They were all still alive by the time they arrived at the golden gates of Draco's estate two days later, a beautiful manor that circled around the back. Plains of emerald green grass coated the ground, the vast land rolling out into curved hills and mountains and lands of flowers and trees.

Other manors were spaced very far away from each other, gathering their own land. Draco's Manor, in particular, was like its own world, a vast lake boasting from behind that rippled with fresh mountain water. The manor seemed to be made of wood and expensive bricks, painted dark brown and gold with tall columns that stood on the patio.

A fountain trickled in the front of the manor behind the golden gates, flowers adorning the marble masterpiece. The whole place seemed to be guarded with a magic barrier only immortals could pass through, the gates magically opening when all of them neared it.

"This place is beautiful" Alesandria gasped as they all led the horses to the side of the manor where they would be protected from the harmful rays of the sun thanks to the boasting leaves of the trees.

The Emperor chuckled, directing Cresa to stand underneath the shade. "Nothing much really, just a temporary stay" he replied back as he slid off the horse, loosening the horse's reins. Yongui rolled her eyes as she also got off her horse. "Ignore him, he's blind to everything."

Light laughter went around the group and the emperor waited for everyone to gather their belongings before leading them out of the shade and into the manor. The doors opened by themselves once again and a cool breeze met them

Onyx shuddered, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "Forget to close all the windows, I see," she said as her golden eyes inspected the exquisite taste that adorned the beige colored walls. Draco chuckled once again, shaking his head. "A cold breeze always clears my head" he replied back, reaching into his sleeve to draw the hidden dagger.

"And freezes your balls as far as I can see" Rheynoak muttered underneath his breath, his hazel eyes despising the ancient vases filled with flowers and the intricate chandelier that hung between the double staircase.

"For bloody sakes, you are so immature" Lucien retorted back to the tribe leader as they all headed up the stairs, grabbing on to the golden banister. "No, no don't worry about it, Lucien" Castrin added, casting a sideway look to the tribe leader's right-hand man. "He's always been like this."

"And besides Rheynoak," Draco said, a smirk pulling on his lips. "Tell me the last time you lure a woman to bed without having to use compulsion?" he asked, his words sharpened to the point with a knife and laced with venom.

The tribe leader opened his mouth to speak, to say anything but when his eyes met those of the Mind Siphon that glared at him for a brief second, that desire that burned deep within his soul all of a sudden flickered and died and he let his arms fall to his sides, defeated.

The emperor guided everyone through the double doors that opened to a beautifully decorated living room. It was all beige, scarlet and gold with scarlet draped that fell over the windows and gold chairs that were untouched. Priceless artifacts hung on the walls, weapons of all kinds arranged in a neat fashion.

They all headed to the dining room, only a couple hallways down. It was as large as a ballroom with an oak wood table surrounded by tall throne chairs. Crafted lace laid on the surface of the table and the chandelier was unlit and sparkling underneath the rays that hit the dangling diamonds.

"Do you guys need anything, a drink perhaps?" he asked as they all seated down. Parcia nodded, smoothening the curls of her son's head. "A little water for him, please. He gets parched easily" she informed, cradling his half awake figure.

Draco nodded and snapped his fingers. Seconds later, the sound of water trickling was heard and a tall, crafted glass of ice water drifted in midair and landed on the table in front of Parcia. Her eyes grew wide, her fingers shaking as she contemplated on whether to touch it.

"It's safe, I assure you. The magic in the Manor is responsive to all our needs" Yongui assured, nodding her head. "It's like the house is alive itself."

Parcia nodded, picking up the glass of water with shaky hands and a frightened look in her eyes and raising it Eros's lips who took gentle, little sips from the cup.

"Or it could be haunted" Castrin intrigued instead, stopping Parcia in her movements, her eyes practically consumed with terror. Alesandria took one look at him and her mother and laughed quietly, a smile forming on her lips. His starry eyes lit up, his cheeks blossoming into the colors of spring flowers. The hybrid rolled her eyes at the Dark Magic Summoner, biting back many questions she had for him.

"Okay, first we have to figure out how much time we have left until The Catalyst Moon is upon us," Onyx said, pressing her palms against the table. "The quicker we know, the more time we have of training Alesandria mentally and physically for the oath."

A groan escaped out of Rheynoak's lips. "We are still going through with that idiotic plan?" he exclaimed, slamming his palm on the hard surface of the table. "If Alesandria dies, the joke is on you. The oath is dangerous, it could kill her if she even attempted to go underneath it."

"Three days" Venix answered the question, batting a hand at Rheynoak's outburst. "We have three days to mentally and physically train Alesandria before she takes the oath." The tribe leader frowned at her, narrowing his eyes at the BloodBone that sat only a few feet away from him. "And how do we know we can trust what comes out of your mouth, little witch?"

"Stop bitching and shut the hell up" Lucien growled at his companion, shaking his head. "You can not make decisions for all of us and the last time I checked, no one put a damn crown on your head and made you the ruler of everything. So stop bitching for once in your life."

Silence filled the atmosphere, an uncomfortable feeling dawning around the table. Draco and Castrin held back laughter while Yongui looked at the young Hell Siphon with intruigment. Onyx directed her gaze over to Venix who placed her hand on his, squeezing his fingers lightly. He seemed to reciprocate, his winter eyes hardening as he squeezed her fingers lightly before letting go.

A growl escaped from Rheynoak's lips but nothing more, instead swearing underneath his breath and crossing his arms over his chest, hazel eyes burning. "To answer your question, Rheynoak," Yongui said in an amused tone, "All witches know the date of The Catalyst Moon. They are one of the most ancient kinds that have wandered on Asxairo and their chronological memory is impeccable."

Another curse escaped his lips.

"What will the mental and physical training require?" Alesandria asked, folding her fingers together. "Surely with such little time, we won't go through everything." Laughter fell from Onyx's lips, her head shaking."On contrary Alesandria, these next three days will be grueling, the toughest days you've experienced. We have to go through everything if you want to make it out of the oath alive and a full hybrid."

The dark haired beauty gulped, her eyes growing wide. "Don't worry Alesandria" Castrin and Draco reassured her. "Since you already spent a well amount of time training with Onyx on the Erabon Mountains, we can focus more on mental training."

"What does that mean exactly? What will mental training require?" she asked, more anxious now. A humored expression contorted Draco's face, his lips twitching into a smile. "I can't spoil all the surprises, darling" he purred at her, curling his fingers into his palm. His eyes gleamed wildly, a smirk pulling on his lips.

She gulped deeply. Castrin settled his hand on hers, squeezing her fingers as he spoke, "You'll be fine, I promise, I'll make sure fo it" he said, squeezing her fingers lightly again. Alesandria passed him a smile, her eyes momentarily darting towards their interlocked fingers.

A warm feeling electrified her veins and she smiled once again.

"I have one question on this whole process, " Parcia asked, gently toying with her son's hair. "Will my daughter be okay? Will she survive this?" Her voice was broken with worry, every word on her lips becoming strained.

"Mama" Alesandria breathed, her eyes watering with tears. "Don't worry too much." But her mother shook her head, making sure not to let the tears fall. "I have to, Alesandria. I have to make sure you make it through all of this."

Another awkward silence filled the air, not a single soul breathing a word. The woman passed her glance to everyone, a frown pulling on her lips and her heart faltering again. "She'll be okay" Onyx spoke up after minutes passed, offering a smile at the woman.

"We'll make sure of that" Castrin added on, squeezing her fingers once again. Alesandria smiled, squeezing his fingers back. "Thank you. Do you mind if we start training tomorrow? I feel awfully weak and I don't think I would be able to perform well."

"Sounds okay to me," Draco said, stretching his hands out to crack his knuckles. He casted his gaze around the table, nodding. "Does that sound good to everyone?" he asked. The whole table shook their head in unison.

"Okay then, it is settled. We will figure out the rest of the details tomorrow" he said, rising up from his chair. "But for now, you can all unpack and get settled in. Yongui and Castrin can show you around."

The hybrid frowned, giving the emperor the finger. He chuckled at her amusement, running his fingers through his hair. "This is going to be an interesting stay."

By the time everyone got settled in, nighttime had already fallen and the manor was silent.

After picking rooms and getting settled in, the whole group had unpacked and settled into their temporary homes. Onyx was staying by herself but her room was right in the middle, between Venix and Rheynoak's. Across from her was Lucien's room and Rheynoak's room was on the far end.

Alesandria was staying with her mom and her brother on the third floor of the manor and Yongui and Castrin and Draco had blissfully gone back to their grand bedrooms.

Dinner, a delightful feast of mash potatoes and chicken with several glances of Ihaki wine, had already been served and everyone was getting ready to turn off the lights.

Onyx pulled herself up the last flight of stairs to the second floor of the manor, letting her eyes wander down the long hallway that was lined with lights and flickering candles that shined from the chandelier and the floors graced with red carpet.

She had done the privilege of taking herself on a private tour around the Manor and she had to award Draco for his excellent taste and decorative skills and architecture styles. The whole manor was graced with different styles, the windows a Victorian designs while the columns definitely showed design techniques from Maki's rule almost a thousand years ago.

The lake in the back was even more splendid, the ripples clearer and silent at night time.

Dancing her fingers against one another, the Siphon made her way down the hallway to her bedroom, not looking where she was going. It didn't take long for her to bump into a hard chest, her heart jumping to her throat.

Winter blue eyes met up to meet hers and she was able to sigh in peace, relieved that it was only Lucien that ran into her. The Hell Siphon was holding a book in one hand and a pen in the other, dressed in dull colors and his white hair brushing against the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, sending him a smile. The Hell Siphon nodded back, a smile nudging on his lips. "It's okay. I should have looked at where I was going" he replied back to her, wedging the pen between his book and closing it shut. "What brings you up so late?"

The Siphon sighed, running her fingers through her curly hair. "I was just taking myself on a tour, nothing special really" she replied back to him. He seemed to smile, curling his fingers around the book. "This place sure is magnificent."

"Tell me about it." The two magical beings shared a laugh for a short moment, enjoying each other's presence. When the laughter died on their lips, the brooding Hell Siphon cleared his throat, capturing her attention once again.

"I'm sorry Rheynoak dragged you into all of this" he apologized, shaking his head. "He can be a real dick sometimes but he only aimed for his best intentions" he explained, directing his gaze to the book in his hand.

Onyx shrugged once again, cracking her knuckles in the short silence. "Don't worry about it" she said. "Nothing surprising anyway." Smoothing the wrinkles of her nightgown, the Siphon asked, "May I ask you something, Lucien?"

Those ice blue eyes looked up again and for a second, the whole world seemed to stop. His eyes twinkled underneath the lights, holding stories the Siphon found herself wandering about. "What is going on between you and Venix?"

Such a simple question yet the mention of her best friend's name seem to have him in a frenzy. His once calm demeanor was now anxious and nervous, his gaze dancing on anything but her face. His feet shuffled around the carpet and his tone was quiet as he whispered, "Why do you ask?"

This time, Onyx couldn't help the short chuckle that escaped her lips. "Because the tension between you two can be sensed from a mile away. It's obvious there is something going on between you two" she explained.

Blue eyes sparkled again, his cheeks blossoming into a cherry red. "To be perfectly honest, I don't even know what is going on between us" he whispered in a near-silent voice, shaking his head. "All I know is that when I'm around her, I lose my damn mind. She makes my heart beat at the speed of light. She makes me feel everything and nothing at all."

Ah, that young complexion that sizzled in between love. The feeling was foreign to Onyx herself but she could see the adoration in her best friend's eyes when she look at Lucien and the same with him when he watched her from afar.

Such a heart-tearing complexion yet it seemed to bring them closer to each other rather than pulling them apart.

"I underestimated you, Siphon" she muttered to him, earning a nervous chuckle. "But please treat her right Lucien. She's been through a lot and her heart is fragile. Please, don't break her" the Siphon whispered to her fellow companion, reaching out to touch his shoulder briefly.

He stilled at her touch, his eyes growing wide. But after a minute, he simply nodded and smiled at her. "I'll protect her with my heart and mind" he promised, nodding his head in a silent command.

"Good" she replied back, patting his shoulder. "Goodnight, Lucien" Bidding him until tomorrow, she walked away from him before he could say anything else. The Siphon neared the door to her room and opened it, stepping inside before closing and locking the door behind her.

On her bed, dressed in dark, silk pajamas was Venix, her white hair spread out on the pillow. When she heard the click of the door, she looked up just in time to see the Mind Siphon crashed beside her.

"I ran into your boyfriend outside in the hallway" Onyx announced, casting her gaze over to the BloodBone who blushed so painfully obvious before looking away. "He's not my boyfriend" she simply denied, shaking her head. "He's too good, too pure for me."

"And you're too cunning, to beautiful for him. His soul has already been tainted the minutes he pulled Rheynoak into his life, sweetheart" the Siphon reassured her, earning a slight chuckle from her best friend who twined her legs around the silk sheets of the bed. "But he genuinely cares about you and I can see you genuinely care for him. The spark is there. All you have to do is light up."

Silence sizzled between the two best friends, only steadied breaths and silk sheets rustling as they twined their legs around it and curled their toes into the mattress. The wind rustled outside, shaking the closed windows in the room, the glass singing

"He makes me feel things I don't want to embrace," Venix said after a while in a hushed tone, biting her lip as she did so. "He makes me want to embrace the chance of hope and happiness."

"And that is a bad thing?" Onyx asked, golden eyes flickering over to the violet eyes that stared up at the ceiling, her hands drumming on the dark, silk sheets. "I don't know anymore," she said after a minute passed by.

Minutes passed once again, the two friends staring at nothing but the ceiling that was painted in ancient pictures and murals. Starry skies and crescent moons and midnight wings spattered across the beige canvas, stories intertwined with each stroke of the brush.

Stories they both wanted to know.

"We have terrible taste in men," Onyx said after a minute or two, glancing over to her Venix who smiled at the painting in front of her eyes, her winter white hair whispering past her face in small strands. "We sure do."

Laughter escaped both of their lips, the weight of the world seeming to evaporate for that short time. For a while, they seemed normal and free without a care in the world. Able to run across sunny plains and soar to twinkling stars without beings judged.

For a while, they tasted freedom, love, a better life. They tasted hope. 

A/N: And that is the end of another chapter!

Eight more chapters to go and then we are done! But there is so much more to happen and I am so excited!

A lot happened in this chapter. Rheynoak's outburst and the introduction to Draco's manor. Plus the way Lucien revealed his feelings for Venix to Onyx just made me swoon a thousand times. He's so sweet and the fact that he is just as perplexed as she is makes me love them more.

They are so cute together but don't tell them! They are not supposed to know they are falling in love. But yeah, so much happened in this chapter and a lot more is to come so stick around

Thank you guys for all your constant support. It means so much to me that you enjoy this book. I enjoy writing it and to hear your feedback always makes my day!

So tell me what your thoughts are on this chapter and don't forget to comment down below and vote if you liked it.

Until next time Lovelies!

With love, May