After meeting up together in the main room of the mansion, we decide that Reine, Dimitri, Ayette, Ciana, Mikasa, Nathan, and I will go find Zen while Renee, Renji, Tsukumi, Kaltrina, Shitau, and Aislinn go try to convince Phoenix to join us. We end up deciding this because Aislinn can make a direct portal to Sekai and Tsukumi has a somewhat friendship with Phoenix. We wanted to have at least one person experienced with being in winter in each group, and since Aislinn was going with the others, that meant Dimitri would be going with us. Not that he'd allow anything otherwise.

Those of us going to apprehend Zen head to the throne room to talk to Aidan, since he said he has something for us. Meanwhile, Dimitri won't stop being protective over Ayette, even though she insists she's fine. I push open the doors to the throne room to find Aidan standing in the middle of the room talking to Eden and Bridgette.

Eden looks over at us upon hearing the doors open and she smiles, which makes the others turn their attention to us as well.

"I see you've decided. I would go with you, but Bridgette and Eden wouldn't let me. Granted, it's not like I haven't disobeyed them before," Aidan smirks wryly and they send him disapproving glances, "but I promised them I wouldn't go. Anyway, I do have something to help you. Well, Eden does."

"My friend Namisa runs a shop called Sage's in the middle of the town square, not too far from the castle," Eden smiles, "she sells an arrangement of herbalist, apothecary, and clothing items, and I've called her and asked if she could give you whatever you need for free for your journey and she happily agreed."

"That's amazing," Ciana beams and cheers excitedly, "thank you!"

"We are in your upmost gratitude, your highness," Reine bows her head and smiles gratefully.

"I also managed to mend the pieces of the relic back together, but it no longer has its magical properties. I'm sorry," Eden frowns as she holds out the necklace.

"That's okay..." Ayette smiles sadly and walks up to Eden, gratefully accepting the necklace.

"Eden, do you happen to know where the other two relics are?" Dimitri asks.

"I don't, but..." Eden glances over at Bridgette.

"There's a general in Ashuwahara who goes by the initial 'D' that knows where a relic is," Bridgette explains, "I only know this because one of our informants that I'm in charge of fought in the war."

"Ashuwaha--what now?" Ayette questions.

"The frontlines in the Winter Sector are in Ashuwahara," Dimitri explains, "I've heard of 'D' while I was there, but I never worked under him."

"So, should we look for him too?" Nathan asks.

"He'll be closer to Coralyinn than we'd probably like to venture," Dimitri grimaces, "but it would be a good idea, most likely after we deal with Zen."

"Right," Aidan sighs, "well, I guess you'd better be on your way. I really enjoyed spending time with you all and I wish you the best. It's a shame that I can't come with you, but I would if I were permitted."

"Off we go," Mikasa sighs.

"I just want to go home to my nice warm bed and not into a blizzard," Ayette whines and drops her shoulders as she trudges out of the throne room.

"Yeah..." I trail off in agreement.

And as the others make their way out of the throne room and I begin to think of home, a frightening thought suddenly strikes me. I don't have any childhood memories of Vivian.

***

A permanent frown seems to fixate itself on my face as we walk through the streets of Orina, the other group of us having left about a half hour before us. I walk with my arms crossed against my chest as we pass by multiple little shops with glass windows and display cases and a few bicyclists go by from time to time. Reine glances over at me worriedly and Ayette catches on as well.

"What's wrong?" Reine asks quietly as she walks beside me.

"It's probably nothing..." I continue to frown, "it's just...I have all my memories back, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions."

"What do you mean?" Reine frowns.

"Like, how is it that I remembered hazy memories of my father but not of you or Dimitri or anyone else from this realm? And how come I kept those memories but no other ones from my younger childhood? And when I finally got them all back, I realized I don't have any at all of my actual sister," I explain.

"Your sister?" Reine's eyebrows furrow, "Vivian?"

"Yeah," I nod as we round a street corner, "she's my sister by blood, you even said so, so why don't I remember her being in this realm with me and my parents?"

"Perhaps you didn't get all of your memories back?" Reine frowns.

"But that's not possible..." I trail off, my eyes flickering over to Mikasa.

"What?" Reine asks, "why do you think that?"

"Because I...I just know," I breathe out.

"We're here!" Ciana shouts excitedly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Ayette pushes open the glass singular door to Sage's, which is printed on the window in cursive white letters, a small golden bell that's attached to a brown string ringing as she does so. The shop itself has circular racks of clothing sitting out, wooden floors, forest green walls, two silver cash registers sitting on a long wooden desk on the right side of the store, multiple shelves of spices and herbs hanging on the left wall, and many jars, potions, and boxes sitting on shelves across from the entrance.

"Welcome!" shouts a woman with strawberry colored hair with thick blonde and brown swatches of color highlighted throughout it and sunset orange eyes, "I'm Namisa. Eden told me all about you."

She comes out from a back storage room with multiple piles of boxes in her arms and she places them down on the floor by the counter before she brushes a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles. Meanwhile, a black cat with a white diamond on its chest, two white paws, white on the tips of its ears, and white on the end of its tail comes running out from the back rooms and leaps up on the counter. The cat sits on the counter and watches us in a manner that seems almost lazy but also very intelligent as its tail sways elegantly in the air behind it.

"I have multiple winter outfits for you to try on and I've compiled a list of herbs and other necessities you may need," Namisa says before her eyes flicker over to the cat, "oh, and this is Sage. The shop's named after him."

Ayette and Dimitri go up to the counter while Namisa heads around the counter and grabs a tote bag before coming around and opening the boxes, sifting through them and placing multiple jars, boxes, and other items in the tote bag. Ciana heads around the store and examines the clothing racks while Mikasa goes over to the herb shelves as Namisa hands Ayette the tote bag and heads back around the counter to the cash register. Meanwhile, Nathan wanders around the store aimlessly looking at items for sale.

"I'll compile two orders for you guys. One will be everything I've gathered for you and the other will consist of anything else you might find. Don't mind the price on the receipts," Namisa says, "I'm only billing them up so that I know what to re-stock and so you also know what you have without having to sort through everything."

"Thank you," Ayette smiles.

"It's no problem," Namisa chuckles.

"I wonder..." Mikasa hums as she scans the shelves.

"I'm gonna go look through some clothing," Reine says.

"Alright," I nod as she heads over towards Ciana and the two of them begin talking.

I sigh and glance around the shop before deciding to join Mikasa over at the herbs shelf, wondering if maybe she could give me some answers.

"Valerian...Valerian...Valerian..." Mikasa hums to herself as she bends down and brushes her index finger along the tan shelves.

"What do you need Valerian for?" I ask, arching my eyebrows.

"Oh," Mikasa turns her head and looks up at me, her eyes seemingly on edge, "it's just...something I'd like to have with me."

"Here," an unfamiliar male voice says from behind us, making us both jolt in surprise.

We turn around to see a man around Dimitri's and Namisa's age standing there with a clear jar labeled 'Valerian Root' that's scrawled out in black marker on a piece of tape.

"Uh..." Mikasa looks at him uncertainly and hesitantly reaches out, accepting the jar, "thanks..."

"No problem," the man tilts his head to the side and smiles.

Oddly enough, the resemblance between him and Aislinn seems almost uncanny. Black and white hair, yellow eyes, and pale. Mikasa and I share a glance as the man in ripped black skinny jeans, a black choker, and a white t-shirt walks off, his black combat boots clunking against the wooden floorboards.

"Who was that?" Mikasa frowns.

"I have no clue..." I trail off as I scan the shop, watching as the man goes up to Namisa, Ayette, and Dimitri and begins talking to them as Namisa finishes checking Ciana and Reine out.

"Hey," Ciana pouts as she walks over to us with three giant tote bags full of clothing in her hands, "did you see where the cat went? I wanted to pet him before I left."

My eyes flicker across the store once again and it's then that I notice the stranger's choker has a dark ruby colored pendant on it that reads 'S.C.' in bold white letters.

"Actually," I raise my eyebrows in surprise, "I think I do..."

***

After about an hour of Ciana fawning over Sage and asking a ton of questions about how he turns into a cat, we finally head out for the Winter Sector. Apparently Sage is a special form of Iegashyia whose soul is partially bound to that of a cat, which allows him to transform into one if he wants. Additionally, I asked him if he happened to know an Aislinn Frigid since he reminded me so much of her, and it turns out that they're second cousins. Small world, huh.

"We should probably stop at an inn sometime tonight," Reine suggests as we continue our walk through the outskirts of Orina, "we won't reach our destination for roughly ten days."

"Geez," Nathan sighs and throws his arms behind his head and laces his fingers together, "so, I have a question. How come we aren't doing anything about this Medea person? I mean, isn't she in the chain?"

"Well, yes..." Reine starts, "but Medea is...currently too dangerous to reason with. At least, in our current state. Before we came to Orina, I thought dealing with Medea might be easy, but we're far too vulnerable now."

"Okay, but aren't we going straight to Coralyinn if we get Zen?" Nathan asks.

"Yeah," Dimitri nods, "but Medea's garden can be accessed from anywhere."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Medea typically stays in her garden," Dimitri explains, "see, the garden never moves and it's accessible from anywhere in this realm, but nobody knows where it is. Therefore, nobody ever knows where Medea truly is."

"So, how does anyone even get to her?" Nathan raises a brow.

"They don't," Dimitri snorts, "she goes to them. She lures them in and reveals the garden entrance. Medea feeds off people with greed."

"Aislinn might be able to open a portal to it," Ciana offers, "I'm not sure, but we could ask her once we all meet up again."

"No," Reine frowns, "that won't work. My plan to find Medea was to somehow bait her garden into revealing itself, but currently it's not our main priority. Right now, we should just be focusing on dealing with Zen, the relic in the Winter Sector, and any dangers that may come."

"Reine is right," Mikasa agrees quietly.

"I'm still sorry that my relic got ruined," Ayette sighs dejectedly as she looks at the necklace dangling around her neck, "I know it could've really helped us..."

"Hey," Dimitri places a hand on her shoulder and the two of them stop walking on the sidewalk as she turns to look at him, "that wasn't your fault and nobody blames you, so don't blame yourself. Besides, you're safe, and that's all that matters to us."

"Dimitri..." Ayette's breath hitches and she trails off before she smiles softly, "thank you..."

"He's right," Ciana smiles, "you're more important than some dumb necklace. Besides, you've got mega abilities now!"

"Yeah," Ayette laughs dryly, "I still don't know how to use those though..."

"You'll learn in time," Reine says and Ayette's gaze flickers over to her, "don't worry about it too much."

"Hey guys," I call out whenever I notice a neon red sign for an inn in the distance, the burnt orange and yellow sunset illuminating the sky as the sun starts to set, "look, there's an inn down the street."

"Perfect," Reine smiles, "we'll stay there for the night. There's a train station in about a half hour, right on the very edge of Orina. Taking the train should cut our time down significantly."

"Great," Ayette sighs, "our last day of warmth..."

I laugh as we head towards the inn and I mentally agree with Ayette. I'm not exactly excited to head into snowy territory, especially snowy territory in a war zone.