When Sera finally arrived at Lena’s home, she grabbed the door handle and pulled as hard as she could. It wasn’t locked, due to the neighbourly habits of the residents of Plainswood making them unafraid of any potential home invaders, and the door nearly ripped from its hinges as Sera used her mana-infused strength to yank it free.

With the vicious slam of the door announcing her arrival for her, Sera probably didn’t need to shout to get anyone’s attention, but her voice was uncharacteristically untamed, eager to burst from her lungs in a desperate cry.

“Lena!” Sera shouted, before even confirming that anyone was actually home. “Lena, where are you?!”

Nobody responded, but as Sera’s eyes darted around, she noticed a sliver of dull lantern light coming from underneath a door. Though she’d never been in the house before, she recognized it as Lena’s room, from the schematics of all the village’s houses that Marten had supplied the team upon their arrival to Plainswood.

Trying not to think about the blatant invasion of privacy she had and was committing, Sera walked forwards and opened the door.

It was a small room, and Sera couldn’t imagine that Lena spent much time in there except to sleep. The room was mostly barren, with a bed and a large drawer as the only furniture, without so much as a single mirror. Somehow, that fact stood out more to Sera than anything else. Though Lena didn’t act vain, it was still surprising to realise that she didn’t have something as simple as a mirror in the room to help fix her appearance before she left it.

Sera frowned at how easily her mind wandered, despite the situation that she was in. She had to focus.

Sera stared silently into the room, glancing between Lena, Arina, and Hal as they stared into her eyes.

Hal stood in between Sera’s path to his wife and daughter behind him, but his scared expression, along with the way he kept glancing down at the thin fillet knife that he clutched in his hands like he was afraid of it, made him incredibly non-threatening.

While Sera was sure the man was strong-willed and had a strong enough love for his family that he wouldn’t hesitate to defend them, he was a gentle man, not prone to violence. This was likely the first time he’d ever threatened to harm someone physically, and it showed. He was just as easy to read as his daughter.

Arina, on the other hand, looked much more controlled, but only at a first glance. Her expression was deadened and gave away no emotions, but her body language wasn’t quite as calm. She and Lena were sitting up in the bed together, but Arina had awkwardly half-thrown herself onto her daughter’s body, as if she could somehow protect her by sacrificing herself. But she was afraid, even more so than her husband. She likely didn’t realise how her fingernails were digging into Lena’s skin, nearly drawing blood as fear overtook her.

Lena’s long blonde hair was still damp from the rain outside, and was neatly combed back and wrapped in a towel, so it wouldn’t wet her shoulders. The expression on her face gave nothing away, aside from the mild pain she felt from the way that Arina’s fingers dug into her, but she didn’t seem to want to tell her mother to stop, likely because she was too kind to want her mother to feel guilt at the idea of hurting her.

It was a foolish act by a foolish girl, whose kindness had only brought her misfortune and discomfort, but Sera knew she wouldn’t stop.

Lena’s large green eyes locked with hers, and Sera resisted the urge to turn away.

“Lena,” she said instead. “We need to go. Now.”

Lena seemed more confused than surprised by Sera’s arrival, but she kept her voice flat and level as she responded. “Sera?” she said, as calmly as she could, like she was talking to a crazed animal. “What are you talking about? What’s going on?”

“You might be in grave danger,” Sera replied, as she stepped forward.

As if triggered by the movement, Hal closed his eyes and lunged forwards, relying on his guts and luck to defend his daughter. Sera considered letting the man get a glancing hit to lessen the blow to his pride, before her body’s muscle memory took over, casually slapping the knife from his hands and sending it siding towards the side of the room.

Ignoring him, Sera went over to the side of Lena’s bed and knelt down by her side. It was a disarming gesture meant to put everyone in the room off guard. It certainly worked on Hal, who froze in the air, mid-tackle as he suddenly reconsidered the idea that Sera, a seemingly defenceless girl who was less than half his size, could possibly be a threat to him. Though Arina still held her daughter protectively, the amount that her fingernails dug into Lena’s skin lessened.

It was only Lena who didn’t fall for her act. The cold look in Lena’s eyes stung, as the girl saw right through her, but Sera forced herself not to dwell on it.

“We need to go,” Sera said once more. “Your life may depend on it.”

“I don’t understand,” Lena replied. “What’s going on?”

“Bad things are happening, Lena,” Sera said. “I’m not exactly sure what happened tonight. A Demon was summoned, posing as a Mediator. Oren and I could see through it, but none of the others could.”

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Lena didn’t reply, and if Sera was more obtuse, she might have thought that the girl had somehow not heard her. Rather than reacting with the surprise or fear that might have been expected of her, Lena’s eyes dulled and her shoulders slumped forward. She didn’t look scared. Just tired. Acceptant of her fate.

It hurt to see.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Though Lena tried to get up, she was either too weak or too nice to throw her mother off of her, and Arina didn’t seem to be interested in letting go.

“You have to let me go, mom,” Lena said. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

Sera froze as she realised she’d forgotten a step in her plans. It was an unexpected mistake from her, but thankfully it could easily be remedied.

“Your parents should come too,” Sera blurted out.

Immediately, that brought a spark of life back into Lena’s eyes. Worry, anger, and fear all shone in those brilliant green eyes of hers, before they narrowed suspiciously at Sera.

“Why?” she asked. “They don’t have anything to do with this.”

“They don’t,” Sera agreed. “And neither do you. We’re leaving Plainswood.”

“What?” Lena asked, looking down at her in utter confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re in danger,” Sera said, once more. “This entire situation has become too unpredictable, and you’re just a civilian, Lena. You had no reason to be roped into this situation in the first place, and I’m sorry I didn’t do as much as I could to get you out of it, but I swear on the graves of my father, my mother, and my sisters that I will do as much as I can to keep you and your family safe.”

Sera stared into Lena’s eyes, as if she was trying to will her into believing her words. She knew that Lena didn’t trust her, but she needed her to believe her now. She didn’t know if she was being convincing or not. While Sera was an expert in pretending to be honest, trying to show her genuine feelings had not been a skill that she had practised in a very long time.

She felt awkward and nervous as Lena stared back at her, her expression unreadable. Sera didn’t know what to do. Though her lips were peeled down in a frown, she knew her frown could be deeper and her eyes more watery. She had the sudden realisation that her voice had been flat and even throughout the entire conversation, not the wavery-girlish voice that she might have adopted to convince anyone else to do something.

But she refrained from acting. Right now, she had to act genuine.

Lena stared at her for a few more seconds before nodding. Sera dared to hope for a split second, until Lena spoke.

“What about Jamie?” she asked.

Sera’s heart sank at the question. She should’ve expected the question, but it still surprised her how stupidly selfless Lena could be.

“I’m sure the Otherworlder will be fine,” Sera said, blurting out the first thing she could think of. “He’s powerful enough to destroy any Demon that comes his way.”

Lena gave her an awkward look.

“I know that,” she said. “Jamie’s summoned Demons before, and it turned out okay. It’s sweet that you wanted to make sure I’m safe, but if it’s anything like the last time, it’ll be fine.”

“I know he’s summoned Demons before, but I don’t think this is his doing!” Sera shouted, surprising herself at the burst of emotion, but not enough to stop herself from continuing. “The Demons are summoned for the sake of the Otherworlders. Why would a Demon appear within the ranks of the Mediators, when the Otherworlder isn’t even around to see it?”

It was the first time she’d said the theory out loud, and it still sounded as absurd as it did in her head, but she stood by it. While her first thought had been to assume that the Otherworlder had summoned the Demon to destroy the Mediators from inside, it didn’t make sense. The Mediators had been nothing but kind to the Otherworlder, and he had shown no indications that he had sensed their true intentions otherwise. The only real grudge he could hold involved Lena, for breaking his heart, but in all honesty, she doubted that that was the case either.

So as absurd as it was, Sera had searched for other explanations.

“So this is just an unrelated Demon summoning? Do you think it could be another Otherworlder?” Lena asked, mirroring Sera’s thoughts exactly.

“I’m not sure,” Sera said, no matter how much she wanted to say yes.

The only people with the magical prowess to summon Demons were Otherworlders, and though the only other active Otherworlders at the moment were in entirely different countries, it might have been possible that one of them had gotten away from its handlers and teleported to Astranta, or perhaps an entirely new Otherworlder had arrived in Materia recently. While it was uncommon for two Otherworlders to appear in such a short timespan, it wasn’t an impossibility.

But she didn’t know. She had no evidence.

“All I know is that you might be in danger,” Sera said, giving Lena the most conclusive answer she had as well as the most important one. “That’s why I want you and your family to leave with me.”

Lena looked at Sera, and once more, Sera’s heart sank.

Even before she spoke, Sera knew what Lena’s response would be. It wasn’t a matter of the grimace that appeared on her face, nor was it the way that her eyes shifted sideways in a silent apology to her parents for what she was about to say.

Sera just knew. She knew who Lena was.

“We need to help Jamie,” Lena said.

“Lena,” Sera said. A watery sheen appeared over her eyes and she clasped her hands together, as if in prayer. “This isn’t your fight. Please. Be selfish. Think of yourself.”

Sera’s voice wavered and she sniffled as she begged Lena to reconsider her choice, but she could see the apologetic frown on her face and knew it was no use.

Sera wondered if she should just toss Lena over her shoulder and run away. It would be so simple. Sera knew that there was nothing Lena could do to prevent it if she chose to just abduct her away from the situation. From the looks on Hal and Arina’s faces, she doubted that either of them would even react to the rough handling of their daughter, as long as they knew it was for her own safety.

But then Lena would hate Sera, possibly forever. While Sera was already half-convinced she had broken Lena’s trust enough that they’d already passed that point, she still held a small bit of hope that she could somehow mend their trust again, no matter how much Sera tried to quash the feeling.

Sera tried to tell herself that if she truly loved Lena, then she would abduct her anyways, that it would be worth being hated, just to know that she was safe.

But maybe she didn’t actually love her, because she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was a comforting thought, to think that this deep infatuation for the beautiful blonde in front of her wasn’t actually love. Maybe it was just lust, something that would pass eventually, but it was a fleeting comfort in the face of the fact that Sera was cowardly enough that she would willingly let Lena walk into danger, just so she wouldn’t be hated by her.

Sera sniffled and wiped her eyes, wondering how much of her tears had actually been an act.

“Fine,” she said, frustration and anger leaking into her voice as she growled at her love interest. “Let’s go.”