A sigh escaped her lips as she reached the most difficult part.

"…Then, about a week after that, Hunter and I accidentally got trapped inside the Emperor’s mind," she continued. "That was when I found out that he…" she looked away, squeezing her eyes shut. "That he was a…" Without meaning to, she began hyperventilating, worrying the older woman.

"I-I can’t believe I helped him! I swear I didn’t know! I never meant to hurt anyone!" she sobbed. "I was such a—"

"Hey." The golden-eyed girl interrupted softly, placing a hand on hers to get her attention. "Take it easy, don’t stress yourself." She smiled gently.

Willow nodded.

"Breathe slowly and count to ten, try to calm down," she advised.

Gus quickly stood up and hurried to the kitchen, soon returning with a glass of cold water.

"Here, drink some," the illusionist offered, handing it to his friend. "Sip it slowly—it’ll help."

Hunter sighed.

"I can tell it if you want. I was there too—we saw and heard the same things. I can continue while you catch your breath."

The brunette smiled, wiping her tears.

"Thanks, guys…" she murmured, gently squeezing her girlfriend’s hand to gather strength. "Alright, I can do this." She spoke with determination as she began inhaling and exhaling just like the black-haired girl had shown her to help her relax.

Meanwhile, the older woman smiled as she watched the group doing everything they could to calm her daughter’s anxiety attack. She felt deeply grateful to these young people for supporting her and staying by her side.

In the end, the short-haired girl had learned to face reality—but at the cost of her emotional well-being.

Once ready, she continued with the final parts of her story. She explained that because of what had happened, she and her family had been labeled as criminals, and that they were trying to get rid of Hunter for supposedly being a traitor—once again leaving out the truth about the blond boy’s origin.

She went on to talk about their journey in search of King’s past, where they uncovered some very heavy truths and dug deeper into the mystery of the Collector. She included their escape from that strange island, and recounted how she managed to flee with her mentor, aunt, and brother when the Emperor’s guards came after them. She sighed when she talked about how, during a fight, she and Eda were nearly captured—one of the biggest scares of her life—but things seemed to improve once Raine welcomed them into their hideout, where the rebels had taken refuge to avoid arrest.

Finally, she told them about their plan to stop the Day of Unity—how they split into teams to carry out different missions, with hers being to rescue Amity, who was practically a prisoner thanks to her mother. A small blush crept onto her cheeks at the memory of what had happened with her, and she quickly looked away.

That was still… an unresolved subject.

She wrapped up her story by telling how she switched places with Hunter to go rescue her mentor and the rest of the team, since their plan had failed. She also talked about the battle she had with Belos—who was really Philip Wittebane, a witch hunter. She confessed that in that moment, she had been terrified. Everyone thought it was the end for her. But then things took a shocking turn when King freed the Collector to save them, which only made things worse—plunging the Isles into chaos. That was when they decided to flee, leaving behind their families and friends… unsure if they were even still alive.

They felt guilty.

Camila didn’t know what to say. She was scared, angry, and outraged by the thought of everything these teenagers had been forced to endure. In short, the fate of an entire realm rested in their hands.

Without thinking twice, she stood up and walked over to the kids, wrapping them in a warm hug that allowed them to finally let go. They were going through something truly painful—and even though she wasn’t an expert in magic or anything related to it, she would do whatever she could to help them.

"You can stay as long as you need," she whispered. "Together, we’ll find a way to get everyone back home."

The teens nodded, grateful for the support their best friend’s mother was offering them.

Now, they just had to keep a cool head, adapt to their new life, and begin researching everything they could to find a way back.

They only hoped they'd make it in time.