Noth was stuck quietly raging over his own emotions the entire trip home. He didn’t even allow Serris to teleport him back, and had taken almost 2 hours to trudge back. He’d managed to slightly cool down his thoughts with all the time he’d spent ruminating over them, but he certainly wasn’t in a good mood. For all that he’d felt that he’d grown up over the years, Noth feared that he’d never grow out the way he obsessed over negative things, and his feelings always took far too long for him to let them go.

Distracted as he was by the encounter with Mellen, he didn’t bother to reply to the gazes and cheers of the townspeople as he passed them by. He didn’t have the heart to try and interact with them right now, and even if he did, he was worried that they’d quickly realize how reluctant he was feeling to do so. Instead he quickened his pace back to the mansion, in the hopes that he might avoid anyone getting too close. Occasionally he would catch glimpses of some of the ex-employees; A random mixture of those who’d returned or had been fortunate enough to have been outside at the time of the event. They all only reminded him even more of Mellen and her disgusting words and deeds, and he couldn’t bear to look at them. The teen stuck his eyes to the ground and sped up even more in response, almost running as he scrambled to make it back to safety before he did something he would regret.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the mansion seemed truly like a warm, welcoming home. And yet, despite the nice reprieve it seemed to be trying to grant Noth, his pace barely slowed. His heart and breathing seemed loud to the teen, and it was so hard for him to focus on anything that he instinctively clenched his teeth, as if it might somehow afford him greater control. Even though he was taking such deep breaths, it didn’t really feel like any air was even actually filling his lungs until he finally made it out of the back of the mansion and into the doors of the villa.

With shallow pants, Noth crossed the kitchen and began to ascend the stairs. When he reached the top he found Ren playing with a cat at the side of the hallway. She stood up and called out his name, and absentmindedly he reached out and gently put a hand on the top of her ashen head, and yet he didn’t stop his steady marching for a second. A confused Ren followed after him as he made his way to his room, watching as Noth unceremoniously opened the door and entered without a word. Jean and Helt were kneeling on the floor, aggressively trying to work something out of his carpet, but Noth didn’t even bat an eye as he walked past them and flopped down face first onto his bed.

The three children followed after the teen and gathered around the side of his bed where he’d collapsed into, staring at his unmoving form. Ren pouted and climbed up onto the bed, softly nudging Noth and asking if he was alright, while Jean sighed and narrowed her eyes, and Helt frowned ever so slightly.

“You know, we were trying really hard to clean the carpet in here, and then there you go stomping those dusty boots.”

When Noth still didn’t move even after Jean’s mumbled whining, the disgruntled girl sighed even harder.

“Yeah, alright, fine. Helt, help me take off his boots.”

The crystalline boy nodded and quickly got to work, although his frown seemed to grow a shade deeper. When Jean took the boots with an annoyed pout and left the room, Helt climbed up on the opposite side of Noth from Ren, and placed his hand on the teen’s back. His face seemed to take on a slight pained look, and the small ashen girl across from him quickly seemed to notice it. She leaned over Noth’s back and cupped her hands, whispering to Helt as quietly as she could.

“Are… Are you trying to read Noth’s mind?”

Helt gave a curt nod, and the pain seemed to slowly ebb from his features, being replaced by a disappointed look instead.

“Yes, but it won’t work.”

“Yeah, of course it wouldn’t. Noth’s crazy strong, you know.”

Suddenly the bed tipped a bit on the opposite side, causing both of them to look over. Jean had also climbed up with them, and sat herself down on Ren’s side right next to Noth’s head. She crossed her arms and looked down at the teen as if she were looking at something pitiful.

“Hey. We won’t know what to do if you don’t tell us what happened. You’re gonna make Ren cry, and Helt’s hurting himself trying to figure out what’s wrong.”

When Noth’s hands clenched at Jean’s blunt words, the luminescent girl’s eyes seemed to turn just a touch more gentle, along with her words.

“Did something happen again? Was it the demons? Or maybe… Did that woman come back?”

The way Noth tensed told Jean and Helt everything they needed to know. Ren however tilted her head as if she didn’t understand what Jean was saying, only jumping and saying ‘oh!’ a few seconds later. The small girl leaned forward and hugged herself against Noth’s back.

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“Was she mean to you, too?”

Her soft, caring action made Noth’s body shake a little, and Helt quickly joined in on the hug. A moment later, Jean sighed and gave a small wry smile before joining in as well, dog-piling onto Noth. The teen’s quaking seemed to grow, and his eyes grew hot behind their closed lids. The children were all showing such care and worry over him, and he felt ashamed that he’d shown them such a weak side of himself. What kind of big brother figure was he trying to be, when he needed such consoling from the very children he’d been trying to protect? How powerful could he truly be, if just a few rude words from an arrogant old woman could aggravate him this deeply?

Noth knew deep down that while yes, he’d been enraged by the pompous way Mellen had tried to manipulate and control him, he was also equally upset that she still seemed to show no remorse for what she’d done to, and said about, his precious family. He had to reign in his nastier impulses for how to deal with her when he’d realized that she still held such awful thoughts about him and the people he cared about. And yet, despite all of that, here he was trying to ignore those very same precious people because his mind couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said before he’d sent her away.

The teen let out a deep sigh, trying to will himself to finally let the topic go and move on with his life. The children didn’t deserve to be treated like this by him just because he’d had a nasty experience. Noth bit his lip and willed himself to get up. When the children felt him moving, they naturally got out of the way, and yet they all seemed to cling on to whatever scrap of his clothes were nearby them at the time, in a seeming show of solidarity. He took in their various concerned faces one at a time and then closed his eyes, once more trying to get his heart and mind under control, and pressing the negative thoughts as deep down as he could. However, once he started talking, he couldn’t look a single one of the children in the eyes, feeling a strange sense of worry over how they might take the news of his actions.

“Yes, I… But I don’t think we’ll be seeing her again so it’s alright. The demons got her.”

Deep down Noth knew that he was saying those words as an attempt to finally convince himself let things go, as opposed to reassuring the children. Jean quirked up an eyebrow and scanned him over before seeming to understand something. She gave a slow nod and let out a small huff.

“Fine then. How unfortunate for her, but I can’t say I’m very sad about her never bothering us again.”

Helt nodded along with Jean’s words, his face darkening a tad as he seemed to have reached the same understanding as she had. However Ren’s reaction was rather shocking, as she immediately let go of Noth’s clothes and slightly turned away from everyone with a terrified look on her face. She stared off into the distance and started digging her nails into the flesh of her legs. As Noth watched the girl in worry over what her reaction might mean, his angel spoke up for the first time since the fight with the demons.

Serris’s teasing earned her a short glare shot in her direction, but Noth quickly turned to lift up Ren’s hands, stopping them from causing any further harm.

“Ren, what’s wrong? Do you feel bad that Mellen is gone?”

The small ashen girl bit her lip hard, causing it to redden and swell slightly, but as she felt Jean and Helt’s gazes also focused on her, the pressure became too much for her not to say anything. She shut her eyes tight and pulled her hands away from Noth so that she could cover her face as she choked out her confession.

“No I-I just, I just feel… I feel guilty.”

Everyone’s faces grew a tad confused at her words. Jean reached out to rub Ren’s back, and Noth did his best to pat her head in a comforting way.

“Why would you feel guilty? You didn’t do anything wrong, Ren.”

His words only made Ren desperately shake her head, and she didn’t let any more words escape.

Helt was confused. Ren might have been a small and sensitive child, but he never knew her to get so broken up over people she didn’t like before. It was especially odd of her to have such a strong reaction over the demise of someone who’d hurt someone she liked, let alone Noth, who she idolized so much. He’d used his [Gift] earlier to try and find out what was wrong with Noth, but even though he’d been in slight pain from how loud Jean and Ren’s thoughts had become, the neutralizer that was Noth had kept him from feeling any further pain afterwards. He reasoned that because Noth was here and so close, that it might be safe to check in with Ren’s thoughts and see what was bothering her so much, even if it would be a bit rude to do so.

And so Helt used his [Gift].

He could hear Jean’s thoughts just as normal.

And as expected, he couldn’t listen in on a single one of Noth’s thoughts.

He could even hear Elillith’s quiet and sparse thoughts as she prepared an early lunch for them in the mansion’s kitchen.

But no matter how long he tried, Ren was completely unreadable.

It didn’t make sense. Helt had been able to read Ren’s thoughts earlier, so why could he suddenly not hear them now? This had never happened to him before. Noth was slightly in the way between himself and Ren, so Helt slightly moved over to get a better view, thinking that maybe that might have been what was causing it, but even then it didn’t work. The boy was already in pain from how loud the other’s thoughts had become, and with his most recent try he was even starting to hear the edges of the thoughts from the nearest homes, but he grit his teeth and urged his [Gift] to work even harder.

All of a sudden his vision went black, and all he could see was a large, menacing smile. A soft voice somehow whispered in his ear, even though the smile never moved.

And then, before he knew what was happening, Helt's consciousness was completely sucked away.