"The only thing close to blood that fridge has in it is fruit punch." The old man clarifies as I nod in understanding.

"So... you just hunt for blood?" I ask king Atticus. Claire nods as I furrow my eyebrows at her.

"You're okay with him— hunting other females?" I ask, picking my words carefully. I can tell they're close by how her hand is still lingering on his chest, and how he looks at her. The sparkle in his eyes is similar to the sparkle in my mother's eyes when she was looking at our father's pictures. Claire frowns and glances at him, as he smiles gently at her.

I guess she hadn't thought much of asking him about it until now, she probably assumed something different.

"I only hunt animals." King Atticus says as I pause for a second.

"Like Edward Cullen?" I blurt out as he sighs. Claire laughs at his expression.

"You really need to show me these movies everyone keep referencing." He mutters as Claire pats him soothingly. I turn around and walk to the fridge and start to rummage through it like I own the house.

"Now... let's get down to business. " I say rubbing my palms together.

"Ohhhh is that beef stew?!" The other man squeals, running next to me and grabbing a Tupperware container. Claire gives Atticus a look, and I take note of it. Either this girl is serious about her beef stew— or this man did something serious to get on her bad side. Be wary of him. I say to myself as I extend my hand towards him.

"I'm Viola." I flash a grin as he rips open the container and gives me his hand.

"I'm Valdus. Hey, we both have V's in our name,V twins!" He says playfully as I nod.

"Oh good god." The old man mutters and waves at me. He stares at Valdus warily.

"That old fart is Merlin." Valdus says with a mouthful of beef stew. I wrinkle my nose and sigh.

"Do they deliver pizza to this dimension?" I ask, turning to look at Kilian with a disappointed look. He grins at me.

"Why ask for a delivery when you have a wish granting demon in your presence?" He says gesturing to himself. I rake my eyes over his hands, taking in what he just said. Slowly my disappointment morphs into confusion. Did I hear him correctly?

"So you're telling me", I take a step towards him. "That this entire time, you could've made food appear? Like abbra Caddabbra?like sham whizam?" I wave my hands around as he holds in a smile.

"My dear child, that isn't how demon magic works. In fact— I don't think that's how any magic of any kind works. There is no such incantation as abbra caddabbra." Merlin states with a frown. I sigh and rub my temples.

"I want a pizza with mushroom, green peppers, and pepperoni. I've never tried cheese stuffed crust, can I add that?" I ask Kilian with bright hopeful eyes. To that, he flashes me a grin.

"Your order is my command." He says, eyes never leaving mine— which has become quite a habit lately. Eye contact is always intense with us. Merlin watches us through skeptical eyes, as if trying to figure us out.

But, what was there to figure out?

An hour later and full stomachs all around— except for our mother, who was too concerned to eat— We finally get down to business.

"Guys, cracking jokes and getting to know everyone is great— it really is. I've never really had a lot of people to talk to, not even pets." I give a small smile as I'm talking. "But I have to say, the reason I came is much more serious than jokes and quality time." I finish, clasping my hands on the counter in front of me.

Kilian leans against the wall with his arms folded against his chest, watching as I catch everyone's attention.

"I didn't just come to know about the prophecy and tell you guys that dad is missing— I actually came to learn about the war. To my understanding, the prophecy tells something of a war?" I ask, my full attention on the king of Holdrex. He squirms under my teenage angst ridden stare. Huh, looks like my raccoon eyeliner eyes are working.

"War and destruction will be abrupt when-

Ice and flame paired one in the same.

Cold blooded killer, might be ruin- might fulfill her.

Darkness to the light, Illuminates sight.

Grave and stone, down to the bone-

Mayhap and wonder, those who go under.

Reluctant paths, seize the maps.

Save the war, with the spirit of the door.

Only those who go in will find their true kin-

Dark and light, those who must fight.

Join the war, with the element- Amor. " I say out loud and it sounds rehearsed by now. Seared into my mind as a child, it wasn't something I could ever forget. Especially not 'ice and flame paired in the same' when it was so painfully obvious that I was ice. I was part of the prophecy, and part of why there was a war brooding.

"Who? I need to know who we're up against. Who is this potential war against?" I ask, starting to feel like I was the only one talking at this point. I bite my lip, my anxiety starting to spread to my fingertips and numbing my tongue. I needed to know who it was we were up against.

Was there a chance that they could've known about the prophecy and kidnapped my father? Did he leave willingly? I needed to know these things. So much of a puzzle that could be solved by King Atticus giving Kilian and I some answers.

He seemed like the secretive type, especially at this moment. Claire was fidgeting with her hands as they glanced at each other in nervousness.

"Come on," I persist with a smile. "They can't be that bad." I let out a nervous laugh as King Atticus takes a breath.

"It's not who we're up against in a potential war," he trails off as the gears in my head start turning. My eyes widen as I figure what he's trying to tell me.

"No." I whisper, dread spreading through me, feeling as cold as my own ice. spiraling out of control through my veins and killing any kind of happiness high I was feeling a moment before. Kilian pushes himself off of the wall and looks at me in question as the king finishes what he was going to say.

"It's not a potential war— because this war has already begun. " He finishes.

"And it doesn't look like it's ending any time soon."

I swallow the dryness in my throat, realizing what this meant.

We were too late to stop the prophecy— it had already begun.

Now it wouldn't be over until one of us ended it.

War and destruction wasn't far behind— and there would be nothing that any of us could do, except for fight.

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