“You really are Alnea. I thought that it might be you when I heard your name… How are you still alive?”

  “…It is nice to see you too, Amira.”

  “Nice?” Amira said, in a cold, almost chilling voice, finishing her words off with a light chuckle. “There is nothing nice about seeing you, Harbinger of Death.”

  “…Harbinger of Death?” Zain mumbled, shifting his gaze from the strange girl back to his Captain.

  “…Do not look at me like that,” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders to express his innocence. “That is the first time I have heard that name too.”

  “But you do know her…”

  “…She is an acquaintance from the Lotus clan,” Cecilia said, answering for Alnea.

  “Lotus clan? An enemy then?”

  “She is,” Cecilia said, stepping towards the purple robed girl. “What do you want, Purplebud?”

  “What I want is not of your concern, Serpia.”

  “It is, if you stand in our way. Now, get lost—

  “Or? Are you going to call another wave of Heterodox Wanderers to attack me?”

  “…Heterodox Wanderers?” Fran said, frowning at Amira’s words. “What is this about?”

  “…You have not told them yet, have you?” Amira said, devolving into chuckles. “What is the Wanderer with the greatest talent in the Lost City scared about? Why will he not tell his teammates about his past? Is he afraid that they will find out his truth? Afraid that they will leave him after they learn who he truly is? Is his talent even his own? Or has he plundered it from others, like the Heterodox scum he is?”

  “…Is she crazy?”

  “That is right, I am crazy,” Amira said, laughing hysterically. “I was crazy when I helped him back then. I was crazy when I worried for him when he was taken away by Heterodox Wanderers. I was crazy when I sympathized with him, when all along, he has been the very cause of my suffering… of my pain… I have always been crazy…”

  “What is she talking about?”

  “…We will tell you about it later,” Yuri said, before turning towards the purple robed girl. “Are you done?”

  “Done?” Amira said, snapping back at Yuri. “What are you talking about? How can I be done yet? Knowing that the cause of all my pain and suffering is before me… How can I be finished yet?”

  “…Are you sure he is the cause of your suffering, and not the practices of your own clan? If you people had not treated your retainers so harshly, do you think they would have turned against you? Do you—

  “Shut up!” Amira yelled. “What do you know about my people? What do you know about my clan?”

  “…Enough to understand the truth of what happened back then.”

  “…You know nothing! Nothing! Who even are you? How dare you talk about my clan? That’s right. I know. You are a Heterodox Wanderer. Just like him. Both of you are Heterodox Wanderers. You killed my people… You killed my family… You killed grandpa Ankis… You killed everyone…”

  Amira began trailing off towards the end, breaking down into tears. Bringing her arms to her chest, she hugged herself, trying to stop herself from trembling, just as she was biting her lips to stop her sobs from escaping her mouth.

  “…It is not your fault,” Alnea said, sighing lightly, as he stepped towards Amira.

  “Stop,” Cecilia said, reaching out to hold his hand, stopping him moving towards Amira, while shooting him a glare. “What do you think you are doing?”

  “…The right thing.”

  “I don’t know what you are thinking… but you should not forget who she is, and where she is from,” Cecilia said, frowning even more intensely. “The Lotus clan most definitely knows about your connection… This could be one of their plans.”

  “…Letting an Initial Stage False Wanderer cry in front of me?”

  “We should never underestimate our enemies,” Yuri said, glancing indifferently at the crying purple robed girl. “That is one of the first things you learned as a Wanderer, did you not? No matter how weak she may seem, we should never let our guard down.”

  “…Do you think she can go through the defences of a robe that even True Wanderers could not penetrate?” Alnea said. “Besides, all I see is a lonely little girl, crying to seek comfort.”

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  “…Why have I never seen you being so gentle with the other girls of the Lotus clan?” Vestia said. “Is there something special about her?”

  “…I owe her a favour,” Alnea said, glancing at Amira, before turning back toward Yuri, Cecilia and Vestia. “And I think I may be able to grasp something that I am missing from her.”

  “What?”

  “I cannot explain it… Just know that if I help her now, I might get the key to Clearing my Heart.”

  “…You are not saying this just to fool us, are you?”

  “I really am on the verge of Clearing my Heart.”

  “…Even if that is true, how can someone who has just become a Wanderer help you the find the key to Clearing your Heart?”

  “It is complicated… How should I put this… What is blocking my way forward is not something profound, or ethereal, but my own past. And if I can help her see through her past, I might be able to find a way to see through my past too… I know it sounds absurd, but that is the way it is… You know what I am talking about, Yuri,” Alnea said, turning towards Yuri at the end, prompting Cecilia and Vestia to do the same. Though Yuri herself was staring at him intently, as if looking for her own answers.

  “…We had discussion about her a few months ago.”

  “…We did.”

  “Do you remember what you said?”

  “…Yuri, I—

  “Who is she?”

  “…Our enemy. But I also owe her a favour.”

  “Just because you owe her a favour does not mean that you have to risk your life for her.”

  “…I am not risking my life for her. I just want to repay my favour—

  “You said that you will repay it by giving her all your remaining Medals.”

  “—and see if I can find a way to face the Shadow in my Heart.”

  “…Make me believe you.”

  “What?”

  “Make me believe you that you will not be risking your life.”

  “…How?”

  “Say that you will be careful.”

  “Don’t worry. Don’t you know how strong my robe—

  “Just tell me that you will be careful.”

  “…I will be careful.”

  “…If you break your word, I am not going to forgive you.”

  “…Don’t worry.”

  “…Let him go.”

  “But she—

  “This is something he must do, Cecilia. Just as there are things that we must do.”

  “…Fine,” Cecilia mumbled, and withdrew her hand, but not before glaring at him. “If something happens, you are dead.”

  “Call me when you are going to kill him,” Vestia said, putting on her perfect smile. “I will help you too.”

  “…Don’t curse me,” Alnea mumbled, before walking over to Amira, and stretching out his hand to pat her shoulders. “There is no need for you to blame yourself.”

  “Shut up, you unfavoured scum!” Amira snapped back, slapping his hand away, as she stepped back from him, trembling even more intensely than before. “I do not need your pity. Especially yours… You, of all the people in the world, I hate the most.”

  “…You do not hate me,” Alnea said, stepping towards the lonely girl once again. “You hate your own weakness.”

  “Shut up! Do not say things as if you know me!”

  “…I can see it in your eyes… Your unwillingness to be weak…”

  “Shut up!” Amira said, closing her ears, and squatting down on the ground.

  “…to be helpless…”

  “Stop talking.”

  “…You want strength…”

  “Just…”

  “…You want revenge…”

  “…stop talking…”

  “…It’s alright, Amira,” Alnea said, squatting down next to the scared little girl, and gently caressing her head. “Everyone is weak at some point. Everyone is helpless at some point. Even me. And the Purplebud patriarch. There is no shame in admitting our weakness. Because only when we admit our weakness, and face our helplessness, can we get the strength to push ourselves forward. Only when we admit who we are, can we grow stronger.”

  Ever so slowly, Amira let go of her ears. She was still trembling, probably even more than before, but she was not biting her lips anymore. Neither was she trying to hold back her tears.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” Alnea said, leaning towards the purple robed girl. “I will let you in on a secret. There is no need for you to think about taking revenge all day long. The man who attacked Anneve is already dead.”

  “…I am sorry,” Amira said in her broken words, slipping her hands into her robe.

  “…It’s alright,” Alnea said, shifting even closer to the girl. “You can cry right now. No one will say anything…”

  “…I… Grandpa was dead… everyone was dead… I thought you were dead too… and then Aamir… he… but then… and you… I thought… I am sorry…”

  “…It’s fine,” Alnea said, lending his shoulders to the girl, while patting her back. “Although I cannot understand what you are saying, I get the gist. There is no need for you to blame yourself. The things that happened had nothing to do with you. And the people of your clan have already been avenged. You can let go of your hatred now. Do not let the past hold you back. Keep moving forward, and become a splendid Wanderer, one that even the Purplebud patriarch would be proud of.”

  “…I am sorry… I…” Amira trailed off, slipping her hands back out of her robe, as her trembling finally began to subside. Was she trying to hug? He was probably going to get into a lot of trouble with the three girls later.

  “…Let it all out. You—

  “Alnea!”

  Even before he could hear his name, Alnea felt something sink into his stomach, inciting a burning sensation that soon spread across his body. Before he could even register what was happening though, he saw the purple robed girl being flung away from him, sliding across the floor of the Blood Hall, just as his robe began shining in a brilliant golden light, blinding him for a moment. Yet, in that blinding light, it was not just his sight that was taken away from him.

  “…Al….”

  He could hear his teammates shouting, especially the girls… He could even feel their touch… But he could not hear their words… And soon after, he could not feel their touch either. Or the warmth on his skin. The only place he felt the warmth at was his stomach, but soon, even that was gone, leaving him drifting in an endless darkness… An empty darkness that came from within himself…