All the anger, all the sadness, all the feelings she had suppressed within herself. It was too much for Thana. The realization hit her like a blow, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She had always been someone who cried ugly, if she had to say so herself. She sobbed as she collapsed to the ground. Somewhere, the woman knew that the chance of going home was slim, but now she also knew that if she ever managed to escape, she could never return. The world had moved on, and she was no longer a part of it. Thana knew she couldn't possibly explain why she hadn't aged or why she hadn't contacted anyone. She was probably declared dead long ago, and Izara had likely found someone else. What would her parents have thought?

An arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Thana felt Delilah sit down beside her. Yet she didn't look sideways at the girl, and her arm didn't feel reassuring at all. She wanted to push it away, but Delilah's presence was the least of her worries now. "Um, calm down," she heard Delilah awkwardly say. "I know it can be a lot, uh, whatever your name is, but this is really the moment we need to move forward, you know?" Delilah started to pull her up, but Thana stubbornly remained seated.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and glared angrily at the girl. "Don't you have any feelings at all?" she sneered at Delilah, who looked at her in shock. "You come with such news, and now you expect me to go with you? I literally have nowhere left to go." She shook her head; Thana had no reason left to long for home. Her heart lay shattered on the ground, and she needed time to pick up all the pieces. She might as well continue playing Mara because Thana had long been forgotten. Fifty years was not even a lifetime, but her parents had to be well into their nineties by now. How could she ever face them again? "What are you going to do? Hit me like Saskia did?" she spat out as she grabbed the necklace hanging around her neck. That cursed thing had caused all of this.

"It sounds tempting," Delilah responded. "But believe me, you won't succeed in pretending to be Mara. Mara almost succumbed to it herself! I'm not going to watch someone lose themselves again, and you're not going to stop me from breaking my promise to Mara." Thana stared at the girl with her mouth open, but Delilah didn't seem done venting yet. "Yes, I just brought you the news, but would you rather have found out on your own?" she continued. "Trust me, you wouldn't want that; you're safer here. Or for now, wait until time passes." Her tone became pleading. "I don't care who you are, but together with Adrienne, we'll fix this, okay?" Delilah raised her hands. "Don't shoot the messenger and help me put an end to this. What do you have to lose? This is your chance for revenge."

"Fine," Thana responded sarcastically before she realized it. "I don't care anymore, just take me to this Adrienne!" She didn't understand why she agreed, but somewhere Delilah had struck a chord; the girl must have truly cared for Mara. And somewhere, she had a point—what did she have left to lose? She had lost everything already, and if Mara had truly run away, then staying with Davion, Saskia, or the monster was not an option. "Show me the way," she replied curtly. For a moment, she thought she saw Delilah breathe a sigh of relief, but Thana decided she must have imagined it. She preferred Delilah's sarcastic self to the awkward girl she had been before.

Thana felt lost, as if emotions inside her were battling to be felt. She was angry and disappointed, but the sorrow felt like claws in her heart, as if it had been torn apart and unable to unravel the tangle of emotions. Action was what she needed to quiet her thoughts and give her a purpose to move forward. Delilah had said it was for her own safety, but with a simple sentence, Thana had lost everything. "You have nothing left to lose, so you have only things to gain, like your freedom," she heard Delilah say, but Thana ignored her. She didn't have the energy to take the advice.

Together with Delilah, she sneaked out of the room, back to the hidden room behind it. The flowers still filled the space, but they gave a desolate look. They had been for Mara, as Davion had told her, even though Mara had been gone for him for only a few days. Delilah seemed to know where they needed to go, and Thana didn't know how much she wanted to inquire. She was too numb to think. Delilah looked over her shoulder a few times, as if trying to convince herself that Thana was really following her. Somewhere, Thana thought the girl was probably waiting for a reaction from her. Delilah was someone who threw insults more easily than comforting words. "Adrienne isn't far," Delilah declared. Again, the girl looked at her expectantly, as if trying to provoke a response.

Thana grunted in response as she looked around. The hallways Delilah led her through were long and meticulously finished. The red flowers caught her attention. They weren't just real flowers; peonies were also etched into various pieces of furniture. Even on some of the paintings that filled the hallways, the flower was prominently displayed. "Why this love for peonies?" Thana muttered. Delilah just kept walking, so she wasn't sure if the girl had heard her. She sighed in frustration. "Why are there peonies everywhere?" Thana repeated, causing Delilah to glance over her shoulder. Thana raised an eyebrow.

"It was for Mara," Delilah responded softly. "It was her sign and the stamp she left behind. Adrienne wanted to get rid of a lot, but Davion stopped her. He always insisted that Mara could escape or that he would save her. With each Ethe that passed, Adrienne knew she could never return, not that she would want to now that she was finally free. Due to the passage of time—" Delilah fell silent as she glanced briefly at Thana again. Thana simply nodded, feeling stifled. Screaming during an escape was not a good idea.

Even though the hallways were deserted, Thana realized. In the time she had been here, she had encountered few others except during her walk with Davion. "Are there no others here?" Thana continued to inquire. However, Delilah placed a finger on her lips and pulled Thana towards one of the tables lining the hallway. She pushed Thana underneath it, prompting Thana to want to protest. Yet, the look Delilah gave her silenced her once again. Delilah herself crawled behind a cupboard, and only now did the strange sound start to catch Thana's attention. She recognized the sound, even though she still couldn't quite place it. It was the odd clicks and shrill noises that made her hair stand on end. Thana huddled closer against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her hand began to tingle again where Davion had healed her earlier. She covered her ears with both hands to avoid hearing the monster.

Thana closed her eyes, and the world around her seemed to fade. The tapping of the monster grated on her nerves, and she was tired. The crying from earlier had exhausted her, and the girl just wanted to sleep. She had no idea how long she had crouched under the table when Delilah softly tapped her shoulder. "We need to move, lady," Delilah whispered, but Thana didn't move. She no longer understood why her head was so troublesome. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at the girl beside her.

"My real name is Thana," the girl whispered. Delilah nodded gently, but Thana wasn't finished speaking. "You never asked me," she muttered, "You call me 'lady' just like he did, you refuse to call me Mara because you know I'm not her." Thana sighed deeply. "But you never even bothered to ask me for my real name." Thana didn't even know why this was now so important, but she had to say it.

"Pleased to meet you, Thana," Delilah whispered softly, causing Thana to smile softly. "Are you ready to continue?" Delilah continued in a whisper, to which Thana nodded and crawled out from under the table behind the girl. Her heart was still in pieces, but actually hearing someone address her by her own name felt good. Adrienne was waiting for her, whoever that might be.