Surprisingly, Fenris's presence in the library brought less than my usual unwanted glares. He seemed to repel them instead of attracting them, unlike I usually did. Maybe the other witches and warlocks did not want to anger the future headmaster. Whatever the reason was, for once it was peaceful to be in the library. Fenris had closed his eyes, laying his head on the table we shared. He patiently waited for me to finish what I was doing. At no moment did he rush me to get everything done.

However, every time I stood up to look for a book, I could feel his gaze on me. Watching me protectively. Was he trying to shield everything around us? Or everyone from me? Pushing aside those thoughts. It was not long until Cora came into the room looking for me, much to Fenris's displeasure.

The moment Cora spotted me by the bookshelves, she closed the gap between us within seconds. Her sudden approach startled me. I dropped the books that I held in my hands onto the floor.

"Lilith!" Cora called out to me.

I took a few steps back to collect what had fallen, but before I could even pick one up. She swiftly grabbed them and handed them to me. It caused me to sigh. How was she so full of energy all the time?

"Cora... What do you want this time?" I asked, grabbing onto the books from her hands. She never knew when to give up.

"So cold!!!!!!!! I missed you so much!!! I thought I did something good last time we saw each other!" She professed, grabbing hold of my hips.

I placed the books between her and me. Handsy and pushy. I still felt Fenris's warmth within me and on my lips. I did not want her to wipe it away.

"I think you and I have two different versions of what happened," I countered, trying to figure out my way out of this, but she was not giving up.

No, Cora was full pedal forward with little thought of the consequences.

"How cruel to ignore the fireworks that happened! You did really not like my passionate k..." Cora was interrupted by Fenris, who dropped a book on her head in response.

She had been so preoccupied with me, paying little attention to Fenris, who had walked over to us. He seemed irritated by her appearance, pulling me away from her and towards him. I was a doll in a fight between two apex predators.

"Do not get ahead of yourself, bloodsucker," Fenris warned angrily.

Cora turned to face him. Her expression was one of pure annoyance, too.

"OUCH! How dare you hit me! You mongrel!" Cora confronted him fearlessly.

He smirked in response, holding me tightly by my hip.

His touch was so much different from Cora's. I truly did not mind it. In fact, I welcomed it.

"You were out of line," Fenris answered, leaving her infuriated by his assessment.

I had never seen her angry before, either. I did not even know Cora could get frustrated by anything. To me, she always seemed like a ditz.

"No! You are! Lilith, why is this mutt here?! He is never here!" She turned towards me for answers.

I did not know how to give them to her. Fenris was using me as an escape from Layla? Or was he here to watch over me since my bracelet was not working anymore? I could not even say that if that were the case.

"Ah... I-I..." I tried to come up with something but could not.

Cora turned back to Fenris, who sighed in response to my hesitance.

"See? she cannot even speak with you around, you stupid mutt! How about you let her go now!" Cora deflected back onto Fenris, who shrugged in response.

"I do not see how that is possible." He commented, rolling his eyes.

Cora continued to push forward.

"Make yourself gone, wolf!" Cora ordered Fenris.

He laughed.

"Hah. How about you do that instead?" Fenris suggested to her.

She gasped in return, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hell no! I found her first!" Cora yelled.

Fenris's eyes narrowed, glancing towards me in disbelief.

"Really now? She has been my charge for fourteen years. I doubt you know her more than I do. I probably know every nook and..." Fenris ranted.

 My cheeks flushed red from the embarrassment. It was enough for me to grab onto his tail tightly, tugging on it to stop him from continuing his sentence. Instead, a slight groan left his lips. That was when I noticed Shade stared at us from the table, along with all the other witches who were trying to study. If eyes could kill, we would be dead where we stood.

"Well, well... I do not care! She will be mine!" Cora continued.

I had enough of their bickering. The embarrassment was reaching its own climax.

"Okay enough. Stop it, you two! It is a library if you both cannot be quiet then you both can leave!" I snapped at them, causing them both to appear surprised by my outburst.

I had never raised my voice before. It was rare.

"Ah... Sorry..." Both of them apologized.

I pulled away from Fenris and walked past them towards another lane of bookshelves.

How could both of them be so careless? They did not care what people saw or heard. Especially Fenris. He let Cora play him to her tune. How could he say something like that where people could hear? Was he not afraid that others would find out about our relationship? Or was it a slip in the heat of the moment? Cora had her ways to get under one's skin.

Maybe I was reading too much into his words. Maybe he meant them in a platonic way. Maybe... Or had Cora seen us? Was he taunting her? My mind exploded, trying to push away these useless thoughts. Mindlessly, I walked through bookshelves without even looking at the books they contained.

Before I knew it, I found myself lost in the enchanted library. Throughout the years I had been trying to research my condition, I had never even scratched the surface of the abundance of information within it. They enchanted it to contain endless amounts of grimoires from different witches throughout the ages, along with original books ranging from every topic thinkable. All the knowledge from good to bad all in one spot.

Though anyone who was not high ranking was restricted from most of the grimoires in here. But for me, they especially restricted me to anything that had to do with the nether realm and any combat spells. Shade found me with ease while I, unaware, stepped forward towards the forbidden part of the library. They usually sealed it off for anyone without an access rune. It was so quiet, Fenris or Cora were not around anymore. No one was. Somehow, in my frustration with the two, I had broken through the barriers placed to protect this part of the library.

The crystals that suppressed my magic were glowing brightly. When I noticed what had happened. I pondered if I should try to head back, but this would be my only chance. To see something about the realm that I held within my body. Lacking better judgment, I pressed forward into the unknown. Whispers guided me through the arsenal of books. I eventually found myself in front of a bookshelf covered in glass. It was a barrier spell.

People with normal eyes would only see the glass, but I could see the cracks within the spell, too. The weak spots could make it shatter. However, if I broke it. It would probably send an alarm blaring, alerting the keepers of the library. Even so... The whispers continued to tell me to proceed. The little information I could get could be enough to help me.

"Discutio," I whispered while concentrating on the weak spots, causing the barrier to shatter.

With brief hesitation, I grabbed onto the book that resonated blue. The moment it touched my fingertips, it felt like my soul was being torn from my body. It would be a blast from the past. When everything was clear, I was gazing into someone else's eyes.

Surrounded by fire, everything played out. I was just a passenger, unable to interact with anyone around me. A man ran towards a woman, who had stumbled onto the floor as she ran towards a burning house.

"Lilith! We need to get out of here!" A man shouted, grabbing onto the woman called Lilith.

She shared my same name. The Lilith from the past.

"Klein we can't! No, not without our daughter!" Lilith screamed at the man, who tried to pull her away.

She yanked away from him, bolting towards where she wanted to go. But before she could reach the burning house. A fireball from an elven spell crushed it before her eyes. She screeched in despair. Klein grabbed onto her face, forcing her to face him. Tears fell down his cheeks while he told her they had to run or meet the same fate.

Other than the fiery blaze that surrounded them, her wailing was the only thing that won over the roaring fire. Pulling her up, the man tried to guide her out of the area. His attention was taken by the howls erupting from the distance. It would not be long before they reached the distressed couple.

Knowing this, Klein struggled to drag Lilith away from the blazing house. He tried to reach out to her with his words. But the shock of what was happening in front of her was much to bear. He did not give up on her, though, continuing to tug her towards safety. Even though she seemed like a rag doll being dragged over the ground. Eventually, though, Klein noticed it was useless to get away safely. The wolves got closer towards them.

Glancing around at their surroundings, Klein noticed a small well nearby that could hold Lilith safely. With a goal in mind, he dragged an inconsolable Lilith towards the nearby well. Once there, he kissed her so passionately that I felt my own tears fall. This world was cruel.

"Live, my love," Klein whispered with a soft smile on his lips.

She shook her head before he pushed her into the safety of the well. She would not be able to say anything to her lover. The last image she had was of him smiling as tears ran down his cheeks. He covered the well up with a wooden cover. The growling and his screaming merged with the surrounding area.

The shock of his screams silenced Lilith, who was trapped safely inside the well. Though the wolves tore through the man she loved on the surface. She spent hours down in the well, trying to not cry loudly. While hearing the Lycans shredding into what was left of their village.

Live. Was the one thing that passed through her mind, reciting her love's last words in her head. She still held hope that their daughter was hidden safely somewhere in the chaos. She had to live for her. To find her at all costs.

A day passed before she could crawl her way out of the well. When she emerged, battered and bloodied, the first thing she saw was the love of her life. He had been mauled and half-eaten by the wolves that had laid carnage to the village. Not trying to think of what was happening, she rushed towards the house to find their ten-year-old daughter. Sadly, she found that the only thing left of the house was ashes. She screamed for Zoey, her daughter's name multiple times, only to receive no replies. It seemed she had become yet another casualty of the war that raged between the races.

Lilith's screams echoed throughout the empty village, cursing the world that had robbed her of everything she loved. Her friends and family were all gone. Just like they burned her life down, she bowed to do the same to the world that forsaken her. She spent years gathering materials to open the gate to the nether realm. This was to gain the extra power she needed to set the world ablaze. Using hatred as her fuel, she eventually opened the portal by using sacrifices.

At first, the openings were brief and unstable as she started with animals, before slowly moving towards humans and other races. Though through her research it seemed humans were the most compatible sacrifice. They stabilized the portal more than a simple animal or even another race. Just like Stella, she realized she needed a pure sacrifice to open the nether realm's gate.

Lilith went into a town one day and found an abandoned boy. He was no older than her daughter when she lost her. At first, she only saw the boy as a means to an end. However, Lilith did not foresee the boy growing on her as the year went on. She never named the boy, but she grew to love him. He reminded her of her lost child and filled that void within her. But that did not turn her away from the pain and hatred she had for this world.

Though, when it came to sacrificing the child. She could not bring herself to finish the act she had begun. It ended with her using her own life as a sacrifice instead of the boy’s. The pureness of her love for the child was enough for a partial opening of the gate. That alone led to the chaos written in the history books. After her sacrifice, with her final breaths. She saw the boy she had saved dragged into the portal and disappear.

Suddenly, I found myself in one of my lost memories. Where my crazed mother hummed a lullaby. I played with a doll made from straws on the floor. Usually, they were used for curses, but my child's mind only saw them as cute toys. The sisters did not have many toys to have fun with.

"Lilith," Mom called out to me in her calm voice.

I turned towards her. She would say my name, just to say it most of the time. She never had a reason she said it so often. This time, however, it angered me. Earlier other girls made fun of my name.

"Mommy, why did you call me that? All the other girls look at me funny when they hear it." I asked her, wondering why the other girls called me psychotic.

It happened every time anyone called me by that name.

"I loved that name." Mother answered, rocking her chair, humming a lullaby.

"Oh..." I whispered, not feeling quite satisfied by her answer.

It was rare for her to even converse. Before I could continue playing, though, she mumbled something I could not quite catch back then. It was so clear when replayed in front of my eyes.

"Your father loved it too," Mom mumbled.

It sent me back into my body. Jolting awake, I found myself not in the library, but my bed, surrounded by Cora, Fenris, and Layla. Both Cora and Fenris seemed worried sick. While Layla seemed more annoyed that all of this was happening.

Cora clenched my hand when I glanced towards Fenris. He grabbed onto my chin and studied every little reaction I had. At first, everything that was happening bewildered me. I could not figure out what had occurred, or how I got to where I was. Disoriented, I glanced around the room to see Shade on my lap.

"How..." I tried to question how I got to where I was.

It was like Fenris read my mind.

"I found you fainted by the bookshelves next to us with Shade in your arms," Fenris answered, leaving me even more confused than I was before.

Had everything I had seen been a dream?

"I did?" I asked for Cora to burst into the conversation.

"I am so sorry! I did not want you to stress out so much!" Cora seemed to be on the verge of crying, feeling guilty over what had happened.

I grabbed onto her hands and shook my head.

"It was not your fault. I..." I trailed off, glancing towards Shade, who seemed to tilt her head in response.

I did not know what happened, and neither did she. Everything that had transpired felt so real to be a dream. I had not even felt faint before everything began, either. Letting go of Cora, I grabbed onto Fenris's hand, needing his warmth. Shivers ran down my spine. Seeing Lilith's world burn, even if it was a dream, made me wary. Intertwining my hand with his, he gently smiled at me.

"I am here," Fenris reassured me.

Layla grumbled in the background, and Cora hugged me in response. For once, Cora's clinginess did not bother Fenris. Especially since I had my hand clasped with his. Part of me wanted me to scream to him what I had seen. Tell him how much I loved him. How much I needed him. But I could not. He probably would have thought I was delusional if I did so.

These feelings were something forbidden. No matter how much I wanted to kiss him at this moment. Tell him he was mine alone. Make him hold me until I felt safe. I had to suppress them, trying to stay in control. It was not long though until Fenris had enough of Cora smothering me with her bosom. Before he kicked her out of the room.

"I will come back to you, my love!!!" Cora swore.

Fenris dragged her out of the room, slamming the door in her face.

When he returned, he glanced towards Layla, who was the only one left. She did not seem like she was leaving soon. Releasing a sigh, he turned back towards me, sitting next to me once again. The rest of the day he spent it with me. All while his fiancée glared at us from the bed. She could not say a thing. I was his charge. His duty was to make sure I was okay.

Closing my eyes, I laid down and rested a bit. Trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Fenris stayed next to me as I drifted off, only to be jolted awake once again by a banging sound from the door.

So... much for peace...