Kaybol sat down by the table, as Hilliya finished putting the last plates on. They smiled as their mistress arrived and greeted them just like every morning.

“Oh, I see Zutenko is yet to wake up.” Auraiiya said. Her voice was neutral, masking either worry - or displeasure.

Hilliya and Kaybol exchanged glances. Zu-Nii was still in his room, of course. After the events of yesterday, their brother went immediately to his room. He didn’t leave, and Auraiiya had banned them from talking to him until breakfast.

Kaybol stood up slowly.

“I’ll go to call him.” He said with a pretend smile, to conceal his own worry.

Auraiiya looked thoughtful for a brief second before nodding.

“Very well,” she began, just as Zu entered the dining room himself.

He looked disheveled, even more than usual. The beanie was very close to falling from his head, and the mask was hanging from his back. His hand was holding a book about history, which he put on the table beside him as he sat down to eat.

“Good morning, Zutenko-Chan~” Auraiiya greeted the boy warmly, as he rubbed his eyes between bites of bread. It took him a moment to realize he was spoken to, and another to swallow another piece.

“G- Good morning, Auraiiya-Sama.” He stammered.

The Nyxian smiled warmly, and put her hand on the boy’s shoulder as she continued:

“Have you slept well, dear?”

“Um…well…” the boy mumbled.

“You don’t seem very well, Zu-Chan.” She said sincerely. “Are you alright?”

Zu glared at Hilliya, before speaking.

“I'm fine.” He grumbled.

As if to prove he was totally okay, he shoved a bigger chunk of bread into his mouth and swallowed. Auraiiya eyed his suspiciously, and so did Kaybol. The boy couldn’t help but wonder why the cold reaction towards Hilliya. Usually, Kaybol would’ve written it off as morning-grumpy Zu. However, something else came to mind reluctantly.

 Oh, Nyx… He thought to himself, If he now remembers every single power burst, that includes…

Of course it did. That was the catalyst for every subsequent burst. It made perfect sense; If he did remember her attempt back then, he would feel it like whiplash. The fact that their sibling bond felt fairly new, also meant it was easier to break – especially by something like it.

Kaybol wanted to interject, explain to Zu how this was an act of foolishness. However, he couldn’t. not when this will reveal to their mistress either Bukon’s knowledge of Zu, or they interacted with him after he returned. One option was a lie of course, but both were against Auraiiya’s orders.

The three watched silently as Zu finished eating, and stood up to leave. Before he could however, Auraiiya put firm hand on his shoulder.

“Zutenko;” She said in a voice that left no option for refusal; “Join me for in the Spring Garden for a bit, will you?”

Zu’s expression would’ve made Kaybol laugh, if it wasn’t for the situation. That face of trying to hold back a sigh and almost choking on it, would’ve been most entertaining on any other day.

After watching the two leave and being sure to be out of ears’ reach, Hilliya turned to face her brother.

“Do you think he hates me?” she asked, her concern restrained by her acting ability.

Kaybol slumped in his chair.

“I'm not sure.” He admitted, crossing his arms. “I thought he was over it, by however little memory he got from that power burst. Now that he remembers, well, everything - we can’t really know.”

Hilliya glared at her brother, stirring her hot cocoa while listening.

“… But?” She prompted, but Kaybol shook his head; he really didn’t want to make this conversation. However, it was necessary.

“… But this is the least of our problems.” He eventually said. “Zu-Nii regaining these memories during a Burst means more of his Magyo drained, and we got another problem; I heard Ta'ala when he brought Zu-Nii home. He said his Magyo got unlocked.”

He was interrupted by Hilliya cursing. Her face blushed slightly as she spoke:

“I… knew that.. I caught Zu using his circle.” She mumbled to her cup, avoiding eye contact with her little brother. “He tried to sneak outside his room one night, but… I'm sorry.”

“So you knew he could fade at any moment, but decided not to tell me?” Kaybol glared at the Soft Assassin.

“He begged me to keep it a secret..” the assassin muttered, her face red with shame. She twiddled her thumbs with embarrassment as she continued:

 “When you told me he could fade and needs an anchor of Magyo- I just… I didn’t connect the dots until now.”

Kaybol began to grumble, before stopping himself and shaking his head quickly.

“It doesn’t matter now.” He rubbed his eyes, troubled. “Point is – we can’t let him use his Magyo to at least slow down the process, and find more about how anchors work.”

Hilliya stopped fiddling her thumbs, and looked over at the book Zu left at the table.

“As for the first problem,” she said, smiling carefully. “We should distract him. And lucky us, I think I got a few ideas~”

#

Auraiiya entered the spring garden her cub following behind. Zutenko looked so nervous and exhausted, that the Kiadra had to fight the urge to wrap him in a blanket and send him back to sleep again. However, delays will only make it worse.

She sat down under a tree, and motioned for the boy to sit beside her. The Kiadra smiled gently, as Zutenko joined her on the grass.

“Usually, you are not so reluctant to be here.” She began. “I've grown fond of it; watching you sitting here, making illustrations~”

The boy didn’t respond for a few moments, before shrugging.

“Didn’t have time to draw lately..” He muttered. “Been busy.”

“By studying Magyo, yes.” The Nyxian said, watching Zutenko’s expression change. “Alas, let us leave it aside a moment. For now, how about you show me what you did draw? Your equipment is still on you, is it not?” She continued, soothing her voice to calm him.

The boy sighed, as he pulled out his pencil and a handful of folded papers from the pouch on his belt’s side.

He spread them out around them, and scanned with his eyes the many drawings. There were many sketches of his descriptions of the FirstWorld, of squared glass buildings and carriages with no beasts to pull them. There were his attempts at landscapes, too. However, the Kiadra knew he was not as good with them.

Then, something caught Auraiiya's eye.
It was a small piece of paper, with messy scribbles of armors and bunnies. On the corners, was an array of runes.

“Where did you see these runes, dear?” The Kiadra reached to pick that piece, but Zutenko quickly took it, and shoved it back to his pouch.

“It’s… It’s nothing.” He stammered, glowing red with embarrassment. He then reached for another paper, one depicting a weapon and tried to pick it up. This time, Auraiiya was quicker and picked it for herself.

“I cannot understand why you would hide this from me, dear~” she said teasingly.
she scanned the illustration; a sword, or is it a spear? It was hard to tell. The Kiadra looked at the notes saying “transformable weapon” and “rifle mode”, scribbled alongside the drawing.
She glanced back at Zutenko, who was blushing with a frown.

“it’s nothing special.” The boy mumbled, still flustered. He tried to reach to the paper in her hand, but the Nyxian held it further away.

“I suppose dear, that since its ‘nothing special’,” Auraiiya continued with a smile, her eyes gleaming. “you would not mind if I kept that~”
Zutenko looked at her with his adorably horrified face, as she vanished the paper with a twirl of her fingers.

The boy’s shoulder drooped, as he fell to the Kiadra’s lap.
“It’s not fair..” he pouted, amusing her even more. “That’s not even funny!”

At that, Auraiiya grew serious. She allowed him to sit back up, before he spoke again:

“I suppose we had our fun then. Now,” She continued, crossing her arms. “show me your circle.”

Zutenko gulped nervously, before responding.

“Ta'ala said I shouldn’t use Magyo for now.”

Auraiiya raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? And did he elaborate on the reason?” she asked, her voice hiding any tension she might’ve felt.
The boy’s shoulders slumped as he fiddled his thumbs nervously.
So he either didn’t tell him, Thought Auraiiya to herself, or he did – yet he feels that he cannot trust me.

“He just said my power bursts are making it dangerous.” Her cub said eventually.

Auraiiya sighed, her hand passing though her hair. She wanted to reassure him, to tell him that his soul will be perfectly fine. To promise him he will not be harmed – but he already has been harmed before. She has been too reckless lately – but now she had to be sure before any further action.

Then, the Kiadra regained her composure. She smiled calmly at her cub, making sure he’d feel only warmth from her.
“Do not worry, my little cub.” She said, “I only wish to see your circle. I will not put you in danger.”

Zutenko sighed, surrendering to his mistress’s request. He opened his hand, and closed his eyes in concentration. When he opened them, they were no longer brown. Instead, the glowed silver.
Auraiiya fought the urge to subdue his Magyo, too used for these eyes from a situation that were uncontrolled.

In his hand, a small silver circle was ignited into existence. Auraiiya gazed upon it, then back onto her cub’s eyes.

How very… Odd. Auraiiya thought in her head, in slight bitterness. That is certainly one more anomaly to solve.

“How peculiar~” she said aloud instead, cupping Zutenko’s cheek in her hand.

The boy blinked in surprise, allowing his Magyo to dull down. His circle faded, as his eyes returned to their sweet brown hue.

“… Peculiar?” he mumbled hesitantly. “If I may ask, how so?”

The Kiadra smiled back in encouragement. She might as well give him at least a little peace of mind.

“There is a Vastoari expression, I believe,” She began, “saying ‘the eyes are a pathway to the soul’. And despite meaning something else entirely – they are not exactly wrong.”

“They… aren’t?”

“Yes. For you see, the Magyo within us affect our body, like a flame glowing within a cave.” She stroked his hand gently as she spoke, moving the beanie on his head. “This is what eye color is. And for the same reason…”

“Circles and Magyo should be in a color matching the eyes.” Zutenko finished, reaching the answer.

“Indeed.” Auraiiya affirmed.

The boy, however, still seemed thoughtful. “But my eyes aren’t silver, or grey.”

The Kiadra Kagya nodded at that.

“Indeed so. That is why I find it-”

“… Odd…”

Auraiiya froze, looking at her cub. He was deep in thought, unaware of what he had just said. She mustered up a smile, not giving away her sudden concern.

“You could say that, yes.” She said flatly.
Fortunately, the boy did not seem to notice her change in tone. Or was it “unfortunately”? the cub rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

“Maybe I should look that up…” he murmured, before remembering he was with his mistress.

“Auraiiya-Sama,” He began, lowering his head in respect. “may I return back inside? I wish to do… Things.”

Auraiiya nodded.

“Be mindful, Zutenko-Chan.” She said. “As Ta'ala recommended, avoid using your Magyo for now.”

She sighed as she watched the boy gathering his papers and hurrying inside.

She could not tell the little fragment the truth. He was unstable enough, with his memories now intact. She would have to plan her steps more carefully.

#

Hilliya made her way through the corridor. In truth, she was terrified still. From the cold shoulder she got from Zu, and from her plan. She carried it in her arms, a heavy, leather-covered book, and a pair of parchments, filled with notes she wrote all afternoon.

She arrived at Zu’s room, and knocked carefully on the door.
In turn, the Soft Assassin heard a muffled mumble from inside. It sounded close enough to “come in”, so she decided to enter.

Inside, she found Zu. He was by his desk, reading from three history books, failing to multitask.

“Zu?” she asked carefully, making sure to hide any bits of negativity from her voice.

Her brother raised his head, and met her eyes with a frown.
“Hilliya-San?” he asked, almost coldly so. “What is it?”
The fact that her little brother regressed into using an honorific with her, was painful. She was his sister, not a stranger.

“You don’t have to use formalities with your sister, Zu.” She said, holding back her urge to tear up.

The boy studied her expression. He couldn’t tell how much she held back. He wasn’t as skilled as Kaybol or Auraiiya-Sama, so Hilliya knew it for a fact.

“I'm sorry, Hilliya-San.” He said, his voice choking on itself a little. “Yesterday was… horrible.”

He lowered his eyes, rubbing them furiously.

“I mean, first I'm being sent to that elf that wanted to cook me, then she gets all obsessed again, then I suddenly discover I had superpowers I made myself forget for Nyx knows how long, THEN almost burning myself to death, and now NOTHING MAKES SENSE!” he ended with a shout, before freezing. His book in his hand, about to throw it on the wall. He took a deep breath, before looking at Hilliya. She glared back at him. She was not mad at him, and she tried to hide the pity. She instead, was challenging him. Demanding him to not carry this pain alone.

“I’m sorry.” He continued to rub his eyes. “I … I don’t know what’s wrong with me today…”

Hilliya nodded. Kaybol would’ve related more than her, but she too knew frustration.

“I get that, little brother. It’s alright.” She said gently, taking a step forward.

The boy glared at her for only a second, before turning away.

“No, it’s really not.” He mumbled. “A CrossWorlder, an absolutely useless CrossWorlder. Can’t use my own Magyo, and don’t even know why.”

“It’s not your fault you're a fragment.” Hilliya whispered, and immediately regretted it. Zu whirled around to look at her.

“Ayalinn-San called me a ‘soul fragment’. What is it?” He huffed, a desperate gleam in his eyes. “She refused to explain anything.”

Hilliya took a deep breath. Speaking what she knew might hurt him more, but lying or evading now will hurt him just as much. After a moment, she decided to give him only a bit.

“I have… A speculation.” She said with a sigh. “For some reason, your soul is damaged. I believe someone tore most of it away. That why is harmed your memories.”

Zu’s eyes widened. Hilliya quickly put her book down and grabbed his shoulders, continuing to speak.

“Zu-Chan;” she said urgently, begging. “It’s still a theory, and me and Kaybol are trying to find a solution. We will find it. So please, let us handle this for now. Alright?”

Zu looked at her, then nodded slowly.
“Alright.” He whispered, before standing up and looking at the things Hilliya put on his desk.

“What is that?” he asked, curiosity sneaking back into his voice.

Hilliya smiled, relieved to change the subject:

“A book about runes.” She said with a grin. “I promised I’ll help, remember?”

Zu looked tired, but he smiled.

“Thank you, Hilliya.” He said, opening the book.