Summer, dressed in clothes far more muted than usual, strolls the streets. Though she didn’t used to live anywhere near this nice of a neighborhood prior to being adopted, she still likes to think she can navigate the capital’s streets much better than Cloud. As she comes across a moderately nice home, she checks her note of the address once more. Smirking, she folds it and shoves it back in her pocket. The princess makes her way up the steps. Inside, she can hear voices, though she can’t quite discern how many. She knocks, a show of politeness, really. She could easily open the door should it be locked.

Inside, the group sits, papers sprawled across a coffee table. Over the past… hour? Two hours? However long it’s been. They’ve been distracting themselves with catching Cloud up. Tailor, apparently another valuable spy, offers input whenever Cloud asks questions the others can’t answer. Nicolas, Cloud hasn’t entirely figured out yet, but he seems to be someone high up. He mentions a few things related to battles and what sort of information Cloud would get from what rank, a topic Gushiken also chips in on. Red, while cagey, gives Cloud what is essentially a booklet by the time he’s done. The air is heavy, but the conversation is smooth by this point.

All fall silent at the sound of a knock at the door. Suddenly, everybody is glad Sake remembered to close the curtains. Belle rounds the corner. “Sorry to disturb,” she apologizes in a rather not hushed fashion. Cloud flinches, knowing the sound will carry through even a well-made wooden door. Whoever is outside heard them all, for sure. She brings her finger to her mouth and tries not to look harsh about it. Belle doesn’t take offense, but still sounds confused when she continues, “Were you expecting anybody else?” Sake shakes his head once, turning to the rest.

“Hide,” he orders, standing up. Red and Tailor immediately start gathering the papers. “Nicolas, take Cl-er, Crown.” The man nods, offering a hand to Cloud as the rest of the room scatters. Cloud takes it and follows him as he noiselessly leads her into the foyer. He releases her hand to shift a bookshelf over, using magic to raise it just above the ground, keeping it from dragging. This reveals a door. Nicolas pulls Cloud into a small closet, gliding the shelf back into place behind them. It’s dark, and cramped with the two of them, but what matters is that they can clearly hear the front door open. “Hello—” Gushiken pauses. “Princess Summer Spark?” He questions. Cloud forcibly mouths a silent curse. “Welcome to my home. Not to be rude, I’m honored to have a visitor such as yourself, but why are you here? Has something changed?”

“May I come in, Lieutenant General?” Summer asks. What’s he supposed to do? Say no? To royalty? He steps aside, Belle bowing behind him as Summer waltzes in like she owns the place. In a roundabout way, Cloud supposes they both technically do. “Is my sister here?” She asks, dusting her hand against the wall beneath the stairs as she passes by. Cloud motions for Nicolas to stay where he is as her hands start to glow. Nicolas stiffly shakes his head. Cloud mouths that it’ll be okay before an electric green ring surrounds her. The same ring forms before Summer. When Cloud forms within it, she doesn’t jerk or stumble back. Just smiles. “Good morning.”

“When I said I wouldn’t be gone long, I meant a few days, not a few hours,” Cloud states, ignoring the pleasantry.

“Yes, well, Mother’s noticed you’re gone,” Summer shrugs. Honestly, that was quicker than Cloud would’ve thought. She doesn’t always attend breakfast at the same time as everyone else. Summer snickers, “Took her long enough.”

“Does she know you’re looking for me?” Cloud’s eyebrows raise. It’d be in Summer’s best interest, to make sure she can fulfill a promise before making one. Cloud’s not stupid. She knows Summer’s game.

Summer takes a sudden interest in her cuticles. “No. At the moment, it’s still under wraps. I just wanted to make sure I knew where you were.” Her voice takes on a honeyed tone, “After last night, I was so worried! Which reminds me. Quite a storm, huh? Bet you couldn’t sleep.” Cloud folds her arms, unimpressed. “You should really learn to be less sensitive.”

“Wait, that was you?” Gushiken questions. “You made the storm?”

“I told you it’s hard to control my magic when I’m angry,” Cloud answers. Gushiken rightfully gives her a wary once-over.

Summer hums. “Naive of you to inform a stranger of a weakness like that, isn’t it?”

“It’s more of a threat, in my opinion,” Cloud retorts. Summer laughs like a bully in a school yard. Cloud watches with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, Cloud,” she giggles, curling over and slapping a hand on Cloud’s shoulder for support. “I haven’t-” she gasps “-I haven’t had a laugh like this in a while.” She snickers, meeting her eyes. “Thank you.” She straightens up, too close to be friendly. “Let’s not bring a knife to a magic fight, hm?” Speaking of, Cloud teleports the knife from her shin to her hand and taps Summer’s right arm with it. 

“Let’s not forget I can hold my own,” she murmurs, knife held gently against an old scar. To be fair, she has one to match. A shadow crosses Summer’s face, her smile wiped clean off. She doesn’t feel threatened. After all, Cloud’s calm enough to successfully teleport items as well as herself. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t harbor fear along with the old scar, though. She clicks her tongue, face settling into a scowl.

“God, you’re no fun lately,” she grumbles, shoving Cloud away from her. “Look, you owe me, right? So, when I come to get you, you come back with me, okay? We can make up some story about what happened on the way back. I’ll get to be the hero who saved you, and Mother will have her perfect little girl back.” Cloud disregards the last part of that statement, unable to comprehend whatever delusion Summer’s living in.

“I won’t be here the next time you come for me,” Cloud says instead, protecting the others before herself. “I’ve burdened this man enough on my own without having you intrude on his space, too.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Summer huffs. “Where are you going, then?”

“Use your newfound detective skills and figure it out,” Cloud jabs. “There are only so many people who I’d trust to shelter me on such short notice.”

“You make everything so difficult,” Summer pouts, her sour overtone from before dipping into something more playful. Cloud’s face returns to its normal, impassive state at that. In the end, Summer’s just a child who wants her mother’s approval. That’s not a crime, though it is a futile task in their case.

“I guess the trait is more nurture than nature, then,” she replies, grinning just slightly. A small weight raises from Summer’s chest at the sight. They’re still good, still allies. She rolls her eyes.

“I give you a day at most,” Summer declares. “Be ready to go when I find you.” She spins on her heel to head out. Reaching the doorway, she turns back. “And tell your two to four friends in the house that I say hi.” She shuts the door behind her, not waiting for Gushiken. 

“How did she..?” He prompts, just in general.

“Since you’re in the army, and she knows your rank, your residence is easy for us to find,” Cloud explains, manually sliding the knife back in its sheath. “As for the rough estimate of people, she probably heard us speaking and shuffling a little bit before the door opened.”

“Hold on,” Nicolas prompts as he emerges from the closet, “the other princess knew this one was here, and you didn’t mention it?”

He begins, “Well, yes, she saw both of us leaving-”

“-She’s a pain, but she won’t snitch,” Cloud interrupts. “It was my call. Don’t get upset with Gushiken over it. Either way, I should be leaving soon.” She turns back to Gushiken. “I wrote to someone last night; they should have gotten it by now. If I can’t be kept there, they’ll help me find somewhere else. I specifically told Summer I was leaving so she wouldn’t come back here. You should be fine”

“Will you be alright with the information we gave you?” Gushiken asks.

“I should be. I’ve also got Red’s pamphlet. I’ll burn it once I memorize it,” Cloud answers. “I can contact him with questions, if need be.” 

Red and Tailor pop out from behind the hallway, having heard the door shut. "What was that?" Tailor asks.

"A reminder that I should be going," Cloud answers. "I'll grab my swords and head out." Cloud starts climbing the stairs.

From behind her, she hears Red ask, "She's armed?"

"Red, we are perfectly capable of protecting ourselves," Farrow responds.

"I've been trained in combat longer than she's been alive," Gushiken follows. "Besides, she’s had a knife on her the entire time, and she never used it." Cloud huffs a small laugh. She grabs her blades, the kimono she'd worn over her current clothes, the rose that had been in her hair, and heads back downstairs as she attaches the swords to her belt holsters.

"Okay," she says, placing herself before Sake, Nicolas, and Belle. She bows. "Thank you so much, for everything."

Tailor snaps her fingers, recognition flashing in her eyes. "That's right. I knew we were missing something. Did we mention Gushiken's position in the rebellion to you?"

"Oh, no, I don't think we did," Red smirks. Cloud lifts from her bow to tilt her head.

"Ah," Farrow chuckles. "Your royal highness, this is General Gushiken, commander-in-chief of the Cerinthe Rebellion." Cloud stares at Farrow. She shifts her stare to Gushiken.

"I'm not treating you like I treat my parents," she responds. Gushiken laughs.

"You almost stabbed one of them yesterday," he retorts.

"You're right, low bar," Cloud agrees. "Well then. I suppose I should apologize for any time I interrupted you or anything."

"I'll let it slide, you didn't know," he jokes.

"Well," Cloud addresses the room, "It was nice to meet you all, though I wish it was under different circumstances." She nods to Wood. "Thanks for not killing me."

"You're welcome," he deadpans. Cloud almost smiles. A green ring centers around her torso, and a second later, she's gone from the foyer.

✦✦✦

A similar floating, green circle warns of her arrival before she pops into a warm guest room that’s always empty. That’s usually empty. After waking up to a letter on her desk, Reale had been camping out in or around the room all morning despite Cloud mentioning that she’d probably be arriving closer to noon. Her face turns to Cloud at the slight sound of her teleportation. “Hey,” Cloud greets quietly, hands fiddling with the hilts of her blades. Reale snaps the book she’d been holding shut and stands from her chair in the corner, before a large window displaying the city. The blue light frames Reale; she seems to glow at the edges. Cloud swallows. “I—” she hesitates, bringing her hands together before her to fumble with the rose. Perhaps fidgeting with weaponry isn’t the best choice. “I’m so sorry for this,” she begins. Cloud’s sure she apologized in the letter already, but honestly, she wrote and sent that in the middle of the night, so she isn’t entirely sure what it contained. “I didn’t want the first letter I sent you to be, well, that, but, I mean. I couldn’t really think of anyone else? Leo’s parents would rat me out and-” her inhale shutters. “It’s not like I could stay at the castle.” This is so awkward. They are so not close enough for this, for Cloud to burden her. Reale makes her way across the room as if approaching an unpredictable, frightened animal. To tell the truth, that’s a fair description. Cloud has no idea what she’s feeling right now, but something’s starting to clog the back of her throat now that she’s around a familiar, kind face again.

“Cloud, what in the world happened over there?” Reale asks. “You said something happened, but…” Cloud, feeling the far too familiar prickling at the corners of her eyes, brings a hand to her forehead to cover her face.

“You remember Tulip?” Cloud asks, whispering in order to clumsily hold back the tears, like water in her hands. It’s a shoddy, temporary, and ultimately doomed to fail method.

“Of course, I do,” Reale answers, a soothing smile in her voice, though Cloud can’t see it. “We never talked much, but she’s sort of been beside you since you were, what, twelve?” Cloud’s insides feel wrung out. 

“Uh, huh,” she nods, bringing her other hand to aid its counterpart in hiding her face, the rose wedged between her fingers. Her head hangs low. Cloud chokes out, “she’s dead.”