Elric and Isla entered Losufea nearly a day later. Unlike their first visit, they were welcomed into the city with mostly open arms. Right away, the two sensed a shift in the mood. Something was different, but they couldn't quite place what.

They were however surprised when the princess parted from her companion to personally greet them. They both bowed courteously to Camellia who smiled in return.

"Elric and Isla, was it?" the princess asked. "What brings you back so soon?"

"We were hoping to learn more about Ares and the world of Halcyone," Elric answered.

"Ah, so he's finally awakened." Camellia smirked, her lips curving into a genuine smile afterward.

"So, we were right that you knew all along..." Isla mumbled.

"Distinct magic like Ares' isn't hard to hide, especially if you're familiar with his story."

"You knew all along that Gwyneth was the savior then?"

"Savior? Hardly. You humans automatically equate good with light and evil with darkness. Why is that?"

Elric and Isla paused. Why had they always thought that? Was it possible that Ares was the savior and Gwyneth was the great evil? But Ares had caused destruction before, and Gwyneth had no motive to destroy Halcyone. Besides, Thea had been so sure Ares was the evil mentioned in the prophecy. Were their elements just coincidence? Or was there something more to it?

"It seems neither of you know either." Camellia hummed in satisfaction. "Tell me, what is your goal?"

"We want to separate Aston from Ares," Isla stated matter of factly.

"Separate the two? Ha! Impossible!" Camellia laughed. Her bellowing laughter caught the two of them momentarily off guard. They couldn't picture Gwyneth doing the same when talking with strangers.

"Then we'd like to reason with him if possible," Elric added. "Our princess has been through enough. If this is a battle she can avoid, I would know more."

Isla felt a tinge of jealousy in her that she couldn't place. She had wholeheartedly agreed with Elric's sentiment, so why did his words sting her so?

"You're different than how Ares described humans; and so was Gwyneth. Very well. It's not like we have any information on how to defeat Ares, so feel free to use our information however you please. Maybe, just maybe, there's some truth to this prophecy..." Camellia sighed wistfully. "Oh, right, you'll need my help if you want to access our archives. Follow me."

The two followed Losufea's princess to the palace; a place they had only ever entered twice. Once when they had first arrived, and again when they departed.

"Had you arrived half a moon sooner you could have joined us for our sendoff," Camellia began, never having been a fan of silence.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Elric said seriously.

"Some of us are taking it better than others. He was nearly 800 years old, the oldest Fae outside of the king. Did you know that Losufea has a fixed population of 150? When someone departs from us, the king appoints two Fae to produce another."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Isla flinched. "But... they don't love each other. They feel no attraction. How does that work?"

Camellia felt her own amount of discomfort at the question. "Y-You can read about it in the library if it's so important to you." She blushed.

Isla in turn blushed at asking such a direct question.

Elric cleared his throat, desperately wanting to move away from the subject at hand. "If I may, where were you off to before we arrived? I believe Prince Avel was with you, was he not?"

Camellia sighed. "As I said before, the Fae who passed away was the oldest in the village save for our king. Our king isn't getting any younger; it will soon be time for either Avel or I to take his place. Our reign is decided by the Wind Spirit."

"Really?" Isla's eyes lit up with anticipation.

Camellia sighed again, only heavier. "I don't know why I have to go with. My brother should be the one ruling, not me. I'm not even a pure Fae," she mumbled that last part to where it was barely audible.

"You're... like me?" Isla's eyes widened, questions buzzing about inside. "But how? You're several hundred years old and can fly, right?"

"I can fly thanks to the Wind Spirit. As for my age..." She balled her fists. "It's thanks to the dozens of Fae who sacrificed their lives for mine, a half-Fae. Fae who possessed restorative magic transferred the entirety of their lives to me so that I might pass myself off as a true Fae."

Elric and Isla had no words. They would have never guessed that was the case. More surprising was the fact that she trusted the two of them with this information.

"I feel so guilty..." the princess began again. "I never asked for this! I was only ten! I would have been content living a hundred years! Why... Why did they have to sacrifice their lives like that?!"

"Because they respected you," Elric answered. "They trusted you to be the ruler they would be proud of. In a sense, you owe it to them to try for the throne. Become the ruler they always knew you would be, and show them their sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"I... owe it to them?" Camellia whispered, never having looked at it that way before.

Isla rolled her eyes. "You don't owe them anything. Think of it as honoring their sacrifice."

"Thank you... A-And sorry for dumping all of this on you. I really shouldn't have. Y-You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Of course not." Isla smiled.

"A-Anyway, here we are." Camellia pushed through the double doors to the library. Near the back were a couple of bookcases that were locked behind wooden cupboard doors. Placing her hand on the doors, Camellia unlocked them, granting Elric and Isla access.

"Seed, teach these two our language." Camellia snapped at one of the Fae sitting at a table.

"Di O reva si?" he whined, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"Uat." Camellia narrowed her eyebrows before turning to her two guests. "As you know, I have somewhere I need to be. If you have any questions, just ask Seed." She waved before taking her leave.

"Here," Seed placed a parchment on the table that he grabbed from one of the nonrestricted bookshelves. It's a translator."

Isla studied the parchment carefully. Rather than explaining how to translate their current language to the old, it seemed to do the reverse.

The new language as declared by Ballard is as follows: Is will be Os and Us Ys. In which As are as Es and Ss as Ts. Finally, Ls will be as Cs as Hs are Rs. Thus, the letters X and Z shall be born, and the glorious nation of Zetheria will reside in the northeast.

Okay, that last part seemed irrelevant. And what was with the cryptic instructions?!

"Recco!" Isla attempted to greet the Fae in front of her.

"Am I correct in assuming you mean to say 'hello'? That would be Racci." Seed asked, unamused at her failure. "Yndahtsend?"

"Uas." Isla nodded.

"Uat." Seed sighed.

"Let me try again. Row eha uoy?"

"Fona. Os ot 'riw eha uiy'."

Isla sighed. She still couldn't get it.

"I'm not even the slightest bit sure how to process this." Elric scratched his head. "Loke Rhis?"

"That's not even close." Seed crossed his arms."

"In which case, I'll leave the studying to you." Elric turned to Isla who was only too eager to comply.

After days of studying and slowly comparing the texts to the parchment, Isla finally found something of importance relating to both Ares and Halcyone.

"Elric! I think I found what we're looking for!" Isla eagerly shook Elric awake who had dozed off at the table. Both of them had been spending the previous nights at the library, desperate to learn what they could as quick as they could. Even Elric had attempted to make sense of the language, though not nearly as quickly as Isla had.

"What is it?" Elric asked groggily. He yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Isla repeated her findings to him.

His eyes widened before his eyebrows narrowed. "We have to tell the others. And pray we're not too late."