As soon as I say her name, my hands fly to cover my mouth. I wish I could pull the name out of the air.
She's staring at me now. Her expressions were often hard to read, but back then was nothing compared to now. I can't tell if she's angry, frustrated, or just confused.

Oh my goddess...what have I done? She has no idea who I am or how I know her name. She doesn't remember me. What do I-

"Sedna?"

My hands fall from my face. "You...know who I am?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"Of course I do, how could I forget my sister?" she says, smiling briefly before the confusion returns to her face. "Only...I don't understand how you got here. Or why you're here, for that matter."

"I can explain everything, I promise. The truth is, I need your help. It's important." I say, and I hope my voice doesn't sound as pathetic to her as it does to me.

At that moment, the monk that had gone to find someone to help me appears behind Eris, and he looks as surprised to see her as I did. "Eris, what in the name of the gods are you doing up here? I've been looking all over for you." He isn't nearly as polite as he was earlier, which irritates me, and I can tell it irritates her as well.

She rolls her eyes before turning to face him. "I was just getting some supplies from the storage room. I apologize for wasting your time. This girl you were helping is my sister, Sedna. She will be staying with me for a little while, and I hope that while she's here you treat her with a little respect," she replies, her face devoid of all emotion.

"She's your sister?" he says incredulously. It's true we look almost nothing alike, with her short, dark hair, green eyes, and tan skin, and my long white hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. No wonder he's surprised.

"Yes, she is. Now, if you will excuse us, I will be taking her to my chamber." Her tone seems forced; this isn't the way I remember her speaking, and it didn't seem like she was speaking to me just moments ago. She turns away from him and walks down a corridor, motioning for me to follow. I have to walk quickly to keep up with her pace.

Once we are out of earshot she lets out a sigh. "I'm really sorry about that. Lucas thinks for some reason that just because he's older than me, he can treat me like a five year old." Her voice tightens and she grits her teeth.

"I trust you don't get along too well?" I ask.

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. I'd go as far as to say we hate each other. This way." She makes a turn down another passage that leads down a set of stairs. "My room is just down here."

I follow her downstairs and through an open doorway. The room inside is neat and tidy, not a single thing out of place. "You can set your things down over there," she says, gesturing to a chair on the far side of the room. "I know you've been walking a long time, and you're probably wanting to shower, so you can go wash in the bathroom that's through that door. We can talk about whatever you want to talk about when you're done."

I set my bag down on the chair and dig through it to find some clean clothes. "Thank you for letting me stay for a little while. A lot has happened over the past few days and I appreciate your willingness to help," I say as I look, before pulling out a pair of leggings and a loose t-shirt.

"No problem. It'll be nice to catch up again; it's been, what, five years since we last saw each other?"
"Yeah, that's about right...maybe a little longer. It was winter when you left." I fold my clothes in my arms and make my way to the bathroom.

The feeling of the hot water from the shower is indescribable. I scrub the dirt of travel from my body and out of my hair, careful to avoid the burn that continues to pester my forearm. It's starting to heal a little, but it's still painful, and needs to be rebandaged. I'm tempted to stay in for longer, but I know Eris is waiting, so I reluctantly turn off the water and step out. I dry myself off and pull on the leggings and t-shirt, leaving my feet bare, and as an afterthought pin my cloak back around my shoulders.

I bring the rest of my clothes out of the bathroom and shove them in my pack, placing my shoes under the chair where it lies. Eris is sitting in another chair by her bed, reading some sort of paper, so I sit in a similar one that faces her. "Look," I start, and she raises her gaze to look at me, "I know you probably have a lot of questions as to why I am here and what my situation is, but I have a couple of questions myself."

She sets the paper down on the bed, placing her hands in her lap. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"First off...how did you recognize me? Like you said, it's been five years since we've seen each other, and I'm bound to have changed in appearance, so what gave me away?"

She laughs. "Well, there aren't too many people I've met that have white hair, so I suppose it stands out just a little."

"I guess that makes sense," I say, laughing along with her. "The other thing is...have you seen a group of dryads passing through here?" I pause, noticing the odd look she gives me. "I know it's kind of a weird question, sorry."

"No, don't be sorry," she says, but her voice sounds vacant. "It's just strange...we had a group come through last night. They seemed to be in a hurry, so I didn't get to talk to any of them, but from what I could overhear, they were running from some sort of fire. Flames are particularly dangerous for them."
"O-oh," I stammer, gripping the arms of my chair. So that's my fault too.

"Why do you ask?" she questions, still possessing the odd expression on her face.

I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves, forcing myself to relax my grip. "No reason, really," I say, trying to sound nonchalant. "I just saw them while I was coming here and thought someone might know what was going on. I was always told their species was extinct."

"No, they're still around. I've seen hundreds of them. I'm not sure why the city kept them secret from us, or if they even intended to. But anyways, I think it's time for me to ask the questions," she says. I nod to indicate that she can go ahead. "Well, I guess for the sake of catching up, how's mother? Is she doing well?"

I stay silent for several moments as the question hangs in the air. When I do speak, my voice is unintentionally quiet. "That's part of the reason why I came to find you."

"What does that mean?" she asks. I can tell she's trying to stay calm, but her voice is straining.

"She's dead."

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I hope you all enjoyed Eris's introduction! The next chapter will be up in a few days. Thank you for reading!