Before I even opened my eyes, I heard the sound of footsteps nearing me. Sitting up, I glanced out the cell door and smiled when I saw a golden head pop into my view from behind the bars.

"Yuri," I grinned. Although I was genuinely happy to see him, I couldn't shake off the uneasiness from the dream I had the other night. Dreams were dreams; they weren't real. But no matter how hard I tried to tell myself that, I couldn't deny how unsettled I still felt.

"Miss, it's been so long," Yuri cried, grabbing the bars and pressing his head against the bars.

"It has, hasn't it?" I smiled, reaching between the bars and stroking Yuri's golden hair. I could feel my heart begin to speed up as I stared at his smiling face. Even after all this time, I still don't know why go through this familiar seeing when I'm close to Yuri.

I felt like I was going crazy; it was like I harbored interest towards Justin and Yuri at the same time. Shaking my head, I dropped my hand from Yuri's hair. "How's everyone doing?"

"We've gotten to know some neighbors," Yuri yawned. "The snow is so pretty. Catherine and I have been no stop playing around, but Tristan gets mad at us and tells us to go inside or else we'll end up catching a cold."

I smiled. "The snow really is pretty. I've never seen anything so white and cold before. It doesn't snow in Cardea."

"It doesn't either for us," Yuri replied. "I love winter. Well, I love all the seasons. It's proof that time is actually moving forward. Justin and Tristan hate it though. They always try to escape the cold."

"Speaking of escape, have you heard of the plan yet?"

"Well, Tristan and Justin were discussing something about that," Yuri crossed his arms. "I'm not exactly sure about the specifics, but Catherine told us yesterday you suddenly don't want them to plan it out?"

"Whatever they're planning, it's probably going to involve some fighting, won't it? It'll be too dangerous," I sighed. Yuri nodded his head in agreement. Staring at his baby face, I tilted my head to a side and said, "You're a pacifist, aren't you?"

The amusement in his face ebbed away as a solemn look replaced his bright eyes. Scratching his head, Yuri offered a weak smile and shrugged. "I just...don't think fighting is the answer."

"Then why'd you even decide to come along?" I frowned. "Out of the five of us, three of us have to resort to violence all the time."

Yuri's eyes suddenly misted as they stared into mines. He hesitated at first, twiddling his thumbs as silence filled the air. There were times Yuri suddenly seemed to change into a different person; now was one of those times. Although we were staring at each other, he didn't seem to see me. 

I'd always thought it was strange that I'd never seen Yuri hold a weapon in his hands before, yet always seemed to turn out fine.

But more so, if he wasn't going to fight, why did he even tag along in the first place? I always overlooked Yuri because he was always laughing and carefree, but now that I'm sitting here with him, I was ashamed I thought that way.

Suddenly, Yuri leaned back on his hands and smiled at me. "Have you ever heard of the carriage dilemma, Miss?"

I shook my head. Yuri's eyes seemed to fade a little as if he was reminiscing something. "Say you see an empty carriage rolling down a hill. There are two paths the carriage can take. The path on the right have ten people stranded to the ground while the left path has only one person tied to the ground. You cannot stop the carriage, you can only direct which path the carriage will take. Whichever path you take will result in deaths either way, but of course, the number of casualties will differ depending on your choice. Which path do you take?"

The answer to his question came to me so quickly, I almost blurted it out right away. But I held back. Why was Yuri even asking me this question in the first place? Ask anyone, I'm sure their answer would be to take the left path.

But Yuri...

"Because he knows himself as well. He wouldn't be as cruel as me, but his priority is you as well."

I was suddenly reminded of my conversation with Justin on the mountain. I knew what Justin meant back then. Whether it be Justin or Tristan, if they had the power to control the cart, and I was the one person on the left path, they would let the carriage on to the right.

Yuri never specified in his question whether or not they were people I knew. Sure, if all the people in the situation were strangers, the general consensus would be to kill that one person to save the ten other lives.

But what if the road with that one person was someone you knew? Someone you loved, someone you treasured in life? It didn't even have to be someone so close to you; someone who you were acquaintances with could make you falter for a moment.

Would people's choices change?

Maybe Justin thought I was a saint for risking my life for others because I was so against his shocking words. But in reality, the fact that Justin would be willing to risk so many lives just for mines was just suffocating to me, not because I was concerned about the other girls. Rather than worrying about the loss of so many lives, I just wouldn't be able to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. 

My head would probably split from just knowing my life was put above ten—fifteen other lives.

"So?" Yuri prompted.

If May was that one person tied to the ground and the other ten people were strangers, which road would I take? Would I risk my sister's life for a group of people I didn't even know?

Well, I knew the answer to that question.

I glanced up at Yuri. Is that why there was so much pain and regret on Yuri's face right now? Is that why he wouldn't hold a weapon ever again?

"Which road did you choose?"

My question hung in the air as Yuri stared back silently at me. I didn't need to hear his answer; I could tell by just looking at his face.

"Never mind," I closed my eyes. "Forget I asked that question."

Those were the last words of our exchange. The rest of the time, we sat there silently, not meeting each other's eyes, yet silently comforting each other's presence.

When I heard Raylor's footsteps echo through the hallway, I realized it was time for Yuri to leave. But this time, I didn't hear just one pair of footsteps. I heard multiple pairs.

Glancing up, I frowned upon seeing Aslan and Violet standing behind Raylor. Raylor bent down and picked Yuri up like a cat before marching away without another word. I could hear Yuri's protests to be put down grow faint as they left the hallway.

"So? What do you want?" I asked, turning my head back towards them.

"You've turned a little more unfriendly, Your Highness," Aslan frowned, crouching down to his heels.

"Don't call me that," I snapped. Glancing at Aslan's body, I hesitantly asked, "You're feeling alright, right?"

"Of course," he grinned. "I wouldn't come near you if I wasn't."

Before I could ask them anything, Violet stepped forward and opened the cell door. I sat on the ground, cautiously staring at them as the two of them filed in. Violet crouched down to the balls of her feet and reached a hand out to me.

I felt my body and mind relax as she reached for me, but when I saw her eyes glow purple, I flinched away from her. An ominous chill ran down my spine as I stared at the two standing above me, and I quickly stood up.

"What are you doing?" I growled. "Why are you trying to use your Guang on me?"

"Well, I guess it's expected for someone with true Royal blood to not get affected by a Bare," Aslan shrugged. "There's no need to look so defensive. We were just playing."

I didn't relax my tense stance as I glanced at the open door. The two of them were blocking the only exit out, and there was something unsettling with the way Violet was staring at me.

"I'm surprised you haven't burst your way out of here yet," Aslan took a step towards me. "I expected you and Nan to start destroying everything in your path. What's wrong? Did you and Nan get into a fight?"

I shivered. It was weird hearing someone else say her name, and I even felt a stirring in my chest like Nan was reacting to him as well.

"Well, I suppose both of you guys are as lost as ever," Aslan shrugged. "Sucks to have a demon whose memories were ripped away, huh?"

I snapped my eyes up at him. "What do you mean? Tell me."

Aslan looked bemused at my demand and offered his hand, "Do you want to know?"

"Of course I do," I grumbled.

"Then follow us," he motioned towards me. "I'll tell you all you need to know."

I hesitated. Aslan smiled constantly so it wasn't weird that he was now, but something was off about his grin. He seemed too excited, too fidgety for me to trust him. But then again, it wasn't like I was just going to continue letting myself rot in here just because Aslan looked like he had snorted some kind of drug before coming down here.

Nodding, I followed after Aslan with Violet trailing from the back. Contrary to my initial belief, we went deeper inside rather than exiting the building. I glanced around nervously as we ventured further into the dark hallway and stopped when I saw a lone door standing at the end.

"Just where are we going?" I muttered, feeling goosebumps rising along my arms as I stared at the isolated door.

"Well, the things we're going to be talking about are quite secretive so we can't just discuss it out in the open," Aslan turned around with a grin.

"We could have just talked in the room you were holding me in," I said, folding my arms tightly across my chest.

"Are you scared?" he frowned.

"I'm wary," I retorted.

Aslan chuckled. "I promise once we're done with our short conversation, we'll be right out."

"Why here, though?" I pressed.

"Do you really want to be talking about such personal information out in the open, then?"

"...fine," I relented. Opening the door, Aslan stepped into the room, and I followed after him cautiously. Without warning, the door behind us suddenly slammed shut, and I was swallowed by a pitch-black darkness.

"W—What?" my voice cracked. "Aslan? Violet?"

"I'm lighting a candle in the room so relax," I heard Aslan's voice say somewhere to my right. "I'm coming your way. Don't panic, I need to get past you to light it."

I heard his footsteps near me and felt his hand gently brush against my hand. I tensed as I felt him grab my shoulder.

"Sorry," he said. "I just don't want to accidentally bump into you so—"

Before he could finish his sentence, I felt a sharp poke in the back of my neck and instantly sprang away. Clamping my hand over my neck, I barked, "What was that?"

"Woah, calm down," I heard Aslan say.

"Aslan, hurry up and light the room," I demanded. "Now."

"Alright, alright," he hummed. A fire suddenly lit up in the middle of the room, and I could see Aslan's eyes glow in the dark. Then, without warning, something fast and hot streaked past me in a blink of an eye.

I blinked, still not sure what had just passed me until I looked at Aslan who was staring directly at me. A cold sweat slipped down my spine, and I unconsciously took a step back.

Nan...Nan! Nan, can you hear me?

No response. I gritted my teeth in frustration and ran towards the wall, frantically trying to feel out the door in the dark. But before I could get any further, I felt a cold hand wrap around my wrist and yank me backwards.

Falling to the ground, I gasped and looked up to see two pairs of light violet eyes staring at me. Balling my hands into fists, I squeezed my eyes shut and mentally yelled for Nan again, but I was met with silence.

"Oh, are you trying to connect with your demon?" Aslan questioned. "We injected a little jamming block, so you won't be able to—"

I shot up and wretched Aslan's collar, yanking him off his feet. He fell on the ground with a loud thud, and I climbed on top of him, pulling his collar up.

"What do you think you're doing?" I snarled. I could feel heat begin to flow behind my eyes, but it felt strangely uncomfortable this time. It was as if someone was pouring more to the fire to grow, yet at the same time, restricting its space to grow.

"Woah! Please don't get mad at me," Aslan laughed, holding his two hands up like he was surrendering. "I'm just following His Majesty's orders."

My heart fell to my stomach, and I loosened my hold on Aslan in shock. "W—What? How does he know—?"

"C'mon, you really didn't think we'd just sit idly by after discovering you have Nan as your demon, right?" he smiled.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. "What's so important about Nan?"

"It must suck having your memories taken away," Aslan sighed. "What was the saying? Ignorance is bliss? I think that was the saying—"

"Aslan!" I yelled, pressing my hands against his shoulders. My heart was pumping so fast now, I could barely hear myself over the thumping. "Stop avoiding the question and tell me!"

Aslan stared silently at me before letting out sigh. "I really wanted to see your Guang take place, but now the fun's going to be taken away from me."

Before I could question him any further, Aslan suddenly kicked his legs up, sending me toppling forward. He grabbed my arms and slammed me down on the ground. I gasped in pain as agony shot up my back.

"Don't get so cocky now," he warned in a singing tone. "Because we jammed your demon from connecting with you, not only can you not use your Guang, but all your heightened senses will disappear with it."

I grabbed his arms pinning me down and struggled to pry loose, but Aslan was right. My body suddenly felt heavy and unfamiliar. Aslan glanced over his shoulder to where Violet was standing quietly by the wall and motioned for her to come over.

She walked over towards us and placed a cool hand on my head. Fearing she was trying to use her Guang on me, I began to flail my arms and legs as much as I could. Aslan growled in frustration and opened his palm next to my face.

A ball of fire appeared close to me, and I had to stop moving around so much to avoid having the flames lick my face. I felt Violet's hand touch my forehead again and squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself for whatever was coming.

However, contrary to my expectations, nothing happened. I blinked and glanced up at Violet as she pulled her hand back. Aslan extinguished the fire and hopped off me; I quickly tried to sit back up, but I suddenly realized in horror that I couldn't get up.

"M—My body," I gasped. It felt as if all the muscles in my body had disappeared. I felt completely immobilized. Aslan hooked his arms under my neck and my legs before pulling me up.

Flashing a smile down at me as Violet opened the door, Aslan said, "Just hang tight, Your Highness. His Majesty is excited to see you."

"Shit," I hissed. "I swear once this wears off, I'm coming for your neck, Aslan."

Aslan laughed. "Don't be so mean to me, Your Highness."

As much as I wanted to sock Aslan in the face, I couldn't stop the anxiety inside of me from overflowing. What was going on? What were they going to do to me? Was I going to be taken to the capitol? Was Guren outside waiting for me? What about Justin and the others?

We stopped just before the door leading outside; Violet's face looming over me was the last thing I saw as she tied a blindfold over my eyes.

"Wait!" I gasped. "Where are we going? What are you doing?"

"Please quiet down," Aslan said in his annoying sing-song voice. I winced as he began to walk again. "It's past evening so people are settling into their quiet homes. If you end up yelling, I might have Violet relax your vocal cords as well."

I could hear the ground we were on change as the sound of Aslan's footsteps switched from a soundless hard concrete to the sound of feet stepping into snow. Suddenly, Aslan stopped walking. My anxiety spiked up as I tried to figure out where we were.

"The carriage is ready, Your Grace," I recognized Raylor's voice. A bucket of dread washed over me. 

A carriage. A drugged Sakura. And the company of two Bares.

Aslan and Violet were going to take me to the capitol.

~~~~~

Wheweieieieieee. This is my first time in ages finishing polishing a chapter before Sunday. These past events just in a week of January got me(◎_◎;)

I guess we really are the laughing stock of the world now. We're practically the reality show of every country out there LMFAO, but at least we're finally moving forward. I pray security will be better on the 20th unlike the complete shit scene at the Capitol.

OMG and did ya'll hear about Jeffree and Kanye? Got me rolling and cackling

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading! If you did, please drop your thoughts below and hit the star!

I'll see you guys next Sunday <<33