"WHERE IS UNCLE Magnus?" asked Aseyana as soon as she entered the inn. There was no sign of the man, only the presence of Yasha and Natalia could she feel.
"Went to hunt," Yasha arrived in a blur. "What do you need him for?"
Aseyana presented the grimoire. "I found a way to bring Tatia's soul back without looking for the vessel," she explained. "For that, I need Uncle Magnus."
"And me."
Yasha looked behind her niece and saw the little fairy called Principal Stonefield.
Aseyana briefly looked behind before looking at Yasha again. "And her."
"Alright," Yasha raised a brow. "I will call upon him."
An hour and a half later, Magnus arrived. He was covered in blood as he coolly stepped inside Tatia's room.
"When you said you were going hunting, I thought you went to hunt Tatia's abductors," Yasha scoffed in disgust. "I should have known better."
"You are right, my dearest sister," replied Magnus while cleaning the blood on his skin. "I went to hunt them."
"You reek of animal blood," Yasha stated the obvious.
"Werewolves," replied Magnus indifferently. "Now, why are you calling me here? I am about to get a clue. So, this better be important." He smiled gently.
Natalia looked at the man and felt eerie. Despite the gentleness the man was trying to portray, she could not feel the same way. Well, there was nothing good with this family, she thought. After almost a month of staying with Yasha and Aseyana—- especially Yasha—- she knew not to offend them. Doing so would lead to your doom.
"Wait, wait—-" Principal Stonefield frowned, "—- You killed the werewolves in this town?!"
"Annoying ones," said Magnus.
Principal Stonefield angrily stepped forward, but Aseyana stopped her.
"Werewolves under my sister," said Aseyana. Magnus gestured, confirming his niece was right. "Now, we need to proceed to the ritual."
"How should this work?" asked Magnus. He sat on the bed and held Tatia's hand.
"I will lure Tatia's soul to you, her mate," Aseyana explained. "And I will use Principal Stonefield as a channel to nature's power. My sister might be strong, but she is still using the earth to conjure a spell, is she not? A witch versus a fairy—- this world will always choose the latter. We can use it to locate Tatia. And use its power at the same time."
Magnus slowly nodded. "You do what you must."
Yasha turned to Natalia and smiled. "We are going to be the good audiences," she murmured.
"I do not mind," Natalia shrugged. She came here with that purpose, anyway. Being part of a ritual would certainly not give her a good feeling. Watching it, on the other hand, was like watching a show, like entertainment.
"Then, I will begin."
—
[Tatia's POV]
I—-
Oh, dear! The surroundings blurred again. I felt like I was spun around faster than a lightspeed, and my head felt dizzy. For one thing, I wanted to faint. But for two, doing so would be foolish.
So, I took a moment for myself. I rested a bit before fully opening my eyes and taking hold of my current location. Yet, when I did, I was astonished.
What the hell am I doing in a bloody forest? A forest set ablaze at that. All I could see was a ton of ashes from the dead trees. It was nighttime. But the fire was put out not long ago since I could still see smoke coming off those ashes.
"What are you doing here?" a voice from a man (a familiar one) sounded above me, gripping my wrist.
I slowly looked up with a frown. "Magnus," I blurted out. I was stunned to see him in a—- how should I put it? Old fashioned… uhm… dress? "You look," my eyes squinted, "manly." Manly since his muscles were showing off my eyes.
He frowned. Then, his gaze turned to his body. I was glad I was not the only person stunned by his appearance.
Afterwards, he looked around our surroundings.
"We should go," he suggested.
"I would love to," I stood up straight. "Where is the exit? And by the way, where are we?"
Magnus looked at me with complicated eyes. "The past, I think." He forced a smile. "You are quite a traveller, are you not? You even managed to get in here."
"Certainly not my intention. I do not even know the reason I am here."
"I," Magnus linked his fingers to mine, "have no idea how to get us out of here. Ase is doing a ritual. Maybe we should wait for her to pull us out of here. How about looking around while waiting?"
"Which part of the past is this?"
"If I am not mistaken, this was when we attained immortality, a century of living like immortals." His gaze was far. He looked nostalgic.
"Then, let's look around," I agreed to his proposal. Then, I gave him a beautiful smile (not necessarily since I am already stunning, but still). "I am intrigued about your past. This is also a way of getting to know you."
"What you will see is not exactly a fairy tale," he warned.
"Which one?" I raised a brow. "The Grimm's fairy tales or the filtered ones?"
He chuckled. "The latter."
I shrugged.
Moments later, I found us standing outside a cabin—- a nipa hut.
"I d-do not-not know!"
"Yasha?" I whispered. That one crying voice should be her. I looked up and saw Magnus staring at the nipa hut.
"This was the time Yasha felt the first taste of betrayal," said Magnus blankly.
Betrayal?
"Do not know?!"
I jolted when I heard that shout. It was powerful, and I never heard of that voice. Who was that?!
Well, standing outside the nipa hut would not answer my question. I let go of Magnus' hand and went inside. Magnus seemed uninterested in watching the show. He stood outside, unmoving.
"You have seen him with multiple women!" That powerful voice again. "What part of his actions were not clear enough?!"
Once I stepped inside, I saw three people. One was Yasha, the other I have no idea, then the owner of that powerful voice was facing me with his back. Yasha and her brothers, then.
"He is my mate!" Yasha cried out. Tears all over her face, and she looked worn out. "He is supposed to love me! He is supposed to be with me! I thought… I thought…" she sobbed. "I thought he would change his mind and return to me!"
"A man who is fated to have a mate doing that kind of thing indicates you mean nothing to him!"
Yasha shook her head again and again. She was apparently heartbroken.
"Lukas, enough," said the other man. I finally got a name. "Yasha has been through enough. Let her rest."
"Rest?" the one named Lukas sneered. "Our dearest sister was tortured, skinned alive, and had her heart pulled out of her chest—- it would be damned if we let this go!"
"Then, what do you want her to do?"
Lukas smirked. "An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Silas, brother, do you have to ask that?"
So, the other one was named Silas. Where was Magnus, by the way?
"What?" Yasha's voice trembled.
Lukas looked at his sister condescendingly. Even I felt a shiver run down my spine with that gaze. This brother was one hell of a scary guy. I would love not to see him my entire life.
"You," Lukas gripped Yasha's shoulders, "will kill that pathetic excuse of a mate of yours. And 'no' is obviously not part of the choices."
"No, no, no, no, no, no," Yasha shook her head like a rattle. "Brother, I cannot! I cannot! Please! Please! I beg you, brother! Do not let me do that! No! Please, no." The last one, she said it almost like a whisper.
Lukas let go of Yasha and pursed his lips in annoyance before turning around to leave.
"Lukas, where are you going?"
"To get the bloody man, of course."
"No need."
Magnus suddenly stood at the entrance with a bloody man (literally) in his hand. "Here is the man for your disposal, my dearest sister."
I tried to understand the features of the man who betrayed Yasha. Yet, with his bloody and battered state, I would take forever to recognise him.
Then, suddenly, the world started trembling, and the people around looked blurry. I quickly left the nipa hut. Magnus, on the other hand, was on the way to fetch me.
"What is happening?"
"Either we are changing time, or Ase found a way to get us out of here now."
Really? But I was not done here yet! I had not had a chance to get to know Magnus yet! Aside from the last part where he shoved the bloody man into Yasha, I got nothing about him!
Regardless of my concern, I felt an immense power pulling me somewhere. With wide eyes, I looked at Magnus and said, "I think it's the latter."
Everything went black after that.