Lysithea sat silently at the graveyard, on the small hill by a locked tomb. She had lit her usual candle and sat there reading the large book on vampires while noting details of importance down into her notebook.

She nearly leaped out of her skin as she spotted a man dressed in dark clothing in the corner of her eye and as she turned around she noticed Tristan, who gave her a gentle wave before sitting down in the grass next to her.

"Tristan! You-... you scared me."

"Heh- I'm sorry Lys, I didn't mean to." He gave her a smile and she gently gave one in return and carefully closed her book.

"Have you learned anything new?"

She shook her head with a sigh. "Not really, I still don't quite-... quite understand the concept of a vampire. They are dead, walking corpses but when they drink-... drink blood they can age backwards?" She scratched herself behind the ear in confusion. "But how can a-... a dead body age and why would the dead have to eat?"

Tristan looked at her as he pulled up his knees, wrapping one arm around them as he leaned onto the other. "I have no clue, I'm sorry."

Lysithea shook her head with a heavy sigh and peered up towards the pitch black, cloudy night sky.

"As of DeLaine... I haven't-... haven't learned much. Many people know nothing but gossip and rumours while others refuse to talk to me. People have-... have started to call me crazy."

Tristan squeezed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"You're not crazy."

"I just-... I want to help him."

Tristan pulled her close to try and keep her warm against the chilling nature of the Rosas' wind. 

"I believe that-... that even if he is as dark and horrid as people say, there is light within-... within his heart. No matter how dark a tiny spark will always exist. It can't be snuffed out, just-... just be pushed down and hidden deep within all the blackness. Just as light can suffocate darkness."

Tristan merely nodded as Lysithea explained herself and she sighed heavily as she pulled her knees up to wrap her arms around them.

"No one deserves to-... to be alone. I have seen him and the only time he did harm was when someone provoked him."

"Yes. I saw him too."

"You did?" Her eyes darted towards Tristan's face and she studied it carefully. The man stared into the distance, his eyes dimly lit by her candle.

"Yes. A few days ago. He was just walking around. Stopped and spoke to a few. He went up to the Shahermerites and argued with them about faith. The golden knight and his two followers then provoked him, they taunted him and threatened him so he attacked them."

Lysithea's eyes grew wide and she could feel them sting as she listened. Tristan slowly looked down at her and gave her a weak smile. "He managed to get away and no one was killed, don't worry."

She let out a heavy sigh, relieved. She felt her shoulder tremble and pulled her cloak closer around her person. 

"Am I being-... being stupid? Are-... are my dreams just childish and silly?"

"Do you believe so?" A voice belonging to a woman appeared, moving around them like an echo without a proper origin.

Tristan and Lysithea perked up and he pulled the girl closer to him in a protective gesture. They both stared around them, their eyes darting from place to place with speed yet they saw no one.

"Well, do you?" Infront of them materialised a short woman, a gnome, not taller than up to Lysithea's waist. She had snow white hair and a pale face. Her hands were sitting deep into her trouser pockets and the black coattails of her jacket moved gracefully in the wind. She watched them with grey eyes, hidden behind round spectacles which sat neatly upon her thin nose.

What stood out the most about the woman was that she was void of any colour and as the candle flickered and cast light over her form the light was instantly warped from orange to white.

Her expression was dry, bored and at the same time empty as she watched the two.

"Who-... who are you?" Lysithea carefully pushed herself away from Tristan by placing a hand on his chest. Her eyes were wide and she studied the black and grey particles which slowly moved through the air before vanishing as the gnome materialised.

"Doctor Summers." The woman responded with a nod and Lysithea watched as the shadow she cast on the ground moved in a different manner from the gnome herself, soundlessly laughing as she introduced herself. "Well?"

"Well-... well what?" Lysithea blinked, shaking her head. She had forgotten the subject. “How did you-... you just appear like this? What-... what are you?”

"A gnome, of course. Now, I asked; Do you think they're childish and silly?"

Lysithea wrapped her arms around herself, as tight as she could as if to protect herself from the chill of the wind. Summers’ cocked her head from side to side as she awaited an answer. The question had brought Lysithea back to reality, and despite her curiosity concerning the strange creature she suddenly felt sad.

"I-... no, no I don't." The blond haired girl said, frowning slightly and Summers gave her a crooked smile.

"Well, there you go then. They're not." 

Tristan narrowed his eyes on the woman. "I haven't seen you around here before. What are you?"

"I'm a doctor of the mind."

"...is that a thing?"

Summers sighed and removed her glasses as she began to clean the lenses on her white shirt.

"An alienist."

Tristan blinked slowly at her and then looked down at Lysithea who gave him a rather confused but curious smile as she turned to face the woman again.

"It means I study and attempt to cure the mind from illness. It's not only your body that gets sick, I'll have you know."

"And how-... how do you do that?" 

The doctor smiled towards Lysithea, her slight annoyance towards Tristan’s ignorance on the topic didn't seem to carry over to her, despite both of them not understanding the term.

"The simple answer would be 'talking', alas, there is more to it than that." The woman studied the cleanliness of her polished glasses by holding them up and then put them back on to have a closer look at the two.

"I've noticed that you are trying to find some information on Alistair."

Lysithea nearly leaped out of her skin and moved closer to Summers, her hands pressed into the dirt as she nearly stood on all four, bent forward over her knees.

"Alistair?"

"Mhyes, Sir Alistair DeLaine. He used to be a knight, I'll have you know. Quite an interesting case, very much so."

Lysithea pulled out her notebook haphazardly and rummaged around to try and find her pen. She swung the tome open on a new page and quickly titled it 'Alistair DeLaine'. Summers peered at the pages and the pen as she scribbled. 

"You didn't answer my question. What are you? You appeared out of nowhere like Serena." Tristan crossed his arms and glared suspiciously at Summers who looked back at him.

"Oh, I'm nothing like Serena, she hides and I don't." 

"Then what do you call that if not hiding?"

"Dreaming."

"Dr-... dreaming?" Tristan blinked in confusion and looked down towards Lysithea who watched the woman with wide eyes and a faint smile on her lips. The curiosity was evident on her face, her golden orbs almost sparkling.

"Yes. The world is a dream and when you know it's a dream you become part of the dream and you'll be invisible to those who don't know."

Tristan cocked his head to the side and his eye twitched in frustration as the woman seemed to ramble like a mad person, uttering the word dream over and over.

"So if you are part of a dream then-... then what are you? You look like a gnome to me." Lysithea said, her voice quivering with excitement and Summers smiled gently towards her in turn.

"I'm Summers and my shadow is her." She gestured down towards the dark figure which grinned deviously up towards them. "And together we are us, me."

Lysithea stared towards the shadow which was thrown on the ground behind the gnome. The gesture didn’t match Summers’ movements and as she was about to ask why, Tristan spoke. 

"You're mad." Tristan blurted and Lysithea slapped him over the shoulder. "Tristan!"

"Perhaps… or perhaps it is you who are mad, who cannot see the universe as I do. It is all a matter of perspective. To me you are ignorant and to you I'm crazy. Together we are two people with different views, but which one is right I wonder? Mhm." 

"You'd say it's you." Tristan muttered with his arms crossed.

"Yes of course. It is my opinion and if I did not believe that it was right I wouldn't have it. However." The woman stroked her chin in thought, looking into nothing. "Again it falls back to perspective. With the right words I can convince you I'm in the right and with the right words you can convince me the opposite. So who in the end will be right?"

"The one who's right!" Tristan shouted, gritting his teeth. Summers pulled her hands back deep in her pockets and bent her back forwards, shoulders high.

"Yes, that makes sense." She nodded matter-of-factly. 

"Of course it does! I-... wait what?" Tristan frowned and pulled his hands through his hair, shaking the curls around as he scratched his scalp. "This makes no sense at all!"

Lysithea bubbled out a laugh and placed her hands tightly against her chest.

"I'm Lysithea and this is-... is Tristan." She said, stroking a tear of laughter out of her eye. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Summers."

The doctor smiled towards the woman in white and gold and bowed deeply, pushing one arm out to the left while the other was placed on her chest.

"Pleasure is all mine. Now, I believe you need help in meeting with Sir DeLaine."