Scarlet sighed, looking upon her frozen mother, “I really didn’t want to have to do this, you know…I knew it’d be up to me to stop you. No one else can seem to.” She paused for a moment, sighing again. “Unlike that temper you have, this is only temporary. You should defrost in a year or two, depending on how well I’ve built this,” she said, giving her ray gun a pat. 

“Well, as much as I’m enjoying the silence, I’ve gotta run. There’s a cute damsel I’ve got to check up on and I have to recruit someone to help me. See you in a couple of years, mother.” And with that, Scarlet went off running towards the home of the Lady in the Lake.

It had taken her several years of preparation, but Scarlet was finally ready to confront her mother. With the help of her new ice ray, she froze the door barring her escape from the sun palace and smashed it into pieces. She had already memorized her mother’s weekly schedule, so she knew exactly where Phyra would be. Scarlet was able to find her within minutes of her escape. “Hello, mother,” she said with an icy glare.

Phyra looked more angry than surprised. “Scarlet! How did you get out of the palace?”

“It was pretty easy once I finally got this baby in my hands!”

“I hope you’re not honestly thinking about shooting me with that ridiculous contraption.”

“You can’t keep me locked up here forever! You need to let me go! I need to go help her!” Scarlet said, seething. “You should know better than anyone that I’m not going to rest until I find a way out.”

“You can certainly try. You have all of eternity to make an effort, after all,”  Phyra replied nonchalantly.

“Uuuugh!”

“Calm down, it was only–what was it the human called it? A slushie?" 

"Huh?”

“Well, it was a blessed slushie. I was pleasantly surprised when turned out to be just as good as holy water. You wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to get it.“

“What did I do to be cursed with a mother who is beyond psychotic?”

“You bite your tongue!”

Phyra threw the contents of the cup at Eloise’s face. After a moment of shock, Eloise let out a blood-curdling scream. “Mother! What have you done?” Scarlet cried.

“Shut up! We’re going home! Don’t touch her unless you want some too!” Phyra yelled, grabbing Scarlet roughly by the arm.

Tears were streaming down Scarlet’s face, “I can’t just leave her here like this!”

“Oh, but you will!”

“I am not a monster! I may not be a fully living being, but I would never hurt anyone!” said Eloise, looking down in disbelief.

“But you are! You’re hurting me! You’re going to take my daughter away! You’ll convince her to follow you to the Underworld just like your father did to your mother,” Phyra barked.

“You’re crazy! I would never!”

The day was ending as it always had done before. Scarlet and Eloise were spending time together in their favourite spot, having fun and laughing away. This time, however, Phyra had heard them and had come to investigate. Her eyes suddenly lit up as if they were on fire, “So this is where you’ve been spending all your time!”