Baltic reveals a few secrets.

1. A Battle of Magic and Blood
The White Legacy:
Interlude

2. Arie: “Baltic! I can‟t believe it‟s you! Where have you been? What have you been doing? You‟re all grown up! I
can‟t believe this!”
Jade: “So you say… this is your brother? That would make him my…”
Baltic: “Great-Uncle.”
Sun: “Whoa.”

3. Baltic: “It feels so strange to say that. When I was… when I left, you hadn‟t even been born yet, Aral.”
Arie: “It‟s Arie, Baltic. Everyone calls me that.”
Baltic: “Arie…”

4. Arie: “So? Tell us! What happened? Why were you gone so long? Why show up now?”
Baltic: “Well… it‟s a really long story…”
Jade: “We don‟t mind.”
Sun: “Like, spill your heart out, man.”
Baltic: “Okay… but to really explain everything, I‟m going to have to start at the very beginning…”

5. …even before I was part of the story at all. The moment everything was set in motion was when Arctos’s house
burned down, taking with it his wife and son. I never did hear their names. He went to his sister Latimeria, who
had been trying to recruit him to her cause for years, and pledged his support.

6. Their alliance was awkward at first. Latimeria was rather annoyed with Arctos in those beginning days, in the
process of mourning as he was. But then, she was never the most congenial of witches to begin with, and she
was impatient to begin plotting to take down the legacy.
One evening, Latimeria’s witch order held an emergency meeting.

7. Head Witch: “Everyone, I know there aren‟t enough seats, but until we find Pearl‟s body and retrieve the keys to
the Castle o‟ Doom, this is going to have to do. Nevertheless, I expect you to pay attention, please.”

8. Witch: “Please at least look at me so I know you‟re paying attention.”
Elder Witch in Red Skirt: “AGH! What is that sound!?”
Redhead Witch in the Background: “Oh no… I hope Daddy isn‟t worrying about me…”
Joe Graham, the Man in the Blue Coat: “You always knew the Garden Club was really evil. Person person plus!”

9. Head Witch: “EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME OR I‟LL TURN YOU ALL INTO RATS!!”

10. Head Witch: “Thank you! Now then, as you all know, my name is Hattie Tomyoy, and I‟m the new head of the
order. I have called this emergency meeting to inform you that the Portents have come in prophesying the birth of
the next Child Oracle. It will be a daughter born to a witch or warlock.”
Everyone Else: *mumble mumble gasp mumble*
Head Witch: “SILENCE!! Catherine, you may speak.”

11. Catherine: *ahem* “As you all are no doubt aware, we desperately need the influence of the Child Oracle if we‟re
going to overcome the good witches in the upcoming war… and I assure you, there will be a war. But more than
that, we need to make sure they don‟t get her born to one of them this time. The Portents did not specify which
alignment the parent is going to be—the raven dove straight to the ground, and not in a clockwise or counterclockwise spiral. This is a Portent of magical heritage, but not one that tells us much else. We have more cause to
worry because one of the ranking members of the others is a young, married legacy heir by the name of
Desmodus.”
Merry: “What does he have to do with anything?”

12. Group Of Low-Ranked Witches Who Didn’t Get Seats: “Hahaha. Latimeria is such a young, naïve little witch.
She doesn‟t know anything about Child Oracles or Portents. So pathetic.”
Hattie: “SILENCE!! YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO SPEAK!!”

13. Catherine: “Young one, Child Oracles historically favor families which have important historical significance.
Legacies are a very common vehicle for their birth. That is why a lowly townie gardener such as Joe here has no
chance of ever being the parent.”
Joe Graham: “Grrr...”
Catherine: “They also favor situations in which they will be born with some kind of supernatural status in addition
to their Oracle prowess. Witches are common parents, as are aliens, reapers, and vampires.”

14. Warlock in Striped Sweater: “Which is why we‟re all pretty certain that if it‟s going to be someone in our order,
you‟re going to be the parent. You‟re part of that stinkin‟ legacy, after all. Doesn‟t mean we‟re not worried about the
fact that Desmodus can still have children, since he‟s actually heir, and all.”
Merry: “Don‟t you even DARE mention—”
Hattie: “ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!”

15. Hattie: “Thank you! Now then, if we have read the signs, than the other order has read them, too. I expect all of
you within child-birthing years to have a child as soon as possible. That goes especially for you, Latimeria.
Dismissed.”

16. Arc: “A Child Oracle, huh? You know, if we had her growing up in this house, than we would be the first ones to hear any
prophecies she made. Chances are, there would be at least one relevant to the legacy, which we could then use to take it
down.”
Merry: “Exactly. I knew you‟d see it my way.”
Arc: “It was my impression that you just wanted to have the baby so you could lord it over Dez. It would be the one and only
thing you ever beat him in, after all.”
Merry: “Shut up!!”

17. Arc: “This is all well and good, but how exactly are you planning on getting pregnant? Last time I checked, you had
absolutely no gentleman callers. Or even any interest in any specific man.”
Merry: “I‟ve got to make this baby as appetizing as possible to this oracle-whatever, because Dez could very well have
another baby and have it be the oracle, since he‟s the heir. One of the witches said that oracles like supernatural life states.
I‟m already a witch, which is really all I should need, but Dez is a warlock, too. I have to make it one better, and have the
father be a different type of life state. That way my baby has two different types of life state in its heritage, and Dez‟s only has
one.”
Arc: “And how are you planning on doing that, exactly?”

18. Merry: “…”
Arc: “You haven‟t the foggiest idea, do you?”
Merry: “I do too!!”
Arc: “Oh, really? Prove it.”
Merry: “…”

19. Merry: “Wait, I‟ve got it! That old fart said that oracles like to be born to… um… witches—”
Arc: “Of which you are already one. We‟ve established that.”
Merry: “Keep your mouth shut till I‟m done!! Witches, aliens, vampires, and… reapers, whatever that is.”
Arc: “Children of the Grim Reaper.”
Merry: “So all I have to do is get abducted by aliens!”

20. Arc: “…you‟re not a man.”
Merry: “Yeah, so!? …oh.”
Arc: “Yeah. They only impregnate men.”
Merry: “So you do it!”
Arc: “I‟m not a warlock, Merry.”

21. Merry: “So what do you suggest we do, then!?”
Arc: “Hmm… you wouldn‟t happen to know any vampires I don‟t know about, would you?”
Merry: “What do you think?”
Arc: “…Give me some time to think. Meet me in the dining room tomorrow morning.”

22. Merry: “We don‟t have time to think! I get the baby now, or someone else is going to get there first!!”
Arc: “Patience. One day isn‟t going to hurt anything. Dining room, tomorrow.”

23. He spent the night forming his plan, and explained it to Merry the following morning. She was a little… hesitant.
Merry: “…”
Arc: “…”

24. Merry: “…I still don‟t get it. This is all so stupidly elaborate.”

25. Arc: “You always were thick.”
Merry: “Who are you calling—”
Arc: “Quit complaining. Look, Merry. It‟s perfectly simple.”

26. Arc: “We‟re going to kill Dez.”

27. Merry: “Yes, yes, I get that part. I have no trouble with that at all.”
Arc: “So what’s the problem?”
Merry: “Would this even work? And more importantly…”

28. Merry: “…why do I have to be the one to go into negative aspiration!?”
Arc: “We don’t have enough time to puzzle things out, Merry. I have it on good authority that Isis and Dez have
both rolled the Want to have a baby. Either you do it, or you concede this victory to him.”
Merry: “Fine!!”

29. Arie: “That‟s something I never did figure out.”
Baltic: “Huh?”
Arie: “You‟re telling this story like we already know how Par was murdered. I‟ve spent a long time thinking about
how they managed it, but could never wrap my head around it. I mean, Callie saw Par age into an old man and die
in our kitchen. How did they manage to murder him by old age?”
Baltic: “Oh, I’m sorry! I thought you already knew! It went something like this.”

30. They had decided that the best way to get the Child Oracle was to have Latimeria become pregnant by the Grim
Reaper. Children born of the Grim Reaper are quite unique, and in order to have one conceived, a sacrifice is
required. This is why the murder took place.
Arctos found an aspiration points dealer who could supply him with a large amount of very rare Elixir of Life. Over
the next several days, Latimeria carefully fulfilled none of her Wants and slipped into negative aspiration. She then
personally drained the Elixir of Life—but drank none of it.

31. There was too much in quantity for it to work as they planned to use it, and what’s more, even draining an entire
hourglass wouldn’t have enough of an effect. So, Latimeria condensed and strengthened it so it became only a
very small amount of extremely potent anti-elixir, using a combination of magic and potion making.
And a good helping of “Thriller” dancing, apparently.
What was that?
Arie: “It’s been a long time since you’ve had to listen to the Author, huh? Just ignore her.”

32. The elixir needed a couple of days to simmer. In the meantime, Latimeria kept a careful eye on Desmodus and
Isis via the magic mirror in her closet. She was therefore none too pleased when she discovered Isis had become
pregnant.

33. She became impatient, and began to demand that they make their move, worried that Isis’s baby would be the
Child Oracle by virtue of having been born first. The elixir wasn’t quite ready yet, but she felt they were running out
of time. Arctos reassured her that everything was set in motion, and succeeded in keeping her from spoiling their
plan before it came to fruition.

34. When everything was finally ready, Arctos called Desmodus and made a time when he would go to his house.
Desmodus still regarded Arctos as a trusted friend and brother, and one who had been tragically missing, and
didn’t think twice about inviting him over. The plan was to kill him at his own house, where he wouldn’t see that
Arctos was living with Latimeria and become suspicious. Since the estate had an anti-evil spell circle around it,
and Latimeria was the one who needed to be there when the Grim Reaper was, Arctos intended to give Latimeria
the invitation in from the inside.

35. He brought the condensed anti-elixir with him to Desmodus’s house, and intended to slip it to him in his coffee.
Arctos hadn’t expected his other brother Pardus to be there, too.

36. Pardus was not the target, and was not supposed to die. They had intended to use Desmodus, a legacy heir and
a powerful warlock himself, because they hoped that by killing him and using his life force to create the child, that
would be one more attraction for Latimeria’s baby to be the Child Oracle. However, Pardus was the one who
ended up drinking the elixir, and Arctos had to cut his losses and pulled Latimeria through the spell ward and into
the estate.

37. Latimeria arrived. I’m not precisely sure on how the process to become pregnant by the Grim Reaper works, but
as I understand it, the Reaper is dead himself and therefore cannot have living children. In order for the baby to be
born alive, the life force of a sacrifice must be borrowed and given to the child.
Arie: “A-HA! So THAT’S why I couldn’t resurrect Par! He didn’t have any sort of life force anymore! …that’s kind of
disturbing.”
Yeah, it is. However it happened, it had to have been near instantaneous, because there was one more
complication.

38. Jade: “My sister.”
Right. Chalcedony came running in right when Pardus was dying. Arctos and Latimeria had to leave immediately,
however much Latimeria vied for killing her right there. It would have taken too long; Desmodus can teleport, and
had likely already heard her scream.
Arie: “Thank goodness.”

39. Latimeria’s pregnancy proceeded quite normally, though I did hear once that she had a lot of morning sickness in the
beginning.
Arie: “Good.”
At around the time she started showing, Arctos convinced her that it would be best if they backed off entirely and faded into the
shadows. The goal was to not remind anyone that they existed until they at least knew if Latimeria’s baby was the Child Oracle
or not, and if she was, until they had a prophecy in hand to destroy the legacy with.
Arie: “Which is why we didn’t see or hear from them at all for so long.”

40. She managed to carry the baby to term, and she was born perfectly healthy. Latimeria, thrilled to have a daughter
and not a son who wouldn’t have had a chance to be the Child Oracle, named her Seraphine.
Jade: “Wait.”

41. Jade: “Seraphine?”
Baltic: “Yep.”
Jade: “As in, the Seraphine? The Seraphine that cornered Hyde?”
Baltic: “She‟s very misunderstood.”
Jade: “She‟s a—”

42. Baltic: “Listen, do you want the rest of the story or not?”
Jade: “…yes.”
Sun: “Listen here, Baltic, you caught us by surprise. Man, that Seraphine lady‟s the kid of the reaper and Latimeria, right?”
Baltic: “Right.”
Sun: “Dude. Hey, now we know what to look out for, right babe?”

43. Jade: “…I guess.”
Baltic: “….anyway. Arctos and Latimeria immediately got a call from Latimeria’s order head.”

44. Hattie: [Latimeria. I just witnessed a baby magpie hatch from its egg and promptly go stiff and die. This is a very old Portent. You
were pregnant, correct? Did you just have that baby?]
Merry: “What if I did?”
Hattie: [Who is the father?]
Merry: “No one you know.”
Hattie: [LATIMERIA, THAT IS NOT FUNNY. Is the father of that child the Grim Reaper?]

45. Merry: “So what if he is?”
Hattie: [Latimeria, you don‟t understand. The magpie‟s death right out of the shell is a classic Portent of death tied
to a new life, and its appearance now, while we await the Child Oracle, is no coincidence. It is a girl, yes?]
Merry: “…yes.”
Hattie: [This is wonderful news! I‟ll be there for the child‟s birthday to find out for sure if this is the one we‟ve been
waiting for. Have a wonderful day! Good luck with child rearing!] *click*

46. True to her word, Hattie appeared the night of Seraphine’s birthday.
Hattie: “Latimeria White, I’m telling you that baby is the Child Oracle!”
Merry: “And I’m telling you to lay off! I will raise it exactly how and where I want to!”

47. Hattie: “For the good of the order, I insist that that Oracle is taken to be raised at the order headquarters! We need
every prophecy it spouts off in its youth for the uses of the order! You can have it back when it‟s a teenager!”
Merry: “No! Absolutely not! I carried it, I gave birth to it, I changed all of its nasty diapers, I get to keep it and hear
its prophecies firsthand!”

48. Seraphine: *hiccup* “Twees in fowest die. New twees gwow.”
Merry: “What was that?”
Seraphine: “Boo ba *hiccup* paa…”

49. Hattie: “I take it you haven‟t taught her to talk yet?”
Merry: “Of course not! She only just got out of that useless baby stage!”
Seraphine: *hiccup*

50. Hattie: “This is exactly what I‟m talking about, Latimeria! I haven‟t a clue what that prophecy means, but if I hadn‟t
been here, I wouldn‟t have heard it and had the chance to try and puzzle it out! I need that child at the order!”
Merry: “No! I want first rights! I am the mother!”
Hattie: “I WILL NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!!”
Merry: “TOO BAD!! NO!!”

51. Hattie: “FINE! Let us strike a compromise!”
Merry: “I do not compr—”
Hattie: “The Oracle will remain here. You will keep a guard around her. She will never be alone. You write down
everything she says that sounds remotely like prophecy. I will come in the evening and collect them.”
Merry: “…fine.”

52. Arie: “Is that really how that argument went down?”
Baltic: “Well, I admit, I did shorten it a little. The important thing is that in the end, a compromise was struck.”

53. This is where I come in. It had been a couple of days since her birthday, and Seraphine had been spouting off one
prophecy after another, which Hattie did indeed come every night to collect. None of them seemed to be relevant
to Latimeria and Arctos’s goals. Latimeria was beginning to get a little impatient; Seraphine’s next birthday was
coming soon, and she was afraid it would come and go, Seraphine’s powers would weaken with another life
stage, and she would never get a prophecy about the legacy. But one day, she sat down to draw.
Arc: “Who‟s that, Seraphine?”
Seraphine: “Chiwdwen of Snow.”

54. Arc: “Children of Snow? Perhaps… Snow White?”
Seraphine: “One going to pwotect bwother‟s famwy, for ten genewations. Aaaaaall way to end. Chiwd of Snow
make it happeeeeen~! Hehehe!!”
Arc: “All the way to the… MERRY!! Your presence is required in the nursery! Hop to it!”

55. Merry: “What‟s the matter with you!? I was in the middle of—”
Arc: “She made a prophecy about the legacy.”
Merry: “What!?”

56. Merry: “So what you‟re saying is one of Snow‟s brats—”
Arc: “Watch it. One of them was your father.”
Merry: “One of her brats, all of whom have already grown to adulthood, is going to protect the legacy so it reaches
the end, and we can‟t do a thing about it!?”

57. Arc: “Before we jump to any conclusions, let‟s try to think of who Seraphine is referring to. Snow had three kids.
One of them is Dad, of course. Can‟t be him, because he was the heir, and he‟s already lived and died.”
Merry: “Obviously.”
Arc: “Arie?”
Merry: “Nothing but a doting aunt. I haven‟t seen her do anything special at all so far, and you would think she
would have if she were „protecting the legacy‟ and all that junk.”

58. Arc: “So that leaves—”
Merry: “It has to be Baltic. So all we have to do is find him and kill him!”
Arc: “Merry, he‟s been missing for about three generations. No one‟s seen him or heard the slightest thing about
him since he was a child. Dad was a toddler when he went missing.”

59. Merry: “So how do we find him?”
Arc: “…I don‟t know.”
Merry: “Well, you‟re the brains! Think of something!”
Arc: “I don’t know, Merry! We don‟t have any clue of where he went!”

60. Hattie: “Well, hello there! It‟s that time again! Why little one, is that a new prophecy you‟re drawing?”
Merry: “If you‟re so useless, let‟s ask Hattie, then!”
Hattie: “What‟s going on, now?”

61. Hattie: “So you‟re saying you need to find this Baltic boy so you can take down your grandmother‟s legacy without
his interference?”
Arc: “Right.”
Hattie: “But he‟s been missing since he was a child and no one has any clue of where he is?”
Arc: “That‟s correct.”

62. Hattie: “Well, what about time travel? Then you won‟t have to know where he is now—”
Arc: “—because we know where he was when he was a child—”
Merry: “—and he disappeared!”

63. Merry: “ARC! No one knows where he is because he hasn‟t BEEN anywhere! He disappeared because we went
back in time in the future and kidnapped him! This is WONDERFUL!”
Arie: “That is sick.”
Tell me about it.

64. Hattie: “Now, don‟t you two expect this to work every time you need it. This is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. It just so
happens that all of the stars we need are in the right alignment at this very moment—I‟d say this is fated to happen, or else I
wouldn‟t be helping you at all. I haven‟t seen them line up in the right arrangement for time travel for… well, ever.”
Merry: “So why can‟t I go, too!?”
Hattie: “There‟s not enough room in the spell circle for two adults. Besides, I need you on the outside, helping me cast the
spell.”
Merry: “Fine.”

65. Arc: “You two had better get this right.”

66. Seraphine: “Heehee!! Wiw pwotect famwy…”

67. Seraphine: “…aaaall way to end!”

68. *From other side of wall*
Patrick: “Another child? But Snow, I had been under the impression that we were finished having children. After
all, we have now produced both an heir and a spare, as per Legacy tradition.”
Snow: “Aren’t you happy?”

69. Patrick: “Ma cherie, I am completely and utterly delighted with this news. I apologize if I was discourteous enough
to lead you to believe otherwise. I cannot wait to meet this latest small one.”

70. Baltic: “Huh!? What‟s going on!? Who are you!? Mommy!! PAPA!! WHERE ARE YOU!?”

71. Arie: “Oh, Baltic… I am so sorry…”
Baltic: “What‟s done is done. I don‟t see any way of changing the past. It wouldn‟t help me to go back to my original
time, anyway. I‟m an adult now.”
Jade: “Still…”
Baltic: “This story is far from over.”
Dez: “…”

72. It was a very rough time for me. Arctos and Latimeria locked me in an upstairs bedroom, fortunately already
furnished, and that night I could hear their voices arguing through the wall on whether or not to kill me. I was…
petrified. I didn’t dare sleep for three days.

73. Arctos insisted that by bringing me here in the first place, the timeline had been broken, and the prophecy couldn’t
possibly come true. I would be more useful alive, he said. Latimeria wanted me dead on the spot; I’m not sure if
she wanted to be safe, or if she was simply bloodthirsty, having two murders under her belt by then. In any case, it
was Arctos who won the argument, and I survived.

74. I was hungry and scared all the time. I jumped at every sound out in the hall, afraid that the nameless woman I
later came to know as Latimeria was out there and ready to kill me. That was why I hid when I heard someone
fiddling with the lock on the door.

75. I heard the door swing open and light footsteps enter the room. They paused for a moment, and then the door
clicked shut. I was alone in that room with whoever had come in—and I was quite sure that it was Latimeria. I
shivered and clung to my legs, trying to draw myself into as tight a ball as I could.
I heard those horrible footsteps come further into the room. I held my breath.

76. Seraphine: “Boy, why are you hiding? Are you afraid?”
That was the first time I met Seraphine.

77. We talked for a long time that night. I told her about the ghosts of my past. Seraphine talked to me about how she
was never allowed to be alone, how much it scared her when a “mood” took her, and how she had taken to
running off to far corners of the house in a convoluted game of hide-and-seek in an effort to get away from Arctos
and Latimeria. She had found my locked door and had borrowed, shall we say, a key to get into it.

78. We had been talking for some time when she suddenly stood up, and I heard her give a prophecy for the first time.
Of course, that was when Latimeria came running in.

79. She was furious, of course, and made many threats against the both of us. We were only kids; poor, terrified kids.
I tried to explain to her what Seraphine had said, but she was too angry to care. She took Seraphine away and
locked the door again, and I curled up in bed.

80. Arctos came to visit me the next morning… to cut me a deal.
Arctos: “Here‟s your choices, kid. One. You do the cleaning now, and when you‟re old enough, the cooking, too.
No matter what you‟re doing, Seraphine stays by your side. She helps, whatever. Latimeria or I will come at
random times—and by that, I mean any random time—to collect whatever prophecies she might make around
you. Two. You stay in here and starve. What‟s it going to be?”
I suspect they were tired of trying to leash Seraphine to themselves now that she was old enough to try and run,
and were looking for a combination babysitter and maid that she wouldn’t hide from.

81. And so Seraphine and I became constant companions.

82. It was awkward at first…

83. …but we were soon friends. After all, we were all each other had.
We were never allowed outside, and so we created games of our own. Games like “let’s see how long we can
avoid the adults,” and “find the secret passageway (there’s got to be one here somewhere!).” We were often
scolded for being too loud or too rambunctious, and I got quite a bit of heat for “distracting Seraphine from
prophesying.”

84. Nevertheless, I can’t count how many prophecies I passed on to the adults during that time. I always felt like I was
somehow betraying Seraphine by reporting them, but there wasn’t much either of us could do about it. After a while, it
became commonplace for her to suddenly give some cryptic comment, and for me to call Arctos to tell him about it.
I never called Latimeria. She scared me.
Arie: “For good reason.”
That’s not to say Arctos didn’t scare me. It was only that he scared me less.

85. Time passed.

86. Seraphine and I became teenagers.

87. Merry: “Children.”
Seraphine: “Mother.”
Merry: “Don‟t you have any prophecies to pass on to me, Seraphine?”
Seraphine: “No.”

88. Merry: “No!? Is that all you have to say to me!? After all I‟ve done to raise you and clothe you and put up with all
of your stupid, childish games!? I am your mother!”
Seraphine: “No, mother! I haven‟t had an episode since my birthday, and you are very much aware of that! Now
let me get back to my game!”
It wasn’t uncommon for them to talk like I wasn’t there. Not that I really minded. Latimeria frequently harassed
Seraphine after she became a teenager, but it was true. I only heard her give one or two prophecies at all after her
teenage birthday. They were always in her dreams now, and she always kept them secret from Latimeria.

89. Seraphine: “What do you think of silver, Baltic?”
Baltic: “Hm? What do you mean?”
Seraphine: “I‟m thinking I might dye my hair. How about silver? What do you think?”

90. We only had a few days as teenagers before Headmaster Summers arrived.
Merry: “Who are you!? What are you doing here!?”
Headmaster Summers: “I‟m Arlen Summers, Ms. White. I‟m the headmaster of the local private school. We were
informed by Social Services that there are children on this lot who have never attended school.”
Merry: “Of course there aren‟t any children around here! Don‟t you know who I am!? Buzz off!”

91. Headmaster Summers: *muted* “Please don‟t lie to me, Ms. White. Social Services is omniscient, after all, and I
must respect their informational sources. I am here instead of the social worker because I wish to extend a
scholarship to my private school to the children. I can see that they‟ve grown up in—ah—special circumstances.
Lady Hattie herself has recommended to me that one of the children, a girl, may be particularly talented in the
non-magical arcane arts.”
Merry: “For the last time, unless you want to be turned into an ugly little speckled toad, get lost! There are no
children here!”

92. Seraphine: “Hiiiiii Mo~om!! Who‟s your new friend? He looks ve~ery important.”

93. And so Headmaster Summers was invited in for dinner. It was the first time we ever all ate at the same table, and
from the glares from Latimeria and subtle frowns from Arctos that Seraphine and I were receiving, I knew very fast
that this would be the last time, as well. Headmaster Summers refused to be dissuaded, no matter what Latimeria
or Arctos said, and by the end of the night, both Seraphine and I had been admitted to the private school. The
same private school, in fact, that you and your sisters attended, Jade.
Jade: “Why didn’t I ever see you?”
I’m pretty sure you did. You saw Seraphine, anyway.

94. She came home with you and Chalcedony her very first day of school. She went by the name of Sara. Remember
now?
Jade: “Sara? The quiet girl in the dark clothing who always sat at the back of the class?”
The very same. She had hoped to take that day to run away from home, but she lost her nerve after she’d made it
to your estate. Seraphine is a very strong person, but she was also very afraid of Arctos and Latimeria, and also
very insecure.

95. Latimeria and Arctos were livid. They hated to relinquish any kind of control over us, I suppose, and were
apprehensive that someone might recognize one of us. They knew that the school would notice if they punished
us for going, and so they waited until Friday afternoon. They would have the whole weekend before we had to
return to school. They were waiting for us when we got off the bus.
Sun: “What did they do, man?”

96. Latimeria teleported off somewhere with Seraphine. That left Arctos with me. He led me out back.

97. To the graveyard. He never said a word the whole time, just pushed me down to the ground and then backed off
and stood in front of the gate. It was a cold day. The ground was hard and frosted over. It was absolutely silent. All
I could do was sit and stare at the graves.
It was a threat, I realized very quickly, of what my future might hold. Maybe they would put my grave right where I
was sitting.

98. Some hours after dark, I heard the gate clatter open. I sat there, shivering, for several minutes before I dared to
look if Arctos was still there. He wasn’t. It was probably another hour or so before I got up the nerve to decide my
punishment was over and that I was permitted to go back inside.

99. The first thing I did was search for Seraphine. I could hear Arctos playing the piano in the music room—he played
piano all the time—and Latimeria was snoring in her bedroom, so I wasn’t afraid to run and pound on the walls
looking for Seraphine. She wasn’t in her bedroom, or locked in a bathroom, or any other room. I finally had to give
up and rest when the sun came up.
Arie: “Where was she? Did you find her?”
No, I never found her. Very early Monday morning, Latimeria must have teleported back to wherever she put her
to recover her in time for school. I was asleep at the time. I wasn’t asleep for very long.

100. Merry:
“SERAPHINE WHITE!!”

101. Baltic: “Nice job. I really like it. Um, did you know you missed your eyebrows?”
Seraphine: “Did it on purpose. Don‟t bother with the one plate, let me at the platter. I‟m starving.”
There must have been a mirror wherever she was.

102. Seraphine and I worked hard to stay out of trouble after that. Mainly we sat in the billiards room and studied, or
read novels, in Seraphine’s case. She loves to read.

103. In fact, that’s what we were doing when I met Hattie for the first time.

104. Hattie: “Hello, children! My, Seraphine, how you‟ve grown! Why, I haven‟t seen you since you were just a toddler!
And what a charming thing you‟ve done with your hair!”
Seraphine: “Hello, Hattie.”
Baltic: “Seraphine, who is this?”
Hattie: “All in due time, boy. First things first: are your guardians around?”

105. Seraphine: “If by „guardians‟ you mean my mother and uncle, no, they‟re not.”
Hattie: “Oh, good. I have a few things to ask you two, and it may be best if they don‟t hear it.”

106. Seraphine: “Cool.”

107. Hattie: “You know, of course, that I am the head of your mother‟s witch order.”
Seraphine: “Yes…”
Hattie: “You know also that this is a fairly recent event, since the last order head was murdered.”

108. Baltic: “Murdered?”
Hattie: “Indeed. One day, she just disappeared from our psychic circle. I was chosen as the new leader.”
Seraphine: “And I‟m sure you were very upset to have to take over the mantle of leadership in the wake of your
poor, noble ruler‟s demise, right?”

109. Hattie: “Believe what you will, I didn‟t want her dead. Pearl was no gem, but she was an adequate leader. I‟ll grant
you I don‟t resent the opportunity to take over leadership of the order. However, Pearl committed no crime—
against the order, anyway—and if I do not investigate and bring her justice, I will not be respected by my
underlings, and may be deposed and replaced by someone they believe will uphold the laws of the order.”
Seraphine: “So what you‟re saying is, you don‟t really care whether or not you find out what happened to this
lady, you just want to keep your position.”
Hattie: “I resent your tone, but yes, that is more or less the gist of it.”

110. Seraphine: “…”
Baltic: “…”

111. Seraphine: “So why talk to us?”

112. Hattie: “We have reason to believe that your mother, Latimeria, may be the cause of it all. If this is true, and can be proved, I will
bring her to justice, as defined by my Dark Order. However, I can‟t approach her directly, or she‟ll know what I suspect and kill me,
too. I‟ve been living with her being in the order and not treating her any different since before you were born, and I‟m tired of it.”
Seraphine: “And? I still don‟t see how this concerns us.”
Hattie: “It‟s simple, really. If you give me significant enough help, I can get the two of you out of here. Latimeria will be gone, and
Arctos is a mere human; they will have no influence on you anymore. There are plenty of witches within my order who would be
willing to give you a room until you reach adulthood, and then you can go buy homes in Peachtree Valley, or whatever it is the
children of legacy spares do.”

113. Seraphine: “…”
Baltic: “…”

114. Seraphine: “Hattie, we‟ve got a deal.”

115. We started looking for evidence in the graveyard. Arctos and Latimeria liked to bury their victims in the backyard,
and we guessed that if we could find Pearl’s grave there, that would be pretty good evidence that they murdered
her. Unfortunately, none of the graves were marked, except two in the very back. Those were labeled “Anne
White” and “Feldspar White,” neither of which were the victims we were looking for.

116. Our next thought was to visit Latimeria’s bedroom. We waited until she was in the shower, giving us at least thirty
minutes to do a quick search before she was likely to come in the door. However, there was nothing there—no
diary, no trophies, no nothing. Our next stop was Arctos’s bedroom. We used the same strategy to get into his,
and after we had picked the lock on the door, we were pretty surprised by what we found.

117. Jade: “Pearl’s decaying corpse?”
Sun: “Gross, babe.”
No. Arctos’s room was full of pictures.

118. Seraphine: “Who‟s the kid and the lady, and what are they doing in pictures with Arctos?”
Baltic: “Look at how happy they are. They‟ve gotta be his wife and son, right? He had a family. So what happened
to them?”

119. Arctos: “They were murdered.”

120. Arctos: “I locked my door for a reason.”
Seraphine: “…”
Arctos: “Anne and Spar died by fire. You‟re lucky this isn‟t Latimeria‟s room you‟ve broken into, or you might have
experienced what they did, what it feels like to have flames lick your bodies as your flesh melts from your bones.
But I assure you, if I catch you in my room again, you will beg to be punished by her instead.”

121. Arctos: “Get out.”

122. Seraphine: “Hi, Hattie. We‟re, uh, pretty sure she didn‟t do it.”

123. We stopped actively looking for traces of Pearl’s murder after that. Still, Hattie’s offer of getting us out of that
house was tempting, and we kept our eyes peeled. It was only a few nights later that Seraphine saw the last
prophecy she ever had.

124. Seraphine: “…Baltic. Baltic, wake up.”
Baltic: “zzzwha…?”
Seraphine: “Wake up!”

125. Baltic: “Ugh… Seraphine, it‟s three in the morning.”
Seraphine: “Baltic, I had a dream. You were in it.”

126. Seraphine: “There will be a great battle of magic and blood. You, Baltic, will leave safety to challenge death.
Parent and child will be reunited, and death will inhabit flesh as life meets its end in fire.”
Baltic: “Wow.”
Seraphine: “I know. It‟s been since I was a kid that I‟ve had one this vivid.”

127. Baltic: “So what does all that mean?”
Seraphine: “I, uh, don‟t know, exactly. It‟s just so frustrating. I saw it all clear as day when I was actually dreaming
it, but now it‟s all fuzzy, and all I can remember are those frustrating little poetic sentences. I mean, what is it with
prophecy and poetry? Who decided that all prophecies should be made as vaguely as possible? Seriously.”

128. Baltic: “So… do you think we should, uh, tell Latimeria and Arctos?”
Seraphine: “…”

129. Seraphine: “…no. They still think I haven‟t had a prophecy since I was little. No need to tell them otherwise. …I
feel like it might be very important that they not know this one.”
And so we didn’t tell them.
Sun: “Never?”
Nope. They still don’t know.

130. Baltic: “I tell you this on the strictest of confidences, you understand. It‟s not exactly a secret, per se, we‟re just
going on Seraphine‟s gut feeling that Latimeria and Arctos need to not know about it. But we‟ve been keeping it to
ourselves for so long, it feels like a secret from everyone.”
Jade: “We won’t tell anyone.”
Baltic: “Thanks.”

131. As it got closer to our birthdays, Seraphine and I saw Latimeria and Arctos less and less. They would disappear
into the chess room together for hours on end.

132. One day, we hid around the corner to eavesdrop on what was going on.
Arie: “Why around the corner?”
There are no doors into the chess room, only arches.
Arie: “Oh, I see. Continue.”

133. Merry: “So… we can‟t just kill the heir because…”
Arc: “First of all, we don‟t know who it is. There‟s four of them this generation, and they‟re not even all teenagers
yet; the heir hasn‟t been chosen. I say we wait.”
Merry: “Well, I say we act! Dez is dead, the magic circle that was keeping me out is gone, there‟s no one to stop
us now!”

134. Arc: “Jade married a vampire. I don‟t care to find out what would happen if we break into his house to kill his
children.”
Merry: “Blast it.”
Arc: “That wouldn‟t work, either.”

135. Merry: “Arc, I am tired of waiting. They‟ve got nobody to protect them right now, because Baltic‟s here with us. It
would be easy!”
Arc: “It would not.”
Merry: “You‟re such a goatstack!”

136. Baltic: *whispering* “They‟re looking to end the legacy? Wait, so the legacy my mom started is still running? Yes!
Did Toro carry it on? Do I have another sibling I haven‟t heard about yet? How far has it gone?”
Seraphine: *whispering* “Boy, are you sheltered.”

137. Arctos and Latimeria had been surviving on elixir of life—
Arie: “Wait, wait!”

138. Arie: “What about the murdering? They were talking about killing Jade and Sun‟s kids! What about that!?”
Baltic: “It’s coming up, I promise!”
Sun: “Chill, let the man talk. Tell us everything you know, man, and then I’m going to go stake them with their own
magic wands.”

139. Finally, we had our adult birthdays, which we spent alone upstairs. We had planned to get out the moment we
were old enough to go, and maybe go live in Pleasantview or something.
Seraphine: “Hurry it up, Baltic, we need to get out of here.”
Baltic: “Hold on. I hid our savings under the blanket.”

140. Arc: “Under the blanket? That must‟ve been uncomfortable at night, wasn‟t it?”
Baltic: “Arc, we—”
Arc: “You know what? I don‟t really care. And my name is Arctos. Don‟t you ever call me by that nickname again.”

141. Seraphine: “You‟re standing between us and the door. We‟re not teenagers; you can‟t cow us anymore. Get out of
the way.”
Arc: “Hmmm… I don‟t feel like it. Also, I don‟t know if that would be such a good idea.”

142. Arc: “You see, Latimeria is standing behind this door you‟re so adamant on going through, and I don‟t think she
would be terribly pleased to find you leaving.”
Seraphine: “Are you threatening us?”
Arc: “That depends. Are you thinking about going anywhere?”

143. Arc: “Seraphine, come with me. Baltic, if we return and find you anywhere but within this room, we will kill you.”
Seraphine: “No.”
Arc: “Fine. We‟ll just kill him now, then.”
Baltic: “Me!? Why?”

144. Arc: “You, boy, are expendable. Latimeria‟s been wanting to kill you since you first came here. I think you might
still have some kind of use. It might just be safer in the long run to bury you in the graveyard. Don‟t convince me
you‟re a danger to us. Let‟s go, Seraphine.”

145. And so I waited…

146. Seraphine: “A grocery store? Are you kidding? You dragged me out here and threatened Baltic‟s life for
tomatoes?”
Merry: “We‟re not here for tomatoes, you idiot! Do you really think we would go to all this trouble just for that!?”
Arc: “Peace, everyone.”

147. Arc: “Seraphine. We saw one of the legacy children leave the estate early this evening, alone, heading towards downtown. He‟s a
teenager, brown hair, dark skin, wears a red shirt and a vest. We‟re going to catch him, and he‟s going to tell us if an heir‟s been chosen
yet—”
Merry: “Of course the heir’s been chosen. They wouldn’t wait this long to secure their precious legacy!”
Arc: “—and then we‟re going to kill him.”
Seraphine: “And if he‟s not the heir?”
Arc: “Kill him anyway.”

148. Seraphine: “What!? He‟s just a kid!”
Merry: “Hahaha, you‟re funny, Seraphine. Since when has that ever stopped us before?”
Arc: “Kid or not, heir or not, he‟s at least a spare. That means that once we get rid of the heir, he could still be in
line to take over. Eventually we need to make sure none of this generation can inherit; it‟s just more important at
this moment to get the heir out of the way. That‟s why we need to know.”

149. Seraphine: “I hate you.”
Arc: “You‟re not alone. I think Par‟s kids have formed a club.”

150. Merry: “By the way, if you betray us tonight, or any other time, we‟re going to kill both you and Baltic.”
Arc: “Just so you‟re aware.”

151. They waited for some time, loitering in front of the grocery store. The hours passed.
Merry: “How long do we have to wait!? He should have been here by now!”
Seraphine: ”…”

152. Merry: “Seriously! Where is he!?”
Arc: “Calm down, Merry. Perhaps we should choose a different spot to wait.”

153. Seraphine: “I‟m going to… go use the bathroom.”

154. Hyde: “Aw man. I am so lost. This was such a bad idea.”
Seraphine: “Hey, kid.”

155. Hyde: “!!!”

156. Jade: “Hyde has already told us about this.”

157. Jade: “How Seraphine chased him into an alley…”

158. Jade: “…and told him to run when she heard someone call her name.”
Right.

159. She also covered for him while he was running.
Merry: “Seraphine!! Where have you been!? You said you were going to the bathroom! What are you doing in this
alley!?”
Seraphine: “Sorry, Mom. I thought I saw him in this alley, but it turned out it to be a trick of the shadows. Where
could he be?”

160. She told me about everything that had happened when she got back: her encounter with Hyde, and Arc and
Merry’s plan to eliminate your children one by one.

161. Baltic: “So what do we do? They‟re going to kill a bunch of kids, Seraphine!”
Seraphine: “Come on, Baltic. You‟re supposed to protect the legacy? Well, protect them!”
Baltic: “They‟ll kill me if I leave the house!”
Seraphine: “Don‟t worry about it! I‟ll make a distraction for you, and you can run to the legacy house tomorrow
evening when they‟re not looking, warn them, and run back! They won‟t know the difference!”

162. Baltic: “So, uh, why can‟t you do it? You‟re not confined to the house.”
Seraphine: “Are you kidding me? The legacy isn‟t going to believe anything I say. I cornered their son,
remember? Besides, they haven‟t seen you in about four generations, they‟ll be wanting to see you, and they‟ll
believe you. Come on, Baltic. You can‟t let them down.”

163. Baltic: “So that‟s how I‟m here, and now you know everything I do.”
Jade: “What did Seraphine do to distract them?”
Baltic: “Ah… I think she lit the third story toilet on fire.”
Sun: “Whoa. Groovy. How’d she manage that?”

164. Baltic: “Okay, I really need to get out of here before they notice I‟m gone.”
Jade: “Thank you for coming to warn us, Baltic.”
Sun: “Yeah, no kidding, man. You‟re the best. We‟ll be sure to, like, keep the kids indoors and keep an eye on them. Nobody going
downtown by themselves anymore.”
Baltic: “It was really Seraphine who made it all happen… she‟s the one who deserves the thanks, not me. I need to get out of here.”
Arie: “Bal, wait.”

165. Arie: “It‟s so good to see you. It was Mom‟s only regret that she never found you. Don‟t be a stranger. And don‟t
stay with those whack jobs one moment more than you need to. Get out of there. I have room at my house for you
and Seraphine if you need it.”
Baltic: “…thank you. Thank you.”

166. The end!
By the way, Seraphine does [kind of] follow the Generation Four naming scheme. She was named after the
gemstone Seraphinite. I just shaved off the “—ite.” …It works, okay!?