The skies of City of Order were cloudy, covering parts of the sun from view,

Though downcast, there was a sense of closure that hung from the clouds,

A great tragedy and its mystery would soon be dispelled, and a more positive conclusion would be found.

~   ~   ~

The day was like any other, though that changed when Strength noticed her phone was ringing around noon.

One of her friends seemed to have been incessantly calling her if the amount of calls was any indication.

Strength bemused by her friend's action immediately answers the call. "Yes, what is it, Secret? You've been calling me constantly."

Her friend audibly breathed a sigh of relief once Strength's call connected, before then stating as clearly as they could be.

"Strength, they're alive! They weren't killed in the house invasion, they are here with me now, Please get here."

Secret was practically shouting over the phone, confusing Strength further. Spending a long moment trying to recall what house invasion could Secret be referring to.

The only one she had ever experienced in her life was- Strength's sapphire eyes widened in shock.

She immediately stood, getting her outfit in order, trying to get some other good clothing together.

While trying to suppress a faint spark of hope, as she probed for more information from Secret over the phone.

"What do you mean? Who are you talking about, Secret?" Strength asked, listening closely like she was on a stakeout.

"They are alive, your siblings are here with me, please, trust me on this Strength, they are here at my place.

Just, get here and you'll see for yourself. I have to go and calm them down, see you in a bit." Click.

Silence filled the room, as Strength held the still phone in her hand for a minute, before tucking it away.

Untruth, unfathomable, so many words rested on her tongue as she replayed the conversation she just had with her friend.

Perhaps if it was anyone else, she might have just called bullshit, but this was Secret.

He never told her any sort of lies and always pushed himself to show his work off for verification.

...She finished putting my outfit on and her bag roughly thrown on her shoulder as she stepped to her front door and opened it, before locking it behind herself.

Once that was sorted, she rushed along the roads, kicking up clouds of dust in her wake, while traveling along the backroads to reach the nearby Park of the district.

She quickly arrived at the park, mere few minutes had passed in real time, yet it felt like hours as her thoughts threatened to boil to the surface.

Frantically glancing between the park, She reprimanded herself harshly while walking to the front of the park, and glanced around tentatively.

Taking out her worn phone, ready to text him instead to hear further information from him, hoping to use the time to steady her panicking heart.

But then her breath stopped, for she noticed someone startling familiar near one of the few park buildings as she had turned a corner.

Strength thought for a moment that she was hallucinating, for she believed she saw her youngest sister Fire there.

Fire's confused expression at a familiar figure, in turn, transformed into shock once she realized just who she was seeing in the distance.

Fire stared back at Strength spellbound, struggling to put words together to see her eldest sister alive.

But soon they came, as tears began to fall down her face, as she put together the words into sentences, leaving her mouth like billowing smoke.

It was like Strength was dreaming when she heard her sister's next words out of her mouth.

"..B-b-big sister Strength?" Fire stuttered as she ran towards her.

"I-is that you, little Fire?" Strength asked, as she examined her sister and found her still so similar to how she was long ago.

The only notable change that Strength could see was that Fire possessed large curled fiendish horns now.

But that was all and more than anything, Strength could see that Fire stood before her, alive.

That's all that mattered to her.

While Strength had her internal monologue, Fire reached her and hugged her, as Strength gave a heartful hug in turn.

Holding her close, unwilling to let go for fear that she would vanish into thin smoke.

Strength's mental walls gradually crumbled as she let hope creep in.

The speed of the crumbling grew faster when she looked up and saw the rest of her siblings there in the flesh.

They were safe and sound, even while the years changed them in many ways.

Sea ran his fingers through his hair, shocked to see his oldest sister in the flesh.

He certainly expected a trap when the man approached him about his name while the trio were visiting.

But that man made sure to pick a public space, among other steps to ensure he didn't end up a syrup sculpture.

He walked forward, with his short sleeves showing scarred areas that were opaque blue ice than flesh as if his body had been filled in with the material.

Cinnamon smiled at seeing her oldest sister, rushing along after her brother,

Eager to see her after all this time, skipping along as the appendages on her back fluttered.

Her wings of ice trailed snowflakes as she folded them against herself.

Strength felt all of their hugs, and could feel that they were real, that her siblings were safe and alive all this time.

Her fears and her doubts faded, as despite all the changes they had visually undergone since she had last seen them all those years ago,

It did not stop her from recognizing them as her siblings, the family she had left.

They were still her family, her long-lost family.

Experienced by 'Refuge of Strength'