The look on Mr. Blackthorn’s face when he opened the door was less than amused.

“You know, when Headmaster Xavier said that seniors should return to school bright and early Monday morning, he didn’t mean 2 am.” He said as he ushered us inside his living quarters.

Like most of the faculty and council members, Isaiah chose to live here at Lixierra. And although his house wasn’t as extravagant as the houses given to the royal students, it was still impressive.

“Sorry to disturb you so early Mr. Blackthorn, but we need your help and we couldn’t wait until morning.” Chanyeol said, an apologetic look on his face.

“Are those duck pajamas?” I, clearly, wasn’t as apologetic.

“Yes.” Isaiah cleared his throat as he sat down on the soft leather sofa in his living room.

"They're cute.” I nodded once.

“I presume you did not come here at this hour to critique my choice of nightwear?” He gestured for us to take a seat.

“No.” Chanyeol said, giving me a chastising look. “We discovered something important that we couldn’t trust anyone else with.”

“I’m all ears.” In all honesty he looked half asleep but I didn’t have it in me to blame him. It was the middle of the night and if I hadn’t come to a life shattering discovery less than an hour ago I would be pissed too.

“I don’t know how to say this. It sounds ridiculous… You’ll probably think we’re crazy.” Chanyeol spluttered unsurely.

“I’m Ahri Infernus, the not so dead, dead queen.” I declared with a huff.

“Well that’s one way to do it.” Chanyeol said under his breath.

Mr. Blackthorn suddenly shot out of his seat, his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. It would have been hilarious if I weren’t slowly losing my mind.

“Come again?” He asked, his eyes darting between Chanyeol and I.

“It turns out that I don’t just look like her, I am her.” I shook my head, not believing the words that were coming out of my own mouth.

“And how did you figure that out?” Isaiah kneeled in front of me, his hands on either side of the sofa, his lips tugged in a bright smile.

“Well, I have been having these weird dreams for a long while now. Dreams about the academy, my friends, my powers… Earlier tonight I told Chanyeol about a dream I had of him and he told me that it was not a dream. It was a memory he shared with Ahri and the only way I’d know about it is if I were there. Which would make sense, since I don’t remember anything about my life before I woke up at the Ignises 2 years ago. Oh yeah and also apparently I have a third element I can control aside from fire and water… ” My rambling was cut off short when I noticed the excited look on Isaiah’s face. He jumped to his feet again and started pacing along the living room, the drowsiness of sleep clearly long gone.

“Finally.” He exclaimed. “This has taken longer than we first anticipated but no matter.” He clapped his hand enthusiastically.

“I’m sorry what did you just say?” Chanyeol asked at the same time that I blurted out: “What the hell are you talking about?” Apparently the lack of sleep finally got to me.

“Language young lady.” Isaiah chastised flippantly.

“Language my old man. Did you know about this?”

“Of course I knew. How do you suppose you ended up at Nathaniel and Genevieve’s house?” Isaiah rolled his eyes. “I found you that night two years ago, you were badly injured and barely hanging on. I took you out of the kingdom and healed you.”

“Wait, my parents know too?” I rose slowly from my seat and started pacing. “Is that what the conversation you had with my dad at the infirmary was about?” I remembered that day clearly, I was trying to sneak out of the academy’s infirmary to check on my friends after the attack, and I overheard Mr. Blackthorn and my dad talking about someone being in danger. I had no idea at the time of what that conversation entailed but now everything made sense in a way.

“You heard that?” Isaiah asked absentmindedly.

“Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?” Chanyeol stood up from his seat and walked over to me. He put his hands on my shoulders to stop my pacing and made me look up at him. “Lilith, I need you to calm down okay? Can you do that for me?”

I hadn’t even noticed that my breathing was irregular but as soon as Chanyeol pointed it out I recognized the beginning of an anxiety attack. I took several deep breaths and focused my attention on the living room, trying to get my mind off of my current situation. Once my breathing went back to normal I nodded to Chanyeol -who was still holding on to me- and went back to my seat.

“Alright Mr. Blackthorn, you have our full attention. Tell me everything from the beginning.”

Isaiah took a deep breath as if trying to get all of his thoughts in order, then took a seat on a plush chair opposite me and Chanyeol.

“The night of the attack, 2 years ago, I was taking a walk after the final battles. It was customary that the faculty and council members be present during the trials of the new queen, so we were all present in Agni. I watched you fight like the warrior that you are, and I watched you win like I knew you would from the beginning. You were always extraordinarily powerful, more than you could even realize, and since I trained you since you were a child, I had no doubt in my mind that you would win the battle.”

“Once the celebrations started, I took my leave and went for a walk. I never liked the fanfare of the celebrations and crowded areas were not my thing. On my way out, I saw you slip out of the castle as well.” He gave me a knowing look.

“I was on my way to meet Chanyeol.” I smiled when I remembered the dream, or memory, of sneaking out.

“But you never made it.” Chanyeol’s somber tone made me look up to find a heartbroken look on his face.

“No, she never did.” Isaiah confirmed. “I heard the scream before I saw anything, but when I got to the alley I was too late. The attackers, whoever they were, were long gone and all that was left was the stench of the Grim ones and you bleeding out on the concrete.”

“Wait, what?” Chanyeol’s confusion was palpable. “What do you mean? Were the Grim ones involved in this?”

“That knowledge was never made public in fear of an uprising or a war with the underworld. But yes, after thorough investigations the royals came to the conclusion that whoever killed you -or tried to- was aided by those horrid creatures.” Isaiah looked at me then. “What do you remember of that night?”

“Not much.” I cleared my throat of the lump that was starting to form in it. “Everything I remember came to me in the form of a recurring nightmare. I was surrounded by the Grim ones and couldn’t find a way out. A girl came out of the shadows and used black magic to paralyze me. My powers were useless and I could do nothing but watch as she stabbed me.” I touched my chest, the phantom feeling of pain throbbing right above my heart. “Right here.”

“Do you know who she was?” Isaiah asked.

“Yes. I knew who she was and I remember the feeling of betrayal coursing through me.”

“Do you remember her?” Chanyeol’s tone was laced with barely suppressed anger.”

“No.” I sighed.

“What about the murder weapon? What was it?”

“It was a dagger, it looked a little like the daggers displayed in the royal armory of Agni, but it has these black markings on the hilt.”

“How do you know about the armory?” Chanyeol raised one eyebrow questioningly.

“I may have done a little exploring while you were with your family.” I smiled sheepishly.

“I thought you were trying to avoid the royal family?” He laughed.

“Well I didn’t run into any royals so I’d say that mission was a success.”

“What about the markings?” Isaiah piped up, bringing our attention back to the subject of my attempted murder. “What did they look like?”

“At first I thought they were carved on the hilt, but then they started moving and floating around the gem. They were intricately designed and extremely powerful.”

“That makes sense.” He hummed thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol voiced out my thoughts.

“Well when I found you, I tried to trace the origin of the magic I felt once I realized the grim ones were involved. I could tell that it was black magic but the blade was not meant to kill you. Its magic was meant to incinerate you. I guess whoever stabbed you didn’t have the patience to stick around and wait for the spell to take effect. Once the dagger was pulled out of your heart the spell slowed down enough for me to heal you.”

“Incinerate?” Chase balled up his fists. “They wanted to burn her alive?”

“Well she would have been dead by the time she turned to ashes with the whole ‘dagger in her heart’ situation, but yes that was the idea.”

“Then how come they found her ashes in that alley?”

“That was my doing.” Isaiah stood up and started pacing again. “Once I realized whoever stabbed her was expecting her to burn, I used a few spells to turn the blood that was on the floor into ashes and to conceal my magic. Once the ashes were ready I knew that whoever tested them for magic residue would know it was hers since it was made out of her blood. I made sure my spells didn’t mess with the residues on the scene and I used a portal to get Lilith and I out of Agni. Once we were safely concealed from the magical realms I healed her and entrusted her to the Ignis family.”

“Why didn’t you bring her back once she was healed? Why didn’t you say anything?” Chanyeol stood up as well, the anger he was suppressing clearly about to explode.

“The healing process was not instantaneous. The magic that was used on her was dark and vile, and as a result her powers dimmed down considerably to the point where I thought they were drained completely. I checked up on her daily for three weeks as she was unconscious and I saw no sign of her powers reviving. She had to heal like a mortal and it took too long we thought she wouldn’t make it. When she finally woke up she had no powers, and her memories were foggy and distorted so I locked them away.”

“What does that mean?”

“I put a spell on you. It locked your memories away until your powers could be restored.”

“You’re kidding me.” I whispered more to myself than to my mentor who was standing a few feet away with a cautious look on his face. “So you’re telling me, I had to live two years of my life not knowing who I was or what I was because you put a spell on me?” I shot out of my seat, anger overtaking every cell in my body. “I lived in constant fear and agony for TWO years, wondering about my family, my friends, my memories because you used your magic to lock everything I have ever known away? Why would you do that?”

“Your life was in danger. You were powerless against whoever tried to kill you! Hell, you weren’t even able to stand without Genevieve’s help. You wanted me to bring you back to Agni with a killer on the loose when you could barely remember your name? I did what I had to do to protect you. I had no idea your powers would be dormant for that long! I had no way of knowing and the more time passed by the more I started doubting they’d ever come back.” Isaiah’s composure was long gone by now and for the first time I saw my mentor lose his temper.

“So, what? You wiped my memory and dyed my hair?” I twirled a piece of my platinum locks in my fingers. “That was your bright idea to keep me safe?” I scoffed.

“I didn’t wipe your memories.” Isaiah rolled his eyes, speaking slowly as if he was addressing a four year old. “I locked them away until you got your powers back. And I didn’t touch your hair; it changed colors when your powers were drained.” He shrugged. “We don’t know how or why it happened but we can’t deny it was convenient.”

“Yeah, top notch incognito mode. Good job 007.” Chanyeol whispered under his breath.

“Why didn’t you at least tell my family?”

“Because I couldn’t trust anyone. Someone in the kingdom that night opened a portal to the underworld and used black magic to try and kill you, most likely the same person who orchestrated the attack on the academy. I didn’t know who to trust with the queen’s safety when it was clear that we had a traitor in our midst. So I trusted no one.”

“So you think the traitor is from Agni?” Chanyeol asked, his temper once again under control.

“Not necessarily. There were a lot of people in Agni that night, people from all around the world, anyone could have done it.”

“Alright, so if you locked away my memories, how come I had that nightmare every night for 2 years? And why have they been resurfacing lately?”

“Spells are not exact science my dear. I did my best to lock all those memories away but you had been through trauma that your brain tried to process so it manifested itself in nightmares. As for the other memories, the spell tied them to your powers.”

“So when my powers started emerging again, so did the memories.” I finished for him.

“Exactly.” Isaiah smiled proudly. “Now that you have 3 of your 4 elements back, your memories are emerging to the surface. As soon as the spell is broken you’ll remember everything.”

“Will she remember who did this to her?” Chanyeol’s voice was hopeful with a tinge of barely suppressed resentment. I suppose he was as eager as everyone to finally find out the culprit behind this whole mess.

“Maybe. When she woke up she had no idea who did this to her but that could be because her brain was trying to protect itself from the trauma the accident brought with it. I didn’t lock that memory away because she didn’t remember in the first place so this could go either way.”

Taking a few steps towards me, Isaiah brought his hands out and put his palms on either side of my head.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

“Oh we’re doing this right now? Alright.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to rid