She closed her eyes, leaning against the railing. Erion walked up next to me. "What's bugging you?" he asked, with that confident smile that always drove her crazy.

"Bugging me? Why would you think that?" she lied, looking away.

"Because I know you. Who was it that you always used to run to?" Okay, his smile was seriously infuriating.

She sighed. "Paris. I mean, why didn't he tell me we were siblings? Twins, at that. If he wanted to be with me so bad, why didn't he just ask? All this time..."

He frowned. "To be honest, I have no idea. It could be that Alois managed to convince him that opening the Gate was the only way to keep you safe. Or it could be that he was always crazy."

She sighed. "I wish I could remember what he was like, before we lost our world. Did Hikari and I know each other? What's her real name? What were my parents like?" She gave him a mocking glare. "I envy you sometimes, Erion. You know everything about yourself. Nothing's hidden."

Suddenly, the ship lurched. "A Maranguis! We're under attack!" Demitrius shouted. "Get the Princess to safety!"

Erion nodded, grabbing her hand. He started to pull her away, but she stood her ground. "I'm not some damsel in distress. I can take care of myself."

"But, you're the-"

"So? I handled myself pretty well when we were fighting Alois, didn't I? Why should I worry about his lackeys?" She grinned, pulling out her sword. "Besides, I was getting bored."

He sighed. "There's no arguing with you, is there?"

At first everything was fine. Then another enemy ship pulled up beside them, and one in front and one behind. They were trapped, outnumbered, surrounded. They were leading the pair onto the ship as captives. "We have to get you out of here! They'll kill you!" he hissed.

"What about you? Do you think they'll let you live?"

"I'll be fine," he said dismissively. "I'll find you as soon as I can."

Before she could protest, a swirling blue vortex opened in the air and he shoved her through. "Erion!"

She could feel it, the magic pulling her through to some unknown location. She doubted even Erion knew where she was going, only that she'd be safe from their enemies. She knew how risky this was. It drained her own powers to travel like this, and if she was pulled to far... it could kill her.

"Sara! It's so good to see you again!" Yuuri called as the king hurried off the ship to greet his friend. It had been six months since the last time they'd seen each other, but it felt like an eternity to Sara.

"It's good to see you too, Yuuri," he said. "How have you been?"

The carriage ride back to Blood Pledge Castle was filled with the two talking back and forth, catching up on what they hadn't told each other in their constant letters. Like that Wolfram and Murata were away on family business. Sara was happy about this, that meant that he would essentially have Yuuri all to himself. He wasn't planning to use Yuuri this time, but he did want to prove himself to Yuuri, his first real friend.

They had barely stepped into the courtyard when the air in front of them started to swirl with a blue light. Berias and Conrad dove in front of their kings, ready to protect them from whatever came out of it.

After a few seconds, something started to pass out of the light. It was a girl, about the same age as Yuuri and Sara. She had wavy, shoulder-length silver hair, but her eyes were closed. She didn't step through, she fell, collapsing to the ground. Yuuri ran over to her. "She's hurt!" he gasped.

Her eyes fluttered open for a brief moment. "Paris, no... don't do it," she whispered before sinking into oblivion.