Isla stared at her captor's back, fixated on the bow and arrows strung upon it. Her bow and arrows. If she concentrated hard enough, would the arrows still listen to her? Or did she need to reach out and touch them? She focused on them with all her might, but still nothing.

"What was that?" The long-haired man came to a pause frantically looking between the bushes to the left and right.

"It's just your imagination. Let's keep going," the other one urged.

An arrow swiftly pierced through the first one's torso, and a second arrow landed straight in the middle of the second's forehead.

Isla began to panic. Was she next or was this a rescue mission?

"There you are, Miss Isla. I knew if I remained in Aboracies you would show up sooner or later." Her rescuer came into view as she felt herself asphyxiating.

No. Anyone but that man.

Isla wanted to run but her feet remained firmly planted in the soil beneath her. She didn't want to go back. She couldn't go back.

Her arm was grabbed firmly as she was dragged to a clearing. Two horses pulling a wagon stood patiently waiting for the two, a rider sat upon one. How long had this been planned? Before she could even dare to ask, she was pushed into the wagon as the man closed the gate, taking a seat next to her ensuring she wouldn't escape or Almighty forbid try to kill herself.

She was tired from walking, from all the stress she had been through, yet she could not sleep. Her eyes remained wide open and alert. She glanced at the man sitting next to her. He still wore the blue robes all the doctors in Aeceria Castle wore, but his short black hair had begun to gray. The stubble on his chin showed he must have been waiting here for some days.

Isla's stomach lurched when she remembered this was the same doctor Gwyneth would see any time she was ill. She wished she could have told Gwyneth how evil he was and all the awful things he put her through. She was half sure at the time that he would end up killing Gwyneth the same way he had nearly killed her.

But then again, his end goal was to kill Isla. That was the difference.

"While I have you hear I should ask; what are the princess' intentions?" the doctor asked.

Isla's neutral expression remained as she kept her glance outside the wagon.

"You won't tell me? Very well. It's not as if I have any interest in the princess. Her being out of the picture makes my job that much easier."

Isla froze. That was right — no one would be there to protect her. Not that anyone was before. Had they made any more progress in their research over the past eight years? She wanted to know, but part of her was scared to know the truth.

"What are you planning on doing with me this time?" Isla mumbled; her question barely audible.

"Have you heard of Steriablight?" He seemed rather smug about this.

Isla's face paled. She had. She overheard some Fae talk about it during her time in Losufea. It was a plant said to enhance a Fae's magic. The effect was sometimes catastrophic, killing whoever partook of it. For that reason, consumption of it was strictly prohibited. If used on someone who potentially possessed magic but could not awaken it... The theory was that it would awaken. But that was just it — it was only a theory.

"It seems you have." The doctor smiled confidently. "Then I don't have to tell you what this means."

---

She was surprised when they returned to the outskirts of Aboracies. The little village could be seen in the distance, further away from the forest. In front of her and the doctor was a small building, maybe the size of a one-bedroom house.

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"This is one of our research facilities," the doctor spoke of his collaborators. "It's close to the Forlorn Forest for ease of collecting specimens."

"So, that's how you came upon Steriablight," Isla mumbled more to herself than to the doctor.

"No, actually. After Zetheria's fall, a few Fae were willing to trade for it."

At this, Isla paused. The Fae had already made their way to Aeceria? What could they have possibly wanted?

"What did you trade?" Isla asked slowly, fearing that the Fae would become all but unstoppable.

"A map of the castle's underground tunnel system. Quite a small price to pay."

"Are you insane?!" Isla shouted, rage filling within her. She herself didn't know anything about the tunnel system outside of vague stories Gwyneth would tell about them. "You gave them a route to invade us should they choose to do so!"

"The tunnels don't lead outside of the castle, idiot." They don't? Then why had Gwyneth said as much? She would mention stories of the royal family fleeing using the tunnel system. "Why this information is remotely beneficial to them is beyond me. Come. My ascension awaits." He tightly grabbed Isla's wrist and pulled her into the building.

The room they entered was small, holding a cot, a desk, a chair, and several needles and vials. The sight before her caused her to completely shut down.

When she was discovered as a child, her mother was often experimented on. The idiots at the castle assumed that she must possess some sort of magic after carrying a half-Fae child. She would eventually die from the experiments only for Isla to take her place.

She would reside in a facility in Aeceria, closely monitored by doctors from the castle. They would abuse her verbally and physically thinking that once she had enough her magic would manifest.

But it never did.

When everything else had failed, she was trained in typical Fae expertise such as archery and taming a unicorn. The unicorn had tried to kill her upon first meeting her, likely sensing her human side. She was tasked to tame it alone, with the staff only coming to her aid if she was literally dying. Once her training was complete, she was tasked with serving the princess until the experiments could continue.

She resented the princess initially, and she sensed the princess resented her just as much. Somehow, someway, they grew to understand each other. Isla could sense a weight on Gwyneth's shoulders that she would never dare speak of, and the princess began to pity her and the way the other staff treated her.

Time passed, and she forgot all about the experiments that would one day continue.

Or perhaps she willed herself not to remember.

The plan was always the same; awaken her magic and kill her.

The doctor may have spoken of some noble cause or the betterment of Aeceria, but she knew he led this project solely for his own selfish reasons. To gain magic for himself, and perhaps overthrow the Aecerian royal family.

She wanted to run or fight back or do something, but all she could do was stand there in fear. It was just the two of them and she was easily more adept at fighting than he was. So why? Why couldn't she bring herself to fight back?!

Her wrist was grabbed harshly again as she was forced into a sitting position on the cot. Her eyes watered with tears as her mouth was forced open and a cool liquid was poured down her throat. She tried to spit it out, to not swallow it, but panic took over and decided for her.

Within seconds, her internal organs were on fire — every nerve that ran through her body shared in their pain as if they would literally burn through her skin. She screamed loud and high enough that one of the glass vials shattered before her.

And then she felt it — a soothing presence calming the storm within. Without thinking, acting purely on instinct, she reached her hand out towards the doctor's arm where there was a faint cut from who knows what. Within seconds, the skin closed, and the scar faded.

Healing magic... Just as she was told her dad possessed.

The doctor frowned for a moment before his expression morphed into pure disgust. "You were supposed to have elemental magic! How am I supposed to pursue my plans now?!"

A pause. Then a twisted smirk replaced the utter disgust within seconds. "On the other hand... I could become the best doctor Aeceria has ever seen! And nobody will even know that it's magic!" He was up in her face causing her to wince at his awful breath. Healing magic wouldn't exactly help her escape either.

"Yes, I quite prefer you this way." He pushed a strand of hair out of her face and gently caressed her cheek, causing her to squirm and scream simultaneously. The squirming only intensified when he pulled out a dagger from his coat pocket.

No... Not like this! There was still so much she wanted to do! She wanted to comfort the princess, to learn more about the race she was a part of, to tell Elric—

The doctor was tackled to the ground before she could complete her thoughts. On top of him was a scrawny boy with shaggy brown hair Isla would recognize anywhere.

"Aston!" She beamed with delight as she watched the boy before her beat the ever-weaning daylight out of the doctor.

"Are you okay?" He quickly stood up and pulled her into a hug, making her flinch in the process. Right, Isla never liked hugs unless they were from Gwyneth.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." She gently pushed him off her.

"What did he do to you?" He narrowed his eyes at the strange tools and vials around him. Not to mention how unsanitary everything looked. "Why didn't I come sooner...!" He clenched his fists, blaming himself for how long it took him to actually pull off the teleportation spell.

"I-I just want to get out of here now."

Aston nodded and grabbed her small palm within his.

The last time he would ever hold her hand.