Kanan and Yō entered the house. They went into the secret room. Yō went first. Kanan hung back. She wasn't ready to face them yet.

"Hey. You're bloody!" Chika yelped at the sight of Yō.

"It's the knights', not mine." Yō reassured her.

"Where're Kanan and Yohane?" Hanamaru asked.

Kanan took a deep breath and walked into the room. All eyes locked on her. The room went deathly silent.

"Y-Yohane…" Hanamaru started crying as she ran over to them.

She took Yohane from Kanan and held her close. Kanan hugged her as she started sobbing again. Yō was comforting Chika. She was upset as well.

Kanan took Yohane back from Hanamaru and set her on the bed in the room. Kanan then pulled Hanamaru into a hug and let her cry.

"We should start prepping her. We might not have a lot of time."

"I'll go sniff around to see if there are any more knights." Yō stated.

"Let me come with you!" Chika climbed in Yō's back. She needed a distraction.

Yō and Chika went to patrol the forest to see if any more knights were coming for them. Kanan slowly released Hanamaru from the hug.

"You're going to get her ready for burial?" Riko asked.

"Yeah."

Hanamaru went and started grabbing the incense she would use. Kanan helped her with it. It didn't take long for her body to be ready. They couldn't clean her up from the blood. It was too risky to go out and do so. Kanan carried Yohane to the small patch of land for burying things.

Hanamaru used her magic to make a hole for her. Kanan set her down in it and then Hanamaru sealed it up again. The five of them -Hanamaru, Kanan, Mari, Riko, and Dia- all stood silently. They all prayed a small prayer and then went back inside the house.

"What are we going to do? They'll be after us until you guys are found…" Kanan sighed.

"They probably only need me." Riko stated.

"Why is that?" Dia asked.

"Because, they could lie and say I had killed you… they don't need us both." Riko replied.

"You aren't doing it. You're not turning yourself in." Dia stated firmly.

"But, it would be easier…" Riko mumbled.

"It might be. But, what good will it really do?" Mari asked.

"They'll still search for me. It'll just be in secret." Dia stated, "This isn't going to be solved so easily."

"How are we going to solve it?"

"We may be starting another riot." Kanan stated.

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, "What?"

"Look, the only way things are going to get better is if we get the citizens on our side." Kanan explained, "If they rise up, we could take control. It's the only thing left. Talking isn't going to work."

"That will be hard."

"We have insiders, though. You guys know a lot more about the knights than we do."

"I guess that's true…"

"For now, we should wait until things die down."

"Of course."

DIVIDER--

Chika and Yō came back a while later. They informed everyone that there were no other knights around. They were all gone. The three that had been killed were the only ones left. Everyone was very relieved by that. Everyone was very silent for the most part.

It was tough with losing Yohane. No one really knew what to do. Hanamaru had locked herself in her room and refused to come out. Yō had managed to get in with her. Chika was curled up with Kanan on the couch. Mari was sitting beside Kanan. Dia was sitting on the floor, staring off into space. Riko was asleep with her head resting on Dia's lap. Dia was brushing her hair absentmindedly.

"What are we gonna do?" Chika asked, "We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"There's nothing we can do right now." Kanan stated.

"I'm going out for a walk. I need some air." Chika hopped off of Kanan's lap and headed out the door.

Chika wandered through the woods. She had no idea where she wanted to go. She just needed to get out. She felt empty without Yohane. It was like a part of her died when she did. Chika wasn't sure if that was actually what happened. She was surprised she was still able to talk despite Yohane being gone. She had thought the magic would have left her.

Chika wandered toward the town. She didn't know where else to go. As she neared, she heard talking. It sounded like a very strict person. Chika gulped and ran toward where the noise was coming from. She was worried the knights had come back.

She was right. There were more knights now. They also had the bodies of the killed knights. Chika froze when she saw that there were two knight groups. One of them was from a far away kingdom. The Snow kingdom.

Chika froze when she saw that one of the princesses of the kingdom was with the knights. She also saw that Ruby was with them as well. She looked scared. Chika crept forward and listened in on the conversation.

"...where they are. You two will lure them back to us."

Chika gulped. She knew that wasn't good. Ruby nodded and hesitantly started walking toward where Chika was hiding. The other princess followed her. Chika backed away and ran into the forest. She was going to confront Ruby once she was safely away from the knights. Chika just hoped the other princess wouldn't try anything.

"Why are we doing this? Couldn't some knights do it? What if we get caught?" The Snow Princess was complaining.

"They don't know where the house is… I do…" Ruby replied.

"Still. If we get hurt it's their fault!"

"Ruby!" Chika called and ran at her.

"Huh? Oh… Chika?" Ruby realized who she was, "What are you doing out here?"

"I was taking a walk. What are you doing here?" Chika asked in reply.

"Who is this?" The Snow Princess glared at Chika.

"A friend." Ruby replied, "She won't hurt us."

"Ruby, are you really going to do this?" Chika asked.

"You know what we're doing?"

"Yeah. I heard." Chika nodded.

"I don't know… I just want onee-chan back." Ruby mumbled.

"But she'll be distant if she goes back. If they take Riko from her again, she'll just be really sad all the time. Do you want that?" Chika tried to talk her out of it.

Ruby shook her head, "I want onee-chan to be happy."

"Wait. Isn't she allowed to date girls?" The other princess asked in confusion.

"Apparently her personal servant wasn't part of that promise." Chika growled.

"That's mean! She should be able to love her and date her!"

"Leah…" Ruby mumbled.

"Nee-sama is really mad about those rules. She's changing them once she takes over. I agree with her."

"Well, there's also another issue… apparently their father actually hates people like that." Chika sighed.

"What?" Ruby and Leah both looked at her in shock.

"That's what Kanan told us." Chika stated.

"We aren't turning them over." Leah stated, "Not if that's what's going to happen to them."

"But, they'll come looking for us…" Ruby said.

"We'll find a way to deceive them." Leah promised, "This is unacceptable."

"Chika, can you take us to the house?" Ruby asked.

Chika nodded. She led the two princesses to the house. Chika explained the current situation and about how those dead knights were the ones who killed Yohane.

"Yohane? I think I remember her. She lived in our kingdom for a while." Leah said.

"She did? How come she left?" Chika asked.

"Witch hunts started for her. We couldn't stop them, so she ran." Leah explained.

"We're here." Chika announced.

She jumped up and easily opened the door. Chika walked inside. Ruby and Leah stayed outside until Chika announced them. They didn't want to just walk in without warning.

"I brought some visitors." Chika stated.

"Who?" Kanan asked.

While Chika had been gone, Mari had moved off the couch and onto the floor next to Dia. Dia was resting her head against Mari's shoulder and sleeping. Mari was drawing a random picture on a piece of paper. She looked up at Chika, but stayed silent.

"Come in, guys!" Chika called to them.

Ruby and Leah hesitantly walked into the house. Chika closed the door behind them. Leah refused to make eye contact and hid behind Ruby.

"Um… why are you here?" Kanan asked as she stood up and walked toward them.

"They want us to bring those two back." Leah stated as she pointed to Dia and Riko, "We aren't going to, though."

"So… what exactly is the plan then? They won't appreciate you guys coming back alone, I would assume." Kanan questioned.

"No idea." They both shrugged in reply.

"Who are you?" Mari asked Leah.

"Kazuno Leah. Younger princess of the Snow kingdom." Leah introduced herself, "You're Mari, right?"

"Yes, that's me." Mari nodded.

The door to Hanamaru's room opened up. Yō came out. She stared at the two princesses with curious eyes. Yō approached them and sat at Kanan's feet.

"H-hi." Ruby shyly greeted Yō.

"Hi, Ruby. How have you been?" Yō asked as she sniffed Ruby's dress.

"I'm okay." Ruby replied as she hesitantly patted Yō on the head.

"Okay… So, we have a talking cat and a talking wolf." Leah stared at Yō.

"Yeah. We have magic in us that lets us talk." Yō stated.

"What's with all the commotion?" Hanamaru grumbled as she came out of the room.

Her eyes widened at the sight. She stood in place and eyed Leah warily.

"Maru, we're gonna need your help." Kanan stated.

DIVIDER--

It was evening by the time they had worked out the plan. Leah and Ruby were not going back. They both stated that they wanted to stay. The plan was simple. Hanamaru was going to use her magic to create illusions of Ruby and Leah being dead. They hoped the knights would be deceived and leave.

While Hanamaru was doing that, Kanan would be standing over the illusions to pretend like she had killed them. They couldn't let the knights touch them. They'd be instantly aware of the trick.

The two of them left the house to go and do it. Kanan led the way to where the knights were camping out for the night. She nodded to Hanamaru once they made it. Hanamaru took a deep breath and then cast the spell. The illusions appeared on the ground before them. They looked very realistic.

Kanan stood in front of them and yelled for the knights' attention. They all turned to look at her. Kanan pointed the bodies and smiled.

"You were fools to let children try and enter the woods." Kanan called to them.

The knights looked at each other and then slowly backed away. They weren't going to fight. They didn't want to. Kanan growled at them. The knights quickly started packing their things.

"Cowards…" Kanan spat as they fled.

Hanamaru let go of the illusions and they vanished into nothingness. Kanan walked over to her and smiled. It had worked. Kanan let Hanamaru climb into her back for the walk home. She had drained a lot of her magic doing that for as long as she did.

They soon made it back to the house. Everyone was waiting anxiously for their return. Kanan announced that they had succeeded and it wasn't that hard. The knights were cowards. They didn't even fight for the bodies.

"It's late. I guess we should all get some rest." Kanan said.

They divided up the rooms for the night. Dia, Mari, and Riko were all going to sleep in one room together. Ruby and Leah would take another. Kanan and Hanamaru were going to sleep in the last one. Chika and Yō decided they wanted to sleep in the living room.

DIVIDER--

Hanamaru had settled into the bed, but didn't try to sleep. She was staring at the ceiling. Kanan frowned as she watched. She didn't know what to do. Kanan sighed as she nuzzled her face into Hanamaru's neck. Hanamaru brushed Kanan's hair as she continued to stare up at nothing.

"Maru?" Kanan whined.

Hanamaru didn't reply. She turned toward Kanan and snuggled up close to her. Kanan pulled her into a hug.

"I miss her…" Hanamaru mumbled.

"I do too…" Kanan replied as she kissed Hanamaru on the head.

"Miss me?" A familiar voice asked.

Hanamaru and Kanan shot up. Yohane was standing at the edge of the room. She was transparent.

"Yohane…" Hanamaru started crying again.

Yohane walked over to them. She suddenly became solid and pulled Hanamaru into a hug.

"Shh… it's okay… I'm here now…" Yohane whispered as she soothed Hanamaru.

Kanan hesitated, before she hugged them both. Yohane hugged Kanan with one of her arms. Hanamaru was hugging herself as she cried. Kanan and Yohane both hugged her tightly.

"Why'd you have to die…?" Hanamaru cried as she looked up at Yohane.

"Sometimes things happen that we don't like." Yohane replied.

"Why are you here?" Kanan asked.

"I can't cross over… something has to be done. I don't know what it is, but my purpose wasn't fulfilled." Yohane explained.

"I guess we'll have to figure that out."

"But… then you'll leave us…" Hanamaru whined, "I don't want you to leave me!"

"Just because I cross over doesn't mean I can't still see you. It'll just be in dreams, is all." Yohane tried to reassure her.

"I want you with me…" Hanamaru whined.

"I'm sorry…" Yohane sighed as she kissed Hanamaru.

"Maru… I know it's hard…" Kanan whispered, "But you can't keep her here forever."

"Maybe my purpose is to help you guys with something?" Yohane suggested hopefully.

"Maybe." Kanan hoped that was the case. She knew it would be worse if it wasn't.

Yohane became transparent again, "I can't stay visible for long. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you guys at night."

With that, she vanished. Hanamaru hugged Kanan as she kept crying. She didn't want Yohane to leave. She wanted her around like it used to be. Kanan did her best to calm her down, but it was hard.

The two of them felt a cold breeze wrap around them. Hanamaru relaxed at the feeling. They both knew it was Yohane they were feeling. Hanamaru eventually cried herself to sleep in Kanan's arms. Kanan laid Hanamaru down on the bed.

She placed a kiss on Hanamaru's head before she laid down beside her. The cool air stayed around them. It wasn't a chilling cold air. It felt nice. Kanan felt the blanket on the bed move over them. It startled her for a minute. It was going to be hard to get used to Yohane being invisible but still there.