Walking down the stony path, Evie soon stood infront of the huge metal gates of the castle. 

"Let me in." She said coldly to the guards who stopped her from entering.

"I am sorry, we can't. We have to get permission first." One of the guards replied to which Evie rolled her eyes.

"You are wasting my time! Get out of the way!" Evie commanded to which the guards were taken aback.

"Please wait and if you don't have the patience to do so, you may as well turn around and walk away." They sternly replied to which Evie scoffed and raised her hand.

"Fine then, if you wont allow me to enter, then I will enter myself." Waving her hand in the air, her eyes started glowing bright red and soon, the guards moved aside and opened the gates.

"You may enter." A guard said in a monotone voice as all the others made way for her. A victorious smile played on Evie's lips as she muttered under her breath, "Fools." And walked past them.

Having followed Evie all the way back to castle, Aera had witnessed each and every that just happened, and this all left her speechless.

"Why did the guards just back away? Something fishy is going on here." She thought as after Evie walked inside the castle, Aera went towards the guards.

Their eyes seemed clouded and lost, as if they were no longer present in this world.

"Hello?" Aera called out as she waved her hand to them, but they just stood completely silent and motionless, as if they had not seen Aera at all.

With confusion and curiosity building inside her, Aera walked past the hypnotised guards and entered the castle, carefully following Evie.

Heading inside the castle, Evie walked each and every corridor, in search of the person she had come for. And when she heard a familiar voice, she immediately stopped on her tracks and tried to locate the place it was coming from.

The voice was coming from the veranda and so, she headed towards it and peeked in only to see the Prince standing there.

He was standing near a table which had a book kept on it. She saw him pick it up and flip through its pages, as he read out the words written on it softly to himself.

His long slender fingers moved from one page to the next while his blue eyes skimmed through the pages of the book. The sun's rays fell on him while his eyes shimmered under their light.

For a second, Evie's heart started beating in a manner it used to always do whenever she would be near the Prince. The foggy state of her mind began clearing while the red colour in her eyes slowly started fading away.

But then, she remembered, she remembered the day he had rejected her.

She remembered the pain she had felt...she remembered the way that pain broke her.

And when she remembered all this, a haunting voice spoke to her;

"You are longer that weak girl you used to be. Don't let your emotions take over you. Revenge always tastes sweet, Evieeee..." Evie clutched the side of her head as a splitting headache hit her. "He hurt you, Evieeee, he deserves to be punished. Do itttt, do itttt!"

And the red colour came back to her eyes as she stood straight, with her chin held high in the air and walked inside the veranda.

Seeing a person suddenly enter, Taehyung was taken by surprise, but what surprised him even more was on seeing who the person was.

"Evie!" The Prince exclaimed with surprise.

"The one and only." The girl replied.

Taehyung stood silent for sometime, unable to think of what to say. Memories of his last meeting with the girl came flashing to his mind as he gave a hesitant smile and greeted her.

"It's been a long time, how are you?" He asked to which the girl smiled back.

"I am doing great!" She replied as she sat on a chair and motioned the Prince to do the same.

Sitting infront of her, Taehyung sat in complete silence, feeling quite awkward. Seeing this, Evie decided to make the first move. 

"I have been hearing a lot about you these days. People always talk about your greatness and how hopeful they are when it comes to you."

"Really?" Taheyung asked as the girl nodded. A guilty feeling took over the Prince's heart as a sigh escaped his lips. "If only they knew that I am not as great as they think."

Seeing the emptiness in the Prince's eyes, Evie forced herself to hold back a smirk. "I am pretty sure you have already found where The Sapphire Of Eternal Power is located. Afterall, you are the great Prince people have prophesised about."

Her words, instead of building confidence, crushed him from inside because right now, Taehyung's mental state wasn't its level best. All he needed was someone to tell him that he was important to them not just as the blue eyed prince but rather as Taehyung.

He wanted someone to tell him that he was loved not just because of his powers, but rather for whom he really was.

"To be honest, I have not found it yet." Taehyung whispered.

Evie shook her head in understanding. Moving closer towards the Prince, she took a deep breath and spoke with a cautious tone in her voice, "Prince Taehyung, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" 

"For the past few days, I have been doing a little research of my own and maybe you wont believe me but...I have found a way to locate the position of The Sapphire Of Eternal Power."

These words immediately caught the Prince's attention as he looked at Evie with wide eyes. "How?" He asked with curiosity.

"There is a small book store, known by few, in the place my parents live. I found a book there which had a portion related to finding magical stones. You see, in this realm, a long time back, there was a person born whose powers were connected with a magical stone just like yours. In the end, he was able to find that stone with the help of a portion he made, and that portion was written down by him in the book I found in that store."

Evie paused for a bit, to see if her words were having an effect on the Prince. Her eyes glowed, as she kept whispering to herself, "Elenchos Myalou...Elenchos Myalou"

And surely, the curse worked its magic, as it slowly started capturing the Prince's conscious state and putting him under the girl's control.

It would not be possible to just use the spell directly on the Prince because the magic inside him was really powerful and acted like a protecting shield. So, to be able to fully control the Prince, Evie first had to convince him into believing her.

Only if the Prince believed her, would his magical shield waver, making it easier for her to invade his mind. And so, she continued speaking, making up lies in such a manner that they seemed anything but one.

"Thinking about your situation, I made that portion and brought it with me. But I have hidden it somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest as for now, because afterall, it is a very powerful portion. I just thought of telling about this as it may help you find the sapphire." Saying this, Evie got up and gave a smile.

"Do think about this Prince Taehyung and let me know if I can be of any help."

Her words echoed in Taehyung's mind. For some reason, his own reasoning was going against him. 

He knew and had been told many a times that his situation, where his powers were connected with a magical stone, had never occurred before and it was the first time this had happened. Yet, his own mind seemed to be forcefully making him believe in what Evie told him.

And so, Taehyung called out to the girl before she could walk away. "Wait! I have made up my mind. Take me to the place you have hidden that portion."

A smirk formed on Evie's lips but she immediately covered it up with a surprised expression as she turned to look at the Prince. "Are you sure you want to do this Prince Taehyung?"

Her red eyes glowed as she could feel Taehyung's powers weaken under the influence of her magic, or rather, under the influence of Abaddon's magic.

"Yes, show me that portion." Replied Taehyung, as the words just mindlessly slipped out of his tongue.

"As you wish."

///

"What the frickity-frack is going on here!?"

Aera thought when she heard the Prince agree to Evie's proposal. Hiding behind a thick curtain, Aera bit her inner lip in confusion as she carefully studied Evie's each and every move.

"Another person with his magical powers connected to a stone? Rubbish! How could Taehyung just agree like that? Is he even in his right mind?"

Aera looked at Evie and then at the Prince.

"I'll go keep this book back in the library, then we can go to see that portion you have made." She heard Taehyung say as the boy walked out of the room with the book in his hands.

When he had walked away and his footsteps could no longer be heard, Evie turned around and to Aera's surprise, looked towards the direction where Aera was standing.

"Shit, did she see me?" Aera thought as she stood completely still, holding her breath, afraid of making any noise.

Evie tapped her foot on the ground with impatience as she said with a low voice, "Eavesdropping I see...stop hiding like a coward Aera, I have seen you, come out."

Clearing her throat, Aera drew the curtain and stepped out of her hiding place. Looking at Evie, Aera raised an eyebrow as she kept a good distance between her and the girl. "What are you up to Evie?" She asked. "And since when did you become such a fantastic liar?"

A chuckle escaped the girl's lips as she threw a daring look at Aera. "Ever since I gained power. Isn't it wonderful when you can control people and make them do exactly what you want?"

"So it was you!" Aera exclaimed. "No wonder the guards were acting so strange. What have you done to them?"

"Oh, just a simple hypnotizing spell, nothing much to worry about. It wears out anyways after a few hours. But, if I were you Aera, I would much more worried for the Prince rather than those useless guards."

Aera gave a confused look to which Evie sighed. "You are such a pathetic guardian, aren't you?" She taunted. "But to make things easier for you, let me just explain. You see, I have taken over the Prince's mind and now he will do exactly what I say."

"Why would you do that?" Aera asked.

"That's where things get interesting~" Evie sang in a manner that caused chills to run down Aera's spine.

"Now that the Prince is under the influence of my powers, I will take him to the Forbidden Forest and make him drink a portion. This portion is most likely to tamper with the Prince's powers and if my luck continues the way it has been doing so far, Prince Taehyung will have lost all his powers by the time night arrives."

An enigmatic persisted on Evie's face as Aera looked at the girl in disbelief. "What is wrong with you Evie!? You were never like this! What has taken over you?"

"When did you ever even know me?" Evie snapped back as she started walking closer to Aera. "When did anyone ever try to even know me? This is the true me, the one you see standing here. This is who I really am!"

"No, this is not who you are Evie! True, I may not know you very well, but as far as I know, you are a good person. Do you remember the time you helped those wolves who had been put under a curse? Do you remember how you helped them by using your own magic? This foreign magic you are using is messing with who you really are."

"Who I really am?" Evie asked.

"Yes. It is changing you, Evie. Stop whatever you are doing. Snap out of it!"

"But if I stop...I'll no longer be powerful..." Evie whispered.

"Evie, power is not the only thing that matters. There are many other things in life that can make you feel content and happy. You have friends and unlike me, you even have a family. Why don't you see the positive side of life as well?" Aera asked as she tried to put sense into Evie's clouded mind.

Memories flooded into Evie's mind as she could feel tears slowly forming in her eyes.

"Evie..." Aera called out as she cautiously approached the girl. Having seen Evie's strange behaviour, Aera suspected that Evie may have somehow fallen under the influence of black magic.

She had been told that the only way to help someone in such a situation was to make them feel loved. The only way to bring them back was to make them feel wanted and so, she tried her best to help the girl.

"...you are strong. You are beautiful the way you are. Do you know, ever since I saw you help those poor wolves, I have had this admiration I held towards you. You are amazing Evie and you do not need someone else's powers to prove that."

Falling to the ground, Evie's chest heaved heavily as she tried to sort out her thoughts and emotions. Looking at Aera with tear stained cheeks, she wiped her tears away and took a deep breath.

She felt much lighter now.

She felt much better now.

She felt much more content as her broken heart started healing from its pain.

But just before she could say or do anything, darkness started enveloping her. It enveloped her in such a manner that before she knew it, she started loosing herself once again.

And this time, it wasn't because she felt weak or vulnerable, but rather because her soul had now stayed under the control of Abaddon for so long, that a bit of that dark soul had latched itself onto her.

Her eyes started glowing as she got up and looked at the girl standing infront of her. Raising her hand, dark red wisps of air started surrounding her as they now circled Aera.

"Evie..." Aera called out in fear. "What's happening?"

And before Aera could say anything more, the dark wisps struck her, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. 

"Statify!" Evie shouted and Aera froze. Walking towards the girl, Evie smirked as she then casted another spell which made Aera invisible to the human eye.

"Now, you are stuck here, dear guardian. How will you help the Prince now?" Evie asked mockingly as she then walked out of the veranda and towards the Prince, singing to herself,

"Dear all, in this world of evil and hatred...Abaddon is my name, don't forget it as it is the one who drives this bloody game..."