And as I plummet from the blue sky, I fear not the ground...

~

Elsewhere...

I made my way down the stairs, eggnog in hand, and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?"

I opened my door to see someone I didn't expect: a woman with very red hair and a round, strawberry face wearing glasses, a navy blue sweater, and a rather short skirt shivering on the porch while it snowed.

"S-Sage? I- Come in, it's cold," I stammered, letting her inside and closing the door.

"I'm sorry for showing up unexpected; I forgot to give you back your sweater earlier." She was still wearing mine now. "Sorry, I didn't have time to change out of my school clothes after the council meeting, so I wore it."

I shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Sage was probably the top of the social food chain in not just my grade, but really the whole school - a pretty stereotypical popular girl.

Naturally, she's the student body president and in clubs and all that jazz - which, I mean, if you're into academics and school stuff then all the more power to you, but I've never been one for any of it.

I'd given her my sweater because she wanted to get food off-campus, I was staying in the building, and it was too cold out, and everybody else she could ask was already gone.

Other than that, though, we're not necessarily friends.

"So, do you mind if I stay a while? I don't really want to walk back in the cold," she grumbled..

I heard something rushing down the stairs, and immediately whipped around to see our puppy black lab bulleting towards me.

The doorbell had probably woken him up.

I crouched down and rubbed his head and pet him all over as he started to lick my face.

After a moment, I stood up and walked to the kitchen again, pouring Sage a glass of water and offering her some food, which she declined politely.

"Hey, Vincent?" she said kind of suddenly.

"Yeah?" I replied, feeling concerned.

"Can we talk about something?"

~

Five days until the cave...

"Are you... Vincent?" Sage asked bluntly and plainly.

My breath stopped entirely.

How does she know?

Maybe she's just guessing?

I mean she can't possibly know right?

Not even Lasory knows!

I racked my brain for a response even remotely good enough to stop me from getting involved with these people again.

"No." I said it firmly. "Who is he?"

Sage was silent for a moment. My heart sank as I waited to see if she would buy it or not.

She burst out in laughter, trying hard to muffle it as it was late. I forgot how cute her laugh was. Not in a weird way, it's just one of those laughs that makes you feel warm.

"You're such a bad liar."

My heart sank a little, but at the same time, if anyone were to know my secret, it wouldn't be a huge deal for it to be Sage.

Given all she's done for me in the small amount of time I've been here in this crazy mess, I accepted that she could know.

"...yeah."

She rolled over to face me, then sat up and patted the bed beside her, gesturing for me to sit up.

I just kept laying, looking down and away from her face.

I was bracing myself for her to ask what happened to me and why I wasn't with her and the others all this time.

Dreading it, really. I was dreading having to explain it all.

"You're really strong, you know."

Her voice was soft and honest, a tone I'd never heard her use before.

I forgot to breathe for a second. Now that I know who she is, all I can think about is her reputation and standing. She's the real queen.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A hardworking, caring, 120% type of girl who's been that way her whole life.

But I'm not that strong. Really all I know how to do is run from my problems and get queasy when things go wrong.

"Surviving through what you survived through, I don't know if I could do it."

I was confused.

"All I did was run. There was nothing strong about that."

I sat up because talking and laying was difficult, but I faced the wall and hung my feet off the bed, gripping Myu's necklace and fidgeting with my glasses.

"You're pretty cool yourself, though. 'Hero' is a pretty neat title, don't you think?" I tried to compliment her, really just to take the focus of the conversation off of me.

"You're the real hero."

"I haven't saved or helped an-"

I was cut short by the feeling of two warm arms wrapped around me tightly from behind.

"You saved yourself, and that's who matters most."

I didn't have much to say to that. I don't exactly consider myself worth saving but...

I turned to face Sage and she scooted back some.

"So, what happened?" She asked.

The question I dreaded, yet was much more comfortable with answering now.

"I mean... not much was left out," I explained. "There was a raid on the castle when Lasory and I happened to be there, and everyone was killed by either assassins or the burning building."

"Who made it out?"

I debated even answering that.

"Vincent?" Sage demanded, her voice becoming loud and mortified at my silence.

"Nobody made it," I answered firmly. "Nobody made it."

She gasped and covered her mouth.

"My name is Lydia," I gently corrected her. "I've left behind 'Vincent'."

I expected Sage to be upset with this and immediately tell me that was wrong, but instead she just nodded gently.

I layed back down and brought my knees closer in to me.

Not having anything else to say, she got in the covers. I didn't wanna be intrusive and weird and make her uncomfortable so I just stayed above the covers.

We laid in a miserable silence for a long while, and I realized that I finally had somebody to talk to that isn't trying to serve, teach or kill me and I was wasting that opportunity.

Sage and I didn't have the strongest friendship, but for the last 5 or 6 years, we knew each other and we were there for each other. Even if it was just like this: right next to one another and not having a clue what to say.

But, I'm also not exactly Vincent anymore. I gave up on any connection to my past and on ever trying to go back to Earth. This is home now, and I'm Lydia Sakari.

"Hey..." Sage said at nearly a whisper. "I'm really glad to see you again."

I guess that decision was made for me.

"You too," I agreed. The words left my mouth before I had time to think about them, and they made me feel good. I've never really had the opportunity to tell somebody I missed them.

"So... what happened to you?" I asked, flipping her question from earlier.

She sighed. "The five of us went to bed and woke up the next day in a castle."

I laughed a little.

"And then we're told that we're the five Heroes that will end the demons and expand Donthaar to be an empire. If we refuse, we have to survive on the streets with no knowledge of how the world works."

I didn't know what to say. I felt bad for her.

"I'm sorry," I apologized slowly, feeling like it was insincere.

"I could say the same to you."

"What are you gonna do?"

She paused. "I don't know."

Then came the silence again. I didn't know what to say, and she was deep in thought.

"I'm pretty well lost at this point," she confessed. "But I'm rolling with it I guess. Whatever happens happens. And I'm learning cool new things that I never would or could have before so I mean it's not the worst fate I could meet."

She spoke like she'd accepted the fact that she'd spend her life here. All that meant was that she felt helpless. This is her only reliable option.

"I have to be up tomorrow for a test." She said that and got comfy in bed. It was quiet, but her voice was shaky.

"Sleep well," I whispered, shifting a little, but just not feeling comfortable in general.

The rest of the night was full of shit sleep and even worse dreams.

~

"Hey, Lydia?"

"Yeah?" I sobered up from my laugh.

"Do you still want to leave us?" Myu asked, her eyes beady and pleading.

While it's true that at one point I wanted to find a way to get back home and make sure Mom is okay, I've given up on that.

I smiled. "Of course not."

I ruffled my fingers through her purple hair.

"I'd never leave my little sister like that."

Myu's face lit up when I called her that, and she threw her arms around me.

"Are you gonna be a Messenger for Father?"

I nodded.

She was beaming at this point.

"Really?!" She exclaimed.

I'm happy with spending the rest of my life here with you, sister. Though calling you that might turn some heads being that you're the daughter of Lockwood.

~

I jolted awake at some point in the night, drenched in sweat. There were no windows in this room either.

I'm awake again at 3am. My head's so tired but... I don't care.

Almost every night I wake up from a blissful nightmare, dreams where I'm tormented with my past, and the futures I'll never get to see.

I crawled out of bed as gently as possible and went to the living room where there was a window. I sat on the couch and curled up in a ball, resting my head on my knees.

There was a storm outside. A nasty one, too. The stars and lightning held me tightly, a blanket I pulled in close to protect me from my thoughts.

Today marked the day I was to be shown some of the kingdom. Lockwood never said it, but I'm sure he was planning on announcing that I was adopted into the royal family.

But instead, he went to his grave knowing that he never told me how he felt. And Myu never got to unveil her surprise.

The image of Lockwood Sakari in his final moments was burned into my brain. His eyes were wide with fear, and he mouthed something, but I was too terrified to know what he was saying.

And because I'm a lowlife, coward piece of shit, Myu and Lockwood Sakari's true final messages won't ever be heard.

I felt Myu's hand around mine as she gripped it for dear life, blood running towards her palm and reaching the fold between our hands as she drew her last breath.

I felt the arrow whiz by my face as Lasory begged me to leave her and the castle behind.

I felt how badly I wished that arrow didn't miss.

I felt alone.

Laying my head down in between my knees, I stared at my bare feet and the floor. There were scars there too.

The couch next to me pressed down lightly.

I looked up and over my hunched stance to see a woman sitting, gazing ahead. She looked back over at me.

My breath stopped. I nearly leapt and locked my hands behind her, trapping her in my arms and never letting her leave.

Our skin matched in color, and her hair blended perfectly with mine.

"I missed you, Lydia."

"You too... Lydia."