Once in the courtyard, I notice Eden wielding silver chakrams that are bejeweled with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, the energy she's using a shade of blue as she waves her arms around skillfully and in elegant loops and shapes of runes. A blue wall of energy in a crescent shape forms over her in front of her like a shield and deflects each of Nathan's hits.

Reine leads me a safe distance away from them before she summons a katana and walks a few feet ahead of me before turning around and standing across from me.

"Okay," Reine nods, "weapons ready."

I summon my katana and nod, bracing my feet in the proper starting position as I wait for Reine's next decision.

A white glowing rune circle forms beneath Reine's feet and she propels forwards, aiming directly for me. I raise my katana and hold it diagonally, countering against Reine's blade as it clashes against mine and sends me sliding several feet backwards. Reine and I continue fighting and she slashes her katana sideways as it lights on fire, flames flying off of it with her strike and a tiger made of flames coming out of the fire and leaping at me. I slash through the tiger with my katana and it disperses into the air as Reine summons a coliseum of glass around us as she strikes her katana into the ground. My eyes widen in surprise and I glance around the coliseum in amazement. Reine runs passed me and leaps up in the air, turning as she does so and her feet connect with a glass pillar. Reine pushes off of the pillar and flies towards me with her katana. I sidestep and turn my torso so that she barely grazes passed me, her blade several inches from my face as she slashes through a pillar of glass instead, sending shards of glass flying all across the glass floor as she lands.

Reine glances over her shoulder and raises her empty hand, the shards of glass raising in the air with her motions, and she shoots them towards me in a lethally sharp rain. My eyes widen as I realize the area of glass is too wide and large to escape or go under, so I simply raise my katana and close my eyes, praying for the best. I open my eyes whenever I don't feel any pain and I notice the glass shards shattering against a white energy shield that formed in front of me and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Reine stands up and brushes herself off, nodding in approval before she slashes her katana diagonally in the air once and the entire coliseum disappears in a white flash, almost like smoke.

"Not bad," Reine says as she sheathes her katana, "but you hesitated. Hesitation leads to death. Remember that."

"Yeah," I breathe out as my katana disappears into thin air and I sigh in relief at not being cut to shreds.

"Not all training is physical though," Reine starts, "training also includes centering yourself and your spirit. You should also know Iegashyia lore and many useful survival skills. We can go inside and I'll make us some drinks while I go over some lore with you."

"Alright," I nod, "lead the way."

I follow Reine back inside and we carefully pass by Nathan and Eden, who are still training. As we're going inside, we pass Ciana and Dimitri.

"We're going sparring like old times," Ciana grins and Reine chuckles.

"Have fun you two," Reine smiles, "and Ciana, try not to beat him up too hard."

"Hey!" Dimitri scowls and crosses his arms, "what's that supposed to mean?"

Reine laughs and I smile at the upbeat mood, following her as she continues to explore the palace. Eventually, we find the palace's kitchen down the right hallway from the entrance area. The royal kitchen actually looks the same as about any other kitchen, just a bit bigger and fancier. The countertops are made of tan stone with white cabinets and the overhead cabinets are made of white wood as well. There's a stainless steel fridge, a microwave, an oven that matches the fridge, two stainless steel sinks, a blender, drawers full of silver utensils, and a coffee machine.

Reine rummages around the kitchen until she finds two little white cups used for tea and she places them on small white plates that go with, resting the plates on the countertop. She turns her torso sideways as she pushes off of the counter and looks at me.

"Do you happen to like tea? If so, what flavor would you prefer? Otherwise, I can get you something else," Reine says.

"Oolong tea is fine," I say with a tired smile and Reine nods.

Reine grabs two tea bags and begins to make tea, handing me one of the cups once she's finished. I smile and thank her, looking down at the steaming tea in my hands before glancing up to see Reine leaning against the counter and drinking her white tea.

"So," Reine starts, "as you may have noticed, there is only one type of an Iegashyia living at a time. Some Iegashyias have similar abilities, but there are never two with the same gift alive at one point in time. Once an Iegashyia dies, their gift may appear in another Iegashyia, whether that happens the next day or a hundred years later."

"Isn't that kind of creepy? Knowing you now have a gift of someone who's now dead?" I ask, shuddering at the thought.

"It's not as strange to me because it's what I grew up knowing," Reine shrugs.

"I mean, you said you call Iegashyias by their gifts at times," I start, "doesn't that kind of seem like you're just...replacing the ones that died? It would freak me out because I would constantly think of the person I knew who had it and it would just be a constant reminder that they aren't there anymore."

"It's just like an occupation, Gabriel," Reine smiles sadly and takes another sip of her tea as her eyes stay fixed on mine, "office workers are office workers, no matter who they are as individuals, that's their title. The same goes for anyone in a general field. It's the individual person that matters, not their title."

"Yeah," I frown, "that makes sense, I guess."

"Don't get me wrong," Reine smiles, "we take pride in what we're gifted and sometimes it influences us in our personalities, but it doesn't define who we are. Some Iegashyias never even learn to use their powers or see a battlefield in their lives. The majority of people in my realm aren't even Iegashyias. That's why it's our duty to help protect everyone, Iegashyia or not."

"Yeah," a smile slowly creeps onto my face as I drink some of my tea, "I understand. So, the Fall Sector has a royal family. I know you mentioned your family used to help guard royals and citizens alike. Do all sectors have royal families?"

"Each sector used to have a royal family, yes," Reine nods thoughtfully, "some of the sectors don't go by monarch rule anymore, but the families still keep the titles of royalty. I believe the Fall Sector is indeed still a monarchy, but they're very kind to their people and don't take them for granted."

"Yeah, I can tell," I nod, thinking about Aidan and his family.

Just then, Nathan walks into the kitchen with a sigh and both of our gazes get drawn to him. Nathan locks his eyes on mine and Reine raises a brow before she pushes herself off of the counter and smiles.

"I'll leave you two alone for a little bit," she says and squeezes my shoulder before she leaves the room with her tea in her hands.

"What's up?" I ask as Nathan sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Nothing," Nathan shakes his head with a tired smile, "it's just that there's so much left to learn about everything that it's kind of scary. Hell, I thought I knew most things about myself a few weeks ago, but that all changed. I don't even know how I ended up in our realm because Iegashyias aren't native to there. And that makes me question my family and everything I've ever known, you know? And Melantha..."

"That's why we have to fight to keep pushing on," I say and Nathan's breath hitches as his eyes flicker to mine, "if we can prevent the loss of any more people, then we've at least done something right. Melantha wouldn't want us to wallow around. She'd want us to learn from our mistakes and better ourselves so that nothing like that ever happens again. She'd want justice for all the good reasons. And we'll discover ourselves along the way. You can't force that. That's why...that's why we have to keep doing the best that we can, for ourselves and for everyone else, whether they're still with us or not."

"Yeah," Nathan chuckles, "yeah, you're right."

"Did Eden...help you at all?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah," Nathan smiles softly as he thinks back to earlier, "she did. She taught me more about myself and how to go about the future. She also helped me see that it wasn't my fault about Melantha. It'll still be hard not to blame someone for what happened, but...talking to Eden really helped. She showed me some new skills too. The one thing she showed me helped explain to me how I saw Ciana coming during the fight with Coralyinn. Apparently that's one of the main uses of my gift-- the ability to invoke foresight through my insight. The more I know or trust a person, the more I'm able to clearly predict their future in the moment. Back with Coralyinn, that was an accident because I didn't know what I was doing, but now I kind of know how to control it better."

"Eden is a very spiritual woman," a blond haired male with blue eyes winks as he walks into the room and heads towards the cabinets above the countertops.

"Yeah...she is..." Nathan trails off as the both of us watch the stranger, wondering how long he's been around and who the hell he is.

"Of course, one would be biased about one's own wife," the blonde's lips tug up into a smile as he opens the top cabinet and pulls out a glass, locking eyes with Nathan in the process.

"You're Eden's husband?" I ask.

"That'd be me," the man chuckles, "I've heard plenty about you both already. Eden always talks to me about the interesting people she sees in her visions. My name's Azuma. I just got back from the woodlands. I work as a hunter, keeping the area safe from dangerous animals and also Iegashyias from time to time. Don't worry, I wasn't eavesdropping. I normally come back for a cup of coffee after a long day out."

"How long have you been doing that?" Nathan asks.

"Being a hunter? About six years, since I was seventeen," Azuma answers.

"Cool," Nathan answers genuinely with a half-smile.

Azuma runs a hand through his unruly hair as he waits for the coffee pot to finish making his coffee, his glass in his other hand.

"Azuma! You're home!" Eden's voice trails around from the corner of the hallway and she jogs into the kitchen, going up to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

Azuma laughs and smiles as Eden hangs off of him and she smiles brightly, her expression radiating love and joy. As I watch the two of them, I can't help but smile at their infectious happiness and wonder if I'll ever find somebody to be that happy with. In that moment, my mind flickers to Reine, but I shake the thought off. Nathan meets my gaze and nods in the direction of the doorway, signaling that we should leave them alone for a bit and I couldn't agree more. I head out of the room with Nathan and decide that I should probably go get ready for the celebration soon. I don't even know if I'll have anything remotely celebratory to wear, but who knows? After all, I've fought against deadly creatures and survived. Surely I can survive a party.