As they ventured around the ruins to find a way to get to the girl, there were a few moments when they got sidetracked by what they found. Sorey and Mikleo seemed to be amazed by the ruins, but Illumia wasn't. She didn't mind, though. As long as they were enjoying themselves, she was happy.

Illumia overheard the boys talking about a monolith they had discovered. What grabbed her attention was when Sorey asked, "Think it's as old as Lumi?"

She crossed her arms, lips pursed. "...Excuse me?"

Both boys tensed and stiffly turned around to face her.

"S-sorry, it just kinda slipped out," Sorey apologized.

She sighed, hanging her head dejectedly. "I must be an old lady to you two..."

"What? No way!"

"Far from in, actually," Mikleo added, crossing his arms. "If Gramps hadn't told us about light seraphim, you definitely would be an old lady. But since we know the truth, you're rather young."

"Yeah," Sorey nodded. "You look exactly the same as the day we met you. It's like you have boundless youth! I couldn't believe it when Gramps told us just how different light seraphim are from the other seraphim."

"As long as I'm not just some old lady to you two, I'm good," Illumia said.

Continuing through the ruins, they eventually arrived in the central chamber. While Sorey and Mikleo discussed the lightning caused by Zenrus, Illumia ventured over to the ledge. She peered across the way to check on the girl. Fortunately, there were no hellions in sight. She was safe for the time being.

Following the boys to the upper level, she witnessed Sorey open a chest and find a strange glove inside. "What's this?" he asked.

Illumia took a closer look and gasped in shock at what he found. It was a glove adorned with the Shepherd's emblem. "That's..."

Mikleo was quick to intervene. He snatched the glove away from him.

"Whoa, what the-!" Sorey gaped as the glove vanished from his grasp.

"I'll be taking this. If you get too hung up on fiddling with it, we'll never get out of here," Mikleo explained. "I'll give it back once we've returned safely."

Sorey meekly scratched the back of his head at knowing just how true his friend's words were. He then laughed. "If you say so."

When both boys turned around, they saw the wide-eyed look on Illumia's face.

"What's wrong, Lumi?" Sorey asked.

She shook her head and decided to hold her tongue. "Nothing. Let's keep looking around for a way to cross."

Not far from where Sorey had found the glove, the trio located a platform that extended a little ways across the large gap.

"So close but it's still so far," Mikleo commented.

"Think we could jump?" Sorey asked.

"Don't you dare even try," Illumia warned them. "I would hate to go back to Elysia and explain to Zen that I had to scrape you two off the ground of some ancient ruins because you both decided to jump off a ledge."

Sorey laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's look for another way across. But maybe if we take a quick look..." He wandered over to the ledge and peered down in hopes of getting a better view of the room.

Illumia saw him take a step closer to the ledge. She heard the sound of stones falling and saw the ground was unsteady underneath his feet. "Sorey!" She hollered.

"Hey, watch out!" Mikleo shouted after seeing the ground as well.

Sorey promptly backed away from the ledge.

"Don't scare us like that," the water seraph said.

The emerald-eyed boy turned to the seraphim. "Sorry about that." He kept his distance from the ledge but was able to look over to see a pile of dirt seemingly floating in the air below. "Hm? You don't suppose..."

"Find something, Sorey?" Illumia asked.

"Maybe." He pointed to the pile of dirt. "There, take a look."

"Hm?" Mikleo hummed.

"Go on... Look closer."

Mikleo and Illumia looked to where he was pointing. The light seraph saw the strange floating dirt while the water seraph seemed to miss it. The lilac-eyed boy sighed in slight annoyance. "Come on, we don't have time for this! Let's cut the fun and games, all right?"

"Wait, you really can't see it?" Illumia asked.

Mikleo glanced at her in confusion. "You too...?"

She snickered. "Looks like even you miss some things every now and then, Mikleo. I'll let Sorey handle this one."

Sorey was more than happy to provide an explanation. "Oh! Then let me explain! As you see..."

"Ugh, forget it," Mikleo groaned. "Let's just go back down there."

Sorey began laughing. "Hah! You never could handle losing."

Mikleo crossed his arms with a pout, turning his head to avoid both of them.

Illumia walked up next to him and lightly elbowed him in the side. "C'mon, mister pouty-face. If it makes you feel better, not even I saw what Sorey did."

He sighed. "Guess you can't win them all..."

"Nope," she giggled. "And it would be boring to win all the time."

The water seraph grinned a little. "You do have a point."

The trio return to the lower level, having avoided the hellions wandering around the ruins. It surprised Illumia just how many there were, but she was grateful they were able to avoid them.

Arriving at the bottom level, Mikleo saw the mysterious pile of dirt. "I see. So that's the deal."

Sorey was amazed. "Who would have thought that you could walk in midair here?"

"Or, that an invisible bridge would be here."

"Think it could support a person?"

"Definitely," Illumia remarked before approaching the invisible bridge.

"Lumi!" Mikleo shouted, feeling fear consume him at her carelessness. He tried to grab her before she could step onto the invisible bridge, but he was too late. His fear evaporated when he saw she was okay. He sighed and slumped forward in relief. "Why are you being so reckless today...?"

"It's an invisible bridge. If it couldn't support a person, no one would've bothered hiding it," she remarked.

Sorey glanced over at the water seraph. "She does have a point."

"At least let's make it visible so we can cross safely," Mikleo said.

"I won't argue with that." Illumia stepped off the invisible bridge.

The water seraph used an arte to freeze the surface of the bridge to make it visible. With the way no longer hidden, they safely crossed the abyss and reached the other side. Finally, they had found a way to the mysterious girl.

Sorey picked up the spear before kneeling down next to her to check on her.

Mikleo was still wary. "Maybe we should rethink this."

Standing next to him, Illumia placed a hand on her hip. "If this really is a bad idea, I guess we'll find out soon."

"Hey. Are you all right?" Sorey asked as the girl was slowly regaining consciousness.

The girl groaned in pain as she pushed herself off the ground. "I was... I was in a forest, and then..." She was frightened by Sorey and searched frantically for her weapon. However, she couldn't find it.

Sorey figured she was looking for the spear. "Looking for this?" He held out her spear with a kind smile.

She gingerly takes it and stands up.

Illumia wondered if the girl needed healing until her attention was drawn to Mikleo. With an owlish gaze, she watched him place himself between Sorey and the girl. "What are you doing, Mikleo?"

"Just running a small test." The water seraph eyed the girl before shouting, "Boo!"

The girl didn't react.

This confirmed his theory. He turned to Sorey and patted him on the shoulder. "Yep, she's human, all right."

"Yeah," Sorey replied.

Mikleo returned to Illumia's side. The seraphim were curious as to how Sorey would handle this encounter and silently watched on.

"Glad you're okay," Sorey told the girl.

The girl finished brushing the dirt off her clothes. "I'm sorry to have troubled you. And you are...?"

When Sorey didn't respond, Illumia and Mikleo sighed in unison.

"Sorey..." The light seraph mumbled in disbelief.

"Your name," Mikleo urged him.

The boy realized and was quick to reply. "Oh. Right! My name! I'm Sorey."

"Sorey?" The girl reiterated.

"Yep. Nice to meet you!"

"Well met. Is there anywhere one could rest around here? I'll need to make plans to get back to the capital."

This shocked the boy. "You're from the city?"

His question went unanswered as the girl seemed to not have heard him. "Well?"

"Umm... Hmm." Sorey thought for a moment and came up with an idea. "Why don't you come to where I live?"

Illumia's eyes widen in shock.

Mikleo shared the same surprised look. "Sorey! Are you nuts?!"

The girl, unable to hear or see the water seraph, expressed her uncertainty. "Are you sure that wouldn't be a problem? You barely know me."

Sorey glanced over at him. "I can't just abandon someone in need. That's all."

"Haven't you noticed that she won't even volunteer her name? It's only natural to be cautious." Mikleo then glanced over at Illumia, arms crossed. "You're being awfully quiet, Lumi."

"I'm just simply observing," Illumia replied.

"Please don't tell me you support this crazy idea!"

"Well..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm more on the fence."

"How?!"

"On one hand, I'm not fond of the idea of an unknown human coming to Elysia. But on the other, Sorey could use this time to speak to another human."

Mikleo fell silent. He weighed her words and now felt he too was on the fence.

Before he could think of what to say, the unnamed girl spoke up. "Aren't you going to ask my name? Are you sure?"

"Everyone has their reasons," Sorey responded. "But you don't look like a bad person to me."

The girl was more than relieved to have been found by such a kind person. "I cannot possibly thank you enough, Sorey."

Mikleo sighed in defeat. "Gramps is gonna let us have it when we get back."

"I know," Sorey replied unconsciously.

This confuses the girl. "Yes?"

He quickly covered up his mistake. "Nah, don't worry about it. Anyway, that's the way out. Let's get moving!"

"There should be an exit somewhere," Illumia stated as she took the lead.

Mikleo eyed his human friend. "I don't want to have to remind you, but keep your eyes on the girl."

"'Kay. But too bad we didn't meet in better circumstances," Sorey sighed dejectedly.

"You really don't have a skeptical bone in your body," the water seraph groaned.

"Let him have this, Mikleo," Illumia chimed in. "It's not every day he gets to spend time with another human. He's been stuck with us for so long, I'm surprised he hasn't gone crazy."

"Or maybe he already has," Mikleo remarked with a faint grin.

This earned a giggle from the girl.

Finding a door behind the large statue, they open it and travel up a long staircase. When they reached the top, they find the exit of the ruins and return to the outside world.

Sorey stretched his arms as he felt the sun warm his body. "Whew, we made it back in one piece!"

The girl looked around in amazement. "Wow... It's beautiful! Like a shrine out of myth. I half expect to see seraphim wandering around."

Hearing this, Mikleo and Illumia looked at each other before focusing their attention back on the two humans.

"You really do call them seraphim!" Sorey replied excitedly.

"Is that funny to you?" the nameless girl asked.

"Nope! "Things which cannot be seen or explained, such as gods, spirits, or supernatural phenomena, are revered by the people as 'seraphim'." Right?"

This flabbergasted her. "A quote from the Celestial Record?"

Sorey pulls out his book to show her. "Bingo!"

The girl gasped, eyes wide as saucers. "You've read it too?!"

"Yup! Wait, you as well?"

"I used to read it all the time when I was a kid!"

Illumia smirked as she glanced at her fellow seraph. "Oh, wow. This is almost a dream come true for Sorey."

"You could say that again." Mikleo strolled up behind the boy and elbowed him in the back to silently tell him to wrap up the conversation.

Receiving the message, Sorey put the book away. "It's a little ways from here to my village. Let's get moving!"

The girl nodded. "Okay!"

Mikleo and Illumia lingered a little ways back while Sorey walked with the girl on the trek to Elysia. As they both chatted about the Celestial Record again, the water seraph commented, "Well, looks like someone's enjoying himself."

"As long as he's happy, I am too," Illumia smiled. "I know Zen is going to be angry, but seeing Sorey having a great time is worth the yelling we'll have to endure."

Mikleo watched the boy as he continued to converse with the mysterious girl. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just hope Gramps isn't too hard on us."

"I can already hear what he's going to say to me." She cleared her throat and attempted to mock Zenrus by making her voice deeper and raspy. "I expected more out of you, Illumia! You should know better!"

Mikleo laughed at her impression.

The light seraph returned to her normal voice. "Or something like that."

Eventually, the group reached Elysia and entered the small village. Illumia and Mikleo walked past the mysterious girl and Sorey.

"We'll go report this to Gramps," the water seraph told the boy.

"Guess we can't keep quiet about all this," Sorey sighed.

"It would be impossible," Illumia said. "Even if we could, he would only be angrier if he learned we tried to hide it."

"That's true..."

"Coming by afterwards?" Mikleo asked.

"Yeah."

"We'll try to calm him down before you join us," Illumia said.

Side by side, the water and light seraphim headed to Zenrus' abode. They entered the house and found the elderly seraph sitting by the hearth, pipe in hand.

"Ah," Zenrus saw the two friends. "Illumia, Mikleo. You've returned. I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon."

"It's a good thing you're sitting down, Zen," Illumia said as she and Mikleo sat on their knees across from him. "Because we've got a very interesting story to tell you."

"Go on," he urged them.

Mikleo and Illumia exchanged glances before telling the story of how they were exploring the Mt. Mabinogio Ruins before sharing with him how they found a mysterious human girl. The elderly man seemed to be level-headed until they told him the girl was currently in the village.

"What?!" Zenrus bellowed angrily. "You brought a human here?!"

Illumia tried to interrupt before he could swing his pipe at them. "Before you say anything-"

"How could you two allow Sorey to bring the human here?!" Zenrus yelled over her. "Especially you, Illumia! You may be young for a light seraph, but you are the oldest! You should have stopped this nonsense!"

"A part of me wanted to stop this, but..." She lowered her head, hand placed over her heart. "You can't keep Sorey bound to Elysia for his whole life, Zen. He needs to be around his own kind too. You've taught him so much, but there's only so much seraphim can do for a human. He needs this. Can't you allow this just once?"

Zenrus' anger remained. "Although you were corrupted by a human, you still have a soft spot for them..."

Illumia felt her own anger rising at his stubbornness, but she remained calm. "I will never forget what Asura did to me, but you cannot judge an entire race on the actions of a single person."

"I must be strict!" Zenrus retorted. "There are rules that must be abided by! It is those rules that have kept all of us safe, especially you, Illumia! We cannot afford to lose the last light seraph! You are being reckless and risking not only your safety but also the others who call this village home! What if a corrupt human were to infiltrate our home and fester the malevolence inside you?!"

"Gramps, wait-" Mikleo tries to stop him, but he was unsuccessful.

"The malevolence would consume you and you'd be transformed into a dragon! Light seraphim would be no more and we'd have a creature of darkness in the midst of Elysia! Who knows how many of us would perish!"

Illumia kept her head lowered. She gripped the hem of her dress tightly. "You've always been stricter with me than anyone else in the village. I... I have never felt like I truly belonged in Elysia. I feel like my presence has caused so much trouble for you and the rest of the village that I wonder if it would have been better If I had stayed away from Elysia..." Tears of frustration trailed down her cheeks. A few dropped, splashing on her dress and the back of her clenched fists. "Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if I had been consumed by malevolence..."

Mikleo's eyes widen in horror at hearing her true feelings. "Lumi..." He attempted to reach out to touch her, but he stopped when she quickly stood up.

She focused her teary-eyed gaze on Zenrus. "Perhaps being a mindless killing machine suits me best. After all, it seems I can't do anything right."

"Illumia, that's..." Zenrus was calmer. Hearing the emotions she's been bottling up for years finally come to the surface made his heart ache.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him any longer. "I'm sorry, but I need to leave."

In complete shock, all Mikleo could do was watch her leave.

As Illumia was exiting Zenrus' house, she almost ran into Sorey.

"Oh, hey!" Sorey smiled brightly. It didn't take him long to notice she was crying and his smile vanished. "A-are you okay, Lumi? What happened?"

She couldn't bear to meet his kind and worried gaze. "Ask Zenrus. I...need some time to myself. I'm sorry, Sorey..."

He was saddened at seeing her cry. "I understand. But if you ever need me or Mikleo, we'll be there, I promise. Especially Mikleo, b-but don't tell him I said that!"

She managed a weak smile. "Thank you, Sorey."