The twins had explained everything to Eira and Channing when they arrived. Rory stayed in her room, not wanting to go through the story again. She grinned as Aliya glided through the air, weaving in and out of the stars. Each time she hit one of the stars, she had a gold glow shimmer through her body. Rory could hear the furious shouting of who she assumed to be her friends. Letting out an exhausted breath, she allowed herself to close her eyes to relax. She felt something soft hit her face, and she reluctantly opened her eyes. The tail hit her face again. Turning to the culprit, Aliya stared at her with her mouth open as if smiling. Letting out a chuckle, she pet the vixen.

"Where is she?" a female voice demanded, footsteps growing louder as they approached her room. Her door burst open, two people she presumed to be Eira and Channing walked into her room. Eira was even more beautiful in person than how they described. Her tan skin was illuminated by the crisp white designs on her body. The lines started on the side of her face, twisting and turning towards the inner part of her face. The white lines went down her neck, creeping into other parts of her body. They decorated her arms beautifully as they glowed and dimmed consistently. Channing was beautiful as well, even with the worried expression painting his face. He had three, jagged white lines that stretched across his face diagonally which was a contrast to his dark skin. Trace hints of a charming smile tugging at his lips. "Aurora, do you really not remember us?"

Rory exhaled sadly, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, I'm not from here."

"Freyr, help me, you sound like my sister now!" Eira exclaimed in a frustrated tone, her words causing Rory to perk up. However, before she could question it, they moved on. She also noticed a new word, assuming it was another slang word. She wondered if the name took the place of God. "How do we fix her?"

"We can try to find a coven of witches willing to help her-" Aidan began before he was interrupted by Eira's scoff.

"Name one coven who would want to help. Witches are pretentious, and they hate us because we don't need a coven to be powerful! I mean, we do have a few witches and warlocks in each coven who are loyal to us- that we know. But if this is as powerful as you say, then it will not take a couple of measly witches to fix this!" Eira ranted passionately, her feelings come alive when the wind in the room picked up, suddenly becoming colder. Rory watched in amazement as icy winds begin to fill the room.

"Eira, please," Channing pleaded tiredly as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. The winds died down slightly as Eira rolled her eyes at him. "We all know the covens hate us, but we need to think of who can help."

"No, we need to figure out what to do about tonight first," Maximus ordered firmly, reminding the others of their plan. "And let's not forget the Pacem Ball, her coronation was meant to be just weeks away!"

"Malakai," Eira remembered with an exasperated groan, a sour expression across her features. Rory frowned in confusion at the names of the two events. "All Aurora has to do is stand there and draw him in, then we-" She paused as the boys gave her a stern look which confused Rory, "then we put him in the dungeons."

Aliya growled slightly at her words, bending down as she eyed the others. Rory frowned as she recalled that foxes were often known as being tricksters- was she sensing they're lying? Rory wondered, she could tell they didn't want to tell her the whole truth. However, this was not her life to worry about- it was Aurora's. All Rory had to worry about at the moment was getting back to her world.

"Who is this?" Channing quipped as he pointed a finger to the fox on her lap, a grin tugging at his lips.

"Aliya, as soon as I went outside, she found me and has not left my side," Rory explained fondly as she stroked her hand on the vibrant red fur to calm her down. The animal let out a soft purr as she eyed the wolf in front of her. Eira began to sputter out absurdities, gesturing wildly to the pair.

"What? This makes no sense- Aurora was terrified of the animals! Surely the witches could not have done a complete personality swap," Eira shouted in bewilderment. "We've never seen them capable of anything like that."

"Talk to her for a bit- you'll see she is far more outspoken than I have ever heard her," Aidan informed them with a sly smile as he recalled the events from earlier, "On top of that, she leaped off the stairs onto one of the enchanted vases as she tried to get away from us."

"Aurora has never done anything like that in all the time I've known her."

Channing licked his lips as he slowly pushed his shoulders back, eyes never leaving Rory. "Memory spells only control a person's memories- their personality would remain intact. Something else is going on here."

"Finally, a voice of reason. At least someone is listening to me," Rory said angrily, lifting her hand, gesturing to him. He recoiled slightly at her sharp tongue, which made Rory wonder if Aurora really was as quiet as they claim- never speaking out of turn and always doing as she was told.

"Stop it, this is pointless," Maximus harshly demanded as he stood up from his seat in the room. Everyone stopped talking, immediately looking at the more assertive of the twins, "First, we stop Malakai. It's too late to stop the plan; people have traveled a long way to see this through. Besides, we have to put him down before the Pacem Ball."

This was new to Rory. She hadn't heard of this event before. "The what?"

"The Pacem Ball, it's an annual event to celebrate the tranquility among our lands," Maximus informed her.

"Was there a conflict with the covens?"

"In the past, there were many wars within our world. Then, we created a peace treaty, it agreed to let the witches live in peace, the same goes for us. That's where the four realms come from. There were four leaders of the war, two on each side. It was called 'The War of the Four'. Eventually, they agreed to stop the bloodshed- this created four lands, Fantamia, Valsaire, Liberan, and Benela. Each led by a different leader of the war. To celebrate this peace, Fantamia hosts the Pacem Ball each year on the anniversary of the treaty," Maximus said, seeming to be very well connected with the history of their world.

"Do you all have the history books memorized?" Rory asked saccharinely, causing the twin to huff out and shake his head.

"We defeat Malakai, put him down for good," Maximus ignored her comment, turning back to the group. "After that, we figure out what the Maloid happened to my sister."

Everyone stayed quiet as they took in his words, taking them as direct orders that were not to be questioned. For a few moments, Rory wondered who else was coming to see the fall of this man. She could not help but think if he really was as evil as they all claimed. Biting her lip, she asked the one question that had been plaguing her mind the entire time.

"Um... sorry, not to interrupt- it's a great plan; honestly, I'm all for it... but what does 'Maloid' mean?"

Rory wandered the castle, feeling joy run through her veins at the enchanting beauty around her. As she walked around, the castle only grew grander. Aliya stayed by her side on her stroll, but that did not stop her from exploring above her, thanks to her wings. She could still hear the rest of them whispering, likely about her and their plan. She rubbed her hand against her arm uncomfortably, wishing she knew what they were saying.

She was intrigued about the Pacem Ball; the concept was beautiful- a celebration of peace. However, it sounded as if that peace had been slowly slipping away ever since it was established. A part of her hoped she will still be on Thera for the ball. She could only imagine how grand it must be to attend. Looking around, she saw more elegant vases in the air along with other decorations. There were paintings flipping and turning slowly in the air. Some lamps were floating as well, the shade moving up and down slightly, making the light itself dim every so often.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Rory glanced around for Aliya. She heard a slight yelp, her head darting up to a clear vase behind her. She saw the vixen upside down in the vase, face squished with her tongue out. Rory laughed at the sight, covering her mouth while shaking her head. Aliya's fluffy tails sprouting out of the vase, they swayed slightly in the air as she paws the glass gently. Wings squished to her side, quivering somewhat with her restricted movements. Pushing against the glass, she managed to tilt the vase enough to make it tip upside down. She slithered out of the vase and fell for a moment, causing Rory to inhale sharply, worried she'd fall. Her wings grew back out, and she flapped them vigorously, catching herself in the air. Rory stuttered back slightly from the wind caused by the wings but smiled at her protector. The fox seemed to nearly smirk before flying around once more as if nothing had happened.

Chuckling, she moved on and continued walking. Taking in every detail, she envied Aurora slightly. Her life was clearly not without its struggles- but it was fairly grandeur. She heard footsteps approach her quickly. She could tell already from the sound of the steps that it was Eira. She had a quick and heavy step, seeming to always walk with a purpose. She did not turn around to greet her, knowing Eira had stopped at the beginning of the room.

"Hello, Eira. Is it time for me to play the bait already?" Rory asked with a sweet smile, still continuing to admire a picture of who she assumed to be Aubrianna and Richard, her "parents". They appeared to be so in love and happy, making her heart hurt slightly knowing their tragic ending. Continuing to stare at the picture, she frowned slightly. Turning to Eira, she saw the girl standing with no expression on her face. "Do you guys have cameras here?"

"Do we have what?"

"Oh, um... how did you get this picture?" she asked as she pointed to the photo floating above her.

"Ah, a friend of the family. She waves her hands slightly, some pretty lights appear, and she's able to capture the scene in front of her. Their whole family can do so, it's quite wonderful to watch, actually..." Eira informed her with a small smile on her face before digging her hand into the pocket of her loose, white dress. Rory tilted her head slightly, analyzing the outfit. The people here dress quite strangely. Eira was in a pure white knee-length dress that had gold details on it that were like the ones on her skin. The bottom of the dress was jaggedly cut, the sleeves in a similar manner ending at her elbow. The dress was made of soft material, complimenting her body beautifully. Her hair's natural waves fell elegantly down her back. The front two pieces of her hair twirled and tied in the back of her head.

She seemed to find what she was looking for, pulling out a photo. Smiling at it, she showed it to Rory. It was a photo of Aurora, Channing, and Eira when they were younger. Aurora had her arms draped around her friend's necks, bright smiles plastered on their faces. "This is a photo of us from when we were quite young, we had just met Channing, and you wanted to capture the moment."

"It's adorable," Rory laughed at the photo, feeling happy from the joy in the picture.

Eira grinned before tucking it up, placing it back into her pocket. "Also, no... it's not time for us to take down Malakai, not yet."

"Sounds good." Rory nodded, noticing at the necklace dangling around the girl's neck. It was a glimmering red stone wrapped in black wire, a beautiful contrast to her white dress. "That's a beautiful necklace."

"Thank you... my ex got it for me, actually. She said it would be my good luck charm. I don't know... feels sort of strange wearing it now. But it has given me some good luck," Eira rambled slightly, making Rory grin.

There were a few moments of silence. "Will the attack be tonight?"

"Yes, soon. We will be doing the fighting and everything, it hurts me that you have to see us do this. You know what? Maybe it's actually better that you don't remember us or Malakai, it will make this whole process a lot easier," Eira commented awkwardly trying to laugh it off. "I mean, I want you to remember us. I miss you, but it will be fixed soon."

Rory shut her eyes slightly, swallowing the lump in her throat. She felt terrible that Eira's best friend was gone. Rory knew that she was not Aurora, but Eira and the others did not. To them, this was a hex. To her, this was someone else's life that she did not deserve to live. She reached for Eira's hand, gently taking it in her own. "It'll all get sorted out, I truly believe that."

"I know." Eira nodded, clearly trying to stay positive. It was quiet for a few moments as the two stood in comfortable silence. Aliya chose this time to fly in between them, breaking them apart. They both laughed, watching the vixen.

"She has been doing that all day," Rory said while rolling her eyes, a smile still prominent on her face.

Eira nodded absently as she gently stroked the bright red fur, causing Aliya to nuzzle her face into her palm. "I have to admit, it's nice to see you with animals. I like seeing you so in love with Fantamia, it's different."

"Did I not like it before?"

"No, you did... you just didn't have an intense connection with it," she explained as she stared out the window, watching the purple leaves fall gently to the ground. The lilac and turquoise colors in the sky swirl together, progressively getting darker throughout the day. The green clouds mixed beautifully with the colors.

Rory stared at the beautiful girl in front of her, thinking about how lucky Aurora was. She had family and friends who would do anything to save her. She lived in this beautiful world with magic- a place where fairy tales were their reality. Rory couldn't help but wonder what other creatures lived in this world. Suddenly, the possibility of every story she had ever heard being real did not seem that far fetched.

A knock on the door broke her thoughts, and the girls turned their heads to see Channing standing there. Rory noticed that he changed his outfit slightly. He now wore a dark green shirt with brown pants, both loosely fitted. She noticed he had no armor or weapons, then realized he was his own weapon. "It's time," he told them after taking a deep breath. Eira turned her attention to the girl in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah, what could go wrong?"