The clattering of forks and knives were awkward against the overall silence of the grand dining room breakfast. There had been a handful of musicians who played a simple haunting melody, but they had played their three songs before Kyle had politely dismissed them with a smile and a nod.

So many of the conversations that did occur were in Elvish, a language that seemingly everyone but Craig could understand. To be fair, it was what was to be expected given that they were in the land where it was the mother tongue. He was supposed to have learned it, and refusing to listen and take in his lessons was his own fault. Still, the lack of understanding made him anxious.

At least the food was good. He didn't want to admit it, but he was very hungry after eating so little the previous days. They were served a sort of meat that tasted like fish with spices he didn't recognize, as well as what appeared to be colorful eggs, but also sweeter in taste than any he had ever had before.

Tricia was there. Dressed to the nines in another distinctly elven gown and her hair perfectly done up. She had smiled and hugged him when she first arrived, then did the same to Kyle and Stan before she properly went to her seat and addressed the room in Elvish. Tweek, still dressed "properly" for the Elven Court, joined in the conversation. Tricia's face lit up at something he said. He apparently made a joke, given how she giggled.

Craig continued eating in silence.

"Craig," Kyle finally called out.

"Yes?" he responded, putting his fork down and wiping his face with his sleeve.

"I know Tricia, told you about Cartman-the Wizard."

"I know the Wizard's real name," Craig said, "But...Yeah."

Tricia sulked, "I'm sorry, I know that-"

"It's fine, Tricia. We were going to tell him, anyway," Kyle reassured her, "But yes. It's...I know despite the lack of freedom of speech you all have that it's common knowledge to most people in Kupa that he's a terrible person.

"Sure," Craig shrugged.

"But I bet it must be a shock that he is...that bad."

"Just about as much of a shock as it was to find out you were there for the destruction of my village."

Silence fell in the grand dining room.

"What happened to Sundorham was a tragedy," Kyle lowered his head, "Not just to the people there, but to all of Zaron. The High Elf Kingdom was led to believe that your village had been converted to a strictly military knight's base of operation, but even still...the High Elf Queen's orders weren't right."

"You mean your mom?"

"Yeah. My mom."

"Great family," Craig chuckled darkly under his breath as he leaned back against his chair.

"Hey, show some respect," Stan spat, "He's not his mom-Hell, he's nothing like her. And really, are you one to talk?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, the whole thing I've heard that apparently you hate the hell out of knights and nobility when that that's exactly what your own parents were?"

"My dad wasn't a knight!" Craig raised an eyebrow, "My mom, sure, she was a noble, but she gave up that life. To be with my dad who, I'll have you know, lived in Sundorham for generations."

Silence filled the room again, this time with a tension that could be cut with a knife. Stan asked Tricia something in Elvish, to which she bit her lip and shook her head. Kyle added something, to which she reluctantly nodded.

"Craig," Tricia let out in a small voice, "Our dad was a knight. Of...noble bloodline."

"No he wasn't," Craig shook his head, "I know for a fact he wasn't. We have our whole lineage traced, I mean hell even our grandma. Our mom was from House Tucker, but he-"

"House Tucker was our father's house. Mom married into it."

"No she didn't."

"Our grandma...She wasn't our real grandmother, either. The Thomas born and raised in Sundorham died. She allowed our dad to pose as her son."

"That doesn't even make any sense. Everyone knew our mom was a noble."

"A widow of a recently sleign valiant hero who chose to live out the rest of her days in a quiet village with a simple farming husband."

"This is full of shit," Craig rolled his eyes, turning to Stan, "Whatever my sister told you, clearly she had delusions of-"

"I'm who told her everything," Kyle interrupted, standing up from his seat,"She didn't know any more than you. You still have the necklace, don't you?"

"What about it?"

"The family heirloom story your parents told you was also fake," Stan answered for him.

"I know it's worthless," Craig's hand instinctively went to grasp it, "But I don't care. It was still my mom's."

"Right," Kyle bit his bottom lip and sat back down, "But either way, that's not what matters right now. What does matter is Cartman, who I was trying to bring up."

"Hey, I'm who should be asking you questions about him," Craig frowned.

"After mine first," the king cracked a small grin, "I take it as soon as you left, you threw away your communication device and never spoke to him again?"

Craig's eyes narrowed. Perhaps it was normal procedure to have a communication device of some sort, but it was still eerie how much this guy seemed to know.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

"Yeah," Craig gave a single hesitant nod.

"Right," he chuckled lightly, "And knowing him he's probably not happy at all about it."

"Does that matter?"

"Well," Kyle contemplated, his green eyes looking upwards in thought, "It means his easy plan of sending you failed."

"Meaning?"

"It means you didn't consider that he's probably going to send troops here to declare an outright war, jackass," Stan cut in.

"That was...a lot to take in," Tweek said once they had returned to their quarters after the impossibly long breakfast.

"Guess so," he shrugged, back to him as he picked up a pillow from a chair that had fallen to the floor somehow. He was somewhat surprised Tweek was talking to him that casually, but he wasn't going to comment on it.

"No really," Tweek insisted, "It didn't even directly concern me and it was a lot. I can't even imagine how this whole...situation must be for you."

"Which part?" Craig asked, "Finding out my whole family history was a lie? Or finding out that the Kupa will probably come here and all these people including my estranged sister expect me to suddenly fight a war for my enemy."

Tweek reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, "I understan-"

"No. You don't," Craig brushed his hand away.

"You're right," Tweek frowned, hands balling into fists, "I don't. I don't understand any of this. You've heard them multiple times, I wasn't even supposed to be here. I'm just some Barbarian who tagged along and am not even necessary to any of this."

"Tweek," Craig rolled his eyes, "Don't be like that."

"And why not?" he asked, "I came all this way and I don't even know who you are."

"Okay, but to be completely fair, neither do I."

Tweek huffed. "Fine. Sure. I'll apologize for that. I should have told you I was a prince right away, and it was wrong for me to hide it from you. But you can't-"

"Get over yourself! I meant that in the past few days I apparently don't know who I am."

"Oh," Tweek's eyes widened at the realization.

Craig laughed under his breath, "You don't need to make that face I'm not-I'm just-Like you said. It's just a lot right now."

His expression softened. "But it'll be okay."

"Maybe," Craig shrugged, "I'm not really sure what I can do right now. Hell, I don't even know how much of what the elves are telling me-what my own sister is telling me-is true."

"You don't trust your own sister?" he tilted his head skeptically.

"It's not that, but," Craig bit his lip, trying to think of what to say, "It's just...she's been here a long time. I'm not sure how much they've...gotten to her, if you know what I mean."

"I trust them," Tweek said, looking Craig directly in the eyes, "But I also...about our earlier talk."

"Yeah."

"Like I've said, I've decided to follow you. Maybe I wasn't meant to be here, but I am. Maybe you lied to me, but I...guess I lied to you, too. So I'm not going to turn back on everything now just because I didn't understand the full gravity of what you were forced into."

Craig leaned forward and kissed him. A brief kiss, both of their arms still hanging to their sides by the time he broke away. But a sweet, gentle one nonetheless.

"For now," Craig said before turning away.

"Cr-Where are you going?" Tweek asked, sounding somewhat disoriented from the sudden kiss.

"Have a dumb meeting I'm supposed to go to," Craig answered with a sideways grin that didn't reach his eyes. With that, he left the other behind.

"You called me out here?" Craig asked Kyle in the palace courtyard. It was a lovely one, with well tended plants all around. In a way, perhaps what the garden in Kupa once looked like before Princess Kenny was compromised, although far less dense.

"Yes," Kyle nodded, "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"That you couldn't have asked somewhere else?" Craig crossed his arms. It was just the two of them in the courtyard, not including Stan who stood a good distance away leaning against a wall out of earshot.

"I'll be blunt," Kyle sighed, looking him earnestly in the face, "Please let me break your seal."

Craig blinked several times. "You mean the magic one?"

"Yes," he nodded, expression dead serious, "And then I can teach you-"

"Then I'll be blunt too," Craig cut him off, "Hell no."

Kyle sighed a second time, probably expecting that answer. He lifted his staff and pointed it towards a light pink flower. The flower came off of the bush and floated in the air.

"I get it. You're afraid of magic," he said, magically guiding it in the air over to Craig, "But you shouldn't be. Magic is magic. It's just like anything else in this world. We can use it, study it, and, yes, abuse it. But it's not something that's inherently good or bad unless you make it good or bad."

Craig hesitantly caught the flower in his hands. It was a flower he had never seen in Kupa before, pink with white lines across the soft and smooth petals, almost appearing painted on.

"Your sister told me how you'd use your magic on flowers," Kyle said.

"Did she include that I'd usually end up making them explode?" he frowned, closing his fingers around the flower.

"Only because you didn't know what you were doing. It happens."

"I also made bees explode once. By accident."

"That's actually impressive, though," Kyle said, walking closer to him, his red royal robes flowing behind him. "I mean, not that bees were killed," he cut in once he saw the disbelief on Craig's face, "But that an untrained kid like you could do that without even trying. I mean the fact that you were able to use any magic unintentionally or without being trained is impressive. Especially for a human."

"Yeah, who knows? Maybe I would have eventually accidentally blown up a human."

Kyle bit his lip and paused for a moment. "That's why you should formally learn. To control it."

"No, that's why my magic should be sealed. Stay sealed."

"But-"

"Listen," Craig let the flower fall from his hands and onto the grass, "Like you implied, the elves have a lot of magic. Even if you're right about the Wizard coming here and starting a war, you have way more magic than us petty little humans have. Hell, the Wizard even helps you out there by taking away and probably just killing all the little infant magic users Kupa has. On top of that, you still have that stupid stick somewhere around here, don't you?"

"I mean...Yeah, we do."

"Even better," Craig gestured out his hands, "Just use it on him and fuck him out of all existance or whatever. Problem solved. No need for me, some random human who can't even control his magic."

"Craig, you don't understand-"

"Sure I do," he narrowed his eyes, "You think I don't know all about your type and this weird complex you have?"

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, taken aback.

"Please, give me some credit. I've been a thief and scam artist for years, figuring people out is part of my thing," Craig rolled his eyes, "But I'll spell it out: You know I'm some magic user who survived a deadly attack by your people-something that maybe your little elf heart feels remorse for after all, and in turn you wrote this redemption story in your head. That I'll come here many years later as a petty thief on a mission to steal that stupid stick to save my friend. You know all about it because, hell I don't know, maybe weird magic prophecy powers you were probably naturally gifted with or something. But you see that I have some heart of gold or whatever, so now you have it all decided that you're just gonna groom me to join you and be some overly dramatic heroic asshole to fight some war to end the Wizard who you hate because...well, honestly hating him is fair, I'll give you that. But then after it's all over and your conscience is clear, you probably want me to be your little human trophy alongside the Marsh kid. Right?"

"N-No!" Kyle answered, "Of course not. Where are you even coming up with this."

"Bullshit," Craig rolled his eyes, beginning to walk away back towards the castle, "You have this whole epic story figured out and every time you look at me you're probably mentally writing another chapter. I mean, to be honest if it was someone that wasn't me, it probably would have worked out. But I'm not most people. I'm not interested."

"Craig-!" Kyle called out, reaching out an arm towards him. Stan perked up when he saw Craig approach the castle towards him. Yet Craig merely walked on, ignoring both of them as he returned to his quarters, dropping the broken up petals from his fist onto the ground.

Realistically, Craig wasn't sure what he was going to do. Perhaps yelling at Kyle, the High Elf King, probably wasn't the best idea. He knew he was right about him, but if he was smart about it he'd have played along and used it to his advantage. Usually he was better than this. He wasn't sure why he was so out of it lately.

At least he was crafty enough to swindle out of him that the Stick of Truth was in fact within this city somewhere. That said, this was a large city and could theoretically be anywhere. He sighed, clutching the pendant around his neck. At some point, he really needed to contact Clyde and update him about all of this. He couldn't reconcile to himself why he kept putting that off.

There was a knock at the door. He ignored it. The knock repeated.

"Craig, it's me," Tricia's voice came from behind the door.

"Just a second," he said. As much as he didn't want to talk to anyone then, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her and forced himself to let her in.

"Hi Craig," she greeted him with a sad smile as he opened the door. She was fully dolled up in an Elven gown, but her strawberry blonde hair was down.

"Come in," he opened the door wider.

"It's so dark in here," she said, "Why do you have all the curtains pulled shut and no lamps on?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I can pull the curtains open for you."

"Thanks," she smiled, sitting down on one of the chairs, "They really put you in a nice place, huh?"

"Nicer than yours?" he asked, pulling the curtains open, the afternoon glow instantly filling the room.

"Considerably, yeah. Not that my home isn't nice."

"The privilege of that barbarian I'm with being a prince, I guess," he shrugged, walking back to sit next to his sister.

"'That barbarian'?" she asked.

"Tweek," he clarified, "You know, that blond guy with the-"

"Craig, I know who he is. I meant the way you said it," she rolled her eyes in the exact same way as she did as a child. It sent an eerie wave of nostalgia through him.

"You look different, but...You know, you really haven't changed that much."

"You didn't answer me."

"Oh right," he shook his head, "Well uh...Yes, he's a person I'm traveling-or I guess traveled with."

"That's it?" she asked, almost sounding disappointed.

"See? Like that. You've always been way too nosy," he gently shoved her shoulder.

"Whatever," she threw up her hands dramatically with a smirk, "That's not what I came here to talk to you about, anyway."

"Oh," Craig's expression fell, "Kyle sent you, then."

She stood up, her smile widening. "I wanted you to do my hair."

"You're lying."

"Am not," she plopped down on the floor in front of him, "I never go out with my hair just down."

He looked down at his sister in front of him. Her hair was already brushed and clean, so he knew she had taken care of it. She was probably telling the truth-she wanted to bring back the nostalgia of when he'd frequently do her hair when they were children. But he also knew that it was her way of being manipulative to force him to talk about things he probably wouldn't want to.

"Fine," he grumbled, gripping her hair into his hands.

For a few moments the two sat in silence. It had been years since Craig had braided hair and he wondered at first if he had forgotten, but it quickly came back to him. First split her hair into two parts from top and bottom. Braid the top half down to her nape.

"About your magic-"

"I knew it," Craig said louder than he meant.

"Craig, listen," she groaned.

"I told him," he grumbled as he began to braid the top braid into the remaining lower half of her hair, "I'm not interested in being his hero."

"Why do you think that's what this is about?" she asked.

"He told you to talk to me about it, didn't he?" He noticed the braid was becoming uneven, so he undid several strands in an attempt to fix it.

"This is bigger than him," she sighed, "But he can help you. If you let him."

"And what if I don't want his help?" he gripped her hair too tightly on accident. She yelped slightly, and he loosened his grip, apologizing under his breath.

"He already told me what you said about being some character in a weird story he came up with. But you're not. If anything, it's not even his story."

"Then whose is it?" he rolled his eyes, finishing up the braid.

"Yours. If you let it be."

He silently looped her braid around several times and pulled it tight to stay.

"I'm not what you all think I am," Craig sighed as he let go of her hair, "I don't want to be."

Tricia patted her completed hair. "Do you even know what that is?"

"Not really. And I'm not sure if I really want to know any more, either."

Tricia stood up and turned around to face her brother. Her hair had been better off every other time he had seen her since their reunion, but for being done by someone not knowledgeable in haircare who hadn't braided in years, it was alright.

"Craig you don't-"

"Forget all this shit, Tricia," he stood up, "Fuck Kupa, fuck these Elves. Fuck both sides that just wanna use us as pawns for their stupid age old wars. You do know we don't have to play into it, right?"

"You think that's what this is?" she said in disbelief.

"You don't realize that that's what this is?" his voice grew louder.

"Kyle isn't trying to bend you to the High Elf Kingdom's traditional ways or anything like that," she shook her head, "If anything, it's the other way around. Kyle is using his power and status to bend the kingdom to...to…"

"To what?"

"I can't…"

"Oh well that's just great," Craig rolled his eyes, walking away from her, "Let me guess, more shit directly pertaining to me that I'm just not allowed to know. You can't tell me that this isn't all some game and that I'm not just some pawn if you're gonna keep me playing some guessing game."

"You said I haven't changed," she said quietly from behind him, irritation in her voice, "Well the same goes for you. You're just as stubborn and stuck in your ways as when we were kids. I told you so many things that you wouldn't believe that ended up being right."

He balled his hands into fists as he turned back to her, "And a lot that ended up being wrong."

"Well, I'm right about this. We've been waiting-"

"Oh for what, your important hero?" he asked, "So important that while you got to sit around here having tea parties with elven royalty in your nice little ballgowns in fancy little tea rooms while you all knowing I survived, I was allowed to just starve on the fucking Kupa streets."

"Now you're just being unfair."

"Am I?" he pressed, "That's super easy for you to say, you know. From the very beginning, since the fire, you had a nice little prince welcome you here with open arms. Do you have any fucking idea what I went through after the fire?"

"I-"

"None of this floofy royal shit. No nice little escort. We ran for days, Tricia," his heart was pounding, "Filthy, with no food or water, not knowing if we'd ever find civilization."

"But you did and-"

"And I didn't get a grand welcome. No, I had to give up my entire identity just to not be straight up enslaved. I couldn't even speak my own name or mention my family or where I'm from. And do you think that as some nobody kid that I could just get a nice little job and home as easily as you did here? No, if Clyde and I wanted to survive there, we had to scrounge around on the streets. No palace, but instead sleeping near garbage collections until we would be shooed away for being a nuisance. Do you have any idea how often each night we'd be woken up by patrols only to find an even filthier, dirtier place to sleep on the side of the road? How many nights would we go without food? What it was like to have to scrounge in rotting garbage just to not die of starvation? Someone caught us going through theirs once and threw things at us, threatening to kill us if he ever saw us going through his trash again. Trash of food he wasted that we needed. And worst of all was when Clyde got sick and needed medicine that every single doctor in the city had plenty of-if you could pay, which we couldn't because we had nothing. The cure was there but there was nothing I could do. I really thought he was...I thought he was going to..."

His hands were trembling heavily. Tricia rushed over to him and helped him sit down.

"Craig," she wrapped her arm gently around his shoulder, "I know-No I don't know what it was like for you. I'm sorry you had to go through that. But you have to know, we didn't want you to be stuck there. We didn't know for sure you survived right away, but once we did we actually were going to send for you to come here. N-Not even for some war or heroic purposes. If for nothing else, just to bring my brother to me."

"Well. You didn't."

"We tried. We had an escort and everything, but she was murdered."

Craig looked up at her. "Murdered? What are you talking about?"

"You probably heard of it, I would imagine it was heavily talked about over there, given who she was. She was pretty prominent and owned a lot of land, including Sundorham."

Craig's blood turned cold. "You don't mean-"

"Lady McDaniels. She was part of La Resistance," Kyle said abruptly from the entrance of the room where he stood straight. As usual, Stan was near him, leaning against the open doorway.

"Kyle," Tricia's eyes widened, "Is it really okay for him to-"

"Yes," he nodded, "I think it's time to give him that history lesson."