The helicopter hovered over the meadow in front of the cabin. Rilea, Cherry, Sherry, Sam and Tenzin dropped to the ground running toward the clearing in front of the repaired home. They turned, watching the helicopter rise and disappear.

"We're on our own," Cherry whispered, turning toward the cabin and smiling, "it feels like a million years ago I was here."

"It has been decades since I've been here," Rilea sighed, "it still looks so good."

"Oh, that was because it has been repaired," Cherry said, "when I arrived here, there was a charred hole in the wall."

"Oh my goodness," Rilea whispered, "I'm sure there is a story for you to tell us later."

"It's a doozy," Cherry said, pausing as two men came out of the cabin carrying firewood, "Silas, Tyron, you're here."

Cherry dashed toward them while they placed the bundles on the ground before catching her as she hugged each of them. Cherry turned to see her mother observing her, frowning a little.

"Your mom isn't happy you hugged us," Silas whispered, leaning toward her.

"Why is that?" Cherry whispered back.

"You're Queen now," Tryon chuckled, "not appropriate behaviour."

"What?" Cherry looked at them, seeing they were joking, but they weren't, "Well if I choose to hug my friends, I shall do that."

"They are not just friends, Cherry," Rilea said, coming forward, "they are family."

"Family?" Cherry frowned, "how so?"

Rilea shook her head, "You never told her," Rilea looked a Silas, "How could you lead her along like that?"

"Lead Cherry, how?" Sherry asked, looking around the clearing while Tenzin scanned the surrounding forest.

Everyone stared at Sherry before looking at Cherry, a frown between their eyes.

"Please meet my twin, Sherry, spelt with an SH and not a CH," Cherry smiled, slipping her arm around her sister's shoulders, "Sherry, please meet ..."

"Silas, our secret keeper," Sherry whispered, smiling at the old man, "Tyron, the guardian of our worldly items and ... Steve," she gasped, "the young man who helped you. I knew there was something about the stories I heard. There are always three."

"Did he stay behind?" Tyron asked, looking around.

"He was injured," Cherry said, "our people are taking care of him."

"How badly?" Silas whispered.

"It seemed bad at the time," Cherry said, "but ... I'm not sure."

"Steve is going to be fine," Rilea said, taking Silas' hand, "the injury would have been fatal if not for Sam and her design to survive."

Silas swallowed hard, "Thank you for checking," he nodded, "you know more than I how much I needed to know."

Cherry shook her head, "You know of our world?"

"Of course we do," Tyron chuckled, "how else do you think we would be able to get your mother's boots and speak Galacian without a problem.

"Exactly," Silas grinned, "or hand you your father's old journals."

"I never saw my father while I was at the mountain," Cherry said, "he still lives?"

"Of course he does," Rilea said, "he was fighting while we were getting you through the coming-of-age ritual."

"Fighting?" Cherry whispered, "he is of the Gardiáns do Pobo ... you're part of the Guardians."

"Not part of ..." Rilea said, "he runs the clan."

"And Steve?" Cherry asked.

"He is currently an apprentice," Tyron said, "you have company approaching."

Cherry turned toward the tree line where armed men and women appeared, slowly moving toward them. In front of them stood a tall, athletic woman with amber colour waist-length hair.

"Neve," Rilea whispered, "she is here ..." glancing around the tree line, "with her forces."

"Tenzin," Neve called, "why are you with these betrayers?"

Tenzin glanced at Cherry and the small group he had come with, "These people are not betrayers. They are family. What we were told was not the truth Neve."

"You side with the people who abandoned you?" Neve called, bristling angrily, "People who talk of honour but murder their own. Of course, here they come to defend the ruler who allows this ... typical."

Sam appeared around the side of the cabin with a group of leather and black fatigue-clad brethren; moving past Cherry, her sister and her mother, they formed a line taking a stance that could be seen as confrontational, yet no weapons were drawn. Not one of them held weapons in their hands.

"She is unaware that the regime that allowed this is now longer," Cherry paused, watching Sam and the fellow brethren, "how did they get here so fast? " Cherry asked.

"The cabin is the key," Silas whispered in her ear, "you and I need to chat after this is finished."

Nodding, Cherry turned toward the clearing watching Sam as she moved toward the gathering forces.

"Neve, it is good to see you," Sam called, "your brethren greet you and hope you will come home."

"My brethren, as you call them, murdered my parents," Neve called, "I have proof."

The gathered brethren bristled but didn't move as Sam raised her hand, keeping them in check.

"I shall exterminate them for what they did," Neve yelled, "I shall avenge my parents."

The accompanying forces drew their weapons, approaching closer. Sam stood her ground, as did the brethren behind her.

Neve frowned, "Why do they not prepare to fight?"

"We do not fight our own," Sam said, "who would you be avenging? Who is the person who killed your parents? Do you have a face to the name?"

Neve hesitated as she approached Sam's position, "I have visual proof."

"Please join me and show me your proof," Sam called, waiting as Neve looked around the clearing with narrowed eyes, "just you and I."

Slowly Neve moved forward, pulling out her phone and opening a video showing Sam. Taking the opportunity, Sam grasped Neve's wrist, adjusting the angle to see the clip. Neve gasped, her eyes widening as a mist appeared around Sam, spread out over the clearing and into the tree line.

"What are you doing to me?" she hissed, "what magic is this?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I'm unable to do anything magical, and what I'm doing is watching a video on your phone," Sam said, looking at the video, "Neve ... those aren't your parents."

"How do you know?" Neve asked, pulling her hand from Sam's grip.

"According to photos held by her family," Sam said, pulling photos from her pocket and turning them toward Neve, "your mother looked like you and your father ..." Sam displayed the images in two hands, "the image of your Uncle Garan ... the man who leads the brethren warriors. Your family knows the truth, and now ... you must learn it too."

"What truth?" Neve asked, shaking her head, "I was told the truth."

"No, you were told lies," Sam said softly, "lies to give the evil of the family who held you the hold they wanted, but you were never one of them. You were never born to be evil or full of anger or hate," Sam shifted, easing back and pulling Neve into following her with her words, "you were never meant to be part of their world," she stopped a little way from the line of the brethren waiting as Neve followed, slowly coming to a halt, "touch the earth you stand on and learn the truth."

"What?" Neve asked, frowning, "Why must I touch the earth?"

"If you are not of the line I have spoken of ... nothing will happen," Sam said, "if you are ... the land of your brethren will speak to you, open the truth to your mind and give you the answers you seek. No man or woman will offer words regarding the events of your parent's murder."

"I'm not falling for your tricks," Neve scoffed, glancing around at the waiting brethren, "where is this Uncle you speak of?"

"He will be here," Sam said, "currently he defends our home, so your brethren can greet and welcome you."

Neve shook her head, "You speak words of cunning."

Sam remained silent as Neve sighed, shaking her head again and closing her eyes. She stepped forward as though drawn toward the land and the cabin. Suddenly, she stilled, looking around before gasping.

"I hope Sam knows what she is doing?" Rilea said.

"Sam knows exactly what she is doing," Cherry whispered, "it's in her blood."

"Just as it is in yours," Rilea smiled, "and you know what I'm talking about."

Cherry smiled at her mother as she noticed Neve looking at her feet, "We need to bring her home."

"We will," Silas whispered, "now pay attention; you may learn something about those who depend on you."

The women turned toward the pair in the middle of the clearing, watching as Neve cocked her head, looking at the ground at her feet.

"What is this?" she hissed, "what games are you playing?"

Sam lifted her hands, spreading them open, showing her palms held no devices and she had no wires.

"How can this be?" shaking her head again, Neve dropped to one knee showing signs of disorientation, stopping herself from falling to the ground with the palm of her hand spread open on the earth in front of her. Sam watched those who had come with Neve, some fascinated by what was happening, some worried ... she could tell who was of the brethren and who was not ... a few even walked away when they realised there was no fight. They must be the people Tenzin spoke of being paid for this job.

"Allow the ground of your brethren, your family and your parents to speak to you," Sam said, "let the history of their deaths become truly known to you and breath the air of purity once again."

Rilea gasped, "How could she know that? That isn't something said lightly."

"Know what?" Sherry asked, watching the pair, "the purity call? She should," Sherry glanced at Rilea, "her mother had the same knowledge of many matters. The gift would be handed down to all children she would have had."

"How do you know that?" Rilea asked, looking between her daughters before shaking her head, "... of course ... stupid question."

"Not at all," Sherry said, smiling, "you're not used to anyone else knowing these things."

"My sister is wise," Cherry smiled, her eyes never leaving the pair in the middle of the field.

"Both my daughters are," Rilea smiled as her eyes returned to what was happening before them.

Neve knelt, silently trembling as she kept her head bent and her hand plunged into the grass where her parent's bodies were found. Finally, she lifted her head, tears streaking her cheeks, "Where are they?"

"Buried among their brethren at home," Sam whispered, "honoured as any family member would be, and their deaths have been avenged."

"Who killed them?" Neve asked, sniffing as she remained on the ground, "I promised I would avenge their deaths?"

"The Tenderhook family murdered them so they could have you," Sam said, stepping forward and laying her hand on Neve's shoulder, "they lied to you so they could use you. Your family have known where you are every day of your life."

"Why didn't they come for me?" Neve asked.

"No one who goes near the Tenderhook family survived," Sam said, "they knew we would never relinquish the hold on you," Sam sighed, "and we never have."

"I was always alone," she said, "no one fought for me, defended me ... I was abandoned."

"You may have been alone," Sam whispered, "but you were never alone. We have fought for your return for decades, just as we fought for everyone who decided to live outside the restrictions of the old law ... as for being abandoned ..." Sam shook her head, "you were stolen from us as an infant, vulnerable to a family that knew nothing but hate, pain and terror. You were born from love and to be loved, but they didn't know what that is ..." Sam bent to whisper in her ear, "Be the person you were born to be."

Stepping away, Sam waited as Neve silently sobbed, gripping the ground where her parents last lay and waited.

Neve knelt on the ground, her fingers spread out in the grass; she could still feel the day's warmth as the sun began to sink. Memories that were not hers ran through her mind, flashes of a life she didn't remember.

How could they have done that to her?

How could they have made her believe she had no family ...that no one cared where she was or what had become of her?

She wanted to scream out against the pain slicing through her and retaliate against whatever or whoever had taken the life, she should have had from her. She wanted to know the truth, and Sam told her the ground would speak to her; holstering the weapon, she pushed her other hand into the grass, gasping as she caught wisps of someone's memories. Desperate for the knowledge of why this happened to her, she bent forward, resting her forehead against the earth as flashes of a young couple running toward the cabin, holding a baby close to the woman's chest, men running after them ... firing at the couple ... hitting the young man, who fell to his knees but painfully pushed to his feet and continued to stumble after the woman and child, yelling for her to run. Neve watched as he took a second bullet to the back and fell, not moving again. The young woman screamed his name as she stumbled toward the cabin, whose door opened ... a few feet from the door, the woman stumbled, falling to her knees, still clutching the child to her. Suddenly she was pulled to her feet as large hands grabbed the child wrenching it from her clasp. Fighting with everything she had, the young woman freed herself. She ran after the man walking away with the now screaming baby. He paused as she pulled at his arm, reaching for her child, but he laughed at her, backhanding her across the face, she fell to the ground, and before she could stand again, he pulled out a gun and fired into her.

Neve sobbed as she witnessed the murder of her parents and the abduction of her younger self. Nothing she had been told was true; nothing that had happened in her life held value. She had tried to fit into a world she was never supposed to be a part of; Neve wished she knew if her parents loved her at all, even though they gave their lives to save her ... did they genuinely love her? The scene of her mother stumbling came again, but this time, Neve heard her mother saying something, something in a language she didn't know; confusion raced through her as she listened to the words repeated over and over before her mother was pulled to feet ... the last thing her mother said about or over her. What could the words mean?

Neve began to chant her mother's last words, not understanding what she was saying but hoping it would bring light into her dark world.

"Es querido, querido e querido. Nunca esquezas a túa herdanza, a túa familia sempre estará aquí para ti. Quédate preto do mundo para o que naceches," she sobbed out the words, repeating them.

Sam frowned, looking down at the distraught woman; glancing at Cherry, she waved her forward, "I'm not sure what she is saying, but I think the earth has given her a gift to a question she longed for."

Neve felt someone kneel near her as she continued to say the words; finally, she felt a hand on her back as she sobbed into the earth.

"The earth has given you the answer you required," Cherry whispered, "may I, your new Queen of your brethren, your family and your heritage, translate the last words uttered over your life?"

Neve nodded, unable to speak or move as grief ripped through her heart and mind.

Cherry wiped away the tears in her eyes, swallowing the emotion rising as she breathed in and began speaking, "You are loved, cherished and wanted. Remember your heritage; your family will always be here for you. Stay near the world you were born for."

"That's what Mother spoke over me," Neve said, sniffing as she pushed up from the ground, "they did love me."

"Yes," Cherry whispered, "more than their own lives."

Neve looked up, meeting Cherry's gaze cocking her head to one side, "You know how I feel. You've lived apart from the mountain."

"I have but not by choice," Cherry said, smiling, "I was abducted from this very cabin in this clearing by the same family who stole you."

"You came back ... why?" Neve asked.

"That's easy ... it's my home, my heart and soul know it, even if my mind was unaware," Cherry said, "now ... I'm at peace."

"Why would you want me back after everything I've done," Neve asked, "I tried to wipe you all out."

"You would never have succeeded," Cherry said, glancing over her shoulder and nodding to Sam, who came toward them with Tenzin.

"Will you come home?" Sam whispered the question looking toward Tenzin, who knelt with Sam and Cherry, "Will you join the family that has always been watching even though they have lived away from the mountain."

Tenzin reached out his hand toward her, "Will you come home, Neve?"

She reached for his hand, grasping it tightly, "I will come."