It was a late evening when Canta returned to the Beacon and Shien was already in her bed, but couldn't sleep. The events of the day still kept her mind occupied and her thoughts always returned to that one moment. He kissed her. She could still feel the touch of his lips on hers. Part of her wished for that moment to repeat, but mostly she was terrified. And angry. All those feelings made her conscious self confused.

"Ah, Shien, you're still awake," Canta breathed out in surprise. "I thought you'd be sleeping by now..."

"You said you can't see in the dark..." Shien said blankly.

"Well, you know, your eyes are glowing," Canta shrugged, played few tones and the lamp on the table enlightened the room. "Oh! You're injured! What happened?"

"The Balaur attacked, but it's okay now, they're dead," the sorceress sat on her bed. "How was your day? Did you meet your friends?" she quickly changed the topic before Canta could start asking for details.

"Yes, I did," the songweaver saddened. "It was... ah, never mind," she waved her hand and looked into her bag. "You know what's strange, Shien? I think there's something more between you and lady May than you told me."

"What do you mean?" the Asmodian was confused.

"I was there. To give her my report. My first report ever. She read it. And asked about you. And then she sent you this," Canta gave her a small package neatly wrapped in waxed paper. "And she said I shouldn't tell anyone."

"Thank you," Shien took the package and put it ino her lap. "Now tell me why are you angry. Is it because of this?"

"No," the songweaver frowned. "I keep forgetting lady May wasn't always a Lady, so if you share some history with her, it's your business. She cares about you a lot, that's somewhat intriguing. But you don't have to tell me, it could be dangerous. I mean, someone could hurt you just to get to her. She's right with keeping it secret. Those whispers about her affair with lord Zikel are enough to cause her trouble."

"Is that what's making you so angry?"

"No, it's... not that. She has every right to love anyone she wants, I suppose. I just heard all those really bad things about him, I can't understand how someone so kind as her would... uhm... stay with him. I know they're not exactly together but you know what I mean, right?"

"Maybe that's because she's that kind? Anyone else wouldn't be able to do that," Shien unintentionally smiled when she remembered talks with her friend. "And he has his good side too, he's just too proud to show it."

"I guess... that's the case," Canta sighed. "Can you... I don't want to sound nosy, but I'm really curious this time. Can you unpack that..." she pointed at the package in Shien's lap.

"Alright," the sorceress nodded and for a moment she fought with the ribbon before she could open the gift from the Lady of Life. Then she lost her breath fro few seconds. "Oh, wow... thank you very much, Canta. When you see A... lady May again, tell her... just... give her my thanks, this is awesome," she reached inside and took one chocolate candy which she immediately ate.

"It's just a candy," the songweaver blinked few times in disbelief. "What's so special about it?"

"This is the most awesome super-candy in the world. And because these cherries don't grow in Asmodae, it's extremely rare there. I had it once, some shugo was selling it. It's just the best!" she reached into the package again and consumed another two pieces. "Want some?"

"No, thanks, chocolate is..." Canta wanted to refuse, but suddenly her eyes filled with tears and she sobbed: "I don't care anymore, give me some."

"Here... what happened?" Shien was confused.

"I... I went to see my friends," Canta started after she ate a candy. "I haven't seen them in more than month, I missed them and I thought they will be happy to see me. But do you know what they said? How can you come to us dressed like this? What kind of question is that? What's wrong with these clothes?"

"Uhm, nothing, it looks quite normal to me."

"That's what I told them too, I also told them that it's much more comfortable and practical than what they were wearing. I was... I was trying to tell them about what I'm doing and what happened, but they didn't care. They just... They said they heard about my silly adventures and sent me away and said they won't talk to me anymore. I don't understand, why would they change so much?"

"Is it really them who changed? Or is it you?" Shien pointed out. "Think about it a bit. I know it must be hard for you now, but they weren't friends. I know that. I've been through that too. On my Ascension ceremony I met a shy girl who just Ascended too. It was her first time in Pandaemonium, she was from very poor village and of course all those nobles pretended she wasn't even there. Somehow we started chatting and I found out she was really nice person and we became friends. But after the ceremony my mother told me that if I continue talking with that girl, all my noble friends will stop talking to me. I couldn't believe it, if they were friends they wouldn't do it, right? But guess what?"

"They stopped?"

"Of course they stopped. I got over it after some time. I was assigned to various duties as a daeva, so I met a lot of people who cared about more than dress and titles and social status. Because true friends don't care about these, they care about you, about your dreams, your worries and they won't abandon you just because you talk to someone else or because your dress doesn't glitter enough."

~ x ~

Chellia was sitting on her bed and staring blankly at the wall of her new room. After the clerics confirmed she was alright, except not even they couldn't save her left eye, she was immediately transported to Kamar where she was accommodated directly in Kahrun's palace. All the things from her old studio in Pernon were moved here too, her mother took care of it right after Chellia woke up in Danuar Spire. Her mother... it was strange to suddenly know she wasn't an orphan, let alone who her parents were. Her origin was no longer unknown or secret and out of blue she had to deal with attention she didn't want. She wanted... she wasn't even sure about that. Part of her wanted to return back to Pandaemonium to be the tailor's apprentice again. But other part wanted to just die. What Beritra did to her, what he forced her to do, was more than she was able to handle. And everything she looked at, everything she heard, touched, smelled reminded her of that time of never-ceasing terror.

A fresh breeze blew into the room and disrupted her thoughts. She looked at the window and pondered if she should close it or leave it open. A sound of something falling into her blankets caught her attention. A blue and white creature stood there and watched her with its red eyes. Even with its long fur it had twenty centimeters of height at most and its paws had no claws. Chellia has never seen an animal like this and wondered what species could it belong to.

"Shoo! Shoo!" she tried to send it away, but it just tilted its head and looked at her with an expression: Do I look like a butterfly to you?

"Fine, stay here then," Chellia frowned. "I have an audience now."

She got up and went to the door. There she noticed the creature jumped down from the bed and followed her, so she sneaked through the door and closed it before that entity could reach it. But after she made few steps she heard a whizzing sound. She turned around and couldn't believe her eye. That little animal or whatever it was just squeezed through the chink under the door and then shook to regain its former shape. And gave Chellia a very aggrieved look.

"Just what are you?" she asked, but the creature only came to her and brushed against her feet, murmurring. "Don't follow me!"

The girl quickly paced across the hall in the direction to Kahrun's office and looked back. The white and blue furball jumped after her. And no matter where she went or turned around the corner, that strange creature tailed her everywhere like a faithful dog. Though its movements reminded more of a cat. After few wrong turns she decided to ignore it. Whatever it was it would surely lose its interest in her if she won't react. In front of the door to her destination she was stopped by two guards.

"What is your business here?" one of them asked strictly.

"I have an audience with commander Kahrun," she replied with calm voice, although she wasn't sure what to expect.

"You?" he asked with suspicion.

"Hey, dude," the other guard poked his colleague and hissed: "She's the Young Lady."

"What?" he looked at Chellia again. "Oh, crap. My apologies, lady. Of course you can enter."

They bowed and let her pass. The creature swaggered after her and obviously enjoyed the guards' confused looks.

"Hello, Chellia, how are you feeling?" Kahrun greeted her. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," she sat into one of the armchairs in front of his desk. The furball jumped into the other one and inspected the Reian leader carefully.

"Why is this here?" he asked.

"I don't know," the girl shrugged. "It keeps following me since this morning. I don't even know what is it or where it came from."

"It's a wind spirit, someone had to summon it," Kahrun frowned. "And it looks intelligent, it was someone powerful. Why are you here, spirit?"

The little creature jumped onto the table directly between him and Chellia. Then it looked at him and fluffed out.

"Oh, so you're supposed to protect her?"

The spirit nodded proudly.

"Alright, I get it," Kahrun smiled. "Don't worry, I won't hurt her," he tried to pat the spirit's head, but it evaded and bit him. It felt like a baby tornado in his palm.

"Who sent you? Was it Kaisinel?" Chellia asked suddenly. The spirit let go of Kahrun's hand, turned to her and hesitantly nodded. "Then go back to your master and tell him that... that... Don't look at me like that!" the spirit made a such sad expression that every puppy or kitten would envy it. "Fine. You can stay with me," she blushed and looked aside. The creature jumped from the table and cuddled into almost perfect ball in her lap. "Hey, what... I'm sorry, sir Kahrun, I didn't..."

"That's alright. If lord Kaisinel sent you a guardian, it's between you and him. As long as this spirit doesn't do anything against my people, it can stay."

"Okay."

"Now why did I call you here. As you know, you're important person for keeping peace between the Elyos and Asmodians. That's why I want you to stay here in Kamar so they won't argue who has you on their side. I would love to give you as much freedom as possible, but Beritra is still after you, so you're forbidden to leave the city for now. You can go to any public places within Kamar, but not outside. If you find any reason to leave, go to me directly. I'm sorry to restrain you like this, but I can't afford to leave you to Beritra again. Or Tiamat, who might be after you too. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she nodded with serious face. "I won't leave the city. I... don't want to go back either."

"Good. We still need to ask you what happened when you were captured," Kahrun continued. "Lady Triniel insisted that we should wait until you get better, but you look alright now, so unless you have any objections, I'll schedule it for tomorrow. Sanctum and Pandaemonium will want to have their representatives here, I assume lady Triniel and lord Nezekan will want to be here, but they can decide on someone else. I know it must be painful for you, but try to remember as much as you can."

"I understand."

"After we get the answers, I would like to integrate you into Kamar's daily life. Don't look so scared, you're a daeva, I can't leave you just wandering around, it would be waste of your potential. And you would be bored soon. We'll probably have to do some tests, but after that you'll get a proper training and get some duties based on your specialisation. Do you have something in your mind now?"

"I was a tailor's apprentice in Pandaemonium," she said. "I can make any types of clothes or leather armor."

"You also need to learn how to fight."

"I know. I always dreamed to be an assassin if I ever Ascend, but it seems I have a talent for guns instead of daggers. And this..." she touched her eye-patch. "I don't know what use I can be with only one eye."

"The clerics didn't say anything?"

"They said they have never seen anything like this before," she shrugged. "And they can't heal it with their usual methods."

"Don't worry. I know good daevas who have lost one eye and it didn't affect their abilities much. If you pass the criteria for an assassin training, you can be an assassin and have the guns as a bonus," Kahrun smiled. "I've said what I needed, unless you have any questions, you may go. Only remember you should stay in Kamar."

"Thank you, sir Kahrun, I have no questions now," she got up, attempting to hold the spirit in her arms, but it stretched and with natural elegance it jumped on the floor. "I'll be ready tomorrow."

Chellia left the Reian leader's office and for several minutes she wandered aimlessly through the palace, followed by the playful spirit. While roaming around she found her way to the palace garden. It was quite nice and rich considering Kamar was on the edge of a vast desert. The trees were mostly huge palms, but she could see other species among them too. She chose a far corner, sat under one of the palms and hugged her knees. The spirit circled her with curiosity, but Chellia paid it no attention, so it came closer, leaned against her calves and licked her nose. It felt like a wet breeze.

"Do you have a name, spirit?" she asked blankly. The fluffy creature shook its head. "But names are important, you know? You should have one. But only one, having more names is bad for your soul. So if you don't have a name, I shall give you one, okay?" Chellia smiled and patted the spirit's head. "You will be... hm... what should I call you? What about Ouzo?"

The spirit's excitement about getting a new name instantly disappeared. It gave the girl a really sad look and yelped.

"You don't like it? But you're a spirit, so it's an appropriate name. And it sounds like you when you're trying to squeeze under a door."

The spirit sighed in resignation.

~ x ~

"Ah, Triniel, you cut your hair? You look much better like this, I wonder what's the occasion?" Lumiel greeted her with a smile.

"Stop it, Lumiel, do you have nothing better to do?" the Lady of Death replied coldly.

"To be honest, no. Everything is so boring," she got up and paced across her room. "Every report I read have been here some time before already. Those people will never learn. I hoped the conference and the truce will entertain me for a while, but it was really a short while. I think I might follow your sister's example and pass my power to someone else. If only there was anyone I could trust."

"You're not serious, right?" Triniel frowned. "You can't just get away from everything."

"Maybe. Maybe not," the sorceress shrugged. "Don't worry, there's no one I would entrust this power anyway. Why are you here?"

"Kahrun sent us a message he'll question Chellia tomorrow and we can participate if we want. Azphel doesn't want me to go, but he gave me freedom to choose who will. And I'm asking you."

"Oh, that's really unexpected," Lumiel was surprised. "I thought you'll be more adamant in going there."

"No, Azphel is right," Triniel shook her head. "I would love to be there for Chellia, but my emotions would only be in the way. And I'm sure she wouldn't be comfortable with me or Nezekan there when she'll be talking about all those bad things that happened to her."

"I'm glad to see you're back to your former self," the Lady of Wisdom smiled. "Sure, I'll go. I haven't seen your girl since I put that seal on her."

"Thank you."

~ x ~

It has been just few days since she found out she'll have a baby and May already felt like her life has been turned completely upside down. No other major change happened, but her thoughts were even more distracted than before the conference. She knew she should calm down and avoid stress, but she couldn't. The risk of others finding out was too big. And she didn't know how to tell them, she was afraid they'll order her to put the baby away. And she would never do that. She looked again at the plate with her breakfast, sighed and forced herself to eat at least half of it. She wouldn't mind starving for a while, but the baby needed the food. After the meal she left her house and went to the council hall where the Seraphim lords and generals had their regular forthnightly meeting. The topics usually varied depending on what happened all over the Elysea, but this time it all seemed to involve Asmodians and the truce. Which wasn't so surprising. May could barely pay attention. After the generals left and only the Lords remains in the room, everyone turned their gaze upon her.

"Are you alright?" Nezekan asked with concern.

"Yes, of course, I'm fine," she felt guilty for making them worried. "I'm just a bit anxious about how long the truce will last."

"We all are worried about that, May," Kaisinel grunted. "You'd better focus on your duties to get these thoughts out of your head."

"Yes, I should do that," May sighed. "I'm sorry."

"But you look really pale, are you sure you're alright?" Vaizel asked with serious voice.

"Yes, Vaizel, I'm perfectly fine, thank you for your concern," she aswered ignoring the hidden hint. She couldn't tell them. Not yet.

"I'm certain May is reasonable enough to tell us if there was something wrong," Ariel closed the matter. "More importantly, I got message from the Reians, they will question Chellia tomorrow and invited us to bring our representative. No, Nezekan, you won't go," she stopped him before he could speak. "I know you would like to, but since she's your daughter, it would cause problems with the interrogation. I would like to send someone who doesn't have any relationship with her. Kaisinel?"

"I'm sorry, lady Ariel, but I've been in her mind. I know all about her and she knows that. It wouldn't be wise to send me."

"Alright, I'll go then," Vaizel grinned. "She's a pretty girl, so..."

"Don't even try that," Nezekan frowned and pierced Vaizel with his gaze.

"Don't be so over-protective, Daddy, she's adult and a daeva. And have you read Shade's report? I wouldn't be the first one to..."

Nezekan got up and caught Vaizel by his collar.

"Don't. You. Dare. To. Touch her," he spat though gritted teeth.

"Calm down, Nezekan," Ariel raised her voice. "And you too, Vaizel."

"I'm sorry, lady Ariel," Nezekan let go of Vaizel. "But Chellia has been terribly hurt by Beritra, I won't let anyone, not even ally to..."

"That's enough," the Lady of Light stopped him. "We all know you care about her. But we need someone there. You and Kaisinel can't go and Vaizel has enough experience in asking the right questions. I'm sure even he can be serious when it's required."

"Yes, of course, lady Ariel," Vaizel replied, fully aware of the sharpness in her voice.

"I could go," May said silently. Everyone looked at her. "I know you don't fully trust me, especially after what happened in Sarpan, but I can be of some use too."

"You only want to use the chance for meeting Zikel," Kaisinel grunted.

"Kaisinel, please stop this. Yes, I miss him, but I don't think they would send him. I believe lady Triniel wouldn't allow it because of his temper. She wants to protect the girl too, right?"

"Very well then, May, you will go," Ariel decided. "If by any chance they send Zikel, please restrain yourself from intimate activities."

"Yes, lady Ariel, as you wish."

"And Vaizel, you will help May with preparations, she's still unexperienced with interrogations. If none of you has any questions, I'm ending this meeting."

~ x ~

Chellia was sitting in a comfortable armchair in a neatly decorated lounge and awaited arrival of the Elyos representative. Kahrun and lady Lumiel were already there, drinking tea and talking casually. They didn't seem to pay her attention, but she knew they did so because she felt more comfortable like this. Ouzo was half-sleeping in her lap and she was mechanically caressing its back. The door opened and Chellia froze. Ouzo woke up.

"Ah, lady May, it's a surprise to see you here," lady Lumiel got up and greeted the newcomer.

Lady May? But... how? Chellia stared at her.

"I apologise for the delay," the lady of Life said and formally greeted with the Reian leader and the Lady of Wisdom.

Even the voice is the same.

"And you're Chellia, right? It's nice to meet you," she smiled and only Chellia saw that her lips formed silent again.

So it's her. And she remembers me.

"Uh, hm, hi," the girl said and looked at Kahrun. "I think we can start."

They sat into those comfortable armchairs and let Chellia to tell them her story. She didn't exclude any part of it and told them everything, though few times she had to stop to calm down, which earned her Ouzo's worried looks. The spirit's presence was calming and she was able to tell them even about Cyhiraeth's death and the discovery of Hyperion without running away in tears. After she told them what she remembered and they had no other questions, May checked her lost eye and had to sadly inform her, that even she cannot regenerate it, as something was blocking any healing magic.

"Let me check it," Lumiel got up and inspected the injury herself. "There is some kind of seal. It's very well hidden and I don't dare to remove it, it could damage your brain or even kill you. Hyperion has marked you somehow, I don't know if it's for good or bad, but I'd suggest to keep this to ourselves. We can never know if someone is listening and until we actually find a Hyperion, it's useless. Better safe than sorry."

"Do you have some particular danger in mind, lady Lumiel?" May asked.

"Beritra, Tiamat, Ereshkigal, Lepharists."

"Ereshkigal?" Kahrun raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought he has secluded himself from this war after the Cataclysm."

"No, he's always somewhere near," the Lady of Wisdom shook her head. "Unlike other Balaur, his mind is cold as ice and he's thoroughly calculating his every move. Just because we don't see him, doesn't mean he's not there. And Hyperion is exactly the thing he would risk to be revealed for. Everyone would."

~ x ~

A hooded man read the reports from his spies. The discoveries they brought to him were not special at the slightest. All but two. And those two were completely different case. One of them already got to public and he didn't doubt the Dragon lords have heard about it, but the other... He could do anything he wanted with this knowledge. Sell it, blackmail that person, or even give it to someone for free and see what happens. After few minutes of thinking an analyzing he was sure he'll use both. He teleported from his hideout directly into Tiamat's Stronghold. Teleportation was never a problem for him.

"You!" the Dragon lady sensed his presence and almost immediately appeared in front of him. "What do you want here?"

"Hello, Tiamat," he smiled. "I came to offer you a deal. You have something I want."