"COMMANDERRR XUUUU!!!!!!"

A young, golden-skinned woman threw herself into Jiaoying’s chest and wailed without end.

Stunned, she looked around for help and found her son actively putting distance between them.

"Err... It’s alright, Princess. You don’t need to fret any longer-"

"I was so scared! M-My sister just started behaving strangely out of nowhere, and then she poisoned my father and tried to frame me, but no one believes anything I have to say, and I didn’t know what to do, so I just came here and..."

Canari’s mother used to be a famous singer. Apparently, that increased lung capacity was genetic.

"She’s... been like this for a while now." Ryth spoke dryly. "All of our attempts to calm her down have been in vain, so we were beginning to consider medication."

Canari cried harder. "SEE NOBODY TRUSTS ME, EVEN YOUR SERVANTS WERE GOING TO DRUG MEEE!!"

At the rate Canari was going, Jiaoying would be able to skip her bath. The princess had already soaked through her dress, and she hadn’t been home five minutes.

She held the princess by the shoulders to hopefully stop the crying.

"Princess, I need you to pull yourself together. My son and I are going to bring you to-"

"Mom!"

Rushing into the room was none other than Jiaoying’s own daughter. Accompanied by her scornful ex-husband. The catharsis she felt from seeing one was immediately suppressed by the arrival of the other.

"What have you done now, you beast?! No, I should be asking about what that THING inside of you has done!"

Kinarth’s accusatory barking immediately put Tavian on guard.

"That is quite enough, father! Mother has done nothing wrong! A dark plot has culminated in the castle, and she and the princess are being forced to share an undeserved blame!"

Jiaoying placed her hand on the small of her son’s back.

"It’s fine, don’t waste time on this. If you’re coming with me, then I need you to get all of your stuff and quickly. We probably won’t be back for a while."

Tavian bit his lip for a moment before turning away and exiting the dining room.

"W-What about me??" Lia rolled forward. "I can come with you too, right?"

"Absolutely not!" Kinarth snapped. "Whatever your mother has gotten herself into is nothing that needs your involvement; you could get hurt!"

Lia went silent quickly. Folding her arms and giving her cheeks a slight puff, she looked just like her childhood name.

"Don’t look at me like that, chipmunk. I don’t want anything to happen to you either, so it really is best if-"

Lia slammed her fist onto the armrest of her wheelchair without warning.

There was a small creaking noise, and one of her wheels turned forward before firing a small, blue projectile.

"Ow!" Jiaoying released a small yelp when the point became embedded in her right thigh. "Lia, what was that!??"

"Tracking magic. Good for fifty hours. Even if you tell me no right now, then I’ll get out and follow you however I can."

Kinarth stood in front of his daughter. "You absolutely will not-"

"I’M NOT A CHILD!" Lia shouted for the first time since arriving. "I’m an adult woman who can make her own decisions and who has her own goddamn fucking opinions! Me not being able to walk doesn’t change any of that!!"

Tears had begun to well up in her eyes. Just the same, they had begun to affect her mother as well.

"I told you that I understand what happened. I told you that I forgive you. But you still won’t listen to me. So if you’re so determined to ’make things right’ .... Then do it by not acting like you’ve confined me to spend the rest of my life as a piece of glass! I’m a person! Do you understand me? I can do what I want! And if I say I’m going to come with you, then I am going to come with you, because you are my mother and I love you!"

Lia’s words were more like sobs by this point. Everything she said was harder to decipher than a dead language.

But Jiaoying understood every single word. And it broke her to her core to hear them spoken with such earnestness.

"..Okay." Jiaoying lowered her head. "I... understand. Go get your things, and..."

"No."

Kinarth stood between the girls with a firm stance. "This and what happened to you are two different matters entirely. We’re not-"

Lia slammed her fist onto her other armrest.

Another projectile fired from her chair, this one bright yellow in color.

"Kinarth was impaled in his upper thigh, causing his entire body to seize up.

He fell over, stunned and completely unresponsive.

Jiaoying and Lia slowly turned their gazes from him, back toward each other.

"...Should I bring snacks on the trip?"

"Honey."

"Sorry, sorry, I’ve never been on the run before, it’s all so new and exciting!"

"Liora."

"Okay, I get it, serious mode from here on out."

Jiaoying didn’t know if she’d ever heard anything she believed less.

- Ilim

Solomon and Nila faced down a very confident Raizel in the midst of some kind of clearing.

Around the set stage, other Amazonians and dark fae watched silently with great interest.

"Are you sure? You guys really want to do this? I’m sure I can find some other way to check on my body’s condition without putting you guys at risk."

The eyes of the siblings sharpened.

"...Did he just call us fodder?"

"I believe so. I may forgo the guise of femininity and defecate atop his head for such a blatant show of disrespect." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"And no one would blame you."

Raizel grimaced. "Guys, let’s not get overzealous, yeah? I mean, we’re all friends and family, right?"

""Fuck you.""

The flesh of both sibling burned away as they glared down at their opponent in their natural bodies.

"Oh... Okay then..." Raizel placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Just don’t say I didn’t warn you..."