"It is better to have faith in something than none at all." - Connor Kennway, Assassin's creed 3

To fear death is to fear a simple truth. Everybody dies eventually. It may happen in different ways, different locations and different reasons. In the end it is still the same though. Some people die young, some die old, some die fighting for what they believe in. What people mostly don't realize is that death isn't something to fear, it's something to embrace. All the hurt, all the lies. It vanishes in that one moment, just for a few seconds until you leave the world. No worries, no nothing.

Just like Ethan said before. Elena knew that he couldn't and wouldn't give her what she wants. What he truly meant to tell her is that if she joined him, he would kill her to protect her from any dangers that might've followed. He promised her wealth, family, promised her everything. Even he knew that that was impossible. Life can and never will be perfect. It's the obstacles that make it special, the struggles and the fights that make life worth living. Without any goals to reach, when you have everything already, you've got nothing left to live for.

The reason why Elena had broken the spell that Ethan had cast on her, the reason why she could slip through death's grasp was because she wasn't done fighting her own battle. She had so many things left to fight for, so many battles left to win or lose. She couldn't leave her family behind, couldn't leave the rest of the Guardians behind to fend for themselves. Even though Ethan showed her everything she had dreaded her whole life, made her feel what pain really is, Elena broke through it. Not because she was afraid of death, no, because she embraced the simple truth that she hadn't fulfilled her destiny yet. She wasn't done fighting.

For a small girl though such truths aren't clear yet. They've mostly only seen the good the world can bring. Or they've continued to ignore the bad. Either way, they haven't seen true chaos yet. Haven't witnessed what greed or power could do to a human. Didn't see to what extent they could go to get what they want.

Ella was one of those people. Too naïve, too pure to sense what was really going on. So when Ethan finally showed her how the world truly was, she couldn't possibly slip through death's grasp like Elena did. It didn't even last long before Ella's heart gave out under the weight of the curse. It was a beautiful death, to die because she was too innocent. Because the world hadn't made a true impact on her yet, hadn't changed her into someone else.

"Ella?!" Aidan's voice filled the now silent courtyard. He ran towards his daughter and caught her just before her trembling body could hit the ground. She was squirming, screaming for help, for mercy. Tears ran down her little cheeks as the darkness destroyed her from the inside out, taking over every fibe in her body, showing her the way towards death. Within seconds the whines quit falling from her lips and the last teardrop fell down from her brown eyes.

"What?" Robb stammered and looked at the girl's small body lying in her father's arms. Her arms dropped to the ground, her pearly white hand touching the mud beneath it. It was soon after that the wind started to pick up, the clouds started to gather and the sun began to hide behind them. The wind started to howl loudly and sweep through the castle.

Elena softly pushed the girls and Robb off of her as she stood up and slowly walked towards the midst of the courtyard. Her eyes were fixed on Ella, trying to find any sign that she was still alive, trying to find any hope that was left in this dark, treacherous world. But there wasn't any.

The sound of the storm that was coming began to mingle with the shouts of battle from outside the castle. Cannonfire destroyed some off the buildings around them but the guardians and Starks in the courtyard didn't seem to notice. The only thing they did seem to notice was the yelling of Aidan, his screams of torment together with the storm he was making.

Damon silently walked towards Elena and stopped right next by her side, looking down at her familiar face. For a few seconds he savored the sight, relieved that she was still standing and breathing right in front of him. He then looked back at Ella and her father, sighing deeply as the truth finally reached him. "I know what we have to do now."

"We'll have to do it now. He's angry, it makes him vulnerable." Elena stated without glancing away from Ella and Aidan. Sansa and Arya had reached Aidan and tried to soothe his pain, laying their hands on both his shoulders to calm him down. The tears continued to stream down his face though as the storm didn't die down.

"What about Steven?" Damon asked as he frowned.

"We'll have to do it without him." Elena answered simply and glanced up at Damon. "Ethan probably captured him when he went to the forest. Undoubtedly he had already made a plan and trapped Steven there the minute he walked into the woods." Elena sighed, shaking her head as the concern started to get to her before turning around to face her fiancée. "Robb." She called him.

"Elena?" He stepped towards her until he was right in front of her, looking down at her lively green eyes.

"Can you protect the castle?" She asked as she looked back up at him.

"I can and I will." He answered truthfully. "What will you do?" Concern was written over his face as he placed the palm of his hand on her cheek.

"I'm going to end this, once and for all." Courage was clear in her voice. "By killing my own brother." She looked down for a moment, sighing deeply.

"Just be careful." Robb knew he couldn't possibly stop her. All he could do was hope that she wouldn't die. So he pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Elena nodded and then savored the moment, leaning into the palm of his hand. With all that had been going on the past few weeks she didn't realize what she had but only what she didn't. She almost forgot that she already had the most important thing that one could have. "You too be careful." She softly smiled at him.

"I always am, my lady."

Elena chuckled and shook her head. Then she placed both her hands on either sides of his cheeks and pulled him down, placing her lips on his. The familiar feeling of fire started to appear under the places his skin met hers, awakening the old fire they've always had. Robb instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Hey, love birds! I don't know if you've noticed but there's a war going on here." Damon interrupted them. "So you'll either get a room or you'll stop snogging each other in the midst of a fucking battle."

Elena chuckled softly and placed another peck on Robb's lips before turning towards Damon and unwrapping her wings in one swift move.

"Don't hurt yourself, princess." Damon told Robb and then turned towards his daughter to kiss her forehead and to mutter some words in her ear.

"Just be careful, dad." Her green eyes locked with his when he spread his wings from behind his back.

"I always am."

~

Soft groans fell from Steven's lips as he grasped his aching head in his hands. He slowly sat up on what seemed to be the forest' floor with his hand pressed to the side of his head to dull the aching. The second he walked into the woods he was ambushed by a raid. It had taken merely seconds until his whole team was either dead or unconscious, including himself.

"Don't push yourself." A low, masculine voice interrupted the silence.

Steven looked up, searching for the source of the voice.

"I wouldn't want you to get hurt before we get started." He emerged from behind te trees and slowly made his way towards the blond guardian.

"So what, you're going to torture me now?" Steven said when he saw Ethan on the other side of the cage's walls.

"No I'm not." Ethan walked towards the cage and looked down at Steven with a smirk on his face. "This cage is made out of cold rolled steel with a layer of silver. I wouldn't touch it if I were you."

Steven chuckled angrily as he crouched away from the closest wall of the cage. To guardians silver is like kryptonite to superman, like Sam to Dean Winchester, like Bucky to Captain America, like Pepper to Tony Stark, like Uncle Ben to Peter Parker, or like Elise to Arno Dorian, like garlic to vampires, it's their only weakness.

"So what do you want from me, huh? I've got nothing to give." Steven glared at Ethan who was circling around his cage.

"Don't flatter yourself, dear Captain, you're just bait."