After a few hours, Dimitri and the others come back, their mission a success. Ayette runs up to Dimitri and he pulls her into a hug, holding her up in the air and twirling her around as he smiles and she laughs. Upon placing her back down, he leans down and kisses her deeply, to which she puts her arms around his neck and I make pretend gagging noises.

"Get a room you two," I sigh as I sit on a wooden stair next to one of the tents.

"Maybe we should," Ayette's lips curve up into a smirk and Dimitri's eyebrows raise.

Ayette grabs ahold of Dimitri's wrist and runs off, dragging him off to some tent somewhere to do who knows what and I sigh once more. I rest my elbows on my legs and lean my face in my hands as I sit on the stairs, watching as snowflakes float by occasionally. I glance over to the left to see Nathan walking around aimlessly and I frown, thinking back to what happened in Medea's garden. Slowly, I stand up from where I'm sitting and make my way over to him, my hands in my pockets to keep warm.

"Hey..." I start, catching his attention.

His brown eyes widen in surprise before he glances away and crosses his arms against his chest.

"Hey..." he says back, his voice reserved.

"Are you alright?" I ask, frowning slightly.

"How could you ask me something like that?" he laughs dryly, meeting my gaze, "you already know the answer anyway."

He goes to walk around me, but I put my hand on his shoulder and stop him in his tracks. I glance over and meet his gaze, my eyes stern.

"I miss Melantha just as much as you do," I say, "but you can't change what happened. You can't change what Ayette wished for. But, to be truthful, I believe Ayette made the right decision. It's best to let the dead lie, Nathan. Look at what Zen went through. I'm not saying we should forget her, that's not what I'm saying at all, but what I am saying is that we should try to focus on the living as well. Otherwise, while it's cruel to say, you're just as dead as her. Keep her memory with you and cherish it. It's okay to miss her and it's okay to want her back, but you have to learn to live without her or you won't be living at all."

"Whatever," Nathan bites sharply, chewing on the inside of his cheek nervously as his eyes flit about, "it's not like you understand. I don't know what I expected."

"Nathan," I scowl, "what on earth is wrong with you? You know I--"

"Look man," Nathan laughs dryly, his eyes pained as they meet mine, "you don't know what it's like. You don't know what it's like to be taunted, to be made guilty, over the death of the person you loved."

"Actually--" I start, about to mention the time he accused me after Melantha died.

"And you especially don't know what it's like to hear 'your gift is Insight, yet you failed to see it coming' taunted to you," Nathan breathes out.

My eyes widen and I fall quiet for a moment, my hand slipping from his shoulder as I turn my gaze to the snow.

"No..." I say after a few moments, "I guess I don't."

"Yeah, I guess you don't," Nathan says, his voice low, before he walks off.

I run a hand through my hair and breathe out sharply, deciding to check on my dad's tent in the meantime. I make my way over to his tent, my feet crunching in the snow in the process. I push aside the fabric opening to find him standing with his back to me, a pen in his mouth as he leans over a table with a map scrawled out over it. Upon hearing me enter, he turns back to look at me and takes the pen out of his mouth and smiles, his eyes still holding sadness.

"Hello, Gabriel," he says and I nod, putting my hands in my pockets once more as I walk over to him.

"We gained a powerful shield from Medea," I start and my father nods.

"Tien informed me earlier," my dad says as he leans back down to the map and puts a red circle around a small nearby city, "Sion and I went and scoped out where Coralyinn's residing. She moved a bit more, but she didn't go far. She's in a nearby city, most likely passing through. If you want to get the drop on her, it would be best to do it soon. The city she's in is abandoned due to the war and it also means there'll be more in your advantage, considering she won't be out in the wide open where she can control her gift better."

"Good..." I nod, trailing off to my thoughts, "hey, Dad? Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he turns to look at me, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"You told me earlier that you knew I had my memories back. Do you know why they were taken in the first place and why I was targeted?" I ask.

My father glances to the side and places down the pen on the map with a sigh before he leans back and runs a hand through his hair.

"Our family used to be in charge of holding the Primordial Relic, as you know. It was sent away with you to be kept safe. I believe you were one of the main targets of the raid on Reine's village. The raiders were looking for relics-- they were a group of enemy soldiers who worked as mercenaries and thugs. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think they thought you knew something that was incredibly dangerous to them. Either that or you yourself were incredibly dangerous to them. I wouldn't be surprised by the latter, you know," he smiles somewhat sadly, "your gift is quite incredible. The people who raided the village and took you and your mother were also the ones who kept me from going after you. My gift allows me to constantly regenerate and cleanse itself, so they weren't able to do the same thing to me. They were, however, able to tie me to this realm by weakening my gift and cursing me before my gift regained its strength. My gift constantly tries to fight away the curse, almost like an antibiotic fighting an illness."

"I'm really sorry," I say quietly and look at the ground, my heart clenching for him.

"Hey, it's okay," he chuckles and ruffles my hair, making my eyes widen and I look up at him in surprise, my lips parting, "you're okay and that's all that matters to me."

"One thing doesn't make sense though," a thought occurs to me, "Reine and Dimitri believe it was their parents that attacked me, but you said it was a group of raiders."

"They were most likely involved," my father breathes out in a sad sigh, "Mia and I were close friends with Reine, Dimitri, and Elespeth's parents. I heard they were involved in the raid somehow, and if what Reine and Dimitri say is true, it wouldn't surprise me if they were the ones who tipped off the raiders. What I don't understand however, is would they really drag their children into it? They loved their children with everything they had. I just...I couldn't see them doing that."

"Reine's mom...had Elespeth with another man, but it wasn't by her choice," I start, "do you think he could be the cause of it? Maybe he manipulated them and started the raid?"

"If anything, that would be the case," my dad frowns, "I know what you're talking about. Reine's mother would often spend her nights crying over tea with Mia, sobbing and unsure of what to do, guilt ridden. It wasn't her fault, but she didn't see it that way."

Suddenly, the tent opens to reveal Shitau and he glances between the two of us before he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting," he says, "I just was supposed to report that Mirana says it's safe to go after Coralyinn now that the spirits are at bay."

"Thank you," my dad nods before he sighs and checks his watch, "I should go meet with Tien and Sion and inform them of our next steps."

"Alright," I nod and give him a small smile, which he gratefully returns before he makes his way out of the tent, clapping Shitau on the shoulder on the way out.

"How did the garden go?" Shitau asks hesitantly as he rocks back and forth on his heels, chewing on his bottom lip nervously.

"It went...well," I offer, trying to sum up somewhere between how I actually feel and what actually happened.

"That's good," Shitau offers a small smile before he laughs, "Ciana, Tsukumi, and Kaltrina have a way of actually making me feel useful, you know. They didn't stop teasing me the entire time and they always made me feel like I was doing something productive. I expect that from Kaltrina and Tsukumi, but I'm really grateful that Ciana's like that too. Well, I'm grateful for all of them. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that no matter what happens...I'm really glad you guys recruited me."

"Of course," I smile, "you're our friend. We're all family here. We're in this together to the end and even beyond that. Speaking of which...how're you doing?"

"I'm..." Shitau pauses for a small moment, his blue-green eyes showing a multitude of emotions, "I'm actually okay for once, I think."

"Good," I continue to smile as I make my way over to him before I gently fist bump his shoulder, "be sure to tell me if you feel otherwise or I'll have to sick Ciana on you, 'kay?"

"Alright," Shitau chuckles and shakes his head.

I exit the tent with a smile still on my face, glad that we were able to at least help him in some way. As I'm exiting, I nearly bump into Mikasa, who's standing there with a small smile on her face. I exchange a knowing glance with her and she nods slightly in approval.

"You're a good guy, Gabriel," she says softly, her eyes searching mine, "never forget that."

"Thanks," I offer her a small, uncertain smile before I turn to leave.

After a few feet, I pause in my tracks when Mikasa calls out for me again.

"Hey, Gabriel," Mikasa calls out and I glance over my shoulder to look at her, "whatever your demons said, don't listen to them, because they're not right."

"Yeah..." my breath hitches in my throat as I think back to my mirror from Medea's garden, "you too..."

Mikasa nods and hums thoughtfully before she enters my dad's tent and starts talking to Shitau.

"Now," I breathe out, my eyes scanning the campsite before I walk off towards a row of tents, "time to find Reine."