Zu took the paper and threw it away. Another failed sketch. He moved back to his bed and groaned in frustration. It has been almost a week since his "little adventure" outside the castle, and he was still grounded. He knew Neva and the rest didn't mean any harm to him. well, aside from that Ayalinn lady. But regardless, Auraiiya didn't seem to be convinced. After all, he did almost die. He always heard from Hilliya and Kaybol why its unsafe for uncontracted Vastoaris to roam in Nyxian territory. Until his recent encounter with that giant monster in the forest though, he never actually paid much attention to that definition.

Now it was a lot clearer.

After all - if Neva didn't jump in, he would've probably been eaten alive and no one would know.

Zu turned over in his bed – the memory of that squirrel monster gave him headaches. it was almost as if his head actively tried to forget it.

He almost managed to get a small nap, when he heard a hesitant knock on his door.

"Zu-Nii?", Kaybol said as he opened the door slightly and peeked through, "Hilliya made dinner."

Zu sighed quietly and rolled around in his bed, trying to find his beanie he tossed over just a few minutes ago. He then followed Kaybol out the door and down to the dining room.

#

After everyone finished eating, Zutenko and Auraiiya-Sama left almost immediately. Hilliya in turn, went to wash the dishes. It never bothered her how she took most chores on herself. After all, Magyo ingrained into the castle did a lot more. Cooking and dishes are nothing compared to what she did before Auraiiya-Sama-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kaybol entered the small kitchen, carefully carrying a pair of cups filled with hot cocoa. He smiled shily, as he offered Hilliya one of the cups. Hilliya nodded in gratitude and took the cup from him.

"Thanks." She said with a little smile.

The pair sat together for a while, just slowly sipping their drinks. Hilliya noticed Kaybol-Chan's habit as he drank, to hold his cup as if it was a glass of beer. Perhaps it was a habit from a past life. He had too many, some had to carry over.

Eventually, Kaybol broke the silence:

"So… What did the notorious 'Soft Assassin' had to do in Vastoaria?" the young boy asked, his voice containing a careful worry.

Hilliya grimaced at his remark, "I'll never get used to this title..." she muttered. Today she made a food form Vastoaria, one she discovered recently. They called it "Pie-Zah", or something like that. 

Zutenko-Chan seemed very nostalgic of that food. It was odd, due to the fact it was a pretty new dish.

"Well," her little brother’s playful smirk drew her attention back, "you should've thought of that BEFORE making a habit of stealing every single plush and pillow from the residents of your targets, dear sister~"

Hilliya sighed, as she remembered of the question she was avoiding. "Nothing very different, just another Vastoari warlord, abusing his power.” She took another sip. “He's eliminated, obviously. No big issues." She finished with a shrug.

Kaybol nodded, as his shoulders dropped in relief. However, as he tries to keep a calm demeanor, his sips became louder gulps from his hot cocoa.

Hilliya collected herself, and put a hand on Kaybol's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I should've known it'd trigger memories.."

Kaybol waved his hand in response and shook his head. "It's okay," he said, his voice shaking a little. "The Feeden factories are long gone. Only… Only the nightmares left."

Hilliya looked at him, before giving her brother a reassuring smile. "Hey, you know what they say about immortality – plenty of time to recover."

Kaybol looked at her. his contract marks glowed a little - responding to his rising emotions.

"Can.. Can an Achlys Jewel like me... even recover from this?" he asked, his voice shaking even more.

Hilliya immediately put her cup away, and knelt down to hug him.

“you're not just an Achlys Jewel," she said, trying to calm him down and reassure him at the same time, "you're Auraiiya-Sama's Achlys Jewel. You have the Kiadra of the Abyssal Element to tear Paiviaz apart for you."

"And you're mine as well." She added with a grin, as she stood back up to take her cup again. "I'll go into a bloodbath for my cute, favorite brother~”

Kaybol stared at the girl, as Hilliya realized what she said, even indirectly.

"I- I didn't mean-" she tried to apologize, blushing as she stammered.

Kaybol sighed. "I know that," He said, "but despite not really meaning it… Zu-Nii does feel it."

Hilliya bit her lip, as the unpleasant memories. The reasons for Zutenko to hate her, resurfacing in her mind.

She glanced back at Kaybol. "Aside from his little speech,,, when he came back… He doesn't talk much. In fact,,," she paused, "This dinner it was the most I've heard from him since. The most passionate too." She muttered to herself, "he doesn't talk at all about where he was, or what happened to him…”

Kaybol sipped from his now tepid cocoa. "To you, I suppose…" he murmured under his breath. He glanced back at Hilliya, with a guilty expression on his face.

Hilliya tried to stay calm, but the bitterness slipped into her voice. "Of course…" she mouthed, trying to not let her frustration out.

"After all, you always were on his side, ever since he had arrived.”

"Hilliya, come on. give him a break. He's a Vastoari living under the same roof as the Kiadra of the Abyssal Element, ruling over an entire continent. And she just happened to feel merciful enough the day she found him to take him in.”

"He makes it seems like he would prefer me to not be his sister... Ever since I tried- “

"No." Kaybol interrupted her with a stern voice. He took a breath. "Listen, I… You're wrong." The 8-year-old-looking boy tried.

"You're my older sister, and you're his too. The incident-" he paused, trying to phrase it correctly, "He feels guilty enough as it is – he's convinced it's a problem with him. Zu-Nii is just… not good with moving on.”

Hilliya pondered it for a few moments, and nodded. She was not satisfied in the slightest, but could not leave her little brother like this.

"Come on," she said, finally finishing her cup. "We should probably prepare for bed."

Kaybol nodded, before emptying his cup in one gulp.

#

Auraiiya stood by the door. She didn’t want to pressure her cub, but it couldn’t wait any longer. It has been five days. Zutenko’s silence since he had returned has been too uncharacteristic. She took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

There was a moment of silence, before his voice answered from the other side.

“Come in.” the voice of Zutenko sounded hesitant.

Makes sense. Auraiiya thought to herself, I caught him by surprise.

She opened the door to see Zutenko-Chan in his pajamas. He seems to be ready to sleep.

part of Auraiiya wanted to delay it, to let him sleep. It was a good excuse. However, she was not known as the Kiadra of the patient element.

"Can we talk?" she asked. She tried to speak calmly, but her decisiveness was clear. After a moment, Zutenko nodded silently. Auraiiya stepped in, before taking his chair and moving it closer to face the boy.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Auraiiya finally spoke calmly. "You scared me then, when you vanished."

There is no point in dancing around this subject anymore.

Zutenko winced in response to the accusation. "I know. I… I apologize." 

"Maybe so... But you don't seem to regret it much – am I wrong?"

Zutenko thought for a moment before shaking his head. Auraiiya sighed.

"Zutenko-Chan, I am worried about you." She started slowly. "I understand if you wondered outside the palace once - Nyx knows why - but that is not the problem."

“What is it then?” Zutenko asked. Then, he froze. 

Auraiiya studied his face, as he seemed to consider something.

"Do you promise to not get mad, if I tell you what happened?" he asked eventually.

Auraiiya blinked in surprise. She didn’t expect him to be straightforward as well.

Perhaps I am too used for the mind games of the other Kiadrio.

She then considered it.

Might as well be honest too.

"Not any more than what I already am." She replied.

"It was a girl…” Zutenko started, trying to carefully phrase his story. “She found her way into the garden. She was friendly, and she felt trustworthy."

Auraiiya's eyes narrowed. "And she led you out?"

Zutenko gulped, but nodded.

"Her,,, intentions - to show me things from outside the castle… It felt genuine."

Auraiiya sighed again, pinching her nose bridge.

"So - a girl invaded our home, and persuaded you to leave, but wished you no harm?" she summarized.

Zutenko simply nodded in response, despite his blush from her blunt phrasing.

"I do trust Neva. She saved my life, after all."

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?”

Auraiiya’s expression was stern. My cub was in danger. Actual life-threatening danger, and I am only now hearing about it.

Zutenko seemed to try to evade her gaze. His nervousness was clear, but Auraiiya couldn’t let him keep hiding such a thing from her.

"When I was… Outside, I got lost on my way back. I stumbled upon a monster that tried to eat me, and Neva saved me. That's all.”

Auraiiya gritted her teeth. She never imagined something like that happening. Zutenko never showed any signs before that he wishes to see outside the castle. Eventually, she spoke again. "You know I can't let you go outside like that again, right?"

"Yeah” Zutenko lowered his head, ashamed. “I know."

Auraiiya sighed, and tried to soften her voice to calm the boy.

"Well, I can suppose that is not all that happen, did it?”

Zutenko’s head perked up, and Auraiiya continued:

“After all, you were outside for several hours. More must’ve happened, am I correct?”

"Well, she had a pair of friends with her.” Zutenko started.  “a big beast guy, and a beast-elf woman. Her name was… 'Ayalinn', I think.”

Auraiiya tilted her head. The way he spoke of this “Ayalinn” seemed quite resentful. He had only heard him refer to anyone like this once – Hilliya. Granted, it was shortly after the incident, but such venom was unlike the shy boy.

“She was less nice,” Zutenko continued. called me 'fresh meat' and stuff, but the others said she just speak like that."

Auraiiya frowned. she studied the boy, seeing his clenched fists.

"Why then," she wondered aloud, "would you want so badly to meet them again?”

Zutenko returned her a grumpy glare "Because, Neva do care, and… I wanna have friends."

He pulled out a piece of folded parchment from under his pillow.

"She wrote their location in this.” He said simply. “I want to,, at least meet her again. I want to be friends with her."

Auraiiya did not respond. She knew her cubs well enough to see when they got something to say.

"Hilliya have lots of allies," Zutenko said, playing with the folded parchment with his fingers. "I know it's not the same as friends, but still. Kaybol too. He still goes to visit them every once in a while."

He shook his head. “You're here only part of the time as well, too busy with these Kiadra stuff…" He paused to inhale, "I have the thing closest to a life only inside of here. I don't want to leave you, I just…" He bit his lip, seemingly unsure of how to express it.

"I just wanna have more stuff in my life than just sitting in the corner and sketching."

Auraiiya looked at her cub. The brown eyes of the boy she found in the snow 8 years ago, begging.

"Aw, sweetheart…" Auraiiya mouthed before enveloping him in a big embrace.

"I understand now. I truly do.”  She whispered into the boy's ear as he was confined in her tight hug, "I never… I wanted you to feel save here, not imprisoned." She added, stroking his hair. The boy was slowly shaking between her arms, his emotions takin over.

"Don't hurt them, please…" Zutenko whispered back, his voice nervous. "Neva just wanted to help…"

"Of course, darling." Auraiiya replied softly, as she felt his body gradually relaxing. “We’ll figure this out together.”

His breath became slow and steady. He fell asleep in the Nyxian's embrace.

Auraiiya laid him down carefully on his bed, before turning off the lighting. As she left the room, she paused at the entrance. In her hands, was the folded parchment she took from the boy as she hugged him. In a moment of curiosity, she opened it to reveal its content. 

Inside it was a word written in Vastoan:

"Zdiosllin"

It was from the Nyxian language, meaning "The Towering Tree".

Alongside it, there was a short array of runes to mark the coordinates.

For a brief second, Auraiiya considered finding this place and paying them a visit. She felt obligated to find out who this "Ayalinn" is. Then, she shook her head. A promise is a promise, and she promised Zutenko they'll solve it together.

With a well-aimed flick of her finger, the now folded again parchment flew inside the room, landing on Zutenko's desk. Auraiiya looked at the sleeping boy one last time before carefully closing the door behind her.