Seth stumbled as he exited the portal. He would have raised his hand, to shield his eyes from the glaring daylight that was streaming into them, but the only one he had was currently wrapped around Astra's shoulders and being used to support him.

Truly, this was the worst part about only having one arm. Nothing else compared to this travesty. Okay well... Maybe a few things did, but this was definitely one of them! Like top five, at the very least.

However, his lamentable issue was quickly solved when his arm suddenly became free. In his delirious state, Seth didn't even begin to wonder where his supporter had disappeared to, even as he stumbled forward. He was simply happy to have his arm free so he could block out that annoying sun.

Yet before he could, that issue was solved for him as someone's head got in the way. How nice of them. It was a pretty face and they were saying... words, he had no idea. He couldn't hear a damned thing over the persistent ringing in his ears, or maybe it was in his head? Something was ringing. Maybe it was the person speaking, could they ring?

Seth blinked a few times, now that the sun wasn't in his eyes, as his vision slowly unblurred and allowed him focus and pick out the details of this persons face, as they reached out and touched his cheek. He flinched slightly at the touch, but just let it happen as he observed who this even was.

Pretty features, plump pink lips that were still saying god knows what to him, radiant blue eyes and blonde hair. Astra didn't have blonde hair... No wait, this wasn't Astra. Of course it wasn't. This was his spectre, the one that had been haunting him for months ever since she learned of his identity. Was she always blonde? Speaking of, where was Astra?

Turning his attention away from the spectre, and really hoping she would stop making that irritating ringing noise with her mouth, Seth's unfocused eyes trailed around before eventually landing on Astra.

'There she is. Why is she on the floor? Silly girl.'

A soft, ever so slightly drunken, smile danced upon Seth's lips when he saw Astra sitting there, his eyes lingering on her. Even when he felt another hand on his cheek, and pressure from the hand trying to turn his head away from Astra, he kept his gaze on her.

Even in his weakened state, it was easy to resist the pressure, it was like a feather was brushing against him. His head only moved when he himself tilted it slightly, like a lost and confused puppy doing its best to follow instructions, as he looked at the rage filled expression on Astra's face.

He couldn't figure out what had gotten her so mad. Maybe it was because she had fallen down? That had to be it. But before he could think on it any longer, a voice cut through the ringing in his mind and completely silenced it. His mind completely quieting as nothing but the voice mattered.

It was a delightfully soft voice, that was as melodic as a wind chime in a gentle summer breeze, and spread a tranquil peace throughout his once chaotic mind, making it so much easier to listen to the words that were being said.

"Look at me, My Love. Focus. On. Me."

His head turned on its own, enraptured by the words that felt like they were spoken by a veritable goddess. His attention moving away from Astra, and landing back on the beautiful face before him. Seth gazed into the spectres eyes, feeling himself utterly enraptured by those tranquil oceans of blue.

The entire world utterly faded away. Every sound, every smell, every sight. Even the sun, which had been so blindly bright, seemed to completely dim in her presence. All he could focus on, was her, all he could think about was her.

He raised his hand, gently caressing her cheek as he took in the sight in front of him, the only sight that he could, the only one that mattered. Her gorgeous eyes, her kissable lips, her beautiful face. A face that he absolutely... Loathed.

His mind filled with thoughts of her. How dangerous she was, how much trouble she caused him, how she was always making him look over his shoulder and worry that she would kill him in his sleep, or kill someone else instead. He constantly worried what she would do with the information that she had, and yet he still found himself too weak to do anything about it. Always so full of doubts.

Yet those doubts were no where to be found at the moment. His mind had no room for doubts, no room for worries. He had no ability to think about what kind of person he wanted to be or what he was capable of, or even his morals that he held so closely.

All he could think about was Her, and how much he hated her.

***

Tiff smiled as she finally caught her Love's attention and brought it back to where it rightfully belonged, onto her. Her power of perception was truly a wonderful thing indeed. It stood to simple reason that, if she could push people's perception away from her, then she could also do the reverse and draw it towards her.

That was exactly what she was doing with Seth. Casting a subtle spell on him, dragging his perception towards her so that she was the only thing on his mind. Just how it should be.

Not only was she smiling from the feeling of his hand caress her cheek, her body overflowing with joy that he was so eagerly expressing his undying love for her, just like she felt for him. But she was also happy that the dirty, wretched bitch that tried to steal HER Love from her, had to watch from the floor where she belonged as he showed that affection.

That would teach her to touch her man, to try and steal him from her. Honestly, she was lucky that she didn't have a knife in her hand and had to resort to just shoving her.

Tiff parted her lips to speak, when her Loves hand trailed down her cheek and gently wrapped around her throat. She blushed deeply, touching her hand against the back of his. If she knew that her enthralment would be this effective, that he was about to ravage her in front of everyone, she would have done it when they were in private.

She was just glad she could finally find his real body to do so, since he had been hiding it away for so long. She had come running as soon as it was revealed where he was, it was just a shame that all this chaos was going on and she couldn't film it, but her Love was more important.

"Honey~ Not here, we can't do it in front of every-"

The words caught in her throat, not of her own volition or action, but because her Love began to squeeze his hand. Her airway clenched closed as it trapped the words, and more importantly the air, before it could escape from her perfectly pink lips.

Tiff's eyes bulged and her lungs strained, desperately trying to let out the air within and take in a fresh breath. But all she managed to get out was a stifled, choked whimper as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She clawed helplessly at his hand, which was locked around her throat like an iron vice, as she looked down into his eyes with utter despair. Strangely enough, her despair did not stem from the fact that she was being choked by him, that was something she was more than eager to allow if he so wished it.

What she hated, was the look in his eyes. When he looked at her now, it was not with the love he should feel, but with hatred. But why? What had she done to make him hate her? She was perfect, they belonged together, their love was obvious and undeniable. The only thing that could possibly turn him against her was...

That BITCH!

Tiff's once beautiful and tranquil turned utterly ugly, her lips twisting into a savage snarl as she practically foamed at the mouth. Even a rapid dog would think that she was looking a little intense.

Her eyes, which were burning with hellish fury, glared daggers at Astra, who was still sitting on the ground with a thoroughly confused expression on her face.

In all of her rage, with her mind occupied only with ways to skin Astra alive or carve her into tiny pieces, as well as the fact that she was still having the life choked out of her, it was understandable that Tiff stopped concentrating on her mystical abilities.

As the spell lifted from his mind, and Seth gained clarity of his senses once more, the first thing that hit him was simple confusion. Confusion on what in the world had just happened, and what he was even doing.

The last few moments feeling like a shroud of fog had descended onto his mind. But in that moment of clarity and confusion, with Seth's mind forgetting what he was previously so set on doing, his grip on Tiff's neck loosened.

The feral stalker took the opportunity the moment it presented itself. As soon as Seth's hand loosened, she pried herself free from his grip. Sucking in a lungful of fresh air, she immediately expelled it in a hoarse, shrill shriek as she lunged at Astra, her fingers curled and nails bared like talons ready to tear her face off.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?! I'LL KILL YOU WITCH!"