House of justice.

The great hall stretched out in front of them. Large corridors of shelves full of scrolls held the immensity of names of those families that live and once lived in the streets of Orario. Among them, the echo of steps resonated at every moment, followed by the solemn voice of a monk.

"I understand that you don't need to think too much to come to the conclusion of who am I searching for. I trust my word that said information will not fall on uninitiated ears."

"I… You can be sure of that, Mr. Cicada," Bell nodded, "Can I ask now the reason behind this mission?"

Cicada sigh, "That's something that escapes my understanding. And, to be honest… this turned out a little harder than it was meant to be. The Pilgrim gave me a letter with the photo of the adventurer in question. He told me to not look into it until getting here, but… I managed to lost it."

"So… you don't really know what are you looking for?"

"No… No, I… have no idea," he confessed with a hint of shame on his voice.

As the duo continued their chat, Ryuu kept an eye on the scrolls they were passing by. At first glance, it seemed that they were arranged in no specific order. Some of them align with a letter, others by date, other don't even followed any alignment. However, it wasn't the first time Ryuu was there. She'd been coming back in time to time, just to look into the documentation of her lost family — a hint of nostalgia, or just a way to remember their names. For that, she knew that, in fact, the documents were arranged differently depending of their row. However, after ordering them, they were mixed between each other's to avoid the unwanted disappear of these. Only with the help of a manager you could be able to find a specific scroll — that, or someone who could read through this complex method.

"We should separate," the elf interrupted, "We'll be able to cover more terrain if we do so."

Cicada raised his eyebrows in surprise, but also smiled at the suggestion. He was about to answer, but before saying a words, Ryuu turned around on a corridor. Both Bell and the monk looked at her as she accelerated the pace, trying to let them behind as fast as possible.

"I was gonna say that it was a great idea… All right, I think we should do the same."

As the woman moved away from them, Little Rocky couldn't avoid looking at her with a hint of worry. She was evidently nervous — acting on a more rushed way then she used to. He could understand the reason, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad for the whole situation.

Once again, the eyes of the elf looked at the names of each scroll as she advanced through the place. Her heart beat faster after every step. She felt the thrill of the moment, as if were getting closer to an uncertain and dangerous destiny. But it wasn't as her times of adventurer, there wasn't no emotion nor adrenaline, but a constant feeling of being about to do something she'll regret. And as the moment went closer, her hand went into the pocket of her uniform, silently playing with the pen she inadvertently stole from the desk. She felt her body weakening, she felt sick as the meters became centimeters. The echo of her shoes made a dent on her mind, only helping to hinder her already hard commitment. And then, on a sudden moment that was like the feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff, she saw it.

In front of her was now the document with the names of the people who once were her beloved friends. Ryuu swallowed hard as her palm reached the piece of paper. Her eyes inspected the zone, getting to confirm her absolute loneliness. And then she opened it, and losing no time, she used the pen to change her own name. She felt terribly wrong as the ink began to taint the sacred inscription, but there was no turning back now — she had to continue.

Once it was done, her hand was shaking as if she'd ran a whole marathon around the floors of the dungeons. Ryuu stored the pen back on her pocket, and took a moment for herself. With a heavy sigh, the elf read the names of her old comrades. A mountain of feelings accompanied the memories of a past life. Her fingers caressed the letters with a gentle touch a while her voice whispered the names listed by them.

"Lyra. Kaguya. Rankett. Ryana… Alice," she stood directly at that last name for about a minute.

Her mind flied towards better times. The moment's she spent with her friends, those who managed to trust and love as their equals or even more than just that. She remembered the girl with fire hair, that whom she would have been willing to give her life if she asked for. Sadness and yearning filled the elf's heart — the poison who'd been tormenting her since that fatal day.

She was so deep on her thought that barely noticed the steps that slowly came into her meet. Those were calm, devoid of any malice, but they still radiated a certain danger when heard by the young woman's keen ears. When they stopped, keeping a mere meter of distance from her, she took a deep breath and turned to look at the monk.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something," he mumbled.

Ryuu offered no answer. She just looked away, trying to hide the disdain on her gaze as she offered the scroll. The foreign looked at the document, but didn't dared to take it. Instead, he tried speaking with a gentle tone.

"You know her, don't you? You know Gale."

The elf hesitated a moment, "I did…"

"I didn't even knew she was a girl until you talked about her," he confessed with an awkward smile, "You… don't necessary like me, I can tell."

"It's not that… It… this isn't a story I like to remember. I used to be very close with the Astrea Family — with Kaguya, with Lyra, Alice… and yes, with Gale," she sigh with a bitter tone.

Cicada nodded, "I see. I'm terribly sorry. Must've been really hard."

After a while, Ryuu finally managed to look at him, "You have no idea."

"I don't, certainly. But I know someone who does."

The girl frowned, and her heart skipped a beat with that declaration.

"The news takes too long to arrive back in home. Sometimes they don't even do so, or sometime it's just a rumor spread from word to mouth. But the fall of the Astrea Familia? The massacre of Evilus? Huh… We knew about it with great detail," he took a moment before continuing the story. "I was there when the Pilgrim received the bad news. We thought it wouldn't affect him, after all… it was just another family of all the others who've fell on the dark era. But it… really, really touched him. In a way that we've never seen before."

"This Pilgrim you're talking off…" Ryuu interrupted, "Isn't he the captain of the Buda Family?"

"The only, and also the only monk I know with a long red hair. He was the first, and the best of us. He traveled more than we could think, you know? From Orario to the southern lands, all the way walking. He have probably see things to terrible that would take the dream away from everyone. And still, he's always there when anyone needs help."

Cicada smiled to himself as he continued remembering his captain. Ryuu recognized that gaze almost immediately. It wasn't just respect what he was feeling, he cared for the man behind those stories — as a friends, as something more than just a leader to follow up.

"They were my friends," the girl continued, "The day I found about the tragedy it… I was destroyed. I didn't even had the chance to say goodbye nor to tell them how much they meant to me. Maybe they didn't knew it but… I loved them with every inch of my being."

The girl looked at the scroll for a moment. She hesitated, now feeling a sense of doubt about everything. She didn't want to put her trust in him, not in someone who came across the world just to hunt for her head. His words were clear as crystal, her actions had upset his captain, his trusted friend. It made all the sense in the world that he would want to bring her to him. After all, wouldn't she had done the same for Alice?

"There's something I want to know," she frowned at him, "What do you want from Gale? Do you want to imprison her? Or maybe punish her in any way?"

The monk sigh, "I was sent here to find her. I don't know what the Pilgrim wants from her, but there's very little I can tell you."

The elf clenched her knuckles. That answer left a bitter taste on her mouth, but not because she wasn't able to believe it, but for the exact opposite reason. He hadn't said a single lie, but all those truths made more questions than answers. It was then that she found herself in a dead end. However, it wasn't all bad.

After a couple of moments, her gaze softened and she offered the scroll once again, "I'm just… worried for her, that's all. I know she has done terrible things, but it doesn't—"

"Terrible things?" he interrupted raising an eyebrow. "Didn't she defeated the Rudra Familia? Those people… they were monsters. We can even say that she somehow saved Orario from their hands."

Ryuu's face showed a sad smile as she shook her head, "It's not as simple… my esteemed."

Cicada looked at her for a long moment, trying to understand the logic behind those words. He understood the fact that he didn't knew all the story, but also thought that it may be better to not to learn it — at least, not from the voice of someone who lived the whole story so closely. He took the scroll and looked at it for an instant. And then, the words finally sand on his mind.

"My esteemed?" he smiled and offered a respectful bow, "That's… somehow heartwarming, my elven friend."

"Well… I think I feel a little calmer knowing that you're not a… eh…" she searched for the right words to finish the sentence.

"…an idiot?"

"I was about to say a bounty hunter," she left out a little chuckle, "I've heard there were many of those searching for her."

"I can imagine…" he opened the scroll and looked for the names, "Blonn, huh? That's an odd name… but I assume it's pretty common on this lands."

A tear of sweat rolled Ryuu's cheek. She felt her heart accelerating as she noticed the skepticism on the foreign's face, but she soothed down as he saw him shrug. Her breathing finally return to normal as he put the document back in place, and felt as if a large weight had left her shoulders.

"I really appreciate your help, Miss Ryuu," he said with a kind tone, "However, I'll understand if you decide not to help me anymore after this. I wouldn't have the guts to ask you to turn against your old friend."

"It's ok… Just, I would be glad if you could make me a little favor."

"And what will that be?"

Ryuu's expression became serious, "If you find her… I would like to know it first. Can you do that for me?"

He was a little surprised for the tone of that, but even so he agreed with a gesture.

"Thank you, Mr. Cicada."

-.-

It was done. However, very well knew the elven girl that lies have short legs. How much she would be able to extend it is something she didn't wanted to think at the moment. There was more important stuff in her mind — truths she needed to know. But those answers wouldn't be found within the walls of an old department of the guild. It was because of that that she took a different road from both adventurers.

Ryuu took the long road towards the southwestern of Orario. Has been a long time since she walked those streets. Many things had changed, new houses, new faces, everything better in general. It was somehow reassuring to see the land blooming, or at least it would've been in better circumstances. And as she supposed, nobody recognized her face.

As she began to go deeper in the district, the buildings and people started to became less and less. The place turned into a large plain, and then into a beautiful garden decorated with all kinds of flowers and trees. The aroma was livid, like the soft spring breeze. On more than one occasion she stopped just to feel the environment, getting deep into the emotions that such place provoked on her. But in the end, she very well knew that it was all an excuse to avoid going forward. And when she got a clear view to her destiny, that feeling became even stronger.

A bitter smile appear on Ryuu's face and a tear rolled her cheek. In front of her was an old and worn-out mansion, surrounded by the overgrowth plants that once dressed its beauty. The wood was rotten, the windows were broke and the metal of the bars were rusty.

"Kaguya would get a heart attack if she could see this," she mumbled for herself.

Very little was the effort needed to open the old entrance. As the elf put a step into the building, she was attacked by all kinds of smell — old books, worn curtains, dead rats, none of them was a good aroma. She even had to cover her nose with the sleeve of her apron. The place was a mess, a shadow of the old glory from the prestigious family of justice. But the memories… those were still there.

Ryuu looked with nostalgia at the almost unrecognizable canvases. Some of them were from her old friends, and some other just strange artistic paintings from lady Astrea — she always had a strange taste for art. The elf stopped a moment to appreciate one frame. It was an old picture with all of the family there. Her portrait, though, was ripped from the draw.

The memory of the last time she was there hit her. The rage she felt, the horrible taste on her mind, all the horrible thought she had, everything returned as if it happened yesterday. She remembered herself taking that same frame and tearing it before running into her room. The sound of her steps made an echo on her mind — a sound that, even that day, rang in her mind.

Silently she turned towards the hallway, following the steps of her old self. She saw the old rooms, some with opened door, some without them, but the last one, closed and locked like a treasure. And then she stood in front of it, taking a moment to look at the sign with the name of her most valuable friend — Alice.

Again, there wasn't needed much effort to get into the room. Ryuu looked around, inspecting everything before taking a deep sigh.

"What am I even doing here...?" she questioned herself, "Alice… I don't know what to do. What if… if he's…"

Her gaze moved to the space under the bed. The shadows in there were darker than they should be, like a void waiting to devour her poor soul. But there wasn't magic not any kind of course in there. It was just a bed, it was just a shadow, and nothing but the truth — one that she may not like, but a truth after all.

The words of Cicada made an echo on her mind, "The only monk I know with a long red hair. He was the first, and the best of us."

Ryuu frowned, "No… it can't be."

She went on her knees and pushed the bed aside. With a fast move from her hands, she dusted the floor to reveal a hidden hatch. The hinges clanged, and the wood broke the moment the young woman opened the trapdoor. From the deepest darkness of there, she took a book of pictures protected from the time by an old tablecloth — Alice's memory book.

Ryuu searched around the pages, looking closely to every little accomplishment of her friend — their first expedition, her first boss, the moment she leveled up for the first time, when she meet her friends, even the day she meet her. But there was one little picture that made her heart stop. The elf hesitated, her fingers shook, but she managed to take it on her hands.

"N-No…" she mumbled.

Her eyes looked at the little window towards the past for about a minute. In there, Alice was with one person, young monk from another family — he was a little taller than her, with rightful yellow eyes and a long golden hair. She hugged him, with a smile as sincere as the one she usually wore while the drawing of a red heart surrounded them.

"After all this years… Youshan… Why?"