It had been months since Evanora's death and Dorian's defeat. The entire facility of Eros had never been the same. We'd held a funeral for Evanora, which everyone attended. Victor had taken it the hardest. He wouldn't eat, he would socialize, he wouldn't even come out of his room, though he did leave the door open.

We thought it would be best to give him his space. He needed to heal and being around us reminded him of her.

Alex and I had just left lunch. We were hoping to go to Grace's room to hang out with her a little. She'd mostly healed from the pain of both her loss of Evanora and Ms. Duboise, but Alex and I still liked to check in on her every now and then.

Mrs. Florence however, had different plans. She stepped out in front of us, scaring us at first.

"Good evening, Alex and Circe." She said stiffly.

"Good evening, Mrs. Florence." We replied in unison.

It was awkwardly silent between us for a few heartbeats before Mrs. Florence spoke up. "How are you all...holding up?"

My heart skipped a beat as all the memories flooded back to me, all the blood, violence, and loss. All the things I was capable of came to light that day.

And they weren't pretty.

Alex saw how uncomfortable I was and grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb along my knuckles in reassurance. "We're getting better." He answered for me.

"That's good." Mrs. Florence hummed. "And what about Victor? How's he?"

Silence.

"I see." Mrs. Florence brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat before speaking again. "Well, we all miss him. Have you...um...have you talked to him lately?"

Alex shook his head. "We think it's best to give him space. He and Evie were close. Her being gone is hitting him really hard."

"It's been months, Alex. He shouldn't be alone for this long. What he needs now is comfort."

Mrs. Florence took a deep breath. "Will you two go see him? Talk a bit? Maybe it won't just help him. Maybe it'll help you too."

We nodded and with that, Mrs. Florence walked down the hall, just as poised and composed as she usually was.

I looked up at Alex who wrapped an arm around me comfortingly. "She's right, though, Circe. We haven't talked to Victor since..." He trailed off and looked at me before shaking his head.

"We have to go see him." I finished. "We owe him that much. Plus, I miss him."

"Me too." Alex agreed. "Come on, then."

His room was right next to Alex's so getting there was fairly easy. The door was ajar, so we walked in. Victor was on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest and his brown eyes red and puffy. He was holding something in his hands, but I couldn't tell what.

"Hey Vic." I said with a small smile.

"Get out." He practically growled.

"Victor," Alex started, but Victor cut him off.

"She's DEAD because of YOU TWO! If you hadn't have gone off to the STUPID, OBVIOUS trap that Dorian had set up, she'd still be here! She'd still be alive!" Victor snapped getting up off of his bed.

He got in my face and scowled "I never want to see you two again." He shoved me roughly, but not before I landed in Alex's arms.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Alex snapped.

"Or what? You're gonna get me killed too? Huh? Gonna walk into another blatant trap and get me murdered?"

"No, but if you try and hurt my girl again I can guarantee you, friend or not, I can put you in a world of pain."

"Try me." Victor growled, teeth bared.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, rushing in between the boys to keep them separated. "Knock it off!"

I turned to Victor with a menacing glare. "We came here for YOU! We're trying to help you, Victor! And look, you think I don't blame myself for Evie's death enough as it is? I regret even leaving the facility that day! Every night, I wake up in a cold sweat, vivid images of Evanora's last moments fresh in my mind. I cry myself to sleep over it Victor! I'm literally depressed! I can't sleep, I can barely eat! I...I skip training ninety-nine percent of the time-"

I stopped mid rant and choked on a sob. "I...I wish it had been me that had died instead of her all the time. Sometimes I think, 'What if I had been looking forward just for that one spit second? I would have taken that spear instead of her. She would be alive and happy and smiling right now! And that's all on me!"

Victor looked at me in shock, with his eyes wide and his mouth open. Alex quickly wrapped his arms around me comfortingly, stroking my now short hair as he whispered softly in my ear.

I tried to calm my breathing, but my breaths remained shaky.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Circe...I-I didn't know. I didn't-"

"I-It's fine..." I stuttered. "It's fine. I just...I need to calm down." I assured him softly.

As I tried to rein in my emotions, Victor sat down on his bed again and ran his fingers through his tangled curls. "I just...I don't know what's wrong with me." His voice cracked and he began to cry again.

"I just... I miss her so much. She was amazing." He sniffled.

"Yeah." Alex agreed, sitting on the bed beside Victor. "Unlike anybody I've ever met.

"She was too good to be true." I added, crawling on the bed as well. "Someone I'll never forget."

"I can't believe she's gone." Victor sobbed, his voice cracking. It was then that I realized he was holding her star necklace. She never took it off.

It was now the only part of her that he had left.

"She always wanted to be a part of something bigger, you know? She always wanted to make a difference." Victor continued. "She wanted to help people. That's all. She never wanted to hurt anyone. She hated fighting. She hated it. She just wanted peace."

"I know, Vic." Alex said, giving Victor a small hug. "She just wanted to live a normal life."

Suddenly it hit me. Dorian managed to not only live with the Normals, but influence them for years, all while going undetected.

"What if we could do that, too?" I muttered without realizing it.

"Huh?" Victor sniffled.

"What if we can do what Dorian did? What if we can influence the Normals just like him, except we could convince them that Elementalists aren't as dangerous as they were lead to believe?"

Victor wiped his eyes. "Yeah. That's a nice notion and all, Circe, but it's kind of impossible. For more reasons than one.

"He's got a point." Alex added. "Half of the city now knows what we look like because of Dorian's little surprise announcement.

Alex rolled his eyes, but then winced at the pain it caused him.

"I have a plan for that, too." I smirked.

"Huh?" Alex asked.

"Just, trust me guys." My eyes landed on Evanora's necklace and my smile melted and my heart sank. "I think it's something Evie would like."