Sarah Everild's POV

We followed a strangely acting Roselea back through the halls of the castle until we hit its centre. She was dancing around the room like a maniac. Each time she swung her arm, a vine produced from the floor and destroyed something.  She wasn't acting like herself, it was like she was possessed.

As she spun, she changed. She now droned a Ruby red dress, slim fitting her body. Her hear was teased and reddened, as were her eyes and Fae marks. She looked as much as herself as her actions presented.

"Who are you and what did you do with my daughter?" I heard Jareth Eden say. It seemed he agreed with my thoughts, this was not Roselea.

"But daddy, I am your daughter" The Roselea figure said, at first looking sad, but then a wicked laugh escaped. "Technically anyways."

I was about to ask what she meant by that, but Sarah beat me to it. I guess were alike in more ways than just appearance.

The figure just cocked Roselea's head and grinned, but Jareth answered for it. "Shes been possessed." 

The words sent shivers down my spine. She wasn't acting possessed, she was possessed. But by who?

A circle of fire erupted around the room, blocking all the exits. Jareth Eden was the next to speak.

"Flare."

As he said the name, the stories Roselea had told me about flare flooded into my mind. Flare kidnapping her, Roselea banishing him... "But I thought Roselea banished him? Or, at least that's what she told me."

"She did, but it didn't take." Roselea, no, Flare shrugged as though it was nothing, then the grin reappeared. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd rather like to skip the whole family reunion catch up thing, and just get to the killing each other part."

Jareth and I both looked at each other, then used our crystals to summon swords. Jareth Eden did this too, summoning a sword for both himself and Sarah.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Flare, cocking an eyebrow at us. "You can't hurt me without hurting your precious Roselea."

I realised he was right, but before I could say anything, Jareth Eden charged the figure of his daughter, and we all followed suit.

We barely got within 10 feet of Roselea before vines erupted from the floor and threw themselves towards them. After fighting in the battle for the labyrinth, i continued to train with Jareth. He said I wouldn't need to as we should never come under attack again, but I convinced him to spar with me after telling him I rather enjoyed it and that if he didn't I would get Gareth or Ruby to train me. Given the situation I now found myself in, I was glad we had continued to train.

The vines came toward me with such speed I could barely see them, but that didn't matter. My senses took over and I fought my way through the vines, deflecting them with ease while also finding openings to slash at them. I took a moment to look around the room to see both Jareth's fighting to my left, and Sarah to my right.

I thought we were making good headway towards Roselea, but then looked forward to find we had actually been pushed back. As bad as I felt for it, I was glad. I didn't know what we would do if we actually reached Roselea. I cleared this thought from my mind and continued fighting the never ending vines.

I looked around again to find that the fire border that had earlier prevented us from leaving was now gone, but had been replaced by vines weaved together to keep us in.

I was brought back to the others when I heard a yell at either side of me and looked to see Jareth Eden and Sarah pinned to the walls by vines.

There was a laughing sound from Flare, and the rapid fire of vines subsided. Jareth and I stood facing Roselea's body, the presence of Flare was evident in her somehow.

We raised our swords once again, but before we could charge more vines erupted from the floor. two taking hold of Jareth's arms and two taking my own.

Flare flicked Roselea's eyes over us in a way that made my blood run cold, then another vine erupted from the floor, heading right for... oh no...

I heard a chorus of yells from the others in the room and waited, eyes closed, for the vine to follow its course and run me through. But the blow never came, and I opened my eyes as a light thump sounded in front of me.

Somehow Sarah Williams had come free of the vines that were binding her, and she had jumped between me, and the one that had been set to hit me, leaving her slumped on the floor at my feet.

In the confusion, myself and Jareth took the opportunity to slash ourselves free of our bounds. Jareth charged the newly forming vines between us and the Flare possessed Roselea.

I was vaguely aware of the fighting noises beside me as I crouched beside Sarah but as I opened my mouth to ask her why, she gestured to my stomach, and then to her own that was now bleeding. The baby. She did it to protect the baby. Just then, Sarah gestured to something else of the floor beside us. 

I reached to pick it up.

"An iron rod?" I asked. She had been carrying it, but why.

"Pure Metal. Flare is a ghost." was all she said, and all she needed to say.

Just as Jareth Eden joined me at Sarah's side, I stood. I didn't know how I was doing it, but I ran through the vines without being hit or slowed by a single one of them, then I saw my opening.

I pushed off the floor, spinning to avoid a vine, and impaled the iron rod deep into Roselea's arm until it came out the other side.

There was a yell, and a small appetence of fog around Roselea's body and when it cleared there were two forms stood in front of me. One was the form of Roselea, a little banged up and with blood trickling down her arm from where the iron rod produced, the other figure was a man I did not know by appetence, but I knew without a shadow upon a doubt who he was.

"Flare." I heard Jareth Eden from the other side of the room, confirming my suspicions. 

In one quick movement, Flare lunged towards Jareth Eden, but was stopped short when he was encircled by crystals. I looked over to see Roselea holding her good arm out, controlling the crystals.

"What are you going to do, banish me again? In case you hadn't noticed, that didn't work out so well the last time." Flare said, the vicious sneer of a cornered animal gracing his face.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do." Roselea said with confidence I could only dream of having. It was not the confidence of an inured, recently possessed young girl, it was the confidence of a fully grown warrior woman or a queen ruling over a kingdom while sentencing someone who had committed heinous crimes.

"I will banish you, but this time, I will not tie the spell to something so easily manipulated." When she said this, Flare's face dropped revealing a slight look of fear to fall upon his features. "I will tie your banishment... to you. You shall be banished from this realm, and your spirit returned to your body that is still in limbo, and this time the only thing that will be able to undo your curse, is your death."

"No..." Flare weakly cried out.

"Yes." Roselea said, stepping forward. "The spell will be tied to your life force. When you die, so will the spell, but by then it'll be too late for you to do anything. And I wouldn't try becoming a ghost either. If you do, the spell will reawaken, keeping you trapped there in a ghost form. This spell is absolute. It follows the laws of magic, and there is no way out."

There was a cry from Flare, and a flash of light. When it cleared, flare was gone, and Roselea collapsed to the ground.

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the late update, I've been finding it really hard to write, and sadly it looks like it will not get much better as I will be heading off to university in a few months.

Some good news though, or at least it is for myself and also Katarina I'm sure, and that is that this book is soon to be completed.

But dont worry, though I may be busy I do intend to continue writing, as I'm sure Katarina does too, and more importantly we will still be here to answer your messages, and read your fanfictions.

Thanks for reading,

Arubella Di Angelo

(Formerly Labyrinth10123)