{-Alfonse-}

He couldn't have been the only one to notice how distant Eir became over the course of the day. She'd gone from sort of participating in conversation to withdrawing herself completely, even if it seemed like she had something to say.

Eventually he worked up the courage to ask the only thing he could think of the problem being. "Are you thinking of what happened with Líf and Thrasir? You shouldn't worry about what you couldn't have changed. What mattered was that you got the others and came back in time to stop something much worse."

"You put too much trust in me," Eir mumbled. "If you knew all the things that I have done then perhaps I might get what I deserve…" Addressing all of them, she added, "There are some things that I, in good conscience, cannot keep any longer. Is there a place we can go where our chances of being overheard might be lowered..?"

"The Order's castle isn't far from here," Anna said. "Even if Líf and Thrasir are there, I doubt they're going to engage with the state they left in."

Eir seemed perfectly content with that, almost beginning to look relieved already.

…

If the town had an eerily serene air to it, the Order's castle was one of unsettling chaos. It perfectly portrayed the desperate struggle they had gone through in the worst way possible. There was something completely sobering about it and, in some ways, a renewal of the desire to not meet the same fate they did.

Anna led them to the meeting room and gestured for them to sit down. Once they were all settled, Eir began.

"I want to preface this by saying that I have only truly lied to you once… a lie that only one of you has heard. Though I suppose that you could say that most of what I told you was a lie by omission. I was never meant to become an ally, yet now that I have experienced your warmth I cannot bind myself by Hel's commands any longer.

"For the most part, what happened when you found me was staged. My purpose was to get close to you and kill you. I never wanted to be a part of Hel's pointless bloodshed that came about because of her impatience. Líf and Thrasir were my superiors, not Hel, though I no longer plan on reporting to them. When they discover that I choose the fragility of mortal life over death's sense of eternity… they will surely kill me. But I have resolved that I would rather die being truthful to you than to live on with the guilt of knowing I have killed another with nothing to show. And if you would rather, you may even save me the trouble of waiting for them…"

"We're not going to kill you," Alfonse sighed. "You've proven yourself enough already. Quite frankly if you wanted to kill me you could've done it twelve times in the past hour. And as long as I have a say in it, Líf and Thrasir aren't going to get to you either."

Her relief showed in the smallest of smiles. "Thank you so much… for every little thing that you have done up to this point, and all the things that you will do in the future."

"Well, I think we found who's going to use the heart against Hel," Veronica remarked. "Out of all of us, you're the most likely to be able to walk up to her without giving her any suspicions. You can just hide your dagger and she won't suspect a thing until she's dead."

"I assure you that it is much easier said than done," Eir muttered, "but it is not impossible. If that is what you all would like me to do, then I shall find a way to make it work."

"It's certainly better than nothing," Anna decided. "Probably the best idea we've got so far that might actually work."

"But we don't know where it is," Alfonse sighed. "With any hope and luck, there's something here that might be able to help us. We can check the obvious places today, though given the chaos of the place, they probably aren't there. If we can't find them, we can try a full-scale search tomorrow."

Everyone gave their mutual agreement. From there, they went through everywhere something should be and designated who would go where. Still having no idea where Líf and Thrasir were, Anna offered to check the other rooms of the castle in case they also chose this as their temporary haven. They decided on a place to meet up when they were done; just one room where they'd sleep for the night, since it was ultimately deemed safer.

Alfonse only had one last thing to say before they all left. "Eir, what was that one lie?"

"I know what Hel wants from you and what she will gain in killing you," she responded. "In fact, part of the reason I wanted to tell you all of that is because of that knowledge… knowledge of the prince of peace and little dreamer."

((A/N: When do stuff about the prince of peace and little dreamer stop being the cliffhanger of the chapter and they actually talk about it in detail? A couple of chapters. There's someone else who needs to be there… someone who was told by a god to "Look for the prince of peace. He's the only hope we have of breaking the bonds we foolishly made all those years ago…"))