Darcy had always known something was off about Headwitchtress Griffin's mind, but she just couldn't identify what it was. To truly know something was wrong or identify what had changed in the older witch's head, she had to have known her before the change occurred. She really didn't even know why she even recognized something was off about her, just shrugged her shoulders and accepted it.

"Valtor." Darcy greeted the older man as she entered her Headwitchtresses old office, "I have a question for you." She tried to not sound timid, unsure if he would be willing to even let her explain why she wanted to know about this.

He raised an eyebrow at her but waved her on. "Well?" he asked, "Are you going to ask or just stand there?"

"Um." She moved closer, and nervously averted her eyes while speaking opting instead to look at the various items on the desk. "This is kind of a weird question, but what do you know about Headwitchtress Griffin? Ever since I met her during freshman orientation the aura of her mind has felt… off somehow? And I guess I've kind of want to figure out why."

Finally, she finished speaking and looked back to him, instead of looking at her with disdain or annoyance, he looked intrigued and deep in thought. Abruptly he stood and without a word began to walk, his coattails swishing behind him. Quickly she hurried behind him, feeling like she almost had to jog as she tried to keep up with his longer strides.

She frowned as they hurried through the dark twists and turns of the castle, finally ending up at the dungeons. She stayed quiet as he opened the magical bars on the cell before entering. She grimaced to see her headwitchtress jolt awake and look at them with startled and dare she say frightened eyes? Something on Valtor's face told her he was upset by this reaction, as he had seemed upset when they entered her office just days ago.

Three long strides had him in front of her, even as she stood and backed away into the wall. Darcy admitted to herself she was impressed by the defiant look the older woman sported in the face of such a powerful opponent. It seemed to Darcy that Valtor had altogether forgotten or not noticed she followed him.

He reached forward and twitched when Griffin shied away from him. His finger brushed at her cheek before gripping her chin lightly. Intently he looked at her, looking into her eyes as he forced her gaze to meet his own.

"I see." He whispered, eyes narrowed. Just as abruptly he let her go and Darcy was left to follow behind, the bars flashing into existence as they made their exit. "You see it too then?" Her voice echoed in the stone passageways. "I do." His reply was soft.

"Where are we going?"

"To find a counter."

"A counter? A counter to what?"

"To the spell that has a hold of her mind." His face was determined, and his eyes shone with righteous anger, at what Darcy wasn't quite sure, but she was sure she would find out rather soon.

"Why are you so interested in Griffin?" he responded once more as they entered the office and he began pulling books off of shelves.

"Um." She bit her lip, "Well, there's something about her that's always just spoke to me I guess?" She sat down, taking one of the books to look through, "I grew up in a foster care system, and I didn't know my family, but when I met her at orientation, she made me feel welcome and she felt familiar." She paused in looking at the book. Looking up she decided to tell him, "I think she might be-"she cleared her throat, "I think that Headwitchtress Griffin might be my mother."

He froze. "Mother." His eyes darted up to examine her. A slow look of dawning realization crept into his expression. "Mother." He repeated. "You look just like her." He murmured, "I should have seen it before." He walked around the desk to stand in front of her. A shiver ran down her spine at the soft way he spoke and blinked at him, the amount of pure wonder shining in his eyes as he looked at her was almost unnerving.

"You're right." Somehow, she didn't feel surprised by having Valtor confirm her suspicions. "You are my Griffin's child." Reaching forward he actually brushed the wisps of hair out of her face.

"My Griffin?" She questioned? "What do you mean by that?" she almost snorted.

"She and I were the part of the Ancestral Coven, we were the go-to team for the Ancestral Witches. We were both immensely powerful and combined almost nothing could stop us." She was only just processing his words when he continued to speak, "She was the first thing that I wanted for myself, the first thing that I wanted that my mothers didn't tell me I should want."

"So, you, you're- are you my father?" Darcy stutteringly whispered. It explained the look he was giving her, it explained his treatment of Griffin. It made perfect sense, now that she really thought about it. She was the perfect combination of the two of them.

"Yes." He confirmed. "The timelines add up and it would explain the connection I've felt to you since we met in the Omega dimension." He frowned, "But why would she not recognize you? Why did you not grow up in the arms of your mother?" Glancing down at the book she still held open he grinned, "This, this is the spell we need." Taking it from her offering hands, he looked it over as they began their descent back to the dungeons once more.

This time when they entered the cell, she was already awake and alert, standing as far away from them as possible when the bars came down. Without saying a word, he advanced towards her, and once more he had her backed into the wall.

"What is it you plan to do with me?" She looked up into his eyes voluntarily, her own eyes shining with that same fiery defiance from before. "I'm going to remove that block that those wretched people put on your mind." He tells her, honestly, as he gently touches her face. Quickly he administers the counter spells before she can truly comprehend and put up any real fight.

Darcy watches fascinated, her minds aura feeling normal once more. Griffin's eyes become unfocussed as she is being flooded with new memories and knowledge that had been locked away. Griffin closes her eyes tightly and presses her hands to her face as she begins to slowly crumple. Valtor catches her with waiting arms and lowers her to the ground, holding her in his arms with care.

"Griffin, my beautiful Griffin." His murmur is almost a croon to her sharp ears. "Look at me my precious Violet. Tell me what happened to you."

The golden eyes of Griffin peeked out from behind her hands as she lowered them and she looked at him with such sorrow. "I, I was going in search of you, but it's still fuzzy. I remember wanting to talk to you about something. I didn't like how much destruction we had begun to wreak on the magic dimension, destroying so much that didn't truly need to be destroyed." She shook her head as she tried to think clearly. "There was something else, I know there was."

"Faragonda found me, she opened a gateway to Alfea. But she didn't do this to me, she would never." She looks up at him, very serious. "She wanted to talk to me, tried to convince me to join the Company of Light and help them overthrow the ancestral witches, and you. I said no. She wasn't going to stop me from leaving, she promised that, and told me to stay the evening to travel in the morning. When I went to leave, to find my way back to you and the coven, that's when they caught me. Marion, Oritel, Codatorta and some others that helped them. They wanted it to be over, I don't even know how they knew Faragonda brought me there. The only person she trusted with that was Saladin, and he didn't tell them either."

"I knew there was a reason I liked Faragonda and Saladin." Darcy commented with a small nod and the professor's eyes shot up to her.

"Darceline." She blinked at her, the memory returning full force and she looked like she may just cry. "That's the other thing I was coming to talk to you about." She choked out, her shoulders shaking just enough to notice, "That's what I wanted to tell you."

"You were pregnant with Darcy when they took you." He says it for her, and this time tears actually do make it down the witch's cheeks.

Finally, Darcy allows herself to collapse to the floor, sinking into the embrace of the parents she never truly knew existed. She had her family now, and they were going to wreak havoc on those who stole almost eighteen years from them.