The sound of a door opening had alerted the residence that their son had returned, but they were surprised to see a stranger joining him, and ill-prepared for the news.

“Mother, Father, this is Sarah. She’ll be staying with us for…awhile.”

“Hello young lady,” The man introduced himself, “I am Jonathan Baronia. My wife,” he gestured toward the woman in the kitchen,” is Catherine. Have a seat, Tell us about yourself.”

“I am Sarah Kavy, an elf.” She watched the man raise an eyebrow, unsure if he was confused or piqued.

“An elf? Quite far from the Umbro kingdom, aren’t you?”

“I came here after my team was attacked by a man. I was hoping that with Matthew’s team, we could rescue them.”

“That sounds serious, but while I hate to admit it, there are more pressing matters at hand.” Johnathan had shifted his piercing gaze toward his son. “Matthew, have you found anything regarding the princess?”

Matthew froze, unsure of how to proceed. Did he tell his father no and try to persuade Lucy again, or would he reveal what happened? As he stared at his father, he could feel his heartbeat, time tick away by the second, and sweat begin to form on his forehead. Shutting his eyes, he could still feel his father watching him, but now it felt as though his mother and Sarah had joined them. Sighing heavily, his tension eased as he made his decision.

“Yes, I have.” Opening his eyes again, he could see the anticipation on his father’s face. His frown had straightened and his eyebrows rose. “The princess is being held captive by a group of devils called the seven sins.”

“Hmph, it figures. Those loathsome creatures would stoop this low. We should have wiped them out when we had them by the throat.”

Matthew had to force himself not to cringe at his father’s comments. “They’re not ordinary devils though. They were people who could transform into devils, ones that had gone extinct.”

The once angry father was now aghast, “Are you saying the legend of the seven sins is real? No, perhaps you were just seeing things.”

The knight had kept his expression stern, “We fought them! Sarah fought two and I fought one. They overpowered us, but they ran. For one reason or another, they don’t want us finding the princess.”

“This is serious Matthew. You may not understand yet, but the queen is not looked upon fondly. If word gets out that her daughter has been kidnapped and the kingdom’s prodigies could not save her, the result…well, it’ll be grave.”

Looking down at the table, Matt began to wonder what he meant. Would they be kicked out of the kingdom? Be exiled to the lowest ring? Would it matter at all? Perhaps they would be forced from the country itself. Maybe they would continue to live their lives, but in shame, the denizens constantly mocking and belittling them. Not just his family, but his friend’s family as well. These thoughts began to overwhelm the young man.

“What of your brother?”

Matthew’s heart stopped, his eyes opening wide. He had hoped and prayed that his father would forget to ask, he had hoped to dodge the question, but now, now he had to face his father. If he simply left or refused to answer, he knew the man would grow suspicious.

“Luke,” he took a deep breath, delaying the inevitable, “Luke became one of them.”

“WHAT?!” A loud thump came from his father smashing the table with his fist, leaving a notable crack on the wood. “Ungrateful little sh-“

“He did it so he could become stronger. He also became a girl.”

“It doesn’t matter why he did it Matthew, he betrayed the kingdom, he betrayed his parents, he betrayed you. He is no longer my son, he is a sick, twisted freak!”

Matthew felt himself boiling with rage at his father’s words, his arms shaking in anger. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Sarah’s sorrowful expression, his anger subsiding immediately.

“Matthew,” the knight faced his father once again, “you said he overpowered you? I want you to spend the next few days here, training with me. By the end, you should be able to handle him. When you defeat Luke, I want you drag him back here, so that I can teach him discipline. I was clearly too light on him.”

“Yes father.”

Any further conversation was stifled by dinner plates, food fit for a family of four. “I don’t know if you like fowlcrow Sarah, I hadn’t had much time to prepare anything else.” The archer, however, was too bust digging into the cooked bird like a wild animal to hear the woman’s apology. All previous tension had dissipated as both men had their attention fixed on the young woman cleaning her plate record time.

As Matthew finished his meal, he slid his chair out from under the table, signaling Sarah to join him as he travelled to his room. “This is the bathroom.” He pointed inside a well cleaned room composed of tiles, a counter with drawers and a sink, a toilet next to the counter, and a shower at the end of the room.

“Wow, you guys have bathrooms in Lumina?” The boy tilted his head at the question, wondering why she asked such a thing. “Yeah, does Umbro not?”

“It’s not that. Umbro imports many things from Temperas. That watch of yours,” she pointed to the watch on his wrist, “is common in Umbro. Since you guys don’t import things from Temperas, I just assumed Lumina didn’t have things like plumbing.”

“Plumbing comes from Temperas? I’ve been there, obviously, we don’t have watches in Lumina, but we’ve had plumbing for decades.” Continuing to the end of the hall, the knight directed his escort to his room. “This is my room. I haven’t really had time to redecorate since I was fourteen, so it’s kind of dorky.”

Sarah giggled out loud, “Dorky? I guess Lumina took Temperas’ way of speaking too.” The girl explored the room, analyzing the various aspects that composed its personality. “You know, it’s funny how quickly we change our minds on what we think is cool. I would’ve said the same thing about my room.”

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“What’s this for?” Sarah pointed to the empty terrarium.

“That used to be for my pet chameleon. Brian had found it one day, but for some reason it really liked me.” The boy cusped his chin, thinking deeply, “Knowing what I know now about Alzal, I wonder if it’s because he could sense I was a light user.”

“This is a nice map,” Matthew’s train of thought was broken as he watched the girl look over the map of Araponza pinned to the wall. “Yeah, I wanted to be an adventurer, going out and seeing the world. I suppose escorting researcher and beating up monsters wasn’t the worst way to go about it.”

The archer had moved on to the book case, scanning the different titles across the various shelves. “Did you used to read a lot?”

“Yeah, I used to read it when the whether was terrible or when the others were busy. I used to…read to Luke all the time.” The knight slumped down, his thoughts going back to those days before he left. “I’m sorry Matt, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“No,” he shook his head, “it’s fine. I need to show you Lucy’s old room anyways.” Walking across the hall, Matthew opened the door to reveal his sister’s room, still messy. “This is Lucy’s room, the bed might be small for now, and the room is actually real messy, but we’ll get this cleaned up quick.”

“I love it!” The archer exclaimed, much to Matt’s shock. “It reminds me of home. I,” the girl hesitated as she looked at the knight, “I’m a bit of a slob, so I don’t mind.” The girl sat on the bed before kicking her shoes off to lay down. “The bed isn’t too bad either.” She tried to position herself to fit her entire body in the bed but had to compromise between fitting her head comfortably and having feet hang off the end or resting her head on the wall.

“Matt,” the girl sat up-right, the knight sitting on the chair to face her, “your father said Luke was your brother, but you said Lucy was your sister. Which is it? And, why did you get so angry when your father started yelling about him?” Sarah watched the young man rub his eyes, “Sorry if it’s personal. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Listen, Sarah, I respect my sister. I’ve always respected her decisions, even if I don’t understand or agree with them. She’s my family, even if she’s a nine-foot tall devil girl now.” Matthew had rose from his seat to close the door, returning to his seat afterwards. “As for my father, he may not understand it, but he’s the reason this happened.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” The girl was hoping he was exaggerating or being figurative.

“He didn’t turn her into the devil girl or anything, but I know that my father one of the biggest reasons Lucy did what she did. He would work her to the bone, having us fight, only for me to have swat him down. This would happen almost every day during summer. He would have her exercise to the point of hurting her, force her to do things she couldn’t do without mana, and never listened to her.”

“So what will you do if you can stop her?” Sarah watch the knight lay back in the chair, contemplating her question.

“I’m going to take her to aunt Shelly. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. I will not, even if I have to fight him, let Johnathan hurt her anymore.” Matthew’s conviction had sent chills down the archer’s back.

Silence had fogged the room, Sarah not confident enough to pursue the conversation, Matthew unsure of what direction to go. Looking toward the bookshelf, the knight reminisced about the many nights spent reading to his younger sibling. As the elf had yawned uncontrollably, the boy took advantage of the situation, “You sound tired.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long day and the dinner making me sleepy.” Sarah had followed Matthew’s line of sight, “It might be strange to ask, but would you read me one of those stories. I could use something nice to fall asleep to.”

Doing as she asked, Matthew began reading off book titles. “How about the boy that cried Vulf?” The girl shook her head. “Umbro Devil?” The boy turned his head to the girl. “Nah.” Looking through the books again, “Alzal Tails?” The girl laughed out loud. “Picky picky. Alright, how about The Legendary City?” The girl’s eyes lit up at the title.

The Knight opened the book, reading through the stories content. “-and that’s when,” Matthew was interrupted by the sawing of giant trees. “Well, maybe another time. Good night L-“ catching himself, he closed the book and stood up, “Good night, Sarah.”

Waking up, Matthew stretched his limbs. “Surprised I didn’t have that stupid dream again.”

Getting up to inspect the room opposite, he immediately regretted looking inside the door. The knight wasn’t a stranger to see girls in less clothes, Jessica not being very tactful about her infatuation, but he still felt guilty. After a minute, the door had opened from the other side. “What’s wrong Matt, never seen a girl in her underwear?”

Turning around, Matt was relieved to see her fully clothed. “No, Jessica hasn’t exactly respected my boundaries.”

“She’s the red headed mage, right?” Matt nodded at the girl. “Yeah, she gets jealous of other girls when they’re around me. She’s also a hot-head, so be careful about setting her off.”

“Are you heading out of Lumina again?” Matthew and Sarah had sat down at the kitchen table, Johnathan being absent. “No mom, we’re going to tell the queen about what we saw and heard. After that, we’ll meet the group, they’ll relax while I train.”

After a hearty serving of pancakes, the two headed out for the castle. “Halt, who is this girl Mr. Baronia?” Two guards had crossed their spears, blocking the entrance of the castle. Matthew wasn’t fond of the guards, but he figured they had a right to be weary after the recent incident. “She is a friend of mine. Her name is Sarah Kavy, and she has put her life on the line to bring is valuable information.” The two Guards immediately returned their spears to their up-right position, “Any friend of the Baronia family is a friend to the Mortachello family. It is our honor to let you pass.”

As the two passed through the castle, Matthew watched in amusement as his friend vigorously took in the castle surroundings. “This place is incredible. These marble floors, the tall ceiling, it’s just so pretty.”

Before long, the two had made their way to the queen, Matthew signaling Sarah to kneel with him.

“Rise.” The two stood up, the elf taking in the Queen’s draping white hair, her eloquent silver dress, and her amber eyes. “Matthew, I am surprised to see you back so soon. You had left yesterday, had you not? Did you find anything of value?”

Matthew and Sarah relayed all that they knew, including who Sarah was.

“So my daughter has been kidnapped by a group of Devil’s called the seven sins? I thought it a mere legend, but I guess truth is stranger than fiction. If your theory is true, humble elf, then we ought to send soldiers their way. Unfortunately, if our prodigies are too weak to handle even one of their numbers, I can’t help but feel sending soldiers to them will be like sending sheep to the slaughter.”

The pair had felt a queasiness washed over them, a crushing feeling at the idea of an army being ineffective.

“We can’t simply send our armies to the devil village, that could cause irreparable damage to our ties with them and the monarchies’ reputation. I know it’s asking you two too much, but can you confirm these devils are in fact occupying that tower.”

The knight nodded, much to his partner’s dismay. “Yes, if we have no choice, then we will do what we can.”

With that, the two were released.

“What now Matt?”

“We’ll meet the team and decide on what to do next.” As the duo made their way to the center of town, the common meeting place for their friends, they sat alone for many minutes. Eventually, Matt had caught sight of Eric.

“Eric, where did the others go?” The knight was both confused and worried.

“They wanted to find the other sins. Since the sins don’t seem as dangerous as the man, Brian and Jessica figured they might have a better chance.” Eric looked at his leader, analyzing his expression. “I know you’re worried, I told them not to go, but I don’t disagree with them for trying to find out more. Besides, there are four other sins we don’t know about. Even if they get beaten up, they might learn about the other members.”

“I just hope they have better luck than we do.”