Lord Callidus insisted they stay the night in the Mirror Palace instead of paying for a room at the inn. There were so many rooms each Elemental had their own, and perhaps a good thing, since they could think about what they had seen privately. Pica and Helian seemed upbeat as usual with what their future held, but Renuo and Aeris had paled, visibly shaken by their visions—not everyone had a promising future.

Zelenia sat on the edge of her bed, still torn about the meaning of what she had been shown. They were on some snowy mountain; all the Elementals were facing her, and she couldn't mistake the anger in their eyes—even cheerful Pica glared at her. Geryon had an arm around Aeris' waist and held her close protectively; Renuo and Kalisa were close—him standing in front of her, like he was a shield.

Pica shook her head. "How could you keep that from us?"

"Our lives are important to us, and you thought we would just throw them away for the peoples of Ethea?" Aeris asked incredulously.

"Ethea has done nothing for us but to expect us to be martyrs," Kalisa said. "They deserve nothing; I will not be sacrificed for them."

"We will not let you lead us to our deaths," Renuo stated.

"Ethea has survived with Fangril; it can survive even longer," Tegen said.

"How can the Elements be unified if they can't even trust the ones that brought them to life?" Geryon asked. "How can you expect trust after deception?"

After Geryon's final words, Zelenia came out of her vision and was back in the Visionary Room.

Zelenia had felt so guilty lying to Lord Callidus, but she had promised to keep Renuo's vision a secret. Perhaps her guilt transferred into her vision, but what were they so upset about? What was it that she held back from them? Did her lie to protect Renuo hurt them that much? But Renuo was just as upset as the others and Geryon had said 'ones'; she wasn't alone—was Helian also a recipient of their anger?

Her gut turned with unease: they had both felt a dread after Pica's coronation; after Tegen's, that feeling grew stronger. Could that be the secret they were upset about being revealed? If so, that meant her impression was true... Zelenia felt the blood run out of her face; how could she let them carry on knowing they would—

A soft knock sounded on her door, bringing her out of her head; she told whoever to enter. Helian slipped his head in, helmet-free. "Can I come in?" he whispered.

"Of course."

Her twin came in and shut the door behind him; he was in his farming tunic and leggings—she hadn't seen him without his armor on since he got it. He sat down beside her on the bed.

"Are you okay?"

She looked at him for an explanation.

"I may not have telepathic powers, but I am linked to you; I could feel that you were troubled. So, what's going on? Something you saw?"

Zelenia looked down at her hands folded on her lap. "Yes, and I'm not sure what to think about it." She told him what she had been shown and what she had just thought of.

He didn't reply for a long time. "That's really different from what I saw." Helian explained what he had seen: the Elementals faced Fangril in a dark abyss and afterward, there were worldwide celebrations, parades, and parties. That was a future worth looking forward to.

Zelenia shook her head. "Which one's true and which one isn't?"

"I'm hoping mine is."

She chuckled. "Me too; yours does sound better."

He looked at her. "You didn't see us not defeating Fangril; so maybe both of our visions are true."

"But Helian, from what I took from the Elementals turning like that, we don't reach Fangril—everyone leaves because of our deceit."

Helian's lips twisted into a frown. "Didn't think about that..." He remained quiet as thoughts ran through his head.

"Maybe we should go ahead and tell them about that sense," she suggested.

Immediately, he shook his head. "No; telling them now would scare them about something that might not even be true."

"So, we're to hide the burden of that secret in our hearts? Holding that kind of guilt will eat at our souls; it could change who we are. Do we want to chance it?"

"I don't think we really have a choice," he said quietly. "Just like how you're holding a secret for Renuo; you're trying to protect him. That's what we're doing."

She looked down away from him in shame—keeping Renuo's vision a secret didn't amount to keeping the decision of friends' lives from them. It felt so wrong, so she tried another angle to express the wrongness of it all. "Don't they deserve to know about their own lives? No wonder they were so mad: we're deciding their fate without asking them about it."

"We're not deciding their fate..."

"Won't they see it as so?"

"Look, we're not going to tell them about it. Period. Worrying them isn't going to change anything. We're going to keep going on like before, but now we know that everything's going to be fine."

She turned to him. "Helian, we knew this wasn't going to be easy, and it's not going to get any better—look at what happened to Heela. Just because you saw us succeeding doesn't mean it's guaranteed. No matter what kind of happy future you saw, we're still going to have to go through darkness to get to light."

"I know that, Zelenia, but I also know that we will win; we can just rest easy." His tone had grown hard in irritation.

"You're not listening. Lord Callidus warned us not to believe what we saw as absolute truth."

It was his turn to turn on her. "Then why would I be shown what we've set out to do if it's not going to happen?"

She worked for an answer but couldn't find one. "I don't know."

He stood. "Because it's going to happen," he said down to her before leaving.

Zelenia stared at the doorway, hating how their different versions of the future were driving a wedge between them. She started to regret their decision to look.

"Maybe it would've been better if we didn't know the future..."

***

The next morning, Lord Callidus walked them to Ilvila's exit with a joyous spirit, but the Elementals weren't sharing it: Helian refused to look at her, Renuo looked more downhearted than ever, and Aeris seemed to have distanced herself again—even from Geryon. Tegen, Kalisa, and Pica seemed unaffected, but Zelenia noticed the irritated glances the gypsy woman gave Light as she innocently bounced around—her own visions didn't seem to be troubling her, but she was concerned about Renuo's reaction to seeing his.

"I hope my idea won't be more harmful than helpful," Lord Callidus whispered to her.

Her eyes traveled over the group again, really noticing everyone's separation. She began to answer when Helian suddenly materialized beside her. "I'm sure it will be. Thanks for your help again."

He appeared optimistic and friendly, but Zelenia knew he forced it for Lord Callidus' sake—he needed to see them unified, not cracking.

She joined in on the act by forcing a smile and curtsying. "Yes, thank you milord for your courtesy and assistance."

He smiled. "Of course; anything to help the saviors of Ethea."

They left the underground city as a group, but once they were outside and out of Lord Callidus' view, they separated—Helian left her side without a word to walk in the front near Tegen. Zelenia watched everyone's actions with a heavy heart growing heavier by the second.

Kalisa moved back to walk beside Renuo, but he ignored her. Pica tried to get Aeris to sing again, but she refused, saying she wasn't up to it.

What did everyone see? They had just started to truly mend together, thinking and working as one as the Elementals are supposed to do. Now it was like they had never known one another. Should she suggest they share so they could discern what they saw together, or was it too personal?

Their day-long trip to Sachsein seemed to take forever because of the silence within the group. The small town sat on a bay and primarily visited for ferry-travel. It didn't take much searching to find the inn, and after a quiet dinner, they retired without much conversation. They would ride the ferry over to Asardia and Sciula in the morning—Zelenia wasn't looking forward to another day of silent travel.