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“Listen to me carefully, Serena Rose. I am not doing any of this because of some sense of duty or pity . I am here because if you are not here, I have no reason to draw breath anymore. I am trying to keep you alive, because it is the only way I can keep myself alive. There is no version of me that will outlast you, and no future that does not have you in it. Have I made myself clear?”

She nodded numbly, dumbstruck at his words.

He glared at her for a minute, before he heaved a huge sigh, as the anger left him.

Running his hand through his hair, he turned away, but not before she saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Feeling overwhelmed with his passionate words, and slightly charmed by the subsequent embarrassment, she reached out her hand and squeezed it softly.

“Would you like some tea?” she said, the words loaded with everything she could not articulate at the moment.

He seemed to understand, and when he looked back at her, his eyes were full of answers as he said the words with reciprocative emotion.

“Tea would be very nice, thank you.”

She sat on the steps a while later, with the mirror in her hands, as she debated whether to contact Nerida, and ask her about what she had learnt.

Recalling the haggard appearance of the queen the last time, she decided to not contact her just yet.

Besides, this did not change much, other than just to make things muddier than ever.

Grim materialized next to her, silent as always.

She had told him about what she had learnt over tea.

Predictably, he was more fixated on the part regarding Lore treating her as Arcana’s stand in, and it had taken a good fifteen minutes to calm him down and remind him there was not much the demon could do outside the tales.

“Thinking about contacting Nerida?” he questioned, and she shook her head.

“I don’t think it will change anything. Besides, I have a feeling the queen will not tell us anything more about this.”

Grim snorted.

“Immortals,” he muttered. “They never get easier to deal with. ”

Serena placed her chin on her arms, hugging her knees, trying to focus.

It felt like she was still missing something, like her thoughts were errant butterflies in her mind which she was chasing, trying to pin them down.

But every time she felt like she was getting close to a cohesive picture, everything would fly off again, in scattered pieces.

After a minute of trying to piece things together she gave up, and tried to focus on what Grim was saying.

“We only have two fairytales left,” he said. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do after the curse lifts.”

“What we need is to figure out a way to get the Spirit Wand away from him,” she said, her brow furrowing, “Not just to get rid of him, but also to help Nerida and Faerie. And the Spirits.”

Grim shifted a little and said hesitantly.

“That’s not your fight Serena, you could just end the curse by finishing the trials and walking away.”

“We already talked about this. Who knows if he’ll leave me alone after, and besides, I want to.

If Lore is truly behind so much loss and destruction, then I’ll make sure he never hurts anyone else again.

” She looked up at him, expecting to see censure, and was surprised to see him smiling at her with what looked like pride in his eyes.

“You’re really something, you know,” he murmured.

Her cheeks flushed hot, and she looked away. Turning her attention back to the topic at hand, she racked her brains for some clue. “First of all we need to figure out where he keeps the Spirit Wand in the first place. I have not seen it on his person since the first time he cursed us.”

They pondered in silence for a minute before Grim spoke.

“Do you remember that in-between place…his lair that we appeared in a few times? If I had to hazard a guess, that is probably where he keeps th e wand. If nothing else, that place would at least hold a clue we need. But I have no idea how we would get there.”

An idea struck Serena. “The woods.”

“What?”

“The woods. Nerida said they act as doorways. What if we could open a doorway into that world from there?” Her voice rose in excitement. “We have been getting thrown into different worlds through these entryways, but what if for once we open the door ourselves?”

Grim frowned. “That sounds plausible in theory, but you’re forgetting something. Lore has possession of the the wand. We might have the crystal, but that is not enough to open the door on its own. Its purpose has always been to protect and not much more.”

She deflated a little. He was right about that, Nerida had said the same, but there was something else that they had missed, something in the story. How had the scepter been created? Faery Tears on the Great Oak Tree that had soaked the blood of the fallen human knight…

“Stars' balls.” she whispered. “I think I’ve got it.”

A while later, they stood in front of the oak tree in the Woods of Glenn, the same one she had sat and cried on just before she met Grim.

“Are you sure this will work?” asked the man in question from behind her

Running a hand on the trunk of the magnificent oak tree, Serena thought back to that day, when she had sat and wept on this tree; she’d wished for someone to appear who she could call her own.

She had wished a pure wish to the stars, and they had answered, sending Grim.

She had never thought much about that day again, but it made sense now—the wish she had made to the stars had been so similar to the story, and it had been made on this tree, which was almost the exact description of the oak tree the knight girl had fallen upon.

And now she had the crystal inside her as well… surely, surely that would be enough.

“I think so.” She had explained her theory on the way here, and although he had been skeptical, he had agreed to accompany her to test it out. For they had both agreed that sooner was better than later to scope out Lore’s lair.

“But we still cannot actually use the wand just yet,” Serena had reminded him. “Nerida said it was best to wait until after the curse is lifted. For now, we’ll just see if this idea works and we can actually cross over.”

They stood in front of the tree now, and Serena placed both palms on the trunk.

She closed her eyes, focusing. She couldn’t explain exactly how she knew what she was doing, but she did.

As if her body was being guided by forces she could not see.

As she stood there, she felt a wind start whipping around her hair and skirts.

Tiny vines appeared from the ground, wrapping around her ankles, and then from the trunk, little flowers dotting around her wrists.

She heard the silver bell laughter, now almost familiar in its sound, along with the buzzing of little inhuman voices that sang in her mind.

Little sister, little sister! We’re here to help you. Focus on the tree and tell it where to take you.

“The Wild Ones,” whispered Grim, a tinge of awe coloring his tone.

Serena continued to focus on the tree, imagining a doorway open in her mind. She pictured Lore’s lair, the dark room with the peculiar objects.

Please, she thought, I need you to take me to the place where the wand is.

A little orb of light, that grew and grew until her eyelids felt like they were burning.

Open your eyes, little sister !

She opened her eyes and a door stood in front of her.

This one was different from the ones she saw when the curses ended.

It almost vibrated with good magic, with glowing vines that snaked around it.

Little wildflowers were littered all around it and it was engraved with tiny woodland creatures that actually moved , running around on the door, jumping and rolling around.

Her heart nearly sang in response to the beauty and light that it emanated.

She could have stood there for the whole day and just stared at it, but she felt a nudge at her back.

“Time to go,” said Grim, and she felt her joy dim. They both looked at each other grimly, neither of them looking forward to what lay in front of them. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.