At the close of the dawn, Dia woke up with a gasp. She felt a heat rise up her back, a feeling that had been frequent in the last few months and made her head hurt. She knew that Noite would be worried if he noticed, and also that she wouldn't be able to hide it for long.

Sneakingly getting up, she moved a little away from her brother and went to sit on an area on the side of the road where the grass was soft. Observing the sky that was at its darkest hour, she began to hum a song.

Wish for the sky, dream of stars

Long for the sea, heal whales scars

Cry for land, vast, firm and strong

Crave life, death, a light song

Remembering Yrina's voice singing that song, Dia flinched. It was the lullaby the witch sang to her and her brother when they were little, many years ago.

✰★✰★✰

Before leaving the continent of Fearaniar, Yrina was wandering through a tundra on a cloudy afternoon when she found two children sheltering under a pile of rocks that formed a small cave. There they sat, holding hands and apparently sleeping. Despite the appearance of humans between six and seven years old, she felt that they were not ordinary children, mainly due to the fact that even after they woke up they did not express any emotion, not even when she took them to her cabin and tried to feed them.

— Do you know how to speak? — She stared at the two, who just watched her, while the plates of soup cooled on the table in front of them. — My name is Yrienna, but you can call me Yrina. Do you have names?

No response, so she just sighed and shrugged.

— Alright then, I can give you one. I can even name trees! I did this a lot where I lived. Did you know that apple trees like to be called by long names? Pine trees, on the other hand, preferred compound names.

Yrina was what they called on that continent a Deva, a non-human entity with characteristics that were considered divine. Some of them were treated as gods, others as spirits, but all of them naturally had the role of caring for and watching over a place or people. It wasn't a set job, the devas had simply been doing it since the beginning of time, but Yrienna, as she was called before, wasn't satisfied with watching over the great forest where she was born. Even though she shared her post with Thariaknar, another deva born in the same place who had already been worshiped as a goddess centuries before, Yrina felt overwhelmed and bored. She then gave up her position and went out into the world, discovering new places, people and feelings.

— The forest was beautiful at this time of year... Even today is the autumn equinox. It's a special date. — Yrina leaned over the table, looking at the children. — Do you know what an equinox is?

The twins' eyes stared at her, without conveying the slightest emotion. It was almost as if they were just empty shells.

— It means that day and night are equal. — she smiled.

✰★✰★✰

The end of the morning was also the coldest time, and Dia felt the warm of her brother's hug on her back.

— I almost forgot about that song. — Noite rested his chin on her head.

— Not me, I never forget. — Dia wanted to comment that she thought it was strange that she didn't remember the image of Yrina singing, but he remembers her voice singing that song for them.

— Let's get going. I think we can get to Jhotar in a few hours if we walk.

The cold night breeze caressed their hair as they prepared to head towards the imposing mountain silhouette a few kilometers away.

✰★✰★✰

— Stop moving so much, aunt!

Daena scolded Katarina, trying to fix the woman's uneven haircut. The paladin watched in the mirror as her shoulder-length burnt ends fell to the floor as her niece cut the golden strands. The Unpronounceable had done a lot of damage, and if it weren't for the circumstances she would probably use that as a reason to get in trouble with him too. But ever since she had woken up from the dream with Tharia, Katarina felt a huge hole in her core that had swallowed much of her hatred, and what was left was just a residual staleness that could be summed up as "I don't like him".

— If you didn't pull my hair so much, I wouldn't need to move!

— Do you need help? — Darka, who was watching from afar, raised his hand. — I know how to cut hair.

— No! — Daena and Katarina responded together, in an irritated tone. Shrugging, Darka turned away.

— I think you've already shown your skill by cutting hair, Darka. — Miko pointed out. — They are just trying to fix what you did.

— Whose side are you on, Miko??

The workshop had a lively atmosphere, Amara noticed as he brought out some bread and a bottle of juice for everyone's breakfast. He sat at the table and watched the scene without knowing exactly what he was feeling, but he definitely had a hint of anxiety.

Before transmigrating to that world, Amara died in a hospital bed, alone, frustrated, with a computer on his lap, wanting to leave a trace in the world that he existed. When he woke up in the body of a mechanic girl NPC he had programmed, the relief of a second chance was negligible compared to the feeling of not belonging there. Now, he was so connected to that reality and those people there that he couldn't help but feel responsible for them.

— What will we do now? — Daena asked, finishing cleaning the hair from Katarina's shoulders. — I'm angry and I need to break something.

— You guys go home. I need to solve the problem that is coming. — Darka glanced at Amara, who seemed distracted.

— I don't have a home! — Miko raised her hand with some excitement. — Can I go too?

— No, this time it's going to be a dangerous business and I don't want you to get hurt.

Miko pouted and crossed their arms, turning their back to him. From previous experience, Darka knew that this pose meant at least half an hour of being piously ignored by Miko. He found the behavior funny mainly because it was something clearly acquired from the time they spent with Daena.

— You don't boss me, of course I'm going with you. — Daena said, going to get a broom.

— He doesn't boss you, but I do. — Katarina scolded, getting up. — Your father must be worried.

— But what did you say you were going to do, Darka? — Daena ignored her aunt, who huffed in anger.

— I'll tie you to a rock and send you to Talphen. Your father must be super worried. — He placed his hands on his hips, trying to appear steady. — I don't want problems with Estephan again.

— What? You wouldn't dare!

Daena crossed her arms and joined Miko in the tantrum. Darka noticed that Katarina looked at him with a strange expression, which he decided to understand as a thank you. Sighing, he relaxed a little.

— Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I don't want you guys dealing with this.

— What exactly are you going to do, Unpronounceable? — Katarina looked at Darka.

— I'm going to Jhotar mountain.

— ... And?

— And what?

— What are you going to do there?

— Well... I will prevent the destruction of the world.

— How? — The paladin was impassive.

Taking a deep breath, Darka closed his eyes. He was going to contradict something he said the entire adventure and he didn't know if the reaction would be very good.

— I'm going to wake Yrina.

The silence that followed made him nervous. Katarina looked down, thoughtful. A few long seconds passed before she spoke.

— You said you didn't want to.

— Yes, I said. But now I need it. — Darka unconsciously took a defensive stance. — I know I said this yesterday and today I'm already contradicting myself, but now I know what will happen if I don't do anything. If you're worried that I'm going to do something bad, then come with me.

Katarina's feelings were a mess, and the lack of apparent emotion at that moment was due to the difficulty she had in processing what she felt. Last night, after her identity flare-up, she spent a lot of time reflecting on what Darka had said in regards to who she was. Her conclusion was that with or without Tharia, Katarina was still a paladin, and loved her duty to protect people.

— I'll go. But I want you to explain better what exactly you are trying to prevent. If you and your mother aren't the problem, what is?

Amara had more or less explained this to Darka after the paladin went to rest earlier, and they had both agreed to keep quiet about being transmigrated and anything related to that.

— Okay, so... There are some twins who also work with magic, and they are both trying to make me known and feared throughout the world as a great lord or something. — Darka gestured a lot while he spoke, which made Amara giggle and Katarina get slightly irritated. — It turns out that for this they are destroying things and trying to free Yrina to use her power and the place where she is sealed to devastate everything, so I have to get there first, wake her up before them and prevent them from accessing the source of magic which is under the mountain.

— That wasn't very convincing.

— It wasn't convincing at all. — Amara added, still sitting at the table eating bread.

— But it's true! — Miko interrupted. — I saw them and Miss Daena saw them too!

Daena nodded yes, still in a tantrum pose. Amara stood up, brushing crumbs off his pants.

— But look, to be honest, Miss Aurea, if our Unpronounceable friend here was really someone so bad, do you think he would be bothering to even explain what he's going to do? I wouldn't be so considerate if my goal was to destroy the world.

Katarina observed Amara's friendly expression, noticing how the young man seemed too calm about all that. Something about this calm made her feel a strange trust in that boy, as if he knew everything was going to be okay.

— It makes sense. So I'll tag along, to make sure I'm the first to get the drop on you if you're lying. I may no longer be blessed by Tharia, but I am a warrior who swore to defend people. There is no blessing that can replace this.

— Wow, I appreciate the trust. In fact, to be honest, you're a really nice person when you're not trying to cut me in half.

Katarina was taken aback by the strange compliment, and felt a trace of shame that she hadn't felt in a long time.

— I dismiss your words! — She turned her back to everyone.

— Then let's eat and leave. — Amara handed Miko some bread and butter. — Yrina is waiting for us.