"Eden!" Arine called out louder. "Yes, I'm here and I'm okay! I have Marvin with me!"

Eden's voice went quiet. Then her voice cracked as she spoke.

"M-Marvin? My Marvin?"

"Eden! Yes, I'm here!" Marvin yelled out.

Eden paused again. Above them, they could see the dark shadows of her face and hair. She disappeared, and then reappeared with an object that seemed to be a rope. She let the rope snake down to the hole, reaching Arine and Marvin.

"Come on Marvin," Eden said. "You remember how we used to climb out of tall buildings and deep holes."

Marvin nodded to himself, walked up to the rope and gripped on it. He started climbing it, reaching up to the middle of the wall. He turned his face to Arine, and mouthed the words Climb up. 

Arine jogged up to the rope, held the rope and started climbing too. She stopped behind Marvin, tilting her head up to see Eden. Eden leaned down on the edge of the hole and extended her arm to Marvin. Marvin flailed his arm to catch Eden's. 

"Hold on to Marvin!" Eden ordered. Arine did as she was told. 

Eden closed her eyes and Arine watched as she was holding onto the rope and then was Time Traveled into the outside of the castle, where Eden was. 

Eden flickered her eyes open and grabbed both Arine and Marvin. She hugged them tightly, tears falling from her eyes. 

"I thought I had lost you," Eden murmured. "I thought I had lost both of you."

"It's okay." Marvin whispered while Arine stayed quiet. 

They pulled away after a while. Eden cupped Marvin's chin with her hands. "You've been gone for so, so long. I became hopeless and devastated for you and the whole world. Until..."

Eden then cupped her hands on Arine's chin. "Until you found him, Arine. The world has been waiting for Marvin, and has been waiting for you. Two Greater Families have been reunited." 

"And they have been reunited with their tutor." Marvin smiled.

Eden smiled at both of them too. "Indeed. Now let's go back to the castle. We have much to discuss."

.........................

Being inside the dining room of the castle was a sight of relief for Arine. She was back at the castle, away from the hole. Arine looked at Marvin and realized how he must feel. He looked at the room with nostalgia and memories, memories with many emotions on him. 

Eden looked at the dining table too in the same way. Seeing 2 people in the same place they always loved was a beautiful sight to Arine.

The 3 of them sat down, with Eden in the middle, and Arine and Marvin to her left and right. Arine recalled how in the past few days, only 2 out of the 3 chairs were filled, and now the whole table was filled. It gave her a spark of joy.

Eden looked at the 2 of them with equal measures of love and happiness. She still seemed to be in a loss of words but was recovering quickly.

Eden cleared her throat. "I do not think I can say this enough but seeing you two has brought  me solace and delight. But before I am fully eased, there are few things I would like us to talk about. For one thing, that hole was not there before."

Arine tilted her head, confused and Marvin shrugged sheepishly. 

"I may have dug that on my own," Marvin said. "And used Graydown magic to conceal it from anyone except, well, a Greater Family."

"I didn't notice it the first time," Arine noted. "I was walking, not really paying attention and accidentally tripped on the hole."

Marvin raised an eyebrow quizzically. "An accident?"

Arine nodded her head. 

"So if you didn't trip on that hole," Marvin mused. "You wouldn't have found me and I'd be trapped there for decades more and the whole world would have a global season outrage and the rest of the human race may have been wiped out?"

Arine blinked while Eden frowned at him. 

"Let us not think dreadful thoughts," Eden told him. "Now, what you are telling me is that when Arine found and went inside the magical hole, it's magic was faded away and was visible?" 

"Yes..." Marvin paused, biting his lip. Arine had a feeling he was thinking of the fight they had with the Rose-Grayen guards. Arine was too.

Eden caught their reluctance quickly. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Arine hugged herself. "Well...in the most simplest terms, inside a hole was another deeper hole. And when we tried to escape the hole you saw, we fell into that hole. And there we saw guards from my Kingdom, Rose-Grayen guards. They had a noble with them, a noble whom many of the people in my Kingdom despise."

"I think they might want to behead us." Marvin added.

Eden wore a look of pure horror. "What? How? This is-this is—are any of you hurt?" 

Arine and Marvin looked at each other and back at Eden.

"Speak." Eden implored.

Arine shook her head. "Not too much except our fall into the second hole."

"Yes." Marvin agreed.

Eden sighed heavily. "This is terrible. Absolutely terrible."

"It can't be that bad." Marvin soothed.

"Well...maybe a bit more bad," Arine said remorsefully. "They know about the Tempus and they know me and Marvin are one of them."

Eden's face was hidden in her hands. At once she flung her head up and looked directly at Arine. "What do they know. How do they know?"

Arine was taken aback by Eden's sudden command. She gulped, then replied. "I haven't been able to learn how much they know about Tempus. All I know is that they do not like us and they believe we cause famished and devastation. And the source they know this from is unknown, though I have a feeling it may be me."

Eden's mouth was open. Marvin looked lost. 

"But that's—that's impossible. They can't know about you. You've been sent to a Kingdom with people who have no knowledge of you!" Eden threw her hands up.

"Isn't it possible for someone in the Kingdom to know about them?" Marvin inquired.

"No! Well, at least to my knowledge I believe not. But I am not certain." Eden sunk her shoulders.

"It won't pose as a full on threat to us, right? We can defeat them, if we call the other Tempus Praestites?" Arine suggested.

Eden shook her head mournfully. "No, no, that wouldn't be possible. We couldn't call the other Praestites. It'd take too long to send the message and even longer to structure a meeting."

"What do we have to do then?" Marvin said. 

"You two," she pointed at Arine and Marvin. "Stay right here in this castle. The most important thing is to keep you two safe and away from their reach. And Marvin, you must rest for your powers are drained. You'll have to fix the seasonal issue as soon as possible. You too, Arine. Rest as well."

Eden rose up, Arine and Marvin following suit. 

"Let us know if you need help Eden, okay?" Marvin said with concern.

"There's no help needed except for you two to look out for yourselves and each other. Understood?"

They obliged and went separate ways to their rooms.