It was a long and difficult journey getting to the palace. Victoria knew it would be. Not only physically, since she had to hike over mountains and through forests filled with animals she had never seen before and couldn't know if they were about to kill her. She had always been safe in the city even after Wesley had been killed. Protected but also watched carefully she suspected, by Arthur. And even the tiniest creatures in the forests of this planet could sometimes be surprising. Sharp teeth and a thirst for blood. 

She also had to navigate away from the buzzing, almost whisper, in her head that told her she shouldn't come closer. A simple type of repeller that was used only for the weak-minded. So many things had changed about their bodies that she was shocked that this type of device would still work on here. Here in this place. 

That was one of the psychological effects she had to deal with. But far from the only one. She spent the time also thinking of her family. Her children, especially Jongin, whom she left alone in the city to try and fend for themselves. She knew his sisters could take care of him, but she was still worried. But he was the whole reason she had left. To find the palace, her brothers and the tree. Because, she needed to. She had to help Jongin and everyone else. She couldn't just do nothing. She thought bitterly about Wesley's meaningless death. He hadn't even been doing anything. He'd never even tried. And suddenly, one day, he was gone and he hadn't even witnessed Jongin's first jump. 

She wasn't going to do the same. If she was going to die, she would do it in attempt to help the new 12 defeat the red force that would one day overpower them as it had done in that other place so long ago. When they had thought of themselves as gods. And when all of that changed, she'd been torn. It was a chance to start over but it also meant that without Wesley's power, he couldn't protect them anymore. He'd never been very ambitious or powerful even special as he had been, and afterward he hadn't cared one bit. And soon she became frustrated, annoyed and eventually resented him for it. He should have been a good father and a powerful man in any company he worked for. But he was neither. Just a helpless and shameful shell who couldn't care less about the value of his life. 

*

 
He looked at her with surprisingly calm eyes. As if he knew this would happen all along. But she hadn't until recently, even fathomed the idea of killing the man she had once loved. The father of children that were still far from grown up. And seeing him the way he was now broke her heart completely. His breathing shallowed then stopped completely as he still stared at her till the very end. When she moved to press his eyelids down is when she finally let the tears slide down her face. 

But she didn't allow herself to cry for too long. She had to move quickly. She picked up the phone and dialled the number on the paper she clutched in her hand. "It's done." She spoke softly. "Come get him before our children come home."

The man on the other end assured her there would be someone there shortly and that it would never be traced back to her. At this point, she didn't care anymore. There was no going back in time. Only forward. 

*

She knelt there on the cold floor. The giant double doors so solid and blocked off to her as she suspected they always would be. But what if, gods what if, she could have only had a peek inside?

Her hands were bound long before. Her one kneecap broken in her attempt to fight her pursuers. So now she knelt in agony she would not show. Her brothers would never see her cringe. But inside there was the ache of longing from almost grasping the being she most longed to possess. 

"He would kill you, you know." Philip said. As if she needed to be reminded. She knew full well what Arthur was capable of. "But.. I wouldn't have allowed it." He continued as he squatted eye-level. His fingertips grazed her chin as another set roughly gripped her hair. A hard and sharp object pressed firmly against her exposed throat. Another -softer- voice whispered into her ear. 

"We wouldn't have allowed it." And as the sharp blade pierced her soft flesh, she felt cheated but also thankful that it was her brothers and not Arthur that had brought her out of her misery.