After an hour or so, Mark offered for them to come by the palace for lunch. They all agreed, but Tara was still asleep. Rene and Adelinde stayed to watch her, sitting on either side of the girl and maintaining some conversation.

Adelinde glanced at Tara and frowned a bit.

“…I wonder if she’s still dreaming.”

“Probably.”

Adelinde paused for a second, then said, “It’s been close to two hours. Normally she’s awake again by now.”

“I’m not sure if we can wake her up,” Rene admitted. Adelinde lightly put her hand on the girl’s shoulder anyway. “I guess he’s just…making up for lost time.”

“Hopefully she isn’t too bothered. Being around other people in that case might just scare her.”

Rene murmured some agreement and they fell into silence for a few minutes. She took note of the people around them—no one was paying any particular attention to them, outside of the usual nod of acknowledgment or attempt at conversation from people Adelinde knew.

Something about Tara falling asleep during the day like this, after having been fine since she told them about her dreams…worried her. She both dreaded if Tara would say anything when she woke up and what they would do if Tara stayed asleep for much longer.

Adelinde must have noticed Rene’s thoughts strayed, but before she could speak up Tara stirred. The girl frowned before even opening her eyes. She sat up and looked around without being prompted, almost confused at first—then when she saw both of her parents she gained a concerned look instead.

“…How long was I asleep?” Tara asked hesitantly.

“About two hours,” Rene replied. She tried to give the girl a reassuring smile. “Is everything okay?”

“I… I don’t know.” She took another glance at the people around them, then asked, “Can we…go home for a little bit? Itzun said something…worrying. It would probably be easiest to tell Matteo as well.”

“Mark and Matteo went to the palace a little while ago,” Adelinde said. She seemed to try to smile like Rene did, but a frown overcame it instead. “Would that be a good place to talk?”

“…Maybe. I‘d rather not repeat it.”

Both women nodded, and after a moment they left.

——

Matteo didn’t really mind when the other three came by, albeit Tara’s look confused him a bit. She seemed…slightly concerned. Mark noticed too, letting them promise to come back to the palace another day.

Something must have happened while she was sleeping—she was quieter than usual. Rene and Adelinde seemed slightly worried in their own ways, but even Matteo found it a bit off-putting. Tara didn’t even hold her drawing things as tightly as she usually did when something bothered her.

Once they got home, they sat in the music room. Everyone waited for her to speak up; Matteo didn’t even entirely know what they were waiting for. He prepared to ask until Tara finally said something.

“I remember now.”

Rene tensed at the statement and Adelinde frowned. After taking a minute to process it, Matteo ended up being the first to respond.

“Like…whatever you were before you were with us?”

Tara gave a little nod. “Itzun said they found a second omyn.”

Matteo glanced at their parents. Neither seemed particularly pleased, and he couldn’t blame them. His only connection to it was through Aurik, but no one wanted—much less expected—to hear it. The group must’ve gotten lucky.

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“They shouldn’t be able to force you to go,” Rene reasoned after a second, trying her best to put on a reassuring smile. Matteo could see some worry behind it, so chances were Tara could too. “So in that case, we just need to keep a close eye on you.”

“That’s…not everything, though.” Tara took a little breath before continuing. “He told me something else while I was there—things the girl on the ship wouldn’t have been old enough to comprehend. Every island is created by Bekin and Emaya; except for the first, every island holds a single nation and is governed by a single god. Any gods below Bekin and Emaya have the power to shape their nations and decide what grows there, but they can’t create a new nation from nothing.”

He didn’t quite perk up, but it did catch his attention. That preface seemed…familiar. He could guess where this was going and it wasn’t a good thought. Adelinde and Rene didn’t seem to make the same connection, though.

Tara continued after a second, growing a bit more anxious.

“Itzun can start the process that triggers the creation, but he can’t manifest its land and plants and animals from nothing,” she said. She leaned further into the couch and drew her legs up to her chest. “As such, everything needs to be taken from the land he already rules. In the process of creating a new nation, Dakari will need to be destroyed or greatly modified for the first island to be replaced.”

All of them fell silent. It sounded…slightly familiar. He didn’t think he would’ve found anything with the exact context, but it was possible that he came across it in the process of finding something else.

Adelinde looked over at Rene after a good two or three minutes, but the latter answered before hearing the question.

“This is news to me,” Rene said. “But they also didn’t tell me I had to bind my blood to a gravestone, so I wouldn’t find it surprising.”

“Itzun isn’t sure if any of them know—he made sure to only put it in the most complete legends.”

Even the one Matteo found on the gravestone wasn’t fully ‘complete’ then—or any other ‘full’ versions he’s come across. Still…

“No offense to this guy and all,” Matteo said, glancing at Tara, “But is he trying to get us all killed, or does he not care?”

“Itzun sees this as entertainment,” Tara explained. “In one way or another, however, he is tied to me—he can’t make me do anything I don’t want to, aside from sleep.”

There was a bit more silence. Matteo still tried to think of any legend he might have heard that had this kind of scenario—a nation being destroyed. It usually only came up in reference to the first island—stories about what led to its fall, phrased in a somewhat kid-friendly way just to prove a point about lying or something—but he could’ve sworn he came across one that clearly wasn’t the first island. Probably at the Qrian house.

He glanced at his parents just to see their expressions—both frowns, although Adelinde looked more distant and Rene seemed almost ready to stand up. He could tell Tara didn’t like either; whether she feared their reaction or what it would mean, he couldn’t say for sure.

“So at some point they found a second omyn,” Matteo repeated to gather his thoughts. “Which means that they’re a step closer to creating a new nation to replace the first island, but that would cost most if not all of Dakari being destroyed. Do you know if there’s a certain time that will happen?”

“Itzun didn’t give any confirmations,” Tara replied, shaking her head. Slowly, she let herself spread out a bit more. “He just said that both he and I needed to do something, but being Itzun he didn’t say what.”

“Helpful,” Rene muttered dryly. She sighed, giving a worried look at Adelinde before focusing on Tara again. “I take it he didn’t mention anything about how to prevent it, if possible?”

She didn’t say it—Matteo couldn’t blame her—but he knew she had another thought about it. If Dakari would be destroyed, so would its people. Anyone who wasn’t involved in the creation effort—which was, suffice to say, a majority of the population—would probably be killed.

Whether or not she noticed, Tara gave a little nod.

“He gave some…vague idea,” she said. She looked in Matteo’s direction, but not exactly at him. “He mentioned something useful might be in the Qrian house, at least.”

“It’s as good of a place as any to start,” Matteo agreed. Considering it was very unlikely any of them could actually enjoy themselves for the rest of the day, he might as well start looking now.

The other three seemed to have the same idea, albeit Adelinde hesitated.

Rene noticed and looked over at her.

“You can stay here if you want?” she offered.

“I would rather be with everyone else,” Adelinde replied, shaking her head. “There’s no point in sitting around for something like this, even if it’s strange. I would rather help and it—somehow—turn out to be nothing, than contribute very little and regret it later.”

Rene still seemed willing to protest, but nonetheless agreed. After a few seconds of silence, Matteo ultimately led the way to the Qrian house.