"Enigma?" Lena stared at the girl in front of her. Enigma stared back. In person, Lena noticed that Enigma wasn't as tall as she had seemed in the dream. Enigma wore a long, white and green dress that resembled Enigma's clothing from the dream. The half-braided knee-length hair was the same as well. Enigma's eyes were the familiar bright green. Not hazel green, but more like an emerald green. Lena felt her heart lurch. She recognized Enigma's eyes, and not just from the dream. Lena had known that Etna looked like Enigma, but their eyes were exactly the same.

Etna's hair was much shorter than Enigma's, shaved on one side and the other side barely reaching her shoulders, and Etna had the tattoo-like markings on her hands, which Enigma did not, but the resemblance was still uncanny. Lena shook her head and broke out of her trance.

Enigma looked Lena up and down with a look Lena couldn't quite place. Lena's surprise only increased when Enigma sunk into a bow to Lena and Katya.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I dealt with the... problem." Enigma said, looking down and avoiding Katya's gaze.

"Very good, Enigma. Where is she now?" Katya inquired.

"I sent her back. Cyran is supervising her now." Enigma said, bowing again to Lena and her family before crossing the room to stand beside Katya.

"WHAT?" Lena suddenly discovered that she was able to speak as she blurted out the question. "What is going on?"

"How much have you explained?" Enigma asked.

"Only that he's her father and I'm her biological mother," Katya stated, pointing at Lena's father. Everyone except Lena was being infuriatingly calm.

"I do not care who it is! SOMEONE tell me EVERYTHING that you have been keeping from me." Lena said, her voice rising in pitch and volume as she failed at staying composed.

Just then, the door opened again, and the headmistress entered, holding a tray of chocolate croissants and cups for tea or coffee. She set them down on the desk near Katya.

"Thank you again for allowing us to meet with Lena in your office, madam," Katya said with a smile. "It is greatly appreciated, especially considering how much work you must have what with the two recent deaths..."

The headmistress nodded solemnly. "Yes, we are looking into the murders. As such, I completely understand your decision to remove Lena from this institution. Though she will be missed, I know that it is your decision. I will leave you to make your decisions and discuss the situation with Lena. Lena, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend." The headmistress gently placed a hand on Lena's shoulder before leaving the room.

Lena's mind whirled even more than it had moments prior. Two murders? Then that meant... Aleta and... who else? How were they so sure that it was murder? Lena had already suspected, but she didn't want to believe it... Remove her from the school? Where would she go? What would happen? It wasn't like she had any close friends other than Aleta here, but still, this was all so sudden...

Was Etna the one who had killed the others? As far as Lena knew, Etna hadn't been seen since Lena had seen her run into the forest. Then a worse thought struck Lena. The second death... it couldn't be Etna... could it? Lena's blood pounded in her ears as she felt her legs collapse and she fell heavily into the chair behind her. This was all too much at once.

"Someone just explain everything..." Lena muttered, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Lena," For the first time since they had entered the room, Lena's mom spoke. Not Katya, but the only mother she had ever known.

"Mom." Lena's voice broke on that single syllable.

"I know it's a lot to take in sweetheart, but Katya and your father will explain everything. Your father and I want you to know that ultimately, what you do will still be your decision and you won't be forced to do something that you don't want to do, but hear them out." Lena's mom crossed the room and embraced Lena for a long moment.

"Okay." Lena wiped her eyes with her hand and turned to her father. "Tell me everything."

Lena's father let out a long sigh before he began.

"I know you probably won't believe parts of this. But hear me out. Everything is true." Lena's father started, glancing quickly at Katya before looking back at Lena.

"The truth is, Katya and I are not from this realm." He hesitated before continuing. "We are from the realm of Erinaea. My real name also isn't Damian. That is the human name I took when I came here."

"Wait, hold on! Stop!" Lena cut him off. "Other realm? And if that's your human name, what are you?"

"Elves. Katya and I are as well. Because Katya and Ailan are elves, you are also an elf." Enigma spoke up.

"Who is Ailan?" Lena demanded, not knowing whether to believe any of them, but getting increasingly pissed off at everyone.

"Me." Lena's father raised his hand. "It's my elf name."

"Oh, and don't tell me." Lena scowled as she turned to her mom. "Your name is not actually Ivy?"

"No. I'm human and my name has always been Ivy." Lena's mom said.

"And you actually believe them?" Lena demanded, gesturing angrily to the other three people in the room.

"It's true," Katya said. "After you were born we knew it would be too dangerous for you to stay in Erinaea. I sent your father to this world so he could hide you and protect you."

"Protect me from what? Why do I need protection?" Lena said.

"His name is Draven," Katya spoke up.

"But you might know him by another name. I told you once." Enigma said.

"The One Who Wears Black Armor," Lena whispered.

"You do remember." A faint smile crossed Enigma's face. She seemed relieved.

"Wait, but that was just a dream! How do you-? How did I-? What?" Lena's confusion only grew.

"I sent you that dream," Enigma said.

"You sent me- what do you mean you sent me the dream? What are you? Some kind of sandman?" Lena asked.

"She is an elf, not a sandman. However, she does have the most powerful magic of any elf I know." Katya said.

"So if she's the most powerful, why am I the target?" Lena asked.

"It's one of the problems with being the only heir to the royal family," Ailan said.

"Huh?" Lena's thoughts raced.

"You're the princess, Lena," Katya said.

That seemed familiar... Lena's eyes suddenly widened. Etna had called her princess. The realization that Etna knew hit Lena hard.

"This Draven person... is he alone?" Lena asked once she was able to find her voice.

"No. He has an entire army. The attack on this school was not a coincidence, nor was it a coincidence that one of the casualties was someone so close to you. One of his spies has found you. I don't want to think about what would have happened to you if you had been found by the spy the night your friend died..." Enigma said.

"I know this is a lot to take in, Lena. You don't know me and have no reason to trust myself or Enigma. I understand if you are suspicious of us, but if nothing else, trust your father. Trust the mother that raised you. They kept all this from you to protect you. Everything all of us have done for you has been to protect you. But we are no longer able to protect you here now that they know where you are. I know that a lot has changed very quickly for you and you will need time to process everything. I ask that you come back to Erinaea with me and Enigma. Your family could come with you, of course, and we would be able to provide comfort and security to you and your family." Katya said.

Lena met Katya's gaze and saw nothing but sincerity in her eyes. It still all seemed so impossible. Lena looked at her father. He looked concerned as he awaited Lena's answer. Lena looked at Ivy, the only mother she had ever known. Ivy nodded almost imperceptibly, encouraging Lena.

Lena thought about everything that had happened. Some parts of the story did make sense. Things began to add up, despite the fact that it all seemed impossible. If Lena wasn't sure of anything else, she knew for a fact that her friend had been murdered. If she was the target, she had no doubt that she was in real danger.

"I..." Lena had never faced such a big decision. Her eyes met Enigma's and something seemed to pass between them. Lena suddenly knew with undeniable certainty that she had not been lied to about anything here. She couldn't say how she knew, but she did. Lena sighed before speaking.

"I'll go."

Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts! What do you think about all of the new plot developments and what do you think will happen next?