"Welcome dear ones! " Hailey yelled as she sighted them just outside her hut.

Her cottage was the biggest and most polished in the small village and just like her, it reeked of splendor. She had a small garden just outside with rose and lavender flowers. The hut was pained and it shone like the sun that shined on it.

The insides were well decorated too, her living room had cupboards on almost all sides where she stacked her crockery.

A wide wooden table stood at the centre of the room with five chairs around it. At the opposite end of the room, she had a small fireplace with an antique just above it.

Luna marveled at how a place could be so simple, yet so delicately arranged that it made it's sparse adornment look even more than it was.

"You have a nice place, ma'am" she complimented as she walked in.

"Thank you, darling, " she responded with a warm smile still on her face.

"Here, have a seat. I was just making lunch; Cottage pie and my favorite raspberry juice."

A sense of Deja vu struck Luna when she heard the meal but she quickly shrugged it off. She had never met this woman in her life… Right?

They helped her prepare her dish and sat down to eat soon after. Luna told her about her time in Arcadia so far. She told her about the meadow and where she feels the darkness came from. She filled her everything in between when she left the meadow and when she arrived here.

“Come let’s take a walk to my flower house, it is very relaxing, you need a little bit of that after all you’ve been through.”

“I’m just going to hang here for a bit,” Helios said, licking his pie covered paw while he eyed another piece on Luna’s plate. “You know, just in case the shadowlings come back.”

Luna chuckled and allowed Hailey lead her way, she didn’t miss Helios jumping at her piece immediately she turned her back. Damn. She loved that rabbit.

When she stepped through the back of the cottage, Luna was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of Hyacinths, it reminded her of the time she spent in the meadow and the flowers that the pixies grew. Luna didn’t know how, but she could tell magic aided their growth just like the flowers in the meadow. Did they have pixies in their small village too? She didn’t dwell too much on it. The fragrance felt like a light kiss on her skin, it was difficult for her to describe the scents that filled her senses but she knew it made her want to throw her worries in the air and roll amidst their petals. Hailey was right. she needed this.

A sea of pink and purple led the road that led deeper into the garden, butterflies of different colors drifted lazily past them each one unbothered by her presence while they snuggled against Hailey’s skin. The Jasmines and lilies were next after the sea of hyacinths, their white petals were a startling contrast from the pink and purple of the hyacinths, they led all the way to the gazebo that sat gracefully in the center of the garden. Climbing roses snaked around the white wood of the gazebo, adding an ethereal feel to the garden that already felt like something out of a fairy tale.

They both sat down in it and Hailey gave her a minute to collect herself before continuing her questions.

"What happened before you got here? Surely you must have some memory of that" Hailey questioned.

"I don't, and it worries me, I didn’t use to have a problem with it, but ever since the darkness came, I’ve been hearing voices… Seeing flashes of people," She sighed. “I don’t know why, but I feel like all this kind of leads back to me and my missing memories. But why now?”

She had tried many times to reach out to whatever part of her head her old memories were locked in—if she had any—but the harder she tried, the more impossible it seemed for her to remember anything.

"Hmmm, now tell me. What do you seek?"

She could feel a dull ache at the base of her neck where the pain from earlier struck her.

"Peace and calm,” She sighed. “I just want to get home. "

Hailey exhaled and closed her eyes as she stood up, she held her hand out and a soft glow emitted from it. The light slowly traveled up her body till she was glowing from head to toe. Almost all the butterflies in the garden drifted towards her, they flapped their wings softly as they all formed a looping circle around her, the different wing colors created an ethereal look to it and Luna couldn’t help but be mesmerized. Hailey looked like a goddess… Maybe she was.

“You can channel light,” Luna breathed out in awe.

“You sound surprised,” Hailey chuckled. “How did you think the girls got their weapons consecrated?”

“Yeah, of course I’m surprised. Helios is the only one that has channeled light in front of me. Why didn’t you join the fight? Why didn’t you chase the shadowlings away with your light?”

“The darkness that plagues Arcadia isn’t mine to fight, it is the Queen’s. I can help as best as I can, but in the end only she can do what needs to be done. Arcadia belongs to the Queen alone.”

“Well, I want to fight. Maybe I’m stupid and I have no self preservation skills but I can’t let this continue to go on. Please, tell me how to summon light.”

“Your emotions are the answer, Luna. They’ve always been.”

“Riiight,” She drawled. “Can you tell me how I can find out where I come from? Maybe get my memories back while I’m at it too.”

"You need to get back to the meadow, the answers you seek are in there.”

"The meadow? It's been taken over by the darkness. Did you not listen to anything I told you? There’s some sort of portal there where all the shadowlings are emerging from. I can’t go back there, that’s suicidal." She said, she could still remember how hundreds of shadowlings poured out from the portal. It made her hands jittery with fear. Maybe she stood a chance if she could access the light, like Helios and Hailey but couldn’t. She couldn’t go back there knowing she would have to rely on Helios to save her because of her own incompetence.

Hailey walked over to her and held her hands to steady them, then lifted her face so she could take her eyes in hers.

"You're strong, little one. I see a lot of dark clouds hanging over you but you've fought your way through everyone of them."

"I'm not." She said. Hailey had a calm to her, and it spread to everyone else around her. "I'm not the strong one. Helios is." She added. "He's always been the one saving me.”

“You’re weak, broken.”

“You are nothing, girl!”

“On my own, I'm weak, broken… I don’t even know who I am… I’m nothing."

Hailey held a finger to her lips to shut her off.

"You, little one are none of those things. You're what you allow yourself to be and I see in your deep beautiful eyes, the ability to be so much more.”

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. You are powerful, Luna. You know you are. Your light will shine forth when you need it, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Your past... or lack of it, don't let it affect you. Focus on the present."

Hailey smiled at her and she could see the sincerity in her eyes. She could see that Hailey didn't make up those words to jeer her up, she genuinely meant them. And it meant the world to her.

"Thanks, Hailey. I don’t think anyone has spoken to me like that before. Thanks for making me believe in myself."

She stood up and hugged her in a long passionate embrace.

Luna and Helios stayed in the village for a few more days, recuperating and resting from the wears and tears of their previous journey, but soon it was time to leave.

"Luna," Helios said from behind her, interrupting her conversation with Annika, they had both warmed up to each other. "All packed and ready."

"What?" Luna asked with surprise on her face. “So quickly?”

"I had the maidens pack a few things for you. I didn’t have a lot of things to take along."

Luna spotted Hailey coming up and she ran over to her. "Thank you, Hailey. For everything."

They left not too after. There was a lot of crying and goodbyes as they left. Even though their stay was short, she did bond really well with the maidens and most especially, Hailey. Her feeling of deja vu always acted up around her. Hailey had a familiar feel to her, like she knew her from some distant past. For the first time in a while, she felt what it was like to have a mother and it felt good. Her hugs and smile had therapeutic effects on Luna.

They seemed to walk up to her and say, "You've got this" every single time she began to doubt herself. She left the village feeling a lot better, her fear extinguished, replaced with an inner peace and a courage she never knew she had in her. She was almost certain that now she could fight back, fight the darkness.

It didn’t matter that she hadn’t She wouldn't need to rely on Helios so heavily anymore. She wouldn't be that scared little girl that shrieked and ran when the shadow monsters showed up.

Luna and Helios traveled for two days before they finally reached their destination. A black fog surrounded the clearing she was in; it tainted the water, turning the blue crystal lake a dirty brown color and poisoning the flowers that bloomed beside it. The tall blades of grass that surrounded her were wilted, and they lay flat on the floor. Even though nothing looked familiar, she knew exactly where she was. She was back in the meadow. Helios had wandered off to take a leak—something she wasn’t certain familiars could do, but she didn’t dwell much on it; Helios was a strange creature.

“How is this possible?” She muttered to herself.

The sprite lake that often had dozens of sprites dancing in it, splashing water at each other and occasionally zapping her with their magic whenever she got too close, now had no sprite to give its magic. The darkness had consumed them. The tree Dryads looked like they were long dead, and their trees looked hollow, empty of the life that used to fill them up.

“Run!!!”

She whipped around, looking for where the sound came from. It sounded like

“Run, Luna! Run!” Helios yelled as he yelled and tore through the black fog that veiled the other side of the clearing.

“Are we under attack?” Luna asked as Helios dashed past her. She reached for her dagger by her waist, but she couldn’t find it there.

“What the fuck?” She muttered to herself as she patted her body and searched the clearing for her trusty dagger.

“Luna!” Helios yelled from a safe distance away.

“Give me a minute,” she yelled back.

Helios yelled something in reply, but it was muffled by the growl that resonated through the air. She froze and slowly looked up.

She was face-to-face with a chimera. It was a shadowling, but the features were distinct. A lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail

“I can’t decide who to eat first,” the chimera hissed. The lion's mouth opened, and a forked tongue came out. “That familiar of yours sure looks tasty."

The chimera was almost two times her size. Luna gulped, and she slowly backed away from where she knelt. Were the shadowlings evolving? She didn’t know what to do; fear had her frozen in place.

“Run!” Helios's voice pierced through her, and she immediately jumped to her feet and dashed off. She ran as quickly as she could through the forest, using the familiar terrain to her advantage, ducking over low tree branches and running in a zigzag around the trees.

She could hear the chimera catching up behind her; it wasn’t running as fast as she thought it would, and a part of her felt like it was toying with her. like a predator playing with his food. She didn't know why the thought angered her more than it scared her, but she ran all the same. She ran into the dark fog head-on and regretted it immediately. It was difficult to see in the dark, and it wasn't long till she stumbled on some roots and fell face first. She quickly turned around and watched with wide eyes as the chimera slowly slinked towards her. It had an almost human smirk.

“You smell so good,” Its voice came out in low whispers that made goosebumps rise on her skin. “I wonder if you taste any good.”

It didn't waste any time leaping for her, but as it jumped, its glinting claws mere inches away from ripping out her throat, everything slowed down.

Luna could hear crickets chirping; it was like her mind was transported to how the meadow was before. She heard the wind that blew and the leaves of the trees that it ruffled. She could feel the earth below her pulsing; she could feel the power at her fingertips eager to be let loose, begging to rip the world apart and then put it back together in a way that pleased her and only her. She could feel the unbridled energy rushing through her veins; it made her fingers tremble and the back of her throat burn, and she could taste electricity on her tongue. The power was begging to be set free.

So she let it go.

Pure white light shot out from her, searing through the chimera and disintegrating it almost immediately. There wasn’t much she could do to hide her grin when she heard its dying screech as it disappeared into nothingness. Even the black fog seemed to have cleared a little. Luna slowly stood up, the weight of her actions sinking in.

“You channeled light,” Helios whispered from behind her.

“I did,” she whispered, looking down at her hand; it still had a faint glow.

“How did you do it?”

“I don’t… I don’t know; it just happened. "Everything was so sudden." "I was feeling everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Suddenly, her eyes glowed a strong, bright white, almost as bright as the light she emitted, and memories she had long forgotten hit her all at once.

The long, phalllus-shaped appendage fell over Lucille's eyes before stiffening so that she slammed blindly into the approaching woman.

"Saint!" Lucille shrieked, pulling at the grinning snake that'd now fallen languidly, curling around her neck as Lucille kissed her knees, apologizing profusely to the scowling woman.

You didn't just bump into people in Armagetton; everyone kept their limbs to themselves—that is, if you weren't looking to lose said limb.

Esmeralda ignored Lucille's apology, her black orbits flashing as she scoffed a

"Watch it, gingerbread," she said, kicking a soiled napkin out of the way and strutting forward, the pointed edge of her chin jutting out.

The witch's long, glossy black hair swept the grime off a carpet behind her.

Gingerbread was a name Lucille had gotten after her very public, ill-fated affair with a Gingerbread man in her early teens—the weakest of the bottom fae—ended with the fae bounding off with a wealthy Babushka, leaving Lucille pining after him.

In her defense, the gingerbread man had made really delicious cupcakes.

Personally, Lucille found it embarrassing.

Lucille had seen the energy bulb the Witch fisted in her hands before she apologized; she could have probably taken the hag on, but it wouldn't do for Lucille to lose soul matter in another fight or be turned into a slime frog, not after the way her fight with that Gorgon—a fire-breathing bull covered in blue, spikey iron plates—still left a metallic taste in the roof of her mouth.

"You little shithead!" "You're going to get us killed!" Lucille whispered fiercely, pinching the smooth muscle of the snake that was chuckling derisively. Lucille's serpentine familiar had the same absinthe skin tone as her green, gold-specked eyes and her ill-fated taste for violence.

The darn thing had cuddled up to her the night her sister disappeared, but Lucille was already chumming up to it; she was sure she was breaking a self-preservation rule by keeping a snake as her familiar.

Most of the residents were crossing the lint-littered road to avoid Lucille, their purses cinched high enough that it bruised their lowered jaws, but a few folk-garbed disciples marched past her, their bulbous eyes never leaving her face. It was like they were trying to prove something to themselves.

The girl filled her diamond-studded nostrils with the rot of the city; the gnarled black roots that seemed to sprout like waterlogged tentacles from the cracks between the asphalt of the highway snagged the occasional car and gobbled it up, dragging it through the small cracks into the open mouth of whatever abomination lived beneath.

Armagetton was buzzing with filth and depravity, and Lucille loved it a lot more than was maybe wise to.

When a slime-slick root shot up, whipping through the sidewalk and snagging a few faeries, their high-pitched screams were cut off mid-squeal as they disappeared into the asphalt.

Lucille had skipped to the side, nearly breaking her newly-sharpened teeth as a bony hand reached out in the chaos to trip her over the heap of rubbish the other night's rain had strewn around.

She'd have kicked the darn thing if the appendage hadn't scurried off before she could react, with her only managing to huff out the sickly sweet smell of urine.

Lucille turned back to admire the carnage on the road, keeping her other eye on the sidewalk now. Once bitten, forever changed

It paid to speed on the highway; it was the only way to get across without losing any body parts or having The Circlers—some very scary, humanoid vulture birds that hung permanently over the stretch of road—munch on your soul. It was one of those things Lucille had learned from experience.

Lucille ambled to a stop at the gray light district, where anarchy music was pumping from the Devil's Lullaby and the building seemed to bounce from the intensity of the beats. Something about teenage angst and rebellion

It was the biggest nightclub in Armagetton, owned by that pompous brat of a rejected Demon Prince who was her best friend, Damon.

Lucille had heard his story: how he ran off from hell with his grand witch coven after their takeover of his father flopped, and how some of those witches he'd risked his neck for betrayed him by breaking out and starting their own cult. at the end of the streets.

It was also one of the reasons Lucille didn't do favors for Fae; usually it ended with a good ol' knife in the back.

She knew she would never ask him directly; he would tell her. when the time was right.

Saint had stopped hissing on her neck, and his muscular form had stiffened again.

He was bobbing his flat head, mesmerized by the purple and green disco lights that flashed continuously from the large apple-shaped building, casting a neon glow on the dead-eyed people prowling the stone-paved sidewalk.

Their eyes passed over the rift of dull, milky white light that shone straight on, at the outskirts of the city. Lucille felt the portal's heat from where she stood.

She heard Saint whisper a prayer and laughed at the irony before pushing into the bustling nightclub doors that flew open with a ding.

"Oi! Gingerbread! What's cooking good-looking?" Ofgar roared, high-fiving his 3 foot, 4 inch mates on the back like he'd done something spectacular, like confronting the neighborhood bully.

Lucille had the sudden urge to step on the thumb-sized Imp.

"Your mom's arse, Shrek," Lucille hissed as they glided past their now-quiet group, with Saint perched on her shoulder, hissing with satisfaction.

"You really showed him back there." Damon snickered when she reached the counter, where the pleased-looking demon was leaning casually, one bony asschee hanging from the high bar stool, and his pointy red tail whipping lazily behind him.

Shut it satan spawn.

Saint snapped in her head; of course Damon couldn't hear him; familiars could only communicate with their host in Armagetton. She mentally rolled her eyes at the snake.

Lucille gave Damon a look as she settled her own moderately shaped derriere on the small ledge of the brown rubber stool. It was like giving herself a plastic wedgie; her cheeks were pushing out on either side.

She thought Damon must have just fed; he was brimming with soul matter. Lucille wondered where he hung his humanoid skin; he wasn't wearing any now, not that he needed to; the club was his palace.

Damon's luminescent red eyes followed her as she ordered a bottle of ginseng and takeaway ttekboki before pricking her finger and allowing a few drops of her blood to sink into the barrel of resin on the counter. It wasn't like she had a choice; blood was currency in Armagetton, if you didn't have money, that is.

She could have sent it to Damon's tab; he ran the place after all, but Lucille was not keen on jumping into more debts. The red-bodied man was her friend, even though he didn't know it yet. And debt pacts with demons, however charming—and this one was very charming—were tricky.

Debtors usually end up shorthanded, losing more than they bargained for.

Benedict suddenly dropped his buff frame into the stool beside Lucille, clapping one tan hand on her back with enough force that her stool tethered to the side from his momentum.

"Lucille Arkavis, fancy seeing you here!" Benedict boomed, the corners of his lips twitching with a faint smile as he steepled his fingers on the countertop.

Lucille croaked before settling back on the chair gingerly; she didn't need to look to know that Damon had disappeared into the darkness. Werewolves and demons in Armagetton always had a bone to pick, most times it was human.