Author's Note: We hope you enjoy this chapter! We know we have been updating more slowly than before but well, and we're deeply sorry, as our followers on Facebook know one of our writers went AWOL and this became a solo gig for quite some time. I needed to think of how I would conclude the series in a good way, but rest assured that the story will go on for about another 4-6 more chapters before concluding. Also we heavily recommend you read The Sacred Circle (because Cross-Over) and the Lore on this profile. It isn't necessary to understand what's going on but it will add to the experience quite a bit.

At any rate please read, enjoy and review!

Updates will not be as frequent because we are two writers, (Forcystus5 made a reappearance earlier this week) we will let you know at what frequency you can expect chapters as we progress. If you are interested in helping we are looking for more writers so please message me if you're interested.

Also, for now our tumblr page and our twitter page won't be used for updates, just our facebook page under the name TheSecretCircleProject.

Enjoy!

Plot: Forcystus5, Koritsune

Writers: Forcystus5, Koritsune

Editors: Forcystus5, Koritsune

Facebook: (slash)TheSecretCircleProject

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"Thanks for joining us," Jannett said with a smile as Cassie and Diana arrived to their table in a corner of the Boathouse.

"You're welcome," The sisters said in unison as Diana sat down in front of Faye and Cassie besides Adam. "To be honest, we were curious about why you called this meeting. Plus, it has been a while since someone offered us a free brunch," Diana said with a grin.

Melissa rolled her eyes from her spot beside Jannett and across from Jake. "That's just a bonus. What Jannett has to share is the real reason we are here."

Before anyone could ask for specifics, Ethan arrived at their table. "So, do you want the standard brunch order for all or different orders from the menu?"

"Standard brunch order for all," Jannett responded as she was the one paying. "And glasses of water for everybody."

"Understood," Ethan said in a good mood as he took their menu.

"Dad, are you sure you don't want some help?" Adam asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's Sunday," Ethan said looking more sober than Adam remembered seeing in a long time. "Just enjoy the day with your friends."

The circle watched him leave with mild surprise. "I guess he was serious when he said he wanted to quit drinking," Adam said with wide eyes.

"That's wonderful, Adam," Cassie said with a smile. "I told you this would happen one day."

Adam smiled back before looking at his father in the distance. "Well, better late than never."

"As awe-striking as this development is," Faye suddenly said, "I believe Jannett had an important announcement to make."

Six pair of eyes focused on the female witch as she began talking.

"Yes, well you see, Nicholas reached an agreement with an old friend of his so that he would come to Chance Harbor and stick around in case the demonic mercenary comes back with a more deadly plot," Jannett declared as she looked at her watch. "And he should be arriving shortly."

"Huh? What's his name? And is he a witch?" Jake asked as he voiced the questions of his circle.

"His name is Vanir," Jannett said slowly. "As for the second question, that's kind of why I wanted to fill you in first. Because, yes, he is definitely a witch but he is also far from an ordinary witch."

"How so?" Diana asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He is a hybrid like Nicholas." Jannett replied in bits and pieces.

"So he's a half witch/half human then?" Adam asked.

"Not exactly," Jannett replied. "He is indeed half witch but the other half of his parentage isn't even human, but from one of the rare few supernatural species that still exist."

"Half demon?" Faye asked in a worried tone.

"On the contrary, his other half is from a specie that hates demons and instead of dark magic, they use light magic," Jannett said as she paused for dramatic effect. "He is half fairy."

The silence among the circle members could have been cut clean with a butter knife. Then…

"Pardon?" All of them minus Melissa asked at once.

"You heard me," Jannett said. "Vanir is a rare kind of hybrid though, as fairies usually remain in the Spirit World for most of their lives. Apparently his witch mother caught his father's eye, though."

The young witches were shaking their heads, trying to process the latest cultural shock. "So what kind of special attributes do fairies have?" Jake asked, keen to get some answers as always.

"Fairies live in the spirit world, their bodies are unable to sustain themselves in the material world for long. In addition they live much, much longer than a standard human life, although no one really knows the expected lifespan. Plus they can draw magic from the spirit world so their magic can be very powerful, and at the same time extremely unstable, spiritual energy does not like to be disturbed in the slightest."

The group nodded, enthralled by the content of the speech Jannett was giving. Faye sat with her arms crossed, not too keen on the idea of a being who could be more powerful than herself just because they were a different species.

"Finally being half-human and half-fairy means he needs to spend some time in our world and the spiritual one, so he may not be used to many human customs so just be welcoming and don't be too surprised if he doesn't act entirely well…" Suddenly the group heard a loud bump. It was at that exact moment the group turned to look at the windowed panel next to their table. A man had apparently walked directly into the window. A sadly, common mistake, the not so common mistake was making the same mistake, a second, … and a third time. "Human." Jannett sighed. " … and that ladies and gentleman is Vanir."

"So, what? He's going to be acting like some clueless tourist?" Faye questioned eagerly, barely holding back a snicker along with the rest of the group.

"If we're lucky." Jannett announced as she let out an audible sigh.

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Damien sat on his front porch, gently playing the tune of his flute accompanied by the serene sounds of nature which surrounded him. Ordinarily this scene would place him in a state of euphoria, but lately all his thoughts couldn't help but wander to Melissa and his failed advance towards her.

"How awful does the poor witch feel the pain of heartbreak." Spoke the demonic voice which Damien was all too familiar with, the voice had always found the worst time to make its unfortunate appearance, often to feed on his pain.

Damien sighed, he knew this would happen. Now came the part where he would wait out, not only the internal pain of rejection, but also the incessant nagging from his corrupt counterpart. Heartbreak on its own was bad enough, especially since he had finally found someone he could picture his future with. He had already lost his previous love in a tragic manner and it brought the all too familiar pains to the surface.

"Of course who knows if you would have ever loved her as much, or perhaps it could have been an even greater love than you could have even imagined." The demon continued playing all the wrong cords inside his head. "She was so pretty too, smart, funny, intelligent…"

"SHUT-UP!" Damien shouted, and with a burst of magical energy once again suppressed the demon inside his head.

At this time a woman walked out of the cabin, it was a middle aged woman judging by her looks she was in her forties. She looked at Damien with a mix of sadness and compassion in her eyes, "It's getting worse isn't it?"

Damien sighed, he had finally drawn in her attention to his problem. Granted it wasn't anything she didn't already know. "Yes, the demon's getting harder and harder to control Aria."

The lady continued to look at Damien with compassion. "It's because of Melissa isn't it?" She asked as she sat down next to him on the bench. "You know, just because I'm older, doesn't mean I don't want you to be happy. I too, know the experience of heartbreak."

"Haha, this coming from the woman who nearly single handedly destroyed a marriage?" Damien said in jest clearly making a joke at her expense. Of course the joke he made struck a bit too close to home, one hardly cared for being reminded of the biggest mistakes of their past.

In barely an instant, she glared at him with a judgemental eye which instantly struck fear into Damien's bones, he felt his mistake as the words escaped his mouth. "Yes, I admit sleeping with an Archon wasn't the best decision I ever made. Needless to say if I were sober it wouldn't have happened." Aria announced as if she was punishing a slight. "At any rate I'm pretty sure the last item we need for the spell is in this town somewhere."

"Really? Even though that witch got away with …"

"It's a minor set back Damien." She announced as if issuing a command to an underling. "We'll get it back from that Adam boy soon enough. I suppose we should be thankful you killed that demon when you did."

"Yeah, I guess so." Damien spoke as he recalled the all too close call, when he had almost failed to save the old man's life.

She sighed in frustration. "I still can't believe the demon went off on his own flagrantly disregarding orders." She continued on, turning to face Damien with the strangest look on her eyes, trying to connect on some shared experience.

"Yeah demons clearly aren't the easiest thing to control." Damien spoke in a hope filled voice, hidden just underneath an easily detectable tone of despair. "Do you think you might finally complete your mission?"

"Yes Damien, the Spell of The Stars is finally within our reach, and with it the last of our problems." The older woman replied, with her last statement she got up. "Now if you don't mind, I need to start planning how we're going to take care of that meddlesome group."

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It took a few minutes, but the group's brunch finally arrived and the plates were served to each of the members present including Vanir. The witches immediately began eating but Vanir observed the others shortly before grabbing his fork, this delayed action was not lost on the group. Not that Jannett could blame them he had already established a questionable demeanor the moment he had walked into the glass panels.

Upon noticing the groups technically silent stares Vanir smiled before addressing the group. "I'm sorry am I using the fork right?" He asked innocently unsure of himself. "I apologize it's been nearly a year since I've last eaten I'm afraid."

"... A year since you've eaten?" Diana asked hesitantly, taking a moment to register the oddity of his statement.

Vanir chuckled mildly at her question, "Yes, well you see.." Vanir started; in retrospect he should've realized the statement itself must have been odd. " fairies don't actually eat, they thrive on the natural energy of the spirit world, so as long as I enter the spirit world often enough I never require to eat." The group stared at the response, the concept itself seemed at the same time fascinating while also inconceivable, the thought of never needing to eat in itself was a strange concept. "I try to ensure to spend enough time in the spirit world to not eat, ingesting so many calories every day is extremely tedious. I'm honestly not sure how you humans manage to do it so easily."

"Is it just me?" Faye started, "or does it almost sound like he's calling us fat?" She addressed the question in general to the group, although the group knew that it was rhetorical in nature. The same however could not be said of Vanir, who instantly wrangled his face into a series of panicked expressions.

"It's okay Vanir," Jannett spoke aloud in a calming voice addressing the situation, "She's simply being sarcastic."

"Oh, right. Sarcasm." Vanir said as if realizing something for the first time. "I'm sorry, fairy's aren't sarcastic so I don't think to interpret words that way often."

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but why did Sanders send you instead of coming back here himself?" Jake asked, curious to the man's disappearance.

"Oh, that's because Sanders is busy looking for his girlfriend." Vanir responded. The moment Vanir responded with this however, Jannett shot him a menacing glare, "Oh, I'm sorry were we not telling them that?"

The group gave a collective silent reaction of astonishment upon hearing the news, "Wait, Sanders has a girlfriend?" Cassie asked in astonishment.

"No, he does not. Sanders has a friend who happens to be a girl." Jannett interjected, much to the disappointment of the group. "However, it was fairly clear they had feelings for each other, and truth be told he likely would've asked her out had she not suddenly disappeared."

"It's a real shame, she was such an interesting creature." Vanir continued, "I do hope he finds Rebecca soon. Do you think it was related to the attempt on your life?"

"Wait…" Cassie started, "The same Rebecca that demon mentioned? You went into a fit the moment he mentioned her."

"She went into a fit?" Diana asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I did." Jannett answered, "And now I suppose I should tell you all the truth about her, Rebecca is not only the lost love of Sanders, but she is my mother."

The circle members exchanged glances as they processed that bit of information, suddenly realizing why Jannett was so loyal to Sanders. "Why would demons want anything to do with your mother?" Adam asked before the others could beat him to the punch.

"Honestly, I wish I knew." she began continuing with a sigh. "My mother was an artist when it came to Jewel Magic, and she had many connections to the Sacred Circle so perhaps they're using her to take down the Sacred Circle somehow."

"I am sorry, the what now?" Diana asked with puzzlement in her tone.

Jannett sighed when she remembered that the Chance Harbor Circle knew little of their magical heritage, and this meant an explanation was in order. "The Sacred Circle is the oldest and most powerful Circle recorded in recent history. They were established during the Salem Witch Trials and eventually beat the Witch Hunters there, slowly more and more witches flocked towards them and founded the town Sleepy Hollow. Ever since, and slowly over time they became the authority on nearly all magical affairs. Furthermore their power increases each generation as they pass their magical abilities from parent to child through what's known as a Magic Crest. This continuously increases their strength across every generation." Jannett paused looking around at the group, thankfully the Circle seemed to follow most of it. "Needless to say if they were destroyed the entire magical community would descend into chaos.

"Wait a minute," Cassie interjected. "You said your father was Alexis Kingston who was an Archon, does that mean you have the Kingston Magic Crest?"

"Well, by a technicality I am second line to receive it, it currently is owned by Maya Kingston." Jannett explained. "Besides, that crest uses Alchemy magic and I specialize in Jewel Magic it would be difficult for me to adjust to it, and I think the Kingston's would view me as having 'tainted' the crest. Even if she were to pass I'd likely have to petition my request to the Grand Archon, and it would be no easy task."

"Ah, so that's why Ryder and Lucas went back to their hometown, right?" Diana asked now curious about their adventure.

"Yes, though even if they convince The Sacred Circle to handover the Bellerose, and Maxwell family crests they'll have a steep learning curve ahead of them."

"Still, that does sound pretty awesome." Adam concluded.

"Wait a second," Jake protested, his irritated tone surprising of the other Circle members. "If this so called Sacred Circle is really as important as you say it is, why haven't we heard about them before?"

"We can blame our parents for that one." Melissa chimed in, much to the surprise of the rest of the group.

"How is it our parents fault?" Jake asked, still finding the sudden mentions of the Sacred Circle suspicious.

"Well Jake," Melissa began in her answer. "Our parents weren't exactly forthcoming to them back with the Boatyard Fire incident."

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked now concerned over the ever increasing information of their parents mysterious past.

"Proper protocol dictates that any organized threats from witch hunters must be reported." Melissa answered as she began her explanation. "Our parents decided to handle the witch hunter attack on their own, not only that but they knowingly hid the fact that they were aware of the location of Blackwell, who was not only a user of dark magic but also wanted by them for crimes he had committed." Melissa paused momentarily to see if the rest of the group had followed her up to this point before she continued. "In the end the punishment, was ostracization. They could no longer make any formal requests for aid from the Sacred Circle, nor be recognized by the honorific title of Mage that is given once witches prove their mastery over their chosen magical path."

"Is that why ..." Diana spoke formulating a question with extreme hesitation. "The Elders took away their magic? They were no longer welcome in the magic community?"

"Honestly Diana, I don't know," Melissa said with a sigh. "I tried asking them about it during the week I spent in Sleepy Hollow with Nicholas but they were super vague about it. As best I can tell the Sacred Circle never asked them too, but they also claim knowing of the Elders intention to strip the magic of our parents and did nothing to stop them."

"Well that sucks, now we have to play kiss ass to this magic community if we ever wanted to be fully recognized?" Faye asked, showing a clear distaste to the new appearance of another controlling authority.

"Thankfully, you won't need too." Jannett began, "After you defeated Balcoin, Sanders went through great lengths to get the punishment lifted, and you may, if you so choose, register as a Mage once you feel you're ready."

"And why would Sanders go through all that trouble?" Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, how else was I going to take the test?" Melissa responded with a wide smirk.

"Wait Melissa?" Faye answered with shock present in her voice. "You decided to join a secret cult and didn't tell me!? I'm not sure if I should be upset or proud."

Melissa rolled her eyes at Faye's remark. "I'm not officially a Mage, I am on probation though and officially registered as Sanders' apprentice. So that's opened up a few connections for me."

"Eugh," Faye said with a bitter expression. "Just sounds like a nightmare of red tape to me."

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The car ride back from Sleepy Hollow was a long one, the worst of it for Lucas and Ryder was the knowledge they rode back with a man whom they knew almost nothing about, but who seemed to know almost all of Ryder's and Lucas' intimate details.

"So kids how did you find your trip to Sleepy Hollow?" The man asked, eager to get to know the two young men in his car better.

"Well it went better than I expected!" Ryder answered. "I'm really excited to start using my family's Magic Crest. I bet it's gonna make me super strong." Ryder answered beaming with enthusiasm, sadly the same could not be said about his brother, who sat beside him in the car. Just as silent now as he was since the beginning of their journey back home.

"Well, it's good to be enthusiastic, but don't get too carried away with it little guy." Will continued, keeping up the conversation. "I will admit though they certainly are impressive."

"Wait, you've seen one be used before?" Ryder asked in fascination. To him the very idea of a Magic Crest had always been so majestic and now he was finally going to be getting a chance. Regardless, he was still keen to get any and all information he could before he began playing with his new toy.

"Yes, I'm actually a close friend of Henry McDowell." Will started, "I'm tempted to say I'm even his trusted confidant, but that man can easily make anyone think they're the most important person to him so it's really hard to say for sure." Will was about to start going on and on about how he admired Henry, but soon realized that those weren't the details Ryder wanted to hear about. "His crest is really special, it allows him to summon various spirits that have manifested across the ages, I still think the one which mesmerised me the most was Lei-Shen, the spirit of Thunder and Justice."

"Oh, please tell me THAT story!" Ryder asked with a beaming enthusiasm of a child.

"Haha, well I guess if you really want to know that badly. Let this old man tell you the tale of the Kraken vs Henry …"

The storm raged on off the southeastern coast of Australia, lightning strikes appearing in short intervals and waves assailing the boat, tipping it with great force. These conditions were contrary to the reported weather forecast — indicating clear weather and low chances of rain and showers.

Henry McDowell looked around observing the nautical equipment, many lights flashed vigorously, making obtuse noises, attempting to earn the attention of their navigator, Will Sertori. Will's hair was a dirty blonde and medium short, little could be said about his taste in clothes, perhaps if he was out on a night in the town his clothes would've been more stylish but for the sake of his job he simply a wore a blue sweater and toque and cargo pants which judging from the exterior were waterproof, a sensible and advisable choice.

To the contrary, and pressed for time Henry was dressed in formal attire, black dress pants, white collared shirt with tie and a black vest which cut off at his shoulders, a very dapper man. His figure itself was good as well, having been on many excursions to unfamiliar areas he naturally trained his body for adaptability in various environments. He was a well traveled man, made new friends easily, the only ones he met on a regular basis were those he found particularly interesting, excellent partners in bed, or provided valuable transportation services; as was the case for this occasion regarding Will Sertori.

Few would willingly venture out to the middle of uncharted territory known for numerous disappearances, no matter how much money one offered, Will was different. His grandfather was a friend of Harry McDowell, Joseph Sertori helped him to obtain a pact with the spirit Vyrkul and as a favor Harry convinced Joshua Kingston to pay off the mortgage on his house. Over time various other gifts were given, not quite as grand — but it continued to sustain the relationship between them.

"Think this means we hit the spot?" Asked the captain, looking intently at his equipment — making small adjustments here and there. "I don't think I can safely bring you in much further." Marking his question as more of a statement than anything else.

Henry smiled, opening the creaking door which led outside the bridge. "Time to find out." Walking outside, the pair were immediately hit by strong winds, made even more evident by the presence of whitecaps. In the middle of the sea emerged the enemy, with its trademarked huge and unnaturally long tentacles and its massive eye centred in a gigantic head, an eye that glowed in the darkness of the depths with a glare of dreadful yellow. This creature was known as a Kraken, most should have been extinguished long ago — this one included. This Kraken was known as the sea spirit Ursula, somewhere along the line a Kraken had obtained magical energy, likely done by destroying a ship containing a Magical Artifact. This spirit reappeared every 80 or so years and ever since it was the McDowells duty to defeat it, it was part of a pact with the summon spirit Undine that they would return it to the spirit realm every time it emerged.

"Is the ship going to be okay Henry?" Will spoke nervously, frantic to maintain his job. The ship belonged to the company he worked for Maritime Express, and the trip was unofficial — so any damage done to the ship he would have to answer for directly.

"Don't worry about it so much." Henry spoke, now in a firm stance drawing magical energy. His Magic Crest started to glow, the McDowell family crest design was comprised of one central circle, often associated with channelling energy with lines that swerved outwards connected to various other circles, each associated to a particular type of magic. The lines were comprised of writing in an ancient language, the circles referred to the spirits frequently used by the family over generations. Some circles spoke of fierce elements such as fire, while others whispered kindness and comfort.

"Conqueror of gods,

Seeker of Justice,

With purity of lightning,

And sound of thunder,"

A spot of magical energy now gathered in the center circle, causing it to glow purple, as he chanted the energy traversed along a line headed to his upper left chest, covering the writing at the same speed of the spell, eventually settling on a circle with a rune for lightning.

"I command thy force within me,

and with eternal light, extinguish my foe.

Come forth, Lei Shen!"

The glow now intensified along the traversed path and runes, and quickly engulfed his body finally exploding into a bright purple light, blinding all present. With the light subsided Will noticed Henry's elongated figure, his hair once auburn now an inch or two longer and turned a shade of black with a purple streak appearing on the left side. Extending his arm, a lance materialized, its handle long and red with a short curved blade at the tip.

Will stood dumbfounded at the sight before him, he had heard of the powers of the McDowell family but seeing it in person for the first time was another thing altogether. His power had increased tenfold from a one verse spell.

Spirit Summoning had two versions: one known as Spirit Materialization where a witch supplies enough magic for a spirit to fully materialize, another is Spirit Polymerization as the name implies this magic fuses the witch with their spirit counterpart. Spirit Materialization allows said spirit to operate independently and at full strength, Spirit Polymerization dramatically increases the witch's strength beyond that of the spirit on its own; this is dangerous though as the power can easily overwhelm the witch causing irreparable harm.

"I'll need you to provide me some platforms," Henry spoke now already suspended a few meter in the air over ocean waters, the voice startled Will as the voice he'd grown accustomed to hearing was now a good octave lower.

Will extended his hand, emitting an opal colored light, this formed an ice platform, in time for the armed man to land. He grabbed the lance with both hands positioning it at a downwards angle, assuming a defensive position. The Kraken didn't even hesitate, it lashed one of its tentacles directly at him, convinced he would not be able to sever the arm coming towards him, Henry jumped several meters into the air avoiding it altogether. A second attack however, from another tentacle smacked Henry right into the ship, breaching a hole which he tumbled through.

Before Will knew it the Kraken had already latched onto the ship with two of its free tentacles from underneath, his ship now riddled with sea monster tentacles draped across the deck. The extremities constricted it, applying great force and bending it in unnatural ways.

Now fearing for his own life Will grabbed one of the foreign arms trying to destroy the ship and froze it — followed by a strong whack with his arm, shattering the creature's arm clean off. The arm which had just been severed grew back nearly instantaneously.

Now having garnered Ursula's attention the creature latched onto Will with its newly regenerated limb encircling his human body, slowly supplying more and more force in an attempt to terminate the threat. He could see black dots decorate his vision, his breaths becoming few and far between, and just as he was about to lose consciousness a bright light shone through the deck and a blade pierced through the floor and served the arm once more.

"Sorry about that, she got me off guard, barely hurt at all. See I'm totally fine." Henry spoke confidently positioning himself once more in an attack position.

"Uhhh, no you're not." Will spoke correctively, not believing Henry for a moment. If one took even the slightest moment to examine Henry's body no one would believe his last statement, the left side of his face had a bruise roughly the size of a baseball, and the left side of his body containing multiple swelling spots. His attire only accentuated his unhealthy state — his white shirt once pristine now covered in squid ink and blood.

"Oh, come on!" Henry spoke, in a tone of fake sincerity. "Can't you just for once believe me. Even if I have an arm or two cut off some confidence from you can go a long way you know?"

"Just get this cretin off the ship already!" Will commanded, deeply concerned with the invading presence on his ship. Without even a moment's hesitation Henry charged directly to the creature's head, jumping from the side of the ship and into the air, empowering his leap with sheer magical energy. The kraken tried to use its colossal tentacles to swat the mighty witch in mid jump, but after reprioritizing his magical energy's focus from impulse to renewed speed, Henry managed to dodge each and every tentacle that —sliced through the air at him. Finally landing on the enormous head that stood dozens of meters above the water's surface, he jammed his lance in it. With the monsters head pierced his whole body conducted electricity as the creature screeched out in agony, and at the same time paralyzed to be unable to move.

"Kou—Zuma!" With the command given the monster was shot off the boat, and disintegrated, returning to the spirit realm. With the threat gone, Lei Shen left the confines of Henry's body, returning his hair and shape back to its natural state. "See, everything's fine."

"MY SHIP!" Will screamed, making exaggerated gestures at all of the worst places. He feared to even imagine the amount of money it was going to take out of his pay to fix that — assuming he wasn't to be flat out fired and sued; in that order. "There's a human sized hole in the hull, another hole on the deck! Not to mention the bends on this ship that are present EVERYWHERE!"

Henry took a moment to think, rolling his eyes back slightly. "You MAY have a point." A response which earned him only a menacing glare. Henry sighed in defeat, "I guess this means I'm missing my own party."

"That sounds so amazing." Ryder continued in complete and utter fascination, "Doesn't it Lucas?"

"Yeah, I guess." Lucas replied, his tone failing to come across as indifferent, even an amateur detective could tell he was fascinated with the tale. The begrudging smile on his face completely counteracted his defensive cross-armed posture.

"Well it would've been if he hadn't destroyed my boat in the process." Will said with a strange mix of nostalgia and disappointment. "Despite the fact that he promised not to."

"So that's why you're warning us to be careful, wouldn't want us destroying any boats now do you?" Ryder asked in jest.

"Hey, as long as it's not my boat you can destroy whatever boats you want!" The group had a good laugh, even Lucas joined in, perhaps finally warming up to the idea of civil conversation. "So how has my son been doing?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, he knew there had to be some kind of ulterior motive to all the chit-chat, especially with a man so heavily associate to the Sacred Circle.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't seen him in a very long time."

"Any particular reason?" Lucas asked accusation already in his voice, hearing the too familiar story of absent family from a child's life.

The tone was certainly not lost on either Will and Ryder, "We used to be quite close, but once he took that job at the docks he's become distant over time. I suppose it's the same old story you hear from parents all around the world." He responded explaining away their estranged relationship. "I was planning to drop in on him for a surprise visit."

"I hope it goes well."

"Lucas, that was actually nice… ?" Ryder spoke reacting to Lucas' shockingly genuine words.

"Yeah, Whatever." It's true, Lucas' words were uncharacteristically kind and genuine, he spoke before the words even registered. Perhaps the visit to Sleepy Hollow had sparked a change within him, finally seeing his mother in good health, and knowing he was once again welcome back into the town which raised him.

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Melissa spent most of the day showing Vanir around town, a task she happily volunteered for after witnessing Vanir's barely passable human behavior in the restaurant. It was astonishing really, Vanir became easily excitable by nearly every little thing. One thing did become clear though, Vanir may not have been a fan of food but he absolutely loved his dessert - namely ice cream. He ate cone after cone, and once Vanir began complaining of stomach aches after his third cone Melissa took it upon herself to cut him off before he purchased another.

With most of the afternoon passed, she decided it was a good time to bring Vanir to Nick, hopefully to give him a power boost in the process. Their walk in the forest was taking them much longer than expected, due to a certain someone…

"Oh, and what's that one?" Vanir asked as he excitedly pointed to a furry creature which grabbed a nut in it's mouth and scurried up a tree.

"That's a squirrel Vanir." Melissa answered with exhaustion in her voice.

"Oh, yes now I remember." Vanir spoke with recognition in his voice. "Thank you very much for showing me around the human constructs and services today. It was very educational."

"I'm glad I could help." She earnestly replied, his strange child like reaction to everything was charmingly refreshing. "Though, I am wondering you must've spent a lot of time with Sanders so why are you so surprised by everything?"

"Oh," Vanir began with a surprised tone before even realizing he had begun talking, "that's because Sanders doesn't normally meet with me close to humans, he's concerned I'd 'make a scene'." He finished complete with the customary air quotes, which had honestly caught Melissa off guard.

"Haha, well I can definitely see why he'd be concerned."

"I suppose," Vanir conceded. After all, I get very excited when I visit lands I have never been to before. Although I blame the giddy curiosity of the Fairy in me for that one," He said with a chuckle." Still, it's a little strange though, you humans really should fully enjoy all these activities in the wilds to their fullest instead of living most of your lives stuck in those abomination of cement and steel you call metropolises. Every ecosystem is so unique and different, I'm just humaning better than the rest of them. They should follow my example." Vanir said with bravado proudly boasting his thumb up along with an exaggerated smile.

"Good one." Melissa laughed as the words left his mouth.

"Am I doing the sarcasm right?"

"Yeah, totally nailed it."

"Hmmm I feel strange..." Vanir spoke with concern in his voice.

"Well it is your first time using sarcasm so maybe that's all it is. You'll get used to it." Melissa answered, dismissing Vanir's concern as mundane.

"No I do not believe that is it." He put on a face as he thought about it briefly. "It's been building up bit by bit. It started in my abdominal region, and a different but similar feeling is now occurring in my throat. I believe them to be related."

"Huh. This does sound familiar…" Melissa thought loud while she tried to remember what these symptoms represented. But, it was too late, Vanir lips parted ways letting out a wretched sound as liquid spewed from his mouth. Melissa stood in shock, not only was she there next to a fully grown man who unknowing puked, but he had done so on her shoes.

Contrary to Melissa's shocked expression Vanir had a face of discomfort mixed with wonder. "That tasted a bit like the creamed ice." He paused only to move his tongue around inside of his mouth. "I prefer the taste when it entered."

"This is going to be a long walk." Melissa said, taking all of her strength to not burst out in anger at him for destroying her new boots she purchased while shopping with Faye. "But, you are buying me a new pair of boots."

"Heheh...sorry?" He offered. "I guess my re-materialized stomach is fragile after all that time I managed to go without needing to eat". He paused. "And my memories too," He recognized with a pondering tone.

"Are you going to be okay?" Melissa asked in a startled tone at the comment.

"Yeah, my organs are just trying to re-adjust after becoming solid matter again and remaining in that state for so many hours," He said with a calming gesture. "Don't worry, I'll be back in my prime in a couple days at most."

"If you say so." Melissa said slowly before continuing.

Thankfully after the puking incident Vanir appeared to calm down significantly, he now walked quietly next to Melissa as he observed all the wildlife they passed during their journey. In a few mere minutes they finally arrived at their destination, the magical tree fort. Once arrived, Melissa didn't hesitate to rush ahead, standing proud of the fruit of her labor.

"So, I take it this is the magical fort?"

"Yep! It's actually a spell I crafted myself, using the Sun Orb might've been overkill but I figured it pay for itself in the long run."

"It also makes a most excellent hiding place, I can scarcely detect it's magical presence mixed with your Circles magic, along with the natural energies present."

"You can detect that kind of stuff?"

"Yes Fairies can actually see and detect magical energy under most circumstances. It is possible to cloak one's presence but few ever take those precautions."

"I'm impressed, wish I had that ability."

"Humans can acquire it but it takes a lot of training, we fairies can simply do it intuitively. Most of your kind calls it an aura I believe."

"That's really interesting!" Melissa responded, she wanted to push more for Vanir's infinite fountain of knowledge, but before things could get too far she knew Vanir had to bond with the tree. Adding his own power to the tree would enhance its abilities greatly, given his half breed makeup.

"I guess I should start." Melissa didn't even need to ask, Vanir walked right up to the tree and placed his hand on it.

As she predicted, the flow of energy was very different from that of the Circle members but she started to get worried when the glow turned as brilliant as solar glare. It was as if a great wave was building up preparing its release, she hadn't felt condensed energy of this caliber since the ritual that managed to seal Balcoin, which concerned her. The build-up did not seem to be diminishing and as it's potential reached a snapping point she was blinded with a bright light.

"What in the world…" Were the only words she could muster in a calm voice as her eyesight gradually returned, this didn't last long however as something extremely important had suddenly gone missing. "VANIR?! VANIR WHERE ARE YOU?"

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Grant and Diana sat in their shared living room, of course sitting was putting it nicely – in reality the pair has their faces almost on a magnetic lock on each other, with a passion so intense it would take the most unashamed individual to walk in un-phased.

The couple had been living together for several months now, yet despite that the room bore only simple decorations, and few aesthetics were changed in the Meade household. Grant never once tried to move any of his own things into the house, stating he never had anything worth bringing; besides he would be leaving soon regardless; his time already closing in.

Perhaps it was for this very reason the pair could barely keep any part of their bodies of each other, passing hand desperately through hair, searching for something to hold on to. Eventually they separated from their kiss, if for nothing else a simple gasp of air.

"Wow!" Grant exclaimed, hardly able to keep his breath as Diana flipped her head back – her hair glistening with the precipice of sweat – with an eager desire. "You're on fire tonight!"

She replied, with the biggest smile Grant had ever seen on her before she replied, a hunger present in her voice. "I'm not the only one." Her sentence followed a decisive action to grab Grant by his shoulders as she turned him parallel to the couch cushions – yanking his shirt off before abruptly pushing down. "At least, I better not be." She commanded with authority.

Grant with all the force he could muster turned the tide using his legs to jump so Diana was the one on her back. "You certainly aren't." He answered now eagerly undoing the buttons on her shirt in mere seconds taking it off in turn. He now leaned in his face sheer centimeters from her neck when they heard a surprising voice interrupt them.

"Have you been spending too much time with Henry McDowell during your travels?" Announced a voice with a strong familiarity and confidence, teasing even. Diana failed to recognise the older man's voice and since it seemed to be familiar with the couple she concluded he must've been there for Grant.

"Dad! I uhhh…." Grant spoke dumbfounded as he stood up immediately grabbing his shirt in embarrassment. Diana took an identical action, realising she had nothing on but her black lace bra.

"Relax I've seen worse." He answered cheerfully, only a brief pause continued with a strange matter of fact tone. "Sadly enough."

Diana shot will a glance, demanding an explanation to his father's presence, interrupting their private time. He smiled bleakly, "So Dad what are you doing here I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow."

"My business in Sleepy Hollow concluded much earlier than I expected." He replied, "I would've stayed longer to catch up with my associates but friends of yours were headed back so I offered them a lift." Grant nodded in acknowledgement to his father's statement, still obviously trying to move past his current state of embarrassment. "I do apologise I would've knocked but you told me to walk right in as you might be asleep by this time. Perhaps you should go freshen up Grant."

Not wanting to disobey his father he sauntered out of the room leaving Diana in Will's presence, Diana now found herself in what was the most awkward situations she could think of, an awkward smile dawned her face but it did little to change anything. "Pardon me for being blunt but you are a witch, correct?"

Diana stood wide eyed, hearing someone talk about it so openly left her stunned, especially considering he was Grant's father. She would've tried denying any such claim but recalled Jannett mentioning that the McDowell family was an Archon, so if he knew them it was likely he knew of magic in some way.

"Yes…" She answered hesitantly. "Is there a reason why you ask?"

"We have some things which need to be discussed…"

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Damien, leaned over as he picked up more herbs from the garden just outside his cabin. It was unfortunate, but he required more tea to help him in his predicament. The dark energy inside of him was becoming ever more difficult to control and so was his need for magical boosts to suppress its influence.

For the moment however damien was content that the voice was no longer audible, he wasn't sure if it's because it tired himself out, or simply thanks that he had a small heart to heart with Aria earlier. Her wealth of wisdom and experience truly reflected as someone who had lived through quite a lot in their long years of life.

"I wonder if Juniper berries would be a good addition." Damien pondered to himself, though juniper berries have never clearly demonstrated any clear magical or medicinal properties. "Regardless, hopefully it'll add a nice flavor." He concluded, picking up a small handful of them and adding it to his basket.

Immediately after doing so, he suddenly felt a surge of pain in his head, along with a faint white light in the distance. The timing of the two seemed too perfectly related to be a coincidence, any sane witch would've run for the hills. However, Damien for some inexplicable reason felt an overwhelming need to go towards it despite a part of him desperately tried pushing him away.

Each step slowly revealed the body of a man laying on the ground, his skin was white but had an almost unnatural pigment to it, his face seemed almost clean of all blemishes, bearing an almost statue like symmetry, which in its own way was enthralling Damien.

"Oh, hello." Vanir answered as he abruptly opened his eyes. He immediately stood up now observing his surroundings, he could tell he was still in a forest but couldn't pinpoint his exact whereabouts. "Excuse me, but do you know where I am. I'm not entirely used to the bearings of this environment yet."

"Ummm ..." Damien started more startled by how casual the man was treating his sudden appearance. Vanir however just continued to stare blankly at Damien as he awaited the rest of his response. "I guess that all depends on where you'd like to go."

"Oh, I need to get back to Chance Harbor." He replied. "I should be able to find my way from there."

"Right, well that would be about a 20 minute walk in that direction." Damien answered as he pointed South.

"Thank you very much," Vanir announced as he turned walking away.

"Wait a minute," Damien said stopping the man in his tracks as he turned around. "Why aren't you trying to explain to me why you suddenly appeared here in a flash of light?"

"Well you're a witch aren't you?" Vanir announced casually, Damien of course was shocked by the casual statement. "I scarcely imagine you haven't already figured out how it happened."

"Wait, how do you know I'm a witch?" Damien asked now panicked. Crap I was supposed to be keeping this a secret from people, now what am I supposed to do?

"Oh, I'm a half-fairy." Vanir said now walking back towards the man, given that he wanted to initiate a conversation. "So it was trivial for me to assert you had magical capabilities."

As Vanir approached Damien the pain in his head grew, something about him was clearly causing this, but he couldn't ascertain why. Without even realizing it he put his hand on his head in pain.

"Oh, you're magic is out of balance." Vanir raised his two hand placing them on both sides of his face as he looked at him intently, this act alone was alarmingly strange since it came from a stranger he had only met moments ago. To make the situation even worse, Vanir held his hands in place while continuing to stare at Damien for a good couple of minutes, it made him feel strange but for some reason Damien did not feel the need to pull back. Maybe this is just an effect fairies have on witches? He thought to himself.

"Oh I see the problem," Vanir announced. "You have this demon energy in heavy conflict with your witch side." Damien remained still surprised that this man had so easily discovered so much about himself in a matter of minutes. Then in an instant Damien felt a wave of energy wash of over him, it was foreign in nature but also extremely calming. "That should do it though."

"Wow, thanks." Damien couldn't explain it, but he felt as if he was in complete control of himself once again. He would be in complete bliss if it weren't for the repeating buzzing noise he could hear.

"Why is this device making that noise?" Vanir asked as he removed his hands taking out a cell phone from his pocket.

"That's because someone's calling you?" Damien replied confused by the man's absent common knowledge. Vanir however simply kept looking at him puzzled and confused, in a quick moment Damien opened the phone and put it next to his ear.

"Hello, Vanir?" Melissa's voice came from the phone clearly showing sarcasm.

"Oh, hello Melissa." Vanir said in delight.

"Don't hey Melissa me! Where on earth are you?"

"Don't worry I'll be coming back soon." Vanir responded as he closed the phone hanging up in the process likely leaving a confused Melissa on the other end. "Thanks for all of your help."

"Not a problem," Damien replied. "I think you helped me more than I did you." With this Vanir began walking away once again. "Wait, Vanir." He turned acknowledging the witches presence once again.

With this he walked up to Vanir grabbing his phone and opened up his contact book adding himself to it. "Look I really appreciate what you did, and would love to learn more about how you did it… and uhh well you." He spoke in a hesitant tone. "You know never having a met a fairy before. Not that that's the only reason why I'm doing this. I mean I uhh … "

As he continued fumbling over his own words Vanir only smiled at them, it reminded him far too much of his own shortcomings at being human in this realm.

"Point being I would like it if we could talk about what it is you did. So if you would like to spare the time maybe we could chat or something?"

"Sure sounds like fun." Vanir responded earnestly. "After all I've never met a half-demon before, you're surprisingly nice."

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Author Notes: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now, I know plenty of you guys have asked some questions for us but if you write the review through guest review format we can't answer those questions if you won't type an email we can respond to as well and if you do that you have to split apart the letters in the link to avoid the site censorship system from working. So, this time I am going to answer some of the direct questions in guest reviews but please, if you have something important to say but lack a fanfiction account then please write an email where we can reach you. Maybe not your personal one but you get the idea.

Guest chapter 6 . Jun 1, 2015

You'll have to keep reading to see! But we do hope something is addressed about that soon, it's really concerning me too :/

Janae chapter 6 . Mar 9, 2015

Yeah that will be very scandalous, I'm not sure we'll directly address that though as it seems that enough of the circle knows about it and for long enough that it's common knowledge.

All the other Guest reviews: UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!

Us: We're sorry. One of the writers went AWOL for a long time and it was a solo gig for quite awhile, I needed to come up with a plot that I felt completed the series in a good manner with everything that was already established. However it does seem that Forcystus5 has come back to the fold extremely recently so give him a warm welcome.

And to all of the other anonymous reviewers thank you very much for your positive feedback! :)

Even if it's just a request for an update it's nice to know we have a dedicated fanbase who wants us to keep making more!