The maid is a pervert that likes to be treated harshly/like furniture. This disgusts Nicol to no end.

Also, Maria's mom will be named Teresa from now on.

There was a family reunited. At least Alan Stuart guessed they were a family, and a numerous one at that. Other people were behind them, but there weren't that many. There was a girl he suspected wasn't a part of the bloodline, but he didn't really know how he knew.

They wept together all the same. Flowers and various gifts presented in some sort of strange altar, some sort of smoke which might have been incense burning strongly as their shoulders shook.

He knew this scenery, had known it for a good part of his life. Alan would have sighed if he had the lungs to do so. Even knowing this was nothing but a dream, he couldn't do anything but to stare.

There was a lonesome couple with a little girl in their midst.

Even with no one but them, they wept all the same. As strongly as the first family had even with the offerings being all but absent save for what they had gathered by themselves. Alan saw rather than heard the unconsolable little girl almost trash around as her anguish reignited. Even if he had heard them, the strange smoky white noise that came out of their voice was ininteligible, so there was nothing he could do about it.

Two girls around his age approached. They had nothing to do with each other, and seemed uncomfortable to be there at all. They noticed the absolute absence of people, exchanged some words and one of them left.

"What are you trying to tell me?" He asked without speaking, to no one in particular since this scenery proved to be as inviolable as if it was made by divine spark "Why now of all times?"

Nothing he did changed anything. Not in real life or in dreams. In the night he got them, he was forced to stay there until both had passed. Unable to leave or change the course of time, trapped as a ghastly witness to the two mourning processes until there was nothing more there but an absolute void. Only then would he be capable of doing anything, waking up most of the time, but others he would be able to control his dreams at will. Though this was a rather useless ability.

This dream repeated itself every so often, something Alan was looking forward to stopping, but something that never did. This curious occurrence was just in his mind when his and Maria-san's talk turned sour because the girl realized something really bad was going on.

"Okay, so…" The two of them had gone away from the crowd and got into a rather small room after navigating through the palace for a few minutes. It was a discreet place, one where they could discuss matters without people walking on them by accident "I don't understand what you're trying to say."

Maria-san stared at him, almost burning holes on his forehead.

"Well?" Alan prompted. This wasn't like the Maria he knew, and he didn't know what was happening nor could he think of anything.

"What do you mean well?" Maria-san's perplexedness raised even more, but she didn't elaborate.

"Tell me, what did you figure out?"

"But I just did!" The blonde insisted, all but ready to give in on her panic.

"No? You're just looking at me." Alan explained. This gave the girl pause, her breath caught in her throat like she was being choked.

"No. I just explained it." The light mage spoke in a slow and controlled manner. Almost as if she didn't have enough air to keep talking.

Alan blinked, but nothing happened.

"...Explained what?"

Maria-san's eyes expanded to the point Alan thought they would just pop out and fall to the floor. She was quick to her feet and reached out for him.

Something inside Alan snapped in place, and he sidestepped with dexterity unlike anything Maria-san expected. It wasn't as good as Gerald's, but Alan knew what he was doing so he kept out of Maria-san's reach.

"What are you trying to do?" Alan tried to remain as calm as he could, his heart beating strongly enough that he could feel it on the back of his ears.

Maria-san didn't answer.

"I said: What are you trying to do, Maria-san?"

"I told you to let me heal you!" The girl insisted, anger flaring in her features for the briefest of moments.

"No. And no you're not getting close to me." Alan stated, voice firm and his features sharp "You've been behaving awfully strangely for a while now. Are you sure you're up to good things?"

"What do you mean? Alan-sama, do you not trust me?" Maria-san pleaded, taken completely off-guard by Alan's words.

"Well, yes."

"Then why?!"

Why? Why indeed…

"Maybe you're the Maria-san I know." Alan quickly replied after thinking about it for a moment "We can't be sure."

"That's nonsense!" The girl insisted, light rippling through her hands "Who else can do this?! Alan-sama, please trust me here!"

"You could be deceiving me somehow." Alan didn't rule the possibility out.

"Then let me prove you I'm me by healing you!"

"And let you do something weird to me? I think not." The prince barked back, quickly taking note of where everything was placed should things go sour.

"Listen to yourself! This is because you're being affected by…!" The blonde smacked her mouth shut. Wide eyes stared expectantly at the prince in a sudden shift of tone.

"Affected by what?" Alan bit on her lead, guard still high up.

"I… Can't say it." Maria-san replied slowly "You'll forget immediately."

"How convenient, isn't it?" Though Alan sounded challenging, the girl didn't answer. Instead, she took a step to the left. Prompting Alan to do the same to keep their distance in place.

He blinked, and the room he saw after just closing his eyes for a second was completely different.

"Eh?" No. To be more precise, it was the opposite side of the room he was looking at. Somehow, someway, in just a second he and the light mage had walked in half a circle without him noticing "Wait. What? How…?"

"Do you see?" Maria-san asked. Her body tense as if she was ready to sprint at any moment's notice.

He didn't understand what was going on, but something was clearly out of his control. And now that he realized it, there was no denying the blonde was onto something. Alan simply needed to figure out what.

And given how blatantly dangerous this whole thing was, he of course decided to get Gerald to solve it instead of doing it the hard way.

"You have one chance to explain yourself." Gerald glared daggers at the duo in front of him. About ready to use his magic as if he was confronting a criminal instead of his own brother and a friend.

"Basically, we're dealing with a Dangerous Underhanded Meticulous Bastard trying to mess with our minds." Alan explained, Maria-san glaring at him when she couldn't intervene.

"I don't see how this DUMB has anything to do with Maria-san not explaining herself." Gerald took it in stride, though. Which Alan was already expecting.

He centered himself before answering

"She can't. Or rather, we can't understand her." Alan sighed "There's something messing with our heads, Gerald. It prevents us from hearing what she's trying to say."

"Or so Maria-san claims." His brother finished.

"Yeah." Alan admitted.

"I-I just want to help." Maria-san brought her hands together "Please, Gerald-sama. Alan-sama. You have to trust me here, please let me heal you."

Everything in Alan screamed that he didn't. Even when he wanted to believe in the blonde, he couldn't help but think she was up to something. What, he wasn't sure. But there was no denying this dark feeling in any way.

Treachery was easy to come by. Of this, his father made sure to teach him from the beginning. Even the most honest-looking, purest-souled person could turn on them simply because they were people of power. Even having spent as much time with Maria-san as they did wouldn't ever clear her completely of being a potential backstabber.

It was too convenient. Even using Keith's situation to twist and make her story more believable. Alan just couldn't see a way to trust her with so many holes in her story.

Except, if she was telling the truth, was precisely what this dark force was doing: Clouding his judgment so he couldn't see the truth. But if he couldn't trust himself, then who could he trust?

There was a lonely tomb. There, someone rested in relative peace. Someone that maybe, if he had had someone looking out for him, wouldn't have died to begin with.

"Alright." Alan took a lungful of air, reaching for the blonde before he could think about what he was doing.

"Alan, wait! Don't!" Gerald was ready to jump for him, to take him away before the maybe not Maria-san could do anything to him.

She was faster.

"...!" Alan pushed her out of the way not a moment too soon. The dark feeling encroaching his heart lifting like a blanket taking a ride in the air.

They made way for Gerald, who landed on his feet between them, a sword raised towards Maria-san and his back to Alan in a fit of genuine panic.

He wasn't taking his eyes off the girl.

"Alan, are you…?"

"Dark magic." Alan whispered.

He saw Gerald's shoulders tense, his blade wavered for a moment before it went back to its position.

"Alan, are you…?"

"Dark magic." Alan repeated, a bit of a smile on his lips.

Gerald's mind reset once more.

"Alan, are you alright? What did she do to you?" To his credit, he sounded very concerned as well. It was just that Alan couldn't take his brother seriously after witnessing his rather pitiful state of mind.

"I see. So that's how it was." The prince nodded, patting his sibling's shoulder only managing to startle the blond "I'm fine, really. Why don't you let Maria-san use her magic on you?"

"Heal him." The girl corrected with a sigh "Alan-sama, please don't make this more complicated than it needs to be."

"You too?" The prince stepped aside, now his weapon slowly oscillating between his own brother and the light mage.

"You don't see the problem, do you?" Alan sighed, very aware that they would have to force-heal Gerald.

"I see that you're strangely agreeable with her after she touched you."

The blonde mage scoffed, but otherwise didn't react visibly. Alan didn't want to think she was used to being treated like that… But she probably was.

Something to think about later, he supposed.

"Fine." The untainted twin sighed "Be that way. Just stop pointing that dangerous stick at us, we'll leave you alone. We can agree to that, yes?"

"...Indeed." Gerald never stopped pointing at them. Alan and Maria-san left the room slowly, never stopping to stare at the blond prince until the door shut open.

Alan and Maria-san sighed deeply at the same time once out of danger. Even if he wasn't Keith-level, both of them knew Gerald was no slack, and he could probably kick their asses at the same time without problem.

"Now what?" Maria-san asked, although the course of action was rather obvious.

They needed someone that wouldn't get his ass kicked as easily to get a window of opportunity to heal Gerald.

"We get Nicol. ASAP, since Gerald probably already signaled his people. And with so many students around, we have just a small window of opportunity before this blows up in our faces." Alan didn't doubt his personal followers would act against another prince, so getting to the wind mage was of utmost importance. Even if things went south, his magic was also capable of discretion. So it was by far the best shot they had in such short notice.

"I see." Maria-san had her reservations, but that was to be expected. Nicol wasn't precisely a team player. But her time working with him easily convinced her that bringing him to the fold was a good call.

After all, Alan had taken a leap of faith to get the magic affecting his mind undone. And there was no way Gerald Stuart would trust anyone more than his own judgment at all. Not without Katarina to convince him to, at least.