Okay, so as you all know, Elemental Book 1 is complete. But, each chapter of Halfling says which chapter it would be it I didn't break it up into books. That's the number I'll use in Cursed for how the chapters line up. While it says it goes with Chapter 60, it's really matched up with Halfing Chapter 1. Just be aware of that.

seraphim: here's the first update for this in a while! Unfortunately, this will be the only one until Halfling chapter 4. This story in a handful of chapters will really start to focus on Philyra and Yukiya once Selene returns to the academy.

"A whole new world...

A dazzling place I never knew.

But when I'm way up here,

it's crystal clear, that now I'm in

a whole new world with you."

—Lea Salonga and Brad Kane

Chapter 9—(Chapter 60)

Philyra watched from a bit of a distance as Klaus woke up Selene. She had fallen asleep waiting for the documents to finish processing. She still had dark circles under her eyes. When Philyra had first met her, Selene's skin had been a golden tan color. Now, it was shockingly pale.

"I'm like a plant sometimes. If I don't get enough sunlight, I sort of wither. If I'm out of the sun for a few weeks, I become as pale as my mother was. It's a pain to get my tan back, because I can, despite popular belief, get burned. I get burned by boiling water and other liquids, just like other people. And I also get sunburn, because nothing can stand up to the sun. It's just straight up fire that doesn't burn me." Selene had told her at one point.

Even if Selene wasn't entirely human, it was still odd to see her lose the tan so quickly. It made her seem washed out and fragile, something completely contrary to her character. Even though Selene wasn't going to outright say it, she hated seeming weak and delicate and Philyra could tell.

She also was a lot less energetic and cheery than she had been the first time when she had seen Selene. It's like she mellowed out and lost a bit of her spark. She brushed it off as just being tired and needed to rest, but Philyra could tell it was more than that. Something was weighing Selene's spirits down.

Philyra thought it might be because she knew she wasn't human, not really. And having three people sharing one head couldn't be easy. Particularly with Angel, who was violent. Angel scared Philyra. He had taken a sick joy and pleasure in torturing Jerkwad, and wouldn't have stopped if Celeste hadn't made him. If he somehow took control and hurt someone...not only would it horrify Selene, but it might make bad people take her away again.

The freaks tended to get taken away and used and abused. Philyra would know. And she didn't want Selene to get taken away from her. And if they took Selene, they'd probably take her too. She didn't know which scared her more, losing her new family or being enslaved again.

…. …. ….

"Make sure to keep your eyes closed during the transfer, Lyra. It get's really bright even with closed eyes." Selene told her. Philyra nodded and tightened her grip on Selene's sleeve.

"Please prepare for transfer. Ten. Nine." She was going to another world. A third one. "Six. Five." She had never even expected to leave that town. "Three. Two." She screwed her eyes shut. "One." There's a bright flash, and when it died down Philyra dared to open her eyes. They were in a different one, this one whiter than any room she had ever seen. This wasn't a white you could find in nature. It was like they were in a box without exits.

She heard Selene's breathing slightly start speed up, only to calm back down once a crack appeared in the wall and opened to reveal it to be a door.

Selene had mentioned, back when they were captives, that she was terrified of being locked in somewhere, be it a cage or a room. She could, actually, handle being locking in, as long she was able to free herself. But if she couldn't free herself, she had a panic attack and completely freaked out. Philyra hadn't realized that it'd be that bad, to the point where it only took seconds to start panicking. But the door was open and Selene was okay.

She followed Selene to a different room. This place had a lot more sharp edges and exact corners than the one in Myula. It was a lot harsher.

"I know what you're thinking. It doesn't look nearly as friendly as the one we left. Terra, particularly the modernized areas, like making things exact and sterile. Don't worry. Home isn't like that. It's a little more...human. Natural." Selene smiled at her.

Philyra noticed that Selene called it "home" as if it was home to both of them. She liked that. She hadn't really had a home since her father remarried. For a brief moment she wondered how Sandra was doing. It had been over six months, almost, since Ilda had sold her. Philyra didn't care about that woman or her son, but she wondered about her little half-sister, the sweet little girl who secretly disobeyed her mother to spend time with Philyra, her older sister by blood.

Funny thing is, this was the first time she had thought of Sandra since being sold. Perhaps it was Selene's referral to her as a sister.

Speaking of Selene, Philyra noticed that as she held something to her ear and talked into it, that she was more relaxed than Philyra had ever seen her. She wasn't so…tense, so wary of her surroundings.

"Thanks. See you in a couple minutes, Eric. Love you."

Ah. That little device was letting her talk to one of her brothers. It didn't make much sense to Philyra how it worked, but then again she didn't really need to know. Selene was happy. That was what mattered.

Only a couple moments later a man appeared in the room, wearing odd clothing and looking like he'd been asleep not too long ago. The brown-eyed brunette was probably one of the biggest people Philyra had ever seen, a few inches taller than Klaus had been and quite a bit broader. He was built like a warrior. And if she remembered correctly, Selene's brother Eric taught martial arts and other kinds of fighting and self-defense.

And he walked right up and pulled his little sister into a hug.

"Hey Eric." Selene said, hugging him back.

He pulled back and smacked her lightly on the back of the head. "You had everyone worried."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry 'bout that. I was, ah, a bit tied up." Selene laughed a bit sheepishly.

"You've clearly got a tale to tell." He shook his head, "But first we're going to stuff you with food. Come on, let's go home."

Philyra came up behind her, hiding a bit behind her.

Selene broke out smiling, "Home. What a wonderful word. C'mon, Lyra. Meet a new big brother. This is Eric." Then she spoke in English, "I've adopted her. She's now my little sister. I'll elaborate later. Promise."

He nodded at the smaller girl. "Hi."

Philyra nodded.

"Lyra doesn't speak all that much." Selene said.

"Alright. Philyra, can you hold my hand? I need to be touching both you and Selene to transport you with me." She nodded and tentatively took his proffered hand. Selene grabbed his other. "Ready? Good." Eric muttered something and soon the world warped momentarily. When it corrected, they were standing in the snow of the front doorway of a house as snow whipped around in the wind.

Eric yanked his hand out of Selene's with a hiss, "Selene, your temperature just shot up." It was true. Any snow that hit her hissed as it evaporated. The snow at Selene's feel was melting and her clothes were steaming. Eric opened the door and waved the girls into the house.

"That was...odd." Selene said slowly. She paused for a few moments, making faces, as if she was talking to someone, then looked over at her brother, worried, "Eric, is your hand okay?"

He showed it to her, palm up. It was red, but not too badly. "It's not going to blister or anything. It'll be fine. Felicia can take care of it if it needs it."

She released a breath, "Okay. Good. That's good."

"Everyone is waiting for you in the family room." Eric said.

Selene nodded and Philyra grabbed the back of her shirt, following her into another room, this one full of people. People who all looked over at Selene when she entered. Philyra slunk back into a corner as Selene started speaking to the others.

"Hey, everyone. Sorry I was gone so long." She said, her smile, at least to Philyra, looked a bit forced, because Selene's lips trembled and her eyes were starting to water. "I-I didn't mean t-to be g-gone so l-long...an-an-and…" Philyra watched, feeling helpless as Selene sank to the floor, sobbing openly.

One of the younger boys, one who looked around the same age Sandra would be, came up and wrapped his arms around Selene. He smiled at her, "Don't cry, Aunt Selene. It'll be okay. I promise." Selene's lower lip trembled and she pulled him into a hug as she started crying again.

"E-Elvy, don't ever grow up, if you can help it," she told him. "Stay this perfect little boy, forever and ever."

He grinned, "I'll try, Aunt Lena! I probably won't be as good at it as Peter Pan, though. He's the master." Philyra didn't know who he was talking about. Peter Pan? She'd have to ask Selene later, if she remembered.

Selene giggled, "That he is, Elvy, that he is."

Selene's other family members, the woman specifically, snapped out of their surprise and rushed over to her, inspecting her and talking in a language Philyra didn't know. It sounded like the one Selene would sometimes slip into, usually without realizing it. It was the language of this land, and Philyra, for the life of her, couldn't remember what Selene called it.

"Lyra." Selene said, snapping Philyra out of her thoughts. "Would you like something to eat? No, scratch that. You need to eat."

Philyra nodded and retreated further into the shadows in the corner of the room. She had seen this coming. Selene had given up a lot of her ever-decreasing rations back at Jerkwad's castle to Philyra, using the excuse that she'd been starving far longer and needed it more. Selene had suffered for it. She was thinner and had lost weight she couldn't really afford to lose. And she'd lost it faster than a normal human would. It was the fire in her heritage, and it needed lots of fuel. Fuel she didn't get, fuel she willing gave up for her. Philyra was used to little food. Selene was physically unable to go without food without the consequences being serious.

Philyra still didn't understand why Selene had become so protective of her. They had met in that prison, but there was no real reason that Philyra could see that caused Selene to actively seek responsibility for her. Other than Selene being Selene and doing things and not caring to give anyone a reason.

There was a reason, though, Philyra just didn't know it.

Selene spoke, interrupting her thoughts. "Lyra, would you come over here and meet my family? They're your family, too." She looked at her until Philyra went and sat next to her. She tried to hide in Selene's side, making her self as unnoticeable as possible. "Everyone, this is Philyra. She's now my legal little sister. I adopted her because she didn't have a home to go back to." It was more than that, Philyra knew. There had been other orphans with no home. But Selene had kept her. Selene still hadn't told the real reason to anyone. Philyra really wanted to know. "That, and I've grown fond of her. She was in the same place I was, and honestly, had it a lot worse for a lot longer. She doesn't really talk, but I'm going to work on that."

One of the younger boys, maybe around three or four came up and grabbed her hand, smiling at the shy girl, "W-w-welcome, A-unt L-l-lyra!" A-aunt? Why did he call her that...she wasn't related to him, and didn't even know him. Yet he just accepted her. "I-I'm D-da-ren. I l-like ch-cho-co-late al-mond co-okies. The on-es mama m-makes."

He's such a cute kid, Philyra thought. She couldn't help but smile back, ever-so-slightly.

"Th-there's s-some in the ki-kitchen. Do you w-want one?"

Her slight smile grew slightly and she nodded. Daren beamed and ran to the kitchen.

"I wanna meet her!" cried another boy, this one slightly older, around six or so, ambled his way up to her with a strange winged rabbit on his head. "She can hold 'Kura!"

Philyra looked at the pink rabbit creature, a little confused. Rabbits don't normally have wings...nor are they pink like that…

"It's a wing rabbit." said an older boy, this one around ten. "And I'm Galvin."

Galvin. Isn't he the nephew of Selene who lost his father? Philyra thought. Philyra nodded at him and he smiled.

"Well, I'll be the first to say: welcome to our crazy family." Galvin said wryly, "Good luck."