"Do you think He'd kill Niklaus?" Julian mumbles to Angel as they walk through the huge castle. Angel's eyebrows dip as he replays the scene of him fighting Nikaus earlier.

"Have you lost your mind, you fool?!" Angel yells out as he ducks a hit then aims one at Niklaus.
Niklaus stops moving fluidly and grabs onto Angel's wrist. He yanks it down then shoots his other hand out and grabs his other wrist. He then turns him so that his back hits his own chest. He pushes Angel's chest into the wall and keeps his hands locked behind him.

"Yes. Haven't you?" He retorts suddenly. Angel struggles against the hold, but stops as he realizes that's an answer to his previous question. "How are you sane? How are you okay and alright with Esdith? How has the faith Lord Second has in you not driven you to darkness yet?" Niklaus demands hurriedly. Angel grits his teeth as his cheek rests against the uneven brick  wall.

"I really don't see how any of them value you. You're mad." Niklaus growls in Angel's ear, making him weary.

"I wasn't always like this. Just like you won't always be like that. They'll break you, thinking they're fixing you. You'll realize this and lose the ability to cast blame onto them as their intentions are somehow always good." Niklaus all but spits as he speaks of them.

"Is that the mad way of saying you detest yourself for loving them and so you detest them for making you love them?" Niklaus tightens his grip on Angel's hands, making him almost wince.

"Well look at you, muscle and brain." He says sourly.

"So I'm right?" Angel asks. Niklaus releases him suddenly and steps back.

"You are."

Julian follows Angel down a damp stairwell, irked with the fact that he's ignoring him.

"Angel!" Angel stop and turns around to look at Julian who immediately looks into his eyes and invades his head.

My back muscles twitch with pain as they are completely ripped apart. Warm blood flows down my back, easing the pain a little. My shoulder sockets ache with being suspended in the air for so long. My wrists scream at my brain, demanding to be numbed. My neck whimpers, having given up and let my head sag down so that my chin rests on my bare sweaty chest. Without warning, I'm released and I fall into a heap, but quickly force myself into the correcting kneeling pose.

"Milord." I say before I'm commanded to rise. My back slams against the wall and his bleeding wrist slams onto my mouth. His blood flows down my throat and my mind aches. It burns. It constricts. Before I know it, I'm screaming, but he stiffs his arm in more so that no one hears my screams. Not that it's uncommon to hear cries in this castle, not at all.

***

"You will never utter a word and in exchange, I will give you regular doses." I hear his voice say. I nod hurriedly, doing anything to get the ambrosia that will extinguish the flames devouring my mind and body alike. He cuts his palm and offers me it. I raise my eyes and look at him with so much unconcealed hunger."Do we have a deal?"

"Of course Sire."

***

"Tell me, what makes your eyes shine with ravenous hunger for what will kill you one day?" He asks me thoughtfully. I raise my head to look at him.

"Have you heard of the ones who kneel to madness?" He nods solemnly. A knowing grin tickles my lips. "Your blood is the crown that makes madness kneel to me."

Everything replays in his mind so quickly, every scene a flash until they both snap back to reality and find themselves tumbling down the tight stairwell. As soon as they land at the foot of a door, Angel leaps up and grabs Julian by his collar, slamming him against the wall.

"You've got to be kidding me." Julian says excitedly. Instead of feeling threatened by Angel's anger, he leans in so close to Angel's face. "That's why you have the strings of emotions of a Gemind, isn't it?" The black lines in Julian's purple irises continue to spin as he zeroes in on Angel's strings. "Amazing." He whispers subconsciously. Angel growls, snapping Julian out of his reverie.

"Tell no one or I will kill you." Julian tilts his head to the side and just looks at Angel for a minute.

"Except knowing you, you would like to just kill me now rather than have me know your secret, but I'm alive. The only thing that would stand in front of your instinct to hide is one man. Meaning, he knew I'd find out and for some reason, he's alright with it. But that begs the question, why?" Julian says aloud.  Both of their heads whip to towards the old wooden door to their side as the sound of shuffling fills their ears. Angel feels himself begin to calm down and that only makes him want to be angry. "I won't tell. I promise." Julian says gently, quietly. Angel sighs and pushes away, turning to the door. He twists the door nob and steps in.

Julian hurries in when he hears Angel groan loudly. He sees a large shiny butcher's knife in Angel's shoulder and gasps.

"General Angel?!!" A loud screech sounds. Julian looks at the small servant boy with curiosity, while Angel simply groans again.

"Seth."

***

"Stop! Leave him be." Growls Tucker as he stops Allen from fending for himself and most likely killing Xavier again.

The scene is tense as their youngest brother re-lives the most horrible of his memories. There's fire around them, lighting up the night. A few flames on fallen trees and bushes, but the largest source of light is Xavier himself. Having ignited his body on fire, he serves as a source of light. Xavier has his burning hands around Allen's neck as he plays his memories for them. Struggling to understand, Tucker commands Allen to let Xavier do as he wishes.

"What is he-" Jonathan's whisper fades into the night as the rings of fire framing Xavier's pitch black eyes burn a little brighter.

"I can't believe you! You're disgusting. You've had your Mark for decades! How could you lose control and feed on a human, turning him into a vampire. Thanks to you, his wife, children, and mother have turned as well. And who has to deal with that? Me!" Xavier yells at a memory no one else quite understands. Allen curses under his breath as his hands hang limp by his sides and his face contorts in pain at having his neck burned by his brother. The blazing flames lick at his hair, burning his lazy curls.

"Tucker." Allen growls, feeling Xavier burn his neck away, knowing if he goes further, he might very well truly kill him. Colton shushes him and listens as Xavier gasps.

"I enjoyed it? I-I didn't. I didn't enjoy burning Justin Walsh's family to the ground!"

***

Lily's body turns and fidgets in her sleep as she constantly witnesses the same seen over and over again.

The smoke filling Lilly's vision makes her eyes water. Coughing thunderously and blinking furiously, her feet drag her towards the blazing house in the dark night. Her feet halt and her body freezes as the wails and cries of children reach her ears from the burning home. Crashes and bangs, the occupants of the house desperately try to escape from the raging fire. The heat scorches Lilly's skin as she distantly watches it begin to collapse.

A woman's figure appears by one of the windows as she hysterically breaks the glass and begins to climb out. As her burning arms extend out of the window, Lilly can only hope for her to make it. But alas, another hand reaches out and grips the woman's burnt hair and roughly jerks her back inside. Lilly feels tears tickle her cheeks as the poor woman lets out a gurgling loud scream. Minutes later, the cries and screams disappear and the only sound to be heard is the prickling of the fire eating away at the house.

Suddenly, the front door is kicked down by a masculine figure. As the figure walks out, Lilly decides that the boy may be around her age, yet she's unable to tell precisely due to the layer of fire covering his entire body; from his toes to his hair. All but his eyes. Well at least Lilly hopes that the large piercingly endless black pits that are lined with an extra bright ring of fire are his eyes. Her large emerald eyes meet his and all of a sudden, nothing exists but the choking claustrophobic feeling under his gaze. The blackness of his eyes tell a story, but he doesn't let her read it as he turns around and gives the house one last look. With a final sigh, and a taunting look her way, the boy bows his head down. The fire on his body disappears completely, not leaving a single trace, yet right before she can make out any of his features, clouds of smoke cover him like a shield. The smoke circles him slowly, but leaves one place alone. His eyes. With enough concentration, Lilly can see the black of his eyes slowly retracting to his pupil to show his icy blue iris. As if hit by a truck, Lilly's vision completely blacks out and her body falls.

Once her eyes open; They begin to water due to the smoke. Coughing thunderously, and blinking furiously. Her feet drag her towards the blazing house in the dark night...

***

"General Angel?!"

"Seth." Angel greets rigidly. Julian inspects the short kid with long messy brown hair. His face is thin and ashen and the tips of his fingers are all bandaged. Slowly, he backs into the corner of what seems to be the kitchen. 

Angel looks at Julian sideways, noticing his violet eyes laughing with joy as he inspects the child's strings which are most definitely contorted with fear. Ignoring the blay, Angel grabs the hilt black of the knife and yanks it out of his shoulder with a wince. The knife clanks to the ground and Angel slumps his back, leaning a hand on a large wooden table, taking in labored breaths.

"General Angel, I swear to all that is Holy, I did not intend to hurt you! I thought- I thought it was someone else!" He cries out, extending an arm out, as if protecting himself. Julian takes notice of the oversized rags he wears, but only pays attention to the strings that tighten with more fear with every passing second. Gracefully, he crouch down to pick up the bloody knife then leans in to Angel's ear.

"If you don't start calming him down, he's going to piss himself." Julian whispers. Angel takes a large breath then straightens himself.

"Your aim is improving, Dagger." Angel says as his breathing becomes more regular. Julian's eyebrows dip as he looks at the boy questioningly.

"Dagger?" The boy gulps, clearly afraid of Julian's interest.

"He almost became an Elite, but the Lords decided he would break and not in the way they wanted." Angel explains. The boy eyes Julian's hands, fiddling with the knife.

"I'm so sorry, General." He says more clearly this time, inclining his head only a fraction. Angel sighs and nods.

"Where is Camille?" He asks and Julian almost laughs when the boy's strings of emotion tighten with fear only seconds after relaxing.

"Wha-but why?" He blurts, taking a step forward. Angel opens a few cabinets around the large kitchen, leaving the boy at the mercy of Julian's intrigued interest. Finally, he finds a cabinet with a few handkerchiefs and pulls one out, wiping his palms clean of his own blood.

"Lord Second demands her duties." Angel says simply. Julian's eyes widen as he sees his strings of emotion tighten too tightly and the boy's eyes flutter shut, almost passing out, so he quickly eases his fear. Angel looks at Julian with a knowing look and it clicks. That's why Lord Second wanted him to come along.

"L-lord S-seond?" Julian pulls out a chair and takes a seat, acknowledging how slow the boy is. Angel sighs deeply then approaches the boy. Seth watches as a beautiful angelic man approaches him slowly. His white hair matching his white uniform. Of all the infernal Elites tamed by demon-like men, the general is the only the boy admires. Angel stops just by the boy, towering over him by height.

"You've grown taller, Seth." Angel mumbles, so that Julian doesn't hear. Seth looks up weakly and nods. "I need you to bring Camille here. I have orders and you and I both know I will not hesitate to follow them." The boy acknowledges the hidden threat and runs through another door. Julian clears his throat and eyes Angel's back.

"You know a lot about the servants. I thought a man of your caliber would be too proud to recognize their existence." Angel throws Julian an annoyed glance before taking a seat next to him, surprising him.

"We are all servants in their eyes. Some of us just wear white clothes and bear titles that humor them." Julian sets down the knife he's been playing with and leans his hand on his palm sideways.

"Mhmm. You're all servants that Lord Second feeds his blood too." Julian sings, trying to vex the man. Angel looks at Julian and smirks, making the blay raise his brows with surprise.

"Don't get cocky. You don't know the half of of it." Julian throws his head back and laughs at Angel's sudden wildness, not noticing the slightly taller girl that walks in the room with the boy tucked in her side.

"Camille." Angel greets rigidly.

"No." She says quickly. Julian tilts his head to the side and takes in her long black mane and her beautiful body. She is not a child, he points out to himself.

"I believe I haven't asked you anything yet." Angel says, straitening his back and composing a posture of dominance. She puts a palm on the boy's head and narrows her eyes.

"I don't care. It's a no." Angel doesn't bat an eye. "And don't go threatening me, Mr. Elite. We could take you. All of us down here? Yeah we're marked children too. Maybe we're not worthy of being Elites, but we have power." Julian leans back and crosses his hands over his chest, impressed by her valor yet looking down at her for her ignorance.

"And what if it were Lord Second himself that you angered?" Angel questions calmly, knowing that simply mentioning the cold Lord would have any normal person trembling.

"By doing what? You never asked me for anything. You were never even here." She says smugly. Angel's face takes a confused look as he eyes her face with disbelief.

"You're as delusional as to believe that Lord Second would take your word over mine?" He scoffs. Julian's attention shifts to him for only a moment, seeing how insulted he is.

"Yes. After the stunt you pulled with his pet, Niklaus. He'd believe even a servant over you." Angel's face cools into a neutral expression as he holds himself back. Julian snickers, knowing that she's a little too smug. He holds the knife in his hand again and takes a loud breath in order to draw attention to himself.

"Camille, is it?" He asks and she nods. "See this, Camille?" He says, waving the knife around. "Do you recognize it?" Seth tenses in her side and she grits her teeth. "Ah, yes. This belongs to that little boy you so clearly care for." She gulps, making Julian smile wickedly. He rests his elbows on the table and looks at her intently. "Now, do you know who's blood this is?" Her face pales as the boy flees behind her back. Julian nods his head as he points the bloodied tip of the knife to Angel. He notices that even with her teeth gritted and her fists clenched, her whole appearance remains seductively beautiful. "Now he is quite too short for the chains down in the dungeons below , but I'm sure Lord Allen will find a way to adjust." He leans back and crosses his legs. She takes a defeated breath then eyes him with submission, making Julian grin.

"Wonderful, Now that that has been establish. Please, do take a seat."

***

Julian smirks as Camille rigidly grips Angel's hand and shakes it tensely with her teeth gritted and her jaw clenched. The silver-haired blay grips the bloodied knife from its hilt and makes a show of wiping the bloody tip onto his tongue. He then hands the knife to the fuming girl. Julian notices Angel trying to hold back his smile as he pushes back his chair to stand up.

"You could've made me come willingly by bending my stings. Why did you chose to manipulate me?" She asks slowly. Angel raises his head to look at a now-standing Julian, he too wanting to  know the answer. Julian thinks for a minute then shrugs.

"I guess the ways of Esdith are getting to me." He shrugs jokingly. Angel nods and they both dismiss themselves. As they go up the staircase again Angel pats Julian on the back.

"You're trial is the next day after Esdith's ball. Be prepared and be on time."

***

Colton's arms fly up to cover his face as a hit lands on him, sending him flying through the air and straight into the trunk of a tree. He falls down and coughs thunderously, spitting out blood. He raises his neck and looks around him weakly. A laugh rings through his ears and he immediately disappears, dodging the snap of the long silver whip Allen aims at him, successfully breaking the tree in half. Colton's usually pale face, smeares with blood as he attempts to wipe it away.

"Damn it Allen! Now is not the time to mess around!" He growls angrily, his pitch black eyes shining with anger. Allen's head falls backwards as a loud laugh escapes his lips. Jonathan sends the two a warning glance then takes a weary step towards Xavier.

Xavier takes in deep breaths as the world of his memories becomes translucent, letting him see into the reality he is now. Tristan and Tucker run around Xavier and flank him from both sides, gripping an arm each then pinning it behind him awkardly. Jonathan takes the chance and approaches Xavier.

"Xavier. Focus on me, it's time for your second lesson." He says loudly and clearly.

Xavier's face twitches as he tries to focus on the forest. "I-ca-can't, Jonathan!" He yells loudly, trying to push past the voices of his memories.

"Can you hear me talk?" Lord Third asks patiently. Xavier thrashes under his brothers' hold suddenly as his memories begin to drown him again. He pushes past the view of Center Coast by shutting his eyes. He growls at the innocent feminine voice of the small red-head and yells Jonathan's name, hoping he will save him from re-living those memories if even for a bit.

"You have an empty chest. You have no heart. Lesson number two: You are not human." Jonathan says each word as if it were separate but it gets to Xavier nonetheless and they all know it as soon as the three brothers closest to him get thrown meters away by the explosion of smoke around Xavier. Cracks go down his face and all around his body and in a matter of seconds, his human form peels off of him and his true form comes to life.

"This can't get any harder." Colton mumbles to himself, not seeing Allen approach him sneakily until his arms wrap around his waist.

"Want to bet me on that?" Allen whispers mockingly, not noticing as Colton lets a trail of Gemind smoke flow with the air Allen breathes until he collapses in a heap on the ground, having shredded his main artery.

Xavier struggles as Lily's beaming face fades  into a structure of a reposeful woman in a dark Victorian gown.

"Sinclair! What's gotten to you, dear?" The woman says. Xavier shakes his head and tries to get past that memory by yelling out his brothers' names.

Tucker loses himself for a few moments as he watches Xavier rise to the sky in his true Gemind form. His large powerful wings beating the air, lifting his eight-feet length. His skin all faded away and a long powerful tail emerges from his lower back.

Jonathan shields himself from the power of the smoke with his hands, letting the skin there get torn apart. He looks around him and sees the waves of the black smoke spreading through the forest and he realizes that it is only a matter of minutes until Xavier obliterates all of the city of Esdith.

"Colton, Tristan, Allen! Keep the smoke in the forest!" He yells out over the loud rustling of leaves and falling trees. Hurriedly, all three of them fight against the smoke to keep it in.

"Now what?"  Tucker yells at Jonathan, as his braid comes apart in his face.

"We take him down."

Xavier's POV

I am aware of the century and I am aware of the era. I am satisfied too. I've escaped Esdith a number of centuries ago and I have built a life in London. I am happy with it. I fit in. I have a home, I have a wife. She's so beautiful and she's so kind. I am normal. I am-dare I say- human.

"Sinclair." I can hear her call me from the kitchen, waking me up. Sometimes I forget I don't sleep as a Gemind. I spend my nights admiring her and it's never once been tiring. I chuckle as I give out a loud groan, knowing that she'll want to keep see me out of bed herself having prepared a breakfast for us. She comes in the room and snaps the curtains open.

"Tea's ready Sinclair." She groans and I smile into my pillow, imagining the pout on her lips. She sighs loudly and I feel the bed dip as she sits on the tip.

"What will make you get up, love?" I turn my body towards her and look at her beautiful brown eyes. I raise my bare arm, beckoning her and she groans.

"You know you want to , love." I tease her. She laughs the crawls towards me and tucks herself in the curve of my body. My arms lull her closer into my bare chest and I bury my face in her hair.

"Have you fallen asleep again?" She asks me, appalled. I laugh and open my eyes. She smiles again and slaps my shoulder, getting up and straightening her gown.

"I'm to boil the tea again. I shan't heat it again Sinclair!" She warns. I nod, sitting up as she leaves the room. I get up and face my reflection in the mirror. I comb my black hair neatly and dress myself in some clean clothes. Minutes later and I'm sipping at my tea, gazing at my wife as she admires our garden through the window. I pick up a biscuit and take a small bite. As soon as I do, a flare of  hunger bursts into me. I breathe calmly, willing it away, but it remains and stringer than ever. She jumps in her seat as the sound  of a glass shattering on the counter shocks her. We both look towards it with surprise.

"What on earth?" She mumbles, confused. I am too, just not in the same way. I know I did that, releasing some Gemind smoke by accident, but how? I've kept my powers in check for centuries. It's been so damn long since I've used them. Why now?  She winces suddenly, bringing my focus back to her. I look at her finger and find a large gash there. Did I do that too?

"Sinclair! What's happening?" My eyebrows dip in confusion and I barley notice her cry out as her cup of tea shatters in her hands, letting the boiling  liquid fall onto her lap. She yells my name, and I dash to help her.

"Lord Almighty help us! This must be dark magic. We've been cursed Sinclair!" She cries out, tears of fear sailing own her cheeks. I smile gently and rush to her seat, placing my arms under her and carrying her into my arms then onto my lap as I sit down.

"SSHH, my love. You must've hurt yourself with the butter knife without noticing." I whisper gently, but she shakes her head furiously.

"I haven't touched it!" She counters, her head looking around furiously.

"Come on, love. Dark magic?" I try to laugh it off. She starts to cry again and I take to calming her down.

***

This night I can't admire her. I mean, I can, but not ideally. Not humanly. I cannot admire her without admiring her scent, without admiring how fulfilling her soft skin would be. I jerk myself out of bed and throw myself in the room farthest from her sleeping body. I decide to splash water onto my face in the toilet. When I raise my head to look in the mirror, my blue eyes are no longer blue. They're black. With every flustered emotion building in me, more cracks form down my face. I gulp then shut my eyes, trying to calm down. When I open them, they're still black. With a  loud growl, I run out of the toilet and grab a long coat and hat then flee out of the front door.

I run. I run. I run. I find myself at the bridge and take a deep breath; the moon my only way to tell time. I see two figure sitting on the bridge, dangling their feet over the water. The moon shines on them, illuminating their silver hair and I recognize them immediately.

Blays. One of them turns their head my way and I growl.

"Why hello Gemind." She says smoothly. My eyes widen and I gasp in fear of them finding out my identity as Major Gemind. My feet scream at me to flee and I begin to but I hear him laugh and it angers me.

"We won't bite. I mean, we can't. Geminds don't have emotions, we can't manipulate you in any way. You'd know that unless you were only recently turned. Were you?" I snort quietly, but relax as they clearly don't recognize me. I turn slowly and approach them, trying to see their faces. They see me coming towards them and hop off the edge and onto the bridge. The girl wears a fierce look with her silver hair lowing down to her mid-back. Her eyes remain hazel and not violet, telling me two things; she a minor Blay and that she's not bothered to even use her Blay eyes since she knows I'm a gemind. While the other Blay has short cropped silver hair, but his eyes are violet and the black lines are spinning quickly. By absorbing his appearance I learn two things too. One, he and her are probably Blay pairs meaning they co-exists and depend on each other as sources of strength. Second, he's stupid. He knows I'm a Gemind and my strings can't be touched, yet he still tries to manipulate them.

"You're new here." I comment politely, yet they take a defensive pose.

"We are, but that doesn't mean we don't recognize your black eyes on the offensive." The girl snaps angrily, offended. I grit my teeth and try to calm the hunger that only ever increases.

"I mean no harm." I state. She eyes me wearily then nods.

"Yeah, we are new. We're just stopping by actually." He speaks again, sounding defeated as his eyes stop spinning and turn hazel. "I'm Julian. This is my pair and sister Florence." He introduces. I nod.

"I'm Sinclair." I say vaguely. The boy laughs and the girl groans.

"What's your real name?"  She asks. My mind spins and I contemplate walking away but speak anyways.

"Xavier." I say in monotone, giving off no emotion. The boy's face lights up and he taps his sister like a child.

"Flore, there's a Lord of Esdith called Xavier! He's the one who ran away." He says excitedly.

"Give it a break Jules, your obsession with Esdith is unnatural." My whole body freezes and my thoughts halt in fear.

"But Flore-" The girl points at my chest and he stops talking. I look at where she points and find that I've worn my coat over my bare chest, giving them a clear view of my front.

"He doesn't have a Major Gemind inscription." The boy says dejectedly. I bite the inside of my cheek, internally praising myself for forcing a Minor Gemind to draw an illusion inscription on me, hiding it from sight.

"What brings you here?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Like we said, we're just passing through. We're off to the Land of Identities." The boy explains.

"I've heard of this settlement. It's where those who haven't lost their Marks yet go to seek refuge. It's a new land, yes? They say it will be built upon strict rules in hope that no Mark will be lost there." I say, doubtful with the whole idea. They nod.

"Wouldn't you want to go there, assuming you've still the Mark?" I look at the boy's questioning eyes and shake my head with a soft smile.

"I've built a life here." I counter. He eyes me pityingly and she looks away as if knowing something I don't.

With that, we part and I head back home.

When I open the door, I find my wife gaping my way with her eyes wide. I put up my hands slowly, fully aware that my eyes are pitch black.

"Love, it's just a bad dream-." I begin, but she interrupts me by screaming.

"What've you done to Sinclair?! NO! No, no, my Sinclair." She wails, beginning to run. I hurry after her, feeling myself panic.

"Listen to me, please-." SHe begins to frantically throw things at me and scream.

"Get out! Please, please you've done enough you demon! You took Sinclair, be gone!" For a few seconds, I simply look at her, feeling so hurt. I look at the shattered glass around me and take a slow step back.

"You're tired and you don't understand." I tell her sadly. She laughs hysterically then shakes her head.

"Be gone demon." She hisses. I almost open my mouth too try again but I find a pair of purple eyes gazing at me through the window. I growl at the Blay as he yanks my kitchen window open and slides in. I look at the love of my life and find that she's calm now, for his violet eyes focus fully on her.

"I'm going to tell you what I see and if you want to live with that until the end of her days, then I'll leave. " He says quietly. I narrow my eyes at him angrily, but make no move to silence him. He looks into my eyes steadily then takes a deep breath.

"The normal strings of neutral emotion are thin and light. Your wife's are currently as thick as three of my fingers and as black as your eyes. She's so full of despair, believing she's lost her husband that the only way to make her as calm as she is now is to put almost all my focus on her. Xavier, we just met, but if it weren't for the desperate attempt you are giving in order to remain in 'love' with this woman, if you aren't the living proof that my theory that Geminds have emotion if even a little, then I wouldn't be doing this. Pack what you need, you need to leave before I do, so that she's not too confused when I release her strings." His words make little sense to me.

All I can think is that I've failed.

I've failed to be human.

"When do you leave for the Land of Identities?" I ask quietly.

"We leave at dawn."

___

I won't lie, I doubt I'll be updating any time soon.

Also, I'm aware this chapter resembles one big rant, but this is really the best I've got.