Zacharias tailed the peculiar character, until he saw the Shade enter through the opening in the trees that led to Karena's property. He suddenly became angered at the Shade who entered without permission, and proceeded to follow them in, ready to apprehend the intruder.

Something made him change his mind though.

As soon as he caught sight of the figure again, he found them at one of the apple trees, jumping to get a fruit that was growing on a branch higher than they were. The Shade continued for a few minutes, and eventually they jumped so much that their hood fell off of their head. What Zacharias saw next shocked him greatly.

'It cannot be!' he thought as he got a glimpse of a long wavy head of pinkish brown hair. 'Karena…She is supposed to be petrified! But Sir Top Hat and Miss Fey…they are alive and well…so could this be her…?'

He desperately wanted to know the answer to this, so he took a step out towards where she was. Unfortunately for him, that first step broke a fallen branch, alerting the Shade to his presence.

She paused, and immediately hid away behind the tree. She didn't seem to be fleeing anywhere, so he walked the rest of the way to the tree, looked from the hiding Shade to the apple she was after, and then picked it. He then looked back to her, to see her peeking shyly from around the trunk. Once her eyes met his, she hid once more behind the trunk.

"You…are a Shade too?" she suddenly asked softly.

Her voice threw Zacharias off, as it was so much like Karena's that his heart skipped a beat and he couldn't answer the question.

He quickly recollected his thoughts, and then tried to offer her the apple as he said, "I believe that you wanted one of these." – she peeked, and then reached out her hand to take it, but he withdrew his offering for the moment – "But I must know…What is your reasoning for taking something that is not yours to begin with?"

The Shade paused for a long moment.

"I am sorry." She said slowly in reply. "I heard that the person who lives here was long gone, and that her fruit was the most delicious…I just wanted to taste one for myself…Please don't rat me out to the mistress…"

Zacharias clenched his teeth at the mention of the Great Witch's honorific, but nonetheless decided to hand her the apple anyway.

"The young woman who lived here was very beautiful and kind. She always helped everyone without question and gave them all that they needed…" he explained slowly as he stared at the apple in his hand. "She would even give this apple to you with no hesitation. Therefore, I shall let you have it…" – he paused – "But in exchange I only ask one thing of you…I want you to come out of hiding and see you face to face as you accept this gift of pardon."

For what seemed like forever, the Shade remained hidden, thinking on whether or not to risk revealing her face. Finally she decided that she would, seeing as she believed him to be a Shade too, and stepped out from behind the tree trunk.

The apple was immediately forgotten about, as it was dropped on the ground while Zacharias gazed unbelievingly into the glazed over eyes of his fiancée. Her hair was longer, wavier, and was no longer in an updo, but there was no doubt in the knight's mind that it was her.

"Hey! My fruit!" she exclaimed, upset at first but then she became utterly confused as she was suddenly brought into a warm embrace. "Huh…?"

"Karena…I thought you were gone forever…" Zacharias uttered with pain in his voice. "But when I saw Sir Top Hat and Miss Fey alive and well…my hope returned and here you are…with me once more…"

"What are you talking about?!" the Shade asked before she started to struggle and pull away. "Let me go right this instant!"

She succeeded in escaping his enveloping arms and he let her go with confusion. "But Karena, my love…"

"I am not this Karena you speak of!" the woman shot back, angered as she narrowed her eyes at him. "And you sir, are not a Shade! You are a knight! How could you trick me like that?!"

"…'Tis true. I am not a Shade…In truth, I am Inquisitor Zacharias Barnham, the man who pledged his love to you and who asked you for your hand in marriage."

The woman's eyes widened at his claims, as a deep red blush crept up on her cheeks. "I do not know you at all, so how could I be engaged to an utter stranger?!"

"You may ask that, but there is no doubt in my mind that you are Karena Edwards. Someone must have erased your memories…"

"That's not possible! All I remember is being a Shade and serving the…augh!"

She suddenly stopped and winced in pain, clutching her head with both her hands. At this time Zacharias noticed her left hand and once she returned to normal, he showed her.

"If you claim that you are not engaged, then how do you explain this?" He then lifted her left hand to show her the very engagement ring he had given to her a few months ago.

Her eyes widened with shock and confusion as she gazed at her hand. "That was not there before! You could have just slipped it on now!"

Zacharias was about to tell her that he wasn't lying, when she suddenly froze for a second before bowing over as she grasped her head in pain once more. He could only watch in painful silence as she groaned aloud.

"No…GO AWAY!" she said, not making any sense at all. "These memories…They are not mine. No, please!" – she started to sob – "Please…LEAVE ME ALONE!"

After the last outburst, she lost consciousness and fell back. Zacharias caught her quickly and picked her up bride-style, wondering for a moment what he was going to do with her. He had to choose quickly, as a couple of knights were alerted by her shouting, so he ducked into her home and laid her on the nearest couch before starting the wait for his beloved to awaken…