I slumped onto a park bench, the laughter of children playing in the field echoing around me. Orange dusk bloomed across the sky, a night about to come. My gaze was vacant, the blue-coated officers' questions still buzzing in my ears, leaving behind a hollow emptiness. Bloodstains around my garment abided, reminding me of the inevitable terror. The blithe shouts of the kids tugged at the corners of my lips, a flicker of warmth amidst the suffocating despair. Hope, like a fragile flame, danced in the distance, yet the echo of Leanne's final breath, the memory of witnessing her demise, still weighed heavily upon me, thought after thought.

Silence, truly, plagued my mind.

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A plague akin to the same pain inside my head.

“Hey,” Polo’s handsome smile suddenly emerged from the side. “Ever die seeking for a cure?”

“Gah—Oh, it is you.”

“Cure?” he repeated.

“How? A Cure spell?”

“Oh, no no,” he wagged his finger. “Not a spell, but a solution. Her loss of blood was all of Mavet’s foundation. But alas, your magic was of no use, such frustration. Should you grant more Vis to prove your sheer will, her life would be saved with your miracles worth even three litres of Sang to hold the weave of her soul still.”

“No, I may be a bloodkin of Her Lady, but I could not afford enough Vis to grant her full remedy, for I am a time-served warrior… not a healer.”

“Hence, the wool-woven bandages that bound around her belly and chest. Truly, you tried to save her with zest.”

“But it is inevitable… her soul was already near death's doorstep… her wounds were too many and fatal. Why did she deserve to be tormented like that?”

“For one, she’s the ex-wife of John Stone, a victim from yesterday. Two, using her other name as ‘Leanne’ proves she’s an identity runaway. And three, she might have something on her that could’ve put them in dismay.”

“Something on her?” I repeated. “Are you sure she has something worth hiding?”

“Indeed, what else would be another solution to force her disclosure? An endless pierce to every inch of guts till their surrender, don’t you remember? Though, the truth remains in the dark, so sinister.”

Right… torture. Thrashing her until a shred of truth might surface, only to find it all in vain. True, he had said of a truth shrouding in gloomy enigma. How hapless to both, it was all for naught. As a friend of Ana, a pain in her heart could spark like a thorny prod upon learning of her demise. Could it be he seeks for a remedy to Ana’s fated grief, as her ‘long-lost’ brother? Why not ask him?

“About Ana? Your sister? Will she be alright about this?”

His eyes widened, then he gasped, “Oh, a friend of hers?”

“Sounds like you never knew of it first.”

“Now I have…. Beautiful friend, but now a waste, she already passed,” he smiled. “No matter, I shall keep her body to no dust.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“.... Think of a sweet and not bitter,” he turned his back and giggled. “But I must hunt first, for a pair of lambs already fell prey to the brand.”

I still have no idea what you are talking about.

“Still do you have something that I can reason out with her?” I asked, yet his lips were still sealed, a nonce of silence testing my patience. His ambling feet slowly turned aside. His eyes gazed at the orange sky of dusk, faintly darkened. “Answer me!”

Silence, again, loomed. Yet, a brief pause, it was, then he answered, “My long-lost sis, she is. True, our crimson hair, we knew. But I can’t let her thoughts and feelings be my grave shoulder to her burden. Should I advise her on some truth, her grief wouldn’t still be cast off.”

Thrice, there was it again. This time, his eyes glancing behind brought forth a plea to my spoken thought. True, Ana was a woman of her mind, yet I knew he craved the solace he could only find in offering it to her, just as Lady Drea, their revered foremother, had done for me and our army when faced with the foolish counsel of some generals. Her calming presence always managed to quell the anger welling up within me, steering me away from the impulsive actions fueled by their disastrous strategies. Reasons, how I prayed for it to arrive soon.

“Pray, steel yourself, lest your blame will be pointed,” he continued. “I’m sure Miss Aya can back your anxiety up, too.”

“Is that the best help you can come up with?”

He shrugged and heaved a sigh, “Lament however you like, but in the end, everything will be alright.”

Then a wave of his hand bid me farewell, leaving me all alone in grief.

“Thanks for your help… son of Drea,” I scoffed.

* * *

An hour of silent sorrow crept by as I returned to the apartment lobby. The officers and onlookers had dwindled, their hours of investigation and cleaning complete. Frantic whispers had faded, replaced by an unsettling silence. Even Funda sat quietly in the corner, wrestling with her own thoughts. The sight of the aftermath, devoid of prying eyes and gasps, struck me with a profound bleakness. It was as if the very air had been drained of any semblance of joy.

“Janie,” Ayako’s voice called me from behind, so I turned there. “Are you alright?”

Shame bowed my head, a deep frown crimping my lips. Her inchoate worry morphed into a wary glare, a silent accusation. Should I stretch my pardons to her, her grasp towards my blunder could redeem my worth. Reasons, how I prayed for it soon.

“Uhh… Aya. I…uhh… am sorry.”

“Why did it happen?” asked Ayako, her arms crossed between.

“I was… in pain,” I groaned. “And those two wenches just somehow stole our looks and convinced Leanne to enter the room.”

“I see… I see,” she heaved a heavy sigh, her grip clenching the sleeve. “So that’s why.”

“Why? I do not know what makes it ‘why’. Should you be the one to back me up amidst my… sudden headache, her death would have never happened…. Ana is going to screw me up for this, so how are we going to… cure this bloody madness?”

“Accept,” she rolled her eyes. “There’s no fucking way to revive her back to life. You think it’s gonna be a happily-ever-after?” then she neared her lips into my ear and whispered. “You were once a warrior—a general… and even a brave princess leading the old empire here. Surely, you already knew the answer rather too well.”

“But—”

“There’s no ‘buts’ here. Admit your mistakes and move on,” she walked past me, her arms still crossed. Yet, looking at her back, her hand rested on a leather-bound notebook, its size roughly twice that of a hand. “What’s done is done.”

Then his voice came buzzing across my mind, Not a spell, but a solution.

“Sir Polo,” I cried. “He is coming up with such a solution.”

“What solution?”

“I do not know,” I answered. “It is just… he said it.”

“Then what else? That’s probably his babbling nonsense of a joke.”

No, there has to be.

But what? His words were a mere bouquet of Loftian flowers, masking a thousandfold reckonings to come. How fancy I heard, even my curiosity, though piqued, felt a prickle of unease.

Gah, I cannot think of such hope.

Perhaps I must wait for his tale to be shown before my eyes and ears, such time I hoped.

“Gals,” Ana’s voice cried from behind, rushing towards us. “Is it true?”

Her approach faltered as I turned. Her eyes snagged on the crimson stains marring my upper garments, widening in a flash. Would it be a glare? Or wince? Alas, twice, my blunder suddenly weighed upon me.

“Did you…do them?”

“I… was—”

“She was about to save Leanne from bleeding by bandaging her with utmost efforts,” interrupted Ayako. “But it was too late as two hit—burglars had already finished her.”

“No,” Ana stepped slightly aback, and with a weight settling upon her, so did her knees bring her onto the ground. “It can’t be… how dare they… do that?”

A suffocating silence choked the hallway, strewed only by the echo of her mournful lament. We stood, frozen by grief, helpless in the face of her demise. Only Ana clung to hope, an ember flickering against the tide of sorrow. Her eyes widened and shed a faint drip of tears, desperately trying to bribe her thoughts. Yet, her hopes teetered on the edge of delusion, a fervent prayer for a heavenly miracle that defied the relentless hand of fate. The stark reality pressed upon her: what was done was done.

“Emilia… Janie…,” Ana asked, her low voice daunting my ears. “How did you know?”

“Know?”

“.... For what purpose had brought you there?”

“I… uhh…,” I stuttered, caught in the cruel bind of truth and solace. Glancing at Ayako, she only shrugged, begging me to choose either. Saving my good name, I chose a path… paved with harmless untruth. “I was hoping… Leanne could help me find a perfume. Fine one… since you were gone a while ago. “

“Only to find out that those two burglars were demanding something out of her,” added Ayako, then smiled faintly at me. “Glad you avenged her torment… or even death.”

Ana shook her head, then covered her eyes, rubbing across her brow, “If I could’ve invited her to share a room with us, then her death wouldn’t have happened.”

“No, there’s a reason why she chose to be separated from us,” said Ayako.

“Oh,” then Ana continued her silence, slowly laying down her hands. “So she hasn’t been trusting me all the time?”

“No no no,” Ayako stuttered. “I think you misunderstood. More like she doesn’t want to let anyone know of it.”

“Sounds like you’ve known her rather too well than I,” replied Ana, slightly forming a glare on her eyes, then chuckled. “Lemme guess, that’s one of your perks?”

“What else?” Ayako tapped the skin under her eye. “But Bino.”

Ana asked back, “So have you known any sort of secrets from her?”

“Not sure, but it’s certainly something far more important to them.”

“Would you be clearer?”

“Not yet,” Ayako shook her head. “But I’m looking forward to it.”