After breaking out of the Omega dimension, all he could think about was finding her. She was the one that got away. For a moment he thought he had found her in Solaria. She had stumbled over him quite literally. Once in the stairs and once on the balcony. He was going to kill her once and for all, that's why he had followed her to the balcony, and then it turned out that she wasn't the princess after all.

She didn't have the birthmark. It would have looked like a burn to an untrained eye, placed under her bangs, but there was nothing there when he checked. He was starting to wonder if he saw what he wanted to see, that he had become so desperate after spending 17 years in that frozen hell he would mistake any redhead for the princess. Besides she would never have been hidden so obvious, Daphne was smarter than that. It most definitely wouldn't be this easy to find her. No, he had to push these thought out of his head.

He was taking back his power, he could focus on the princess when he was done. Right now he was seeking out some of his old contacts from the war, including spies and old lieutenants from 'his' army, the ones that was still alive and free that was.

He was tempted to call for Griffin, as they had once been inseparable. The closer they had gotten to winning the war the more intimate their relationship had gotten, but then suddenly she had a change of heart. She had left him for the enemy, and exposed their war tactics, forcing him to act sooner than planned. Her betrayal still hung heavy in the air. He would pay her a visit, but not yet, he would have to wait until he had built up enough power.

In the meantime, he would have to settle with his old informants. It took some time locating the spy's that hadn't been exposed after the war. Luckily for him, Griffin never knew who his informants were. They both had their own sources, that way if one of them were captured, they couldn't expose each other's secrets.

With a little searching he found Elvara. She had been one of his most valuable informants before and during the war. First time they had met she was only 17 years old, this was almost 50 years ago. He had taken an interest in her when he discovered her talent. He had helped her land a spot at the magic council after she had finished her three years at Alfea, although she would have been a much better fit for cloud tower.

He was not surprised to see she had climbed higher in the ranks of the council over the years. Locating her wasn't hard, as the woman wasn't shy to attention. When approaching her he had to be careful, as most of the council was likely to recognize him. He snuck into her office, being careful not to set off any alarms. It was a shame they hadn't done a better job at updated their security system over the years, at least for them, someone with the right skillset might break in. He couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought.

He didn't have to wait long before she came back from her meeting, but he had enough time to take a look around. Her bookshelves were filled with books on the history of the magical universe, the laws of magic, and of course the many laws the magic council enforces throughout the universe. Looking over at the photos she had standing on her desk, he could see pictures of a child, and he knew it was the child she had been pregnant with during the war. He had briefly met the young girl after she was received a week before the war had ended, or rather paused.

In another picture he could see a more recent picture of the girl, it was strange how much the girl resembled her mother. They shared the same orange blonde hair and pine green eyes. He was thrown back to the present as the door opened and clicking of heels came dancing over the floor.

"Love what you've done with the place." He smirked referring to her "new" office. New in the sense that it didn't belong to her 17 years ago. It used to belong to her superior, one of the many councilmen he had had the pleasure of killing.

She was dressed like a business woman with a tight skirt that went down to her knees and a navy blue cape blazer over a white shirt. Her hair was set up in a tight bun at the top of her head, and her pine green eyes met his with a glint of hope.

"What have we here, the ancestral witches' lap dog?" The lady in front of him teased back. "I thought you were in omega serving a life sentence."

"It didn't suit." The dark wizard smirked, cracking his neck at the mention of the dreadful prison he had escaped from.

"No, that coat doesn't suit!" Elvara said, sitting down on her desk in front of him. "You're gonna have to let me buy you a new one."

He looked at the woman in front of him. Time had been kind to her. She was as radiating as the first time they had met almost 60 years ago. Although she was 75, she didn't look a day over 40. An age that suited her personality. The wonder of magic.

"As much as I 'love' your fashion tips. That's not why I'm here."

"I know. You're here to start a war."

"No. I'm here to finish one." His smirk grew darker, blending in with the darkness around.

"And you want my help. You know what my job is right?" It was a rhetorical question she knew he just couldn't resist to answer.

"You find and bring down the ones who sided with the ancestral witches during the war." He said as if the fact was nothing to be bothered by. "I know. I took a look at the list of people you have brought in over the years, and you know what I found?" There was a little pause where he thought she might start to laugh, but the laughter never came. Though she was definitely entertained. "They were all traitors, people who deserted their posts in the final battle."

Trying to talk to her father without Cassandra and Chimera hanging around his neck, was like trying to remove a piece of gum from your hair without using any magic.

"Whatever you have to say to your father, you can say to us too. We're soon family after all." The countess said. Her smile as fake as her boobs.

"Yes sister, you can tell me anything." Chimera buttered her voice in theater for the King.

Stella was so close to hitting her square in the jaw. 'Take that for family.' Luckily Flora was there to calm her dawn. The nature fairy put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"It's about her mother, and I don't think that Stella is ready for you to hear this right now." Flora spoke. Stella inwardly thanked the great dragon Bloom convinced her to bring a diplomat.

"This doesn't concern you peasant." Chimera spat at the brunette, making the fairy jump back a little.

"Don't you talk to my friend like that." Stella snapped back, jumping to Fora's defense.

"I meant no disrespect." She could hear her friend say from behind.

"How can you let your daughter treat Chimera like this? I won't stand for it." Cassandra sounded just loud enough for Stella to hear her, creeping closer to her father's side.

"I've taught you better than this Stella. Apologize to Chimera at once." Radius said not with the voice of her loving father, but with the voice of a commander. Stella instantly knew something was wrong. First off he had never used this voice with her, maybe once or twice with her mother but never her. Secondly her father would never have let anyone talk to commoners like Chimera did. He had always pride himself on the strength of their people, saying that a kingdom was only as good as the union between the royals and the commoners.

"No, are you kidding me?" The princess bursted out. Though unintentional from Stella's side it drew people's attention, at the time she couldn't care less. Things had taken a turn for the worse after she had left for Alfea. How could her father betray her like this? Leave her mother for some bitsy skank.

"Calm down Stella" Flora pleaded.

"No I'm not gonna calm down. That BITCH is trying to steal my father." You could see her eyes starting to water as well as her voice was starting to crack.

"Your daughter is making a scene Radius. This is not fitted behavior for the princess of Solaria." The countess said, not bothering to lower her voice this time. Her offended expression had an underlying tone of a smirk. The people who had been staring turned away, starting to snicker amongst themselves.

"Who are you to say?" The princess barked back. Desperation growing in her voice.

"That's enough Stella. Show a little respect to your new mother." Her father broke her off. Looking at her with eerie disappointment.

Desperation grew in Stella. His voice brought her back to when her mother still lived in the castle together with them. Back when they were still a family, when she still had a family. It was so long ago. Now they were broken, all of them, like a mirror, the pieces of their family shattered across the floor, and left in the dark.

The floor was shifting under her. She glanced over at the countess who was looking at her with a daunting smirk. 'You lose'. And at that moment she swore the woman had grown horns. With tears threatening to fall she stormed out with the nature fairy in tow.

"MOVE" She yelled to one of the guards on her way, the young man quickly obeying.

It was a miracle she was still standing when she got out of there. There was a flash of red before she was caught in a thigh hug, a hug that could have chocked a cow, but at the moment it was the only thing keeping her from falling off a cliff.

Sorry for the long wait between updates. Shit happened, I believe you can relate.

If you have the time, please leave a comment and tell me what you think.