"Who are you?" Kaltrina asks as she walks firmly up to the relic holder who's still floating there.

"I'll never tell you!" she cries out and shakes her head.

"Aidan, do you know what relic that is?" I ask, hoping he also knows which specific one it is.

"Repentance," Aidan nods, "that makes sense now. It allows her to use strong winds, abstain people of their guilt, or focus their guilt until it crushes them entirely."

"We're not here to hurt you," Aislinn says, lowering her longsword and making it disappear into thin air in a flash of white energy and small orbs of light, "we simply wish to talk."

She remains silent and purses her lips as her eyes study us uncertainly and I decide to gently nudge Kaltrina aside and walk up to her, my eyes boring into hers.

"What were you running from earlier?" I ask quietly, "you seemed scared, and believe me when I say I know how that feels."

"You mean..." she trails off uncertainly, "you really aren't with him?"

"Him who?" I frown and search her eyes for answers.

"If...If I promise to answer your questions, will you let me out of this?" she asks.

We all turn our gazes to Aislinn, who nods and sends away the rune with a swish of her hand. Aidan and I catch her as she falls and she smiles appreciatively to us both.

"Mikasa," she says after a few moments, "I'm Mikasa Akiyama. Can we go inside? I really didn't mean to leave the palace in the first place, but I thought...I thought I saw him."

"Who's him?" Aidan asks and Mikasa sighs.

"He's...my older brother..." Mikasa admits, her blue eyes sad.

"Let's go inside," Aidan frowns, placing a hand on Mikasa's back, "we can talk more in there."

Kaltrina meets my gaze and I return it knowingly, aware that we're going to have to tell the others about Mikasa as soon as possible. The five of us head back towards the palace with Aidan and Mikasa leading the way, followed by Aislinn with me and Kaltrina trailing behind. Aidan leads us to a private study beyond the party and Eden knowingly appears outside, shuffling the others of our group into the study. The study consists of a polished wooden table surrounded by green padded seats and bookshelves and scroll cases filled to the roof that circle around the room.

"I saw what was going to happen, I simply had to wait for it to happen before I took action," Eden whispers to us, "I figured my assistance in gathering everyone beforehand would be helpful."

Guests start to notice and ask what's going on, but Eden assures them it's nothing special as she winks at us and nudges the door shut.

"Man, having a prophetic friend sure is helpful sometimes," Nathan breathes out, "she started rounding us up at the party in the calmest manner and everything seemed totally normal. Then, she explained what was happening outside and waited for you guys to come in."

"That's my sister for you," Aidan smiles.

"Hey," Ayette smiles softly and makes her way over to Mikasa, "you're a relic holder, right? Me too."

"Yeah..." Mikasa trails off uncertainly, her eyes hesitant.

"Eden explained to us what happened outside, but could someone please go into further detail?" Reine asks.

"I accidentally ran into Mikasa during the party and something about her stuck with me. Kaltrina and I decided to go look for her ourselves and Aidan and Aislinn joined. We learned that Mikasa is the relic holder of Repentance and that she was running from her brother, but that's about it," I explain.

"So, you're saying you chased her down on a whim?" Dimitri crosses his arms and raises a brow.

"Yeah, you could call it that, but I call it instincts," I raise my chin and say determinedly, staring Dimitri down.

"Turns out yours aren't so bad after all," Dimitri's lips twitch into a slight smile of approval and I nod in appreciation.

"Would you mind telling us about yourself, Mikasa?" Reine asks.

"I suppose I did promise them I would answer questions once I was inside," Mikasa clears her throat and glances around the room uncomfortably, "well...my older brother, Zen, was born in the Winter Sector, but my parents moved to get away from the harsh weather and persecution. So, I was born in the Fall Sector a year later and that's where I grew up."

"Persecution?" Renee frowns.

"My family was...ah..." Mikasa smiles painfully, "my family was frowned upon because of my brother's gift."

"Something would have to be pretty bad to scare away people," Aidan frowns, "what is it? If you don't mind me asking."

"No, no, it's fine," Mikasa shakes her head, "I don't mind talking about it...not anymore, anyway. It's just...hard to think about sometimes. My brother's gift seemed to...predetermine his destiny. Now, I don't believe in predetermined destinies that you can't change, but...Zen's seemed somehow inescapable. You see, Zen is Alcazar's Champion."

"You're Zero's brother?" Dimitri raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yes..." Mikasa lowers her head and her eyes fill with sadness.

"Zero?" Nathan asks.

"Zero was the name given to Zen whenever he became an extremely dangerous target," Aislinn explains, "nobody knew his actual name and zero-zero was a rune tattoo on his arm, so we simply called him Zero. It is also a name he seemed to adopt to himself. Dimitri and I often got war cases involving him while we were in the Winter Sector. Strangely, he doesn't work with anyone else at all and this always remained a mystery to us."

"It is true that my brother always works alone, but...he didn't always used to," Mikasa says quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Dimitri asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"It's the reason why he never ceases making chaos," Mikasa starts, "and it's the reason why I can't stop running from him. Zen used to be different. He wasn't always a psychotic, mindless killer. Zen used to be good, despite being Alcazar's Champion. He used to fight alongside me and two others-- Seraph Khalida Ghuildhide and Valkyrie Jin Akagi."

"Khalida?" Renji raises his eyebrows in surprise, "the Angel leader?"

"That is correct," Mikasa smiles before it fades quickly, "but anyway...being Alcazar's Champion is different from having just any gift. Alcazar is a demon who lives inside of the soul of its gift user. The person can never escape her, but they can try to free themselves and most likely die or they can learn to harness their powers without going insane from her. Zen learned how to master his powers without awakening Alcazar fully, meaning he also wasn't at his max potential, but he knew how to skillfully do everything he was capable of doing at the time. But...everything changed when we fought Coralyinn. I don't know what kind of messed up voodoo magic Coralyinn uses, but...she completely ruined us."

"What happened?" Reine asks quietly.

"We were fine, we were supposed to be fine," Mikasa breathes out, "it was a simple recon mission, but we spotted Coralyinn by herself on a frozen mountain path in a blizzard and we thought we could get the drop on her. In hindsight, I guess that was a stupid idea. It seemed to be what she was waiting for, actually. Besides, she is Winter, so I suppose we should've realized we were in her element. Zen...he loved Jin with all his heart. Jin was a black haired beauty who always kept her hair in a long ponytail and she had flaming orange eyes. Being Valkyrie meant she could manipulate light, healing, colors, and energy to her will. Coralyinn...I don't know how it happened, but she managed to stab Jin with her dagger and something weird happened. Coralyinn started to power transfer, but Khalida stopped her and whenever Coralyinn attacked Khalida, Khalida gained a portion of Jin's gift. Jin was a commander of Angel Iegashyias because of being Valkyrie, as well as her familial status, and Khalida ended up taking over because Jin died there on that mountain top. Coralyinn managed to cast a spell on me as Jin died and Jin's spirit ended up merging into my relic. Zen went insane when Jin died. He tried to do everything he could to bring her back, and that included embracing Alcazar. She promised him she could bring back Jin and in his desperation, he took her deal. Zen was...never the same since. I was the only one of us four to leave mostly the same. Khalida was herself but she was different at the same time."

"That makes sense," Renji breathes out, "the order goes Valkyrie, Seraph, Angel, and then Lightdagger Brigade. But I didn't know we ever had a Valkyrie..."

"Khalida keeps Jin's existence hidden, much as she keeps herself hidden," Mikasa says sadly, "I don't know why, but...that's just what she does."

"Why does Zen specifically target you then?" Ciana asks, "I mean, he went insane due to Alcazar, but what does that have to do with you? Is it because of Jin?"

"Zen wishes to take my relic and resurrect Jin," Mikasa starts, "and he wants to take the relic to either Khalida or the Iegashyia with the gift known as Ghost. He would give anything to see her again. He won't stop chasing me until he gets it, but I can't let him have it. As a child, my parents entrusted me with the relic of Repentance. I'm a Time-Weaver Priestess Iegashyia and I refuse to allow Zen to mess with what should not be messed with. He won't be able to bring Jin back like he thinks he can. His chances of succeeding are near to impossible, and if he does succeed then she won't be the same as she once was. Alcazar promised him something that which is almost impossible and he's going to be enraged when he realizes she deceived him. I wish to prevent Zen from doing more destruction. I want to get to the brother I once knew, but I'm worried that may not be possible. I can't reason with him because he won't listen and Alcazar prevents him from seeing the truth. She feeds on his negative emotions and clouds his mind and judgement."

"Believe me when I say I know how Zen must feel," Nathan sighs, "but I know there's no way you can...that you should meddle with things like that."

"You're welcome to travel with us," Reine offers and Mikasa's eyes widen in surprise, her gaze flickering over to Reine, "tomorrow morning some of us are heading off to see Khalida. If Eden and Aidan think you're clear to go, you can come with us."

"We'll see," Aidan smiles and Mikasa smiles back, but her eyes hold worry and unease.

"Did you say Ghost?" Tsukumi frowns as she stands in the corner, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Yes, why?" Mikasa frowns.

"Nothing," Tsukumi waves it off, "it's just...that's concerning."

"Why?" Shitau asks, concern lacing his voice.

"Do you remember I promised not to tell Phoenix's gift? Perhaps now is an appropriate time to say that Phoenix is Ghost..." Tsukumi trails off.

"Shit," Dimitri sighs and rubs a hand across his face, "things just got a lot more complicated."

And, surprisingly, it seems I agree with Dimitri.