Only a few hours had passed since I had brought back the three boys with me to the hideout. Questions and stares shot at me continuously, but Maida had grabbed me before anybody else could pester me anymore and ordered everyone to back off so that I could rest for the night. Maida gave me a change of clothes and ordered me to stay inside the house or else. I slipped out of my old clothes and into a new and intact black dress. 

I don't know how much time had passed, but I found myself lying flat on the ground, waiting for someone to visit me but so far no one had come—

Creakkk. 

"Come in," I said, shooting up as soon as I recognized that sound to be the door opening.

A stream of dim light flooded the room as a familiar grey-haired person stuck her head in. "Sorry if I disturbed you," Elder apologized, closing the door behind her gently. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

She came over and sat in front of me, not showing any intention of speaking. For a few moments, we just sat awkwardly when she broke the silence with a question. "What made you do it?" 

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"Why did you suddenly decide to go on the journey?"

I would be lying if I said I didn't know. From the time after I had talked with Justin, I had finally came to realize that the only one holding me back was myself. Taking a deep breath, I said, " I just...finally came to the consensus that I had to do something. Not only for Mom and May, but for myself as well."

"What about May?" Elder inquired, grabbing out her pipe. "I'm sure you don't want to leave her behind."

I turned my eyes towards Elder. " I'll leave her in your care. You promised right? You promised me you would take care of her."

Elder chuckled. "And so I did." She got up. "You can start out tomorrow. I'll get Maida to pack you some essentials so rest up and say your goodbyes to everyone."

"Thank you," I said gratefully, bowing my head slightly. That visit was much shorter than I anticipated, but I wasn't exactly complaining either.

As Elder headed towards the door, a question suddenly popped into my head. "Wait. I know everyone has their secrets reasons to take on the king...but what's yours?"

She stopped cold and didn't turn around. "My...my son was taken from me by the king. He was taken away as an experiment. An experiment where the king changes humans into demons."

My breath hitched. Humans into demons? What did she mean by that? A new wave of fear crashed within me, but before I opened my mouth to ask her any questions, my eyes locked with hers, and my questions instantly died in my throat. Her eyes were in so much pain and hatred that I had to look away and down at my feet. "I...I'm sorry."

I heard a deep sigh and peeked up. Elder smiled down at me and nodded towards me before opening the door and stepping out.

I stared at the door. She was old, and her legs barely held her up when she walked. If she could, she would race towards the kingdom to retrieve back her son no matter what. She would run until her arms enclosed around her son safely.

Suddenly, I had the desire to see May. I waited for a few moments before jumping out of the futon and cracked open the door. Making sure Maida wasn't nearby, I snuck out of the house and into the house May was still in. Her sleeping face didn't crinkle in distress anymore, and instead she held a peaceful, calming expression like she was having a good dream. I stroked her head and brushed her hair away from her face. Bending down, I kissed her forehead.

"I'll come back for you," I whispered.

At the corner of my eye, I spotted May's dress on the floor. I picked it up and put it next to the bed she was sleeping in. Something flashed and fell to the ground. Curious, I grabbed it and gasped. Two green jades shone in my palm. I quickly recognized the two pieces of jewelrey to be the necklaces May had bought from the man at the stall when we were shopping.

But why would she bring this with her?

I furrowed my eyebrows and thought deep. My eyes widened.

"Are you wearing the necklace?"

"I did! But right now we should hurry to the festival before it gets too crowded."

May knew. She knew, yet she didn't say anything. I clutched the necklace in the palm of my hands. Pressing the heel of my palm to my eyes to stop the newly fresh tears threatening to spill, the sacrifices I would have to make suddenly crashed down on me like reality.

Her bright smile was now gone. I might not even ever see her smile again. She might never wake up. I might not make it out of this alive. 

But we will cling onto our hope. We will become stronger and fight. This way, we won't leave any regrets.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied my breathing. I put one of the jade necklaces around May's neck and gripped the other necklace in my hand. I bent down and kissed her cheek, lingering for a few seconds before stepping back. 

Goodbye, May.

...

Morning came slowly. At sunrise, I got up and shivered as the warmth of the futon left me. I knew that this would be my last deep sleep before going out into the unknown.

Stepping out of the house, I shielded my eyes away from the sun rays peeking over the tall trees that blocked us. I began walking away from the house when something caught my eye. It was the blossom tree I'd seen the other day. One of its buds had opened and bloomed a beautiful flower. Its aromatic smell lingered in my nose as I leaned down to smell it. The bright pink color of the flower was so vibrantly coral, it looked surreal.

"You're up early today."

The voice came up from behind me, and I startled.

"Tristan," I said surprised, turning around. He was dressed just like the first time I'd met him. Just a simple hooded white cloak blowing behind him, a red string tied in front of the cloak with a red sweater and black pants.

His orange hair seemed to light on fire in his slim ponytail when the sun reflected its rays against it. As I stared at him, I felt a wave of reassurance wash over me as a welcoming glint in his lime eyes sparkled.

"You ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "You bet."

As those words left my mouth, Justin appeared next to Tristan. His jet-black hair was a mess, but his prominent features were still as handsome and sharp as ever. He wore the same outfit as he did when I first met him. As we connected gazes, I expected him to tear his stare away just like he always did when we stared at each other, but this time, he held it. 

I felt myself begin to shake. I didn't particularly like the way Justin's eyes were so cold and guarded yet seemed to be able tear down all the walls you had try to put up to protect the secrets you held. 

A pair of hurried of footsteps interrupted my thoughts; I looked over my shoulder to see a blur coming at me. I was hit with immense force and felt my knees give way.

"Yuri," I gasped as I hit the ground.

"Morning Miss!" Yuri sang, sitting on top of me.

"You just have to do that every time you see me, huh?" I grumbled as he got off me. "How old are you anyways?"

"Eh? I'm nineteen," he replied.

I blinked and stared at the others to see if I had misheard but they just looked back at me with a blank face. I turned towards Yuri. "E-excuse me? Nineteen?"

He nodded his head. How can this energetic, happy-go-lucky kid be older than me?

"Justin is turning nineteen. Tristan and I are turned twenty already," Yuri said, pointing to each person as he announced their respective age. "How about you, Miss?"

"Me? I'm eighteen..." my voice trailed off.

Before we could continue our conversation, another pair of footsteps suddenly sounded. Judging by the happy and respective faces that the boys suddenly wore, I knew who it was without having to turn around.

I smiled and bowed my head in respect as Elder hustled over, holding something in her arms. She smiled back at me and nodded her head.

"Yo," Justin greeted as the Elder stopped in front of us. "How was—"

Elder smacked the backside of his head.

"Don't greet your Elder with 'yo'," Elder sniffed.

Tristan and I snickered behind our hands as Justin clicked his tongue and shot a glare at us to stop laughing or else.

"Good morning," I chortled, bowing.

"Ah," Elder turned towards me with a smile. "I wanted to give you this."

She holds out a bundle of clothes towards me. Curious, I took the clothes from her and unfolded it. A new, ironed white hooded cape cloak hung in front of my eyes.

"Eh? Isn't this what Yuri and the others wear?" I asked.

"Yep!" Yuri cheered. "Elder handmade our cloaks!"

"That's nice. Although, why are you going this to me?" I asked politely.

"A thank you present," Elder smiled. "I feel that a cape cloak suits you better than a long cloak like the ones the boys have."

I stared at her for a moment and then shook my head, trying to hand it back to her. "You don't need to thank me. I'm doing this for my own cause. I'm just traveling with Tristan and the others because our causes are related—"

"If you must continue to resist, then take this as a way to hide your face from other people who might try to turn you into the Royals, " Elder said, pushing the cloak back to me. "Or from the Royals who will come back hunting for you."

"But—"

"Please," Elder said.

I chewed on my lower lip for a moment before finally accepting the gift. I bowed lowly towards her. "Thank you."

Pulling myself back up, I unfolded the cloak and slipped my arms into the cloak before turning around and showing the others with an accomplished smile on my face. The cloak hung past my waist and barely grazed my fingertips when I placed my arms to my side.

"You have to tie it," Justin sighed, grabbing my shoulders and turning me towards him. He grabbed the buttons and began pushing them together. I stared at his face, suddenly very close to mines and was reminded again of how handsome he was.

"There," he said as he finished, breaking my thoughts. He caught me staring at him and threw the hood onto my head. It was strangely quiet as he stepped back.

"What?" he asked, looking around when he realized everyone was staring at him.

"It seems like you're already up to the job of taking care of her," Tristan patted Justin's back approvingly. "Good job, man."

Elder sighed disapprovingly as Justin grabbed the front of Tristan's shirt and threatened to punch the daylights out of him. As Tristan began laughing and Yuri started to attempt to calm the two of them down, Elder walked up to me and frowned as I pulled the hood back a little. "I guess I made the hood is a little too big. I'm sorry I originally made this for the three big boys over there so when it came to your small body..."

"No it's perfect," I smiled. "Thank you very much. I will treasure it well."

I played with the cloak a little, like I had wings. The material was warm and soft; I felt a warm buzzing feeling spread across my chest.

"You guys should eat your fill before the others wake up," Elder said, interrupting the chaos surrounding the three boys.

Justin dropped Tristan on the ground and walked over to the long table where Elder served us soup and a little meat. Tristan and Yuri followed suit quickly afterwards at the fragrant smell of the food. I was finishing up my soup in silence when—WHAM!

I almost got the spoon stuck down my throat from the force that had hit me in the back. Painfully coughing, I pulled the spoon out of my mouth and turned around to see a crying blond girl and a flustered black-haired boy.

"Oh? Felicity? Jimmy?" I asked, surprised. "What's wrong?"

 "W-w-why d-d-d-d-in't-" Felicity stammered, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

"Oh stop crying, you crybaby!" Jimmy snapped. But even he looked a little dejected as he stared at me. "Are you leaving us?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

A vein appeared onto Jimmy's forehead.

"She's slow, I know," Justin muttered, rustling up Jimmy's hair.

"Where are you going?" Jimmy asked me, although now the question seemed to be directed towards the four of us now.

"Oh. Just a little journey," I responded, glancing at the three boys.

"When are you coming back?" he questioned.

Maybe never. "When I'm done with the journey," I responded lightly.

"Don't go!" Felicity wailed, flinging her arms around my neck.

"Miss," Yuri said, rocking side to side on the bench. "We forgot to tell you, but Jimmy and Felicity wanted to thank you. For playing with them and saving them."

I looked at Jimmy's red, flustered face from Felicity wet tears soaking through my cloak. Patting Felicity's head, I smiled at Jimmy.

"You're welcome," I grinned.

"Whatever," Jimmy huffed.

I snorted. The resemblance between Justin and Jimmy could not be greater.

"Why are you already out of bed!" another voice came from behind me.

"Morning Maida," I said, trying to turn my head while Felicity clung to my neck.

"Ah geez! So troublesome!" Maida fussed, turning my head side to side.

"I'm fine," I muttered.

"Okay," Maida said, ignoring me. "Look."

She patted a bag down on the table with a huge thud and a pair of knee-high laced brown boots.

"Here are some bandages you will need when you're on your journey. There's some cans of food I also packed in here in case you get hungry. Some medicine for wounds or headaches. These leaves..."

I stopped listening and finished my soup, while giving her some "ok" and "uh-oh" to show that I hadn't tuned her out as I slipped on the boots and traded them in for the slippers I was wearing.

"Okay?" Maida clarified five minutes after, not even breathless.

"Mhm," I nodded. "Thanks for the boots, Maida."

A flock of birds cawed and passed over our heads. The sun was past the trees now, and the sky was starting to turn from its red-orange hue to a blue color. Elder stood up.

"It's time to go," Elder announced.

After some comforting and a touch from Justin, Felicity let go of me, and I was left with a huge stain of fresh tears on my new cloak. We stopped at the entrance where the familiar sound of water gushing down was.

"Well," Elder said, clapping her hands. "It's time for you young ones to go."

"Yes," I nodded before bowing low. "Thank you for the hospitality and food."

I turned towards Maida and bowed too. "Thank you for nursing me back to health."

"Well," Maida said sniffly. "You were a hard one to take care of. Make sure to bring me some rare herbs or leaves when you come back."

I snorted. "Alright."

"See you later guys," I patted both Felicity's and Jimmy's head. " Don't cry anymore okay Felicity? I'll come back and get you more flowers. And Jimmy—" I leaned down and whispered into his ear. "Take care of Felicity okay?"

I grinned evilly as Jimmy turned fifty shades of red. "It's not like that! I hate her!" Jimmy yelled, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Sure, sure," I nodded.

"Let's not create such a racket," Elder said, patting Jimmy's shoulder. "You better be on your way now."

I bowed towards Elder one last time before turning heel and joining Justin and the others who were in the cave already.

"Wait!"

I turned around to see Elder standing in the middle of the entrance to the hideout. "I'm sorry this is so late but," Elder said. "We don't know your name yet. What is it?"

A strong gust of wind blew past us, momentarily blocking my view of the woman as my hair blew into my face. Underneath my clothes, I could feel my heart beating under the last connection with my sister. Even if my family wasn't here with me right now, it was time to move on.

"Sakura."

And if you were standing in the middle of a hidden hideout where a waterfall and hollow rock mountain concealed its appearance at that time, there would be a tall, proud cherry blossom tree standing next to a stone house at the very end of the row. But if you looked more closely, you could see that another one of its buds had just opened up to reveal a beautiful blossoming pink flower.

~~~~~

Chapter 11 is here :)))

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The image above is what I imagine as the hideout being concealed behind by a waterfall. If you get past the waterfall, the cave would lead you into the hideout. 

DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THESE PICTURES ARE MINE. ALL CREDIT GOES BACK TO THE ORIGINAL OWNER. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED. IF YOU RECOGNIZE THE OWNER OF THE PICTURE, PM ME.

The waterfall picture: Google Images / Viator