Dinner was lovely, Eliza thought, but an air of ice always hung in the balance as they ate... Just what happened between those three? Eliza speculated to no end, but silenced those thoughts: she made an agreement, a promise with Archius, to not pry any further. As much as Eliza knew Kaz will hold his promises to her tightly, she bit her curiosity and understood not to delve any deeper.

It was with such knowledge that Eliza solemnly watched the rain pour down the shuttle's tinted windows. It was a black shutle, in a convoy of similar vehicles... Eliza really didn't know what was going on. Archius and Jasymé weren't with them. Kaz didn't say a word, sat opposite Eliza, arms crossed facing down.

She felt the urge to ask, but her mind elected that it must be a touchy subject... Especially as the person sitting beside Kazuki was none other than Zackarius Tatsuo-Ryzaku, the Senator of all Trasia, and Kazuki's grandfather. He was humming along to the music playing in the shuttle, some old Trasian pop songs from before the war.

Ever inch of the shuttle looked like a masterwork of detail and craftsmanship, with intricate patterns, religious symbols and materials for the leather seats and every surface. "I know you two are quite busy," Zackarius started. "But please... do keep this old man a little company for this hour or so."

He had his eyes on Eliza, who was wearing casual clothes compared to the ceremonial koari jackets the grandson and grandfather wore. He most likely deducted that Eliza was uneasy... So this was a Senator, in the flesh?

Eliza cleared her throat. "My apologies, I am... I'm merely curious as to where we're heading off to," she said, looking back out the window, seeing the flavourful and vibrant Lautrasian landscape and countryside, with rolling hills, drone farms and snowy florescent peaks.

Zackarius, surprisngly, chuckled at her confusion. He took his ornate mahogany cane and tapped Kazuki on the leg with it. "Kazuki, did you not tell your friend of why and where we go?!" he jested, before turning back to Eliza.

Kazuki sighed, raising his head and turning it to the window, all the while something... small? Something small crept up from beneath a compartment underneath his seat, revealing... Pi?!

Pi squealed at Eliza, mouthing something, as if asking to not let him get caught. Eliza slowly turned her glance back towards Zackarius... What a... peculiar family. Not a bad thing, at all, just interesting, that was all, Eliza thought to herself. "It's fine... I'm sure there's a good reason for that," Eliza said.

Kazuki grunted.

Zackarius swapped his face to a solemn stare, swinging to Eliza. "We are honouring our dead. It is the first time that Kazuki has been here in years, so he wishes to do so."

Eliza's head swirled to Kazuki. "Kaz?" she started. "Are you... Oh... Uh..."

Kazuki opened his mouth, "Problem?" He planted his golden eyes to her.

Eliza slowly shook her head. "Just wasn't exactly expecting that," she said. "That's all..."

The shuttle rolled into what seemed to be a forest, with high hanging trees with glowing fruits and fauna. Kazuki nor his grandfather spoke after that, the three merely rolling along in silence as the shuttles eventually came to a stop. Eliza couldn't see outside, the mist and rain made things much harder to see. Zackarius stopped the music, standing up as the doors swung open.

Two drones, dressed up, nodded to them, extending umbrellas into the shuttle. However... There were only two. Eliza watched as Zackarius grabbed his umbrella, stepping out. "Come on, it'll be a small walk, so don't get wet."

Kazuki grumbled, seeing the singular drone, waiting outside in the pouring rain, with a singular umbrella. Kazuki looked to Eliza, grabbing her hand and the umbrella, before dragging her out beneath the shield of the umbrella. "Huh?" Eliza piqued up. "Hey?"

She looked up, seeing the holo-umbrella's holographic artwork interlaced into the electron shielding, a mural similar to an ancient folding panel artwork from Terra. Eliza's face turned slightly red as she glanced back down at Kaz, walking close beside her. "One umbrella. Stay close," Kazuki said.

Looking up and along the convoy, Eliza saw various peoples and drones get out, a whole congregation of people, all walking down a path along the side of the road with brooches glinting off their chests, deeper into the forest. Eliza followed Kazuki, slowly holding his hand back.

"You didn't need to be that rough," Eliza murmured. She looked forward and back, seeing the mist consume the vehicles and trees behind them, with water splattering aover the umbrella onto the stone slabs below them, moss blankets littering the sides.

Kazuki didn't respond, merely glancing back at her. It... His hand felt warm, despite what Eliza thought it would be... A warm hand... Eliza... She refused to admit that she liked it. After a bit, he said, "Sorry."

Slowly, a smile grew on Eliza's lips. "Didn't say I didn't like it," Eliza muttered. One of Kazuki's ears twitched, but he pretended to not hear...

First going to pay respects to the dead, now this little bit... Eliza made the right choice, she thought, she could trust him, just look at how shy he can be! Eliza chuckled under her breath. Everyone around them wore thick coats or jackets, or robes, but Eliza was merely wearing a shirt and skirt - the terrible Engan Seasonal Downpour had prepared her for poor weather.

Continuing to walk, the entourage got to a small opening within the forest, with a shrine deep within the forests. "Imperial forests," Kazuki commented. "It's peaceful. When it's not pouring."

"Hmm, I disagree... The rain helps drown out thoughts," Eliza said, providing a little bit of what she learnt back on Enga. "Right?"

Kazuki paused, then nodded. "I see no reason to disagree," Kazuki remarked, continuing up to the shrine. Eliza peered around, seeing stones around... But those weren't just any stones, they were graves, with burning incense old and new attached to pots, guarded by mini-umbrellas.

Some wilted flowers and withering roses were laid beside the graves, all of them... Eliza peered further, seeing further through the clearing and into the trees beyond. There were thousands of graves...

"What... is this place? I thought..." Eliza paused.

Kazuki answered, "Every so often, the nobles of Trasia gather to respect the dead. This is a graveyard for family and distant nobles, strayed in and out of the Imperial line. He peered out with Eliza. "We have a larger graveyard on the Island of Shizukesa. Military graveyard. Miles and miles of graves."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The words left Kazuki's mouth bitterly, as they continued into the shrine. Eliza expected it to be abandoned, after all it was all the way out here, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! But lo and behold, there were priests and nuns present. There was a mystic feel about it, as the entourage provided offerings, and the shrine gave them incense...

Eliza watched, silently, with Kazuki, as the large party followed on after Zackarius, saying their respects to the dead, individually, at different graveyards. Zackarius patted Kazuki on the back, with a neutral face hiding any shades of sadness or grief beneath, and eventually... It was just Kaz and her.

"Um..." Eliza approached with Kazuki to the head priest, an old man with pale white hair and grey eyes... The way he looked straight through both Kaz and her, she could tell he was blind. "Kaz... what do we do?" she asked.

Kazuki turned to her. "Say nothing. Do nothing, let me handle everything, got it?" he asked.

Eliza meekly nodded, finding herself quite out of her depth here, in the belly of the shrine. Kazuki stepped forward, speaking to the priest in a hushed voice. Eliza tried to listen in, but found herself unable to understand what he said... He wasn't speaking Standard Galactic, yet his voice sounded both firm and smooth, elegant yet lethal.

After a moment, the priest nodded, in his full pale attire, and a nun provided Kazuki with incense. With that, Kazuki slowly turned, and walked back out with Eliza. By now, they were the only ones present, and the last of the nobles were leaving, their brooches shining.

Kazuki ignited his umbrella once again, allowing for Eliza to step under it, before they left the shrine and out into the pouring rain.

His paces were fast, as if he had made these exact movements a hundred times before, darting to one of the graves, in a section of graves that are lit up, at least much more compared to the many of the other graves. Eliza glanced over at one of the shrines, noting the Standard Galactic name: Jara-Jin attached to one of the graves, before arriving with Kaz at... Eliza's eyes glistened red at the names.

Kazuki stood in the middle of three graves, one each side along the paths. Eliza peered at the names, noting them as Kazuki's aunt and uncle, as well as his grandmother. A rush of red suddenly landed on Kazuki's shoulder, yet it didn't stir him.

"Oh, Pi, I should have told you about him, shouldn't I?" Eliza asked.

Kazuki shook his head. "He can sense whenever this trap is being made. He comes nonetheless. After all, these Leviathans are loyal. He remembers his past owners."

"And... that's your family... here..." Eliza trailed off, peering at the pictures set on the graves, protected by umbrellas from the weather. Kazuki gave Pi a pat on its head, as it lowered itself, fluttering down onto the ground.

The phoenix slowly waddled over towards Kazuki's aunt's shrine... The name Izumia Ryzaku-Augusti was enscribed in glowing mark on the stone, with a gorgeous woman being the primary attention of Pi's gaze, with jet black hair and hypnotising red eyes.

Kazuki merely sighed, placing the sticks of incense down into their respective pots, before turning to Pi. "Pi. We're leaving," he said.

The bird peered up at Kazuki and chirped, biting with its beak. Eliza had a bird... She felt like she could interpret it... Pi didn't want to go. "What... was your aunt like?" Eliza asked.

"I don't know," Kazuki said. "She died of Imperial torture above Anagora. My father arrived just when his sister perished." Eliza watched Kazuki's hands slowly tighten around the umbrella handle. "My grandmother died when firebombs were dropped on Trasia. One of the first casualties to Belsaran bombardments... You know where she was?"

Eliza didn't ask. Everyone knew how brutal those bombardments were, and everyone knew of the family's... curse, so to speak, but Eliza refused to believe in it.

"She was helping refugees," Kazuki bit off each word with malice. "My uncle died when the P-1 Station exploded. He sacrificed himself so my cousin, my adopted sister, can live..."

Slowly, Eliza shuffled closer to him, as Pi rubbed his head and body against the grave, before flying up onto Kazuki's shoulder, bowing to him.

Kazuki continued, "My father spoke of how my sister was bright, amazing, determined, the star of the family... Just like you... Even so, the galaxy killed her. I..."

It seems Pi has finally gotten to say what he wanted to; even if Pi couldn't speak, Eliza could see that Pi had an intelligence that some humans wouldn't be smart enough to achieve.

"If you have something you need to say, I'm here..." Eliza murmured to Kazuki. Kazuki's ear twitched again, but this time: he heeded her words.

Kazuki turned to face her. "My family is cursed," Kazuki said. "Extended family, all died in the war. Uncle crushed under rubble. Aunt, whose middle name I bear in rememberance, was tortured to death. My grandmother who I never knew, bombed. I don't want you to suffer because of me."

Eliza smiled. "Nonsense, don't be foolish! We're in this together, plus, I know you've got my back, contract or otherwise, right?"

Instantaneously, it seemed like the life was all but sucked out of the air, and the rain around them stopped. Kazuki stared dead at her. Eliza froze at his golden glare, penetrating through her. She could hear her heart, then... everything went back to normal?

Kazuki nodded. "Thank you. Some part of me wished that I could have met them, remember them properly without intermediaries or glazed visions," he said.

"If you're still worried, let me bear one part of the curse with you," Eliza said, patting Kaz on the shoulder. Kazuki merely nodded. "Does it feel better?"

"Hmm?" Kazuki gave her a confused look.

"Talking," Eliza continued. "My mother told me, before she passed, that talking is sometimes the best thing we can do... Just say something, you know?"

Kazuki paused, blinked a few times, looked around, squinted, then peered back at Eliza. "Strange," Kazuki noted. "You're right."

Eliza chuckled and smiled at him, before turning to the graves and giving a solemn bow... An apology for laughing in their presence. "Sorry..."

"My aunt and uncle always loved pranks and jokes," Kazuki said. "You did not mean it in malice. Though my father always preferred Karl over his actual brother..."

Karl? Wasn't that Kazuki's personal pilot? Karl... Karl... That name seems somewhat familiar, from school? Student? No! She'd remeber that... From history... lessons?! "Karl... as in..."

"The navy ace of aces of aces," Kazuki explained. Turning around, he started to walk off, seemingly having finished saying his prayers and greetings to his family, Eliza followed on after him. "My mother hates him... Says he's a bad influence for Yuki and I."

"Well, I'm sure she's just overexaggerating," Eliza said. The navy ace of aces of aces... Strange that he seems to be in the employ of Kazuki, now... Though, given how Kazuki is the High Admiral's son, it does make sense why the High Admiral's bestie might want to keep an eye on him...

In a brief moment, Eliza even thought that maybe Yamagata had Karl to look over Kaz... Since Kaz doesn't seem like to be in the best of relations with his family, but Eliza silenced those thoughts...

Kazuki replied, "A bit. There was this one time, before P-1, that Karl helped me prune my mother's beloved rose-bush... just to see her reaction."

"That's... I think that's a bit excessive," Eliza said.

Kauzki nodded. "It was; bad example." He continued to walk, through the forest, with her by his side and Pi on his shoulder, licking Kazuki's face with a saddened face. "Don't worry... You'll get to see her again next year," Kazuki whispered to Pi.

Quite nice of him, Eliza thought. "Animals don't judge, you say," Eliza repeated what Kaz told her before. "I just think you like animals."

"Of course," Kazuki said as if it was an obvious statement, with a tone nearly demeaning and jeering. "I like Pi. I like my family cat. Why wouldn't I?" Kazuki asked.

Even if this was the Contract-Breaker, Eliza thought, she could never assume that if she did not know better. He was simply Kazuki. University drop-out, sure, but Kazuki, and that was all that mattered. It was Kazuki that liked animals, that's strangely kind at rare times, the lazy guy that rarely does student exec work unless Chloé or Liz berate him into doing it... That was Kazuki, not the Contract-Breaker.

For Eliza, that was enough... For Kazuki promised to help her... To be her tool... To that, Eliza secretly kept a smirk on her face, walking just a pace behind Kaz.