As Marry packed her bag hastily, throwing in only necessities, she sniffed, the smell of dinner wafting up to her room. Soon, the others would be calling her down for dinner, and she knew that if she left before then they would find her. She'd have to wait until night time, when everybody else was sleeping. Until then, her goal was to act like nothing was wrong. She didn't want to spook the others, after all.

Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, there was knocking on her door, and Marry quickly picked up the small backpack. "J-Just a moment!" she cried out, and the knocking stopped. Thankfully, as Marry hastily shoved the backpack under her bed, the door never opened. Small blessings.

"I just wanted to let you know that dinner is done," a gentle voice said, and Marry let out a quiet sigh.

"Thank you, Seto. I'll be out there in a moment."

As she heard his footsteps walk back down the hall, Marry sighed once again and glanced at her reflection in the mirror that was perched upon her dresser. She was visibly pale, and her pink eyes were unnaturally wide. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Calm down, Marry," she whispered to her reflection pleadingly. "You can't let the others see you like this. Pretend nothing is wrong."

After a moment, when her skin tone had reverted to it's more normal color, Marry left her room, her bare feet padding down the wooden hallways as she walked to the dining room. Tonight it was just Seto, Kido, and Kano. The rest had gone home, wanting to rest from the excitement-filled weekend. Marry felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she realized she would never be able to say goodbye to them. Momo, Takane, and even Hibiya! Once she left, she would never see them again, along with Kido, Kano, and worst of all, Seto. She felt different towards Seto, and she wanted nothing more than to run into his arms, but if she did that then he would never be safe. If she wanted to keep him safe, she would have to leave him in the dark, just like everybody else.

It's for the best, she thought sullenly, sitting down, and Seto shot her a worried look.

"Are you alright, Marry?" he asked, and Marry's head snapped up, before she managed to give the three siblings a shaky smile.

"Yeah! I was just thinking, sorry," she apologized, and Seto nodded.

"Alright, then let's eat!"

Marry followed after Kido and Seto, putting food on her plate. They seemed to accept her answer- however, Kano didn't. He was watching her with sharp eyes, but before Marry could question it, he grinned cheekily, putting food on his plate as well. "Wow Kido, this looks good!"

"Shut up, idiot."

Marry watched the two bicker as she silently ate, Seto joining in to tease Kano or Kido every now and then. It felt like a normal night, and for the three, it was.

However, Marry couldn't force herself to eat when she didn't have an appetite, and she quickly excused herself, telling the others she was tuckered out from the weekend and was heading to bed early.

As Marry closed her door and pulled the bag out from under her bed again, she resumed packing, before giving up and sitting down on the bed and looking out the window wistfully. "Mother... I wish you were here to tell me what to do... am I really doing the right thing?" she murmured, looking up at the cloudless night sky, thousands of stars twinkling merrily without a care. Oh, how she wished she could be a star up in the sky, shining brightly and carelessly.

Getting up and walking to her desk, Marry pulled out a piece of notebook paper and a pen and started to jot down a short goodbye note, telling the others she had left for their safety and that she hoped that, one day, they'd be able to meet again. Reaching in her apron pocket, Marry almost took out some pearls to leave them, but thought against it. She was surprised she found these at the beach the other day, and she knew that they would still be caught up in this mess if she left the shiny pearls with them. She wasn't telling them why she was leaving, or where she was going- the whole letter was vague, and she just hoped that this would be enough to keep them out of harm's way.

"I'm sorry guys..."

Knock. Knock.

Jumping, Marry quickly grabbed the note and had enough time to hide it behind her back as the door opened, and Kano stepped in the room.

"K-Kano, what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. Her eyes darted to her packed bag, which was on the bed, and she watched as Kano looked at it as well as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Well," Kano answered, "I just wanted to see if you were okay. You didn't seem okay earlier," he said, looking back at her, but Marry could tell that he knew something was up. It was even more evident as he closed the door and leaned against it, gesturing towards the packed bag before he crossed his arms.

"So, what's up with this?" he asked, and Marry could feel her throat dry up as he continued talking, disregarding the cold and tense atmosphere. "You going on a vacation, or are you running away again?"

"I'm not running away!"

The words came out more harshly than she intended, and she had even admitted earlier that she was running away, but when Kano was the one asking if that was her motive, she didn't want to admit it. It wasn't like she asked for this- if she stayed here, they would all be slaughtered!

Kano raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. When Marry didn't, opting to stay quiet, he held out a hand expectantly, his eyes almost all-knowing. The 14 year old felt like he could see right through her, like he knew the whole situation, and she hated it. She silently handed over the hastily written goodbye note, and watched as his eyes scanned it, his lips thinning for a moment before he looked back at Marry, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Slipping the note in his pocket, Kano went back to crossing his arms and spoke again. "So you were going to leave without telling us."

It wasn't even a question, and Marry nodded numbly, confirming his statement as he strode across the room and sat down on her bed. This all seemed slightly surreal, and Marry stayed standing where she was by the dress as he still stared at her, eyes narrowed as if he was waiting for an explanation. And, Marry supposed, she did owe him- and everybody else- an explanation. She had kept him, Seto, and everybody else in the dark for too long, even going so far as to lying to them about most of her situation.

Resigned, Marry sighed, pulling out the desk chair and sitting in it, averting her eyes. It would have been easier for her to tell Momo or Seto, but neither of them were here right now, and she doubted Kano would let her leave without a full explanation. "You want me to explain?" she asked hesitantly, already knowing the answer, but wanting to reaffirm just in case.

Kano nodded, still staring sharply at her. "And don't lie either. I want the whole truth," he demanded, and Marry looked down, playing awkwardly with the hem of her apron before sighing once again, deciding to just get straight to it.

"I was telling the truth when I said my grandmother, Azami, rules the kingdom from where I am from, and it's true that I am the only heir to the throne. My mother died from a group of vigilantes wanting to end our rule, and my father disappeared long ago," she started, unsure of what else to explain, especially with the Kuroha situation.

Getting up and walking to the crumpled piece of paper she threw at the wall earlier, Marry opened it, smoothing it out before handing it to Kano. "This note... It's from Kuroha, the one who I said I was in an arranged marriage with. If he's sending this note, that means he has already succeeded in taking over the kingdom. I, myself, am not sure what his exact plans are, but I do know he's after the kingdom and a power that has been passed down throughout my family for generations," Marry continued on as Kano quickly read the note. She paced around the room, avoiding his eyes as she talked. "My grandmother, Azami, is considered to be Medusa, or at least that's what my mother and the other merfolk had said around the kingdom. Even now, although it has been centuries since her rule started, she looks just like me. She hasn't aged a bit. My mother, though, had aged, although a lot slower, and the ability has been passed down to me, where I have been alive for 140 years. I age 1 year for every 10 years, I suppose."

Marry laughed bitterly, wiping a tear away. "I have reason to believe that Kuroha knows how to gain immortality, something even I don't know. He planned to marry me and to use me to get what he wanted, or at least that is what I assume. He claimed it's because he loved me, but... I know what he is. He doesn't feel remorse or pain, let alone love. He's a soulless monster, one who just wants to see fear and suffering. Once he took over the kingdom, he planned to bring a dark rule, not only executing the rest of the royal family, but executing any rebels that got in his way. I ended up overhearing a conversation between him and one of the palace guards- a traitor, it turned out- and I confronted him about it. He fessed up, expecting me to side with him and promising me that he could give me a life of luxury. However, I refused, and told him that once I told my grandmother he would be done for.

"He didn't like that, not one bit, and he attempted to knock me out, to probably lock me in the dungeon until he had gotten what he wanted. I swam away, not even bothering to let my grandmother know, something I regret now... I guess I was afraid of being caught. I didn't have time to let her know, and if I hesitated I wouldhave been caught. Once I got out of the kingdom, I was caught in a strong current. My head... I hit it on a rock, and when I came to, I was human and I was stranded on the beach. My mother and grandmother had sheltered me from this world, but it seems as if Kuroha knows it well, which leaves me at a disadvantage. I didn't want you guys to get hurt, so I thought if I ran towards a larger city he would leave you guys alone... I didn't mean to make it seem like I was abandoning you guys. I swear, I only wanted to keep you all safe!"

Wiping furiously at her eyes to make sure that she didn't cry, Marry stared defiantly at Kano, who stayed where he was, not bothering to comfort her and waiting for her to be able to talk again. A couple moments later and Marry felt a bit better, sitting back down in the wooden desk chair. "I just don't want you guys to get hurt because of me," she murmured quietly. "He'll slaughter you mercilessly, and I don't want that to happen..."

"What makes you think he'll leave us alone if you leave? If he's as bad as you say, wouldn't he kill us all out of spite?" Kano inquired, and Marry's gaze snapped over to him. What's worse, she knew that it was true. Even if she left, Kuroha would most likely kill them all. Wouldn't it be best for her to stay here and help protect her friends? "Running away isn't the answer. You need to tell Seto and the others the truth," he said, and Marry deflated, giving him a pleading look as she opened her mouth to argue against it.

"No. You have to tell them if you expect us to help you."

"Help... me?"

The phrase almost seemed foreign to her, and she blinked back a couple tears, staring at him in confusion. "Why would you want to help me? I lied to you about almost everything, and then nearly left to let you guys fend for yourselves..."

Kano laughed, making Marry jump. The laugh seemed so strange in such a situation, yet it also sounded so natural. What surprised her even more, though, was Kano's reply.

"We're all friends, right? We're not going to hand you over to some creep, especially since we're involved anyways," he joked, standing up and walking to the door.

"You don't have to tell them tonight, but I'll get everybody over tomorrow, and you can tell them then, alright? Don't leave anything out."

Marry nodded, swallowing back a lump in her throat as she regarded Kano with an expression mixed with incredulity at his acceptance and gratefulness for not leaving her alone.

"Thank you... Kano."