starts to blush and pulls his hand away.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Salem waves his hands around, "Well, I mean, you're pretty, but I didn't mean that you, I..."

"I know what you meant," I sigh and blow air out of my mouth, "It's fine. Anyways, although you were a complete idiot for going after Razi yourself, I'm grateful that you did."

"I just didn't want you to have to deal with it," Salem shrugs.

"Plus it makes you seem pretty brave so..." I mutter.

"What?" Salem raises a brow.

"Nothing," I shake my head, "Did you figure anything out?"

"Razi said that she would track down the Time Twins and report back to us at noon tomorrow -- well, now it's today, but still."

"How long were you guys gone?" I ask.

"A few hours," Salem shrugs.

"What did Razi want in return?" I ask hesitantly, unsure of whether or not I want to know the answer.

"Twenty thousand--"

"Oh, that's not that bad, it--"

"In jewels," Salem finishes.

"Oh," I pause for a moment, "Well, that's manageable too, I suppose."

"Anyways," Salem snorts and rips the pillow from my grasp, "I can't believe you hit me with this."

"Hey," I frown and reach for it, "Give it back!"

Salem smirks and holds it up above his head and I jump over and over again in pitiful attempts to reach it.

"Shorty," Salem chuckles.

"I could fly up there, you know," I glare at him.

"But you won't," Salem says.

"I know," I sigh and narrow my eyes at him while I jump once again.

His eyes trail down to something and he frowns. His lips part and I take the opportunity to grab the pillow from him while he's distracted.

"Aella--"

"Ha!" I shout, "I got it!"

"Aella," Salem says my name once more and his eyes meet mine before one of his hands goes to my waist.

"Salem?" I question and my voice comes out quieter than usual.

His hand slowly pushes up the fabric of my shirt until it comes to my scar. He runs his fingers gently over it and meets my eyes again.

"What's this?" He breathes out.

"It's, um," I cast my eyes down to the floor, "It's a scar from when I fought Tala before and I failed to catch her."

"Aella," Salem says confidently, "Look at me."

I raise my gaze back up to him to find his intense eyes burning with passion.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of this, it's a battle scar, it just proves how tough you are because you were able to survive that. It shows that you're confident, bold, and daring. It tells a story that should be heard," Salem says.

"I'm not ashamed of the scar itself, Salem," I sigh, "I'm ashamed of what it reminds me of -- defeat."

"Don't," Salem shakes his head, "I told you this once before and I'll tell you again. I don't know everything that happened to you in the past, but I know that you do the best that you can at everything that you do. You put your entire heart into it. You almost got yourself badly injured while trying to help Blaze even though you were in this state. That's courage, that's bravery, that's strength and determination. I know for a fact that you did everything you could against Tala because you're you, and you always try your hardest, even if it could kill you. As for Alder, I know it's bothering you, it would bother me too if my best friend died a long time ago only to be found once more and find out that they never actually died, but are somewhat crazy now, but it isn't your fault, Aella. None of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself for it."

"I...thank you," I whisper.

He smiles at me and moves a few steps away from me, his warmth leaving me as well.

"You should probably get some more sleep," Salem suggests, "We're going to be busy today."

"Yeah, you're right," I sigh and walk back over to the bed slowly before glancing back at Salem and biting my lip, "Hey Salem..."

"Yeah?" He raises a brow and asks from the door.

"Could you...could you stay?"

He seems surprised by the question, but he nods nontheless and walks over to me. I climb back into bed and Salem climbs in beside me. I turn to face him and I rest my face against his chest.

"Thank you, again," I say quietly.

"No problem," Salem smiles at me before putting an arm around me.

Within minutes of being by Salem's warmth and familiar smell, I fall asleep.

***

Aeldra, Svetlana, Amorette, Corliss, Blaze, Asher, Lucilla, Salem, and I all gather by the palace gates at noon, the sun peeking through the clouds in the grey-blue sky. The guards stand in their positions by their posts and occasionally shift around. Aeldra holds the brown, burlap bag of jewels worth twenty thousand dollars in her right hand tightly. Her eyes scan the area before us for any signs of Razi, but none seem to show.

"She did say that she'd be here at noon, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," Salem nods, "That's what she told us."

"Razi is not known for breaking her word," Corliss says, "She'll show."

"I'm glad that someone knows I'm trustworthy," Razi says as she appears out of a cloud of smoke, "It's not everyday that that happens, you know, although my reputation is respected."

"I trust you have our information?" Corliss says.

"I do," Razi's brown eyes travel to the burlap bag, "I trust that you have my payment?"

"I do," Aeldra says firmly, "But first you must tell us what you found out."

"Fine with me," Razi says and rests a hand on her hip while yawning boredly, "Bellatrix, Hadrian, and Alder are all in the Plane of Time. You should find them quite easily from there, since it's just a straight walk. May I have my payment now?"

Aeldra tosses the bag of jewels to Razi, who catches it with ease. She unties the top of the bag and peeks inside before tying it back up.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you," Razi says before vanishing.

"Where is the Plane of Time?" Asher asks.

"It's a place that I should've assumed they'd be," Blaze sighs.

"I do not wish to be negative, but the Plane of Time is hard to gain entrance to. How are we expected to get inside?" Svetlana asks.

"Those who are in royalty can grant access to the Plane of Time," Aeldra says, "I can show you the way."

"Thank you, Aeldra," I bow to her.

"You do not need to thank me, Aella, I simply wish to do what is best for all. I wish all of you good fortune on your journey, and I am sorry that I could not be there for you very much, Salem and Lucilla," Aeldra says.

"I understand," Lucilla smiles sadly.

"Yeah, you're busy and I'm sure you had your reasons," Salem adds on.

"Thank you," Aeldra smiles and hugs them both before holding out her hand and a rune appears in the air, which opens up a giant gateway with a black and gold clock at the top of it and a black and purple swirling portal in the middle, "Now go! Hurry!"

We all jump through the portal one by one and it closes when the last of us is through.

"Wow," Salem says as he looks around.

We stand on a grey, concrete road made of bricks and black and gold clocks float all around in the air, their hands constantly spinning at different paces. The sky is a mixture of dark purple, black, and red patches of color and light that blend together, almost as if it were moving tie-dye. Gold pillars stand along the path and black runes are carved into the base and top of the pillars, while a black decal swirls around the pillars like a vine. Trees with gold leaves are standing around in thick and thin patches, almost forming a forest on both sides of us.

"We should hurry--"

"Cute Demon Prince!" Hadrian shouts gleefully and flies at Salem, her pink hair flowing around her and her blue eyes shining, a wild grin forming on her face, "You're here!"

She wraps her arms around Salem's neck and laughs. He ends up gasping for breath by the time she pulls away from the force of her hug.

"What are you doing here?" Bellatrix asks in a firm tone as she flies over to us, "You should not be here."

"We need to find out some things," I say, "I need to find out some things."

"Whatever it is, make it quick," Bellatrix crosses her arms.

"We need the bracelet that you took from Tala," I say, "And we need to know why you took it."

I'd like to ask Alder why he helped me, but I keep my mouth shut instead. We don't have the time to go find Alder, and besides, if we do, it probably won't end well for the time being.

"Take it," Bellatrix says and tosses the blue and silver charm bracelet to me, "We don't need it anymore."

I catch the bracelet and hold it in my right palm, glancing at it before looking back to Bellatrix.

"Why did you need it?" Blaze asks.

"Just because you need to know why we need it doesn't mean that I'll tell you," Bellatrix says, "That would mean giving away valuable information that Alder must keep secret. I only gave it to you because we're against Evangeline, like I told you before. So now that you have it, get lost."

"Aww," Hadrian sighs, "Must they leave so soon?"

"Yes," Bellatrix insists and narrows her eyes slightly at us before waving around her hands and forming runes in the air, "Be gone!"

"But where--" I start, but stop when we all get transported to Salem's house in the Human Realm.

"On the bright side," Blaze says, "At least we have the bracelet."

"Yeah," I sigh and open my hand so that I can look at the blue and silver bracelet resting on my palm, "The only question is -- what do we do with it?"