A few hours past the witching period, Ara was finally left alone where she took the chance to leave her room. 

It was during these times where the witches would patrol on the grounds, and Ara would rather avoid them and their suspicious glances. After knowing her identity, they usually let her be. After all, with her status as the Corpsewitch, she was somewhat of a being they had to worship, like a living deity. Even with Edith that had seemed to be the case; she'd be testy with her, but there was always this invisible line she never crossed. 

The coven was desperate and they needed her to stay, that was why.

She recalled from memory to reach the cellars on the lower floors, creeping down the spiral staircase near the entrance of the Whispering Chamber. The silence of night was cold to the touch, heightened even more so by the lingering spirits in the house. Before she left the room, she had whispered under her breath for them to distract any of the patrolling witches nearby. She didn't need people knowing where she was going or was about to do.

So far, the ghosts obeyed her every word.

With a quick wave of her hand over the doorknob, it gave way with a soft click. Etched in the middle of her palm was the mark of the coven, an insignia the shape of a Wych Elm leaf. It was now healed, its lines stark and dark against her skin and it still gave her flashbacks of the stinging pain when they first tattoed it on her. 

Quickly she pushed it open and slipped into the cellar before anyone else noticed, closing it behind her as she made her way deeper into the almost-pitch black space. Her hands reached for oil lamp hanging next to the door and she trudged. "Yunho?" she whispered, her heart was beating fast.

There was an audible grunt and Ara shone the light in that direction, and she a breath. 

Then she ran, towards where Yunho knelt. He was no longer gagged but his wrists were bound, and he seemed to be asleep. Ara hoped he was just sleeping. He seemed to be unharmed, but to think this was how he had been living for the past few days...there was both pain and anger brewing inside her.

"Yunho, wake up it's me," she knelt opposite him, her hands reaching out for his face to touch him. His breaths warm against her skin, he seemed to be strring. "It's me, Ara,"

His eyes slowly fluttered open, "Ara?" he said her name, and it made her heart skip. She missed his voice so much, it felt like years since she heard it and it felt just as wonderful. He was here, she no longer felt lonely in this place. She had hope.

"Yes, yes," she answered eagerly, lowering her head until his eyes met hers. And she brushed his cheek, "Oh my god, you're alive," she murmured before swallowing. "It's so good to see you. Don't worry, Yunho, we'll get out of here soon-"

"How do you know my name?" he suddenly asked when he was alert, his expression confused. "Why am I here?"

Ara stared, "Yunho? I-It's me, Ara,"

He frowned, "I feel like I should know you but I don't," and he glanced around. "Why am I here? Does Sofia know?"

"Sofia? You don't remember what Serafia did?" Ara asked, still in shock. I feel like I should know you but I don't.

Yunho shook his head, "I don't know who Serafia is, but when I woke up I ended up here. What's going on?"

Ara shook her head frantically, "Nonononono, what did she do to you? When you were a ghost, I could see you. We were..." she trailed off, unsure of what else to say. 

"A ghost?" he repeated. "I don't remember that ever happening, are we supposed to know each other? Listen, Mingi might get worried about me going missing, and I have no idea where I am," his voice was weary and lost like a person stranded at sea, and it broke Ara's heart.

As if her heart could still be broken further.

She nodded and continued holding his face, even though he looked unsure as to why she did that. "I'll find a way to get you out of here, we're gonna get out okay?"

He looked down, "You're this...Corpsewitch these people here have been talking about. They say you're going to kill me," he hesitated and looked at her palms. "Can I trust you?"

Of course you can, I'm still me. I'm not a Corpsewitch, and I'd never do anything to hurt you because I love you. With all my heart. Ara knew that was only half the truth, and she wanted to curl into a corner. 

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his tightly. "You said you felt like you should know me, well I do know you," she whispered. "I swear on my life, that I'll get you out of here. I promise."

Yunho looked back at her with the same intense expression, for a fleeting moment she let herself hope that he finally remembered. "Okay, I trust you,"

She bit the inside of her cheek before smiling faintly. "Okay, don't tell anyone I came here. I'll figure this out," And before he could see her face change, she hurried out the cellar. Ara wasn't sure what kept her going, or how fast she ran but within minutes she was back in her room.

She leaned against the door and slid down, her legs finally giving out. If it was possible for a heart to give out, this was close to that. Ara felt like she was drowning, and there was no way to climb to the surface. The ache was a gradual, seeping thing like a slow death or rope wrapping around her neck. She felt herself choking.

She realised she was uncontrollably crying.

It came out in bouts of sobs, as if she couldn't catch her breath; it hurt just moving.

I don't know you, his expression of fear and distrust when he called her 'the Corpsewitch', it haunted her mind as if she had become something unrecognizable. Ara wiped her tears and saw herself in the dusty mirror of her room, truly saw herself for the first time: The kohl around her eyes was smudged, dark circles underneath as if she hadn't slept in days (the dreams were part of the cause); her cheeks were sunken, and the black marks on her palms as a result of indoctrination into the Witch Elm. 

The realization frightened her.

Hongjoong, she thought desperately, in need for her brother more than ever now. It was foolish of her, she thought, to think this was something she could handle. And Yunho...

'We hear your sadness,' the voices whispered in her ears. 'It's fine to cry, to mourn, let the despair free.'

Ara wanted to reply 'No', but the voices only grew louder. The feeling of the current sweeping her away grew stronger. She was still crying, when she thought her tears had poured dry, still it seemed like a limitless dam broken and there was nothing to stop it.

She truly felt she had all the power in the world, it still brewed inside of her and yet—she felt like the loneliest person on Earth.

'You can cry, we can cry with you...'

Stop, please.

'We can cry together.'

As she sobbed, she didn't hear the mirror shatter, or the increasingly violent howls in the room. 

She was too far down the trench, and no one could save her from that.

"Something's wrong," Hongjoong stubbornly got up, despite Septimus' protests. The sudden chills down his spine was enough of an indication that Ara was in trouble, more than usual. "I have to go,"

But Septimus stood between him and the doorway of the drawing room they were in, where they had been in since Mingi and Elise had left earlier that day. Hongjoong wanted to follow them, but it was met with objections from all sides. "You're not fully healed, Hongjoong, it's too dangerous for you. Plus, I feel better that you'll be here when Jongho wakes up. I promise I'll make sure Ara is alright," Mingi had assured him.

"Do you not trust their word?" Septimus asked him, he seemed determined to keep him there, which was odd because this really didn't concern him. 

"It's not their word I don't trust, but what if they're too late?" he said wearily. "Ara's my sister, I know when she's in trouble. I don't know if you have any siblings, Prince Septimus, so you probably wouldn't understand-"

"-I don't, not entirely," he admitted. " Neither do I, uh, have strong attachments to many of my extended family tree. But I understand when someone is dear to you, and you'd give the world away to save them. Pardon me asking, what did happen to your mother? It seemed as though she has been absent throughout your life,"

Hongjoong bit his bottom lip, time was ticking and this really wasn't helping the situation. Still, he felt compelled to tell Septimus.

"Ara hardly remembers her, I just remember bits and pieces of her," he answered. "The person at the foster home telling us that we were separated because she went mad; Her appearing in my dreams constantly even after that, telling me to take her away or else danger will follow. It's a big city, and we hid whenever we could. And her having to deal with her powers when she was just a kid, it was tough,not being able to bear that burden with her,"

"Well she seemed very chirpy when we first met, didn't look like someone scarred by the things she sees," Septimus said.

Hongjoong sighed, "That's because she doesn't know everything, she thinks she does but that's not true," he didn't realise this talk would turn into him confronting his own past. All the things he'd done were catching up to him, everything happening now was partly his fault as well - and Ara didn't know that. 

Septimus studied him, "It's common knowledge that humans misuse their ability to lie, even the best. I never understood the concept of lying, even if it's in the best interests. What did you hide from her, apart from knowing what she was?"

"It wasn't exactly a lie," Hongjoong explained. "I wanted her to forget all that trauma she had when she was a kid. She'd wake up screaming because those things would haunt her in her sleep, they'd tell her how they died and pleaded for her to release them; she was a kid, she wouldn't know how to deal with that,"

"She told you all that?"

Hongjoong nodded, "She'd be crying and then we'd move again, she knows that much but not how much she used to go through as a kid. Humans would call that PTSD, she didn't need this...this curse from our mom. So when things became too much for her, all that screaming and she'd become catatonic at times," the memories made him sick. "I couldn't bear it either, so I made the decision to bring her to anyone who could make her forget; I asked and searched, I begged, and finally I found one who was willing to help, free of charge," and that person was Rocco, though Hongjoong didn't say that. The elfman had been kind, knowing Ara had only been a child and that had been the sole reason he was fine with Ara venturing into Aurora Square years later, he knew familiar people there.

He was grateful Rocco never told her about what he had done either.

"He blocked her memories, the frightening ones. Just like that, we carried on with life and everything was fine. But he warned me before, that every action will eventually have its opposite reaction. Those repressed memories, those unbearable feelings she buried inside her head would come back, even more so if she misused her powers. The more you allowed the spirits in, the more energy and power you're wringing-"

"-and the more unstable it becomes," Septimus finished the sentence, because he had already guessed it before. His blue eyes were fixated on Hongjoong, as if he was reading through his soul. "You're quite a man of secrets, aren't you, Kim Hongjoong?"

"I thought I did the right thing, and that we'd have more time to figure it out. Turns out I'm drowning in those secrets now," he let out a hollow laugh. "It's all my fault,"

As he was staring at the marble floor in guilt, he sensed Septimus approach him. He looked up, and it was truly the worst time to find Septimus' face awfully breathtaking, the way the light peeked through the blinds from outside and reflected off his cheekbones. He was drawn like a Renaissance painting, and Hongjoong found himself admiring his beauty like how one would admire fine art.

"I've helped you this far, Kim Hongjoong, it'd be a shame to stop now if I do not do so until the end," he answered.

Hongjoong stared, Septimus continued. "I'll help you rescue your sister, that is my oath to you,"

"Your Highness, I can't..." he said, he knew how seriously faeries took their oaths. He was at a lost for words and instead all he could say was, "Why?"

To that, Septimus simply smiled crookedly before looking away. "You know I cannot lie, Hongjoong, do you really wish to know?"

"Yes."

Just slightly, the prince hesitated. "When we care about someone or something, we'd do anything for them. I don't know why I care about making you happy, but I do."