Two months had gone by. Sarah and Leah were due to arrive for a visit any day now. Dia had finally recovered her strength again. Yō still refused to leave Dia's side. Rika was growing up well still. There was one problem with her. She wasn't speaking at all. There were no baby noises coming from her. The only sound she made was when she cried.

Hanamaru tried to find a cause, but she came up empty every time. She was growing frustrated. She just wanted to make Rika better again.

Everyone had discussed the baby Kanan would have. They all agreed they should name her Riko since it technically was her. That was causing a few problems. Rika and Riko sounded extremely similar. They got around that by referring to Rika as "Ri" instead.

Yohane had informed Kanan that there was a slight chance for Riko to retain her memories from her previous life. None of them knew if that would turn out a good thing or a bad thing if that happened. They decided to hope it would be a good thing if she got her memories back.

"Your majesties, they have arrived." A knight told them.

Mari went out to go and greet them. She led them back to the living room where everyone else was currently at. They sat down together and greeted everyone.

Dia was hiding Rika's missing leg from being seen by covering her lower body with a blanket. She was nervous. Dia didn't think they would have anything bad to say, but she was still nervous about them finding out about it.

"So, is this your daughter?" Sarah asked.

Dia nodded, "Yes. Her name is Rika, but we call her Ri."

"She looks so cute."

"How old is she?" Leah asked.

"About five months." Dia replied.

"Can I hold her?"

Dia knew that was most likely going to happen. She didn't want to give Rika over. She wanted to keep her hidden.

"There's… something you need to know about her." Dia said.

"What is it?"

"She… she's uh, missing a leg. And, she doesn't make any noise aside from crying." Dia whispered.

Sarah and Leah didn't know how to respond to that. They didn't know if they should even say anything or not.

"It doesn't matter." Sarah said.

Dia hesitated, before she removed the blanket from Rika. She nervously handed Rika to Sarah. Sarah didn't show any reaction. She held Rika. Rika stared up at her with wide eyes. She smiled. Her mouth moved, but no noise came out.

"There's something that our healers call 'infant muteness'. It is caused by the vocal cords not forming when they're supposed to. Normally by the time they're one, they can make noise." Sarah said, "They sometimes can also half-grow, which would explain why she can cry with noise but not make any other sounds."

"It'll heal on its own?" Dia asked hopefully.

Sarah sighed, "It may. It's… complicated when it half-forms. It might not finish growing."

"Maru?" Kanan asked.

"I don't know if I can do anything. I can't make it grow." Hanamaru said, "All I could do is give all the functions to whatever is there."

"Could that cause problems?" Ruby asked.

Hanamaru nodded, "Yes. It can put too much strain on the cord and cause it to die."

"So, there's nothing we could do?" Dia asked.

"Sarah, your magic. What can it do?" Hanamaru asked.

"I don't know. I've never really tested it at all." Sarah shrugged.

"Perhaps we should. Your magic might be able to create things." Hanamaru said.

"You think so?" Sarah knew why Hanamaru was asking now.

"Yes." Hanamaru nodded.

"Well, I guess later on we could try and figure out what I can do." Sarah said.

"Alright. That's settled then."

They spent the next hour or so talking about how things have been going in both kingdoms. Things seemed to be going well for the both of them.

After lunch, everyone went off to do their own things. This was when Hanamaru decided to test Sarah's magic. They met in her room.

"So, let's start simple. Show me your magic." Hanamaru started.

Sarah held out her hand. Swirls of green started circling around her hand. Hanamaru nodded in approval.

"Alright. Make something." Hanamaru ordered next.

Sarah hesitated, before she formed a leaf in her hand. Hanamaru took the leaf and examined it. It wasn't very realistic in terms of physics.

"Make something that looks and feels real." Hanamaru crushed the leaf.

Sarah winced at her tone. She hesitantly tried again. She created another leaf. Hanamaru took it and examined it. It still wasn't living up to being real enough.

"Can you not make anything work realistically?" Hanamaru asked.

"I…" Sarah looked away, "I can't keep it for long…"

"You'll have to work on that." Hanamaru stated.

"How?" Sarah asked.

"Practice."

"You're going to train me?"

Hanamaru nodded, "I will."

"I've always shunned my magic. This is really weird. I've never liked it." Sarah said.

"Well, you're going to have to learn to at least like it." Hanamaru said.

"But it's wrong! I shouldn't have magic!" Sarah argued.

"I believe there's a reason for everything." Hanamaru replied.

"Well I don't!" Sarah stormed out of the room.

Hanamaru sighed. She knew this was going to be a battle. Sarah wasn't willing to put effort into her magic. If she didn't, there was no way they could could help Rika get her voice back. Hanamaru knew she had her work cut out for her. She was going to try again.

DIVIDER--

Hanamaru found Sarah in the garden. She approached her. Sarah looked back. She turned back around.

"Sarah, I understand this is sensitive." Hanamaru said, "But, I think it would do you some good to be able to use your magic."

"If anyone finds out, I'll be burned." Sarah stated.

"Then be careful. I still think you should learn how to use it." Hanamaru wasn't going to give up.

"What can I do with it?" Sarah asked.

"A lot of things. You could heal people from their wounds. You can create life itself. You can also take that life from people if you so wish to." Hanamaru replied, "Though, that's unadvised as it is dark magic."

"Do you know any way I could've gotten magic?" Sarah asked quietly.

"May I do a check?" Hanamaru asked, "Sometimes you can sense where the magic in the body originated from."

Sarah nodded. Hanamaru rested a hand on Sarah's shoulder. She closed her eyes and focused on sensing. Hanamaru pulled back after a few minutes.

"So?" Sarah asked.

"It's weird… it's coming from the heart like a pure witch would, but the feel isn't pure." Hanamaru did her best to explain it, "It's not possible to have magic start at the heart if it isn't something you're born with, and yet…"

"Do you know anything that might've happened?" Sarah asked.

Hanamaru thought about it. She couldn't think of any way that could happen. Then, her eyes suddenly lit up in realization.

"Removed magic." Hanamaru said.

"What's that?" Sarah asked.

"It means you were born with magic, but someone tried to get rid of it. Success can vary. That might explain why a test didn't show anything. Whoever had magic got it completely removed." Hanamaru explained.

"So… I actually… I'm a witch?" Sarah was trying to wrap her head around the news.

"It seems so. There is no other way your starting point can be the heart." Hanamaru confirmed.

"This is a lot…" Sarah mumbled, "I need some time."

"Of course. Take the time you need. You know where to find me if you need anything." Hanamaru said.

"Can you show me where I'll be staying?" Sarah asked.

Hanamaru nodded, "Of course."

The two of them walked back into the castle. Hanamaru showed Sarah to her room and then let her be. Hanamaru went to go and see what everyone else was up to.

DIVIDER--

"I don't know about this."

"Yeah…"

"Should we really be doing this?"

"Of course we should be."

Kanan paused. She had been taking a walk around the castle grounds. She looked in the direction of where she heard the talking. Kanan crept over and looked. She spotted three girls gathering around something.

"It reeks of black magic. It'll easily be sensed."

"I'm going to hide the scent, idiot!"

"Why are we doing this?"

"If no one is willing to change this, then I'll do this myself."

"I don't get you. What's so wrong with the rule?"

Kanan gulped. She realized what was happening now. These girls were plotting something that had to do with the castle. Kanan moved a little closer and prayed she wouldn't be sensed. She needed to figure this out.

"It's not okay. I hate them being combined!"

Kanan sighed inaudibly at that. She knew people were still bitter about the combination. She didn't understand it at all. Nothing had really changed. The rules stayed almost exactly the same.

"What exactly are you planning to do?"

"It's simple, really. They have the Snow kingdoms princesses with them. If we can kidnap one and then say it was ordered by the crown, their alliance will be over. There'll be war and we can finally live the way we want to."

Kanan started panicking. She knew she needed to do something. The girls had a good plan. The citizens would instantly believe them. Even if Sarah and Leah didn't, it wasn't going to be in their favor.

"What is this going to do?"

"Change of plans. I'll actually show you."

The leader of the group stood up and grabbed the mysterious object. It was a rag. It had demonic symbols on it.

"You see, girls, it's a really easy to make contraption. It'll attack whoever it is thrown at and strangle them."

Kanan started backing away. The girl started walking toward where she was hiding at. Kanan knew she had been sensed. She tried to get out of there, but the girl was faster.

"Hello, your majesty. I suppose you heard everything." The girl jumped in front of Kanan.

Kanan took a step back. She looked around for an exit.

"I can't let you go now that you've heard." The girl held out the rag, "I won't allow our plan to be ruined."

The rag suddenly came to life and growled. Kanan was surrounded. She knew there was nothing she could do. She knew her fate was sealed.

"Maru, can you hear me?" Kanan tried to quickly contact her.

"Yes. What's up?"

"There's a problem…"

The rag flung itself at Kanan. It burned her skin at contact. Kanan screeched in pain as she fell to her knees.

"What is it?"

Kanan coughed as the rag tied itself around her neck. She was struggling to communicate.

"I… I'm in trouble… I heard some girls talking about…" Kanan's connection cut off.

"Kanan!? Can you hear me?"

Kanan couldn't reply. She was barely conscious. The girls were laughing.

"Maybe we could use you instead. Order ransom and a change of rule for your safe return." The leader teased.

It wasn't long after that she had fallen unconscious. The rag released her and then vanished into dust. It was a one use only object. The girls smirked at each other as they took Kanan to their base.

DIVIDER--

Hanamaru was extremely worried. She hadn't gotten a word back from Kanan. She was trying to figure out what to do. She knew she should tell everyone, but she didn't want to cause any extra panic.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't last for very long.