When Regis saw his grandfather for the first time in nearly two years, he was treated to a rare show of affection by the dignified old Clan Leader, who had placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"You've done well, Regis. You've proved yourself worthy to lead the Landegre Clan, once I enter eternal sleep."

"And you, Seira," he said. "Thank you for watching over my grandson."

She nodded. Seira hadn't said a word since saying goodbye to their companions.

After informing their acquaintances that they had indeed survived their time in the Human realm, Regis and Seira were left largely alone. One of the first things they did was make a trip down to the Erollon River to meditate on the beauty of nature, and to throw a rock into the water.

Regis looked at the stone in his hand. Ikhan had coached him through the incantation until he was truly sick of the words. And it still took a good two weeks of work before he was done.

Seira touched her amulet, which the quartet of Humans had insisted both she and Regis keep, that hung around her neck and put a hand on Regis' shoulder.

Her cousin looked at her. They wouldn't need to use the amulets; Seira had been a full noble for the past seventeen years and, now that Regis was of age, they were both in possession of their full powers. Regardless, they would keep wearing their 'bling' as a memento of their time spent with the Human warriors. And there was one more thing they would do.

Regis threw the stone into the water, and they both watched as it sank to the bottom.

They could still help their friends, even if it was indirect.

Two days later, Regis' coming of age ceremony was held. The entire court was there to see it: all the Clan Leaders, all the Elven nobles, and the proceedings were overseen by the Lord herself. Before all his peers, his acquaintances, and his enemies among his people, Regis stood up and was declared to be an adult by the Lord of the Elves.

After that, there was a meal, and Regis was able to observe the Elven court for the first time in his life. He'd always imagined it as a place where he'd finally be recognized as a worthwhile individual. No longer would he be a child, perpetually out of the loop and excluded.

And, admittedly, it did feel very good to sit there among his people, with Seira next to him, one among equals.

But something didn't quite feel right, and, as he chewed on his meal and observed the other dinner guests, he tried to figure out what it was. There was something of it in the way the nobles bowed to the Lord; it was part of the arrogance in the newcomer Ranger, who kept flirting with Seira; the very atmosphere seemed permeated with it.

It was power.

But it wasn't just power, he decided, it was a power incomplete.

But what was missing? And where had he seen this complementary component, to know it wasn't there?

Well, it had been part of Ikhan's door-locking spell; part of the planning that had gone into retrieving the cross-earring from the lake; and the majority of what had let them quest for over a year without resorting to combat on more than a handful of occasions. He could describe it easily enough, but what was its name?

No, it couldn't be.

Home was where everything he ever liked had always been; everything he admired was here. The Human realm was a place of perpetual annoyance, with its enthusiastic Humans and its 'Creatures of Darkness', it had been a place which he'd been only too happy to leave.

So why, here amongst his kin, did he feel that those who were closest to him lacked that which he admired most? Try as he might to see them that way, they simply weren't elegant. Because elegance was more than power, it was excellence.

The nobles who sat with him were even more powerful than he, and yet they did so little with their abilities. In fact, the Elven non-violence policy was only feasible because when Elves did enter battle, they were the most destructive of races. And, while there's nothing wrong with wiping out one's enemies... even allies tend to be shy of a people who, more often than not, end up destroying the battlefield as well.

And it wasn't just the fact that his Human friends were more elegant than the Clan Leaders, by his new definition, that bothered him—it was that the Human race would be more elegant than the Elven one. Humans were the ones who pushed forward weapons technology and spell-work. Their short lives demanded the battle-hardened competency of front-line soldiers in contrast with the placid lifestyle Elves normally chose. He himself was not elegant, and all his efforts to imitate his grandfather and the other Clan Leaders did nothing to change this.

Needless to say, Regis was very much preoccupied during the remainder of his ceremony. It was with sadness that Seira noted that no one else seemed to even notice.

Well, regardless of its focus, the party had to go on. So the meal was followed by a few hours of dancing. By early morning, the celebration was over, and that was that. Regis was now an adult: a fully-fledged noble.

After going back to Escoria for a long-overdue reunion with family, the four humans decided to go on an easier quest to get a feel for having a smaller party again.

So, they ambushed Dr. Crombel at an inn, while he was traveling on business, and shaved his hair into a mohawk, while he was sleeping. Ikhan had then turned his hair green with a spell.

They tried to lay low after that. Unfortunately, this proved to be easier said than done, as they seemed to have acquired a stalker: a woman named 'Iris', who was very pretty, spoke informally most of the time, and was completely and utterly insane.

She seemed to regard herself as a 'mother-figure' to the four of them, and kept trying to get them to join the Union, so they could be part of her team. Well, Iris was easily distracted, so they'd managed to lose her by running through caravan of traveling performers. Last they'd seen of her, she'd been marveling over one of the body-building strongmen.

So, what with one thing and another, the four of them thought it best to hide each time they saw Union members for a while, which led to a rather interesting eavesdropping session.

The four of them had been concealing themselves just behind the treeline of a forest, because they'd seen Jake and Mary in the tavern where they'd been staying. After managing to sneak out undetected, Shinwoo said he thought someone was following them, so they'd run a little ways ahead and hidden themselves.

Jake and Mary weren't looking for them, as it turned out. Or, at least, they weren't invested in it, as they immediately seized on the opportunity to harass a pack of Werewolves who were coming from the opposite direction.

"Hey, dogs, fetch!" Jake threw a stick off to the side and looked at them expectantly.

Mary laughed.

They'd followed the pack for another few minutes, until they succeeded in snapping the temper of one of the wolves. Then, they'd arrested the entire pack of wolves for breaking the non-aggression treaty by attacking Union members.

Now, Jake and Mary may not have been the most powerful members of the Union, but they were able to capture the Werewolves with a minimum of effort.

Well, there was really only one thing the quartet could do after that.

That night, the four of them broke into the Union headquarters and freed the pack. They freed the other three prisoners they found there, as well, because the Union didn't have he authority to act as a disciplinary body (that was Yuna's reasoning, anyway.) Though they did dress up like a team of assassins, because Ikhan had insisted on disguising themselves, and Suyi had taken it upon herself to coordinate their outfits.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them had the place to themselves.

That was when the real fun began.