Xanthy stirred from her sleep. The lumpy mattress dug into her back as she turned and tucked her arm under her head. Her eyes snapped open, taking in the darkness of the room. What's going on? Why couldn't she sleep?

Something was keeping her awake. But what?

Xanthy exhaled into the darkness and turned to the other side. Cirasa, who was passed out on a nearby mattress, snored lightly. One of his legs was swung off the bed. No. It's not because of him that Xanthy couldn't sleep. Maybe it was the after-effect of her conversation with the Sovereign and seeing a servant girl obey the order to kill herself. Maybe it was...something different.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and squinted. In the darkness, she could make out a door beyond the table by her mattress. A fireplace devoid of wood or fire yawned from the wall opposite the beds.

What's going on?

"Oh, to hell with it," Xanthy sighed. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She made it to the door without tripping on anything, which was a miracle in itself. Her hands gripped the knob. She knitted her eyebrows. Wait. Why was she going out?

She clamped a hand against the one twisting the knob. Her heart throbbed. This was weird. Why couldn't she stop herself? Queen's stockings, was she getting possessed? Was the Sovereign invading her mind?

Panic dropped a stone in her gut. She tried swinging back to Cirasa or opening her mouth to scream. Nothing happened. Her fingers twisted the knob and an artificial wind pushed her out of the room with her legs cooperating. Rudik's ass.

Without her consent, her legs tramped out of the room and into the wide, Synketrian corridor. Huge arched windows sped by her, their dark railings curving into strange patterns before joining into a large circle by the point of the arch. What those designs meant, Xanthy didn't want to find out. Xanthy squinted at the glass but beyond her reflection, there's...nothing. What's the use of having windows, then?

Doors locked or ajar sped by her as her legs carried her through the complicated twists and turns she did earlier.. The only difference now was that she didn't have a sack on. Xanthy squirmed against her own limbs but they wouldn't obey her. She kept trying until she came to a wide opening with a huge expanse of space ahead. A lone guard dressed in the same tunic and vest, stood unmoving with his arms by his sides. Dark eyes locked on her.

Something moved inside Xanthy's mouth and her lips blurted, "The Sovereign called me on official business. Let me pass."

The guard bowed and stepped aside, motioning at her to continue. Her legs surged forward. Xanthy clenched and unclenched her fists. They still followed her. So why won't her legs? She's a stranger in her own form. Without magic, she couldn't tell what was going on within her.

Was the Sovereign playing a prank on Xanthy? If so, should Xanthy start panicking now or should she just accept her fate?

Just get this over with.

Her legs were near running now as they took her past a large, oval table fitted with hundreds of chairs stationed in the middle of the vast space. Dim chandeliers hung in all their lifeless glory, the candles in their holders unlit. The rugs stared back at Xanthy primarily because they were of real animals with patterned fur.

Xanthy's head swiveled, taking her view away from the rugs. Her form swerved towards a smaller corridor where some sort of a dining hall was. Was this the kitchens?

Xanthy gave a muted yelp when her legs started weaving through aisles and counters lining up the kitchen in neat arrays. Utensils like knives, ladles, and pans decorated the walls and formed a scattered mess atop some aisles. Barrels, no doubt containing most of the ingredients used for cooking, lined the walls while some perched under the counters. The sweet smell of vegetables and other herbs used for cooking mixed to form a rancid aroma. Xanthy wrinkled her nose. Damn, that's nasty.

Her legs took her past the discarded fruits and vegetables and moved towards a nondescript door at the far corner of the kitchen. Soon, her fingers were twisting yet another knob. The door swung open to reveal a set of narrow stairs that led into a dark, unknown space. Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. So there's an underground within an underground space? Cool.

Still, she had to return to her room. No way in Umazure would she risk being discovered by going into whatever that dark place was. She gritted her teeth as she instructed her legs to move backward, to run the hell away from here. An unguarded yelp escaped her lips as her feet surged forward and tackled the stairs. Xanthy threw her arms up in surrender. Great. How fun.

Xanthy ran her hands along the walls as she shut the door behind her. Where were the guards? Shouldn't there be some patrolling the corridors? Other than the guard standing between the quarters and the common area, why hadn't Xanthy seen anyone else?

Xanthy shook her head. Not that she wished it so. She's happy that she hasn't been executed as of this moment. But...why?

The darkness smothered Xanthy's sense of space and cushioned what was left of her breath. Why was there a place like this underneath the kitchens? Just what in Pidmena's name was this place?

Minutes later, her feet slapped flat ground again. Then, she was running through the maze of cells. Orange beams from the metal lamps lit her way as she passed cells with dark, metal rails guarding them. Some were empty while some contained figures curled on cots. Was this...a dungeon?

Her legs carried her to a cell grander than the rest that was almost to the far end of the current corridor. This cell was wider with the rails closer to each other. A small square window at the direct center of the wall displayed the real night sky to a single figure seated on a stool with its neck craned towards it.

The thing controlling Xanthy's legs dropped its hold. Xanthy yelped as her knees shook without her support and knocked together. Her palms slapped the cold stone floor as she stopped her fall. The figure inside the cell turned to her. Oops.

Xanthy narrowed her eyes. It's a fairy—that much was clear with the unmistakable pointy ears. A sleeveless white tunic showed off the figure's thin, warm beige arms. It was a woman, considering the limp, sand brown hair falling to her feet.

"H-hello?" Xanthy drew closer to the cell and gripped the rails.

The fairy's lips moved but no words reached Xanthy's ears. Xanthy strained her ears. "What are you saying? I can't catch it," she knelt by the rails. "I was kinda dragged here without my consent. Do you know what's going on?"

The fairy didn't bother answering in words Xanthy could hear. "Hello?" Xanthy knocked on the rails to get the fairy's attention. "What's going on?"

The figure dragged her eyes towards Xanthy's in a motion that took forever. Xanthy's own eyes reflected back at her. That's...weird. This couldn't be Ravalee, right? No way in Umazure could her half grown that much hair in the short amount of time Xanthy had seen her last. Who was this?

"It's nice to see you, Xanthy," a voice spoke beside her. Xanthy flinched and scrambled backwards. There's nothing beside her but air. What was that? Why was the air speaking?

A girl with two tails of hair tied up at both sides of her head materialized on the spot where the voice spoke. Bright, round eyes stared back at Xanthy, complimenting the faint blue light that shone from her skin. The girl looked like the figure inside the cell, but smaller and younger. Xanthy turned her head from the girl then back to the figure inside the cell. What...was going on?

"Hi, I'm Airese," the blue-sheen girl extended a hand towards Xanthy. Xanthy stared at it. Then, the name clicked. Airese. Mother. What was she doing in Synketros, imprisoned?

The girl lowered her hand before Xanthy thought to shake it. "We don't have much time," she turned to a vague direction behind her. "The guards will start to remember in about five minutes as I'm too weak to carry out a proper memory wipe. So, let's get into business."

"W-what business?" This day was becoming harder and harder to process.

Little Airese rolled her eyes. "Do not free me. Don't even attempt to," she jerked her chin towards the fairy inside the cell that remained still. "The Sovereign knows everything that's going on here. It's a miracle she hasn't caught on to me."

Xanthy blinked. "To...you?"

"Yeah," Little Airese bobbed her head. "I'm the rest of her soul."

"Sorry?"

"Airese made Little Airese so she can go out and figure out what's happening in the island and to protect everything she knows from the Sovereign," the girl waved her hand in the air between her and the rails. "Made with just a smidgen of Thyminka cleverness and a ton of hidden rysteme spells on the inside of our tunics."

"So...souls can take forms outside of forms?" Xanthy's mind roiled. Wasn't that closer to performing forbidden magic?

"Yes, they do!" Little Airese clapped her hands but no sound came out of it. How was she talking then? "It's their natural response to being taken away from the soul. Their forms embody what's at the core of the fairy's memories."

Xanthy chewed on her lip. "And...they get consciousness?"

The girl shook her head. "We are still part of the same soul, so technically, it's still Airese who controls me. That lifeless form," she pointed to the muttering fairy inside the cell. "That is our form without anything else."

Xanthy's memories flashed back to Alkara, at the piles of clay that littered the streets just because their shadows got stolen. "Shouldn't she have died already?"

Little Airese shook her head again. "I'm still here. There is a certain distance I can go to without the form disintegrating and that includes mostly the whole compound. I know the layout and all."

"You could escape anytime," Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. "Why didn't you?"

"I'm still waiting for you," Little Airese plopped into the ground and crossed her legs. "Rutoria said you'll find me here and that you require my help, something that you can't acquire from anywhere else."

Xanthy's forehead furrowed. "And that is?"

Little Airese trotted to the cell. Xanthy winced as the girl blended with the rails for a moment before emerging unscathed into the cell's interior. The girl clambered up her own form and patted the sleeveless tunic.

"Aha!" the girl whispered as she snatched something from the inside of the figure's tunic. She scampered out of the cell without trouble and handed Xanthy a crystal ball the size of an eye.

"What is this?" Xanthy turned the ball over in between her fingers. Would this shatter if she dropped it?

Little Airese flashed her a grin showing one of her front teeth missing. "That's for moving around without taking days," the girl crossed her arms. "A sirtya."

"Where did you even get this?" Xanthy turned back to the soul of her mother. It felt weird talking to someone who looked like they could be Xanthy's little sister.

Little Airese winked. "Stole it in the armory, you're welcome."

Xanthy nodded. There were a ton of things she wanted to ask but she bit the inside of her cheek. Now's not the time for any of that. "So you can escape now that you've met me?" she pocketed the sirtya. Where's the next clue for the hunt, anyway?

Little Airese shook her head. "We will stay here," she glanced at the gaunt form inside the cell. "We won't be of any help in the war, anyway. We're too broken."

"That's not true," Xanthy shook her head. She should be freeing her mother from Synketros and reuniting her with her father. "You can still fix it. We can still fix you."

The girl's weary eyes locked with Xanthy's. "Tell Eldan I'm sorry and that I love him and our daughters more than anything," she started to fade.

Xanthy's eyes widened. "Wait—"

"Good luck, Xanthy," Little Airese smiled. "The exit is by the armory. Take the platform, turn the dial once. You'd have to figure out how to get the metal door out of your way. The last piece in Pelrise's puzzle lies in his legacy."

"What are you—"

"Stop!" A thick voice flooded the entire space. Xanthy turned to Little Airese to find the girl gone. Where did she go?

"Hands off the prisoner!"