A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

As soon as Elora talked about an offer, Emily narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Fact was, she'd gotten the short end of the stick with far too many of Elora's so called 'offers'. Even now, there relationship was still a little cold… at least from Emily's end.

When Elora saw Emily's look, the fairy pursed her lips with amusement, "Don't look at me like that, Emily. I'm just trying to help out here. What could I have possibly done to garner such suspicion from you?"

Instantly, Emily's narrowed eyes flared with anger instead, "You…!"

But she didn't get any further than that, when Emma put a hand on her sister's shoulder. She smiled calmly at her big sister, "We can at least hear her out, big Em. I know you and her have had your difficulties, but she's really not that bad. She'd never play with our parent's fate."

Emma's comment showed how well she already knew Elora, despite only having known her for a year. Partly, that was because they'd spend quite a bit of time together, but also because of her natural instincts.

Because she was right. If there was one thing that even a ruthless person like Elora would consider taboo, it was to mess with the sacred love between parents and their children. To Elora, family was everything.

Of course, even that taboo would be ignored if it came to the safety of her own family, but that was not the case here.

Emily didn't lose her suspicious glare, but she did stay quiet, proving she was at least willing to listen.

Seeing Emily back down a little caused a glint of glee to pass through Elora's eyes. She did like messing with Emily a little. But her offer was sincere. She held out her hands towards the sisters, "Just give me their ashes. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"I'm not giving you anything before you explain what this is about!" Emily immediately exclaimed, while vehemently shaking her head.

"Come now, Emily," Elora purred with a small grin on her lips. "Don't be like that. I'm trying to do something nice, and all I ask in return is a little bit of trust. Is that really too much?"

Emily's eyes remained narrowed as she grumbled a little to herself. Then, she felt Emma's hand on her shoulder. The younger sister looked at her warmly, "If you don't want to do this, then I'll support you, big Em. But I think we should trust her."

Emily felt the instinctive urge to take the opportunity and refuse Elora's offer, but first she panned her gaze towards Erik. He looked at her with a confident smile, and subtly nodded, "If Elora's promise is not enough, then take mine as proof of her sincerity."

Meanwhile, Elora pursed her lips, "You know, this lack of trust is starting to hurt my feelings, Emily."

Emily scoffed, "Well, you deserve it!"

Yet, Erik's promise had driven her over the edge, as she decided to take an offer from Elora, one last time.

So, she sighed, and carefully took the two bottles from the bed, and handed them to Elora, "But fine, take them." Then, she narrowed her eyes, "Don't you dare screw me again, though!"

In Elora's eyes, a little appreciation twinkled. Meanwhile, Emma smiled softly.

Before anyone could change their minds, Elora's hands suddenly started glowing in a dark green. She held one bottle in each hand, and they quickly started becoming covered in green as well. A soft humming filled the room as she worked.

Then, the glow began to amalgamate into one sphere of dark green light.

Immediately, Emily's black eyes, still filled with crimson cracks, became a little anxious, as the crazed bloodlust that was always hiding insider her threatened to spill out. Her fingers twitched as whisps of darkness began forming around her hands.

But Erik and Emma remained calm, as they both put a hand on Emily's shoulders, causing her to become a little calmer as well, if reluctantly.

Meanwhile, the glow in Elora's hands began to reduce. It once again split into two lights, which quickly became smaller and smaller as well.

It was quickly revealed that the wine bottles had disappeared, which caused Emily's anxiousness to rise. But soon, the lights in Elora's hands disappeared, and she was left with two necklaces, one holding a transparent black jewel, and the other a white one.

The two sisters blinked at the two simple, yet beautiful necklaces. Elora smiled smugly, and held the black one up Emily, and the white one for Emma, "I do hope you like them."

Now, they could see the necklaces more closely, and they finally realized what happened to the ashes. Both jewels were divided into two segments, and each segment was filled with ashes, visible through the coloured, yet transparent material they were made from.

"Now, you each have half your father, and half your mother," Elora explained, somewhat solemnly. "Don't worry, while I made them with the glass of those bottles, I made sure they won't break unless someone powerful deliberately tries to. But that's not all. Try to pour some of your energy into them."

Carefully, the two sisters took their jewels, and laid it on the palm of their hands. They couldn't tell at all that these were made from mere glass, as even before the awakening they'd never seen such beautiful jewels.

At Elora's suggestion, they poured some of their energy into them, and instantly, two life-like holograms appeared in front of them. They were both the same and depicted a picture that hung in the manor's living room.

It was a picture that both sisters had spent quite a bit of time reminiscing over during the tour earlier. It depicted their mother, Isabella, their father, Oliver, Emily, and Emma, all together, standing in front of their home with genuine smiles on their faces.
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It was taken just after they'd spend an entire day together, something that Emily had reluctantly agreed to, and that Oliver had barely been able to make time for.

But in the end, they'd had an amazing time, and it ended up being one of their best memories as a family.

Now, Emma teared up and smiled as she realized she could carry both that picture, and her parents, with her anywhere. Beside her, Emily trembled a little, but obviously refused to show such emotions in front of Elora due to a gift from her.

So, she sucked it up.

But she still clutched the necklace tightly and looked up at the somewhat smug fairy. "I suppose this will do... Thank you." she muttered reluctantly, her voice breaking ever so slightly.

Emma, however, responded far more exuberantly, by quickly pulling Elora into a hug. "I love! Thank you!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Elora smiled softly and hugged Emma back, "You're welcome, Dear."

Then, she turned to Emily, and winked playfully, "And so are you."

Thus, the rift between Elora and Emily started to be mended, just a little, and the two sisters would be able to carry around not just their parents, or their best memory, but also a picture of the house they grew up in.

But, with that done, it was also soon time to leave. But first, Emily herself, using the knowledge Elora taught her, inscribed some sigils into the manor, to prevent it from degrading any further over the coming years.

When she was done, the two sisters went back into Erik's dimension, Elora merged with Erik again, and the man himself snuck back out of the Ashcroft estate, before turning into the direction of their next destination.

Katya's brother.