Nicholas and Gallus stood upstairs watching all guests. They watched Nicole go to the balcony with Michael right behind her. Then there was Scarlett, Nicholas knew it would be sooner or later that she would go outside and he was right because as he found her in the crowd, she was heading for the back door. What he didn't notice was Seth leaving through the front door but that didn't escape Gallus' eyes.
Scarlett strolled on the path at the back of the mansion; it was beautifully decorated with different colors of roses and other flowers. The one flower that caught her attention was the iris, they were faint purple…Scarlett wondered what made her drawn to the flowers, purple wasn't one of the colors she fancied but this flower was just…it was just attractive. She bent to pick one and then a memory flashed through her head. She was younger in that memory, she was holding a woman's hand and there was a boy next to them. In this memory, she could see her body but her face was a blur.
'What are those mum?' the boy asked.
'They're irises Zev'
'They're beautiful…can I have one?' that was her younger self.
'Of course you can' the woman said. She saw her younger self pick up the flower and then it was gone. She smiled to herself as she stared at the iris in her hand. She got up and turned to leave but a pair of ice blue eyes made her stay transfixed on the spot. Scarlett's heart thudded against her chest.
"You know Reckless, that book is very priceless," his voice sounded so hypnotic to her ears. He leaned closer and whispered into her ears. "And you were very reckless with it," Scarlett didn't know why but she stayed quiet. She lost her tongue and voice just by staring into his eyes.
"Quinn!" Scarlett felt like jumping for joy. Whoever this person was, was an angel. His eyes moved behind her. Scarlett turned to see who it was; a familiar face with blond hair and dark brown eyes, her mind registered him as Chris. A few images were becoming clear now; maybe seeing more familiar faces would get her memories back. "What are you doing out here?"
"I'm not comfortable inside," she said. Another image flashed in her head. She was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket and black jeans. Her head ached a little and she staggered. Chris held her in place.
"Whoa…are you alright?"
"Yeah…yeah," Scarlett turned to look behind her and those beautiful ice blue eyes were gone.
"What's wrong?"
"I thought…never mind,"
"Debbie wants to see you," a picture of Debbie formed in her mind. She was the girl Eliza reminded her of. She saw someone holding Debbie up in the air while Debbie clung onto her like her life depended on it. Then sturdy black bat wings grew from the person's back and took them higher and higher in the sky then whoever it was dropped Debbie from that height. Then there was another image, the same person was explaining something to Debbie, telling Zev to take care of her and then the images stopped. Scarlett thought for a second, in every one of her memories, she was never clear in them, she knew she was there but why wasn't she clear?
"Scarlett!!" a voice screamed her name. A figure jumped on her and embraced her tightly. "You have no idea how scared I was when you left…I thought I'd never see my big sis again," Debbie cried. Scarlett stayed silent and hugged Debbie back. She remembered Debbie, Debbie was her younger sister and she was Debbie's older sister. She walked with them back to the mansion. Debbie told Scarlett how their parents had been making up for the fifteen years they hadn't been with her for the past six months. Debbie just wanted a complete family, Scarlett was here but she wasn't complete, if her family was going to be complete then Scarlett would have to regain her memories.
"How was it…staying with the Swans and all?" Chris asked.
"You know them?"
"Mum and dad have a serious beef with them; they called Mr. Swan's a bastard,"
"We found out you've grown fond of Elizabeth…is that true?" Chris asked.
"Who's Elizabeth?" Debbie asked.
"She's Mr. Swan's daughter…I think, she's in the hospital right now,"
"What happened to her?"
"She was attacked and poisoned with uh...Black's bane, I gave her my blood and right now she's in a coma because of it,"
"You have to stop doing that," Chris said running his hand through his hair frustratingly. "Old habits really do die hard,"
"My blood is the cure for that poison; I couldn't let her die,"
"I'm not saying you should let her die…you just need to stop giving random people your blood Quinn, you may end up saving your enemy one day,"
"This isn't about the time I gave Debbie is it?"
"You remember that?" Debbie asked surprised.
"I remember everything concerning you," Scarlett said and Debbie smiled. "I just felt the need to protect her…I can't explain it but it's always a good idea when I do so…when it's the enemy I'll know,"
"Fine," Chris finally surrendered. Zev materialized in front of them.
"Scarlett Debbie, we're having a family meeting," Zev said.
"When you say family…do you mean just the Quinns?" Chris asked.
"Of course not, you guys are part of the family too,"
The four of them materialized in the mansion's living room, the guests were all gone and the whole place was sparkling and interior décor was back to its usual state. Nathan and Ramona sat next to each other, Nicholas and Regina on the opposite couch, Michael, Nicole and Driguez on the other, Debbie sat with Driguez while Chris, Zev and Scarlett stood.
"Welcome back kiddo," Nicholas said. Ramona captured Scarlett in a warm hug and kissed her cheek. "You may not remember everything yet but your memories are almost back. I'm very sure you know we need to get the throne back as soon as possible from the shades…they've terrorized Devaria for too long,"
"What do you intend we do father?" Nathan asked.
"The shades are strong but we're Quinns, it'll be easy," Driguez commented.
"It's easier said than done cousin," Zev interrupted. "The shades are very tactical and they have Lucifer as their creator, if we even get an inch close, Lucifer will sense us immediately,"
"If we want the throne back, we have to be where it is first and foremost…" Chris stated.
"We can't just annihilate the shades Chris, Lucifer can always create more and there's absolutely no way we'll be able to do that without an army,"
"If we want to take them out...we kill the person who sired them," Debbie said.
"Lucifer can't be killed fighter, that's the perks of being an original demon, they can't be killed,"
"What about infiltrating the castle, we kill them from the inside and then we get the seal…killing two birds with one stone," Michael said.
"That's a good idea but how do we get into the castle,"
"I can do it," Scarlett said. "Let this be my way of apologizing for leaving without an explanation and for hurting you guys, I'll get into the castle but I don't know if they'll recognize me…"
"They won't, the shades have never seen any of your faces," Ramona said. Everyone turned to her surprised. Zev turned to Chris and Michael and smiled. 'I told you…she gets it from my mum'
"Are you being serious Ramona?" Nicole asked baffled.
"Yes but to be on the safe side…you can change your appearance to fool them,"
"Isn't this a bit too dangerous? I mean we just got Scarlett back, her memories aren't completely back yet and we want to send her into our enemies' territory," Debbie reasoned. She wasn't comfortable with the way everyone was so calm about Scarlett being the infiltrator.
"I'll be careful Deb, don't worry,"
"That's exactly why she's worried Quinn…you are never careful, hell you're the most reckless person I've ever set eyes on," Chris butted in.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Scarlett asked with a raised brow. Chris smirked at her.
"Don't worry fighter…kiddo's going to be fine," Nicholas assured Debbie. Debbie didn't seem convinced but since no one else said anything about it, she let it go. "You can try out some hair dyes and contacts from the company's cosmetics line, anyone of your choice,"
"Those won't work grandfather…while I was in Ensco; almost the entire college knew I was Scarlett Quinn, I tried hair dye and contacts but my hair still remained black and my eyes were still grey even with the contacts,"
"Try out some wigs then cousin," Driguez said. Scarlett glared at him. She turned away from him and closed her eyes trying to calm the obvious annoyance his words caused.
"I'll handle my appearance,"
"I'm interested in what you'll look like when you eventually think of something," Michael teased. Scarlett turned to him with a scowl while Nicole elbowed him.
"We've started something at least, let her rest Nicholas," Regina said and smiled.
"Thank you grandmother, mother, father,"
"Enjoy your rest sweetheart," Ramona kissed her cheek.
"You have no idea how I've missed you Scar,"
"I'll make it up to you Nicole, I promise," Scarlett said and hugged Nicole tight. She materialized in her room and took a cold shower. She pulled the black curtains closed and laid on her bed and in seconds, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
***
"Scarlett, open your eyes," Scarlett's eyes fluttered open. She was staring into a pair of black eyes and silver eyes. "Scarlett it's us…" Black said. Her voice sounded urgent. She stared at Black then she turned to Silva then back to Black.
"Silva Black…what the…"
"When you drank the Lethe's water, you pushed your memories deep inside you; they're slowly returning which means everything will be back to normal,"
"Isn't everything already normal?"
"What she means is we can finally get in the game and win this," Black said.
"I have a question…" Scarlett said. "Why can't I see myself in my memories?"
"Because you're not whole…your memories will never be clear until you become whole," A figure flashed through Scarlett's eyes as Silva said those words.
"What the heck was that?"
"It's good to see you again Scarlett," A voice said. Whoever it was grabbed Black's hair and pulled her back.
"Let her go Fury," Silva ordered.
"Who the hell are you?" Scarlett asked.
"I'm Fury, the part of your demon that is manipulative, deceptive, heartless and evil, I was set free from the cage your mother put me in after your explosion that night, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," the figure's face finally became clear. She looked just like Scarlett but her eyes and hair were scarlet.
"When your mother numbed me instead of Silva, Fury was imprisoned inside me, I tried to get her out but I couldn't and then you thought of me taking complete control of our body and the explosion, that dark magic helped me free her, that was why I was able to do it without losing myself. If Fury remained caged, I would have lost myself and our body would be disintegrated by now,"
"And you're telling me this now?" Scarlett asked.
"You lost your memories Scarlett, what were we supposed to do?" Silva retorted. Scarlett sighed.
"How do I finally become clear in my memories?" Scarlett asked.
"We become one Scarlett once and for all; we're different fractions of you. You're your human and vampire side. Silva is Draco while Black and I are your demon; it's as simple as that,"
"You say it like she just has to say a few words, it's not simple Fury, nothing is simple," Silva said.
"This is how we get your memories back Scarlett, how we get the throne back and finally defeat the shades," Black said. "And this is how I finally become a complete demon," Black fell to the ground unconscious after a black and red glow disappeared. Her hair had bright red strands.
Scarlett's eyes flew open.