“... He was sent on a diplomatic mission,” Queen Perela started to tear up and sniffle, “I want my darling Yonish back, stupid husband; this was the first time I would have all my children here…”

Nesha became anxious as she noticed her mother's tears beginning to well up. She wondered if her mother had always been this emotional. She glanced at her sister, but she saw a vacant expression with a slightly open mouth as if the little girl was lost in her thoughts.

“Sara, is this normal?” asked Nesha.

“Huh, oh yeah, mostly when one of us leaves Falling Leaves,” Sara said before returning to her thoughts.

“Really?”

Sara nodded, “If you think this is bad, you should see how she acts when you leave.” Sara’s eyes grew large, “You weren’t supposed to know that.”

“Sara,” Queen Perela screamed.

Nesha, her mother, and her little sister talked so long that they didn't notice the time passing. Suddenly, they saw that it was already afternoon.

“This was such a great time, dears, but Mother has some things to tend to, and I know that little Sara still has her studies,” spoke Queen Perela as she got out of her seat.

Sara hearing what her mother had said, frantically tried to think of something before latching onto Nesha, “But I was going to spend the day with Nesha,”

Nesha gave a raised eyebrow, “Well, I was going to go and train with the others. Would you like to come as well?”

“Mother, studying sounds like so much fun,” Sara screamed

Nesha was taken aback and confused by Sara's sudden change of heart. Initially, Sara was excited to spend time with Nesha, but now she wanted to focus on studying. Nesha couldn't help but wonder if her little sister was strange.

Nesha walked slowly towards the open training field in the castle's guest quarters. She murmured to herself as she wondered why her sister, who had been overly attached to her, had suddenly refused to spend any time with her.

As she was about to enter the training grounds, she caught a glimpse of one of her companions - a young man with light green hair, a delicate build that almost seemed feminine, and weary brown eyes.

“Sivie!” Nesha screamed as she ran towards the man but stopped halfway due to the overwhelming smell emanating from him. “Why do you smell so…”

With a small yawn, the man scratched his face, “I slept in the beast stables last night.”

“Wait, you're only getting up now… Wait… You slept with the beast,”

The man gave a distant look before giving a slight shrug, “No, I… had a great time with the beast’s caretakers that this kingdom employs,” he said with a sly, mischievous smile.

“Then why do you smell so bad?”

“Why don’t you join me next time and find out for yourself,” Sivie said, giving a provoking smirk.

Out of nowhere, “hi-yah,” the sound of a small girl's voice rang at the entrance of the training grounds, and Sivie felt one of his legs buckle and fell to the ground.

“Don’t bully little Nesha, little Sivie,” said the small girl with short ash-colored hair, beige skin, and serious amber eyes. She looked firm and determined as she glared at Sivie.

Nesha looked at the little girl and smiled, stifling her laughter, “Thanks Char,”

The little girl, who stood only as tall as Nesha’s waist, gave a big smile, “Don’t worry, little Nesha, Char will not let little Sivie bully you,”

“How was I bullying her? I just asked if she wanted to tag along on one of my… adventures,” said Sivie

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Char gave Sivie a long, skeptical look before taking a step forward and giving him another kick, “You're just a big meany.”

“Just tell me what happened, Sivie. I can’t have you causing a mess here at the castle,” Nesha sighed, ignoring Sivie and Char.

“The Alchemic Race beast physician made a special tonic for everyone, and after drinking it, I struggled to leave the stables, so I, along with the others, slept there and uh beast right.”

“So you got drunk… alright, I will tell the guards about it later, but you need to behave while we are here.”

“I know, but we are running out of funds to do anything. It’s been four months since we went on a mission and got paid. If we don’t go on one soon, I will have to look for another party to go with.”

“I am aware, Sivie. We still have a few days left until the last guardian arrives. Only then can we leave. So can you just hold on,” Nesha looked at a certain window of the castle as she was speaking.

Sivie gave a long sigh, “I will hold you to that, Nesha.”

“Char, why don’t you come with me so that we can train,” Nesha said as she and Sivie walked by each other

“Char knows the way!” Char screamed, running off as fast as she could into the training grounds behind her.

Nesha ran after Char through the training grounds until she caught up to her.

“Hehe, well done, little Nesha,” Char said with her usual mischievous smile, “Now we can play with little Echo.”

Nesha's gaze focused on Echo, a towering young man whose body was decorated with small scars. His appearance was unkempt; his beard was scruffy, and his short brown hair was disheveled. However, his dusty gray eyes glinted with fervor and enthusiasm as he effortlessly wielded a tree several times his size as if it were a mere plaything.

“HAHA!” Echo’s deep voice screamed in laughter as he swung his tree trunk around, smashing training dummies like nails.

“He seems upset,” Char said. Looking up at Nesha.

“He’s like Sivie; both of them are tired of being locked away for so long and are getting restless,” said Nesha

Char turned to look at Echo. It was hard to discern what was going through her mind, “I’m gonna play with him,” Char said while she walked toward Echo.

As Echo heard footsteps approaching, he turned to see Char's smiling face getting closer. His hair stood on end. Despite his many brutal nicknames, they meant nothing in the presence of this little girl. The smile on her face indicated that he had made a grave mistake.

“Char…”

“I wanna play, little Echo,” Char grabbed a large wooden sword from the rack of practice weapons, and her voice no longer carried the joyful playfulness of a child. “And you are going to play with me,” The sword was washed in a lackluster, almost lifeless gray light. The once wooden sword had been transformed into a cold, hard, and unyielding weapon of gray and white stone, petrified by the potent and otherworldly essence art of Char.

With a pained expression on his face, Echo gave a slight smile as he gingerly set the log down. He made sure to keep his foot as far away from the edge as possible before using both hands to break the thick piece of wood in half. As he did so, his finger holding the log began to turn a shiny gray color, and he dug into the sides of the log with ease.

“Are you ready now, little Echo?” Char said, holding the petrified wooden sword twice her size.

“Please don’t hurt me too much, Char,” Echo said; suddenly, he heard Char’s voice drift into his ear, “No promises,” it whispered.

Echo moved the log between his hands as fast as possible to get it between him and where the sound originated. With a loud thud and a storm of dust, Echo’s shaking hand gripped the log tighter.

“I really hate this,” Echo said, already out of breath.

Char’s face was finally visible through the dust from her sword swing, her head cocked to the side, “You hate playing with me, little Echo, that makes me a little… grumpy,”

Echo felt like everything was moving in slow motion as Char ran towards him with her large sword and a feral toothy smile.

“Dodge,” Echo screamed in his mind, but when he tried to move, nothing happened. He glanced down he saw his feet encased in stone. When did she encase them in stone, and from so far?

His mind whirled, “Lean back, and…” his mind stopped; a stone pillar shot out of the ground behind him, and now his back rested on it.

“So fast, the log between,” but it was too late. Char’s stone sword was just about to pierce his shoulder. He closed his eyes, waiting.

“Enough,” A dainty and familiar voice came into his ears. When he opened them, he saw Nesha holding the tip of the stone sword that was about to pierce his shoulder; green motes of light floated out of her hand.

“There was no reason to go so far, Char.” Nesha scolded.

“He made little Nesha sad,” said Char, her head hung low.

Nesha shook her head, “It’s fine, Char; I made him sad first.”

“Oh, so I should play with little Nesha then,” Char asked, taking a step back.

“Do you think you can?”

“No Echo is littler than Char, but Nesha is not much littler than Char,” Char said, returning the now unpetrified sword to the rack.

“Hey, I am not that much weaker than you!” Echo screamed.

Char turned around, smiling before trying to reach for the sword again.

“NO! Play with Nesha! Echo is tired now!” Echo screamed, running out of the training grounds.