He stumbled into the old castle, ignoring the salutes of the ghostly sentries. The path he took with doubting steps was covered in pieces of masonry, old, burnt pieces of wood, the remains of corroded armor. Here and there holes on the walls allowed some light and the smell of the forest outside to seep into the otherwise damp and shadowy corridor.

Unerringly, passing by degraded frescoes slowly peeling away in their putrefied wooden frames and caved in rooms with the rusty remains of doors, he finally came to a set of stone stairs that spiraled down into the ground and absolute darkness.

Slowly making his way down, careful step after careful step, gauntleted hand scrapping against the rough surface of the wall, he came upon a silver door that seemed to glow with an inner light. The last gift of a mourning friend.

The gauntleted hand left the wall. He didn't need it anymore to keep balance. He touched the wall and the gauntlet seemed to melt back, leaving his bare hand touching the smooth and strangely warm surface of the metallic door.

Upon feeling his fingertips grazing it, the door seemed to waver, and he was able to walk into and through it, to the room beyond.

He gazed at the walls he had stared at wonderingly for years when he was younger. Almost every day of his childhood had brought him here at some point. The walls gleamed with inscribed silvery writing. They were rules. Principles. A Code of Honor.

His eyes slowly followed each letter, his mind brought up the words before he could even finish each one. He tore his gaze from the walls and looked at the center of the room, where a feminine figure lay in eternal rest, keeping her beauty intact.

And she was beautiful. Despite a scar on her cheek, which for some reason only accentuated how perfect her cheeks were and how full her lips were… she had been beautiful since the day he had seen her, the mother he never had, or rather the mother he should have had.

She would lay there. Dead… but beautiful. Conserved in an eternal spell until the end of time. Another gift, from another mourning friend.

And, on her hands, resting over her chest was the final gift that the last friend had given her, or rather the world. Her memories. Her smile, her counsel.

For a moment he considered asking her. But, as his hands went up, yearning for the touch of the gem that contained her wisdom, he looked down at them, and for a moment saw them covered in blood. For a moment he saw a world being destroyed. He saw himself, killing the innocent and he knew. He could never touch it again in innocence. He would never feel clean.

He felt to his knees in front of the altar, staring silently at the woman frozen in time that lay there. He couldn't find the words. Finally, with a sob, he rested his helmeted head on the woman's cold arm.

"What have I done?" Mask asked. He looked up at the four names written on the altar, one next to the other. Names of people he had admired since he could understand what and who they were. Stories she had told him about when he had first touched the stone.

Screaming in frustration, Mask reached out and touched the stone.

Masks and Dragons

Chapter 13

Memories

By Wanderer D

In a flash of light the world was invaded in the smells of the forest, the sounds of a river close by and the hum of the wind accompanied by the songs of birds.

"Tell me, Ertheilos, do you truly think this a good idea?" the woman in green and brown studded leather-armor asked, peering down at the cave uneasily. She had drawn both of her scimitars and the elf knew that if it weren't for the leather gloves she used, she would be adjusting her grip on them every second instead of every five.

"I don't see why not." He answered, looking at his other two companions askance. "It would seem the prince and the dragon are quite keen on going on through it and I have no intention whatsoever of letting them get their hands on a legendary armor."

Itare laughed. "True, I don't want to see it in your delicate elven hands either!" she said, clearing a stray brown lock of hair from her face, blue eyes reflecting her smile.

Ertheilos had managed not to smile back at her and instead had walked to join the dwarf and the hybrid-form shadow dragon. "So what does the map say?"

"Our distinguished friend insists that the chamber is not located in the middle of an underground city populated by all sort of critters, including dark elves, goblins and ogres, not to mention that the area is infamous for hosting chimeras and wyverns." The dragon pointed out. "Rather, a few miles of out of it, despite what the warnings on the map say."

"Sounds like fun," Itare said, walking up to them and looking down at the yellowed scroll. "When are we going?"

The dwarf looked up at her, orange-red beard in full glory in the light of day. "As soon as y'er ready, lass." He answered, pulling his axe out of the harness. The mythril weapon practically hummed in his hands. "Even if dragon-breath here doesn't believe me, I am a dwarf! I know how to read a tunnel map better than anyone here!"

"It's true." The shadow dragon answered. "I haven't spent most of my life time scurrying around tunnels. Leave it to the experts I always say." He grinned at the fuming dwarf. "Let's go, then."

His three companions nodded and one by one went into the cave. In a flash of light the world became dark.

---

"I can't believe Makoto didn't tell us she was Darkshine since the beginning…" Raye sighed. "There was so much that could have been avoided… and we were supposed to be friends."

Usagi stopped looking at the gardens of Ertheilos' house and concentrated on Raye. "I know what you mean… but…" she sighed.

"But how can we trust her, Usagi?" Raye asked. "If she's been hiding this from us all this time, it means she had the power to stop many of our enemies of the past… most of what the Death Busters or even the Senshi that came with Galaxia could shoot at us wouldn't cause any of the dragons any trouble… we have grown stronger, true, but not strong enough to fight one on one against any of them. If we had died… would she have just walked away? Come back to Avalon?"

Usagi shook her head. "I don't think so Raye… I know she would have stayed with us and even used all her power if we had needed it." She looked around, spotting the other Senshi walking around or talking in the garden as Ertheilos escorted Makoto and Sapphire into his house. "I think Mako-chan loves us all… we are her friends."

"Then why didn't she tell us?!" Raye demanded. "We were friends! We have trusted her with our lives!" she closed her eyes as if trying to shut out the world. "We were her friends!"

Usagi gathered Raye into her arms as the Senshi of fire sobbed in anger and hurt. "Why did she betray our trust? Doesn't she think she can trust us?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"She trusts us." Usagi whispered. "And I trust her. And so do you..."

Against her shoulder, Raye nodded. "Yes… I think I do…"

---

Ever since his outburst in Raye's, Mamoru had been mostly silent, part of it, he had to admit to himself, was shame at acting like that, the other part being that he still felt they stood no chance whatsoever.

As he watched Usagi calmly talk to Raye, he thought back on all the enemies they had fought together. From Metallia to Galaxia. The Darkmoon Family, the Twins, the Death Circus… All of them had been threats not only to them, but for the future they were fighting to build; a Utopia if such a thing could be attainable. And now one enemy had swept that future away. There was no future for earth, and so, no Crystal Tokyo.

Their enemies had been always bravado. Dangerous, but they never even came close to actually destroying the world just like Black had. Oh, they had an "anchor" to a point where there was still a world, but, together with the Outers, he had watched how Japan disintegrated, to be followed slowly, but surely by the rest of the world.

In the meantime, the monster's daughter, of all things, had been hiding with them, pretending to be their friend and ally.

He didn't know how the dragon had managed to imitate a Senshi's power, or even how she had managed to convince the Moon Cats that she was the reincarnation of the Princess of Jupiter, who while powerful and reliable, he remembered as shy and mostly a pacifist.

In fact, she couldn't be the Senshi of Jupiter if she was the dragon. She should be more than a thousand years old, which made it impossible for her to be from the Silver Millennium, since their souls had been instantly transported one thousand years into the future to be reborn. They couldn't trust her.

But the problem was Black, after all.

There was one way to stop him, he knew. And it would have to be done he decided as he started walking.

---

"What do you think, Setsuna?" Haruka asked the Senshi of Time. "Can we still trust Makoto?"

Setsuna sighed. "I don't think we have much of a choice. At least until she explains what happened." The Senshi of Pluto looked from Haruka to Hotaru to Michiru. "I think… she has always been that dragon."

Michiru nodded. "She seemed too comfortable in that form for it to be coincidence or even a sudden, unexpected change."

"We all have things to share and things that we keep to ourselves…" Hotaru said, more to herself than the others, but the three other Outers nodded.

"I imagine most of the others are feeling betrayed." Michiru said. "The Inners were a team before we regained our memories… they have had each other for the longest time as friends… they must resent the fact that one of them kept something so big from them."

"Regardless, Makoto is the reincarnation of Jupiter's Princess, of that there is no doubt." The Senshi of Time declared. "She has fought alongside them and us… and against us at some point, but always for her friends and a future she only glimpsed once." Setsuna pointed out. "And as far as I am concerned, that, among other things, makes her a Senshi."

The other three nodded. "Then…" Haruka ventured. "If we all agree on that… and the Inners have trouble accepting her back…"

"Yes." Setsuna said. "I will ask the Future Queen to make her an Outer. As she's certainly out of the Inner's league now, she should be a soldier." She smirked.

"Not again with the Police and Soldiers comparison…" Haruka muttered with a sigh.

Michiru touched Haruka's elbow, calling her attention to the approaching Future King.

The Outers turned to face Mamoru as he came to a stop before them. "I have to talk to you." He said. When they nodded, he continued. "As you know, Black is going to gather the last of the statues here…" When the Senshi nodded again, he sighed. "And one of our own has turned out to be a fake."

Hotaru was about to say something, but Setsuna's hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up to Setsuna's suddenly iron-hard eyes. She wanted to see what their future ruler would do.

Missing the exchange, Mamoru continued. "I realize Usagi asked you not to do this… but I think that the only way to defeat Black is by using your full powers, Hotaru." He said. "Once, when we had a full team, or we thought we had a full team at any rate, we could have worked together with our allies to defeat him without doing something that might destroy this world. But now, we cannot trust these allies, or that dragon that pretended to be our friend. We can only trust each other and hope that they won't turn on us at the last moment. So we have to act by ourselves… be prepared." Mamoru finished, patting Hotaru's shoulder as he turned around to go to Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury, who were talking next to a pond.

The Outers looked at each other, then three pairs of eyes concentrated on Setsuna, who was seething with barely contained anger. "Coward." She growled.

At that moment, they heard a slap that echoed in the garden. They stared at Ami, standing over the fallen form of Minako, who was rubbing her right cheek.

---

In a flash of light, the world was dark and damp, smelling of earth and minerals. And as the roars of battle invaded the darkness with sudden flashes of light, Ertheilos muttered in a strange language, drawing a rune in the air with a piece of chalk.

The rune flared and all three of his companions seemed to be moving three times faster than they usually did, for himself, he drank a blue potion he pulled out of his robes and slowly became mist, finishing his transformation just in time as the huge stinger of one of the chimeras slammed through the mist and through the wall behind.

The shadow dragon slammed into the creature with a roar, sending it crashing with a sickening crunch against the far wall. He peeked at the mist from the corner of his eye, noticing the small wave of a misty 'hand' and nodding. Calling out a ball of crackling energy in his hand and claws, he slammed them into the chimera's ribcage.

On the other side of the battle field, next to the dying chimera the three had dispatched, the last one was fighting a losing battle against Itare and Loar. As the dwarf's axe sliced at the creature's feet, the two remaining heads had to fend off the darting and slicing attacks of Itare's scimitars. Its tail had been cut off by one of the dwarf's maneuvers and the eagle's head had fell victim to a well placed slice, courtesy of Itare.

At last, the dwarf rolled under the chimera, slicing with his axe at the exposed belly and making short work of it, the creature fell, dead, over the dwarf.

Immediately, Itare and the dragon were on the side, pushing the bulk of the creature off of their friend.

"Agh!" The dwarf groaned. "It stinks!"

"If all you have to worry about is how much the creature stinks, then you'll be fine." The dragon laughed.

As the grinning Itare helped the grumbling dwarf up, Ertheilos materialized out of the air, looking a little worried. Noticing this, Itare smiled. "Loar is fine, Ertheilos."

"Of course he's fine." The elf snorted. "His head is thicker and harder than the rocks of the cavern! What worries me is another matter all together."

"So, spill it." The shadow dragon answered.

"Well, remember how you told us that this cavern would take us to the temple of the ancients?" Ertheilos asked the dwarf.

Loar nodded. "Aye."

"Well, it does…" the elf replied, "But it is in the middle of the underground city."

The band looked at each other.

"Well… we've made it this far…" Itare said.

"We'll think of something." The dragon agreed.

Tense, but ready, the party started walking again, leaving the carcasses of the three chimeras behind.

In a flash of light the world faded.

---

"I trust Makoto and I trust Sapphire." Ami said, kneeling next to the pond and watching the strange multi-colored fish swimming around in it. For a moment she wondered what they were called. One of them reminded her of Sapphire in a way, as its rainbow scales turned a deep, crystal-like blue near the spine.

"Well, I don't." Minako retorted.

Ami looked up at her. "Why? We have known Makoto for a long time, and Sapphire has helped us a lot."

"It's just too much, okay?" Minako answered exasperated. "How am I supposed to trust Makoto when it turns out she's been a dragon all this time? And to make matters worse, she's the daughter of our enemy! She comes here and suddenly everyone knows her and she knows everyone. How do I know that that 'Winter' creep actually exists and it wasn't Makoto who told Jade or Black where to find Usagi's family?"

"You're just being paranoid." Ami said. "Think about it logically…"

"Oh, yes." Minako growled. "Think about it… 'logically' she says. You think about it logically. A true friend would have told us something that important. No wonder we never met the oh-so-famous 'sempai' of hers. It was probably the bloody shadow dragon everyone is moaning about." The Senshi of Venus said, opening her hands and arms and shaking them in desperation. "Good thing he's dead. He was probably as bad as the rest!"

In a move that surprised even her Ami turned around and slapped Minako so hard that the Senshi of Love fell to the ground. She slowly touched her cheek where Ami had hit her, staring at the Senshi of Mercury in surprise.

Ami herself couldn't believe it, but she decided to speak before Minako could stand up or say anything else. "I never knew that dragon." She said softly, as her hand started to sting a little. "But I heard the love and yearning with which Sapphire spoke of him, the sad way Gold spoke of his loss, the pain in Red's eyes every time anyone reminds him of that younger dragon."

Minako didn't say anything, deciding to stare at the ground and let Ami continue.

"I don't know how good or bad he could have been. Maybe the good memories they have about him overshadow the bad ones because he's dead. He can do no wrong now. But I do know… he taught Sapphire and Makoto the value of other people… of all races." Ami clenched her hand, forming a fist. "And perhaps it is because of that I have Sapphire with me now."

Minako looked up at Ami, staring in bewilderment at her. Ami didn't look away, although she did turn a delicate shade of pink in the face. "For that, if nothing else… I will always be grateful to him." She finished, walking away.

It was then that they heard the scream.

---

The world flashed into the pungent aroma of decay, the sound of running footsteps over stone and the occasional splash when someone stepped on water, the whoosh of air and the beat of wings.

Itare risked a look out of the corner of one of the underground buildings. "I can see the temple!" she informed over her shoulder. "It's right across the square…"

"We should go then…" Loar muttered. "What does our winged scale-breath friend say?"

Ertheilos, who was standing behind them, looked up at the rooftop of another building, where the shadow dragon in hybrid form crouched, looking at the streets bellow. The dragon waved his arm.

"He says the coast is clear." The elf informed them.

The three broke out at a run to the edge of the square, making sure no one would see them, and then quickly made their way up the stairs, taking places and covering the dragon as he flew right in.

Once inside, the dragon used his considerable strength to close the huge iron doors of the Temple and bar them. "Quickly now, cast that spell and let's find out if that legend is actually true." He said to the elf, who was already in the process of tracing complicated runes in the air with different objects and making a long incantation in the middle of the room.

As soon as Ertheilos said the last word of his spell, one of the huge statues that adorned the four corners of the otherwise simple temple, glowed in a golden-silver light and slowly dissolved out of view.

The four companions smiled at each other as the entrance was revealed to them.

Just as the dragon started feeling something was wrong he was encased in ice, trapping him completely.

Itare turned around, shouting his name, but inside he could only tell by the way her mouth moved, rather than actually hearing her.

The three remaining friends surrounded the ice statue of the dragon as first one, then two and eventually a total of five hooded figures materialized in the room. The first one to appear laughed. "Finally, someone able to cast the spell of revelation, with the skill to make it all the way here." A whispering voice, like a blade sliding through silk, said.

Ertheilos gritted his teeth. "And who do we have the honor of meeting?"

The hooded one chuckled. "If you want to call me anything, call me Lear." The hooded wizard motioned with his hand at the revealed entrance. "None of us could cast that spell and survive… its energy is completely opposite to our… nature."

"Too bad you didn't try it yerself, then." The dwarf said.

"Silence." Lear ordered. "Without the dragon you three are helpless, surrender now and we may spare you."

Loar looked over his shoulder at the ice-encased dragon. "Him? He's a wimp! Probably going to catch a cold at that."

"You think we would come all this way on the strength of one alone?" Ertheilos asked as eldritch energy crackled in his hands. "If anything, the presence of a dragon, a mythical creature that hasn't been seen for thousands of years sharing our adventure should have been a clear sign that we are anything but common."

"'Sides," Itare added. "The elf's power is as strong as the dragon's breath-weapon and more adaptable, my scimitars are sharper than his fangs and the dwarf's axe can do more damage than his claws." She smiled impishly. "Not to mention…"

"He's not really trapped at all." The dwarf finished as the ice prison blew up.

"Get them!" Lear shouted, as his fellow wizards and clerics started using magic. With a wave of his hand the gates slammed open, allowing for a group of dark elves, ogres and goblins to rush in.

With a fierce roar the dragon literally flew into the ogres, throwing them back as the rest of the monsters ran past.

"Get the spell casters!" Loar shouted as he separated a dark elf's leg from the rest of his body with a clean swipe of his axe.

"Already on it!" Itare shouted back, bringing down the third of the spell casting hooded ones, and using his or her body as a shield from a sudden burst of flame from another. With a snarl she threw herself, burning and twitching shield first, at the wizard that had just tried to fry her. With all her strength she drove both her scimitars through the body, managing to stab the other wizard on the heart.

Breaking free, she turned around to the last remaining wizard. Of Lear there was no sign, thanks to Ertheilos' spells.

"Uh-oh…" she muttered as a circle formed at the wizard's feet and a huge creature flowed out of a sudden flare of fire, "Demon!" she shouted, throwing a dagger at the wizard that had invoked it. The dagger flew straight and true, knocking the wizard down as it slammed into his throat.

Ertheilos blasted a group of four goblins with little green energy missiles that speared through them like a hot knife on butter and looked back, risking a glance at the newly arrived demon and muttered a very un-elven response. "Quick! You have to force the wizard to reveal the Demon's name!" he shouted.

Itare ran past him slashing left and right at dark elves, ogres and goblins, "Too late! I suicided him! You take care of it. I'll remove the rest of the critters!"

"Damn it!" Ertheilos shouted, turning his attention completely to the demon. He was barely able to avoid being skewered to death by a pike-wielding kobold. With nary a care he blasted the creature to oblivion, but gritted his teeth in anger. "I thought you were going to cover me!" he shouted over his shoulder at the same time his fingers traced their way through the air.

"Sorry!" Itare shouted back. "We're fighting the whole damned city!" she ducked under the swipe of a dark elf and droved the point of her scimitar through his gut. "Hey! Red locks!" she called at the dwarf who was standing on the corpses of a mountain of enemies. "Tell scales to stop playing and shut the freaking doors!"

"Yaaaah!" the dwarf shouted, rolling between the legs of an ogre. "Easier said than done!" he shouted, chomping at the creature's knee-cap. With a howl the ogre fell, to meet his end at the sharp point of the dwarven axe. "Did you hear what he said, smoke-breath?!"

Unlike the dwarf, the dragon wasn't surrounded by the bodies of his enemies, rather by the pieces of their bodies. Using his claws he ripped a dark elf in half, splattering those around him with his enemy's blood. "Don't tie your beard in a knot!" the dragon shouted, batting a goblin away with a smoke-like wing. With a mighty kick, one of the iron doors slammed shut. "I'll get to it! Go help our fair-eyed beauty help protect blondie over there!"

Taking a deep breath, the shadow dragon stood in front of the remaining open door and used his breath weapon on the onrushing crowd. The dark-energy blast, surrounded by wispy trends of smoke exploded, sending most of the front line to rain in little bits and pieces on the rest of the crowd, making them stop for a heartbeat.

It was all the time the shadow dragon needed, as he slammed the door shot, bodies or no bodies and again put a bar on it.

He turned around to see the demon being pierced from inside out by ice-formed lances. Gathering crackling black energy in his hand, he slashed at the demon's head with all his strength, managing to tear a piece of its face away.

The demon roared, groaned and fell to one knee. Without missing a beat, Ertheilos stepped up. "Your name or death, demon!" he ordered.

The demon stared at the elf in complete astonishment before croaking something in its infernal tongue. Ertheilos nodded and cast a spell, repeating the name on it and the demon burst out into a flame that disappeared just as suddenly.

When it was gone, the elf sighed in relief and turned around. Around them there were more than seventy bodies and various pieces.

The dwarf had suffered a jab to the left shoulder and Itare sported a bleeding scar on her cheek. Someone had gotten lucky and managed to cut the dragon on the side of the waist. Nothing dangerous or lasting, fortunately, but it would sting in the morning. As for himself, he was almost depleted of energy.

They could hear the crowd of the city smashing against the temple doors and it wouldn't take long for magic users and other enemies to bring the doors down, "I think, we should go." He said at last, motioning towards the doorway he had uncovered with his spell.

The others nodded and followed him in.

The world flashed into nothingness.

---

The Senshi ran into Ertheilos' house and followed the moan that had replaced the scream as it slowly subsided. On the side of a long corridor they met Morgana, who was just then walking into it.

"I don't know what happened." She said starting to walk down it. "But I think that was Makoto."

The Senshi followed her to a corner where Herathia was waiting outside a closed door.

"Where is Makoto?" Usagi asked.

"In there…" Herathia said, looking at the door. When Usagi made a move to open it, she stepped in front, stopping them from entering. "Lord Ertheilos said that no-one else was to get in." she said.

"I don't care what he said." Usagi stated. "Makoto is our friend and if something has happened to her we have to help her."

The elven woman shook her head. "You can't help. And I won't break my Lord's orders."

"I don't have time for this." Morgana stated. "Step out of the way or be removed."

Immediately, the elven woman had a long sword in her hands, she had pulled it out so quick none of the Senshi had seen it.

"So be it, then." Morgana said.

Herathia disappeared.

The Senshi stared at Morgana, speechless.

"Oh, she's fine." The woman assured them.

Usagi nodded uncertainly, but managed to get past the others and open the door. They all walked inside.

Usagi and the others stopped as soon as they had entered. In the center of a room made of carved stone and the trunks of living trees that made most of the elf's home, was Makoto, in her human form, kneeling and holding something to her chest as she sobbed.

Ertheilos was holding one of the contours of one of the trees, thoughtful and trying not to hear the sobs from the girl in the center of the room. On the other side, Red had sat down, looking very much his age, while Sapphire looked worriedly at Makoto, apparently not knowing what to do.

Usagi stepped forward, walking down to kneel next to her friend as the Outers and Ami also approached. Carefully she put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "Mako-chan?" she asked.

The sobbing girl peeked at her from just above her arm.

"What's wrong, Mako-chan?" Usagi asked.

Slowly Makoto stood up with what she was holding in her arms.

At first glance, Ami didn't get the significance of what Makoto held so closely and protectively. Then she understood. She stepped back, shocked and grabbed on to Sapphire's arm, gulping down the knot that had formed on her throat. The blue dragon covered her hand with her own.

"An egg?" Mamoru asked from where he stood. "All this just for an egg?"

Makoto trembled hiding her face from the others as tears fell on the smooth dark surface of the basketball sized egg she held.

"Not just an egg." The elven lord said harshly, his cold eyes drilling into Mamoru's. "That is the last shadow-dragon egg."

The prince shook his head, not understanding. Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna were pale, looking at Makoto with pity in their eyes. Even Hotaru seemed to know what was happening.

Usagi, still holding Makoto's shoulders gasped as it hit her. "Mako-chan…" she repeated, hugging her friend, careful not to put any pressure on her friend's arms or the egg.

Finally, Setsuna spoke, glaring at him with barely contained anger. "Has your fear and Xenophobia blinded you and deafened to anything but stupidity?!" she growled.

Mamoru glared at her, as Usagi looked from Makoto to the pair, afraid to ask. But she had to ask. "What do you mean, Setsuna?"

"Your future husband," Setsuna said through clenched teeth, "Was planning to get us humans out of here and let Hotaru attack Black at full power. Of course, Makoto, Sapphire, Red, Morgana and any others were not to be included, seeing as they didn't count as humans."

"That is enough." Makoto whispered.

The others lowered their voices as she turned to look at Mamoru, tear-streaked face and holding the egg to her chest as if her life depended on it. "This…" she choked, "This is… my child… that was never born… or will be." She whispered as tears again streaked down her chin.

Mamoru couldn't meet her gaze.

"I didn't know my baby hadn't been born…" Makoto said. "I…" she stopped, breathing heavily, "I… would have liked him… or her…" she choked, "To meet all the aunts and uncles anyone could ever wish for."

She sank to her knees, sobbing again. "I didn't know…" she repeated over and over, cradling the egg, "I didn't know… I didn't know…"

End Chapter 13