"Alright, start talking," Renee says, crossing her arms against her chest as she stands in front of Adrienne's cell.

"A deal is a deal," Adrienne grimaces, "as far as I know, Coralyinn is still in Winter. Her next target is in Summer. Her name is Tsukumi Shoyou. She's a...vigilante...of sorts."

"Tsukumi," Shitau breathes out and Kaltrina shifts around uncomfortably.

"You know her?" Reine asks Shitau, turning to face him, "she is a part of my chain."

"Tsukumi is my best friend," Shitau says sadly, his eyes flickering down to the ground, "our parents used to take us to Summer every year for three months on vacation. Kaltrina and I would hang out with her each year during the festival season."

"How long do we have?" Renee asks.

"I don't know," Adrienne shrugs boredly.

"Oh, bull--" Renee starts.

"We don't have long," Dimitri interrupts, "Winter is almost done for. She'll be after her targets. She may already have someone out doing her work for her."

"We should hurry then," Aislinn states.

"We'll leave tonight," Reine says, whirling around and walking towards her house.

"Where are you going?" Nathan calls out after her.

"I am preparing to leave," Reine answers simply, "something you should be doing too."

"What about Adrienne?" Nathan asks.

"I'll handle it," Dimitri sighs.

"I'll help," Ciana offers and Dimitri nods.

"Wait, what are you guys gonna do?" Melantha asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I'd like to know the answer to that question too," Adrienne narrows her eyes at Dimitri.

"I'm going to send her to a special war prison made for Iegashyias," Dimitri explains, glancing over at Melantha, "I'll need Aislinn's assistance as well."

"Glad to help," Aislinn bows her head slightly, summoning her longsword and unsheathing it before slashing a long diagonal cut through the air and sheathing her weapon once more.

A black and dark blue colored portal with silver energy surrounding it forms in the air and floats there, where a giant white cell room can be seen on the other side.

"Wait, you can't possibly expect to trap me in there?" Adrienne laughs as Dimitri opens the cell door.

"I do and I will," Dimitri states, grabbing ahold of Adrienne's left arm while Ciana grabs the right and the two haul her out of the cell.

They quickly throw the protesting Adrienne through the portal Aislinn made before she can regain her powers and the portal closes. Everyone slowly begins to go back inside and as I walk towards the house, I glance up in the sky to see a crow flying off. I shrug the ominous feeling off and slide the front door open, stepping inside.

"You know, it's festival season again..." Shitau trails off from behind me.

"Yeah?" Kaltrina says.

"I wonder if it's as pretty as it always was over there," Shitau smiles sadly.

"You won't know until you get there," Renji adds, "but I've heard the festivals are beautiful."

Ciana and Aislinn head to where they're lodging in order to pack their things as the rest of us roam around the house, packing and sorting. I smile sadly as I watch the others enjoying the time they have together-- Renee, Renji, Shitau, and Kaltrina all shuffling around in the kitchen and talking while Nathan and Melantha head to our room. I glance down the opposite hallway to spot Reine standing outside a closed door that's next to hers and I walk over to her, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

"Reine--" I start, but she shushes me and holds a finger up to her lips before leaning more towards the door again.

I pause whenever I hear voices coming from the other side of the door and I raise my eyebrows in surprise when I recognize them as Dimitri and Ayette.

"You act like you know everything and it's utterly annoying," Dimitri says, his tone irritated.

"I don't act like I know everything," Ayette starts, "in fact, I know I don't know everything. I speak my mind and I don't care what comes out because it's exactly what I'm thinking. I wouldn't want to filter who I am. I say it as I see it."

"I don't even know why you came in my room in the first place," Dimitri snorts.

"Because I wanted to try and find a middle ground with you," Ayette sighs, "look, you may not realize this or know what it's like, but I wasn't exactly...the most popular when I was a kid. People are harsh. They make fun of you when you're yourself because, well, most of the time it's because they don't have the confidence to be themselves. Over the years, I realized I should just be who I want to be and not worry about what people think. I may say some things that come out wrong, but I also bury my feelings behind my wit. And I think you bury your pain with your stick up your ass attitude."

"If you came here to try and gain my approval, insulting me isn't going to get you very far," Dimitri counters.

"Your approval?" Ayette laughs, "I don't need your approval. I just want to be able to say that I'm trying to be the best me I can be for my brother. I may not be his sister by blood, but I love him to death and nothing will ever change that. I'm closer to him than my own adopted siblings. I've made some shitty decisions in the past and I know nothing will ever completely make up for them, but if I can prove it to myself that I'm worth it and can protect and keep happy the ones I love, then I'll be happy. And I've noticed that you aren't particularly fond of him, so I wanted to try and figure out why."

"You wouldn't understand," Dimitri laughs dryly.

"Why?" Ayette muses, "because you think I'd be biased? I may love him and he may be my step-brother, but I don't let that blind me. If someone's in the wrong, I'm going to let them know, no matter what their relation is to me."

"Do you know what it's like to watch someone you love have their entire world ripped from them?" Dimitri asks quietly after a few moments of silence, "ever since my sisters and I were little, we trained in order to help protect our village. Our family was designated to protect most of Spring and our ancestors protected royalty. Gabriel...wasn't born in your realm. Gabriel was born here. He grew up with me and my sisters. Reine really loved him and he was a good friend of mine. Our little sister, Elespeth, loved him dearly as well. One day, our village was attacked and Elespeth died. I felt like I failed not only as a person but as a brother and a protector of the ones I love. A few days later, more reinforcements came for the enemy side. It was supposed to appear like an accident whenever Gabriel was intentionally targeted by my parents, but I learned over time that it wasn't. Gabriel was attacked whenever he was nine and he was hit so hard he got amnesia. They dragged him away and sent him to your realm before they were killed in battle by Iegashyias who were from the enemy side. I never learned why my parents did it...but it completely wrecked Reine. We had already lost our sister, and then we lost Gabriel and our parents. She was...forced to grow up much faster than she should have."

"Reine..." I breathe out, looking over to see her staring at the floor and clenching her fists, her hair shielding her face.

"I'm so sorry," Ayette whispers softly.

"I know it's not his fault, but it made me so pissed," Dimitri continues, "I know I don't have the right to be mad at him, but seeing him suddenly come back into my sister's life just to potentially leave it again really drove me up a wall. Whenever I turned eighteen two years later, Reine was only twelve and I was forced to leave to the frontlines in Winter. I got to come home every six months, but Reine had to handle herself when I wasn't there. I felt like even more of a failure for not being there for her when she needed me most. I'm really proud of her for who she's become. I just wish I could've been there to see it happen and to help her. I know she met Ciana about a year after I left and they hit it off, but that didn't stop the guilt of not being there for her."

"That's not your fault, Dimitri," Ayette says and I can practically see her smiling sadly, "you did what you had to and you were there for her as much as you could've possibly been. I'm sure she doesn't blame you for that. Does...does Gabriel know that he..."

"I don't know," Dimitri sighs, "I don't know what he knows and what he doesn't."

"That girl you loved? She died around the time you lost Elespeth, Gabriel, and your parents, didn't she?" Ayette asks quietly.

"Yeah," Dimitri laughs dryly, "she was only seventeen when she died. I went to her village often on small missions as I was training and I met her when I was twelve. She was really a sight to behold. I don't think anyone could ever be like her. I loved those four years I spent with her."

"She sounds lovely," Ayette says comfortingly.

"She was. You know," Dimitri laughs again, pain evident in his voice, "she was so kind that even as she was dying, she was purifying the water in the fountain because she was more concerned about contaminating their drinking water and what they would use after she was gone than the fact that she was dying. I ended up finding her right before she died and that was when she admitted she loved me. And then I lost her forever."

"I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry without it sounding repetitive," Ayette says sadly.

"It's fine," Dimitri sighs, the floorboards shifting underneath his feet as he moves around in his room, "I don't really know why I just told you all this, but...yeah. I guess I felt like you were trying to open up to me, so there. And how did you know that she died around the same time as I lost the others?"

"Because," Ayette sighs as she stands up and the bed creaks, "life tends to pile shit upon shit in the worst of times before it gets any better. That, or it's a never ending roller coaster with ups and downs that never stop until you stop breathing. I'm glad I talked to you, though. I'll see you around, Dimitri."

"Enya," Dimitri blurts out just as Ayette begins to twist the doorknob and Reine grabs me by the arm, pulling me further down the hallway.

"What?" I hear Ayette faintly say.

"Her name was Enya," Dimitri clears his throat.

Reine pulls me into her room and shuts the door behind us, stopping me from hearing the rest of Dimitri and Ayette's conversation.

"Reine, I--" I start.

"There," Reine breathes out as she stares down at the ground once more, hands clenched again as she shakes slightly, "now you know."

"I'm s--"

"Sorry?" Reine laughs, glancing up to look me in the eyes and shaking her head, "you're sorry? Don't be sorry for something that isn't your fault. Yes, you were born in this realm. Yes, you were my best friend. Yes, we trained together. Yes, I loved you dearly. Yes, you were close with my family. We grew up together. I wanted...I wanted you to remember on your own because I wanted you to feel those feelings again. I didn't want you to just...know that we used to be close as if it were a fact you read in a textbook."

"Wait," I clear my throat, "if I was born in this realm, then who are my parents? I thought..."

"You thought your 'parents' were your actual parents?" Reine asks, crossing her arms against her chest and sighing, "your mother is actually your mother, but she was taken when you were. She most likely had her memory erased too. Your father's name is Alexandrovich. He still lives in this realm. He managed to not be captured, but I don't know where he's at..."

"My mom told me my father left her before she had me," I breathe out, "she never told me his actual name. And how is it that neither me or my mother questioned that we were missing portions of our lives?"

"I don't know," Reine admits, "I'm not sure exactly what happened to you. All I know is that you lost your memories of your time with me and my family, your abilities, and your birthplace. I don't know why either. As Dimitri said, we know it wasn't an accident and we know my parents were involved. But...we never had the chance to ask. Do you think your father your mother told you about is Alexandrovich?"

"I don't know," I rub the back of my neck awkwardly, "I don't know how she would know about him if she lost some of her memories. Then again, I don't know specifically what all both of us lost."

"Yeah..." Reine trails off.

"You were alone, then," I start.

"What?" Reine asks, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion as her eyes search mine.

"You were alone for most of your life," I frown, "you lost me, your sister, and your parents. Dimitri had to leave you too. You had Ciana, but you essentially raised yourself. You're strong, Reine. And I'm sure you were strong whenever you were younger too. I promise you that I won't try and make things normal again with you just because I know the truth. I promise that I'll try and make things normal again with you because I want to know you. And I really do, Reine. I want to know you."

Reine's eyes well up with tears and she tries wiping them away with the back of her hand as she goes to fall to her knees and I rush up to her, catching her and pulling her in against me. I sink down to the floor with her and I hold her close to me as she rests her head on my shoulder, my arms wrapped around her torso.

"Thank you..." Reine breathes out.