The sun rose early this morning. Auraiiya did not care in the slightest. Slowly taking shape again, she woke up. The dark mist made of her raw Magyo was gradually regressing back into her body. Her eyes, golden in hue, looked upon her room. A replica of a forest, surrounding her bed were trees, and lakes trapped under a glass floor. Her bed soft with silks, glittering in the morning sun. most would expect the Kiadra of The Abyssal Element to lurk in the dark, but Auraiiya liked the warm tingle on the sun on her skin. She wished her cubs would appreciate this feeling, too. Kaybol remembered winter as freedom, as he hid in the snowing forest – an escaped Feeden. Hilliya never held any personal preferences, but the summer could never cooperate with a hearth. Auraiiya knew full well Hilliya's fondness of the fireplace.
And Zutenko – he was just not handling heat very well.

Flicking her wrist, her shape fully solidified into its commonplace form. She got off bed, feeling the soft grass under her clawed feet. Then, a wide smile spread across her face as she remembered what day it was. With another wave of her hand, her body changed again – taking back into her Vastoari appearance. She wiggled her toes in satisfaction. Perfect illusion as always.

As she took down the stairs into the lower floor, she seen Zutenko lazily exiting his room.

“Good morning, Zutenko-Chan~” she greeted him with a smile.

The boy’s eyes shut open, from his unfocused gaze. He immediately bowed to his mistress with a smile.
“Good morning, Auraiiya-Sama!” he replied, before a yawn escaped is mouth.

Auraiiya knelt down to him, putting her hand to his cheek.
“Did you not sleep well?” she asked in a worried voice. She rubbed her thumb against his dark circle, as if trying to smudge his tiredness away.

“These are always there, Auraiiya-Sama!” Zutenko said in embarrassment, his face blushing slightly.

Auraiiya chuckled in response. She enjoyed expressing her affection to her cubs, and always took any opportunity to overrule the formalities. She was their mistress, yes. However, they were her cubs – that made them valuable to her.

She let him go, the slightest of grins on her face.

Zutenko seemed still tired, but he straightened his back with a smile. The sweetness of his face warmed her heart. He may have been a soul fragment, but he was hers – contract or not.

Joining Hilliya in the side dining room, the Kiadra sat a few moments after Zutenko started eating his breakfast. Her own breakfast seemed fancy and stuffed, as usual. Roasted chicken, with an omelet and a myriad of salads and fish. She turned over to see the plates of her cubs; Zutenko’s plate was only a few pieces of bread with molten cheese, with a few cooked eggs. At the side of the plate, there was a small puddle of chocolate spread. Into that, he was dipping pieces he was ripping away from his molten cheese sandwich before eating.

He always was picky with his food. Auraiiya thought fondly, before turning to see Hilliya’s plate.
to her surprise, Hilliya’s plate was surprisingly empty; In only contained a pair of salads and an omelet, with freshly baked bread. What surprised the Kiadra even more was the way the girl was glaring at her brother.

“How are you able to eat so much?” she told the boy, who paused while dipping another piece in the chocolate. He stared at her blankly, but Auraiiya noticed he tried to hide a smile.

“You ate way more pancakes than I did!” Hilliya proclaimed, waving her fork “How come you're so hungry after only a few hours?”

To her accusation, Zutenko blushed.

“Hilliya!” he whispered furiously, which the Nyxian heard with no problem. “You said it was our secret!”

 Hilliya’s eyes widened instantly.

“Oops-!”

Auraiiya scanned the two with an amused expression.

“Am I correct to guess that last night, the two of you –” she gestured at their direction as she spoke, “– have sneaked out of your rooms, to have a feast of pancakes?”

“And a hot coca for Zu!”

“Hilliya!!”

Zu’s face was red with embarrassment, and Auraiiya couldn’t help but laugh.

If that are the nature of secrets kept from me – I am grateful it is nothing serious~

#

Kaybol was troubled. An entire week of research, and he found nothing useful.

He knew what soul fragments are, and what it meant, but not nearly enough knowledge in the royal library of the Yuuns was dedicated to restoring those fragments. In addition, he still did not actually know why Zu had most of his soul missing.

Arriving at the castle, he entered the front gate quietly. He didn’t want to make a big deal.

However, it was not to be.

“Welcome home, my dear Kaybol-Chan~” Auraiiya whispered into his ear, as he was embraced in her hug and lifted up.

Kaybol couldn’t help but grin wide, momentarily forgetting his worries.

He leaned into the hug, whispering back: “I am home, Auraiiya-Sama.”

As the Kiadra put him down, Hilliya approached him as well.

“Good to see you're still in one piece, Kay-Chan~” she teased.

Kaybol, still grinning, hugged his siter as well.

“Aw, come on, Hilliya-Nee!” he teased back, “I can handle a small trip.”

“Yuundenn-Sama sends her regards.” Kaybol added, turning to his mistress once again.

Auraiiya nodded with a smile.

“Go, my cub. You must be tired. Take some rest first. Only then, I shall sit with you.” She said, stroking his head fondly, “I am sure you have much to speak of.”

It felt like a sting, remembering what he did this entire week.

Does Auraiiya-Sama know? Does she suspect? He wondered to himself.

As Kaybol went to his room to unpack, he was accompanied by Hilliya.

Immediately after they entered, the boy closed the door and dropped his bag. He then sighed, looking at the expecting Hilliya.

“Well,” he began, sitting on his room’s carpet on the floor; “I owe you an explanation – so let’s begin with that.”

Hilliya opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded. She sat down in front of the boy. It reminded him of the time where they both were freshly immortals – recently acquired by the Kiadra. he took a deep breath, drawing strength from these memories.

“Back in my visit to the Paiviaz Vastoari town,” he spoke “the one I took Zu-Niichan with me in… he started acting strange. He became convinced he is a CrossWorlder.”

Hilliya nodded. “It will explain his memories of the FirstWorld then.”

“That is… True.” Kaybol sighed. “But… I don’t know. Something didn’t click in that. I can’t really explain. So, I look at Zu-Nii’s soul.”

At that, Hilliya's eyes were wide with shock.

“Kaybol!” she exclaimed. “You know it’s improper to use your eye like that!”

Kaybol nodded. He already been by that point, he thought about it for almost a week and a half now.

“I know, but I had to. And…” he shook his head, and took a deep breath before speaking again: “Zu-Niichan, our brother, is a soul fragment.”

Hilliya paused, looking puzzled.

“Soul… Fragment?” she asked hesitantly, “what… I mean, I know it meant a fragment from a soul, but what exactly is it, precisely?”

“It is... the opposite end of soul manipulation. Just like a soul cluster.”

Hilliya fell silent. They both encountered a soul cluster exactly once, and it was not a pretty sight. Soul Clusters were created by many souls shoved into one body, making a being immensely powerful – but full of madness. Soul fragments, however-

“Does it mean Zutenko- is Zu…” Hilliya's voice shook. “Is he…”

“He is a being possessing only a tiny amount of a soul in him.” Kaybol answered simply. He was passed the shock. And it didn’t help him back then – it wouldn’t help now.

Hilliya tried her best to collect herself. Kaybol could understand her. She was a perfect actress, sure. However, it’s not so easy once a family member is involved.

“… How did it happen?” she asked eventually. Kaybol rubbed his temples in thought:

“There is not much information in that.” He answered in a sigh. “Most don’t even bother to make a soul fragment. But there are two options, practically; he is either a golem, with a fragment of the soul implanted as a power source-”

Kaybol raised his eyes, to look at Hilliya. Her eyes seemed to scream. Declaring in rage, that there is no conceivable way her brother is a mere golem. He raised his hand to stop her before she could speak:

“– or someone took away most of his soul, leaving a fragment in the body.” He finished.

Hilliya slumped back on the carpet.

“The second one seems to track better.” She muttered. “If a soul was torn from its source, it could affect the memory..”

“Hilliya.” Kaybol spoke again. He hated to do it, but she still did not understand.
“It doesn’t matter how he is a soul fragment. What matters is – soul fragments aren’t built to last. They need a Magyo anchor, otherwise they’ll fade away.”

Hilliya breathed heavily. Yet, she seemed deep in thought.

“Is it possible Ayalinn-San knows it too?” she wondered aloud. “That would make more sense, why she tried to use a Yedulloah-based potion on Zu.”

Kaybol's eyes widened with shock.

#

“She did What?”

Zu got startled by the shout. He jumped, the book falling from his hands. A few seconds after, the door to his room slammed opened. Kaybol stood at the entrance.

The boy fumed, walking into the room without asking for permission. Zu tried to smile, despite the uncharacteristic behavior of his brother.

“Um, hi, Kaybol! How was your trip?” he tried, only to be glared with a single azure eye.

“Is it true? Did Ayalinn try to force you into a contract?”

“Ah.” Zu said, closing his book. He really wanted to get over that situation now.

“Yeah, that happened.” He sighed. “Who told you?”

Kaybol ignored his question; He pinched his nose bridge, clearly frustrated. “What in Nyx’s name did she think to herself?”

Zu rubbed his eyes. He really didn’t want to do this anymore. Having a week to think, he was not sure of how to act. He didn’t visit the Zdiosllin trio since the incident – except when he asked Ta'ala to teach him magic.

“Auraiiya-Sama said she wanted to pet me, or something like that.” He tried joking. “Never heard of asking permission, I guess.”

“it’s not funny!” the ginger boy hissed. “You have no clue what that means!”

Zu now started to get upset too. “of course I don’t! I'm practically a baby compared to you three!” He replied, crossing his arms. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have enough brain to understand I got nearly molten into mush inside a big metal magic pot!”

Kaybol glared at him. But Zu wasn’t finished:

“I know you all got big concerns and stuff, and you also got your little secrets. I get that, kind of.” Zu rubbed his eyes furiously. Seeing runes everywhere didn’t make the conversation easy. “But can we please move on from that one, single thing? That’s my problem with her, not yours.”

The boy straightened his beanie, leaning back on his bed. Kaybol lowered his head.

“I'm sorry.” He said simply.

Zu sighed. He didn’t want to make a mess.

“A few things happened while you were away.” Zu said, considering his next sentence. He wanted to tell him about the runes he now saw everywhere, about having his circle awakened. He wanted to ask for him to keep more secret. However, looking at his brother, he could see Kaybol held enough of these for now. He sat back up, holding up a book – “tale of the scarred armored”. He read that book over and over again.

“Was that man actually you?” Zu asked simply.

Kaybol paused, before nodding. “It’s an overdramatized version, written by the grandchildren of my old team. All this aside, yes.”

“They don’t talk here about the pain – or the Feeden.”

“They never knew.”

That made Zu reconsider if he wanted to follow through with this. But he had to know.

“You don’t actually hate Nyxians, do you?” he asked hesitantly.

Kaybol smiled, shaking his head.

“Nyxians are more powerful then the Vastoaris, but they are not perfect.” He said calmly. “We are lucky to live in Paiviaz. He’Ochru is far worse in that regard.”

Zu gulped and nodded. Hilliya mentioned it before – He’Ochru was the continent with the smallest population of Vastoaris, compared to the Nyxians. This is where the Vastoaris were the most superstitious, and where the local Nyxians were the most vicious.

“And,” Zu eventually asked again, tapping the book. “did you actually defeat a Demon Lord that took over your kingdom and palace?”

To his surprise, Kaybol laughed. It was a joyous laugh, that lasted for only few seconds, before being replaced by a sad smile.

“Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – no.” the boy began. “This demon wasn’t an actual Demon Lord, but a weak parasite that took over a minotaur.”

“But… you won, right?” Zu asked in confusion.

“In the duel, I did. But… Too many died under my command, just to make way.” Kaybol said, lowering his head. “And I nearly lost another friend to him.”

“I don’t recall–”

“They emitted it from this book.” Kaybol said sharply. It seemed like he too had a thing or two he didn’t want to elaborate further on.

Zu thought for a moment, but it seemed like Kaybol almost read his mind.

“I lost many allies, fighting against a parasite. By Vastoari standards, he was very powerful.” The boy explained. “However, even a relatively weak Nyxian could obliterate that… creature.”

Zu nodded again. It was much clearer. Discovering that after the fact might’ve crushed him at the time.

“Do you have any more questions?” Kaybol asked again.

“Maybe…” Zu hesitated, before smiling. “Are you interested to finish the pancakes from last night?”