Rory's eyes fluttered open, her heavy eyes weighing them back down in exhaustion. She could hear chatter around her, familiar voices everywhere. Swallowing thickly, she forced her eyes open despite the blinding light in front of her. She could faintly hear one of the twins shouting that she was awake. "What happened?"

"How are you feeling?" Aidan asked her, sitting down on her bed. She lifted her hand and rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around in confusion.

"You passed out," Maximus told her shortly, directly in front of her bed. Rory saw a bag hanging off his shoulder, filled to the brim with supplies.

"Did Eliphas find her location? What was the symbol?" she questioned as she sat up, suddenly more aware of her surroundings than before.

Aidan nodded, fumbling with a piece of parchment in his hands. He gave it to her reluctantly, swallowing thickly. "I know this symbol may not mean a lot to you, but it's the symbol of the same coven who hexed our mother."

Rory's eyes darted up to meet his own, worry and bewilderment consuming her. Maximus kept a cold expression across his features. Gingerly taking the drawing, she took in the amount of detail it had. There were two snakes on the paper; one was harshly sketched in with black while the other was white. Their long bodies laid in opposite directions across each other in an X formation. Both snakes consumed the tail of the other in their mouths. Rory inhaled sharply, handing the paper back to him.

"It's almost comforting that the evil symbolism of snakes is unchanging throughout the different universes," Rory remarked sarcastically. Maximus scoffed as a smirk toyed with his lips in amusement. "What does this mean? Does it give us a location?"

"It does, but as you probably guessed- it isn't the easiest of journeys. We have to leave now," Maximus informed her as he lifted his bag, and she nodded in response. "We brought down your bag. We're all ready to go. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, we should get going," she agreed, pushing herself off the bed. Aidan offered her his hand, which she took gratefully. He gave her a nod for encouragement before they made their way down the stairs. Rory continued to take in the details of the house. The gold details glimmered in the light, the designs outlining people. She noticed that as she descended the stairs, the details moved as the light hits in different directions. The gold silhouettes of the people moved in dance motions, elegantly changing with each step she took down the stairs. She watched in awe as the gold outline of a man twirled a woman, and by the time Rory reached the last stair, the man and woman were bowing to each other.

"Cool, isn't it?" Aidan quipped with a grin. Rory simply nodded in awe, continuing to admire the smart design. They made their way to the living area where the rest of their friends waited for them. "All right, are we ready?"

"Hold on, who's gonna run your kingdom while we're gone, huh?" Rory questioned with a raised eyebrow, holding up her hand to stop them.

"How about Iris and Birch?" Eira suggested with a shrug. Rory pondered for a moment before remembering them from the battle against Malakai.

"Oh good, that's just beautiful. By the time we get back, all of Fantamia will be wearing flower crowns and singing songs together," Aidan mocked with a roll of his eyes. Eira gave him an annoyed look, tilting her head. "And I'm sure they'll do a lovely job."

Eliphas scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I could get one of the other stray warlocks to do it."

"No," Channing immediately stated with a stern tone, "who knows what you have up your sleeve. They'll do a fine job together."

"I'll go find Birch and Iris, they'll both likely be in the woods," Eira said, shuffling quickly out the doors, "I'll meet you guys at the Bridge of Whispers!"

"Wow, sounds homey," Rory quipped sarcastically. Aidan began to protest frantically at the designated location, but Eira was already gone.

Rory watched as Aliya wove through the colorful trees. She soared above their heads, a breeze trailing behind her. Hearing the sounds of different animals around her, she felt nothing but joy. She was informed that the bridge that Eira referred to was a short walk from their home. Tugging the bag on her shoulder, she could feel Aurora's belongings rattle around. The stars' light peaked out of the bag slightly, adding to the beauty around her. "Is it always this beautiful here?"

"In Fantamia- yes," Channing answered with a nod.

"Only here? What about other places?"

"Well, different realms have different atmospheres. Here in Fantamia, it's always beautiful. Colorful, bright... alive," he explained, appearing deep in thought. "Other places are not. Some places in the realms are dark, dismal; they're not places where you would want to live."

"Then why do they live there? Why not come here?" Rory asked in confusion as she spread out her arms slightly.

"Not everyone can live in castles, your highness," Channing teased as he stopped to bow. Slapping his shoulder, she let out a laugh while shaking her head.

"Though I'd love to say otherwise, I'm no princess."

"Maybe not from where you're from, but here you're supposed to be heir to the throne."

"Not my brothers?"

"Why would they be heir to the throne?" The question stumped Rory, causing her to falter slightly. She shrugged slightly, thinking back to the way things worked on Earth.

"Back where I'm from, it was usually the men who take the mantle of a ruler," she explained in disappointment, "especially in fairy tales, and this all feels like one giant fairy tale to me."

"Well, here we have none of that. The realm decides who in the family rules. The people here are quite fond of Aurora and what she has done for them. She has made decisions that have kept Fantamia safe and happy. The twins have done a fine job ruling as well, but they know their sister is the person for the job," Channing informed her with a fond smile, thinking of his friend. "Since she is not yet queen, she and her brothers have been ruling together. Although, I am sure that will not change much even when the crown is on her head."

"Why hasn't she been officially crowned yet?"

"Although she was voted to be the queen, she didn't feel she was ready to rule on her own quite yet," he explained to her simply. Rory nodded a bit.

Turning her attention to the rest of them, she saw twins discussing something in private as their amicordas roam the surrounding areas. She didn't know the twins had their own companions. Rory would best describe Aidan's like an owl with butterfly wings. The colors sprawled out like someone flicked them out, splattering towards the edges. The colors were deep maroons and blues, blending beautifully as his wings fluttered in the air. He flew with Aliya through the trees, soaring through the air.

Meanwhile, Maximus had possibly the most unique creature she had seen thus far. His amicorda was a translucent, golden lion that seemed to leave a path of glowing gold dust behind her. Her mane nearly resembled floating strands of hair around her, the strands glowing brightly with sparkling balls at the end. She moved gracefully, seeming to float instead of walk. She maintained a calm composure as they approached the bridge.

"Rory, whatever you hear on the bridge, know it's not real, okay?" Aidan warned her sternly. Nodding slightly, she could see Eliphas smirk out of the corner of her eyes, walking onto the bridge with ease.

"What's wrong with it?" Rory asked, eyeing the bridge wearily. Malakai was the only person left, the others had already started onto the bridge.

"It has its name for a reason, you hear whispers," he informed her, clearly reluctant to speak to her.

"Why even go over the bridge if it's so bad?"

"It's the only way to the next realm- Valsaire," Malakai informed her with a bit of venom laced in his tone. He added nothing else as he began to walk across the bridge. Rory glanced around, particularly at what was beneath them. She saw a black smoke slowly moving around, masking something underneath it. She could faintly hear the cries of animals below them.

Stepping onto the bridge, she immediately hunched over, clutching the sides of her head. Whispers filled her mind, captivating her every thought. Rory gasped as she heard the voices of her parents and sister fill her mind. The tone of the whispers changed with every sentence, and some were louder than anything she had ever heard while others were barely noticeable. Her vision fogged over, blinking rapidly, trying to clear her eyes. Trembling, she clutched onto the side of the bridge.

"Your fault."

"Rory, what have you done?"

"You killed me."

"We trusted you."

"You left us."

"Your fault."

"Don't you regret what you've done?"

"I'm dead because of you."

"We lost the only daughter we actually cared about."

"Your fault."

"No, no... no," Rory choked out, shaking her head desperately. Her eyes flickered up, and she saw that she had a long way to go on the bridge, the twins struggling to get across as well.

"Your fault."

"... dead because of you..."

"... left us..."

"We trusted you."

"Stop, please, stop. I'm sorry..." Rory cried out in a broken whisper. The whispers weighed her down, slowing her movement immensely. She began to hit her head harshly with her hands, her words getting louder. "Please... please!"

The last of her cries caught the attention of Malakai. He almost began to move on before he stopped, not able to walk away. He clenched his jaw, debating on whether to bother before he caved into her cries. "Rory," he tried, taking a step towards her- nothing.

"Rory!" he shouted as her whimpers grew in volume.

"Be quiet! I'm sorry!" she shouted frantically. Malakai decided he had seen enough before he jolted forwards and grabbed Rory's wrists tightly. She tried to break free from his grip, clearly not in touch with reality. "Stop!"

"Rory? Hey, don't listen to them. They're not real!" he shouted at her, trying to break her hallucinatory state. Malakai let go of her wrists before cupping her face. He forced her to look at him, locking eyes with her.

"You're okay, don't listen to them," Malakai told her in a surprisingly soft tone, clenching his jaw tightly. Her eyes moved away from his, her heart rate slowing. Her trembling began to slow as she stopped crying.

"Malakai..." Rory said breathlessly, still seeming to be in a trance.

"I know," he told her, swallowing thickly. She continued to glance around frantically, and he could see her state of mind was still not where it should be. "All right, let's keep going," he muttered before taking Rory into his arms begrudgingly.

Malakai continued to guide her over the bridge, despising the tugging feeling in his heart as he heard her whimper. He tried to convince himself that this was solely for getting Aurora back, that they needed her to get across this bridge and in the right mindset. He was doing this because she looked like Aurora, and seeing someone who looked like her in pain bothered him, he continued to tell himself that he didn't care about Rory. Pushing away the whispers, he did his best to ignore the poisonous thoughts infiltrating his mind.

As they reached the end of the bridge, Malakai immediately let go of Rory, not wanting the others to see him holding her. Rory stood up straight, her mind now clear of whispers. She turned her head back to Malakai, who was watching her as he caught his breath. She nodded her head once at him in thanks. As she turned her head back, she was engulfed in a familiar pair of arms.

Aidan held her in his arms as he exhaled sharply. "I'm sorry, Rory. Sometimes I forget you're not from here... that you're not used to this stuff."

"Why would they make this bridge? I don't understand..."

"We don't know who made the bridge, just that it's always been here," Channing informed her, standing closely next to Maximus, his arm gently draped across his lower back. "We'll wait here for Eira."

"But until then... Rory," Eliphas piped up with his signature Cheshire grin. He spread his arms out as if to present something to her.

"Welcome to Valsaire. Home... sweet home!"