She then turns and leaves the study. She heads down stairs and through the kitchen to the basement door. She sees a memory of her younger self standing beside her. Both her and her younger self's hands are on the doorknob. They both turn the knob and walk down the stairs side by side. They get to the bottom of the stairs and she watches as her younger self walks up to the closest door on her right. Her younger self opens and steps through the door. She then steps up to the door and opens it. The door opens with a soft creak of the hinges. Inside the room there are several metal cages, a wooden table that is up against the wall, and a wooden chair pushed into the table. She can see her younger self standing in the middle of the room. Her younger self is looking at the furthest left cage. She sighs as she looks to where her younger self is looking and the memory comes back. 

The cages are full with young creatures.Some of them are burning themselves on the bars of the cages as they try to break out. Her younger self is passing out food to them and talking to them. There was a young male vampire with the name of Xander. Another is a young female werewolf with the name of Elaina. Another is a being from the fae folk. He was an elf with the name of Marvisk. Another is a Djinn with the name of River. Another is a siren with the name of Indigo.The last one is a merfolk with the name of Zale. Her younger self talked with them as she treated their wounds. She found out and learned about their past, their families, their hobbies, and their likes/dislikes. She turns to leave the room and she sees her younger self walking up to the door directly across the hall.

She watches her younger self open and walk through the door. She follows her younger self and enters the room. Inside the room she sees a bed, a desk, 2 half used candles, and a bookshelf with a few books on it. She sees her younger self standing in front of the bookshelf. She closes her eyes and lets herself go back to the memory. She sees her younger self and her grandfather by the bookshelf. Her younger self is looking over the books.

"Don't touch those," Her grandfather says with a kind smile.

"Why grandpa," Her younger self asks curiously.

"They are for when you are older," He answers while still smiling.

"Okay grandpa," She comments with a big smile. Then she walks out of the room and sees her younger self walk up to the room diagonally from her.

She watches and follows as her younger self enters the room. She opens the door and inside she sees a circle of melted candles and her younger self standing by it. She sighs as she lets the memory take over. She sees her younger self step up closer to the circle. Her younger self looks exhausted. Her younger self starts chanting a spell again and it looks like it is going to work. Then it fizzles out. Her younger self looks angry and even more exhausted. Her younger self curls into a ball against the wall and then she starts to cry. Then her younger self scoots up to the circle, again. Her younger self pricks her finger and drips a few drops of blood into the circle. Her younger self starts chanting again and the fire shoots up. Then it settles down. Her younger self then falls over and passes out. She then sighs and leaves the room. She sees her younger self skipping into the room across the hall.

She follows and enters the room. Inside the room she sees an open birdcage, a bed, 1 unused candle, and 2 half used candles. She sees her younger self standing in front of the birdcage. She lets the memory flow back with a smile. She sees her younger self talking with a baby albino bat. Both her and her younger self have a large smile.

"Snow, thank you for choosing me," Her younger self says softly. The bat chirps softly and stretches. Her younger self lets out Snow and starts to play with and pet it. She turns toward the doorway with a few tears falling.

"I'm so sorry, Snow. I'm so sorry," She says softly and full of sadness as she leaves the room. She comes to a 4 way in the hall. She sighs and decides to go to the right. She goes into the first door on the left.

She walks in and inside she sees a bed, a desk, and several used candles. She's sees her younger self standing in the middle of the room looking up with tears in her eyes. She takes a deep shaky breath and lets it out shakily as the memory flows back.

"Marie, this is not appropriate. We do not have one of these," Her grandfather yells while holding Snow.

"Grandpa please. Snow didn't do anything," Her younger self begs in tears while looking up at him.

"No. This ends here," He growls deeply as he kills the bat in front of her. Her younger self falls to the floor and breaks down. Her younger self feels the power the Snow held, leaving Snow and entering her. She turns with anger and sadness. She leaves with tears falling again. Once she finishes drying her eyes, she sees her younger self limp into the room across the hall. She slowly follows her younger self.

She opens the door and sees a pitch dark room with a single melted down candle and a small white wooden box that's covered in dust. She sees her younger self curled into a ball in front of the small white box. She lets the memory flow back. She is sitting in front of the candle and the small white box that box doesn't have any dust on it. She is crying and her eyes are red from crying for hours. The box is empty since her grandfather disposed of Snow's body, but it symbolizes Snow's funeral. She then slowly writes Snow's name on it with blood red paint and then lights the candle.

"Snow, thank you and good bye," She says quietly with tears falling. She turns to head out the door as more tears fall. She sees her younger self going into the room across the hall. She dries her eyes as she follows suit.

She opens the door and sees a dimly lit room with books scattered across the floor. Her younger self is sitting in the center of a circle of stacked books. She sighs as she chuckles softly. She remembers that this is the room she studied for her Marking and she kept falling asleep with an open book on her lap. She smiles as she leaves the room and sees her younger self go into the room diagonally across from the current room. She sighs as she follows her younger self.

She opens the door and sees an old guest room. It has a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a few used candles. She sees her younger self climbing into the wardrobe to hide. She lets the memory flow back as her younger self closes the door of the wardrobe. She hears creatures, from the cages that have escaped, coming down the hall outside of the room. She covers her mouth as her breaths come out shakily. Then she hears the room door open and she looks through a crack between the doors. She sees Zale walk in with a dagger in his hand. He looks around the room and he walks up to the wardrobe. He then turns his head to the door as if he heard something. He then runs out of the room and heads down the hall. She sighs and walks out of the room. She then goes down the hall and goes straight through the 4 way. She goes into the first door on her right.

 She sees a long dark dusty wooden table that is surrounded by dark wooden chairs. The chairs have cushioned seats and arms. She sees her younger self standing behind her grandfather while looking at the ground. She lets the memory come back. She sees the wooden table without dust and there are 3 more people here. She looks up at the beings sitting at the table. There is a woman, a man, and a nonbinary being sitting across the table from her grandfather. The beings are looking at her grandfather angrily.

"We need to do her Marking early," Her grandfather says in a demanding voice.

"I would recommend against it," The man says with a tired voice.

"It is dangerous to do it this early," The woman says with a careful tone.

"She is strong enough," Her grandfather says with a frown.

"It can cause a ripple effect," The nonbinary being says while making eye contact with her grandfather.

"What ripple effect," Her grandfather asks as he crosses his arms across his chest.

"She could be the one from the prophecy," The man says with seriousness, lacing his voice.

"And if she is? Then it can and will cause the fight for power to start," The non nonbinary being says seriously.

"Then shouldn't we do it and find out," Her grandfather says with a serious face.

"No. She is still very young," The woman says while slightly slapping her hand on the table.

“And if she is, then it can and will cause the fight for power to start,” The nonbinary being says with a frowed brow.

“Then shouldn’t we do it and find out,” Her grandfather comments with a confident smile. 

“No, she is still very young,” The woman angrily says while glaring at her grandfather.

“I will go over your head,” Her grandfather threatens while glaring at all of them.

“Fine. 2 days from now she will go through it,” The man sighs in defeat.

“Good,” Her grandfather says in victory as he looks down at Marie. She leaves the room with a frown and sees her younger self being escorted to the room across the hall. 

She follows them and sighs as she turns the knob. She opens the door with her eyes closed. She sees an old empty tub that is lined with used candles. She sees her younger self standing beside the tub with fear in her eyes. She takes a shaky breath as she lets the memory flow back. She then sees 3 red haired women and they are chanting as they fill the bath. One is lighting the candles as one instructs Marie to undress. Then the woman instructs Marie to get into the tub. She slowly gets in and the bath water burns when she first touches it. Soon after the water stops burning and it turns soothing. They start to wash her hair as she turns to leave the room. She leaves the room and shuts the door. She sees her younger self sneaking off into the room next door.

She follows her younger self into the room. She sees a dimly lit empty room. It is lit by candles on candles lining the walls. She sees her younger self standing in the middle of the room in a pure white dress. She smiles as the memory slowly comes back. She sees blue rose petals falling from nowhere up by the ceiling. She is dancing in circles in the petals with a bright smile. Then the petals start to turn, changing as she stops dancing. She stands in the middle , looking up at the ceiling. The petals slowly change into blood as they fall. She rushes out of the room as the blood hits her and her dress. She comes back to reality as she turns to the door.

“That was a sign. I didn’t know it then but I do now. I just wonder what it means,” She mutters as she leaves the room. She goes into the last room in the hall.

She sees a room with old and dusty pieces of papers stuck to the wall, old dusty books, an old dusty desk, and used candles strewn throughout the room. She sees her younger self hiding behind a couple of giant stacks of books. She sighs as she lets the memory come back. She is hiding as she spies on her grandfather, who is pacing. Her grandfather is pacing with a deep frown on his face.

“If she is the one then her power will attract the more powerful creatures. So, we will have to train hard,” Her grandfather mutters in deep thought. Then one of the red haired women walks in with a deep breath.

“She’s showing signs of being the chosen one,” The woman says with a small frown.

“We have to keep that between us,” Her grandfather says quickly and sternly.

“Are you sure that is the best idea? She deserves to know,” The woman questions with concern.

“I’m sure, If no one knows this about her then we can keep her safe,” He says quickly while thinking. The woman sighs deeply as she leaves the room. She goes down the hall and turns down the last hall to her left. She looks to the last 5 doors that stand along the hallway. There are 2 doors that stand out from the others. One of them has a pitch black door and the other has blood red double doors. She goes into the first room on her right and it is a normal brown door.

Inside the room she sees a metal chair bolted down to the floor, old chains and cuffs, an old metal table bolted down to the floor with dark spots and scales on it, and dark spots and scales surrounding the chair. She sees her younger self standing by the table. She sighs as a tear falls and the memory floods back. She sees a young female merfolk chained down to the chair. The mermaid has cuts, bruises, burns, and scales missing. Marie is standing off to the side and at the end of the table. Her grandfather is holding a silver curved blade that is covered in blood and scales. The table is covered in blades, a couple jugs of water and other torture tools. All the blades and tools are covered in blood and scales. Her grandfather hands her the blade that is in his hand.It is curved like a snake. It is dripping with blood and scales from it. She looks up at her grandfather with wide and fearful eyes.

“We do what we must to get the information we need,” Her grandfather instructs as he puts the blade in her hands. Her eyes go wider with more fear and she starts to shake. Her grandfather pushes her up to the mermaid.

“You won’t be leaving this room until you get the information or the fish is dead,” Her grandfather orders sternly. He then leaves and locks the door. She drops the blade and looks at the mermaid.

“Are you thirsty,” She asks the mermaid carefully. The mermaid nods in shock. She goes over to the table and grabs one of the gallons of water. She then goes back to the mermaid and opens it. She helps the mermaid drink from the jug. The mermaid is soon able to heal.

“Why help me,” The mermaid asks softly.

“There isn’t any reason to hurt you,” She answers with a shy smile and the mermaid sighs.

“You’re going to have to, aren't you,” The mermaid comments with a sad tone.

“Yes. My grandpa will be back,” She answers with a small frown.

“I will tell the information before you hurt me,” The mermaid says and Marie nods softly, “The pearl is located in the lake. It’s in an old chest.”

“Thank you and I am sorry about this,” She says softly as she picks up the curved blade. She closes her eyes so could block the rest of the memory. She leaves the room quickly while shaking. She then heads to the room directly across the hall.

She turns the knob and walks in. She sees that it is an armory. It is covered wall to wall with weapons of all kinds. The center of the room has display tables that hold various small weapons. She sees her younger self sitting in the corner beside a large weapons case. She lets herself remember the memory. She wanted to get the last memory as far away as she could. She is hiding in the corner, scared. She has a long white gown on. Her dress, her hair, and her face have a few dark red spots on them. Her eyes are puffy and red from crying. She is hugging her knees close to her chest. She can hear her grandfather calling for her. She stays put and . starts to fall asleep as she begins to cry again.