No wonder it felt like I had seen him before. Not only because he looked identical to Yves except for his eye shapes and irises that were once similar to mine. It was simply because I had been looking at those eyes covered in a mask for years.

It was unsurprising how I could not point a finger at who he was despite my skills because of the one problem regarding my detailed memory. If one feature had changed for someone I saw in passing, I could not instantly distinguish them. Just like how I failed to identify Blaze at the Twilight Party because he didn't have violet eyes in his portraits.

"You..." I trailed off because I didn't know what exact words to say in this situation.

My mother was here and so was my eldest brother. Am I dreaming?

"We need to get out first before I can explain everything," said Night, or should I call him June?

I was brought back from my bewilderment and glanced at his free hands while the other two were still locked. My face morphed into a glower. The wrinkling brows accompanied the irritation in my voice.

"If you can escape right away, why haven't you done so? Why did you have to withstand all this torture?" 

My reasoning had already flown out of my head as countless emotions surged within me for the tangible reality that they were tormented here. And, all because of me. Not to mention that they had to undergo these vehement treatments right in front of Mother. Just what kind of sick joke was Father playing?

"Even if we broke free from here, it would only be futile. My magic was sealed and I could not guarantee all our safety."

"What fvcking reason was that?" I cussed in frustration. "Do you think it is better to be here than flee? Or at least, try to?"

"I thought you knew that bastard by now. We would have suffered worse if we escaped and ended up with a failed attempt."

That shut me up. How could I forget?

"To add, this is the lowest level. No one could enter here beside the elders and that bastard but once you go up, the Reapers will be swarming on us. That shitdog slave of that bastard often comes here and we need to leave immediately. With Cindra's magic, we can definitely escape without any problem."

I was about to agree but his statement was strange.

"You know?"

I had not demonstrated I can use Cindra's magic and I only discovered this ability until today.

"Lady Mhilrim told me," he confessed.

My scowl deepened. "What more are you keeping about me?"

"I'll tell you everything later. I promise, Carline."

I scoffed. "Ha. You're even calling me Carline now. How should I address you then?"

"As you always did. June had long been dead."

The finality and somberness in his voice calmed me down.

"Speaking of Lady Mhilrim, do you know where she is?"

"She is trapped in one of the rooms outside," he replied.

"If that's the case, let's get her while we're here."

"We can't. That demon made a feat and it could be his most powerful enchantment up to date. The moment we entered inside, our magic is sealed. That's what happened to me and Cindra," Night explicated.

I nodded. If what he said was true then there was nothing I could do. Night and I unlocked our siblings and the remorse always resurfaced every time I saw the evidence of this tribulation in Lian who had fallen into unconsciousness again.

I had thought Father was at least capable of loving his 'normal' children. The very fact that he let them do what they pleased without any lash back was enough to show his affection unlike me whose every action deserved a punishment. The speck of belief that he would change had now disappeared.

Yves took her from me and Night carried Cindra. It was no doubt that the lifeless body would be another addition to my long list of nightmare scenes.

I swiveled and approached Mother. I slid my arm on her neck and on her legs to lift her.

"Stop."

I paused from Night's sudden command.

"Mother cannot leave. Her life is connected to this place. If she leaves here, her body will rot away. The enchantment here was the one making her alive. I promise that we shall return here to take her back, Carline."

Another promise. I bit back the jeering when all his promises had been empty words up until now.

His eyes crashed on me with a clear pleading expression. "Please understand this, Carline. We cannot move recklessly as this was not only a matter of one life. Everyone will be affected by the outcome."

If there was one thing Night was good at, that was the definiteness that he could persuade me to do his bidding no matter how against I was. I peered longingly at Mother before summoning a key and imagining the log cabin at Mt. Ymore.

The place that had become a home in just mere weeks than the cold palace that I had been staying at for years.

We exited through the corridor as it was the only way out. I inserted the portal key and they all went inside. I was the last one since I needed to close the portal or anyone could enter if it was left out.

They were gone and I glanced back to the place where we came from, where Mother was lying peacefully. At that moment, blazing letters of fire appeared in thin air. I snapped out of my trance and quickly took the key to close the portal and activated another. Cindra's portal was safe to use as only the user could pass through it.

I stepped inside the door just as the whole sentence was completed.

'Bring back the Lost Treasures or your mother will die.'

Simple. Precise. A message that instilled dread within me.

It was undoubtedly Father. He must be out of Winterlands at such perfect timing. However, he was weak for he would have come personally if he had recovered his strength right away.

There was only black space around me with two doors in between me. One was red and one was blue. The red one was where I came from while the blue one was where I was headed. This was probably Cindra saw every time she used her portal.

I pushed the blue door and the sight of the living room welcomed me. Several Crusaders were gathering around and they had dumbfounded looks bestowed on me but all I could see was Sullien's grief-stricken face as he embraced Cindra as I did a while ago.

The fatigue shortly washed over me without a sign. It was exhaustion like I had never felt before. I'm so tired. So tired...

***

SÓLMÁNUÐUR DAY OF SUN

Waking up was like déjà vu with three men standing right by my bedside. Only that, the one who had been wearing a mask before had revealed his face and I could visibly see the worry in his face which was also reflected on the other two.

"I'll tell others that she woke up," said Blaze and scampered outside.

"What happened?" I inquired as this was my room but there was another unoccupied bed on my left.

"You fainted when you got back and have been sleeping for almost three days." It was Reichen who answered but I ignored him.

I had not forgotten his lies and Night had a lot of explaining to do with me. The latter probably sensed what I was thinking and eventually spoke.

"We need to talk alone."

I felt Reichen's eyes on me but my attention was focused on Night who grabbed a stool and sat beside me. The door clicked closed as my glare grew harsher. 

His violet irises were back but those blue eyes were already embedded in my mind. It appeared he inherited the same features from Father. His lips were in a thin line, his brows arching a little and his tall sharp nose inhaled deeply. 

"To begin with, this was all my idea to hide the truth so don't blame anyone," he started off.

"Why?"

"You're as rash as me and will do everything once we set our mind to it. In truth, the moment I left the palace, I never planned to return, never planned to associate with anyone in the family but you happened."

I simply listened and let him talk.

"The first time I saw you was during the accident with Reichen when both of you awakened. However, at that time I only witnessed Reichen and did not know you awakened too. The moment I saw you, I recognize you as my sister and my hate for the family was deep back then. I failed to understand Mother's sacrifice and why she abandoned me. It was later I learned that I was able to successfully escape because Mother became a Cattivo for me. She was pregnant with Erodessa back then and that's how our sister suffered the consequence. After learning that, the best thing I could do was to follow her wishes and live on."

He stared blankly at my side as if recalling all the events. "I was a fool and everything was my fault. I acted impulsively and returned you to that hell when Lady Mhilrim was busy tending Reichen. It was already too late that I learned that you had awakened too. It was true that no Amica can survive the kingdom of Ezriel and that goes the same with its bloodline."

It was not hard to guess that he suffered the same fate as me and all my anger dissipated. Night and I both had a stroke of ill luck to be born on someone who thoroughly despised the Amica. He narrated all he experienced and my stomach lurched. Not just whips but every kind of weapon had marred his body. No child should be involved in such an inhumane act.

My eyes watered and it was not long before a tear fell that gradually became a stream as I could not stop it. What I had been through was nothing compared to him. Father was indeed tamer to me since his cruelty was more on afflicting others to pain me but Night had to endure everything by himself.

"It's all fine, Ace. I was trained the moment I learned to walk. He had always been strict with me as the crown prince while the rest of our siblings were adored. It was not until I awakened that everything had spun for the worst."

Night pulled me in his embrace to reassure me but I could not stifle the sobs.

"That very moment I learned you became like me I tried to help you but that sod out there made me forget what happened and only when the news of Mother's death arrived, it elicits what happened before."

That sod could be pertaining to Reichen as he was the only one I knew here who had the capability to erase someone's memory if he controlled them.

"By then, no one could enter the palace anymore. Fortunately, Mother had a secret garden that was not affected by the enchantment. That garden was built by that man for Mother but it became a place that Cindra can visit since no Amica was welcome in the palace. I was able to sneak in because of that but I could not leave the palace with you. The enchantment was strongest in your West Wing and I was only able to successfully get you out when the barrier was its weakest during the month of Ýlir."

Ýlir was also the same month when he asked me to be a thief. The wintery night was cold but his unexpected arrival had become my warmth since then.

"Each year I tried to do so but I never got past the enchantment in the West Wing not until I found the right solution on my third attempt but that was also the time I had learned that not only the palace had an enchantment but also yourself. I had no choice but to bring you back here and that was how Yves learned about me and we'd been communicating ever since. He was the one who tells me all the ongoing atrocity that happened in that hell."

I was still leaning on his chest as he explained. Night was heaving his breaths and the slow pace of his heart was comforting me despite the arousing hostility for Father.

"The following year, it was when I suggested to make you a thief since I cannot bring you freedom except for the days when you're out. I'm aware of how strangling it was to stay in that hellhole without knowing the outside world. It was a distraction I made for you but Lady Mhilrim had explained your magic as Ace and it is a powerful one. It is better that you did not know its full potential. Lady Mhilrim had been skeptical whether you are the reincarnation of Cannaria back then so we came to a conclusion to limit your knowledge about the Amica and their magic."

At long last, I had everything explained to me, and Night continued soothing me. This was the brother I had never met when I was a child but he did everything he could to free me. I was so stupid to be even angry with him even for a second when he only did what was best for me.

"Anyway, have you seen anything when you left?"

I gruffly remembered the message but I refused to admit it. I shook my head and pushed away from him to fix my face. I positively looked like a wreck from all the crying that I could even feel the puffiness of my under eyes.

"Why don't we go outside? Many people are waiting for you."

We stepped out and pairs of hands reach out to me in an instant. My whole body was surrounded as I could not understand a thing when everyone was talking simultaneously but my lips curled listening to them.

Cindra was gone but seeing the people in front of me made me realize something. There was a time all I needed was one person to stay with me but I had gained more than I could ever ask for.

***

Note: So hello~ Here's another unrelated song I linked. I've been binging Sasha Sloan's songs and all of them are top-tier! I want to put her whole discography but sadly I can choose one. Last week, I've been crazy about "Is it just me" but this week's fave is "Santa's Real". Her songs may contain simple lyrics but everything is so relatable and her voice is so beautiful. Just want to share this since she deserves more love. Aside from that, hope you enjoyed this chapter, cutiefries! <3