When I got home, mom and dad were gone, which was neither a good or a bad thing. If they were here, they would be giving each other the silent treatment, and making me the middleman when passing on messages. If they weren't here, wherever they were spotted, gave more fuel for the rumors.

The story went from my dad being spotted at the Bean Rua Club, where he nearly cheated on my mom, to a crazy story far from the truth, where my mom had never loved my dad, despite the fact that my dad loved her, and my mom only married my dad for the money. Of course, that was not true in the slightest, but it sure was casting a bad light on my family!

I knew deep down that mom would never cheat on dad with that Ghost person, and that dad had the right idea in mind to stop himself before things went too far with the bunny girl at the Bean Rua Club. But I'm sure if our family tried to convey the truth, no one would believe us.

I sighed and went up to my room and flopped on the bed. This problem, combined with Ashmia still being missing, and no one knowing where she was, only added to my worry. But there was something else...

Sitting up in my bed, I glanced out my window at the mailbox. Ever since I got the first letter, the giant helper hadn't sent another letter on saying how to get my mess of a life together. It made me wonder if even he had given up on trying to help me.

Just then, the door opened, and a rush of wind blew in, then the door closed again. I dashed out my room and went downstairs to see Kenomi stomping her snow boots on the welcome mat, then slowly removing her shoes.

"Keno-neechan!" I exclaimed.

Kenomi looked up and smiled, "Yokkaichi! It's so good to see you!"

We quickly hugged, then moved to the living room where a fire was roaring in the fireplace, giving a warm glow to the room.

"So, how are you holding up?" she asked, as she sat in front of the fireplace.

I bowed my head, "It's hard, coming home to hear them fight. And the kids at school aren't making it any easier."

Kenomi hugged me and stroked my olive hair slowly, "I'm really sorry Yokkaichi. I've been busy searching for Ashmia, and I haven't been there for you. But that'll stop, starting now."

I looked up, eyes wide, "Really?"

She nodded sadly, "Yes. But... it's because... I've given up."

I broke off from her embrace and stared at her in shock. Kenomi nervously wrung her hands and trained her violet eyes on the roaring fire, as if it contained the secrets of the universe.

"B-but why?" I stammered.

She sighed and looked at the wood floor, "I've been searching everyday since she went missing in every corner of the world. It may be likely that her captors keep moving her, but if that were the case, someone would have been bound to see her by now. The only other place we haven't checked is the Shadow Realm, but no one can survive for long, and I'm sure her captors wouldn't be able to either."

I pursed my lips as I continued to stare at Kenomi. Although she was really good at hiding her emotions, there were some things that she couldn't hide, like the grief she had from finally giving up and convincing herself that Ashmia very well might be missing forever.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. While I was busy worrying over my parents fighting, Kenomi has been fighting a much harder battle. No doubt, Missy-neechan was feeling the same way, and maybe even Allador-niichan.

"It's okay," Kenomi said, wiping away the grief that had clouded her face moments earlier, "For now, I want to help you. It's kinda hard for me to walk down the street with my head held high when everyone around me is calling me a 'loser,' 'faker,' and 'weak.'"

I nodded, "It's not easy. At least I have my friends by my side to protect me, but still..."

Kenomi smiled, "I'm glad your friends are there for you. Too bad no one's there for me. I can't find my friend, Lovy, anywhere. And Allador and I... we're kinda giving each other the silent treatment."

"B-but you're here now! You have me!" I replied.

She nodded, "I sure do. Excuse me, but I have to cut this short. I'm really tired and I want to rest a bit."

"Sure thing," I said, gazing at the fireplace.

Kenomi stood up, brushed the dust from her skirt and leggings, and went upstairs. I listened as the sound of her footsteps grew fainter and fainter until they stopped entirely.

I was glad that Keno-neechan was back home, and I would be downright overjoyed, if not for the fact that she came home because she had given up.

The next day, I woke up, quickly dressed, and went downstairs to see Kenomi sitting at the table, just like she did during my first day of school, eating a toasted bagel with butter and reading the Erinn Times. Mom was in the kitchen tidying up, and dad was no where to be seen.

"Morning, nee-chan," I said, sitting down next to her.

"Morning," she replied, taking another bite of her bagel.

"Morning, mija," mom said, setting down a plate of eggs, toast with jam, and some sausage in front of me.

"Thanks mom," I grinned as I tore into the breakfast.

Mom nodded and went back to tidying up the kitchen. She didn't look so bad anymore, at least she smelled better and her eyes weren't as red from the crying, and her hair looked semi-decent. Maybe keeping busy was her way of coping.

Kenomi finished up her bagel, then folded the newspaper, "How about I give you a ride to school Yokka?"

"That's alright," I said, getting up from the table. Even though the breakfast looked delicious, I couldn't stay for long. Nowadays, getting to school early meant avoiding the sneers, stares, and whispers of the other students while I walked the halls. I just couldn't deal with all that so early in the morning.

"Okay, well, maybe we could do something later? Like some river rafting? Or maybe going shopping somewhere?"

I smiled, "Sure. Well, I'm off!"

"Bye sweetie. Have a good day!" mom said from the kitchen.

The morning seemed far too formal. It was like we were all trying to be on our best behaviour. And with my family, good behavior was only reserved for important business meetings or meetings with other well known famlies. It felt unsettling to me.

As I walked out, inventory bag in hand, I saw our gleaming black mailbox...with the red flag up. I gulped hard and walked toward the mailbox slowly.

Please don't let it be another letter from the Ghost guy, I thought. My parents already had a lot on their minds lately. Another letter from Ghost was only going to make things worse.

I opened the mailbox and brought out the letter, and was shocked that it was addressed to me... from the Giant Helper.

I tore open the letter and quickly read it. It said:

Dear Yokkaichi,

Seems like things are getting out of hand, huh? But don't think I've forgotten about you. I have a genius plan, one that'll not only put the rumors to rest, but make your family whole and happy again. And it also involves getting your sister back.

I glanced up from the letter in shock. It sounded almost too good to be true! Putting the rumors to rest meant no more sneers and teasing. People would finally respect my family again. Making my family whole and happy meant getting my parents back together. And Ashmia back too? But there had to be a catch somewhere. I kept reading

The first step is simple: get Ashmia back. That's right, I know where she is. But I'm not going to tell you outright. You'll find out soon enough.

Sincerely,

The Giant Helper

I folded the letter back up, then put it in my inventory bag. So he wasn't going to tell me? That seemed unfair. After all, wasn't he on my side and trying to help get my life together? How could I do that if I didn't even know where Ashmia was? And I was going to find out soon? How soon?

Sighing, I made my way to school, with even more questions than I had answers.

"Yokkaichi! Hey! Wasn't yesterday so much fun?" Lala exclaimed, bouncing up to me. Her blonde hair shined even more than usual. Behind her, Ax was coming in as well. Even though they were in a different homeroom, Lala, Ax, Cinnamon, Kaitlyn and Kristen would come over to visit before school started.

"Yeah, that was a lot of fun," I replied, shoving the latest letter from the Giant Helper in my bag.

"Have you guys heard?" Elfie asked, coming to sit beside me, "Some girl is coming back here."

"What?" Kaitlyn shouted, "But it's almost winter break! Who would transfer so suddenly?'

Elfie shook his head, "The new student isn't a transfer. She's been here all along. But apparently, she's been missing for quite some time."

"Is she here now? Where is she?" Kaitlyn asked, craning her neck to look around the room.

Elfie shrugged, "No one knows. Apparently, she's been enrolled here all along. But she must've been really unpopular or something, because she's been missing for over two months now, and no one noticed until now. That's why they're searching for her right now, and probably why everyone's so animated. Even her parents don't know where she is."

In a world like Erinn, it was easy for someone to get lost. Unless it was someone famous, though, many people didn't give much thought to missing people. We lacked the technology to be able to track people. And with a new, largely unexplored continent, people could be hiding anywhere. That's probably why so many people were missing.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and everyone scrambled to their seats. Lala, Ax, and Kaitlyn left as Lassar walked in and started taking roll call. But all I could really think about, was the missing girl. It seemed extremely tragic that she had been missing for so long, but two months? That was about as long as Ashmia's disappearance. Now I had a new goal: to find that girl at all costs.

I glanced down at the quest scroll in my hand, then looked back up at the Longa desert before me. As soon as school let out and I stepped outside, a quest scroll had been dropped from the white owl and landed squarely in my hands.

"What's the quest?" Lala asked me, grabbing hold of one of Ax's finely toned arms.

I opened it up quickly and scanned the contents, "Apparently, I have to find the entrance to Longa Dungeon. Guess it closed up again."

"Nice!" Ax exclaimed, offering his fist for me to bump, "Only certain people get asked to find the entrances to dungeons in Iria."

I smiled, "Yeah, I guess all the rumors still hasn't fazed Castenea. Maybe she trusts me to do this."

Of course, it seemed like a fun little quest at the time. There wasn't a reward, but for the entire week the dungeon entrance stayed open, it was put up on the notice board that someone had found the entrance. To think my name would be up there for a whole week! Maybe this was a good thing. But it made me wonder if somehow, the Giant Helper had been up to this too.

I pulled out my L-rods and began walking around. I would know when I found the entrance, or some other artifact, when the light at the end of the rods stayed on longer and it beeped four times. After what seemed like hours of walking, I finally heard the four beeps.

"Awesome," I whispered as the entrance revealed itself. A square entrance with stairs leading down into the dungeon below the sand.

I didn't know if it was because I was bored and wanted some excitement, or because I wanted to be the first to explore the dungeon after a new entrance opened up, but I put my L-rods in my inventory bag and went down the stairs.

Sand came down from the desert above, but mysteriously didn't flood the dungeon. Maybe it was magic, but sand never filled the dungeon itself, just the entrance, which was why it had to be discovered every week.

I pulled out a couple gold coins and put it on the alter. Suddenly, I was transported to the actual dungeon. Pulling out my bow and arrow, I made my way to the first room. It was already teeming with beetles, a lot more beetles than I thought.

As soon as I entered, they all focused on me. Drawing my bow, I shot them down one by one, collecting the rewards they sometimes dropped. After shooting the last beetle down, I collected the lovely reward of gold.

"So far, so good," I muttered, looking around for the treasure chest. It was supposed to contain a key, but no treasure chest appeared so far. I walked around, kicked at the door, punched at the wall, but no treasure chest.

What's going on here? Am I trapped!? I thought with a panic.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room, and from the center of the ceiling, came a elfen girl, who looked to be unconscious. The light dimmed and the girl fell into the center of the room. I gulped hard and stared at the mysterious girl from the ceiling. Had she fallen through the sand? No, it wasn't possible. The dungeon had thick walls on all sides, but cracks here and there too.

I slowly approached the girl, and glanced at her face. A smattering of freckles across her small nose, which was unusual for an elf who usually had smooth, pale skin. Her hair was an auburn color that framed her face and spread around her head. Purple sharp henna was on her cheeks and her elf ears were small, barely potruding from her thick hair.

I slowly stretched out my hand and shook the girl, "H-hey. Are you alright?"

The girl's eyes immediately snapped open and I jumped back, my heart racing. I watched as her ocean blue eyes scanned the room she was in, then she turned her head to look at me.

"Are you alright?" I asked again, holding a hand over my still rapidly beating heart. Her sudden awakening had given me quite a shock.

"I... think so," the girl said, sitting up slowly, "But where am I?"

"Longa Dungeon. The first room."

She gazed at me quizically, "Really? I could've sworn I was in the Shadow Realm a second ago."

I frowned. Clearly, she must've hit her head or something, "Uh, no. If you were in the Shadow Realm, you would've returned to Stonehedge. Not the Longa Dungeon. And you came down from the ceiling. There."

I pointed to the place above her and she looked up, the same quizical expression on her face. She shook her head and stood up, "No, I'm positive I came from the Shadow Realm. But I do feel a bit woozy. Where's the healer house?"

"You mean you don't know?"

She shrugged, "I don't remember a lot, really."

I nodded, "Alright, I'll take you."

As I lead her out the dungeon, I noticed the girl looking at everything around her. It made me wonder if she had ever been to Longa, let alone Filia. I knew of elves who were born and raised in Uladh, and didn't know how to get around Longa Desert, or even find Filia, but I never thought I'd meet one.

"Then she came from the ceiling. And she had no idea where she was," I said at lunch the next day at school. I was recounting the events from yesterday, and hoping my friends could make sense of this, "She claimed she came from the Shadow Realm, but I told her that was impossible. So I took her to the healer's house. She must've bumped her head real bad or something."

"Wow," Lala replied, cupping her chin in her hand, "Something so simple, like finding the Longa Dungeon entrance, seems to always turn into a big event for you."

I nodded and twirled my spoon in my yogurt, "Well that's what happens when you belong to a famous family such as mine."

"It's still really weird though," Kristen said, gazing intently at her uneaten pork chop, "I've never heard an instance where someone just fell through the ceiling."

"Do you think magic was involved?" Kaitlyn asked her sister.

Kristen nodded, "Definitely. And it must've been at the hand of someone else."

I took a slow sip of my milk as I gazed around at the crowded cafeteria. Since it was getting much colder, the majority of all elves, and humans who disliked the cold, were sitting indoors. The giants, thankfully, were outside enjoying themselves. As I sipped my milk, my eyes landed on a girl who had just entered the cafeteria. A girl with familiar ocean blue eyes. And thick auburn hair. And the henna...

I nearly choked on my milk as the girl came toward my table. Cinnamon furrowed his brow in an amused, but concerned look, "Yokkaichi? Are you okay?"

"Guys! Don't look now, but the girl I rescued yesterday is coming here right now!" I hissed.

"What?" Lala asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Hello everyone," said the girl.

My entire table turned their eyes to the mysterious girl. Now that she had bathed, brushed her hair, and freshened up, and had donned the school uniform, she looked more and more like a rich girl.

Without waiting for a response, she turned to me, "You ran off yesterday after you took me to the healer. I forgot to thank you for rescuing me. What's your name."

I quickly wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and cleared my throat, "It's Yokkaichi Suzunashi."

She smiled, "Ah, yes. I've heard a lot of nasty rumors about your family." She shook her head, "Those people are so stupid. They're just feeding off of the things they heard from everyone else, and sometimes, that's not even the full story or the truth. They just like a juicy story and lots of gossip. I bet you those were the same people that admired and feared your family too."

My mouth dropped open, as did my friend's mouths. It was the first time I heard someone stick up for my family despite the rumors. And she was absolutely right, people could be so fickle.

"Right you are!" boomed Elfie, "I'm glad someone finally has some common sense."

She nodded, "Oh, excuse me! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alicia McCormak."

Elfie grinned back at her, "I'm Elfie Yoshida."

"Kaitlyn Smith. And this is my sister, Kristen," Kaitlyn said, pointing to her sister. Kristen nodded politely.

"I'm Hasenoo Shefer."

"Cinnamon Hinokawa."

"Lala Sparks!" Lala sing-songed.

"And Ax Summers. I'm her boyfriend," Ax said, ruffling his own auburn hair.

"Nice to meet you all," she said, giving a polite curtsy.

Elfie moved over to let Alicia sit down, "So Yokkiachi rescued you from the Longa dungeon, huh?"

She nodded, "Yes, and I'm very grateful. Thank you so much Yokkaichi."

I blushed, "O-oh! It was nothing really..."

"But, uh, I have some news, actually. You see, after you took me to the healer's house and Atrata healed me, I regained my memory. And some of it... pertains to you."

My eyes widened as a sudden realization dawned on me, "Wait a minute! Are you the student that's been missing for two months!?"

She nodded, "I guess word finally got around. But I can't believe it took people this long to notice."

"Wow..." Hasenoo breathed out, "So according to Yokkaichi, you were in the Shadow Realm?"

She nodded again, "Yes, but I think I should start at the beginning."

We all leaned in closer, eager to hear her story.

"It all started two months ago, obviously. I was in Tailteann doing an alchemist quest. I'm trying to get into alchemy, get more powerful and all. So anyway, I was exiting the city and I heard some people arguing. There was a human girl with chocolate colored skin and violet hair aruging with a tall guy with red hair, and two other girls, a human and an elf."

My eyes widened even more, "Those are my sisters and brother-in-law!"

"Really?" Alicia asked, "It seemed like they hate each other."

"Yeah, they don't really get along," I agreed.

"I didn't want to eavesdrop or anything, so I started to leave, headed to Tara to meet my friend for a fashion competition, when I heard a loud clap. I thought it might be something dangerous, so I went to check it out. And the red haired guy had a nasty hand mark on his cheek, and the violet haired girl was crying and running toward the forest."

"Allador-niichan must've done something to piss Ashmia-neechan off," I added, "But it must've been pretty extreme. Ashmia-neechan never hit nii-chan before."

"So I decided to follow her to the forest, and suddenly, I saw a guy with blonde hair throw a burlap sack over the girl. He carried the girl off back to Stonehedge, so I followed them. And I caught a glance of a pink-haired girl eyeing the sack with extreme disdain. I don't know why, but I get the feeling there was a lot of animosity between them. They entered the Shadow Realm, but I couldn't follow. Turns out, I didn't need to, someone else had grabbed me and brought me back."

"I blacked out a bit, but when I woke up, I was in one of the torn down, abandoned houses. I went outside and was immediately swarmed by enemies. I couldn't tell what time it was in the Shadow Realm, but for some reason, I survived. Which is odd, considering we can't spend too long in the Shadow Realm without succumbing to the darkness. Eventually, I ran out of arrows, and started using my bow as a weapon. But when it lost durability and broke, I started using my scmitar, but it was already at a low durability, and broke as well. At that point, I had no weapon. So I spent weeks going from house to house and trying to survive on the little things that were there."

"Wow, you're such a survivior," Ax said, leaning back in his chair and giving Alicia a look of respect.

Alicia shrugged, "I was desparate to get out. But after a while, there was no where to run, so I finally collasped and stayed there, not even caring what happened to me. I knew that no one would really look for me, I'm just a nobody after all. I don't remember when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, I was in the Longa Dungeon and Yokkaichi was staring at me. Being in the Shadow Realm for so long made me lose my memory of the light world."

"But I'm back now! And Yokkaichi, I'm really glad I can tell you all this. From what I've heard, people have at least been looking for Ashmia."

I smiled brightly, "So you're telling me, for sure, that she's in the Shadow Realm?"

Alicia returned my smile, "Yes."

I jumped up and pumped my fist in the air, "All right!" I shouted.

Several people stared at me, some even snickered. But I didn't care. I knew where Ashmia was, and it was about time we got her back.

"Thanks for all this Alicia! Really, I'm truly grateful!" I exclaimed, sitting back down.

My friends gave me warm smiles, and as the bell rang, I went to class, my face glowing, and a new hope rising in my chest.

After school, I quickly returned home, eager to send letters for a family meeting and to share the news of Ashmia's location. As I neared my house, I noticed the red flag was up again.

Looks like the Giant Helper is finally starting to help out, I thought, He was right about someone being there to tell me where Ashmia is.

I quickly pulled the letter out of the mailbox and scanned the contents. This letter read:

Dear Yokkaichi,

Congratulations. You've found the only girl in Erinn who knows where Ashmia is. Like I said earlier, your job is simple. First and foremost, get Ashmia back from the Shadow Realm. With the help of your family, I know you can do it.

The second step, is getting your family's iconic reputation back. Here's how to do it. After rescuing Ashmia, tell the public the truth. That your parents never cheated on each other, it was only a misunderstanding, as you probably know. Also have Ashmia appear, and testify what she saw, and how she saw her family rescue her. By taking down two powerful people who kidnapped your sister.

This will earn the fear and respect that your family has lost. But I must warn you, it won't be easy. Do your best. Until next time.

The Giant Helper

I folded the note, then concentrated hard and summoned a firebolt. I scooped the firebolt that circled around me and put it on the paper. I needed to erase anything that could be traced back to me, or the Giant Helper. After all, it looked like I still had a few letters coming.

As I readjusted my inventory bag and closed the mailbox lid, I mentally wrote out what exactly I was going to say in my letters to my family. For the first time since the rumors started, things were starting to look up, and I had a feeling my family would be returned to their former glory. And I absolutely couldn't wait.

I can't give any promises that the next chapter will come out fast, but I'll do my best. Please be good to this lazy author QwQ