Pristine white walls and exquisite marble floors flowed down hallway after hallway. Each one held countless paintings, sculptures, photographs, and anything in between. Works of Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, and the greats were illuminated by white light. As Lilly strolled past them all, it was almost impossible not to gawk at their brilliance. She found that there were more pieces she didn't recognize than ones she did. Perhaps these were the masterpieces forgotten by history and taken by time.

Cushioned light blue benches ran down the middle of each corridor. There were very few souls that occupied the museum, but Lilly knew that even if filled to the brim, she would've recognized her mother anywhere. Her breath caught in her throat the moment she spotted the woman sat alone before a gold-framed oil painting. It couldn't have been more than two feet wide and depicted two women and a man performing music in a grand parlor.

Lilly took a hesitant step forward, and Evelyn must've sensed her because before she could prepare herself, Evelyn turned her head and met her gaze. Lilly's throat bobbed. The first emotion to cross her mother's face was confusion. Her face scrunched in an achingly familiar way that reminded Lilly of her childhood. Then her blue eyes brightened with a spark of uncontainable glee.

For a split second, it was like looking in the mirror, and Lilly felt a stab of shame at the reminder that she had begun to forget her mother's face. But, watching her now, it all came flooding back. She didn't care about the times they'd fought or when she hadn't been there for her. All she knew was that here she stood, the picture of grace and intelligence. If Lilly were to reach out, she would feel smooth skin, warm and tangible, and if she rested her head upon her chest as she had as a child, there would be a steady thumping heartbeat.

"Hi, Mum." She whispered, her voice thin and broken. Her pink lips quivered with emotion, and somehow, Evelyn's smile grew.

"Lilly." It was as if Evelyn was greeting her after she'd run off to the garden, and soon she'd offer her a cup of tea and allow her a single sugar cube as she always did. Tea parties had been a staple in their home growing up. Evelyn had even set up a tea table in the back garden just for her.

A heavy sob ripped out from her chest. Lilly threw a hand to her mouth as thick tears streamed down her cheeks. Startled, Evelyn stood and hurried over to her. She wore an all-white suit set, perfectly tailored to her, and hugging her thin frame. It was the sort of suit one would pay thousands for on earth. Her high heels tapped on the floor as she stopped before her daughter. The moment her arms wrapped around her, Lilly melted into her like water on dry soil.

"What happened? Why are you here?"

"I'm not-- well, I am, but-- I'm not dead, exactly."

"What have you gotten mixed up in now?" Evelyn sighed, almost like she was disappointed, but a small smile still curved her lips. She was more resigned to her daughter's troublesome tendencies than anything. Lilly had the sense to look bashful, and her mother chuckled. "Come, sit. Tell me everything." Lilly let Evelyn guide her to the bench with a grounding hand on her back. They sat for what must've been nearly an hour while Lilly told her everything that had happened since Evelyn was killed. How they'd managed to kill The Beast, and Lilly had found Elias and The Valley. Then the reason she sat in The Underworld at that very moment.

"I can't believe you met my birth parents." Evelyn shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Me neither." Lilly squeezed her and grinned. "Elias, he's the greatest grandfather. I wouldn't have made it through all of this without him."

"I'm so glad you aren't alone." Evelyn reached a hand up to cup her daughter's cheek, and Lilly pushed down another round of crying. She wiped at her cheeks despite them being dry.

"Is Alex here?" Lilly asked, looking around the gallery as if she expected him to walk out and surprise her with his gigantic puppy dog grin and sparkling dark eyes.

"He was." Evelyn's lips quirked in pity as Lilly's lips dipped into a frown. "Moved on not long ago."

"Why are you still here, then? He died after you did."

"Crossing over isn't first-come, first-serve. Alex was fortunate. He was entirely unaware of his possession. The last thing he remembered was sitting in the dungeons of Fillory, and then, poof! He was dead." Evelyn made a poof gesture with her hands, and Lilly nodded. She was disappointed and couldn't hide it. But she was also thankful that he had found peace.

"So, he didn't feel it? He didn't see what happened?" She thought back to the gruesome details of her mother's death, how The Beast had possessed Alex and used his body to slaughter Evelyn.

"Not a thing. His passing was as easy as falling asleep."

"That's good." Lilly ran the back of her hand beneath her eyes. "But, you didn't have that." For the first time, Evelyn's smile faltered. Her eyes glazed as if reliving the very moment her life brutally ended.

"No, no it wasn't." Her tone was as fragile as glass.

"I'm so sorry, mum." Lilly squeezed her hand, and Evelyn turned her palm skyward to intertwine their fingers.

"Darling, it is not your burden to bear."

"It was my fault he found you. I should've--"

"There is nothing you could have done to stop it. I'm just grateful that Alex didn't witness what that Beast used his body to do." "I still have healing to be done. It may be a while before it's my time to go, but it will be worth it. I'm glad I got to see my baby one last time before I go." Lilly glanced again at the painting they sat before. Beneath it was a metal placard labeled,

Joannes Vermeer, The Concert, c1666

"I spent my life dreaming of seeing this again. I saw it when I was young. Only a few months before it was stolen. It was never recovered."

"It was taken in the Isabella Stewart Gardner heist, right?" Evelyn nodded.

"You brought me a book from there when I was seven." Lilly smiled wistfully. "It's still in my room at Brakebills."

"Are you happy? In your life?" Lilly took a moment to ponder this. She stared at the painting, studying the imperfect brush strokes and earthy tones. Her mind ran over the people and places that made up her reality. Penny, Elias, Margo, Eliot, Ava, all of them were part of her family.

"I am." Evelyn smiled proudly and pulled Lilly closer to place a loving kiss on her forehead. The tranquility couldn't last forever, and as they pulled away, a shrill beeping echoed from her pocket and down the hall. Lilly pulled the pager from her back pocket and deflated.

"Go, you have a life to get back to."

"Will you come to say goodbye? At the Elevator?"

I wouldn't miss it." Lilly stood and took in the sight of her mother once more.

"I love you," she said, and it was more than just a declaration. It was a thank you.

"I love you, too." Lilly left the gallery, feeling at once unburdened and torn apart.

As it turns out, the Shades were kept in Hades and Persephone's mansion at the very edge of The Underworld. Elysium, it was called. Lilly remembered it from all her studies of Greek Mythology in College. This was where only the greatest heroes resided. Only an act of true greatness could grant you an afterlife of pure happiness and peace there. Demigods and their families were among the residents of the Elysian Fields.

It was easier to sneak in than she would've thought. But then again, how many people sneaked into the underworld of their own free will? Deep mahogany floors and pink floral wallpaper covered every surface of the interior. Crystal chandeliers, antique clocks, and artifacts that must've been millions of years old at least were on display for all to see. It could've all been a depressing mix of history and cavernous finery, but the halls of Persephone's mansion were filled with joyous laughter. Children anywhere from five to eleven ran about in mindless games. Lilly had to swerve to avoid two little boys sprinting down the hall and shrieking with laughter.

"You're it!" one called and rounded the corner while the other shouted in protest.

"It's like a Shade orphanage," Quentin muttered, his eyes trailing over every detail of the house warily. They stepped through a set of white painted french doors into what must've been the sitting room. A pair of children played chess on one of the pink settees. The pieces moved across the board with nothing but a glance from them. Now that Lilly thought about it, all the children were using magic. A red-headed girl by the window was making a rose bloom into scarlet with the twist of her fingers.

"We should hurry. We're running out of time. We should split up." Julia suggested, stopping just inside the room.

"I kind of have a thing about splitting up in houses full of creepy kids." Quentin flinched as the children playing tag zipped by without warning. Lilly nodded in agreement. While she didn't believe these children, or shades, had a malicious bone in their little bodies, she didn't trust that they were the only things in this place.

"After The Plover Estate, I have a thing about splitting up at all." A shiver ran up her spine, and she instinctively clutched her clock necklace as the memory of those poor murdered children raced through her mind. Quentin shot her a look of concern, but she avoided his gaze by scanning the room dutifully for any sign of Julia or Alice's shades. There were about fifteen children in the sitting room alone, but there was no shock of straight blonde hair or anyone who looked remotely like the woman standing beside her. Yet when her eyes landed on the love seat tucked into the corner, her breath caught. Her stomach dropped to her feet, and her eyes widened to saucers.

"Oh my God," she whispered. Quentin placed a hand on her arm, and even that couldn't tear her gaze from the boy sitting across the room.

"What? What- holy shit." He'd seen it too, she thought. She wasn't hallucinating. The boy was pale, with a spattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His dark hair was cropped short and fell in curtains to the sides of his forehead. A ten-dollar bill floated in the air as his hands dipped and twirled like that of a musical conductor. Mouth quirked to the side thoughtfully, mossy green eyes fixated on it with complete undivided attention.

"That's Martin Chatwin's Shade." Lilly's lips hung open. Her face was devoid of anything other than complete shock. The paper money floated down towards the coffee table like a feather, disappearing into a ripple of reality before it could settle on the surface. This Martin was quite a few years younger than the one they'd met in past Fillory. He mustn't have been more than ten, with a tiny frame and innocence to him that the teen Martin had lacked. This was the light of Martin Chatwin, the part of him that helped them find Jane in Fillory, the part that just wanted to escape to a world of magic and adventure. This was what The Beast had been missing, what he saw as a weakness, rather than what made him strong, and true, and good.

As if summoned by the mention of his name, the boy lifted his eyes and caught sight of them. A brilliant smile curled his lips, and a glint of excitement bloomed behind his eyes. Martin jumped up from the loveseat and sprinted towards them.

"Lilly!" he cried like she was his best friend. Before she could register any of these events, Martin threw himself into her torso and wrapped his arms around her. She let out a faint huff at the impact. Lilly couldn't bring herself to hug him back, only to stand stick straight as the boy buried his face in her stomach. Julia and Quentin looked aghast and stared at the sight of a little Martin clinging to his adult grand niece in the middle of The Underworld.

"What kind of fucking Twilight Zone is this?" Quentin blinked rapidly, expecting the boy to vanish once he cleared his eyes. But Martin just pulled back and looked up at Lilly with eyes full of admiration.

"What are you doing here?" Martin asked, still grinning ear to ear. Arms wrapped around Lilly's waist, he had to rest his chin on her stomach to look up.

"Uh," Lilly stared down at him and swallowed hard. "We're looking for some people." Her hands came up to rest lightly on his shoulders, meaning to push him away, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to do it.

"Martin, can we ask you a question?" Julia asked, stepping towards him. Martin pulled back and smiled up at her.

"Sure!" It was such a simple response, so easy and eager.

"What was that? That you just did with the money?" Julia gestured towards the loveseat he'd just vacated.

"For the little boy?" Martin's brows furrowed in question. Quentin had finally shut his mouth and now waited patiently for the Shade to answer.

"What little boy?" Quentin shot Lilly an inquisitive look as if she had any more information than he did.

"The little boy with the shitty dad." He said it as though the answer was obvious. But when he saw the puzzlement on all three of their faces, he continued. "He ran away and now he's cold and hungry. He'll find it on the sidewalk any minute." Martin turned and pointed to the small table in the adjoining sunroom. The little girl they'd seen upon first entering was still there, a vase of flowers floating above her lap. Each flower, once wilted and fading, began to lift and return to lush, vibrant life. "She's in a hospital room. She's making them bloom. It's a really obvious miracle, but that's okay. The girl in the room is gonna die anyway." Martin shrugged with a forlorn sigh.

"So you're all making miracles?" Julia gave him a breathless smile.

"Just little tiny ones, though." He looked up at Lilly and swung their joined hands gleefully. "You're my favorite person to make them for." Lilly's brows furrowed in bewilderment.

"You- you make miracles for me?" He nodded feverishly, his joy never faltering.

"You deserve them." All Lilly could do was stare blankly at the little boy grinning up at her like she was the sun to his moon. She'd never imagined someone was looking out for her. All this time, Lilly thought she was alone. She opened her mouth to say something, though she had no idea what. But Quentin began speaking before she could.

"Um, maybe you can help us? We were looking for some Shades. Julia and Alice." As if to clarify, Quentin looked around the room again, though no one had entered. Martin gave a little jump of enthusiasm.

"I just saw them! They've stuck together since Julia got here. She was a mess. Didn't even know what happened. Alice is pretty well-adjusted, you know. Didn't take her long." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's easier when you know someone already." Martin began pulling Lilly along down the hallway. She glanced back at the others to see they were trailing behind them. "This way." Martin lead them out of another doorway and down a wide hallway filled with a deep mahogany grand staircase.

"Up those stairs. Last door." He pointed up the towering flight of stairs. "They sometimes sneak into Miss Persephone's room even though we're not supposed to go in there."

"Martin?" Julia called, her voice far away and thin. She was standing before a portrait of a woman, shrouded in white surrounded by divine light. Lilly hadn't even noticed her fall behind.

"Yeah?" The little boy dropped Lilly's hand and went to stand beside Julia to look up at the portrait adoringly.

"Who's that?"

"That's Miss Persephone. She hasn't been here for a really long time, and no one knows where she is." Persephone was as beautiful as the myths depicted. Her skin was rich and warm as soil after a fresh spring rain, her eyes sparkling green like the leaves of a blooming wildflower.

"That's Our Lady Underground," Julia whispered, her misty eyes locked on the portrait.

"What? The one that you-" Quentin stopped short. He didn't know what to say. The one that you worshiped until she left you to be raped and nearly murdered by a trickster god?

"So you were real all along, huh? Just completely AWOL. Self-centered bitch. We were so stupid to love you." Martin frowned deeply. He didn't say anything, though.

"Jules -- I'm sorry." Placing a hand on Julia's shoulder, Quentin's face softened with pity. She shook him off with a scowl.

"For what?" Her neck muscles were tense and strained like she was trying to keep tears at bay, but they knew this wasn't the case. "Look, I'm glad I know. It's always better to know, Q." Julia whirled briskly towards the staircase, not looking back. Her head remained straight, avoidant of the other's eyes as she spoke. "Lilly, you keep watch. We'll sneak in and find the part of me that already snuck in." Quentin and Julia took the stairs two by two, disappearing to the upper floor without a second glance.

Lilly looked down at Martin and swallowed nervously, uncertain with how she'd handle being left alone with him. What to say, how to act- she couldn't even begin to think of ways to behave around him with their immensely complicated history.

"I know why you don't like me." Martin broke the silence. His voice was soft, much like his frown. Innocently, he pushed up his glasses with one finger, his mannerisms entirely different from the previous man she once knew. The Beast moved with a flourish, like an actor on the stage. He was bitter and volatile. Martin's shade was reserved, bright, carefree.

"I do like you." She said it automatically, and it was only after the words left her mouth that she thought about what she'd said. This was the person who'd killed Jane, Evelyn, Alex, and even herself in past timelines. But the man who did those things was so very different from the boy before her. "It wasn't you that hurt me." Cocking her head to the side, she wondered if she was saying this as a means of reassurance for Martin, or herself. He looked up at Lilly through wide, glassy eyes. She wished her words could erase the guilt behind them. Guilt, that was what would've kept The Beast from doing what he did.

"I'm sorry for what you've been through. I wish I could do more than just little miracles. I wish I could make every problem disappear." He sighed, his frown turning to a pout. Lilly placed a gentle hand on his back and guided him over to a set of armchairs tucked beside the staircase with a vase of purple lilacs between them. Martin hopped up into one of the seats and dangled his legs over the front. Lilly smiled subconsciously at the child's adorableness. She crouched down before him.

"I should've just taken you with me when we first met." She thought back to that scared boy who followed them through the portal to Fillory to escape a monster at home. The atrocities committed by Christopher Plover had far-reaching consequences, and even now, Lilly felt the aftershock of the abuse inflicted upon Martin. Everything that happened could be traced back to him. Tendrils of pain and suffering spiderwebbed through time, through each time loop, tainting it with blood and sorrow.

"If we keep focusing on what could have been, we'll never move forward." It was strange to hear such words of wisdom come from a child. But Shades were not children. They were the truest forms of human souls.

Martin reached out a hand and touched it to Lilly's cheek. It was so small that it barely covered a quarter of her face. His skin was smooth and warm, not calloused from years of hard work. It hadn't been used to maim, kill, and torture. These were to bring kindness to the world. A lump formed in Lilly's throat as she reached up to place her hand on his and cradle it to her skin.

"When I got here, I was inconsolable. When someone takes advantage of you the way Christopher Plover did me, it leaves a dark spot on your very soul. A shadow." Martin let his hand slip from her face and fall into his lap. He looked forlornly at his chest as if he could still see the dark handprint Plover had left there. Then he smiled at Lilly, and the pure joy in his eyes was staggering, warming her heart. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt something like that. "I have a new purpose here. I get to help those who are still struggling as I did on earth. Kindness is a powerful weapon." Lilly smiled gently, and although she was happy to see Martin this way, she couldn't hide the sorrow and pain that tarnished her heart at the thought of having to leave him behind.

"I wish we could've had time together." Lilly reached over and took his hand in hers once more.

"We did." Martin grinned. "You just didn't know it." Lilly smiled up at him through watery eyes. Four sets of footsteps thumped down the stairs above them. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket just as Julia and Quentin rounded the corner again. Their hands were both held by two little girls. Julia stood beside a girl who was unmistakably her Shade. Young Julia had the same light wave to her long brown hair and the same eyes. Beside her, hiding slightly behind her and Quentin's intertwined hands was the spitting image of Alice Quinn. When Lilly took in the faces of her older companions, she found they were not as joyful as she would've anticipated.

"What's wrong?" Lilly stood, and Martin jumped down from his chair beside her. He peaked around her curiously and waved to his fellow shades.

"There's a problem with our plan. We can only take one Shade."