{-Sharena-}

Lekra had been bugging her all morning about how that "something" they'd felt earlier had disappeared when they'd came back from the theater. She couldn't decide if her dizziness was coming from them or if she was getting sick again.

Sharena unceremoniously plopped down on one of the chairs, not really caring when Kiraat noticed her and gently put a hand to her forehead.

"You feel like you're running a fever," he remarked solemnly. "Are you feeling okay?" Yet again, it didn't sound like he was actually talking to her. She hated it just as much as she'd hated the way Ortaire mocked her when they danced.

"I was technically sick a couple of days ago," she replied. She couldn't help but give a sideways glance at Lekra—who seemed too busy nervous rambling to notice.

"That's news to me. If you weren't completely over it then I'm surprised you came along at all." Kiraat stepped a bit closer to the kitchen, likely his original path. "Let me know if it starts bothering you and I can get some tea ready. Tea makes everything better—at least, that's what our caretaker used to tell us."

She gave a small, half-hearted shrug. "I'd been doing fine until now. There'd only been one day when I'd felt really bad, I honestly don't get why everyone keeps making a big deal out of it…" She couldn't remember a time where there wasn't at least two people fussing over her, then they all wondered why she'd spent so long keeping stuff from them.

Of course, she remembered why she'd sat down to begin with after she'd gotten up. The dizziness washed over her again and she faltered, gaining the attention of both Lekra and Kiraat.

"Both of you are set on making it seem like I broke you, aren't you..?" Kiraat sighed, offering a hand to her. "Let me take you to your—"

"No. The whole reason I came out here was for you to talk about Loki." Her voice was remarkably level for someone that was practically swaying. "Where's Alfonse?"

"There's no way I'm going to convince you into laying down for a while, is there?" At the determined but weak shake of her head, Kiraat sighed. "He had a chat with Veronica then went back to doing chores. Sit down at the kitchen table, I'll go find him, and then I can give that explanation for a lot of the things I've done."

She nodded, and allowed him to guide her to the kitchen. She sat down and waited until she was sure he'd left before turning her attention to Lekra.

They frowned worriedly. "You didn't have that much trouble balancing even on your worst day," they observed. "Was it something I did? I didn't mean to do something, but I know our bonds are considerably weak when you're not doing well so it wouldn't take much. You should've chose to rest. Having to wait a little longer is far better than passing out."

"I'm not going to pass out," she retorted dismissively.

"Sharena, as a nightmare, I can sense when someone's on the brink of unconsciousness. You're uncomfortably close to that and I know it's not because you're tired."

She didn't say anything else to them about it.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, either. Both Kiraat and Alfonse came in, even if the former went to get them some water while the latter actually sat down.

"So, I'm curious," Kiraat began as he sat a glass of water in front of each of them, "How'd you know about Loki and me?" It was a completely casual statement; still, behind the calmness he seemed to have, there was something to it that made it feel like he was mentally freaking out.

"When Veronica told me about you, she included that you might know something about Loki," Alfonse explained simply. "It's not a problem, is it?"

Kiraat shrugged. "That and the story of what happened to us are kind of interconnected; I'd figured I'd be telling you about it anyway. But I can warn you know it's not something that really had a happy ending… And remember what I told you—if you can, ask Hen for her side of the story, too. It'll give you a better understanding of everything.

"If I'm going to start somewhere, it might as well be the beginning. The first thing that happened was that your parents met, and don't get me wrong, it wasn't all that bad. Sure, me and him never really liked each other and that certainly didn't get better with time, but I don't really have a place to talk about their age difference when I'm six years older than her too. Then a couple months passed, and… we met her. Loki. Hen had started coughing up blood so me and my sister Zenas kept Loki occupied while Gustav took her somewhere safe. It was the start of the deal I made with Loki, even after… seeing what she'd done to Zenas. I've always been a realistic man and I knew doing what she wanted me to was the best option to keep everyone else safe. But let's get this straight, I'd never hurt anyone for her. What I did was dull tasks given to just about any evil minion—I guess she knew that I was only loyal to her because I knew I needed to.

"I can admit now that the plan itself was ideal, and that I should've expected it to go wrong. But there's not anything that can be done about it now. We encountered each other; me and Loki on one side, Hen, Umber, and Takane on the other. I really wish I could say that what happened to Umber out of that was one of his own recklessness, but I know that I also should've been more careful. A stray arrow hit him and we left again.

"It wasn't too much longer after that when I realized that I definitely screwed up, though it took a year to actually tell the others that. I haven't really interacted with Loki since then and what I was allowed to do with Hen was limited, too—Gustav still thought I wasn't being honest, even if he really had no real place to say anything about it. I'd returned to this place at that time and started picking up where I'd left off, putting to use all those skills I'd learned to be able to live independently. You both should have a good enough idea of when Hel first came here, right? Takane died then. I got a letter from Hen stating as much. That was also the last time I'd talked to her before five years ago… but that's another story I think you really should hear from her, if you don't know it already."

Neither of them said anything for a while. Sharena had very little context on what any of those names were—but she remembered again the picture she'd seen at the beginning, and thinking on it, knew which name had belonged to which person.

Alfonse was the first to actually ask a question. "I know you said she knew you're loyalty was superficial, but Loki didn't happen to have told you anything that might help us, did she?"

"He gives off the air of someone who still keeps in touch with her," Lekra remarked quietly, even if only she could hear them. "I suppose it doesn't have to be willingly, but… Actually I think it'll be better if I kept that part to myself…" They gave her a worried glanced, only succeeding in reminding her that she still didn't feel well.

Kiraat shrugged. "Sorry, but I don't think so. We barely even came across each other at all, and much less frequently did she tell me anything important. All I can say is that she's more than capable of bending things to her will. Hen—a moderately healthy person, mind you—coughed up blood sometime after almost every encounter with Loki. Apparently Gustav had thought of a way to get rid of her, but as you can see now, that plan didn't work well and it didn't sit well with him to know that. I wish I could say that I had much more to contribute, but in all honesty, I don't. I mean, two months ago I got this letter from someone named 'Thórr' with a weird piece of rock attached. I've sent it someplace safer, though, since nowadays there's a lot of thieves and I don't think it's something that should be left in the hands of someone like that."

That was definitely the tone of someone who knew more about it than he wanted them to believe—and she had a guess on what it was.

Words failed her when she went to say it, though. She was beginning to accept what Lekra had told her before; maybe she was actually going to pass out. She was sure she said something to them but what, exactly, she'd said was something she wasn't sure of. All she could really process was Alfonse taking her to her room and laying down.

((A/N: Behold, the age difference between Henriette and Gustav! In the next chapter, you get to learn just how relatively young she actually is (putting everything into consideration) if you do math!

When I post this, tomorrow—October 14th—would be the one-year anniversary of the series! Even if this is the first story you read, please review or send me a PM about your favorite moments and your ideas for what's going to happen next! Who knows, there might even be a prize involved…))