"I-I-I..." I stammered with trembling knees. 

"Hmm?" Thorn tilted his head with an amused smirk. The shadows danced in his hand as if awaiting my next action. "Go on."

I want to wipe that twisted look off his face right now!

I swallowed my fears and threw a blast of water at him. "I'm going to stay with Regret no matter what!"

Instead of dodging like I expected him to, Thorn let himself get hit with water. "So loyal," he laughed wryly. "But it seems you're choosing the hard way, huh? What a shame."

"I-If it's a 'shame', why are you smirking?" I could feel beads of sweat dripping down my forehead.

Thorn's lips curled up with a wide grin. "I didn't say it wouldn't be fun, did I?"

He immediately fired off the blast he had prepared. I quickly ducked with a narrow dodge, but the shadow had left a crack in the wall.

"Ooh, nice reflexes! Very fast!" Thorn praised with a clap. "But can you keep up, I wonder?" He was going for another shot.

"Luna, hold on!" Blaze threw her flames at Thorn, but they were parried by Phenix's blade.

"I'm your opponent, Blaze!" Phenix exclaimed.

"Ggh...!" Blaze looked like she was in pain having to face her.

"Blaz- Ack!?" Before I could run to her, I was shot into the wall by Thorn's shadow blast.

Thorn shook his head in disapproval. "Tsk, tsk. You never learn, do you? How many times must I tell you that you can't take your eyes off your opponent?" He walked over to me, leaning down so his eyes could meet mine. "If this were a real battle-"

"-I'd be dead, I know!" I interrupted with a huff. "How many times are you going to repeat the same thing like I'm stupid?!"

"So you do get it, and you've decided to ignore my advice? That's even worse," Thorn sighed. "I'm just worried about you, Ribbon."

I darted my eyes around to gauge the situation. Regret was fighting their battles alone. I had to do something when it was my fault things ended up like this in the first place.

"Everyo- Ack!?" 

I was yanked back by a strong pull on my arm. I slowly turned my head around, and Thorn was looking at me with a dark face.

"Eep!?" I let out a yelp. The look on Thorn's face couldn't mean anything good. He looked beyond pissed.

Thorn paid no attention to my fear. "Why are you ignoring me? Where are you going? We're in the middle of a fight, aren't we?"

"I-I have to go help them...!" I brushed his hand away. 

Thorn immediately grabbed my hand back. "No, you don't. I won't let them die if that's what you're worried about."

I tried to brush his hand off again, but his grip was tight.

I glanced over at Blaze. She seemed to be putting up a good fight against Phenix, but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. Ettie was fighting off Red and Lillia, Robin and Celine were going against my siblings... 

What should I do...?!

I had to think of something fast!

In a bit of deja vu, my arm was roughly yanked back again.

"Don't!" Thorn tugged on my arm, pulling me in his direction.

"W-What...?" I was lost. Why was he so upset? I just wanted to make sure Regret was alright!

Thorn's fingers trembled as they gripped my arm tight. There was a complicated emotion I couldn't gauge on his face- Sadness? Fear? I didn't know, but shadows were gradually growing around us.

"You were going to run over there, weren't you?" Thorn's voice was shaking, but his eyes had gone pitch dark. This was bad; he was losing control of his ability. "You were going to forget about me."

Thorn's shadows were creeping up on us by the second. "You were going to leave me..." he muttered. "Just like everyone else..."

"Luna! What's wrong?!" Blaze called over from across the room. The shadows were getting big enough for everyone to notice.

I couldn't turn away to face Blaze. The second I did, I feared the shadows would swallow everyone in this room whole. His ability wasn't stable. 

I have to lead him away...!

I nervously swallowed, and with all my strength, blasted Thorn with water. He was sent back, but dug his feet into the ground to remain steady. His shadows flickered and fizzled as he looked at me.

I quickly darted my eyes around, searching for a place to run. 

Upstairs? Downstairs?

But with such a big mansion, I couldn't figure out the layout at all. I decided to go with my gut feeling.

"C-C-Catch me if you can!" I stammered.

Thorn blinked twice. "Uh... What?" he looked utterly flabbergasted by my plan; enough so for his shadows to calm down. Even his eyes were white again.

The members of Regret and Crime both stared at me with their jaws open.

On second thought, this is way too embarrassing! I want to die!

I quickly shook my head. No matter how embarrassing it was, it seemed to be working! In a hurry, I dashed down the descending staircase.

"W-Wait, Luna Ione!?" Thorn followed after me just like I planned.

I ran as fast as I could, just enough to distract him completely from Regret. Until finally, the dark staircase had come to a stop. I paused to catch my breath. 

"Where is this...?" I was surprised by just how much larger the space was compared to the upstairs. Still, it was so empty that I couldn't help but feel more uneasy.

"Crime's training room," Thorn tapped on my shoulder. 

"Eep!?" I jumped back with a shriek. He wasn't supposed to catch up that fast!

"Caught you, Ribbon!" Thorn smiled slyly. "I know the layout of this mansion like the back of my hand. Nice try, though."

"I guess I should've expected that..." I muttered under my breath.

Thorn snorted, seeming to find my exhaustion amusing. "Well, it was an interesting plan. Though now that you have me here, what do you plan to do?" 

....What DO I plan to do?

I was banking on having more time to think while Thorn caught up to me, but he had caught up way faster than I expected. My mind was completely blank.

"U-Um..." I fidgeted restlessly with my fingers. "I'm going to, er... Stop this brawl between Crime and Regret?" 

"And how will you do that?" Thorn had a carefree smile on his face. He clearly wasn't taking me seriously.

I don't knowww...!!

I could feel the sweat on my face. Thorn's teasing was not helping!

"I... Um..." I coughed. "I actually haven't thought that far ahead yet...?" 

"I figured as much," Thorn snickered. "You really don't think before doing something, do you, Ribbon? You're pretty reckless."

I blinked stupidly. "A-Are you making fun of me?" 

"Oh, not at all! In fact, I like that about you," Thorn giggled. "I like everything about you, really."

"L-Look, you don't even know 'everything' about me. We've only met three times-" 

"Four," Thorn corrected with a smile. "Don't forget our phone call."

"....Four." I changed the number, but I didn't think it counted. Thorn eagerly nodded, anyway. "T-The point is that you barely know a thing about me! And I don't know anything about you, either! You're like..." I paused to think of the word. "A complete enigma!"

"Aww, thanks," Thorn twirled his hair with a bashful grin.

"That wasn't a compliment!?"

"It wasn't?" Thorn tilted his head with a confused look. "But isn't it more fun to take a puzzle nice and slow? Solving one too fast would be boring."

I was baffled. Why was he talking about puzzles now? 

"I-I mean, I've never really done a puzzle, so I can't answer...?"

Thorn hummed. "I didn't really have much to do after all my duties, so I played with them a lot."

"...Duties?" I echoed.

Thorn immediately covered his mouth. "Why do I always let my guard down with her?" he muttered under his breath.

I wanted to ask, but he seemed uncomfortable. 

Thorn uncovered his mouth. Now that his lips were visible, he had a blank smile on his face. "....You aren't going to ask?"

"I-I would, but I don't want to pry when you're in pain..." I fidgeted with my fingers. "That wouldn't be fair to you."

Thorn stared at me silently for a long minute. I wasn't sure if he was angry or not until he started aggressively ruffling my hair without a word.

"Whuh?!" A mess of strands covered my eyes. "W-What on earth did you do that for?!" I tried (and failed) to fix my hair back into place with my fingers. 

"Sorry about that!" Seeing I was struggling, Thorn quickly patted down my hair back into place like nothing was wrong. "I just got a bit, uh... overwhelmed?"

I blinked slowly. Now that the hair was out of my face, I could see Thorn's giddy grin. 

...Why is he looking at me like that?

I didn't think I said anything to elicit that reaction.

"O-Overwhelmed with... what, exactly?" I asked nervously.

"Looove... ♡" Thorn held his flushed cheeks with a dreamy sigh.

...Never mind, I shouldn't have asked.

I wasn't gone from them for very long, but I was worried about how Regret was holding up. I had led Thorn down here, but I didn't think I could handle much more of his lovesick mania.

Should I just leave while he's distracted?

He didn't seem like he would lose control of his ability any more, but I could never be too careful. 

"....I don't mind if you ask," Thorn said quietly. "If it's you, Ribbon... I don't mind."

I was confused by the subject change at first, but the sad smile on Thorn's face was unlike anything I'd ever seen from him before.

"Basically, my mother raised me more like a servant than her own child." Thorn was scratching under his gloves, and his voice was still quiet. For him to be that restless, it must have still bothered him a lot. "Simple as that."

I couldn't find the words to say. I expected he didn't get along with his mom, but for him to have been raised more like a servant than her child...? 

"That's... horrible..." 

"Right? If she didn't want her child to have her ability so badly, maybe she shouldn't have had one in the first place," Thorn scoffed. 

So she was an ability user, too...

"....Then, why?" I asked.

"Beats me," Thorn shrugged. "I have no idea what my parents were thinking. Should've just used protection, if you ask me."

"T-That's not what I mean!" I exclaimed. "W-Why would she treat you that way when she was an ability user herself?! Wouldn't she understand you?!"

Thorn had a blank expression on his face now. "No, because some parents don't love their children. Though, I wouldn't expect someone who was raised by a warm family to understand that."

Thorn had a point. I had no right to ask these things when our situations were too different.

"....I-I'm sorry," I lowered my head in shame.

"Don't be," Thorn petted my head. "It's thanks to your upbringing that you're so kind."

I looked up to face Thorn, but the smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. His touch sent a shiver down my spine; it wasn't comforting like Blaze's. It almost felt... envious. Despite his words, did he actually resent me for that?

What is he thinking right now...?

I couldn't understand what was going through his head. In moments like this, I wished I had Ettie's ability.

"Besides... I don't need any of that anymore," Thorn plopped his head onto my shoulder. "I don't need anything else but you..." he nuzzled closer with a murmur.

I quickly shoved Thorn away; his eyes widened with shock.

"I... I can't do that," I stammered.

"It's okay, you don't have to be afraid," Thorn grasped my hand with an empty smile. "Just stay with me, and I'll take care of everything for you-"

"I can't stay with you!" I pulled my hand away, keeping it closely behind my back so he couldn't reach it again. "I-I'm staying with Regret- with my friends!"

Thorn let out a long sigh. "I really was hoping we could talk things out without it coming to this, Ribbon, but..." he raised his hand. "Seems we have no other choice but to fight, huh?" Then, he swung it down.