Susan had spent the last few days in a mental blur that she was unable to climb out of. She vaguely knew that everything had been bad before. She had spent days in fear, starvation, and thirst. The last time she knew where she was, had been outside those dreaded sewers. Then the days came slow and foggy. All she ate was salty liquids and mushy porridge. There were tubes running into her, but nothing was uncomfortable though, she could hardly feel a thing. She slept so soundly in-between meals, and all her dreams were pleasant or nonexistent. When she was conscious she had flashes of horrible things, but they never stayed long enough for her to dwell on.

She had her brother beside her in the giant bed, one so large it seemed like a padded floor. Ed held her hand like always. They were only slightly restricted by the tubes. Arm in arm they passed their sleepy and dreamy days together.

Then there was finally sharpness, the once featureless room they lived in became defined. There was a band across Susan's head, firm, but not exactly tight. It was some kind of soft and synthetic plastic with a cloth liner. The small elvish woman that had helped her before was back, dressed in the vestments of a healer. There were many elves throughout the days, their faces were so similar and sharp. This one had rounded cheeks and a sharp little chin. The healer garb she remembered from the occasional check up the orphanages would give her.

"Hello honey, how do you feel?" asked the small elf woman. Her voice was soft and relaxing, it made Susan's head tingle. "Groggy? Nothing hurts, does it?" Her little squared off hands touched around Susan's arms, checking the IV and her face.

Susan looked at her strangely, she must have been shorter than her. Most adults were usually much larger than either of the physically stunted twins.

"I'm fine, fine," she stammered, reaching out for Ed. He was awake too, his head bearing the same crown as her. She didn't understand the writing on it, it looked elven, like the street signs of the city.

"Don't mess with them, they aren't dangerous," came a deep voice, speaking in the same tone as the elf.

The young Ash Maker turned around to see a giant man standing behind the small elf. He must have been hiding behind the bed's headboard, it wasn't against the wall, but instead was stranded in the middle of the floor. He was the most handsome man that Susan had ever seen, square jawed with black hair and stubble across his cheeks. His eyes were the darkest of blue, like an ocean at night. He smiled at her and her heart raced wildly. It quickly calmed though, a wave of relaxation washing over her body from the crown. She shook out her head, struggling to stay awake.

"Take a deep breath, the calming crowns are just doing their job," the handsome man said.

After a moment, Susan was alert again. She smiled awkwardly back at the man. He smiled warmly back.

"Are yah gonna ask them questions without Diana and Jonah?" came the rich voice of a woman. The source, the palest woman Susan had ever seen, hovered in the air beside the coat wearing man, looking down at the twins.

"No, of course not… just the basics," the man said with an even look, extending his gauntleted hand. "Nice to actually meet you two. Name's Warren, this is Rosetta and she's Kalyah." He pointed down at the healer for the last one. Wrangling a stool out from under the bed, he took a seat, slouching to meet the twin’s eyes. “Now, can you tell me your names?”

Susan introduced them, her voice coming out slow and hoarse.

“Here, honey, good job, good job,” Kalyah said, handing her a cup of water. “Slow and steady, there you go. Ed, honey, scoot, scoot, there you go. I have one for you too. There you are, honey.” She breathed a long shush as they drank, turning to a gentle tutting of her lips. Pleasant tingles flowed down from Susan’s head down her spine. Ed closed his eyes beside her, leaning into his sister.

“Ya don’t have to do that, the crowns have that handled,” Warren said softly to the healer.

“If they were any smaller, then I would swaddle them and rock them to sleep,” Kalyah said shamelessly. She ran her fingers through Susan’s hair and her knuckles across Ed’s cheek, quietly popping her lips. “After what these two dears went through, they deserve all the care I can give them. Chiru doesn’t like to be touched, but these ones do.” She demonstrated with a light tapping across the twin’s cheeks. It had been years since the two had felt a genuine maternal touch. Susan didn’t know how much she could miss something simple.

“Chiru?” Susan asked, trying to wet her tongue further, it felt like a fat lump of cotton. “Where is she?”

“In the other room, recovering, sleeping off a big bowl of rice porridge,” Kalyah said with a bright smile. She filled the water cups again, giving one to each of them.

“Do you two know where you are?” Warren wondered after a moment. “We haven't flown anywhere, so it’s wherever you last remember.”

“Alpha?” Ed asked, swallowing.

“Good job, sweetie,” Kalyah cheered, patting his shoulder.

“Yep, that’s right,” Warren said, with a nod. He rolled out a deep papyrus scroll across his large thigh. A fractal feathered quill appeared in his right hand, the edges of his gauntlet glowing with rings of spiked vines. He jotted down something so small it had to be shorthand. The letters faded fast as well, the ink a neon yellow then a standard black. “Bring them in, remind ‘em not to ask any questions.” He inclined his head to the door.

“They know, mate,” Rosetta grumbled, floating to the door. On it was a circle of writing like that on the crowns. So much magic, Susan wondered how the Mages could live without it. At the camp… A flash came of violence, of blood. Her crown suddenly washed another wave over her and she lost her train of thought.

Warren flashed an annoyed look at Rosetta, then returned a smirk to the twins. “Just a second, don’t worry,” he told them.

Through the door came Diana and Jonah. They moved slowly, like a funeral procession into the room. They wore much lighter clothes than before. Diana had a beautiful green dress and a wooden crown that made her truly look like a princess. It made Susan want to dress like her, she could only imagine the feel of the sweeping skirt and breezy sleeves. Without the blush of the icy weather, Susan reasoned that Jonah was quite handsome as well. She had never seen a man so dark with his features. Growing up in a place full of pale skin and golden hair, a tan and dark hair was exotic. It wasn’t until they were with the Ash Makers that…

A dark haired boy suddenly rose from her memory. Genji. The poor awkward featured boy, blind as a bat, but sweet. He was… Where was he, what had happened to him? Relaxation flowed from the crown, nearly stunning her in place. Try as she might to recall, all that came from the memory was pain. What happened to Genji? She remembered him shooting at Diana and Jonah? Ike. Ike was shouting. He shouted at Genji, but where was he? Where had he been?

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“Sweetie, sweetie, tut, tut, tut. You’re okay, you’re safe,” Kalyah said, sitting up from her chair. She held Susan to her chest, running her fingers through her long blonde hair. “Hey, hey, you’re safe.”

Tears flowed freely down Susan’s cheeks. Why, though? Her conscious mind was drowned out by the crown. Genji… Her heart hurt to think about him. What happened? Oh gods, she couldn’t remember. Ed was hugging her, the tubing of his IV caught under her arm. His head pressed into her shoulder. Did he remember? Or was he just trying to comfort her?

“Did we do something?” came Jonah’s voice. “We can go, I didn’t mean to stir up anything…”

“She must be fragile, pet, it wasn’t anything you did,” Diana said.

“I know ya didn’t, but something set her off anyway,” Warren said with a heavy sigh. “Put ‘em back to sleep, Kalyah, we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Kalyah began muttering a prayer.

"Genji! Genji! What happened?" Susan said, pushing violently on the stout elf. The air started to crackle as she slipped out of Kalyah's hold and the crown's. The flowing calm was cut off quickly and in her panic she heard Warren rising. Flashes of memories came racing in, faster than pouring rain.

The sewers, running, starving. Cold and hot. Dry mouths and empty stomachs. Before that, a block started to dislodge in her head. For a day they hid and for a full day they had been running. Before that, oh gods, it was the mist in the caves. The bats, the flapping of their leathery wings. Their fiery red eyes in the flickering lights of the camp. The bulkhead had opened. The emitters screeched, but the bats still flew. A foul, rotten odor hung to the air, it came with the bats and the mists. The screaming came, far too many cut short.

“Come here, little Ashen ones, come here!” came a heavily accented voice.

Susan saw the source, the beastly man whose chest spawned the bats. They rippled out of him like water. He smiled and his fanged teeth shone brightly. The mists came pouring out of his legs, it smelled distinctly of rot and decay. It made her cough at the stench, but she kept her lips closed tightly. In trying to keep quiet she tore up her throat, making a catch in the depths of it.

Ed had woken up, ever the fretful sleeper. He dragged her to a hole in the wall as the screaming matched the emitters and the bats. A horrible splat of liquid. Shouts, thudding, people falling helplessly onto the stone.

Waves of sleepiness came over Susan and she was back to the present, laying on her back on the giant bed. Kalyah was nestled beside her, Ed laying on the other, already snoring softly. The healer combed her fingers through her hair, tutting gently, and shushed her. Standing by the bed was Warren, jotting down notes, both his hands glowing brightly. Next to him were Jonah and Diana, frowning with sympathy and holding hands. Over the headboard was the white eyed Rosetta, watching her curiously, head tilted like a dog.

"You're safe, but you're gonna rest some more, sweetie," Kalyah breathed. "Your body is weak, and your mind is troubled. Sleep, baby, sleep."

Susan closed her eyes, not wanting to sleep, but it came on quickly.

Warren rose up from the seat, snapping his fingers. Within that quick sound his armor vanished from his body. At the edge of the bed he removed his coat and sword, adding his unsheathed daggers and other conduit weapons from his belt to the pile. Across his large index and ring fingers were thick steel rings etched with equations, they clinked together as he sanded his hands with a sigh. Rosetta hid a nervous swallow and averted her eyes from his bulk as he returned to his seat. The Sorceress jumped as he called her name.

“Wot? Wot do yah need?” she asked, steeling her expression as she turned to him.

His eyes were deadly serious. “I need ya to help me scan the girl’s brain,” he said plainly.

“You said it was too dangerous,” Kalyah chirped up, rising from her place by Susan.

“I said it’d be difficult, now I see it’s gonna be impossible for a good while unless they're unconscious,” Warren replied. “Get a Trio, monitor her vitals, it won’t be long, I promise.”

“I can manage it on my own,” Kalyah said, returning to her seat. The Priestess put her hands together in prayer, the emblem on her head glowing with white fire.

“Why do yah need mah?” Rosetta asked with pursed lips.

“You got psychic magic experience, yer the only one here with enough to assist me,” he said. He lightly pulled Susan closer, tucking the blanket around her. He lifted the crown from her head. The equations written on it had been marred when the girl’s eyes turned black in confusion.

“What’s the danger here?” Jonah asked, looking around. His eyes flickered with his indexing, but he apparently couldn’t find an answer.

“An Ash Maker’s mind is difficult to read,” Diana explained. “Their eyes going black dispels most magic, even that made by the most experienced of Mages.”

“It’s the structure of their mind in this case,” Warren added, still staring at Rosetta. “It’s all tangled up compared to a normal mind. Trying to infiltrate it causes stress, as if she’s got defenses up in place. Rosetta and I should be able to enter it and see what happened that night without harming her though.”

“She’s young, and I’ll keep a close eye on her. She’ll be perfectly fine,” Kalyah chimed in, not opening her eyes.

“Do whatever ya need to prepare, I can’t do this without ya,” Warren stated.

Rose frowned. “I can’t do it,” she mumbled. “My bruther did the link, I just sent my thoughts back.”

“That’s far more experience than me,” Diana said with a huff. “I barely have defenses down.”

“We need this, Rosetta, it may be the evidence we need against the Heroes,” Jonah said, stepping forward. “I’m close to finding the recording of Fia, or at least I should be.”

“It would definitely help the war effort to know what their camps are like,” Diana said with a shrug.

The Sorceress was on a stage as the room went silent save the deep breathing of the twins. She looked over them, both were unconscious and holding hands. They had gone through an evil far worse than anything she had ever felt. What was one murder compared to a camp full of people dying or vanishing? Whatever mystery had happened there. Then a couple days in the sewer being chased by Nymphs? She had an easy life.

She turned away, feeling eyes on her. She wanted her brother. She needed him, but he had left to never return. He had blamed her and she had accepted it. She didn’t have his diligence and it was her responsibility to search the castle grounds.

This was too soon, she shouldn’t even be here, let alone given responsibilities again. Shut up! Quit whining! she told herself. She clawed at the rubber band on her wrist, yanking it nearly a foot before letting it snap. Behind her she heard the shuffling movements of Warren. The giant man that was nearly two heads taller than her.

Oh Bound god, what a mistake He had made in blessing her at birth. After Luann died she wanted to slice her own wrists or maybe her throat. Iris wouldn’t help her, he only wanted to help himself. That bastard went off to the Bound god’s temple and kept hitting willing people until his arms were sore from the effort. Rose knew she couldn’t go, because she would never want them to stop. She needed more and more pain. She had never been so depressed and no amount of pain was helping yet.

Rosetta gasped as a mighty hand held her wrist. Warren’s thumb held the rubber band, stopping it from striking her again. In her masochistic punishment she had drawn tiny specks of blood. Strike after strike had fallen on her pale wrist, making it practically glow red.

“Stop it,” Warren said firmly. “It ain’t helping.”

The rubber band warped into a thin razor blade, hovering in the air. “That will,” she breathed quietly.

Warren shook his head. “It won’t,” he said, plucking the blade from the air. He twisted his forearm towards her, pointing his thick finger at a faint line.

She squinted, seeing several more long healed gashes in his tanned skin. Craning her neck, she looked up at him as if for the first time. He vaguely smiled and she hated his looks so much she had to turn away. At least, she told herself that was the reason.

“It didn’t help,” he said, pinching the razorblade tightly. The ring on that finger flashed, a band on his shoulder joining in the quick shine. The metal of the razor bent in half like a piece of paper.

“Please, let mah go,” she said quietly.

He did so.

She rubbed at her sore wrist. Slowly it began to heal. “I’ll do it,” she mumbled.

“Good to hear.”