A sibling is the lens through which one sees their childhood.

After everything Zane did with Milo and said to her, he apologized from his heart and his sister forgave him without skipping a beat.

Both of them shared silence and then cried for a while.

Milo didn’t even ask him why he said all that. She was satisfied simply by Zane feeling sorry for it.

But for the sake of Milo, he had to tell her.

She should also play her part if they wanted a relatively easy life in the Citadel.

After both of them finished crying, Zane talked slowly to make her understand.

"I don’t want you to get hurt, Milo. There are people here who won’t and don’t like me and you. And to hurt me they will try to hurt you. So I made you my maid and acted like I don’t care for you. This way, they will not come to you thinking you have no power over me. Are you understanding?"

"Why would they not like you? What did you do?"

Zane smiled. "There are people who don’t have to do anything to be hated. You will understand it when you grow up."

"But I.."

"Don’t think too much. Just keep this in mind. You are my maid and you shall not leave this room. I will bring food, water, anything you need right here. Also, do not open the door unless it’s me. There might be people who could copy my voice so for that, I will give you a secret phrase."

Milo nodded.

"First, I will knock on the door three times. Then I will say the phrase: Lily Milly so silly she ate five Chilly. Alright?"

Milo’s eyes lit up.

"That’s the phrase mumma used to say."

Zane nodded. "Yes. Only we know that. So unless I don’t speak this phrase, don’t open the door. No matter who they are. Got it?"

Milo pumped her fists.

"Yes. I will only open when it’s you."

Zane patted her head.

"Alright. Now you rest here. I have some work to do. I will return in a few minutes. You can enjoy this big room now. Its bathroom is bigger than our entire house."

"Really?" Milo sat up straight.

Zane laughed and Milo looked around with stars in her eyes.

"Don’t run around too much. I’ll be back soon."

"Okay."

Zane left the bed, checked his pocket with the relic.

It was still there.

He placed the black plastic bag on the small table beside the bed and got ready to leave.

But then he turned around, looked at the bag and walked towards it again.

He took out the things it held and at last, only the idol of the First Flame was left inside the bag.

He stared at it and then picked it up.

It might help.

Now he went to the door with the black plastic bag on his right hand and took out the key from his shirt’s pocket.

He had locked the door from inside after entering the room with Milo.

He brought the key to the door knob but before inserting, he stopped.

I should try that.

He placed the key inside his shirt again and took out another key from his pants.

This key was abyssally black with ovals on both its ends.

It was a Merged Object.

The Remembering Needle.

Zane had never tried it till now as he only merged it last night.

But now he would, for the first time.

He brought the oval near the keyhole and it was smaller than the size of the key.

Zane wasn’t sure if the needle would fit inside but in front of his eyes, the Needle shrunk its size.

Zane’s eyes widened.

Milo was in the bathroom enjoying the things, opening every tap so he wasn’t worried about her seeing this and asking to keep the magical Needle with herself.

Now that the Needle adjusted its size, Zane inserted it inside the hole and the key twisted left and right on its own.

Zane let it be, he only held the key with little force and after two seconds...

CLICK!

The door opened.

His lips curled up.

Not bad.

He stored the Needle inside his pocket again.

I should get rid of the original key in case someone tried to steal it and barge in.

Zane also thought of giving the key to Milo but he erased the idea.

Milo might try to open the door and walk around in curiosity.

But what if she needs to get out of the room for something important? How will she open the door? And this thing is only for opening the doors. Not closing them.

Zane ran his mind, standing in front of the open door.

"You are still here, brother?" Milo asked from the bathroom.

Zane glanced at her and frowned.

"Why are you drenched in water? You will catch a cold! Dry yourself."

"But it’s fun. The water is warm. And it is coming from above."

"I don’t care. You will get sick. Angh. I will come back."

Zane stopped thinking about the key and left the room.

He closed the door with the key and placed it inside his shirt.

He looked left and right and the corridor didn’t have that many people anymore.

He walked down the stairs with the plastic bag.

He found some people in the stairs and walked far from them, sticking to the wall on the side.

He reached the second floor and this time he found two people.

One looked to be around his age and the other was an adult middle aged man dressed in black.

As soon as both people saw him, Zane got to know which one of them was a pure Halocrat.

The young man had clicked his tongue and pinched his nose just after seeing Zane and that was the only proof he needed.

The man dressed in black was the personal attendant of the young man, possibly, so this time, Zane didn’t climb down the stairs.

He stood to the side and let them go upstairs.

But they didn’t move.

Do they want me to cross first? Or are they waiting for someone to clean the stairs because I stepped on them?

Zane didn’t understand but he stayed unmoving as well.

"Don’t stand there. Get lost!" The man barked.

They want me to go first. Fine.

Zane understood and without waiting for their change of heart, he dashed down the stairs.

But as he reached closer, the young man whispered something in the man’s ear.

Something will happen.

Zane knew malice when he saw one so he made sure to stay far from both and bolt to the first floor.

But just as he took one more step, the adult vanished from his spot and arrived in front of Zane.

Zane’s breath quickened and before he could stop himself, the man stretched his leg and Zane tripped over it.

THAM!

He slammed his head on the wall in front of him.

"Hahaha." The young man laughed out loud. "Welcome to the Citadel, filth. It’ll be fun."

Zane slowly got up, holding the wall and amidst the pain, his laughter escaped as well.

Yeah. I was getting paranoid without such a welcome. Now I feel like I arrived.