Raoul was here.

Words tried to spill from Cer’s lips but to no avail as they fluttered open and shut. Faceless pedestrians walked by them unbothered like they were in a world of their own.

Finally, just as she was about to ask him why he was here –

“Why are you here?”

– Raoul asked her with an inquisitive expression as his wrinkles of shock disappeared from his face. The ridged side of the brother she had grown to loathe stood indifferently before her very eyes; his tone laced with disdain.

“I should be the one asking you that.” Cer eased out of her hypnotized state, trying to make sense of Raoul’s presence here of all places. “Grandis isn’t a place I thought you’d ever return to. I mean, it was the same for us – but look.”

Cer pointed at herself, waiting for Raoul to notice just how much she had changed since the last time they saw each other. It had been months. The awkwardness Cer displayed, and her tail’s constant fidgeting was not the result of mere months of absence.

It was years since they had exchanged words.

“Notice anything different?” Enthusiasm gradually filled her voice as she waited for Raoul to notice, only for him to coldly respond with:

“I’m going to ask you again, Cer. Why are you here?”

His tone intensified along with his scrutinizing gaze.

“Why? I’m on a mission.” She said, speaking truthfully as her tail drooped. “I’m looking for the Red Barron. And you? I haven’t seen you around the Nexus for a while. I didn’t know you were deployed to Grandis. You must’ve been here all along, heh.”

Raoul must’ve been here all along. Surely, right?

She subconsciously stood on her toes to give him a hint, but Raoul, perhaps intentionally, shut it out of his mind. It was impossible to tell was he was thinking. Cer thought that maybe if he noticed that she had physically changed, then he’d at least acknowledge her a little.

But his gaze fell lower than where her eyes were, as though he was still looking at a past version of herself.

Finally, after a short moment of silent deliberation, Raoul sealed his eyes in relief.

“The Red Barron. I won’t ask why you’re after a Color, but assassinations should be left to the Eclipses. ImpulseWorks shouldn’t be asking another Moon to do their work.”

Huh?

Cer kept her shock to herself.

Doesn’t he know that the Eclipses now belong to the Nexus?

Raoul had severely outdated information regarding the state of the Nexus. It surprised her, because she was certain that he was present during the upheaval of the Nexus. Then again, she had never seen Raoul participate in any of their Summits.

Though he was an Ex-Star, he still had those privileges and connections to at least know about the current status of the Nexus.

An air of suspicion brewed between them as tension rose, but it was quickly quelled like water poured over an ember when another voice called out to them.

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“Cer!? No way, CER!?” A certain green-haired woman shouted in a whisper, glancing occasionally over her shoulders. “What’s one of the big shots of the you-know-what doing all the way here in the backwaters of Grandis!?”

“Doing my job. I’m the only Moon fit for the role. Heh. Other Moons wish they could be like me.” Cer grinned. “But wait – You two are travelling together?”

“Like a travelling band.” Ara proudly said, slapping Raoul’s back playfully. “This guy’s been a pain in the ass, but he’s not bad if that’s what you’re wondering. Now it’s my turn to ask. Do you two know each other as well or is it just a coincidence that you look like you share the same blood.”

A dumbfounded Cer had to rub her eyes to check if she was seeing things.

Raoul was far from an intimate person. It was different in the past, but the Raoul now would not have allowed anyone to lay even a hair on him without major repercussions.

She had seen well-intended remarks end in bloodshed, a hand spiraling in the air, or an ear sliced off as a warning.

Raoul only scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes from the two of them as his tail wagged ever so slightly.

Why is it wagging?

There were only two kinds of people he allowed to touch him like that.

The first was family, and the second were the twins. The fact Ara could even stand beside him opened a pandora’s box of outlandish theories. It surprised Cer that she wasn’t attacked on the spot for running into his back, which meant that he had either sensed her presence, or, he knew it was Cer from her touch alone.

“Cer is my sister.” Raoul answered formally. “The patterns of our tail and ears should’ve made it obvious.”

“And I’m learning this now!?” Ara exclaimed in a whisper again, not wanting to draw too much attention in this city.

“It wasn’t necessary.”

“No, who in their right mind wouldn’t brag about a family member being a Moon?” Ara drilled him, placing both hands on her hips. “That’s like me not wanting people to know I’m the grandson of the Green Composer. And aren’t you too cold towards your sister? Cer.”

Ara stuck out her hand to shake hers.

“Great to see you again! Sorry about this guy. I don’t know if you know it already, but he’s one hell of a buzzkill. I didn’t think he’d be acting like this towards his own family too. Raoul, you could at least say something nice to her.”

It was surreal.

Raoul even knew that Ara was a man at heart. Now that Cer realized it, her ridiculously large chest was nowhere to be found. She kept that to herself, however. It wasn’t the time to be acting like a jester, even if it was in front of Raoul himself.

“Look at her. Cer, you’ve grown taller. Give it a few more years and maybe you’ll be as tall as your sisters.” Ara gushed. Even though she knew that Cer was a Moon, she didn’t let their statuses dictate how she acted around her.

It was one of the perks of her being raised in a place worse than this city.

“You think so?” Cer smirked, enjoying Ara’s antics as Raoul kept his gaze elsewhere. “Heh. Right. Just like my sisters. Did you know that Raoul? Ber and Res got a whole new makeover.”

“I see.” Raoul pushed the thought away.

“You see? They’re practically different people now! There’s no way you didn’t know that. Aaaargh. Is this guy really your brother?” Ara said jokingly.

But Raoul’s gaze suddenly fell onto Cer, curious of what she thought of him.

Cer immediately nodded without a shadow of doubt.

There was no reason for her to think the question over.

“He is.”

Her honest response was bound to make Raoul’s heart flutter. He would smile, or at least show some form of relief in response to Cer’s affection.

However, within the depths of Raoul’s eyes resided a well of immeasurable sorrow.

“Hm… Well, I won’t dig into it. I guess there’s some rhythm to the rhymes.” Ara softly nudged Raoul with her shoulder, looking up at him apologetically. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll be careful next time. An oboe’s a tricky instrument to play, and even harder to take care of. Nothing like a lyre.”

Her melodic, sincere voice calmed Raoul in a way Cer had never seen before.

Suddenly, a hand plopped onto Ara’s head. She was conflicted by the sudden head pat, but since she wronged him first, she allowed him to indulge a little.

“You have your answer.” Raoul sighed tiredly.

Cer followed them for the time being, forgetting entirely about her mission as she pried into their relationship and the reason why they were here. Ara was kept in the dark, and Raoul didn’t specify it either.

She kept Frost updated in the meantime as Ara went over how she was personally hired by Raoul for a mission directed by CogitO.

“Descartes 3 is still in the Nexus. Give Nav and I a moment to verify it.”